Summer in Suffolk

I love it when daily Etsy clicks turn into something day altering. Oh yes, it is possible. With so many inspiring and innovative designers on Etsy from around the globe, it makes my job easier and easier to find and connect with the best of the best.

Besides being an Etsy fanatic, many of you know I am also a huge fan of anything English. Mix in my undying affection for color, print, and the maxi dress and you have what looks like the perfect summer wardrobe. As someone who is passionate about the art forms of altered couture and illustration, I can truly appreciate SLC-SLC, based out of Suffolk, UK.

The pieces above are my absolute favorites, made with dyeing techniques or digitally transferred images from illustrations by the designer. Even the coat and tops look summery! But I want to live in those dresses. I love the subtle pattern choices of swans and shells as well.

Happy (summer) shopping!

Desire

I can't think of April without thinking about Eliot's "The Wasteland" which opens with those iconic lines: "April is the cruellest month ..." While I love the entire work, it's not the opening lines that strike me as much as the second and third do, when he talks about "mixing/memory and desire."

The connection between memory and desire is inextricable in my opinion. In short, we desire because we remember; we want to hold onto something, a feeling, a moment, a person etc. Salinger also references Eliot's lines on memory and desire in his haunting short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."

When I saw the art of Katie Rodgers I instantly desired to own a piece of her work. Her colors are so wonderful and her images are whimsical. It was love at first sight. I then desired to learn how to sketch. But now as I write this, I'm just not sure it's meant to be. I'm perfectly happy with just buying the drawings of others. What I love so much about Katie's drawings is that her pieces come from the strongholds of memory. I so clearly remember the Kate Spade fashion show portrayed above, as well as the Chloe ad featuring the girls in dresses (also above). She has mixed memory with desire, captured life beautifully, and in the end ... we have art.

I'm definitely going to be picking up one of Katie's prints : )

Big-Girl Dress

I got an absolutely darling Christmas present from my friend Bonnie yesterday. It's been ages since I read a children's book. I forgot how beautiful the illustrations can be. Birdie's Big-Girl Dress by Sujean Rim (Hachette, 2011) brought back a flood of memories for me.

The story is about Birdie's search for the perfect party dress. I have to admit, there are some killer closets and dress contenders in this book. And Birdie's mom has mad style! Birdie dreams of "fluttery floral sundresses, lovely lace sheaths, (and) chic chiffon gowns..." But at the end of the day Birdie settles on a dress that is not new, but something she found in her attic, belonging to her grandparents. I love how this book teaches about personal style, and I know I personally love the things passed down to me from my grandparents more than I love many new items I own.

I always think that the greatest gift parents can give children is the ability to read. And I remember many Christmases filled with gifts of books under the tree. On Christmas Eve, or any other night, my parents or sometimes my grandparents, would read us bedtime stories, even after I knew how to read them myself. There's something very special about children's books, they mold our imagination and influence us. There's something so very loving about a parent reading to a child, because through literacy, almost anything is possible. And for me, there is something so sentimental about receiving books as gifts, as it means the giver is presenting me with knowledge, words, and dares to push the limits of my mind.

Thank you, Bonnie for such a delightful gift, that brought back so much. You've given me more than you know : )

Happy Giving!