Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

parkville ladies

once upon a time, i was a photographer in high school. i was digging through my old high school photographs on various photo servers online & found some treasures that i'll probably be reposting soon.

this has always been a captivating photograph for me. it's so simple. four beautiful old women who have been friends for ages sitting on a picnic table watching the skyline across the missouri river like they used to as children.



i took this photograph in 2004 or 2005 in parkville, mo. such a beautiful town just north of kansas city with a great park to run on.

Monday, June 28, 2010

harry potter and the deathly hollows part 1 trailer







i'm finally reading the 7th book & the latest trailer was just released! so stoked.

chicago skyline

although all of these original files are lost, i have them saved on an online server.
another great photograph from high school. i have this printed out somewhere, i know i do.
it's in chicago from 2005.



great colors for a cheap little canon. i swear these clouds are not photoshopped. and my shutter wasn't that slow.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

trends: bird cages

On Saturday, I got off work just after noon from the brunch shift. I remembered that there was this huge warehouse full of antiques and I had earned some cold hard cash from some tips.* So I thought I would wander on over before I fled back up North to my home. I spotted two great bird cages at the River Market Antique Mall.

[caption id="attachment_428" align="aligncenter" width="429" caption="Wrung Iron Bird Cage, $60"][/caption]

I absolutely adore this cage. So cool.

[caption id="attachment_429" align="aligncenter" width="429" caption="White Bird Cage, $25"][/caption]

Very simple white cage that is fairly cheap and could be hung.

Design*Sponge found a load of bird cages at Brimfield and did a wrap-up of the trends. At the River Market, they also had a couple of bird cages that were on stands, like 4 feet off the ground, however the cages were tacky or they just didn't look right.


* I've made a total of $6 so far because the other servers haven't tipped out yet. I know, that's not a lot of money but when you haven't had a job in awhile....it's more than you had before!

Monday, June 14, 2010

IS•LY: calligraphy

I've been into letterpress goods lately, like Rifle Paper Co. & Hammerpress, however I stumbled upon this beautiful piece of calligraphy from IS•LY.


When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

– Desiderius Erasmus

I love this whimsical handwriting.
I've never dabbled in calligraphy, yet I'm vain enough to admit I like my various handwriting styles that I may want to try something like this. But am I vain enough to hang it up in my own room? Haha, we'll see.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

diy: string tree wall mural

Maybe it's my nostalgic love for agrarian societies that I never experienced as a child as an oppressed suburban middle-class white boy, or my half-hearted allure for the idea of the outdoors to reclaim the remnants of alpha-type masculinity, but I love trees.

Check this apartment therapy hack via re-nest:
How to Make a String Tree Wall Mural

It looks fairly easy to make & I have a rich avocado green wall, a little darker than theirs, to work with.

Just promise me I'll never get a tree tattoo, instead let me channel my appetite through artwork of trees and the like.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

billykirk & hammerpress

Looks like Hammerpress was influenced by BillyKirk's medium carryall bag. I just love the mustard color & leather details.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Billykirk Medium Carryall"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="417" caption="Hammerpress Tote"][/caption]

I'm still going to go for the Hammerpress bag since, it's only $60 and not $320 like the Billykirk one.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

garage sale treasures | 6/5/10

On Saturday, my friend Katie informed me of a sale happening in the West Plaza neighborhood in Kansas City. I found a ballin' leather dossier/clutch on Mercer Street from a very nice lady who held it for while I ran to the ATM to fetch some cash.



Although I'm not in need of a pencil holder, I am in "need" of that dang leather clutch that I've been searching the women's purse racks, tables of backpacks, and shelves of traveling bags for. And this weekend I finally found that is more suitable, fashionable, real, and masculine than the last one.


Funny that I should mention Coach bags on my last post and now I'm like every other college freshman girl at sorority recruitment with their Coach bag ready to take on the world, or just  swarms of upper-class white girls.



But Jeff, why are you wanting this dossier, or clutch, or man purse?
Well,most of my bottoms, jeans & shorts, are tighter fitting and they just look funny with my car keys, iPhone, wallet, 0.38 pilot pen, and dairy relief pills clumped in my slim-cut BDG shorts or Urban Slim-Fit J.Crew khakis. So  I thought of a solution. A nice dossier to hold my belongings and planner. It's like a fanny pack, or one of those Mountain Smith bags that HYC's* love to tote around, but sleeker & more professional? Plus it totally looks like a planner or one of those nerdy and weird trapper keeper things for Bibles.


Great find, no? and only $2. Isn't there a lifetime warranty on Coach leather-ware? I could send this bad boy in and get it fixed up.

*HYC: Hip, young Christians. They love outdoor performance gear.

Monday, June 7, 2010

hammerpress // first fridays

One of the usual stops for my friends & I when we go to Kansas City's First Fridays is Hammerpress.

Hammerpress is a local letterpress shop in Kansas City that creates beautiful letter pressed stationary, posters, wedding invitations, cards, and other assorted paper goods.

If I ever have an event/occasion that's a step above a party that would merit invitations, you know, like a graduation party from college, I would totally get the goods from Hammerpress.* However, did you know that Hammerpress makes beautiful leather & canvas bags?


Leather & canvas. Whenever I get a job, I'm gonna go back there & buy one for sure.** $60 for the smaller one (top), and only $70 for the bigger one (bottom).


The bags are not listed on the website. I'm not sure what exactly a bag that size (bottom, the larger one) would be made for. Maybe something to do with letter press things, who knows, but you could always use a great bag to tote around your laptop, books, or even other things that young professionals, real adults, and people with jobs need to carry around.




*Whoops, that party never happened, nor did it happened when I graduated from secondary school. I opted out of having a "high school graduation" party, because it would have been more of an event to coordinate and set up the dang thing in itself than throw the actual party. Consider it a favor, parents. :)
**Correct, I still do not have a job. I've been interning at Anthropologie as a Visual Display Intern, but alas, no call-backs from my call-backs. I'm hoping to nab a short time serving gig at a kitschy restaurant.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

cath kidston iphone cases

Design*sponge posted a really sweet round up of iphone cases. It was about time too. And I fell in love with these cases.


Great patterns. I've never heard of Cath Kidston, but I can for sure dig some of her stuff. I'm really a sucker for floral, especially mixed with some paisley.  They remind me of Sara's sofa, which can be seen in this shot that I totally dig.

I said dig twice in this post. Really, Jeff?