Saturday, February 28, 2009

She Who Holds The Key

While attempting to de-clutter my house I came across my collection of unidentified keys. There were almost a dozen of them and there was no way I could just toss them out! That would be so cruel! I mean, some of them were gifts intended to be crafted with. Some (I believe) were from jobs I hated & others are a total mystery. They'd been hanging around here for this long just waiting to be revamped, so I drank a lot of coffee, popped in Teen Witch & got to work! This was a fun project for me because I was able to create some things that I wouldn't normally. Sometime you just have to venture to the other side of your crafty tracks and try something new.

This one is my favorite. This key is not a mystery, I know exactly where it came from. It was the key to the first apartment I ever lived in alone. I was 19 & had just broken up with my boyfriend. Most of the time I lived there I didn't even realize how great it was to have my very own place because I was so broken hearted. But - this wasn't the key the office gave me, this a copy I had made for my boyfriend when we started dating again. I know - how can I get rid of something with so much sentimental value? Well, we've been together ever since I gave to him so I like to think that this key is lucky. I want spread the luck & the love around. Maybe it could be the key to your heart too...

One of my ALL TIME favorite movies is Return to Oz and this necklace reminds me it. Not only because of the chain (which is vintage Chanel by the way) but because of all the keys that Mombi wore around her wrist. Remember they allowed her access to her collection of heads? I thought she was so creepy & because she was creepy she was COOL! Am I alone here? I mean she had a gang of Wheelers! Wow. Anyway, I digress. The key that brings it all together is unlike any other I've ever seen. I'm not sure what it was ever used for but I love the design so much. It looks like it really means business. Who ever said keys had to be boring?

Before I went on decorating the rest of the keys I became inspired to make my own. I had an idea for this shield floating around in my head for a while but was unsure how to finish it off. Duh! Turquoise key! Do expect more keyed up jewelry, I'm not sure when I will get all of them, but I intend to make every last one of them wearable art. If you have extra keys laying about I'd love to see you make something out of them! Lighten the load from your key ring and get crafting! Then, pretty please show me what you make :D




All items seen here are available @ www.modelcitizenclothing.com

p.s. The pictures in this post were made possible by the all too giving and unbelievably sweet ♥ Patri, who contacted me out of the blue on Flickr and offered me a camera that she was no longer using. Thank You so much! Alright everybody! Big Applause! Let's show this lady some love!

Friday, February 27, 2009

I danced this mess around

I am a highly unorganized person. I even call myself "the loser" because I lose things. Luckily Austin (my BF) is "The Finder" - he finds my things. Thank You Austin. This is something I hope to correct though. I want to become organized. Order is important to me. It's something I strive for. Lately I've been a touch more focused on on reaching this goal.
Back in November of 2008 Jennifer Perkins sent out an email to me and a bunch of other ladies asking to see how we organize and display our personal jewelry stash for her Journey Through a Jewelry Box post. Remember? I sent in a photo of some bombshell's sporting my favorite earrings. When I sent it in though I felt some serious shame that the bulk of my jewelry collection was shoved in a box or living in tangles somewhere. So, I set out to change that. I have a lot of stuff and not a lot of space, which is always the challenge right? The portrait of earring wearing gal's is perfect because it hangs on the wall. No horizontal surface required. Success!

But where can everything else live?

There is a tiny nook in my bathroom wall which I thrifted this amazing doubledecker metal shelf for. It's the perfect width, has a towel rack on the bottom and for $15 I couldn't be happier. I didn't realize that I'd be able to hang more earring and pins on the lace-like front. What do they call that? I call it a Total Bonus! It's very convenient when you come home in the middle of the night, with the urge to just peel everything off and crawl in bed. I go in, wash my face & hey, check me out - I'm putting all my jewelry right back where it belongs! You may think that it looks busy & complicated or just plain messy, but we will have to agree to disagree. I am messy. Things in my world get Out Of Hand, so this is a major improvement for me.











The thing hanging on the right is actually a jewelry store ring display. It's plush-y black velvet, sexy right? I picked it up for $5 at Texas Store Fixtures (which is a giant warehouse filled with used display cases, tables, cash registers, & more for incredibly affordable prices). On my way home from Texas Store Fixtures I stopped by Home Depot and purchased a small sawtooth frame hanger, then stuck it on the back of the ring display. Voila! All the rings are displayed and ready to rock! Yet another thing I can get off the small counter space I have. I've found that I can also fit brooches, bobby-pins & thin bangles in it. It's a quadruple threat for less than the price of a matinee! Maybe I'm not so bad at this organizing thing.












A few of my necklaces have found a home hanging from the light fixture. Which I enjoy because they rest on the mirror - making them appear to be twice as many necklaces! Ooh! Aah! Makes me feel RICH with costume jewelry!

Once I finished arranging the shelf the rest of the bathroom looked a little out of sorts. I had to fix up the entire room to protect my newly organized shelves from the disaster (that was sure to come). That's where this this old-school match box holder comes in handy. I purchased this years ago when I lived in an old house with a stove you actually had to light every time you wanted to use it. I am much happier with it's current use in my life. All necessary Q-tips & cotton balls are placed inside and I can keep my clips right on top. Totally cute and totally convenient.


This is a very small space we are talking about - there is one cabinet, hardly big enough for the towels and NO drawers in the bathroom. So, where do you put makeup and vitamins and magazines and razors and all the unmentionables? Where?! Luckily we do have ONE little book shelf. A home for my makeup bag, the magazines I like to read in the tub & Austin's few toiletries. It's old, boring, white and needs a new paint job but who has the time? Right? So I tried to spice it up with the flowers and this mischievious little fake squirrel. I'm pretty happy with it. What do you think?


I also have a growing collection of sunglasses. Once upon a time I kept them in a big bowl, but the lenses would get scratched and that was the pits. So I came up with a new solution. I took one of Austin's tie's (he never wears a tie) and I cut 5 or 6 one inch vertical holes in down the center, just like a button hole, and then slid one of the arms of the glasses through each hole and tacked it to the wall. Then I gave myself a sturdy pat on the back ;)

Accessory Crisis averted! If you are a fan of the hanging piece that was featured on the Naughty Secretary Club blog then I have good news for you! I made another one, not quite the same. It's bigger, holding 11 pairs of earrings and was collage pauged with Traci Bautista's Sparkles decoupage. Very glam if I do say so myself. Photographing it is proving to be harder that herding cats, I'm doing the best I can.












So here's a sneak peak of the Bombshell earring display #2 which is totally for sale ;)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Charity in Style

Yes, we are in a recession. Things are tough all the way around. In times like these though we must think of each other. Think of "community" rather than "me". I'm talking locally, nationally & globally. We've all heard that what you give is what you get, so here are a few ways you can lend a helping hand to your constituency that don't require you to dole out lots of your hard earned cash.

In case you haven't had the pleasure, allow me to introduce you to Capucine. She is quite possibly the most adorable little story teller I've ever laid eyes on & she is calling on you to help the children of Mongolia have the same opportunities she does at school. You can purchase T-shirts with Capucine's drawings on them to help drop some knowlege.

Capucine for Edurelief in Mongolia from Capucha on Vimeo.

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I was outraged when I read about the assaults in Mangalore last month. 40 angry men assaulted a group of women who were found drinking in a pub called The Lounge. Why? They were asking for it? Hell no! Simply put, they felt that these women were bucking Indian culture. So these "self-styled moralists" took it upon themselves to show these women that they found their actions unacceptable, by chasing them, pushing them to the ground and even punching them and pulling their hair. In response to these horrific actions women all over India gathered up their pink chaddis (aka panties) and mailed them off to Mr Muthalik, the leader of Sri Rama Sene who was the brains behind this attack. Why pink panties?
Well, they were a Valentines day gift that said something you can't find the perfect card for. I mean, where can you find a card that says 'You can't shame us into submission!'? I do believe that the chaddi drive is over, but their fight for equality is not! Visit The Pink Chaddi Campain to find out what their next plan of action is and please join their facebook group. For even further details check out Ultra Violet.

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Did you know that most women wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time? I know this is true of me. I fall in and out of love in my closet almost daily. If you are in the Austin area and want to rejuvenate your wardrobe then I have just the thing for you! The Austin Womens Clothing Swap will be held on Saturday, March 28th. This is gives you plenty of time to clean out your closet! Come out, make friends, & get your swap on! All unclaimed garments at the end of the day will be donated to Safe Place.
Win Win! Check the link for more details.

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Also, don't forget that I will be giving 10% of all Model Citizen Clothing profits to The ARCH until the end of March. The ARCH is an amazing place that really gives people an opportunity to get off the street. They offer job placement assistance, have a laundry facility, clean showers, & a doctors office all on site. They even offer art and yoga classes to their clients. An incredibly worthy cause!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Safety First


Did you know that Valentine's Day is the first day of National Condom Week?
Well it is! To celebrate I'd like to share a few photos of some seriously amazing
garments constructed entirely out of condoms! I'm so impressed with all the different textures and colors in these designs - I just want to touch them! All the knots, braiding, layering, & i love how they make the condoms look like flowers! Do you think that these garments are noisy when they are worn? I bet they squeak. Most of what you see here was designed for a fashion show at the 4th Annual Reproductive Health Expo in Beijing back in 2007. Others were created for an event called Dress Up Against AIDS.



I remember episodes of Project Runway where the contestants would have to construct an outfit out of things they found in the grocery store or candy wrappers... I wonder if they have ever used condoms (I missed a season here and there)? If not, I'd like to see that. I read that the condoms pictured here were factory rejects. That kinda blew my mind! Talk about quality control! There are a lot of condoms here!



Well kids, remember to look both ways before crossing the street & while undressing Venus, don't forget to dress up the penis.



Saturday, February 14, 2009

Wishing you a very special VD

And by VD I do mean Valentines Day. You know, with chocolates, not antibiotics.
For the occasion I put together a little lovey dovey mix. It's mellow & sweet like reading the paper in bed on Sunday morning.


These are some of my all time favorite love songs. I'm a sucker for covers so there are a few of those in here for ya.

First off we have Kiss by Scout Niblett, if you don't already know and love her then this song should seal the deal. It's about a love so wholly satisfying it completes her. Better yet it is a duet with Will Oldham of Bonnie Prince Billy fame. The video for this song is one for the record books. Do check it out.

On second base we have Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits by The Magnetic Fields off of their 69 Love Songs collection. This stupidly sweet ditty that says it all.

Not to be all ga ga over Stephen Merrit of Magnetic Fields, but You You You You You by The 6ths (one of Stephens MANY bands) deserves a spot on every Love mix. This track is sung by Katherine Whalen of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. So dreamy and pure. Mmmm.

Next up, Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer. Growing up my best friend and I would sit in front of the tube soaking up as much MTV as our parents would allow. And we WERE addicted to Robert Palmer. We'd listen to this single over and over again while we crimped our hair and talked about boys we wanted to "french"... and what exactly "frenching" meant. Those were the days. Thanks Robert!
FACT: Chaka Khan was supposed to be sharing the lead vocals with Robert on this #1 single but due to contractual problems Chaka was removed from the final mix.

No. 5 The Pixies provided me with a soundtrack for my entire high school career. I'd sit in my car over lunch listening to Hey, hoping that cute loner guy who always wore black knew that I existed on some level.

Here's one of those covers I was talking about. Nouvelle Vague doing a smash up job with Modern English's Melt with You. Let the cooing begin.

I must be in a mood today because I couldn't stop myself from putting Meant To Be by the Squirrel Nut Zippers on here. It's such a fabulous song. So soft and rich, it will have you slow dancing around your house in a matter of seconds.

I know a lot of people think that Yoko might be the devil. I disagree, so now I give you "Yes I'm Your Angel". Tra la la la la!

In Spite of Ourselves by John Prine is me and Austin's FAVORITE song to sing together! Hilarious, honest, adorably crude & entirely optimistic.

We're going to wrap this up with a few more covers.

Moe Tucker's version of Be My Baby doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's Moe Tucker. Who I love and today is about Love... geez if only there were a Moe Tucker day!

Our final track of the day is I Touch Myself by Scala & The Kolacny Brothers. Originally performed by The Divinyls, but when this Belgian girls' choir gets their hands on it the song becomes a totally different creature. Enjoy!

Happy VD Everybody!
Much Love from me to you!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Reading Really Is Sexy


With Valentines Day looming and my bank account dwindling I've been thinking that a saucy night at home with the phones off may be the greatest gift I can offer my mister. What better way to prep for a zesty holiday romp than to peel open the pages of a dirty book? While I am no expert on erotic lit I do enjoy a good racey tale from time to time. I read anything from classic Anais Nin to the often hilariously cliche and totally hot Hipsterotica - which is filled with dirty hair, whiskey drenched kisses, vintage duds, & über hip playlists to get busy to. If erotica is new to you and yours I suggest you find a used edition of Delta of Venus or The Story of O at your local Half Priced books or you could check out Hipsterotica online for free. BUT if you really wanted to treat yourself... I would pick up X: The Erotic Treasury by Susie Bright. 40 hot and steamy stories cherry picked by the God Mother of Erotica herself, all wrapped up in a sexy slip cover that says everything you need to know. If all this reading has you feeling - excited - and inspired to scribble out your own "sin"sational saga then I suggest you pick up The Bald Headed Hermit & The Artichoke: An Erotic Thesaurus. It will open you up to new terminology, both classy and crude, and maybe even inspire a story you didn't think you didn't think you had in you. Plus you will totally impress all your friends with your new endless wealth of dirty words.

So - for this Valentines Day skip the chocolate covered cherries & spend a night in bed wearing nothing but your sexy reading glasses.

Actually - what am I saying? Never say no to chocolate covered anything! And don't forget the wine!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Want. Need. Pt. 4

What I really want and what I really need is sunshine, sand & the sea. I've been in a semi funk & I think it's because I'm ready for the world to be in bloom again. I'm tired of the tree's being bare & the nights being cold. My corner of the world isn't exactly glowing right now. An old drafty house & a dead yard is making me feel a little dark. This is where I am at, so why not embrace it? All of the things on this want & need list have been brought on by all the Joy Division I listened to this past weekend. I think I'd like to lay around, treating myself with these delightful looking Absinthe lollies from Lollyphile listening to yes, more Joy Division & letting the euphoria set in. Doesn't that sound like the best afternoon ever? Lollyphile is based in San Francisco and has been in operation since 2007 when they had an abundance of absinthe and NO candy (doesn't sound like the worst problem ever). They also offer other equally intriguing flavors such as Wasabi Ginger & Maple Bacon! A box of 12 will run you $24 & I think that is quite fair for a mouth full of decadence.

Since depressive hibernation is appealing to me at the moment, this bed (which I found on Apartment Therapy) looks like a dream come true. It is the Black Beauty of beds. So regal with it's amazing wood carvings & plush velvet. The wall paper doesn't do anything for me, I think it actually distracts you from the chandelier. Which may be a capital offense. But the bed, it could be anywhere in the world, an alley, whereever, & I'd be impressed right outta my pants & in between the sheets.



Next up on our list is something I've been coveting for a very long time. Alex & Chloe's Anneau Solitaire - Diamant Inverse Ring. Oxidized Sterling silver topped off with a cherry of a diamond. Pointy, dangerous, & sexy I like to justify the fact that I will probably spend the $340 they are asking for this ring because it doubles as a self defense device. I mean, I've got some moves. I know to go for the eyes & the groin. But if ever I'm headed back to my car alone after the bars have closed I think I'd feel pretty damn tough sporting this thing. Plus, if I totally chickened out I could just throw it at them, tell them its a real diamond & then run like hell.

AND how amazing would I look running away in this split personality number by Alicegohome? It's so modern-day-Stevie Nicks. I love the lower panel, the zippered bottom edge, the pinned up length of the sleeves & the silhouette. When I first laid eyes on it my inner voice said "that looks expensive". Well, guess again! Only $42! You can make it yours at www.YesStyle.com I stumbled upon this website a few weeks ago. It's like an Asian version of Urban Outfitter... or that's the best way I can describe it. Either way, it's fantastic and I want to give them all of my money. *Do NOT visit if you can't show self restraint*

With the dry cold weather & not enough sun my skin is getting scary. Dryness, breaking out, pores you can live in.. Ugh. I'm 27, whats up with this adult acne? While staring in the mirror at the disaster area that is my face I was reminded of my love for Maria Evora soap, made of sea salts & the dark fruits of the myrtles & carob trees. With a natural smell & beautiful cameo of Maria Evora herself this is a luxurious soap at a thrifty price. One bar will run you $5.75 + shipping at www.ADiscountBeauty.com


Then again, maybe rather than indulging in the darkness I should just try and over come my black thumbs. Bring a little bit of the outside in. Create my own Spring in this drafty house with a little help from Made By Mavis. She creates these adorable terrariums to
calm herself when she is feeling overwhelmed. I have to say, I love them and I am feeling the tranquility set in just by poking around in her shop.

And that concludes this episode of Want. Need.
I hope you enjoyed it.
And remember, while wanting things and striving to have more is a good thing (and fun) it's also very important to feel satisfied with the things you do have.
**I'm saying this more for me than for anyone else**