All posts by Peneloping

The Art of Whimsical Lettering: book review + giveaway!

The Art of Whimsical Lettering - jacket art
The Art of Whimsical Lettering by Joanne Sharpe
Interweave/F+W Media; $24.99

Interweave generously provided a copy of this book for me to review, but all opinions, thoughts, and obscure computer game references are my own.

I’ve been a huge fan of Jenny Highsmith’s lettering prints for ages so when Interweave asked if I wanted to review this book on Whimsical Lettering I had to go for it. As much as I love Jenny’s prints, I never saw one that had a message that quite fit what I was looking for. But now, armed with Joanne Sharpe’s amazingly colorful book (no seriously, it’s like a jar of Skittles for your eyes), I think I’m ready to dive in.

Whimsical lettering

The book is divided into sections and the whole thing is just so inspiring and gorgeous to look at. Some sections talk about styling your font, others give ideas for watercoloring or monochromatic designs, and then there’s a whole section of alphabet ideas!

Whimsical lettering

This one where you write out a message and then stitch it with colored embroidery floss warmed my seamstress heart.

Whimsical lettering

How pretty are these??

Whimsical lettering

Whimsical lettering

Well, I already know that my first print is going to say “Ask me about Grim Fandango.” (100000000 points to anyone who gets it.)

Interweave is very kindly offering a copy of The Art of Whimsical Lettering to one of my readers! Just leave a comment below telling me what message/word/phrase you’d write out on a print. Make sure you include your email so you can be contacted about receiving your prize!

The giveaway will be open until midnight Tuesday, May 20th and the winner will be announced shortly after.

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Me Made May – week 2 roundup

This has actually been a pretty fun and illuminating week (in terms of my closet).

DAYS 5 & 6
Monday – top: me-made // jeans: AE // glasses: Bonlook
Tuesday – top: me-made // shorts: AE

DAY 7

Wednesday – dress: me-made // cardigan: Modcloth // shoes: Minnetonka // belt: F21
*Crafty Foxes Oonaballoona-themed MMM photo stolen from Sarah because hers was better than mine. :]

DAYS 8 & 10

Thursday – top: me-made // jeans: AE // shoes: Minnetonka // glasses: Bonlook
Friday – whoops?
Saturday – dress: me-made // shoes that I forgot to put on for the photo: Cathy Jean sparkly flats

DAY 11

Sunday – both dresses: me–made // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Things I learned this week:
– I need more knit tops. Enter Nettie and Renfrew and possibly some knit Wiksten tanks.
-Sewing knits is actually kind of fun. Except tissue knits. Those can go die in a fire.
– I need maxi skirts in my life.
– I should make some simple summery skater skirts to wear with aforementioned Netties.
– My go-to me-made work outfit is jeans and a Datura. I didn’t actually know that about myself.

How’s everyone else doing?

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Me Made May – week 1 roundup

The first week of Me Made May ’14 was *mostly* a success! Considering it was only four days I guess that’s not that exciting.

DAY ONE
top: me-made // pants: Paige // sweater: thrifted man-sweater // shoes: Cathy Jean // earrings: Michal Golan 

The first day was easy. This is one of my favorite outfits, and it’s work appropriate. Double yay! I think I might have to alter this top though. It’s a little on the smaller side so I might slash the sides and add panels of black lace.

DAY TWO
dress: me-made // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens // earrings: Michal Golan // belt: F21

This one made it on the blog already!

DAY THREE
dress: me-made // shoes: Seychelles

Whoops, I cut off my shoes. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I love this dress even more than I did when I first made it. I put it on for the first time in months and I swear it’s drapier and way more flattering than I remember it being.

And then I spent Sunday in undies and one of Boyfriend’s shirts. Whoops.

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Old favorites

Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress

Floral cap-sleeve dress
dress: self-made, pattern here // earrings: c/o Michal Golan // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Heh. I made a big deal of limiting my Me Made May photos to Instagram this year and here’s day 2 making an appearance on the blog. Whoops.

In my defense, this dress is special. This was one of the first everyday dresses I ever made and I actually still love it. It’s not the most well-made garment ever but it’s wearable. The bias stitching is totally off, the side zipper is atrocious, and it’s made of quilting cotton, but somehow it’s still one of my favorites.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I got an email from Michal Golan Studios that made me squee inside and then laugh out loud. Not only had they noticed my inclination for lady-like glitzy jewelry and offered to send me a few pieces, they also started up a (still ongoing) email conversation about classic computer/video games. I chose these gorgeous heart-shaped earrings and proceeded to completely fail at focusing my camera. Seriously though, new favorite earrings. They’re beautifully hand-made and I’ve been wearing them pretty much everyday because they go with everything. Also they have an entire line of heart-shaped jewelry. You can check out their store here and a post featuring me and the fabulous Miss OonaBalloona here.

And now I should probably go find some pants. So far Me Made May ’14 has taught me that Elisalex either needs yet more tweaking or just doesn’t fit my bust-shape at all and that I need to make more pajamas in order to participate. And that my next goal in life is to make sixteen Netties in favorites colors and lengths and just have that be my wardrobe.

 

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Me Made May ’14

Datura #1
Yayyy it’s May! I participated in Me Made May last year but it ended up being a bit of a failure. Technically I pretty much wore my Madeline mini-bloomers most days so that was me-made, but that’s not really the point, is it?

This year I’m going to try to do something a little different. My closet is getting a little out of hand. There are so many garments that I either never wear or are hidden under things that I never wear and have been forgotten. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of having a mostly handmade wardrobe and I think the first step is going through and getting rid of all of the stuff I have made that I never wear. (Or the stuff that I should probably stop wearing because I made it ages ago and my sewing standards are higher now.)

So this month I’m going to make a point of trying to wear everything I’ve made that’s currently taking up space in my closet. If I feel icky wearing it or if  I just don’t find the occasion to wear it, it’s out. Depending on what it is that means recycling the materials, donation, or putting it in a box to be stored.

Sidenote: I think a huge part of the reason I failed last year was because I had planned on taking actual fancy-camera photos of my outfit every day and that just wasn’t feasible. So this year I’m just going to go with Instagrammed mirror photos and maybe a roundup on the blog once a week.

 ‘I, Ping of peneloping.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’14. I endeavor to wear at least one piece of me-made clothing each day for the duration of May 2014’

Wish me luck!

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