What I Wore...Snakeskin Skinnies and Boots

Can all of the Midwesterners let out a collective "B-r-r-r?"  It's been a frigid week.  I'm keeping out layers, particularly skinnies and boots.  My husband snapped the pictures as quickly as possible so I didn't freeze!

Earlier in the fall I bought a pair of snakeskin skinny pants.  It's hard for me to wear them, as I try to pair something that's bold with a more conservative item.

I like to keep outfits balanced so I don't feel self-conscious...just a personal thing.  Even so, the belt detail with the pants is about as embellished as I want to be! Being petite means that lots of accessories tend to look "I'm dressing up in my mommy's clothes" very quickly.  I finally wore the pants to church this Sunday.

Cardigan-Old Navy, Top-Anthro, Belt-Loft, Pants-Target, Boots-Clarks

I like the snakeskin pattern because it's a neutral color and the design isn't overwhelming.  However, I'm still hunting through my closet for other everyday outfits to use these pants with during the week.

Found this cute belt after Christmas.  I'm looking for opportunities to use this too, although it needs a little tweaking.  The end tends hang out instead of staying tucked, which looks sloppy.  I need to put in velcro to secure the end, perhaps also punching another hole so it doesn't sag when I'm active.  Other ideas welcome!

This is pretty typical for me, especially on these colder days when the house is a bit colder too.  Skinny jeans, boots, tee of some type, cardigan.

 

 I like the watercolor effect in the fabric of this top from Anthro...sale rack, of course.  These boots are from Payless Shoe Source and I have to say they are pretty warm, comfortable, and have that wintry lodge vibe.

 

 

 That's all from the land of the frozen...literally.  We have no snow, but plenty of icy temperatures.  Our backyard neighbors have converted their entire yard into an ice rink so we have hockey games to go along with the weather.  Pretty cool to see a big ol' homemade ice rink in the Chicago burbs.

Keep the fires burning and stay warm!

Sharing here at the Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday.

Military Style and New Jeans

I decided that my skinny and straight leg jeans needed a third companion...jean leggings.  Jeggings?  Is that still what they're called?

Although I'm still adjusting to the tight fit, I do like the silhouette with the right outfit.  Although I generally look hideous in army green, I pair it with a top of different colors underneath so I can add it on as a layer.  I've also discovered that as I allowed my heavily-highlighted blonde hair to darken to its natural shade, I can wear slightly more earthy tones with my natural coloring.

Photo accompanied by bright orange Hot Wheels tracks :)

I found the military-cut jacket at Loehmann's.  Does anyone else have and LOVE this place?  It's along the lines of TJ Maxx and Marshall's, but a bit more organized by brands and styles.

I think the jean legging does create a nice clean line.  When you're ultra-petite like moi, you must pay attention to clean silhouettes because you get baggy and lumpy in a hurry without much "real estate" to spread out on!

Jeans-Express, Top-Vera Wang by Kohls, Belt-thrifted, Jacket-Loehmann's, Booties--6pm.com

Sharing at The Pleated Poppy's What I Wore Wednesday linkup party.

Hello Monday...a new blog space!

A new year, time for some fresh ideas and projects to try.  I decided to separate my thoughts into two blogs, Wildflower and this new one, Wildflower Workshop.  I really like to use Wildflower as an online journal for sharing thoughts about what I'm learning and reflecting on as I go through life.

This space is my record of creative endeavors, whether taking fun photos, crafting, assembling a new outfit, sewing, or anything else that would include creative play!

Before I jump with both feet into 2013, one last look back at Christmas...

Hello cutie!  Just ready to open presents.  This was so much fun, since my little guy was old enough at three years to anticipate the mystery of each gift's contents.

 Hello Oma!  We celebrated at her house this year.

Love Christmas lights and decorations!

Hello snow!  Hurrah!

Hello to date night with the big guy while Oma did the babysitting.  We had a great time!

I'm reminded of how much I have to be grateful for in this life.  On to 2013!

Sharing with Lisa Leonard's Hello Monday party.

Space to Create and Making a Free Blog Header

One of my goals this year is to carve out more time and space for creating.  My other blog, Wildflower, is about thoughts on life, an online journal of events and ideas I'm exploring.  However, I wanted a space where I could focus solely on recording creative endeavors.

My first entry is about preparing my blog space for these projects.  I used a simple design from Blogger because it's free and easy to do.  Open the Blogger account, pick a template, and away I go!  However, the  header needed a much more personal touch.

I am finding my way through Picasa and PicMonkey, learning as I explore various options.  This is a rookie learning process for me, but it's fun to edit and play with possibilities. 

These are two pieces of fabric that I'm planning to use soon for living room projects.

I laid them side by side on the laundry/craft room floor, overlapping slightly, and snapped my photo.

I opened the photo in Picasa 3, a free photo editing tool, and added the title using the text tool.  Using the crop tool, I cropped the photo to fit a blog header size.  It looked like this:

 I felt it needed some tweaking, so I added some frequently used craft tools...

 and took another photo to revise the header.

 Back again to Picasa 3 for more editing!  I experimented with various lighting options to brighten the photo, as our lighting is awful in the basement even in daylight hours.   I cropped the photo again.  I decreased the text size and used the direction tool to allow the text to "flow" more organically with the fabric design.

To give it a more "finished" appearance, I opened the photo in PicMonkey, a free online photo editing tool.  This allowed me to choose "Frames" and add details like borders and rounded corners.

Now my blog space and header are ready for more projects in 2013.  For a rookie photographer and photo editor, I'm happy with the result!  Anything new you're learning in 2013?

Sharing here at Five Days 5 Ways.  Also sharing at Skip to my Lou's Made by You Monday party.