Art, Aspirations, and Etsy

Yep, I'm doing it again. I listed some art prints on my sadly empty Etsy shop, Swallow Light Bulbs, and have once again started the long, sad wait.... hoping for someone to stumble onto it and maybe like one of my prints and actually give me money for it. I'm going to really give it an effort this time, though. Last time I just sort of put up four or five items and then sat around doing the sad hoping thing. THIS time I'm going to put up a whole load of stuff, maybe even things other than prints, and I'm going to try to spread the word so people will actually find my shop.

This came about for two reasons:

1. I've been planning to paint a lot this summer anyway.

And 2. I just got a pack of business cards for 6 bucks. It was fun to design them and I figured why not? Of course, I needed a business, so that's where my little etsy shop came in.

So, I guess my plan is to stick those cute little cards everywhere once they arrive, put up a bunch of things in the shop, and tell everyone (on the Internet and in the real world). Maybe I'll actually make some money this summer? We'll see. I'm not usually very good at self-promotion; it makes me feel so guilty! Oh well. Wish me luck!

Oh, and here's the prints I have up so far:







They're all about $15 bucks. I hope that's not an outrageous price; but it's my artwork and I think it'd look pretty enough on someone's wall, so I felt justified in charging a little more than ten bucks.

I'm also going to try and add other things, like masks, paper dolls, and I'd love to do a custom painting or portrait for someone. And of course there'll be more prints soon.

If you liked what you see, rush on over to www.etsy.com/shop/SwallowLightBulbs, cause you know it's all gonna be gone in like, a day. Ha.

If you have any Etsy advice for me, leave it in the comments! :)

Fashion Inspiration

Lately, I've been inspired to try to figure out what exacty is "my style." It's gonna be hard, because I like all kinds of different clothes and styles. I know what isn't my style, certainly--bohemian, gothic/emo, and college student (you know--the dreaded Uggs/leggings as pants/college sweatshirt combo) all don't appeal to me. However, I enjoy a wide variety of other styles. Sometimes I like to look really girly, with a flowery dress and cute shoes; other times I'm into a preppy or classic look, with a button-up shirt and skirt; sometimes I try (try being the key word) to look punky, with red skinnies and lots of black and my hair looking just the way it did when I woke up. But I see other people who seem to know what their style is, have it down to some very specific formula, and stick to it. You could describe their style in one way, and in a way, it sort of describes their personality at the same time. I'm jealous.

For example, there's two girls that I constantly see on campus that have very distinct styles. One is in my 8 o'clock English class. She's hard to ignore, with long, crazy red-brown hair (curly isn't the word for it; it's just a series of hairpin turns all the way from her scalp to her back) and what I guess is sort of a tomboy/punk style that she manages to make look sexy. She often wears shorts with big manly boots, I believe she has a brown leather jacket, often sports a big brown slouchy bag (of the kind that I covet), and she always, always has tons of colorful bangles and bracelets on her wrists and huge cocktail rings on her fingers. It's an interesting look; not like really crazy, but definitely stands out from the rest of the students' wardrobes. I get the feeling that she has a lot of unique pieces, like her jewelry and things like a crazy patterned, green and blue pair of pants she wore once, but she tones that down with a lot of brown and simpler pieces. Oh, and she also has a crazy, huge pair of glasses that make me think of Professor Trelawney when she's wearing them. Anyway, here's some examples I found that sort of resembled her look, although not perfectly--it was hard. But she had similar boots to these:
I could see her wearing those shorts:

As for the other girl, I always see her in the Old Library, which mostly houses the Anthropology Department, I think. It's a big, dark, drafty and old-fashioned building, and it suits her perfectly. She has a very specific style that she never wavers from, and it's definitely unique from the rest of the college kids here. She's very romantic gothic looking, with long, pale blonde hair and very flowy outfits. I almost always see her wearing white and black: a long white dress or skirt with a long black coat over it. Sometimes she adds dark blue or brown, and sometimes she wears really wide-legged, flowy pants. But that's all the variation I've ever seen. It's very simple and beautiful, and I've wanted to copy her look for ages. Somehow, though, I don't think it would work as well for me--which is why I have to find my own look. Anyway, here's what I could find to reflect her style. Both pictures are just flowy, long white dresses with heavy black coats over them:


(In reality, the dresses she wears are longer than that. She always wears floor-length dress/skirts. )

So, what do you think of these two girls' styles? Which would you prefer? Do you know what your own style is?

Two Cool Sale Finds

New York & Company is having a huge, 70% spring sale, so I went over to check it out and found two awesome things for serious cheap (although I didn't get them; sad, but this is just pretend shopping).

First off, I have an ongoing list of wardrobe staples that I need to acquire, and on that list is a pencil skirt. NY & Company has this one on sale for 5 measly bucks!

It'd be great for when (...okay, if) I get a rather serious job and need to look professional. Of course, since that hasn't happened yet, right now I'd just use it for job interviews or presentations for class. Here's my 'formal/workwear' look based on the skirt:

So, first I did the basic white button up with a slightly slouchy but fitted blazer. Then I added some fun accessories, like the awesome pink and black bag and shoes to liven things up a bit, the silver clock ring for a bit of subtle jewelry, and tights with a quietly sexy line running down the back. It's a professional outfit with a subtle but sexy feminine twist.

Now, although I know with spring on the way, winter's the last thing we want to think about, I couldn't resist doing a casual winter outfit. To me, grey pencil skirts look awesome with slouchy cardigans and sweaters. Here's proof:

Hot! So here's my take (a bit more casual):

I simply couldn't pick one sweater, I love all of these. They all have a fun, quirky element to offset the more serious, simple skirt. After finally choosing just one sweater (or maybe piling them all on at once, if it's really cold out--I won't judge, I've done it!), you could finish off the outfit with a black braided belt, black tights, a big ol' bag, and some sweet boots. The bag and boots here are vintage, as well as that crazy pink sweater that I probably shouldn't love so much but do.

And finally, if you wanted to wear this skirt in the summer (or fall), here's how I'd do it:

It's still sort of a classy look, thanks to the pencil skirt, and so it's hardly realllyyy casual. I'm now thinking this might be more of a fall look; I love the military style cardigan and the way it goes with the red shoes, but I think for spring, I would probably go with lighter colors. And why would you need a cardigan in the summer? Damn. That's a fall look.

Sooo, I went back to the drawing book (oh, the things I do for this blog), and came up with this for warmer weather:

Now, we've got some bright, cheery pastels. Yes, that shirt has little pineapples all over it. How adorable is that, right? I'll admit that the green, striped stockings are not for the faint of heart, or the easily over-heated, so you could always ditch those for a simpler, slightly cooler outfit.

I also saw these awesome pants on sale there for 8 bucks:They're tapered pleated pants, and I really like them. I dislike the recent frenzy for those awful drop-crotch, harem pants and the sort; but this is a much classier, flattering way to follow the trend. They'd also be great for that non-existent, professional job I mentioned earlier. And, for 8 bucks, why the hell not? I'd buy both the pants and the skirt in a heartbeat if I only I had more than 15 bucks on my debit card right now. A wasted opportunity! I'm telling you, I won't be able to sleep for a week because of this. Oh well.

No outfits for the pants, sorry. It's nap time for me. I'll be back with travel outfits, as promised, perhaps later today.

A Glimpse Into...

... Jill's closet! This lucky girl is leaving this summer to frolic with cute boys in Italy, so naturally she's had to stock up on some cute clothes. Check them out!

First off, an adorable belted shirt with an adorable necklace with adorable shoes (yes, this is how I describe clothing):

I reallyyyy love that belted shirt, and that badass pose, haha:

Does she look European or what?
Again, obviously practicing for when the Sartorialist stops her on the street in Italy to take her picture:
The inside of the jacket (soooo pretty):Thanks, Jill! Love that necklace, too:
So chic. That's basically how you manage not to look like a tourist, people. Take note. Hopefully we'll be seeing some more of her trip wardrobe soon--she's promised me pictures of dresses!

Hm, I feel like I need to up my game now. While Jill's gonna be in Italy wearing pretty dresses, I'll probably be wearing cutoffs and a tank top every day. Reminder to self: work on summer wardrobe.

Anyway, now I'm inspired to do a post on fashion for traveling. We'll see!

What I Wore Today

As I said in my last post, I was in the mood for wearing something slightly edgy. For me, that translated into sexy black tights with cutoffs and a low-cut shirt. Um, and Catholic paraphernalia (you'll see). Anyway, here's the outfit, shoes not included because they couldn't fit in the frame and were just boring black flats anyway:

Sorry for the creepy, evil face! Here's a smile to make up for it:

And here's a closeup of my necklaces:One is a silver heart that I wear all the time, and the other two I found while digging around for some jewelry options. The yellow is a really beautiful picture of Mary and then the silver one is a saint, I think for hearing. Probably everything around my neck was given to me by my grandmother. So, my reasons for wearing them were half-sentimental and half (let's admit it) because I thought it looked cool with the outfit.
Oh, and I'm wearing this awesome dark blue nail polish that I loooove. I don't usually wear nail polish, but I love wearing this color.

Next post: What my good friend Jill wore!

Edgy But Pretty

This is how I want to dress tomorrow: sort of edgy and sexy. I'll let you know how it goes!

UPDATE: A certain commenter mentioned she liked the jacket in the first picture, and I just had to share this one that I just found on fredflare.com:
Sweet and ruffly and girly. Pair it with lots of black, cool shades, a tattoo, and some sweet bangles; and while I do not particularly endorse smoking, you have to admit that that cigarette adds to the badass look as well. Still, don't smoke, kids! Unless you're French, then it's okay. Anyway, throw all those elements together with this jacket and BAM, you're pretty AND edgy.

Maxi Dresses: Continued!

I was playing around on Polyvore and came up with two ways to wear this simple, grey maxi dress:

Option 1, um, we'll call it "Bad Girl":
(I love those raptor earrings from ModCloth.)

And 0ption 2, which I've entitled "Sort of Nautical?":
Which do you prefer?

Feast your eyes....

On my new swimsuit!

For the past few years, I've been wearing the same old swimsuit. It's just a black one-piece, which sounds pretty boring, and it sort of is. It does have some nice details, and a sexy cut, but still. This year I decided it was time to shake things up a bit, and I bought--gasp!--a bikini. That's right. I'm baring my stomach on the beach this summer. God help us all.
I'm totally kidding. I'm not that bad. The only reason I've never had a bikini is because they're so skimpy, and I think I might feel a bit naked wearing what's basically lingerie in public. Nevertheless, this summer I'm going to be twenty, and I've decided IT IS TIME. So I took the plunge (at Target, of course) when I saw this cutie (I'm referring to the bikini, not the model):

It was the only one of its kind, hidden among all the other bright throw-up colors and pirate's skulls that's predominant among most bathing suits these days. I could only get the bottom in a size medium, which was a bit big, but luckily all I have to do is tie the strings tightly.

Anyway, I looooove it. I like the blue (matches my eyes!), the pretty embroidery, how it's slightly old-timey and different from the other, flashier swimsuits I've been seeing everywhere. I'm actually excited to wear it to the beach this summer. And for some reason, I keep picturing how nice it'll look in a polaroid photo. Yep, that's how my mind works, people.

Season Trends: Rompers and Maxi Dresses

Today in my Public Speaking class, I had to give a speech about dressing well, and in it, I discussed the pitfalls of blindly following fashion trends. Now, I'm going to completely disregard my own advice and fall prey to the sexy allure of two of this season's more doubtful trends.

First off: the romper. The cons of the romper are pretty hard to ignore. Why would I want to wear something that will make it ten times harder to go to the bathroom, frustrate and perplex my boyfriend (and possibly cause him to laugh at me), and that even my childhood self wouldn't have wanted to wear, but probably would've been physically forced into anyway? Well, because... just look at these! They're ADORABLE. I would definitely try this trend if I could do it with one of these four:

Now, as for this one, I saw it and thought, "Oh, cute!" Then I saw the back of it, and was all, "Bummer." Why is there a dumb little button just above the crevice of what looks to be the worst wedgie of all time? Please don't tell me that it's a butt flap or something, although that would make the bathroom situation easier.
This one I like. I think the model looks really cute in it. The only thing I'm not sure about is the fancy, pleated restaurant napkin at the top. I'm also never sure how to spell restaurant.I'm just not sure at all about this one, but I kept coming back to it. I think I like the fact that there was some edginess given to a sort of childish piece by making the neckline plunging and adding some sophisticated accessories. Love that necklace. I also really like the color of the romper. I guess it doesn't quite work for me because the bottom half is just too big, which is not flattering. Shame.
I wanted to show pictures of some celebrities wearing these trends so we could laugh scornfully at the ones who don't pull it off, and admire/hate the ones who do. Can you spot the worst ones in the picture below?
Yeah, I don't think Ashely (or Mary Kate?) Olsen looks too great in that huge silk pillowcase she's wearing. Everyone else looks pretty cute, except for the gal above her (don't know who she is)--not sure why I can't get behind her version. It's probably because of the hat. I like the color and straps of Blake Lively's but it isn't that flattering on her. It somehow makes her look kinda big, which I thought was impossible. Lively has a great body, and it's shown off way better in this example:
Now that romper is cute. Apparently those are studs on it, but whatever. Just because I wouldn't wear them doesn't mean she can't. And in this instance, they look really cool, and give the romper the necessary edge that every romper needs to balance out the little girl vibe (along with that deep neckline, of course).

So there you have it. The romper: ones I would wear, others I probably wouldn't, and how people hotter and richer than me have done it.

Next we have sort of the opposite: the maxi dress. Here's four that I liked:






The last one was a vintage one from the 70's, and it looks good doing its own thing with that awesome color and the stripes. For the others, though, my general rule is that I'd want it to have some sort of definition on top, like an empire waist or something cinching your upper half. I like them to have florals, prints, stripes, or even just be one block of color.

However, two kinds that I don't like are shown here by Rihanna (just ignore her hair) and Nicole Richie: either all black or all white. The first seems sort of hot for a summer staple, don't you think? As for the latter, it's just too much of a wedding dress or hippie vibe (Richie's channeling the latter here, I think):Dislike.

On the other hand, Hayden Panettiere rocks this really flowy, really yellow maxi dress:

The funny thing about maxi dresses--for me at least--is that because of the length they sort of look more on the formal side. So I think that long, pretty dress on Hayden is sort of a juxtaposition to the fact that she's just out walking her dogs. Weird. I mean, I'm sure there's ways to make maxi dresses look casual, but if I ever got one I'd probably save it for special occasions, like a wedding, or for a night out. It seems too hot and dressy to wear around during the day.
And now I leave you with an awesome example of Kiera Knightley rocking the maxi dress trend:


How does she always look so gorgeous? And does she have to make a conscious effort to suck her cheeks in like that? Whatever. The important thing is, I want that dress. I need that dress. I just hope that's not a see-through midsection... Oh god, is that her bellybutton? Dress officially ruined.


Five minutes later:
Nooooooooooo I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, please come back? I love you, dress.


:(


Oh well. What do you think about some of this season's current trends--maxi dresses, rompers, or one that I didn't mention? Would you try any?



UPDATE: Forget celebrities! How would you like to see a real person style these trends? I just found the blog Second Skin, which you should totally check out to see some amazing outfits on a very cool, pretty woman. Here she styles a romper and here, a maxi dress. Nice! (Is it just me, or does she totally look like Maggie Gyllenhaal?)