Extracurriculars.

Upcycled Decoupaged Eyeglass Lens Pendant/Brooch
Find it HERE.

Good news! Tomorrow night I will be starting an Introduction to Jewelry-Making course at the local Arts Center. I'm really pretty stinkin' excited. Though the price was somewhat steep for my taste, an unexpected refund check helped to offset the costs. I figure it will be an invaluable asset to my future in the scheme of things. I have so much to learn! I barely know anything, but I'm so willing to learn.

I can't wait. I can't wait. 

I hope I'm in there with a bunch o' cute lil' ol' ladies. 

(I already picked out what I'm going to wear...is that dorky?) 

I can't wait. I can't wait.

Until next time, ♥.

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Stop Light Party: Red Means STOP, Don't Go In There!

The club promoters here in Salamanca never cease to amaze me with their nightly get ups. It takes a lot of character to walk up to complete strangers in such attire. I guess whatever it takes to entice the foreigners to their venues, eh? I think the majority of the promoters know me by now. At least, I sure do. I can do an almost perfect imitation of one of the girls. These three are dressed up as stoplights to promote yesternight's Stoplight Party at the Irish Rover. Green means your single, yellow is maybe, red is taken. I was told to get yellow during a Skype date I had beforehand. Oh, Salamantino night life!

Here I am at the Irish Rover. The party started at 11pm. We walked in around 11:15pm. IT WAS EMPTY. So, of course, we just took photos. Here I am with the lovely Venetia Digby. You know, the one with the chair earrings. I think here she's wearing a fun pair of television set earrings. We are both rocking the polka-dots and wing-tipped eye-liner! Haha, we didn't stay very long. Actually, last night sucked, party-wise!

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Spanish Nuddy Pants

I opted to follow the color scheme in my Nuddy Pants Eyeglass Lens Pendant in today's outfit.

->Nuddy Pants Eyeglass Lens Pendant, DIY by me!

->Cream Dress worn as Tank, H&M

->Navy High-Waisted Shorts, Thrifted

->Leopard Print Flats, H&M

-Paisley Scarf worn as Headwrap, Thrifted

->Striped Cardigan, Thrifted

->Dorky Sunnies, Ale-Hop

->Caramel Messenger Bag, Thrifted

Until next time! ♥

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Flamenco Dancers at the Teatro Calatrava

Due to a lack of a cellular device, I've resorted to meeting up with people under the clock in the Plaza Mayor. Typically, there are a couple of club/bar promoters trolling the Plaza doing their best to entice the exchange students to visit their venue with free shots and whatnot. Last night, Porntip was approached by a different kind of promoter. This one was advertising a Flamenco performance at a nearby theater for 7 euros. We jumped at the chance. Seeing a Flamenco performance just happened to be on our list of things to do!

The flyer itself had a really awful map but somehow we managed to find it, although we were a tad late. Due to being late, we had to sit towards the back of the house. However, this did not discourage me from snapping a few pictures here and there throughout the performance.

There is just something about the Flamenco music and dancing that is just so riveting. It seriously gave me some goosebumps. The singing tends to quake and break, just adding to the emotion. It also makes me think of gypsies...and, who doesn't like gypsies?! (Besides Hitler, o'course) 

Also, it reminded me of the last scene on Toy Story 3, after the credits finished rolling, when Buzz and Jessie danced to Gipsy Kings!

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Feelin' Like a Pirate

Striped Racerback Tank Dress, TJ Maxx

Kid's Denim Jacket, Thrifted

Paisley Headscarf, Thrifted

Black Gladiators, TJ Maxx

Fat Man Portrait Eyeglass Lens Necklace, DIY by Me

Now I'm off to sing some karaoke! Until next time. ♥

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My Second July 4th Spent Abroad

With Porntip at the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca...Eating Calippos, sabor a fresa.

The first time I was ever out of the country during the Fourth of July happened back in 2005 when I vacationed in Chile. Once again, I am abroad but under very different circumstances. I mean, it's kind of a vacation, but I'm really here for school. Speaking of, I have entrance exams tomorrow...at 9am!!! It is currently midnight. OH! I have internet, sort of. I have a signal now from some unsecured network. Works for me!

I left Madrid this morning and went by means of locomotive to Salamanca. I'm in my personal room as we speak. I arrived around 4pm. My French roomies just arrived around 10pm. They're French. They're gorgeous. I'm gonna have to step my game up. Eh, luckily I enjoy a challenge. What I lack in conventional beauty I can make up with charm and wit and clothes! Here's what I wore today. This may just be the worst outfit photo yet! I took it using the dinky table-top tripod, poor lighting, and self-timer. I'll work on it.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: How One Arrives To The Alojamiento

->Mauve Babydoll Dress, H&M

->Kids Denim Jacket, Thrifted

->Gold Metallic Denim Keds, Ebay

->Straw Fedora, Marshalls

->The Nuddy Pants Pendant, DIY

Erm, so I should embrace the fact that I'm a tourist/student and just have a nice enough looking stranger take my photos from now on...This just ain't cuttin' it but now it's time to cram/sleep. Placement tests are tomorrow morning and it'd be embarrassing if I placed lower than I should..

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River Market Memory(s)

It seems like a million years ago since these were taken...though, they're just over a week old.

 I met up with my pal Memory at the River Market downtown for an exchange of goods and some picture playtime.

She purchased this feather headband from me. You see, I've had better luck selling to the locals through my Facebook. I would've updated the Etsy shop, but meeting up with people I know seemed much more appealing and less troublesome this time around. There's nothing like meeting up with friends for food and conversation (and money!) I've made about $100 selling my goods (even doing transactions while I was on the clock at Half of Half!). 

Oh well, mo' monies for Spain!

This is what I wore. 

It's much too hot for jeans, but I had to swap out when I went to work later that day. 

->Nude Cardi, Clearance - Charlotte Russe

-> Striped Cami, $1 - Thrifted

-> High-waisted Denim Shorts, $3 - Thrifted

->Fat Man Face Pendant, DIY - Upcycled Eyeglass Lens

->Brown Oxfords, $4 - Thrifted

->Leopard Print Scarf worn as Turban Wrap, Thrifted

This is Memory. Ain't she purdy?

We spotted these kiddos splashing around in the spraying fountains near the playground. 

It's a great way to keep cool and immediately we decided to join in on the fun!

I kept squealing from the sudden bursts of water splashing around me. 

Memory did a really good job of capturing the moment because every photo she took of me had me flailing about like a dork. 

Seriously though, I look like a total pansy...but it was so worth it!

Of course, Memory needed a good splash as well. Getting soaked is the ideal way to keep cool in the hot Southern sunshine. 

I mean, the lil' kiddos definitely know what's up!

We had also ventured around the shops in downtown, looking for knickknacks and doodads. 

I picked up a book featuring the Pictorial History of Little Rock for my Spanish host family

 as well as two Natural State pins for my host-brother and host-sister. 

I think pins are neat, let's just hope they think likewise!

Memory picked up this Arkansas Razorback snout for her host family in Austria. 

It's very becoming!

WOOOOOO-PIG-SOOOOOIEEE!

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CrayCray Craft Day: Pendant Pandemonium

I stock up on cheap granny glasses and pop out the lenses. 

I finally got around to making them into pendants/brooches during my CrayCray Craft Day. 

The tools of the trade: 

Scissors, hot glue gun, pliers, hardcore glue, jewelry findings, mod podge, 

varnish, ribbon, scrapbook paper,  and magazine images. 

Oh, I forgot the sweat and tears...I kid, I kid.

My mom was sitting at the dining room table with me as I was crafting, 

but she is just a tad bit camera shy.

Here's the backside of the finished product. 

You can see how these babies serve double-duty as both pendant and brooch. 

Pretty shnazzy, eh?

I had to keep one for myself. This particular image is really great. 

It's another one of those slightly inappropriate but no one can tell unless they stare really hard and really closely. 

My mom thinks I'm a pervert.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Nuddy Pants Pendant

I wore this on Tuesday for a day of 

thrifting, movies, kitty-cats, dinner, and ice cream with the lovely Mango!

->NuddyPants eyeglass lens pendant/brooch - DIY

->Black Turban, $5 - Asian Hair Store

-> Striped Dress worn as a Tank, $12 - TJ Maxx

-> Hemmed Khaki Skirt - Thrifted/DIY

I have yet to update my etsy shop, 

mostly because I'm letting the locals get first dibs on the merchandise and! 

because I'm lazy. Mostly because I'm lazy. 

Speaking of, I should start packing for Spain! 

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The Thought Alone Makes Me Itchy

Just before moving back in with Momz and Popz, I consolidated my overgrown magazine collection by ripping out pages. These pages were meant for my sketchbook/inspiration book and images for my upcycled eyeglass lens pendants. One image in particular I saved for my friend Tatiana, the one with the elephant farm from a few posts back. 

I forget exactly where I found this image, but I think it's so great. From afar, you can't really tell what's going on...and when you do, you can't help but laugh. Sorry if this offends anyone, but really..."You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals." 

I'll be making more of these babies to put in the shop. I want to make them more functional, so I'm thinking about attaching findings so that these pendants can also be worn as hair clips and pins.

This is a pin that I found this weekend when I was hunting for more vintage findings. I'll also be handing it off to Tatiana. I hope she likes it!

Now I'm off to meet up with some of my fellow Donaghey Scholars for dinner at Masala's. It's bound to be tons of fun. I'll have Cammy Jr. on hand to document!

For Your Viewing Pleasure: What I'm Wearing to Dinn-Dinn

New spot, but I was just told that there may be poison ivy back there. Gah, I sure hope not! The thought alone makes me cringe...and itch.

At least it looks pretty?

->Wolf T-shirt, $10- Threadless.com

->Braided Leather Belt- Catholic High Junktique Sale

->Red Abstract Print Skirt, $3.00 - Savers

->Straw Fedora, $9 - Marshalls

->Brown Oxfords,$4- Goodwill

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Settin' Up Shop.

I spent almost all day yesterday setting up shop. I just about have Market Publique ready to go (except for my avatar...it won't load!) and Etsy's ready for me to list items.

Back in April: Annie getting ready for prom & sporting one of my fascinators!

O'course, that means I need to have items to sell. Which means that I'm going to be a crafting junkie! I have already laid out fascinators and smaller feather clips that just need to be assembled, as well as a slew of images for my eyeglass lens pendants.

I also need to take measurements of my vintage clothes and do a bit of research to list the items accurately. I would really love to find a simple dressmaker form and stand in order to photograph the items. So much to do, so much to do...but I'm excited...I've always wanted to do something like this.

Source: Google Images

Side-note: Finally got a call from Half-of-Half. I'll be reporting to duty starting Wednesday. I had pretty much given up on the idea of a summer gig, but at least now I'll have more funds to spend in Spain. I see it more as capital, since I'll totally be hitting up the flea markets...who knows what vintage goodies I might discover!

I just hope that working doesn't interfere too much with my other plans. It's been refreshing to be able to go out and do stuff before 9pm...but again, me needs the monies real baddd!

Everything will work out. I hope.

Riverfest begins tomorrow and I've already bought my button. Man, the last day better not get rained out like last year! I'll try and remember to bring Cammy Jr. to document the festivities and whatnot.

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Oh, the Humanity!

I wore my favorite Threadless t-shirt today:

"The Communist Party" by Tom Burns.

Whilst waiting outside of my Designing with New Technologies class, a fellow comrade (chortle) was naming everyone in the image. Afterwards, another classmate asked me where Hitler was. I laughed, half expecting it to be a witty April Fool's joke. I managed to say "He was Fascist" between laughs. 

From the expression on her face, I quickly realized that this was no joke.

Oh geez, I nearly peed my pants.

"Communists, Fascists...they all crazy anyways."

Nice.

Check out

http://www.threadless.com/product/383/The_Communist_Party

to snag your very own Communist Party t-shirt.

Also, our smARTS Show Haiti Benefit raked in a little over a grand...that's more than $1000 for Haiti! (All of my goods sold!!! Yippeee!) The relief benefit part deux--this time for Chile--takes place on Monday in a Craft-Bake Sale Hybrid, right here on campus.

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Crafting-Binge: Fascinator Frenzy and Eyeglass Pendants Galore

Recently I suffered a crafting-binge of sorts. It was set off by the fact that I had committed to giving at least 5 pieces to the smARTS Haiti Benefit on my campus. I wanted to drop the pieces off this past Thursday, but that gets pretty difficult when you have squat accomplished. My procrastination got the best of me, but I toiled all Wednesday night until 3am or so. I cranked out a total of 8 fascinators and 11 pendants, of which I split for the Haiti benefit on Monday and for a pending Chile benefit. (I kept a pendant for myself. Terrible, I know.)

I think this is my favorite of the fascinators that I made. I ordered these lovely bleached peacock feather pads online and added some guinea plumage. It was topped of by a vintage finding and attached to a sweet floral headband.

This was my roomie's personal fave. The headband is more graphic in nature and the findings have a dark pirate feel.

I really wish the seller of these specific feather pads still existed. I would've bought them out had I known. Another floral headband and vintage finding found during an outing with my high school Costume & Makeup teacher.

Part deux of the night brought me to eyeglass lens pendants. Anytime I'm out thrifting, I always look for the largest granny frames so I can pop the lenses out. Finding the images takes a bit more time, but luckily I had already cut some out and stored them away. I also used illustrations from books I bought from Midtowne. It felt sacrilegious to cut pages from a book, but I saw it more as giving these images a new lease on life.

Image found from the book, Nobody's Birthday.

Sole pendant that I kept for myself. "Mistah Peanut, you's so dapper!"

Image from a children's book of Birds...I also found a neat dinosaur image for another pendant.

So, these may not qualify as your typical "art works," but I don't feel that I've reached a comfortable level as a solid artist. I'd much rather DIY: reuse, renew, recycle. These will be sold with all proceeds going towards Haiti or Chile...that is, if people even buy them.

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