Thursday, November 12, 2009

First Ever Giveaway


Today I am hosting my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY with this darling clutch by Thomas Paul from allmodern.com. The same company also has a collection of modern decor and furniture called Vitra, which you should check out here! It has so many wonderful items for sprucing up your space. To enter into the giveaway, please leave a comment below on this post. You can gain extra entries by 1) Facebooking about my blog (with a link) and the giveaway 2) Blogging about my blog (with link) and giveaway and 3) Tweeting about my blog (with link) and the giveaway. Be sure to leave an extra comment for each one! The drawing will take place on Friday so leave your comments till then! Good luck!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Self Portrait Project- Pre Photoshop

Here's my newest photography project. pre-touch-ups. I probably won't do much with them, but some straightening and such needs to happen. They were inspired by a photographer that came to speak at Rhodes named Leslie Hewitt. She would set up still lifes with significant objects from the 70s and photograph them. I was intrigued by her desire to capture these sculptures in photograph form. She really wanted to study the items as how they affected the one moment of time in which the photograph was taken. I thought the same way for my project as many of my objects had stories behind them that captured at least where I was at particular points in my life. The project theme is "Self Portraits." I opted for a very minimalist view on some of the objects in my life. I think it's funny that I ended up using objects to define myself since I'm not all that into stuff, but I liked how these photos ended up more so than my other shots. Enjoy!
This is a pitcher that I found thrifting when I was getting my first apartment and needed some decor. It also holds some of my first kitchen utensils. I will straighten it and lighten it.
I bought this purse in Milan, Italy during my time abroad last semester. I will probably crop out the bottom for congruency.


Some wilted flowers snagged (pre-wilting) from the trash after Homecoming here at Rhodes. Will crop the bottom.


An elephant I bought in Tunisia during my time abroad.


A hat that I received for Christmas one year.


A coin purse I bought in the weekly antique market in Catania, Sicily.


A pile of scarfs that I have gathered over the years because I love scarves! They are from Catania, Sicily, Barcelona, Spain, thrifting, and Christmas.


A teacup I dumpster dived for while I was interning at Harvest Hands during the summer. I got the whole set of china.

Some shoes that I have always loved and have carried me through several important events in my life.


Another pair of shoes that I wore almost every day in Sicily. They are also very dirty because of my drawing class.

This is a box that my grandmother gave me years ago. I don't know that she would even remember giving it to me. It is just a random antique box she got for me when we went antiquing with her one weekend. It has always lived on my dresser wherever I have lived (in the US at least) and has never held more than some pens and pencils and probably a few pennies, but I just love it's character.

I have a couple more to shoot and I might not even end up using these, but here's a taste at least of what I'm up to in photographyland.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Loving these


Flower vases and vases courtesy of one my favorite blogs Daydream Lily. Maybe a bit reminiscent of what the vases might look like in our reception....

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Birthday Goodies



Andrew got me this fabulous book (see above and follow link) for my birthday along with a couple of awesome photography gadgets, and I love it so I wanted to share. It has some great ideas for making your own "green" art supplies and also some great art projects with recycled materials. I have spent the last three nights sifting through this book over and over again for good ideas and avoiding sleep. One of my personal favorite projects was the idea for making journals out of recycled materials, which I already do for myself and did for my sustainability class, but this book had some great ideas for new and more creative designs!

The same people have the another book, "Rebound" that delves into this journal/book-making so I ordered it today. I am so pumped!! I love journaling and love books and creative outlets and these ideas combine all three loves. I'm thinking it may be such a great project that I may start making them and selling some?! etsy store maybe? I'll keep you posted, but until then, check these books out yourself for some great ideas.

Sorry for the random "look inside" text, I borrowed/stole these photos off of amazon.com. You can't actually click on the books and look inside, but you can follow the links in the text below to see inside them on amazon.com.

Also, I'm going to have my first "giveaway" soon where you can win free stuff from my blog! Stay posted!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

So last week was my birthday






and I have pretty fabulous friends that baked me this cake and took me out to dinner to a new-to-me mexican restaurant. yummmm!



Then we all hit up the campus-wide Halloween party. I went as a genie.

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Rest of Fall Break

The rest of Fall Break was fantastic! Andrew, Chelsea and I went thrifting (one of my favorite things to do). I got two cute pairs of shoes (note the cute yellow ones which were $1.49- the others were $0.98) and a cute pair of jeans for $1.98. All looked brand new. Gotta love good deals that are also sustainable.


Then on Saturday, Andrew and I went to the Memphis Flea Market to check out the vendors. I got a great used Field Guide on Insects and Spiders of the US and North America. I've already read quite a bit. There wasn't a great abundance of craftiness though which was a bit disappointing. All the same, it was still fun. That night we hit up the Memphis Grizzlies game courtesy of some free club level tickets so that was a lot of fun.



After the weekend in Memphis, we headed home and Andrew kept on movin' towards school. Monday, Dad and I went to the Big ATL to see Sam in a scrimmage game at GT and spend some time with him over dinner. It was wonderful! I really miss getting to spend time with him and I have to admit, I was really proud of him playing out there on the big field (starting shortstop for the Gold Team). (Proud sister.... can't help it) There he is #31 up to bat. I love seeing the skyscrapers over the fences of the field. That night we drove home, spending some quality time chatting in the car. Great memories :)

The next day, Mom and I met for a tasty lunch at Cafe Calypso, which is always oh so tasty! And then went to look for bridesmaids' dresses and FOUND ONE that is perfect. It's a bit nontraditional and pretty fantastic and it's also a secret so you should come to the wedding to find out what it looks like. Mom is very good luck for such things apparently. We both picked out the exact same dress in different parts of the store and both ran over to show the other at the same time. Pretty great! :)

In other news, Rhodes is writing a news story on my sustainability and simple living class that is going to go out on a national level! Pretty exciting since I am so passionate about such stuff. They are sending a big photographer and such to the class to take some pictures and I have been talking to a reporter at an advertising firm somewhere far away. Hopefully the story really will be published and I will let you know details when I can. The class itself is really going well as well. Though it's not a Christian-based group, I hope it helps teach people the ideas that Jesus lived out and helps to challenge and strengthen their own beliefs. The other day a student came over after class and said, "You know Allison, I think Jesus has to be the ultimate example for simple living and for this class." I was happy in the least to hear that the connection was being made. Jesus was all about the simple living.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Taco Salad and Fall Break = Fabulous!

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Yummy taco salad for dinner.


Chels and Andrew set the table. Bridget slices the avocado.

This weekend is the start of Rhodes' Fall Break. Andrew's fall break overlapped a bit so he made the long trip to Memphis to hang out :) In honor of the start of fall break and Andrew's arrival, the rooms and I along with Andrew cooked up some tasty tacos and taco salads for dinner. They were very tasty if I do say so myself.


This is his satisfied with dinner face. :)