spring cleanse palette

I need a distraction from the bitter cold that is hitting minneapolis right now, so I'm focusing on the upcoming spring color trends and planing my new wardrobe...

I think the upcoming season will be filled with bright optimistic colors that will grounded with tried and true neutrals. Bright pink, light teal, tangerine orange are among the brights palette, and I think we might see yellow make a come back this year. It takes on a 50's pastel feel. Sand, white and navy will be neutral shades to help ground the brights and add a Parisian flare. We'll continue to see an abundance of patterns including flirty florals, animal themes, abstract and geometric shapes. 

Can't wait to wear little jackets again! 

Zara is Coming to America :: Sep 7th, 2011

A few weeks ago I received a note from Zara mentioning they'd like to send me a package to announce their U.S. debut. I sort of wrote it off, because as you fellow bloggers know, we get a lot of weird emails that seem kind of fishy. But, last week an email stated my package was on it's way via Fedex, My interest was peaked. Not only did Zara feed half of my trend inspiration (see post below) with their amazing blazers, sweaters and coats, they were sending me a personal package?! 

Last week I received the beautifully designed package. A fabric bag encasing a simple box filled with pictures of the 50 states from various photographers. As well as a gift card and an invitation to pre-order from their site today! I have huge expectations for my online retailers, they must have free shipping and free returns... Zara does both!I adore Zara and can't wait to get my order!

fall wants :: 2011

...As it turns out I am quite needy this season! I have so many looks I want to experiment with - I am especially digging the new boots this year. They are reminiscent of my childhood favorites that I wore until the bottoms gave ‘way. This pair of boots called Nanette by Mia are on their way to me now, and were a large inspiration factor to the rest of my ‘fall wants’. I am slightly ashamed that I am wishing summer away to brisker days so I can once again rock scarves and boots.

envision artopia :: fall 2011

It's that time again.... Envision Artopia Fall! I was super excited when Ignite Models Inc. contacted me to work on the promotional materials for the second time. Once again, the photos they provided for the fashion materials were amazing, so naturally I was jazzed to get working on the designs. This time around we decided I would provide a sample interface layout for double-think to build. They were great to work with, and... I'm actually going to have them help build my site (about time right?!). Check out the event site here for more details!

I am so excited for this fashion show, when you have superstars like ignite, Citypages and Graves behind an event it's bound to succeed. The production is spot-on at this series and makes you feel like you're in a bigger city than minneapolis. Mark your calendars!

our big dirty basement remodel

Sooooo happy this one is done. We were without laundry for months after we prematurely disconnected our laundry pair expecting the new one to slide easily into place after we plopped down new flooring. Ha. That's when we found out our staircase was too narrow to fit the new efficient laundry set, enter contractor #1. He helped remove some drywall and boards and we were able to squeeze the machines downstairs. Barely. Seriously, it was like birthing a large baby.

After months of additional work by our second contractor/plumber, including: demolition of the sink, new pipes, wall smoothing, floor installation... the basement was ready for me to begin painting. I chose a relaxing blue "Tide Pools" to offset the stainless appliances and dark flooring. We found an awesome used stainless sink at a nearby restaurant services company - so much better than the run-of-the-mill plastic versions you find at home depot.

The result is a clean & inviting updated basement laundry room with working appliances... YAY!

envision artopia :: design work

Recently the talented peeps at ignite models asked me to help out on a quick-turn project for the annual ignite/Citypages runway show called "envision". This show has a lot of marketing support with the help of a few full page ads and rack cards. So naturally I was super amped to help out with the design of the materials. Especially after I saw the amazing photography that was part of the assets provided to me... lovely to say the least. I am super happy with the result - it reminds me of a 1950's record cover. expect to see this design around Minneapolis... hope you can make it to the show - it's going to be a good one! more info below.....

Photography: Peter Hunner
Model: Aja (Ignite Models)
Styling: Hollie Mae of HMStyling
Hair/MUA: Kate Erickson
Graphic Design: Tanya Watkins

photo explorations :: smoky

A few weekends ago I really wanted to capture a picture of smoke... it took awhile (and a good amount of photoshop work) but I finally snapped this pic. The trick that worked for me was light smoke in a brightly lit room with a dark backdrop and a very quick shutter speed. A lot of the photos were blurry because the smoke moves so fast, but after I found a good clear image I inversed the photo (basically made it a negative), colorized it and woalla! smokin'!