I'm back!

Hey friends, I feel like I've been away from the blogosphere for so long...I was in a bit of a personal rut and lacked all inspiration. I'm battling the bad vibes and trying to get back to a good, creative, motivated place.

As Flaubert so brilliantly put it, one should "be regular and orderly in your life, so you be violent and original in your work."

So I am resuming painting regularly--a goal perhaps of one painting every week?
I have taken up playing the bass guitar. My dear friend, Greg, loaned me his extra bass that was laying around the studio and showed me all the notes last night. I cut my nails and cowgirled up, noodling through all the initial bad notes and new fingertip callouses.

I set up my actual office/studio at our house, which mean every morning I can come back here and have some sort of creative space to start my day.

And I am trying to start dragging myself to the gym again (and REALLY trying to convince myself I love it.)


So today...a little shopping!
There are two things I want really, really, badly right now and both are jackets. The first is a studded leather jacket. I'm not really one for the punk aesthetic, but I think there is something so sexy and, bear with, refined about a well-fitted, tastefully designed leather jacket with a few embellishments. I personally prefer the large, flat studs because they're the ironic, "softer" sisters of the stud family, but a well-proportioned pyramid stud would work for me, too.

left: Jacket by Religion. Photo from Stellar Magazine.
right: Jacket by Topshop. Image from Fashionista At Play.

And, this, the greatest studded jacket in the land---Karen O's (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) leather jacket, designed by Christian Joy. Revel in its awesomeness. Seriously. (Image from ArchiveVintage.)






The second thing I want is a military, Sgt. Pepper-style jacket. It's kind of snarky and incredibly chic.

left: Balmain Military Style Denim Jacket. From net-a-porter.
right: Another Balmain. Image from Jewel-And-Jewel.


All right people. That's it for this morning. See you tomorrow! (And it's good to be back!!)

1920s/30s tooled leather purses.

I've only recently become addicted to eBay, and yesterday I wound up on a search that started with vintage leather purses to tooled leather purses, and ultimately stumbling upon the prettiest purses I've ever seen in my life! I have a few bags from the 20s and 30s, but I've never even seen tooled leather purses from this period!!

Here are a few. Aren't they gorgeous??

This purse comes from Back Thennish Vintage. The inside is dated-- 1-25-21. (The purse just turned 88 years old, and it's still carry-able!) It was made by JEMCO.


This purse comes from Sirwinstonthepug's Done Gone Deals. It's another JEMCO from 1918.



This purse comes from swissgulch Antiques. The purse is circa 1920 and features both Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs, very Arts and Crafts style.


This purse comes from abee2. The inside is dated 11/3/31. It features an Arts and Crafts style floral design.


This comes from Mauri's. The purse features a Mexican/Deco design.


This comes from oldadvertiser. Definitely from the 30s, this leather purser has a bakelite handle!



This comes from Bronnie's Antiques and Collectibles. It's carved bakelite!!! How cool is that?? This purse could only serve the purpose of a dance purse, with only room to hold a lipstick and some cash. If anyone knows anything about this style purse, contact the seller through the link. He/she is looking for info!