Sunlit & Ascending

It's -36 out. Or at least it was this morning. Let me check...My apologies, it's only -30 now. However, I discovered today that I only work nine days this month. That's pretty much the best news ever right now. Besides the fact that we now have a doorknob that will allow us to enter our apartment in a legal fashion. Anyway, because I've been cooped up inside all day in order to avoid freezing to death, I finally got around to taking some pictures and making some listings for my shop. And yes, those are sunbeams you see in the photos. Don't let the Albertan sunshine fool you. If this keeps up, I may not be taking the bus tomorrow night to see Blue Valentine. I hear Ryan Gosling sings and plays ukulele in the film. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to continue to listen to Dead Man's Bones on repeat until then...

(Photo via freak accident while taking a photo for a listing. I didn't even know digital cameras can do cool things like real cameras.)

Anywho + Kobra = A Warm Heart

I can't believe I almost missed Christmas. I just realized yesterday, amidst my huge day-long sigh of relief, that Christmas is next weekend. Next weekend! I have already done the majority of my shopping, and I did decorate the apartment on December 1st, but those were more chores than anything. With all that was going on at work (and thus my life), I didn't even think of getting into any type of holiday spirit. But now I'm free to listen to Amy Grant's Home For Christmas to my heart's content. It would also help to wrap some of those presents (a task which I love to do), but I have a week or two of blog reading to catch up on. Here's one gem I've already found, via DeSmitten: The drapiest of drapey warm wear from a collaboration between Danish label Kobra (by Fornebo) and Danish blog Anywho. Priced between about $215 and $320 (and only available here), I'm thinking these one-size wool and cashmere blend pieces are the perfect rewards for making it through this year...

P.S. Everything in my shop is 50% off for the weekend, just because. Meaning everything but the Alexander McQueen jacket is under $25. And yes, the McQueen is also on sale, against my better judgment. The regular $5 off for each additional item and $10 flat shipping fee still applies. Cheers!

Auto-suggestion

Tonight I've been wishing that a place on the Internets existed whereby people like you and I could list and/or buy, from a particular person, a care package of sorts containing a few of said person's favorite things. 'Favorites' is a word/category bandied around so much in the blogosphere and online shopping sphere. And wanting to share my favorites is one reason why I started a blog. But I find that just sharing them via posting a picture/link/few words isn't fulfilling enough for me. When I find a true favorite, I always have this impulse to buy another of that item to give to someone else. This Christmas I had the fleeting idea of only buying my favorite things to give to my family for their gifts. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that they're not necessarily the target group of my eclectic interests, and so I'm just going the traditional route of getting things I know they'll like (rather than what I think they should like). Nonetheless, not unlike a certain daytime talk show host, I'd love to put together a physical package of my favorite things to actually give to someone, rather than just mention them (or talk about them incessantly) on my blog. Such favorites would include a certain clothing item (or two), book, movie, album, bag of coffee, coffee mug, beauty item, and photo of my favorite place (the exact details of such being kept silent in case this idea ever came to fruition). Granted, this would be a particularly expensive venture, not to mention time-consuming, as my favorite things hail from a few different places in the world. 

Hence why there should be somewhere where people who have a few dollars to spare can auction off a surprise parcel containing a few of their favorite things to adoring fans and kindred spirits (who, again, have a few dollars to spare). The proceeds of the winning bid would go towards the actual expenses incurred by gathering said favorites (and, I would suggest, any extra to a charity of that person's choice), so perhaps it wouldn't be that bad of a deal for the parcel maker. I for one would bid on Neil Gaiman's Favorite Things. Or Henry Rollins'. Or Björk's. Or Vivienne Westwood's. Or yours.

Whose Favorite Things would you bid on?

On a completely unrelated note, some of you already know about my shop and the sale I have going on right now. I realize now that I'm simply just adding to all the Black Friday sales kicking around the Internets. Being Canadian, I always forget about American Thanksgiving and their version of our Boxing Day. So I apologize for the coincidence, and for my severe deficiency of noir items in my sale. But I digress. Aside from listing never worn items for a fraction of the original price, every Friday until New Year's Eve I'm marking down two random items even further by 50%. Or to 50%. Whichever you'd prefer. These two items will be on sale just for the weekend. And because I may be out and about tomorrow, I thought I'd mark down the first two items today. Here is item #1, and item #2. All other deals (i.e. $5 off for each additional item and $10 for regular shipping) still apply.

P.S. Happy American Thanksgiving!

Edit: As nearly half my items have sold in less than a week, after this weekend, only one item will be marked down every Friday until December 31st. Mean, aren't I? I kind of feel like a kid again, making up the not entirely logical rules to a new schoolyard game as I go.

Eleanor Amoroso

Last week I saw a couple of new pieces in NJAL's The Shop that looked interesting from afar. However, I didn't want to take a closer look since they looked like they were made from hair, a material which may be a trend on the runway, but which just makes me feel icky. Good thing the designer of these pieces is being featured on the front page of NJAL. For these pieces, along with the rest of this fashion student's graduate collection, are made not of hair but of fringing, cord, and metal, thus warranting a much closer look than I previously though. The designer's name is Eleanor Amoroso, and the painstaking technique of macrame is how she handmade every single piece of her collection, including the accessories. I'm going to be staring at these statement pieces for a few hours. It's a comforting thought to know that craftsmanship isn't yet a lost art, isn't it? Sigh.

On a completely unrelated note, please check out my shop for some new listings of (mostly) handmade pieces I've never worn before. There are fourteen items up for sale in total, with all but one of them from $10 to $50 until December 31st. There also may be an Alexander McQueen piece you'll want to check out...

***Even more of a SALE***

So girls, I've rounded down ALL the prices on ALL my items in my Treasured Re-finds shop, just because I can. If you missed the memo, this is where I list unworn Etsy purchases of mine that deserve a better home, featuring gorgeous clothing and the occasional accessory.

Remember, the sale goes only until Saturday, July 4th. The sale prices are in red at the bottom of each listing. Comment or email me to claim an item as your own. I will also list the item on ebay for you as a Buy It Now if you feel safer purchasing an item that way. And yes, like I said on the original posting, I will take another $5 for each additional item you buy.

Happy re-finding!