Graphic Summer

I decided to pull out one of my sadly neglected, non-elastic waisted skirts and give it a whirl this past weekend when the weather warmed up to glorious degrees. It felt nice even if it was only for a quick half hour walk around our neighbourhood. Maybe I should start calling it a “promenade” like in the old days. This skirt is certainly promenade-ready, even if it’s just a little old cotton number. I love the exuberant print, which makes the whole outfit look like I tried harder than, in fact, I did.

Once More, With Feeling

For anyone who was suddenly missing this sweatshirt, hah – here it is again. You’re welcome … or should I say, apologies? But, but, but! It’s so easy to throw over everything and anything, especially when in doubt. (This skirt is fun but difficult to style, I find, so the doubt is there.) The black is, well, black and does what black does, which is go with everything. The graphic part adds some contrast – does it clash with the stripes? does it go? who knows? – which at this point in time feels like “advanced style” to my quarantine-exhausted brain.

Jump To It

The last time I wore this jumpsuit was in Mexico and … actually, let’s not go there, it’s too depressing right now. I’m hoping to make some fun, new memories this summer with it even if that involves simply some neighbourhood bird-watching with the kids. [This weekend I learned the difference between loons and mallards … or at least I learned that there IS a difference and that people on the internet are quite passionate about it.] Linen is one of my favourite fabrics at the moment – and linen cut in loose, breezy shapes is linen at its best – so I am slowly embracing it, wrinkles and all, for my everyday life.

One of the nice side-effects of my painting hobby is that I can redecorate my walls whenever the mood strikes. Put it differently, I am my own best customer. Every so often, I want to change up my wall art which serves as a good outlet for my painting studio production. Recently, I decided it was time to switch out the art above our bed:

Some of you may remember that this quartet of paintings was made by yours truly last fall. I liked them at the time, but more recently felt like I wanted something different. Luckily, my husband had no objections (to the old art or my ideas for the new). I wanted something more colourful, inspired by my Major Arcana mixed media work. To save materials, I decided to re-use the same canvas boards from before, and paint over the original pictures.

The first piece I made was inspired by The Magician:

Here it is with the mat:

After a couple of false starts, I added the Hermit to the line-up:

That blue blob on the bottom right hides the original logo on the image of the bookcases – it used to be a Moncler ad, of all things.

Here it is with the mat:

I then took a detour to the Minor Arcana – to the Three of Cups – because I was really drawn to these figures:

I kinda prefer this piece without a mat, but I had to keep it consistent with the others so:

Adding a mat did give me the opportunity to do something a little cheeky. Check out that hand – it ended up being my favourite detail.

I struggled a bit to find the right images to create the last piece, but eventually Strength came together quite nicely – it might be my favourite:

And, of course, with the mat:

I love these as a set and the vibe they add to the room now:

Next week, I’ll post about some of my other crafting endeavours. If you want to share some of your projects in the meantime, I would love to hear about them.

Wear Your Brights

I’m in a weird style zone right now (but aren’t we all) where I’m trying but not really. Like, my favourite part of this outfit? Realizing that I can wear these pull-on sneakers with it. Those, along with my Birks, have been my go to footwear and it’s nice to just put them on and not have to think of alternatives. As for the rest of the outfit, I felt proud of my creative output until I realized that I wore this exact same combination before. But! I added a jacket this time. Both for necessity – we had a dip in temps over the weekend – and so I could call this a new outfit.

Geometric

I really miss my skirts. I don’t miss blazers or high heels or other pieces of my work wardrobe as much as I miss my skirts. I’ve started to put a few into my WFH rotation, mostly sticking to elastic waist skirts for comfort. I decided to try this non-elasticized Crea Concepts skirt too – it’s a very light silk and the cut is forgiving enough. It has a neat faux-wrap detail that speaks to style beyond pure function, and that’s something I’ve been missing too. I’ve been compensating by wearing more colour, and I think I may need to get adventurous with pattern mixing again, just for fun. Pairing this geometric print top with a (handmade) rainbow necklace was an easy baby step.

Same Old, Same Old?

I continue to make an exception to my no-pants rule for these floral Pilcro chinos. Although a mid-to-high rise, they are loose enough to still be comfortable. And, of course, they’re colourful. They make my neighbourhood walks with the kids a little more of an “event”. It seems silly, but I don’t have much else in my (outside) social calendar these days. They also go really well with my current fave pair of shoes, so that’s a bonus.