Modern Lines in Old Times: Stairwells

Night and day. That pretty much sums up the difference between the old location and the new location of one of the university departments I work with. The old location was in a concrete nightmare from the 1970's built on the edge of civilization; some place you could see in a horror movie, complete with flickering, wan, yellow lighting, dark passages and mad scientists. I actually carried a flashlight during winter visits and often walked with my keys between my fingers. I never felt safe there.

The new location is centrally located, well lit, and -dare I say- beautiful. The building is at least a century old, if not more, and has lots of lovely architectural details. The stairwell is my favorite place. The patterns in the balusters are simple, classic, and oooold. Yet I could easily see this being recreated in a modern home or building. I love the gleaming, worn wood and fresh white paint that glows thanks to all the natural light pouring in through the windows. From the windows you can watch children play outside happily at a neighboring day care facility (kita). Germany's oldest gothic church is nearby and its bells peal as class starts. SUCH a pleasant change!

29 Ways to Stay Creative

I love this video; so many good ideas! No need for a case of the Monday blues with this much inspiration!

What do you think? Any favorite reminders or ideas? I think #18 is my favorite.

Modcloth Design and Illustration Contest

Retro clothing online mega-shop, Modcloth, is running their Make the Cut contest where this year's them is 'Retro Honor Roll'. Contestants submitted "superb sketches of creative, wearable styles with a 1960;s back-to-school feel! (Think: Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years and Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks.)" Three winning designs will be produced and sold by Modcloth with the winner's name actually on the garment's tag. Sounds like a fun idea, right?

Well, submissions are closed and my friend, Daphne, had her submission chosen to make the Top 25 cut. I really love her illustration and really do think it perfectly matches the Modcloth vibe and the spirit of the contest. I could definitely see Modcloth selling a cape like this one, can't you?

Head over to Facebook to see all 25 candidates here, and see Daphne's entry here! 
** Please give Daphne a vote if you like her contribution; she's teetering on the edge of winning!! **

Local Shimmer

I love the colors and the shimmer of the satin and sequins. This is a section of local, traditional dress in my region of Germany (see, it's not all lederhosen here!). Old fashioned things always seem so...black and white. You can easily just get stuck in the thoughts that back then people only wore black, grey, beige and white. How fun it must have been to don these colors and sequins and go shimmer at a wedding or a festival!

I especially love the idea of embroidering your initials in sequins or thread on your dress. It's the details, right? I'm feeling all sorts of inspired to go add some detail to some part of my clothing. I usually do this with jewelry, but maybe I should do a little altering on my own... Have you ever added detail to your clothing? What did you do?

Yarn Wrapped Chair DIY

The other day I was one the phone for a reeeeeaaaallllyy looooonng time. Like REALLY long time. I was catching up with a friend and we hadn't talked for a while, so there was a lot to talk about. Do you know the kind of phone call I'm talking about? The kind where you're kind of worn out afterwards but it was fun? Her husband came home from work, had a snack, they loaded the kids bikes in the van, he drove off and took the kids for a walk/ride around a lake and came home and we were STILL on the phone, ha!

Anyways, while we were talking I thought I would see if I could use up some leftover yarn and attempt to spice up a tatty old chair (that really should be painted). The chair seems destined to remain in this funky empty corner in our living room, so I figured 'why not?' We talked and I weaved.

I'm not going to yarn bomb the rest of the house or anything, but this was a fun way to do something different and use up some of the stuff I had on hand. I think it would have been fun to do each spindle a different color, along with more wrapping on the lower part of the chair, but I'm not going to sweat it. It may not stay for long, but it's kind of fun for now.

What about you? Have you yarn wrapped anything in your home? What do you do on eternal phone conversations? I have another friend I always have long talks with and we both clean our house while we talk to each other. I should probably call her more often...ha!