Extended Weekend Wrap-Up: Ruffled Thursday, Violet Friday, Blue Leopard Winesday and Karen's Fan

Hello, my friends! The end of last week was a hectic whirl of Book Club and then Friday and then Winesday, so lots of catching up to do. 

Without further ado, we have some craziness for Thursday. 

I wore this for my WW group and for my Book Club babes - such a fun and flashy outfit! I love getting more dressed up for the holiday season.

This is my entry for "Visible Monday" over at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style - go, run, now!

• Coat - thrifted, Aldo; last seen here in December 2014 with a denim maxi skirt
• Lace shirt - vintage fair; last worn here (6th outfit) in October in a major Victorian outfit
• Dress - Danier Leather, vintage, late 90s, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) in March for a house party
• Shoes - Almafi by Rangoni for Ingledews, vintage 80s; thrifted here for $14.95

"I like your leg."

I always get huge reactions when I wear this dress. Yes, it's leather. I loved it with the lace blouse under it.

"You're boring me."

Why not go to 11 with a shiny brocade coat?

The stuff:

I freakin' LOVE these shoes. They are so soft and easy to walk in - just gorgeously made, too.

Bold bling:

These earrings get double-takes.

• Earrings - Dior, consignment
• Necklace - consignment

I went straight to Book Club from my WW meeting, ate yummy food, drank yummy wine and tottered home late. To bed!

I wore my hair product-less (colouring it that night) and did everyone's favourite thing at work.

I matched my hair and my clothes. People flip out, it's crazy.

• Blouse - Guess, consignment; purchased here last weekend for $9.50
• Skirt - Nicole Miller, vintage 80s; last seen here in August with a furry shirt
• Shoes - Camper; last worn here in June with more magenta matchy

I liked the looseness of this shirt quite a lot - it's semi-sheer, so I wore a black vintage camisole under it. Unfortunately, the camisole would not stay in place, and I spent the day adjusting my straps and neckline. Into the donation pile the cami goes!

I did a sewing repair job on the back slit of this skirt recently - it's a tight skirt for walking in and it had pulled apart a bit. It's denim with some stretch.

The stuff:

Sweet pink spattery pumps!

Silver bling:

Feeling the boho vibe a bit.

• Bracelet - Ellandemm, thrifted
• Stacking rings - thrifted
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Death Star ring - Soul Flower
• Earrings - gift from Lise

I dyed my hair after work, then chilled with L and Vizzini, playing boardgames. My favourite thing in the world to do.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?"

Comfy clothes for brunch out. Freshy-dyed hair.

 I wore this all day and into the late evening for Winesday.

• Jacket - Live a Little, consignment; purchased here last weekend for $20.95
• Sweater - Club Monaco, thrifted; last worn here in February
• Skirt - Theo Miles, thrifted; first seen here in September for Casual Friday
• Booties - Bad Laundry, thrifted; first worn here last Friday with all the textures

I just loved how the blue tone in the shirt went with the blue wool wrap skirt. This was a very cozy outfit to wear.

I adore those silver booties.

Bundled up for the chill.

Gloves, scarf and purse, let's go!

The stuff:

So shiny!

• Earrings - Glee

At Winesday, I gave Karen her fan, which I finished on Saturday afternoon. Here it is all finished.

If you're interested, I have a huge number of "in progress" shots below. Karen really loved it. Aw! Hugs!

I sat near the deck doors and worked on the fan for about 3 hours. It was lovely natural light.

"It would be better on the deck." 

Winesday was wonderful, as always.

Any party with 11 packages of chocolate is a good party! At least our chips were baked.

Today, I strolled to town for groceries, and quickly popped into the Patch. I scored on this amazing handmade silk "secretary" blouse.

It was $9.99, but was free (buy 2, get 1 deal - I bought a couple of things for L).

This entire blouse does up with tiny snap fasteners! All down the front, and on the sleeves.

Don't you just love the red and lavender flowers? And the ribbon texture? So very 70s/early 80s.

Anyway, that was my weekend - long and full of good things. And I hope yours was too!
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Speaking of good things, here are the progress pictures for Karen's fan. Scroll on if you dare!

I started with a blank paper and bamboo fan (less than $2.00 at the Chinatown Trading Company). I'd asked Karen what she wanted on her fan, and she sent me some of Rainier Maria Rilke's poetry that she loved.

She also loves ravens.

And taking pictures.

Camera aperture desisgns.

I sketched out where I wanted everything to go and started inking.

On my first session, I outlined everything, did the borders of the unreeled film, completed the aperture shape, and got one of the ravens done.

Karen is a fan of First Nations (Indian) art, so I wanted to use similar forms for the birds' feathers.

I used the same feather forms on the right as the left raven. The central raven was done then too.

I made him a bit darker and played with different patterns to separate his wing, head and belly. 

On this session, I thickened up the lettering and started working on the individual frames on the film strip.

I did each frame differently, playing with shapes and different Zentangles.  

It was fun doing them.

 Yesterday, I finished the film strips.

Then I outlined it in a thick black line.

I felt it made it pop more.

I used my watercolour pencils to add just a touch of colour around the words. This is before I've added water.

Karen is a fan of steampunk and I wanted her fan to have a weathered look, with a strong sepia tone.

I emphasized a few words with green, which fitted the quote.

Vizzini supervised.

"I would like to bite that."

He's actually looking at my paintbrush tip there - he attacked it the whole time I was using it. Time to get the water out and get the background filled in!

Here's the finished fan.

This is several layers of watered-down India ink.

It was a present from Mom.

 I really like how it gives it sort of a tea-stained look.

Overall, I was really happy with how this fan turned out.

My good friend Elaine is up next for a fan. I'm excited to try something different!

More Leopard - 70s Vibe-ing

Thank you all for your good vibes on our poor downed tree(s) yesterday. 

I'm still in a woodsy mood with my outfits. Oh, and leopard. Because it never goes out of style.

• Blouse - Planet, consignment; last worn here in October 2014 with purple velvet
• Skirt - Danier Leather, thrifted; purchased here for $10.00
• Boots - Indigo by Clarks; last seen here at the same time as I bought the skirt

I took a quick picture of the stump of the tree this morning (forgive my blurriness).

Too many tiny rings to count! 

The paper today was full of stories of all the beautiful trees that fell - after the long dry summer we had, all this rain was just too much for them. Unfortunately, Garry oaks don't work well for woodworking (they warp), but they burn really hot and slow, so I hope the pieces will go to good use.

I discovered that our tree was probably close to 200 years old, and was nearly 60 feet tall! Wow, I'm in awe, especially since the soil in this area is very shallow - the root system of this tree only goes down about 3 feet.

A last look at our oak. I doubt we will plant another tree there (not with 4 more still extant). 

Well, moving on. Check out my 70s vibe, yo.

I'm shocked that I haven't worn this blouse in over a year! I vaguely recall that it was in the giveaway pile (and no one took it) and I pulled it back out. I'm glad I did - it' a classic print and shape, and I like that it's semi-sheer.

The skirt was lovely for its first wearing. I think I may be adding "brown leather skirts" to my Danger List, which is things I need to be steered away from. This includes anything with shine, embroidery...and black leather skirts. Heh.

The stuff:

Love these boots. They are getting nicely beat up. I don't like my boots to look pristine.

Round bling:

Mom's belt and my "back in fashion" gold hoops.

• Belt - vintage 60s, Mom's
• Earrings - 5th anniversary gift from L
• Ring - c. 1998ish

The wind and rain are done for today, but it never really stops for good here. No more trees falling!

A Farewell to Trees - Leopard and Green

It's been hugely stormy and windy here today - sorry for the blur, but rain was blowing in at me while I was trying to hold my "stair plank" pose!

Very nasty! I arrived at work soaking wet, as did most of my coworkers, and dealt with leaks all over our building from the wind blowing the rain sideways.

• Jacket - Talbots, thrifted; first worn here in February with the barn skirt
• Lurex top - no label, thrifted; purchased here for $5.95
• Skirt - Club Monaco; last seen here in June during a heat wave
• Shoes - Diba, thrifted; purchased here for $8.50 

 It was a good day for a wool jacket!

It was really grey out this morning - sorry, this is just how my pictures are until it's lighter. Arg!

The stuff:

Um, blurry. I have no excuse, except that I needed to get that mink brooch away from Vizzini before he licked it to death.

These shoes were shockingly comfortable all day! No snags, no rubs, nothin'! I'm pleased. I didn't think they would be keepers.

Lux bling:

All very classy, to be sure.

• Mink brooch - thrifted
• Faux Gucci bracelet - gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1987?
• Earrings - local
• Ring - consignment

Sad news today...

One of the Garry oak trees on our street blew down! It broke three windows in an apartment building, but thank goodness no one was hurt! It's really lucky that it fell along the yards/sidewalk. Since I got these pictures, it's all been cut up and hauled away, except for the stump.

So sad. I hate to see any tree get cut down, but these are 50 feet tall, and easily older than any buildings on our street. Garry oak trees are native to this area (about them here). These are probably 60 years old or more. I'll have to count the rings in the trunk tomorrow before they take it away.

Even sadder, the tree next to it has been deemed dangerous by the city, so it has to come down as well. Officer Vizzini will be very sad when he realizes that part of his 'hood is gone. We will miss the gorgeous leaves and beautiful bark, and the squirrels, crows, other birds, and raccoons that have inhabited both of these trees over the nearly 20 years that we've shared a block with them. They've provided us with shade, privacy and beauty, and I'm thankful for that.

Goodbye, lovely oaks.