an outfit in parts

i wasn't very happy with my full length shot, so here it is in bits and
pieces.

wearing: shirt from issaac mizrahi for target via goodwill, skirt from
f21, tights from hue, shoes from sears clearance, and necklace from
sophie of thatvintage.

softspoken teal fringe scarf

i found a new yarn which is perfect for making these fringed triangle scarves.
last summer i started making them for the shop using a bamboo blend yarn
which had a very limited color availability. this yarn isn't as fancy as the
bamboo yarn, but it's still so soft and has the same light and pretty drapey
quality. plus it's available in a whole rainbow, so i can't wait to make one
in every color.


trench - charleston outlet mall for a song
grey tee - now out of business goody's
cut off shorts - gap jeans via goodwill
leggings - target
shoes - payless
teal scarf - by me, softspoken.etsy.com

worn - march 24, 2010

i was wearing an orange sweet sundress earlier, but part
of me feels so out of place in girly dresses these days.

denim blazer - rainbow
purple tee - old navy outlet
black shorts - target pj's
white scarf - target
shoes - payless
glasses - goodwill

summer past

just found this photo of m's little one and i at last summer's
crafty feast snapped by ms. jen ray.

more faves:





























photos by jen ray via the free times.

jen also sells prints on etsy that look just like this:







site: jenray.net
blog: a wild raccoon
etsy: corduroy

crafty feast

ai: 1947-2010

this poem was
always a favorite of mine:

Conversation
by Ai
for Robert Lowell

We smile at each other
and I lean back against the wicker couch.
How does it feel to be dead? I say.
You touch my knees with your blue fingers.
And when you open your mouth,
a ball of yellow light falls to the floor
and burns a hole through it.
Don’t tell me, I say. I don't want to hear.
Did you ever, you start,
wear a certain kind of silk dress
and just by accident,
so inconsequential you barely notice it,
your fingers graze that dress
and you hear the sound of a knife cutting paper,
you see it too
and you realize how that image
is simply the extension of another image,
that your own life
is a chain of words
that one day will snap.
Words, you say, young girls in a circle, holding hands,
and beginning to rise heavenward
in their confirmation dresses,
like white helium balloons,
the wreaths of flowers on their heads spinning,
and above all that,
that’s where I’m floating,
and that’s what it’s like
only ten times clearer,
ten times more horrible.
Could anyone alive survive it?

more...

sunscreen and floppy hats

i'm really proud of these little sun hats. they're so hard
on my hands and cause them to cramp for two days after, but
they're just what i had in mind for readying my shop for
the long summer days, weeks and months.

raffia sun hat - by me, softspoken.etsy.com
t-shirt - gap outlet
cardi - charlotte russe
floral jeans - wetseal
shoes - target
heart locket - dg

spotty

i chopped my locks yet again. another diy haircut.

black chain scarf - by me, softspoken.etsy.com
black tights
shoes - payless
dress - by corpus

purple head wrap

softspoken.etsy.com

to all my contest winners - thank you so much for your patience
during this time. all of your packages will be shipping out
tuesday and wednesday!

old natchez on the mississippi

a 1939 film on natchez - the town
where i was born and raised.
so very much of its time.

softspoken handmade bucket cloche

this is another summer hat i tried my hand at with new
materials. this is faux raffia made of paper. i've been
looking at hats online at all the trendy little shops and
it turns out lots of them are made from this stuff! it's still
hard on my hands, but a little easier to work than the
natural raffia since it's uniform in size. it just doesn't have
that springtime sweet and grassy smell that the real stuff has!
i'm also undecided about the ribbon band. i'm having a hard
time attaching it permanantly, and am wondering if perhaps
i should just include the ribbon in the package without
attaching it so it will be left up to the buyer whether the
want to wear it or not. part of the problem is that the
hat has some give and i worry if i attach the ribbon that it
will make it not as multi-size friendly as it is now. any
ideas?

hat - me, softspoken etsy
cardi - gap outlet
scarf - some dollar shop
dress - the "new" rack at goodwill, but a walmart brand i think
brown tights - target
shoes - sears long ago

grape fizz is back!

one of my more popular items which has been out of shop for
a while has returned! i finally found a replacement for that
pretty discontinued plum yarn.

softspoken.etsy.com

chunky rib knit scarf

this is the first knitting project i've ever completed -
though hardly the first i've ever started.

softspoken.etsy.com

shades of grey

i did a wholesale order for a canadian distributor who wanted my chain
scarves in grey. i searched and searched for an affordable grey cotton
with no luck and ended up hand dyeing each piece myself. hours and
hours of hard work only to have them return them saying they just
weren't the right sort of grey. i think they're perfectly grey though,
so into the shop they go.

wearing:

grey chain scarf - me, softspoken.etsy.com
red tee - gap outlet
skirt - target
tights - hue
laredo fringe boots - goodwill
reading glasses - goodwill

softspoken raffia sun hat

floppy sun hat made of 100% natural raffia which smells
like sweet grass and summer days. the strands i used to
make this hat are all natural and vary in size which lends
to a rustic yet totally sweet look. this hat is crying for a
sweet airy white dress and an open meadow. also seen
is my lovely bird pendant from my trade with sweet
sophie of that vintage. i also received a deer one plus
earrings which are all equally as lovely!

softspoken.etsy.com

bathroom mirrors 4ever