Volte-face

Image from www.apartmenttherapy.com/

I am predictable, I know. And yes, I am very easily influenced by the people and events around me. I might try to deny it, and pretend to be diffrent. But the honest truth is; I am just as unique as everyone else. (oxymoron right there!)....
And as usual, as everyone becomes a little disenchanted with fashion and all things sartorial towards the end of summer, so I have I found myself thinking about the vain and superficial obsessions with current trends and all the pretty clothes. Hence to save any sort of common sense and individuality I still have left, I have turned my attention to the space I live in. A much more sensible and less superficial preoccupation, don't you think?

7 Days of Poetry: I Am - John Clare

I Am

I am: yet what I am none cares or knows,
My friends forsake me like a memory lost;
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost;
And yet I am! and live with shadows tost

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life nor joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems;
And e'en the dearest--that I loved the best--
Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest.

I long for scenes where man has never trod;
A place where woman never smil'd or wept;
There to abide with my creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept:
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie;
The grass below--above the vaulted sky. 

John Clare

7 Days of Poetry: How do I love thee? - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

7 Days of Poetry: I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou

I know why the caged bird sings
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

7 Days of Poetry: All You Who Sleep Tonight - Vikram Seth

All you who sleep tonight

All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years. 

Vikram Seth

7 Days of Poetry: She walks in beauty - George Gordon Byron

She walks in beauty

She walks in beauty like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
meets in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
had half impair'd the nameless grace
which waves in every raven tress,
or softly lightens o'er her face -
where thoughts serenely sweet express
how pure, how dear their dwelling - place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
so soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
the smiles that win, the tints that glow,
but tells in days of goodness spent,
a mind at peace with all below,
a heart whose love is innocent. 

George Gordon Byron

7 Days of poetry: Synergy of love - Mark R Slaughter

We can't ignore the fact that Valentine's Day is coming up. It's everywhere you look. And although I'm not so big on the whole idea, I thought it would be a good idea to take this time to share some meaningful poetry. For the next seven days or so I'll share some poems that have struck a chord with me. Not all will be love poems but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Synergy of love

'Were you honed from poetry? '
I asked your saddened smile.
For it seems to tell a longing tale -
One of words in oratory 
That speaks in languid metaphors
From lips of mind in deep despair
And solitude from inner wars
That over time has rendered life so frail.

The beauty department

the beauty department

Having come across this heavenly real estate of webspace, I couldn't help but share. I found this website almost a year ago while trying to determine the perfect foundation for my skin tone.
Even though I haven't yet accomplished that arduous task [I am almost convinced finding that perfect shade is like finding the fountain of youth, mythical] I have learned a lot from their tips, hints, tutorials and occasional educational posts. I am sure whatever your beauty issues are, they have something for you.

Its definitely worth a look.

http://thebeautydepartment.com/

Rambling

Dreams are the illustrations...from the book your soul is writing about you - Marsha Norman

Here I am wondering out-loud again. Wondering where true inspiration comes from. So many say they are most inspired by the people around them... But it just so happens that sometimes the people around you are killing your inspiration instead. And you find yourself wanting to inspire them...

It is not so often any more that I come across something new and I go: "Brilliant idea! How creative!" Nowadays, the reaction is more like: "Oh that looks familiar, can't people be more creative?"

So here I am, wondering whether I will ever have a moment of pure brilliance, a Eureka! moment; and feel like I have contributed something significant to the world I live in. All this DIYing and sewing often has me feeling like a perpetual copycat, so come on people.... Inspire!

Path of Dreams - Eugene Woodbury

Image sourced from http://www.eugenewoodbury.com/

This is the first time (I think) that I'm writing about a book I've read. But something about this particular one caught my eye. It is a romantic story about a Japanese American young woman and an American man she glimpses at a train station. The story tells of how their lives become intertwined and how their love binds them together.

Even though it is centered around Mormonism, I personally feel that the concepts expressed could apply to all of Christianity. And for those who are not overly zealous believers, the storyline and the blending of the different cultures and the presentation of characters make it worth a read. 

My longing for you                                                                                 is too strong to bind                                                                             So do not blame me                                                                              when I go to you at night                                                                               on the path of dreams                                                                                            -Ono no Komachi

POLYVORE!

Olivia Palermo by rainie-minnie featuring black wedge heels

Found quite a bit of the inspiration I've been needing on Polyvore! Can't wait to get started.

Path of Dreams

I run to you

ceaselessly

on the path of dreams

Yet no night of dreams

could ever compare

to one waking glimpse

of you

Ono no Komachi

c. 833–857

via Path of Dreams by Eugene Woodbury

To Try list

I am officially a DIY junkie. I can’t help myself anymore. I think about it more than I should and I have a whole bagful of failed or attempted projects (that bag is right about bursting at the seams now).It has become my new best friend, my comfort. Here is the most recent flood of inspiration I’ve gotten from my daily blog reads. Maybe you can attempt something as well?

Phillip Lim Transformable Vests via A pair and Spare

Work.HARD.

via outsapop.com/

I haven't been able to post in such a long time and it felt like missing an old friend. I hate it when school and life get in the way of things I love but just as I was browsing through my daily blog reads, I found this really inspirational post. It fell right into my lap at the perfect time, as I'm currently falling apart over 10 dresses that I have to design and sew before 31 March....On top of my school work load!

But here I am, all perked up and ready to give it my all. *deep breath*
Wish me luck

PS: Its good to have yet another friend join the blogging community, check out her blog crippledreality.blogspot.com/

Paradise, burn!

Image from http://www.thelensflare.com/

This will be my last confession

I love you never felt like any blessing

Whispering like it's a secret

Only to condemn the one who hears it

With a heavy heart

Florence and the machines- Heavy in your arms

My Royal Purple

Dress made by me, Model-Ombili

I was recently browsing sewing blogs when I saw a tutorial (can't seem to retrace the blog) where this girl used a satin sash to create a tie neckline. I thought it would be good idea to use on a maxi dress and I went for it. I made a prototype for myself and made this second when my sister said she was interested in the dress and voila!
Here's the finished product! What do you think?
Hope you have a productive 2012!

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

And if you dare to dream of meeting 

Your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

For love, for your dream, 

For the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,

If you have been opened by life's betrayals,

Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, 

Mine or your own,

Without moving 

To hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, 

Mine or your own,

If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes 

Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. 

I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty 

Even when it is not pretty every day,

And if you can source your own life 

From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, 

Yours and mine,

And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 

"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

Weary and bruised to the bone, 

And do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand 

In the center of the fire with me 

And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you 

From the inside 

When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone 

With yourself,

And if you truly like the company you keep 

In the empty moments.

For me

image from http://www.iwrotethisforyou.me/

Seeing as I'm an endless romantic and an eternal dreamer and lover of all things even remotely poetic, I find myself currently obsessed with I Wrote This For You.

  [I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU AND ONLY YOU. EVERYONE ELSE WHO READS IT, DOESN’T GET IT. THEY MAY THINK THEY GET IT, BUT THEY DON’T. THIS IS THE SIGN YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. YOU WERE MEANT TO READ THESE WORDS.]

Not to sound too weird but when I read all those entries I feel like he writes just for me. I can relate to that artful soul who finds solace in words. I'm sure I'm not the only girl one who feels this way and I'm sure some of you would be able to relate.

Be sure to check out The Shooting Cloud

Daggers and dragons

北方有佳人，絕世而獨立。一顧傾人城，再顧傾人國。寧不知傾城與傾國。佳人難再得。

In the north there is a beauty; surpassing the world, she stands alone. A glance from her will overthrow a city; another glance will overthrow a nation. One would rather not know whether it will be a city or nation overthrown. As it would be hard to see a beauty like this again.

Li Yannian (李延年

I'm not often a martial arts fan but I recently stumbled across Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon...And yes, I know I'm about 10 yeras late but I found myself enthralled. What can I say, I'm as ucker for a good story. And that's how I landed on House of Flying Daggers. I'm such a sucker for romance and a good story. Where has chivalry gone?! Where is the honor and passion that led people to die for what they believe in?

Sigh. How can I be nostalgic for a past I never lived?

Today

Dedicated to a dear darling fellow Darkling.

If I die today

Will you forgive me

Or remember that it was I

Who broke your heart to pieces

And forged you a brand new soul?

If I die today

Will you mourn for me

Or remember that it was I

Who fixed your twisted smile

With words torn from my lips?

If I die today

Will you pack up our memories

Or remember that it was I

Who carefully cured you

Of those lies of pain?

If I die today

Will you still think of me

When you remember that it was I

Who held you unwillingly

In the prison of my arms?

If I die today

Will you rejoice for me

And remember that it was I

Who let your heart bleed

While I looked on with pride?

If I die today

Will your soul weep for me

And remember that it was I

Who lit that fierce fire

That burns in the depths of your eyes?