fall window display 2010 // anthropologie

the last of my summer work at anthropologie for their visual display internship.
theme: boathouse
over 50 vintage wooden "buoys" were constructed.



also, take note. the numbers i painted on there were actually special numbers. you'll have to stop by the store itself to see them because they aren't in these photographs.

diy: sewn book page tree

there is something about a page of text looks beautiful to me. the formatting, the font, the paragraphs. just the rhythm of words & how they flow embedded on a book page. i like books. i like fonts. i like book pages.

i love them so much that i'll even rip them apart.
and make a tree.



i simply ripped out book pages and tossed them under the sewing machine as i was stitching them together. some thumb tacks later, and you've got a tree. i twisted and contorted some of the book pages to add some depth and dimension.

i took book pages made from trees,  that were bound in a book, and repurposed them into a tree. if that's not postmodern, i don't know what is. or just irony.

10 things I’d like to tell my 17 year-old self

well, like sara, i also had to wait 5 years to grow into my nose.

1. swim smarter, not harder. you're always going to be scrawny, so don't bother lifting weights to "get big." just pretend that you're struggling & working hard when the coaches/teammates/othergirlsintheweightroom are looking.


2. don't go skiing in january. you'll tear your LCL and it will hurt. a lot.


3. take an art class.
   yeah, one that requires you to be critiqued and graded for what you "think looks cool." constructive criticism is good! and they probably wouldn't understand it anyway.


4. go to college. and go to northwest for your first year of college, you'll love it. then hate it, then want to leave. and that's okay.


5. don't spend $28 on an urban outfitters t-shirt. you're cool without it.


6. even though you want to get your lip pierced, don't do it. it will leave a mark. trust me.


7. don't let freshmen play "kick jeff's car game" after swim practice. dad is going to be pissed.


8. take off your headphones that are blaring dashboard confessional when you're walking around in the hallway. life isn't that bad & i swear someone understands what you're going through.


9. you've got a master key to the high school, use it wisely. & more often.


10. utilize your class time wisely, and by wisely, i mean work on the kansas city star crossword puzzle during class so you can finish it before kimberly does.

dining room turned "zen" room possible inspiration

hi says tommy boy

sometimes, i'm not sure why i buy some things. yanno, maybe it's that a company made it that i love, so once i see the brand "i've gotta get it."  this circle rug was one of these.

it was a floor display that was used in the store, so literally, it was a floor display. i'm going to help redo the formal dining room into a "zen" room for my mother. i don't know if i like the idea of this "zen" crap, but i'll do it to make my mother happy. (however, i'll add a little spin of vintage & elegance to it.)

i think i may want to use this piece as an inspiration to base all the other finds that i'll be scavenging for over the next few months. apparently, the formal dining room has to stay "formal" because it's aunt whats-her-face's furniture that she wants to see. however, the only thing she is going to see is how hideous it is, unused it's been, and the sheer amount of dust that never knew it could collect in 1 year. so, i can't start this until november.

but, really, come on. check out the price tag.

feel free to post any fun color palettes. i think i like this one.


Color by COLOURlovers

summer window display // anthropologie

this was my first project at anthropologie as visual display intern. when i signed up for the internship, i was informed that i would be doing a lot of tedious & monotonous work.

flashback: unpaid labor for doing arts & craft that was going to be on display and then tore down. this sounds familiar... a lot like pledgeship during homecoming. minus the hazing & alcohol. however, this unpaid labor was for school credit and not for some greek society.

i thought, okay, that sounds fine to me. i would be learning lots of new crafts & skills, and maybe even bring some of my own handiwork to the table. did i know i was going to be doing basket-weaving? did i know how to do that before? no. the only thing i knew about basket-weaving and baskets was that my mother, a midwestern middle-class suburban stay-at-home mom, loved longaberger baskets.





as i got the hang of making this basket-woven tepee-like structures, i became more comfortable with trying out different ways to maneuver the reeds. i had to use my iphone to snag this shot.

so, why not intersect this two.

these displays for the summer are now gone. i tore them down with tears that i never shed in undergraduate upon my first art project, because after all, this was my first art project for school credit.

bedroom display 2 // anthropologie

over my summer internship at anthropologie, i had the opportunity to go through an entire floor change of the concepts. home and apparel. this home concept was called, "material culture."



now complete with bedding. we used the extra burlap dyed strips to accent the folded yoruba bedding. you can see the before without the bedding here (link)

behind the bedding display, we did some string art. i never thought i would be doing string art for school credit, but i did. that & basket weaving.

yes, i nailed in each of those nails in a perfect circle. using a pattern, of course, same depth too.

reasons you should move to kansas city #1

i'll take you to legendary places like this:

even the worst people, like a st. louisan & a east coaster, can be awakened to the wondrous joy that kansas city embodies.

tweet tweet from sri lanka

when it was a little cooler in the summer, i went out to a couple of estate sales down in southern kansas city. along the way, you always stop at the other sales that didn't scout out. i'm glad i stopped at this woman's garage sale, we chatted, and shared a bit about ourselves. i paced around and did a couple of laps around her wares, and stumbled upon these. intrigued, i picked them up and walked over to her. she told me the story behind these little birds.







they were her grandmother's growing up & she always had them in potted plants. she didn't know where they came from, until i looked at the tag that still said "made in sri lanka." the woman went on and on about how she remembered them from her childhood, and still wanted to keep one for herself. so, i made it away with 3 of the 4. they very beautiful and hand painted. i don't have any potted plants in my room, nor a patio. so i stuck them about my room, until i get my own place.

they were a little pricey for my lack of income, but $1 a piece was cool by me. they totally look like something anthropologie would sell or their new company, terrain.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="535" caption="bamboo garden markers"][/caption]

how cool would it be to have these hanging out next to them?

i should send keith johnson an email.

skull-and-bones bow tie

after emily's whimsical birthday bash, i lost 3 of my bow ties that i doled out to my fellow brethren. i need to replenish that collection. this would be nice & an upgrade.

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4 years later...

and a total of 18 roommates, 4 colleges, 3.5 years of school,  3 different cities, 2 degrees, 2 summers of summer school, 1 missing semester, and i'm a college graduate.

maybe i'll give graduate school a shot, and keep the transfer rate to a lower number.