SOKO & SPIKE JONZE MAKE AN ALIEN LOVE STORY

i love soko and i love spike jonze but these screenshots from their music video collaboration have stolen my heart.

the video's super weird. including alien sex...which is weird but funny...and not because i'm five, it just is.

check it out here.

I TOOK THE PLUNGE...

my insta-tastic before and after

so i don't normally do drastic things but in this case, i didn't see any other option...

evidence which led to the chop:

1. i hadn't had a haircut in over a year
2. i was beginning to look like a sister wife
3. split ends were beginning to slice my face (exaggeration)
4. i had been hankering for a bob for about three years but didn't have the guts
5. ready for a fresh start and a 'new' me

enter alexz and samantha - two of my small business friends. both had amazing experiences at sine qua non salon. so i was intrigued. after explaining to the salon what i wanted and that i had 'difficult' hair (super thick - which has led to many 'accidental' mullets, wavy and rife with cowlicks) they recommended nate, or as i like to refer to him now as (not to his face at least) nate the wizard. he was one cool dude and brilliantly talented with the shears.

their lakeview location - the one i visited - is literally right outside the paulina brown line station which was so nice and convenient. i walked in and was instantly put in a good mood; they had 60's french pop music playing and warm, scented candles sporadically glowing. they had lemon water for us in the waiting area and i was offered tea/coffee upon my arrival. the staff there were so sweet.

nate took plenty of time to figure out what i wanted (i even brought pictures). he explained everything and clarified where i wanted the length, layers, part, bangs and even how i wanted to style it afterwards. it was wonderful. here's a photo of us mid-cut...

ugh! when we were finished, i felt so happy, spunky and light! i absolutely love my new cut! i will surely be visiting nate the wizard again very soon. i am thinking a color and bang trim might be due before my next cut though....oooh, color me intrigued. 

so what do you think? it's definitely not my long hair anymore but the amazing thing is, i still have so much i can do with it. see the variety below - can't wait to try some of these! you can find the sources for these on my hairy situation pinterest board.

waves held back and a sleek and simple barrette 

victory rolls and a bit of a 40's meets 70's bobbed fro

nice, messy waves and a modern take on a victory roll

voluminous finger waves on miss katharine and some bottom rollers

messy bun and a debbie harry-esque do

tousled and pulled back vs sleek and straightened

curled to one side and braided updo

messy twists and a sleek twist

and of course the lady that inspired it all 

and of course the finished product after nate the wizard styled it...

thank you sine qua non salon and nate the wizard! i had a blast and i will most definitely be back soon!

you can find out more about the salon below at the following links and be sure to follow them because they have fabulous deals and are always posting awesome tutorials like how to do a faux bob (if you were inspired by this) that was featured on refinery 29 and plenty of inspiration pics that they pin!

website

blog

facebook

twitter

pinterest

youtube

EERILY BEAUTIFUL AMATEUR AUTOCHROMES

selected photos above: circa 1910-1916
by American lawyer and New York socialite John Bond Trevor Sr.
you can find out more about autochrome here.

source: retronaut

SPRING SUMMER 2013 COLLECTION IN THE WORKS

hello everyone! despite my silence here, there have been some pretty big things in the works that have me pretty excited. one of the first being my new website, which i've already told you about, but secondly, my new collection!

i have been experimenting with all types of materials, tools and solutions. some beautiful things have happened thanks to this new process and i wanted to share it with you first :)

so here is a tiny sneak peek of the collection board i put together this morning while my rabbit alphonso tried to attack the board thinking he was saving me from it. oh boy. but i hope you can get a bit of a feel for the pieces. i tried to make some of my items from my last collection {which was entirely in bronze} more affordable which included using brass over bronze and doing the entire process without lost wax casting this time.

the results thus far have been fruitful and it makes me giddy just thinking about showing them to you!

NEVER JUDGE A RECORD BY IT'S COVER

being a designer, it's understandable that i'd be quite a visual creature. i find myself trying to buy things that are visually intriguing but not for the actual reason the products/things were intended for. hence my continuing battle with vintage vinyl.

these were snaps i took from two different record stores in chicago within two days and these were just a few of the ones i had to stop myself from buying...since i just wanted them for the cover. sure these records might be good but seriously, i don't need another liza minnelli record - i already memorized all the cabaret songs so that is more than enough liza for me. these other ladies might be fabulous but i have begun to google their music first if i really find something i want to get so i don't get burned again...

allow me to explain: i bought a record a couple of moths ago solely for the imagery and novelty. it was a soundtrack of a movie called the boyfriend that twiggy was in! the costumes and set design on the cover were amazing so i was like alright, worth a shot because i will kick my own ass if i don't get this and it gets snatched up. i brought it home to play and it was TERRIBLE.

so now i have been practicing some restraint. and in that same spirit, thought i'd share some of these fabulous records with you and see if you have suffered from the same ailment ever?

BRAND DESIGN NOTES

LOVE THIS POINTILLISM SHAPE EMANATING.  ALSO LOVE THE ROSE GOLD ON DEEP BLACK//BLUE.

LOVE THE ROSE GOLD AND SHAPES ON THIS ONE AS WELL.

LOVE THE TEXTURE OF THAT PAPER: BLUE//BLACK//GOLD WITH THAT GORGEOUS GREEN SHAPE
 RUNNING THROUGH IT. THAT FONT MAKES IT SO GORGEOUSLY STARK AND MODERN ON
SOMETHING SO DELICATE.

FABULOUS COMBO ONCE AGAIN. LOVE THE STARK CONTRAST OF COLORS. 

ONE MORE PERFECT COLOR COMBO.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS FONT. I THINK THE LETTER 'W' IN THIS WOULD MAKE A
FANTASTIC PART TO MY LOGO. 

some branding ideas i'm running around with. my head hurts.

*please click on the images to be taken directly to the source.

SITE REDESIGN MOODBOARD

i am a perfectionist. i know this about myself.

so i started a few moodboards on pinterest of aesthetics i liked and thought embraced my brand. a lot of the images i ended up pinning were deco and nouveau pieces with punches of color but mainly deep blacks and navys with gold.

i am lucky enough to be working with a true dream team:: Dennise Saxton of Tenacious Dee and Daniel Krueger. we all actually met in blogshop video when it was here in chicago.

i can't wait to be in the design process with them, actually be able to see my vision come alive and be proud of my website. i will surely unveil it to you all here when the time comes!

*please click on the images to be taken directly to the source.