favorites and obsessions

favesssss.
(as always, more faves at my ye olde flickr favorites page)

as i mentioned in the most recent wardrobe_remix(ers) o' the week post, i've been quite busy this week with personal stuff. mostly work, dr. & midwife appointments, and the like. and just resting some. so i am a little slow with things like etsy love posts and such, and for that, my apologies! will of course resume posting with some regularity soonish...my backlog of to-be-posted posts can attest to the fact that i have at least been making a stab at this blogging thing! life just happens. :P

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but on with the obsessions:
-the biggest one, the one that's been unspoken to a large degree and as yet unmentioned here but HUGE for me this week: we found out that we are having a little GIRL! i am so insanely happy about that, i can hardly even speak. now that i've had a little tiny peek at her (via ultrasound this past monday), i've fallen in love with her even more, and i feel like i can actually start preparing for her arrival with the making of twee baby dresses, knit or crochet garments, blankies, and other needs. i had sort of had a moratorium against making such until this juncture, out of fear (long story). the little sea monkey seems happy...she's kicking me with vigor regularly for a couple weeks now!
-finding clothes that actually fit. i've finally started to bust out belly-wise and regular jeans and skirts just don't cut the mustard anymore. if you can believe it, i was still wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans somewhat comfortably up until about a week ago (with some clever macgyvering, natch). but such rigging measures have finally lost their efficacy. *sniffle* i'm slowly acquiring new garments that more comfortably accommodate my changing shape. i am wanting to write about my experiences thus far and more about pregnancy style. i hope to do so again sooner rather than later. so many ideas, yet, so many things to do and too little time! ha.
-going to hawaii at the end of april. oh yeah!!! looking way forward to that. resting and relaxing on the beach, woo! with a ginormous belly, woo! it will be good. i need a break from life and i think that little vacay will be just the ticket for me and the mans (and a calm before the storm that shall be a new baby in our lives).
-and, reading. voraciously. right now it's born in the usa. it's deep, it's medical, it's kinda political. it's sort of my regular fare at the moment (baby/birth literature). unsurprisingly.
(ok, it's almost all baby- or pregnancy-related. oops!)

brooches (by) jantje fleischhut

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(photos via the galerie rob koudijs)

i am completely and totally head-over-heels in love with these brooches by amsterdam-based german jewelry artist jantje fleischhut. the juxtaposition of shapes, materials, and textures she uses are unexpected yet perfectly arranged, and the use of semi-precious jewels and semi-precious and precious metals gives all the pieces an undeniably luxe feel. some of the materials are salvaged, which of course speaks straight to the times we live in and what forms a large part of the arts as time progresses: refuse reused is really right now.
(via dear ada)

threadbanger: patterns, burda syle and compai's book release party

i personally don't find patterns or the art of dressmaking hard to decipher (having 20+ years of experience in sewing under my belt at this juncture), but i know MANY folks out there do find it all to be quite the challenge, and i know people are craving instruction or just any help with this craft, period. i hear it all the time.
so, to boot and bolster those begging for help and inspiration, see this: in a recent episode, the ever awesome threadbanger checks in with some creative folks who promise to make that pattern-following process easier: burdastyle, who offers fabulous free patterns (with lots of great instruction to boot), and compai, who just released a new book of explicit ideas on how to rock and reuse a scarf.
(apropos of nothing besides the contents of that video, i'm totally grooving on nora of burdastyle's plaid blouse! check out the opposing plaids in it's yoke! anyone with me? ha.)
right on, rob and corrine! good stuff as always.