Hey! Sorry I haven't blogged in while because of the holidays, but I'll work on that! I hope your winter vacation was as good as mine! For Christmas cards this year, instead of the regular cards with photos or "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays", I seized the moment and decided to recycle! Taking old cards from the past years, I cut the backs off and wrote something on the back of the front page.

While digging around in my grandparent's basement, I discovered a set of mirrored outlet covers. One is a light switch cover, and the other is for a regular outlet. Fortunately, I need a set of these at the moment, and so I can put these to good use. Hopefully I will be able to get more for the other sockets in my room!

On the radio I heard that the skinny jean trend will be out by 2014. Wear out your skinny jeans as much as you can and be prepared for the upcoming flare jeans fad. Here are some outfit ideas with flare jeans.

~ A floral or brightly patterned cardigan

 http://buckheadbelle.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.htm

~ With dark flare jeans

 http://www.sierratradingpost.com/fdj-french-dressing-olivia-flare-jeans-natural-fit-for-women~p~3866r/

~ And colored flats

http://www.leadingthegoodlife.net/2012/04/11/wedding-wednesday-shoes/pink-flats/

Next up! 

~ A solid color or plaid button up 

  http://shopping.yahoo.com/womens-shirts-blouses/stripe--pattern/button-down--shirt-style/

~ With faded flare jeans

http://www.mytheresa.com/us_en/mellow-drama-flare-leg-jeans.html

~ And brown cowboy boots underneath the jeans

 

 http://www.sierratradingpost.com/twisted-x-boots-western-cowboy-boots-12-snip-toe-for-women~p~3576d/ 

And finally...

~ A white flowy top

http://pinterest.com/franniepoops/white-shirts/

~ Accessorized with a long necklace

 http://heather-pullis-designs.fashionstylist.com/heather-pullis-designs-long-brown-seed-bead-necklace-brown-necklaces.html

~ With flare jeans

~ And neutral colored flip flops

http://www.palmettomoononline.com/blog/2012/04/18/flirty-braidy-rainbow-sandals-in-expresso-now-at-palmetto-moon/

All of these ideas are simple outfits that you are able to mix and match.

 I am really into art. I like drawing and I especially like painting.  A watercolor artist named Caitlin McGauley inspired me to start using watercolor, and I found out that I love it.  These are two pics I drew before I was introduced to watercolor.

 These pictures are when I was just getting started with watercolor. They needed a little work, but practice makes perfect, right?

Once I became more advanced with watercolor, I improved my paintings. This was the very fancy dress that I wore to a party. I added the aqua color to the background to bring out the pastel purple in the dress. 

For this picture, I arranged Tabasco, crushed red pepper, and glass salt and pepper shakers onto a napkin on the dining room table.  

    Now I have found the new media I like to use: Sharpie! First, I started drawing flowers, then it turned out to look like some sort of fancy purple dandelion.

 I really  like the pattern ikat. It has been around for years! For those of you that don't know, ikat is a really cool pattern that's really in right now. Designers use this pattern daily and it can be found on clothes, accessories, and furniture. This is a really pretty "organic" looking blue colored ikat. 

 

http://www.ioffer.com/i/capri-ikat-fabric!-new!-204582810

I really like this certain ikat pattern because of the bold colors, which makes the gray in the background pop.

 http://materialgirlsblog.com/newyork/2009/10/25/ikat-fabric-madeline-weinrib-and-ebay-oh-my/

Look at the furniture, clothing and accessory options with ikat patterns. They are endless!

http://www.houzz.com/photos/furniture/ikat

 http://blog.polyvore.com/2009/04/how-to-wear-ikat-print.html

http://www.thomasville.com/Furniture/Accessories-Furniture/Accessories/i324164-Ikat-Pattern-B.aspx

http://www.doubleselect.com/2012/03/16/tf-slack-for-oki-ni-ss12

http://vintagefarmhouseme.blogspot.com/2012/04/ikat.html

 http://theheartseeks.blogspot.com/

http://www.mulberrywhisper.com/2012/08/silk-ikat-scarf-giveaway-by-mulberry.html