DIY: You're Such a (Soda) Jerk!

I went and did something I promised myself I wouldn't do. I painted this here Valentine's Day canvas. I knew it would take me forever and that I'd just barely finish it in time to enjoy it...and...yet... I managed to convince myself to do it anyway. Here's how the conversation between Delusional Cassie and Sane-ish Cassie went down:

D.C. : Aw, look at all of these cute vintage Valentine's that keep popping up on pinterest! I should so totally paint one for the house.

S.C. : Absolutely not. You take forever to paint anything. Besides, it's kinda cheesy. Aren't you like thirty-seven or something?

D.C. : It's not cheesy, it's cute! And I swear, it won't take me that long, I'll just sketch it out and block it in. Piece of cake for this, ahem, thirty-six year old.

S.C.: You say so, Crazy.

After perusing pinterest for the perfect vintage valentine, I found this one. I absolutely love the girl (the hair! the red bow shoes! the heart shirt!) and the fact that she's chillin' at a soda fountain...but the rest of it was kind of lacking. I mean, I had to read the bit about being a working girl a couple of times before I got it (did I mention there is a Slow Cassie as well?). She just seemed too lonely and sad for a Valentine.

So I started sketching out some ideas. Instead of a poor working girl, I wanted a man-eatin' go-getter. Hence the fishnets and box of chocolates. And I wanted the object of her affection to be some cute -n- clueless soda jerk.

So I did some google-image-searching and found a plethora of soda jerks. After I created a sketch that I was happy with, I decided to tint and texture my canvas. I mixed up a warm yellow ochre and slathered it onto the canvas. Once dry, I sketched out my scene in pencil and started blocking in the colors.

Sadly for this dude, his flesh is a little multi-colored. Too much time in the tanning booth will do that to you, I hear. By the time I noticed his flesh inconsistencies, I was too tired of working on the painting to care.

Once I had the colors blocked in, I started going detail crazy. I decided I wanted the counter top to have a formica pattern so I attempted to paint tiny boomerangs with a one-haired brush. They ended up looking like hearts...which I kind of liked. I just had to add the fishnets as they are my favorite thing to wear. And what's a diner without a checkerboard floor? All of the outlining and lettering was done with a black paintbrush pen.

I have a small collection of vintage Valentine's that I picked up from an etsy shop last month. One thing I noticed about them is that they all have a play on words. As I was plotting and planning, I came up with the "So-da one you love is me?" My only regret is that I don't actually have him making a soda but what looks to be an strawberry shake. Oh well, hopefully the idea for that and the "fountain" reference at the bottom is still clear.

One of my favorite discoveries while soda-jerk-searching online was rediscovering this Norman Rockwell painting. When I became interested in creating art in high school, I found these sweet images so repulsive. I was just entirely too cool for nostalgic Rockwell paintings. Now, having the love for all things vintage that I do, I just adore his work. Especially when I discovered a collection of photographs that he snapped to create his paintings.

This makes me smile. Great, isn't it?

Well, would ya look at that, Sane-ish Cassie? It's finished! And hung right at the foot of my stairs for me to admire...for the next two days. Oh well. It did take much longer than expected but it was pretty fun regardless. Happy Valentine's Day!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #4

I-Forgot-It-Was-January-And-Wore-Sandals Monday: Not like it matters, we've had one of the warmest winters on record. And I couldn't resist...these John Fluevog's I picked up in San Fran were demanding to be worn. sweater: gift from mother-in-law; dress: Four Seasons Cottage Vintage in Knoxville; belt: made by me; fishnets and tights: dunno, Target?; shoes: Fluevog

Hiya, all! I'm sharing with you this week what I chose to wear. Which, as you can tell, involves closing my eyes, plunging my hand into my closet and just throwing on whatever mildly matches. You think I'm kidding? Check out Thursday's number. Plaids and stripes? That only happens when the light's out in your closet and you pick your clothes in the dark. Trust me.

I'm so excited that my incredible student teacher has allowed me to feature her daily outfits as well! Isn't she a doll? I do have a photo of her lovely Monday look but blogger was being a booger and refused to post the photo right side up. So you'll just have to take my word that she looked just as cute as she does in the following photos. I do hope you enjoy what's left of your weekend. I plan to change that bulb in my closet...but don't expect any change in my look next week.

Totally Tuesday: So last week I was told by one of my second graders that I needed to invest in some Red Hot Lipstick...and I did! I was so excited to show her. However, she was not the least bit impressed. "That's not Red Hot enough for you!" Man, kids these days. So hard to please. red shirt and mustard tights: Target; dress: thrifted, altered by me; collar and belt: made by me, I chatted about it here: http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-dress-like-kindergartener.html; shoes: Clarks

This is the look she gives the naughty kindergarteners. Ha! Just kidding. We NEVER have any ill-behaved children. On Lauren: floral top: thrifted; sweater and shoes: Target; pants: Express; belt: For Love

It's a Perry the Platypus Belt Buckle kind of Wednesday: sweater: BCBG , thrifted; dress: vintage, thrifted; blue fishnets: dunno, Marshall's?; shoes: Dolls by Nina; Perry the Platypus belt: created for a custom order then was never purchased. So now I get to wear it!

Look how adorable she is! dress and shoes: Target; tights: Express; shirt: H&M

Trust me, I find this photo as annoying as you do. Thursday: sweater: thrifted; skirt: gift from a friend; shirt and tights: Target; shoes: originally black thrifted shoes but I painted them into pencil shoes. The kids always ask if the eraser works...but never if they pencil does.

The Calm After the Storm: Here's Lauren after she and I did bubble printing with four kindergarten classes back to back. She's still smiling! dress: I think she told me Banana Republic; sweater: Philanthorpie; shoes: Toms

Friday, you don't know how happy you make me: sweater: thrifted; dress: Cactus Flower in Bloomington, IN; apron and flower brooch: gift from mother-in-law; fishnets: Marshall's; shoes: Indigo by Clarks

Sorry, we were so involved in our lessons for the day that I forgot to ask for outfit details. I do love how Lauren layers her sweaters. I am so stealing that idea!

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DIY: The 1950's Butt-Tickler

Me trying to look 1950's domestic. Don't let the bowls and cookbooks in the background fool you -- I only bought them to match the decor.

Okay, I am totally prone to bragging, so let me just say this and get it out of my system and then I promise to not bring it up again for another 10 seconds: I MADE THIS DRESS! I know, I can't believe it either. Probably because it's only partically true. Ahem, lemme correct myself: I MADE THIS DRESS WITH THE HELP OF MY GREAT FRIEND DEBBIE (and by "help" I mean she did all of the hard, incomprehensible, rocket science-esque parts).

Speaking of, here she is workin' hard while I snap artsy photos and drink yet another of her delicious vodka, pomegranate and lime juice concoctions. She could really go in the cocktail biz.

Debbie and I have been planning our weekend of Memphis Craft for-evuh. I drove there right after school on Friday (while listening to Shudder Island on tape...yikes!...it got so spooky in some parts that I noticed myself driving slower and slower down the highway, even jumping when the CD accidentally skipped) and after a hot bowl of steamy soup and some delish cornbread, we jumped right in to the making of this dress:

Next on my fashion agenda: Bring back the dish-washing gloves with bangles look. Tres chic!

It's a pattern from the late 1950's/early 1960's that I found thrifting. This is my favorite era of dress and I've accumulated quite the stash of these kind of patterns. I have always wanted to sew from  them...but having never been very successful with patterns, following directions or anything that involves concentration and brain power, I've never tried...until now (please read last two words in your best James Earl Jones voice).

This portion of the pattern even stumped Debbie, though only temporarily. Notice the italicized writing: The portion of zipper which extends below waistline seam is free. That's right, a Free Zipper. Hangin' loose, free as a bird.

So following a pattern wasn't as impossible as I'd always thought, but it's definitely time consuming. I mean, the dresses from that era were no one-hour-and-then-you're-done affairs. They involved a lot time, focus and attention to detail. You know, the stuff my dresses from Forever21 seem to be lacking. We managed to knock out all hard parts which left me to finish the hem, the sleeve hem, buttons and belt. Oh! And the Butt-Tickler! 

  One of my kindergartener's clay snowman, sculpted in a 1/2 hour, thank you very much. I dare say all of these snowman brought us the good luck of a SNOW DAY!

Thankfully, I have the good fortune of a snow day today! With my time, I checked all of those dress to-do's off my list. Except for the dangling, butt-tickling zipper...I think I might keep that for a while!

Thanks again, Debbie and fam for having me! I had the best time...

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