on the street _ Paris

INTERIOR | Christmas Decorating

For the people who are in the middle of a move, Dutch interior magazine VT Wonen suggests how you can decorate your new home this Christmas with this editorial ambiguously titled: Out of the box. Also very interesting for those who have been living in the same house for years.

The First Give Away!!!

 

      We had so much fun this past week-end as we found found our outside Christmas lights and bundled up to go outside to put them up. It took a little convincing, but once I got every one outside we had a lot of fun! So much fun that we almost forgot that it was cold out. It took a while afterwards to warm up toes and fingers, but that was alright because it was a good excuse to have mugs of hot chocolate! Just seeing those Christmas lights sparkling outside has really put me in a 'Christmas' mood! I love it! I had fun painting up these little nut crackers; these guys are only about three inches tall.

I have been getting some amazing prizes donated for the Christmas Love Campaign and I really am excited about it! Even my children have started to get really excited about this contest and they enjoy telling there teachers and friends all about it! I really want to start spreading the CHRISTMAS LOVE, so  LET'S GET THIS PARTY
STARTED! Leave a comment on my blog by Wednesday,December 1, 2010
briefing saying how you have or plan on SPREADING THE CHRISTMAS LOVE, or post your
comment & or picture here on our face book page. Someone will end up with an awesome prize from 7Gypies!

I can't wait to see what everyone is doing To Spread the CHRISTMAS LOVE this year! REMEMBER… you can enter more then one time and remember to grab a blinkie and put it on your site or your blog. Let's have some fun and make sure to tell your friends to join in!

Keep on Scrappin'

                  Susan

freeze! _ on the street. Paris

oversized style // Vika _ Paris

DIY | Two Tone Shirt

Instructions:

Needed
-Two shirts of the same size (I used two from Zara)
-scissors
-a few pins
-sewing machine/needle and thread



step one.
Cut both shirts in half. An easy way to do this is laying the shirts flat on the ground and aligning the side seems. Pin the seams together at the top and at the bottom of the shirt. The fold that is created should be the exact middle. What you could do to make sure you cut straight is ironing the fold before cutting the shirt in half.



step two.
Pin two halves of the different colors together. It is important that the top and the bottom align perfectly. Cheaper shirts aren't made flawlessly, the shirts I bought differed slightly although they were the same size. The white shirt was 2 cm larger than the tan one. The solution was to make a tiny pleat at the bottom.



step three.
Sew together the four halves.



step four.
Voila now you have a pair of two tone shirts!
I gave one of them to a good friend who I've missed a lot since both our schools started in September and we haven't been able to see each other much.
How adorable is it that this is like the shirt version of a BFF- necklace!? Although with these ones it would look ridiculous to wear together. So when you're giving away the other halves of your shirts don't forget to make arrangements about when (not) to wear them!

at the moment _ on the bridge. Paris

Leftover Scrapbooking Paper -> Ornaments!

 

We all have lots of scrap scrapbooking paper around, so instead of tossing in out you can make some really fun for you tree or to give as gifts. They really are super fun and easy to do. So round up your kiddos and make up a batch!

We have been getting so many wonderful prizes for The Christmas Love Campaign. I can just will the excitement building for this, but I need to hear what YOU are making or doing to reach out to spread some love. I really am anxious to start give away these prizes! SO LET"S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! Leave a comment on my blog by Wednesday,December 1, 2010 briefing saying how you plan on SPREADIN THE CHRISTMAS LOVE, or post you comment on the Susiebee Studios Inc. Christmas Love Campaign Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Susiebee-Studios-Inc-Christmas-Love-Campaign/123578867702220 . Someone will end up with a awesome prize from 7gypies!

Hanne Gaby Odiele _ du louvre. Paris

ACCESSORIES | COS leather

There is only one COS store in The Netherlands. Unconveniently situated in a city I never visit. (COS not being in Amsterdam keeps it a bit exclusive though)
Yesterday I travelled all the way to The Hague specially for COS. And it was well worth it. I purchased the perfect soft leather trousers with the most amazing detailing, with the lacking seems on top and bottom you can see the cut leather. Also this simple little champagne colored bag with beautiful heavy golden zippers.

kind, embarrassed police man _ Louvre Rivoli. Paris

Eva _ on the bridge. Paris

George _ Louvre Rivoli. Paris

Anja Rubik _ Tuileries. Paris

on the street _ avenue Winston Churchill. Paris

Mixed Media Canvas

I got out some glazes, papers, papers, and inks and then I had some fun playing. 

         

         

       

I love using Glimmer Glam to create whimsical drips of color. It also made a nice magical sheen on my work.  

I also Mod Podge some canvas pieces onto my work with nice accents of color. I did not want to be rigid with this piece, so the only formal parts of the work are the bits of the pattern that I used.

 

  Here's a  flower create from an old pattern covered with mod podge, and enhanced with Delta Ceramcoat  acrylic paints. I then outlined the flower with Glimmer Glam & Glimmer Glaze from Tattered Angels.  To give a slight pattern to the canvas I used a Tatter Angel stencil and Glimmer Mist ChalkBoard. This also gave a aged look to the canvas at the same time giving a neat faint pattern.

          

  To give my work a cool aged look I brushed on a layer of Distress crackle paint from Ranger, when I was done.

I mixed Mod Podge with Glimmer Glam from Tatter Angel and got some neat textural effects.

{If you mix these 2 mediums together you get a nice effect when working on plastics.}

*My Piece of Sunshine!!!

        Susan

Giovanna _ avenue Winston Churchill. Paris

patterns, never get boring _ Paris

OPINION | Underdressing and a note on minimalist fashion

me trying to underdress instead of overdressing
cropped front longsleeve: DIY
1990s high waisted legging: thrifted

Over the past days I have been studying and obsessing about developments in fashion during the 1990's. Somehow it is similar to what is happening now. The internet is giving everyone a voice in fashion, making it more democratic and giving room for different interpretations.

The 1990's is also the first era I consiously lived through but was too little to be aware of complex fashions and tendancies in society. I would listened to Ace of Base and think: when I grow up I'll dance to this in a disco. So yeh, in case you were wondering; I've been listening to Ace of base (and collecting images of Jessie Spano) while reading articles to get in the mood.

In the 1990s it was no longer the done thing to follow fashion slavishly, a sharp contrast to the highly á la mode '70s and '80s. The phobia of being underdressed was finally completely displaced by the fear of overdressing. Fashion in the '90s united around a new standard, minimalism, and styles of stark simplicity became the vogue. Despite the best efforts of a few designers to keep the flag for pretty dresses flying, by the end of the decade the notion of ostentatious finery had virtually disappeared. -source Wikipedia





The best description of what minimalist fashion is

Much Ado About (Nearly) Nothing
By Amy M. Spindler
New York Times, June 13, 1993

Minimalism is as noncommittal as fashion gets without leaving a body naked.
At its best, minimalist fashion is like Mission-style oak furniture: inviting, architectural, sturdy, elegant. At worst, it's plain. It can put demands on the wearer. It won't inspire your friends to apply adjectives to you that you couldn't inspire alone. A minimalist dress is the only $2,000 one that you might wear to meet the Dalai Lama without feeling obscene.

What sets the minimalists on this page above the rest is their deceit and their conceit. Deceit because these clothes look so simple but can in fact be the most difficult: many are cut on the bias (diagonlly, across the grain of the fabric). The bias cut makes them drape. The conceit is the richness of the fabric. There is nothing plain about chiffon backed with silk, or cashmere woven into the rib knit of a sweater.

Minimalism is best described not by what it is, but by what it lacks. There's no lace. No tulle. No fringe. No flouncy tiers. No rows of pleats. For those who subscribe, it is defined the way obscenity ofter is: they know it when they see it.

middie _ Leake st. London

click for large image

Nick on the street. London

Making Christmas Bags as a Family

 

 

'Just put out a whole bunch of craft supplies and let your children have fun create gift bags for your family to pixie!'

We have a tradition in are family that for each holiday during the year our family 'pixies' other families.

pixie~ to bake goodies for another family, package them, go to their house & put them on the door step, ring the doorbell & run away with out them knowing who did it!

We have a great time doing this tradition! Part of the whole plan is getting ready for it. First we bake goodies. Usually something simply that everyone can help with like chocolate chip cookies or rice krispie squares. Next we get our bags ready. The kiddos have always loved crafting, so what better way to use up odds and ends. I let them make up the bags any way they want to. It may not be the way that I would have done them, but they are having fun and they look really cute in the end, plus we are spending time together as a family!

If you haven't tried it, give it a try this year! It is so fun!

                         Susan

on the street _ Seoul