Miss Modish- Mojo Maker

A new look & a happy weekend!

Well as you can see, Modish got a little makeover last night! (If you read this via a feed, please hop over to take a peek)

Inspired by all the incredible mountains, rivers and skies I saw along my road trip a couple weeks ago, I thought the blog needed a little nature-filled face lift. Nature is such a shaper and contributor to art & design afterall, I thought it'd be a good fit! I decided to go with an ode to this great city of Portland- that's Mt Hood you see in the top banner and the Columbia River over on the sidebar menu. What do you think of the new look?

The images came from the Library of Congress Commons (in which most photos have no known copyright restrictions) and are photochrom photos taken between 1890-1900 and colored with ink. I think they're so stunning! There's a whole collection of travel images from all over the world on their flickr that you can check out, and maybe get some inspiration from or use in artwork of your own (just make sure it's ok first! :)

Hope you get a chance to explore the world a little this weekend, whether it's by car, stepping out your back door or through the awesomeness that is flickr! Have a great one and see you back here on Monday (when I should have some exciting news!)

<3 jena

atelierBB

atelierBB is like a breath of fresh air. The shop you head to when you just need a little color therapy. The photos alone are enough to cheer up a gray day like a burst of sunshine- I can't imagine how nice it'd feel to have these beauties in your own kitchen to greet you everyday!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Thursday already? Sheesh! I haven't done a favorites post in awhile eventho I've been favoriting much lately. So, here goes!

snowy foxes

snowy-weather sweater dresses

one-of-a-kind bags made from vintage fabrics {via daily candy}

non gypsy like harem pants

thoughts like "this will be our year"

sprinkles of nutmeg

magical vintage dresses that make me wish I looked better in pink

magical pink landscapes that make me wish I could live in a painting {via free people}

My Parents Were Awesome

Have you seen this incredible tumblr site yet? Not only does it fulfill my love of looking at vintage photographs (there's something oddly fascinating about perusing old photos trying to imagine the lives, voices and day-to-days of the strangers in them) but it reminds me how awesome my parents were. So rebellious, counter-culture, passionate about their ideals, fiercely intelligent...oh, and let's not forget their skinny bodies!

Here are my parents long before they were parents, on their wedding day in 1973, with family...

It's so odd to think about who your parents were before you existed, how young they once were & how they perhaps were quite similar to you (which means you'll definitely turn into them someday- noooo! ;)

How were your parents awesome?

Outfitted...

{skirt :: shirt :: necklace :: shoes}

I couldn't wear 4 inch heels without falling flat on my face, but I imagine the girl who could wear this look could also rock a stilt-like heel with ease.

Noshii

These brooches by Noshii are so gorgeous. Made out of bamboo and hand-embroidered with floss in great color combinations, they're unique and festive, perfect for anytime of year.

New at Cursive Design

What's that line, necessity is the mother of invention? Or something? Well Sarah of Cursive Design, who is always inventive, chopped off her bangs recently and decided she needed a pretty little headband to accent her new do. Et voila! New, totally adorable headbands are now in the shop!

Also new in the shop, a stunning line of jewelry that made me say "wowwww" when I first laid eyes on it. This must've been born out of the necessity to look damn good! 

So much more to see over in the Cursive shop.

Wolfie & the Sneak 2010 Calendar

While I've got my lovely guest contributors on the brain, I must let you know that Renee (who writes the Petals & Pedals column here) has a new 2010 calendar available over in her Wolfie & the Sneak shop and I must say, it's the prettiest one yet! 

These are just a few of my favorite months- you can see all of them in her flickr set here.

Somehow she found the time to draw all the designs while she was preggers, setting up a nursery, having a baby and on a month long maternity leave (oh yeah, sounds easy to me! NOT.) and the calendar is now complete and ready to ship. It was printed in a limited edition run of 100, and they sell out every year so get yours while the gettin's good from their etsy or bigcartel shop.

Eco-Friendly Find: Cat Davison

Liz, our regular Eco-Friendly Finds contributor is off traveling for the next three weeks (lucky duck!) so I'll be taking the reins for awhile. And happily, a great eco-friendly find landed itself right in my inbox the other day- these great brooches by London based designer, Cat Davison:

They're interesting and so fun and made entirely from vintage vinyl records. 100% recycled cute!

I love how she uses the record label and color as part of the design in some of them. Very cool! See more sustainable goodies over in Cat's shop.

Miss Modish Muses: Vera Neumann

Very very recently through a series of flickr photo hopping, I discovered the Vera Neumann flickr pool, and through that, Vera Neumann.

I hadn't heard of her before (yes, the rock I live under is large apparently) but quickly discovered that Vera was a prolific designer from 1947 all the way through the 1980's- she's most well known for her scarves, but her original designs were also printed on bedsheets, table linens, kitchenware and sportswear. She was bold and bright and became famous in her own time through sheer originality, creating over 20,000 scarves and 7,000 pieces of original artwork before she died in 1993.

{images from the Vera flickr pool}

You can spot a Vera design most easily by the Vera signature which appears in her patterns, and the little ladybug on her tags. She thought they were good luck. And they must be because to my surprise, as I was shooting photos for the shop this weekend, I found a Vera shirt from the 70's in my very own closet!

I bought it 6 months ago at my neighborhood Goodwill for $4. I was drawn to the crazy pattern in the pretty earth tones, and have been waiting for the cool fall weather to arrive so I could wear it. I had no idea who Vera was at the time I bought it, and didn't even realize it was a Vera until I started shooting pictures of it!

It's funny how the world sometimes seems to specifically lead you to new discoveries- I suppose that's how we learn new things as we age. What I thought was just a pretty autumn shirt seems so much more special to me now- not only is it a piece of the past attached to the mysterious story of those who wore it before me, but knowing who designed it, and that she still has fans and collectors today, makes it feel more like a little piece of history too. 

{images from the Vera flickr pool} 

You better believe I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more Vera goodies when I head to the thrift stores from now on (although I'm not sure one can be so lucky twice!)

Thief & Bandit

I try to not feature goods that I've already seen written about on other blogs, but I have to make an exception for Thief & Bandit. Even though these stunning goods have been making the blog rounds lately, I think the attention is well deserved and I want to make sure Modish readers are in the know:

Thief & Bandit is a new line by artist Amie, out of Richmond VA, of hand screen-printed tees and handmade accessories. The designs are graphic, the colors are bold and the aesthetic is both urban and nature inspired. Love love love it. All the designs are limited- I can't wait to see what else she comes up with!

Handmade Spaces: Dear Kiki

Not everyone is lucky enough to have an entire room dedicated to their creative space. I have an office all to myself now, but years ago my jewelry business started on the coffee table in the middle of our living room, and my current photo-shoot area for my vintage clothing business is in the entryway of our house (it has the best light!) When you have don't have a room to spare, you have to make the best space with what you've got. And that's exactly why I was drawn to this bedroom/art studio of Dear Kiki, a great San Francisco based artist.

Isn't that desk right in the window great? You could definitely get some creative work done there! See what goodness Kiki cooks up here over in her shop, Dear Kiki.

What about you- does your creative workspace share duties with another room? Is it in a corner of your kitchen? In the nursery? On the coffee table? How do you make it work in a small area?

See more Handmade Spaces to get ideas for your own over in the Modish flickr pool!

Miss Modish Shop Sneak Peek & Workin for the Weekend

Well, with the unexpected road trip and all, I didn't quite make my Nov 4th shop opening date. I still have quite a bit more to do before I can open- many many more pictures to take and edit, which is probably the most time consuming part- then measuring everything, writing descriptions and getting it all listed in the shop!

I only have a few items with edited photos so far, but thought I could share them with you for a little sneak peek. I think I have almost 100 things to list at this point, so this is just a smidgen of what will be available in the Miss Modish shop....

I'll have lots of skirts and dresses, a couple awesome long 60's jackets that I can't wait to show you, lots of cardigans and blouses galore. Not doing shoes or accessories at this point, but that will come once I get the ball rolling a bit. I can't wait to have it open, start sending out orders, and fall back into the rhythm of it all. I sure hope some things sell! It's a bit scarrryyy, isn't it?

I plan on working on the shop for most of this weekend and hope to have enough goodies in there for a grand opening by Nov 16th. What about you? Plans for the weekend? Hopefully they involve more play and less work than mine! :)

Happy Weekend!

This piece by Clemens Habicht reminds me of fall, which could also be easily named squirrel scampering season. Everytime I head outdoors I see a squirrel scurrying along the fence, jumping through trees, chasing a squirrely friend or burying a yummy nutty find in the dirt to save for later. They're all over the place and so fun to watch, and don't they make the craziest noises?

I hope you find time to head outdoors this weekend to watch the squirrels, the birds, the rain, the leaves changing...I'll probably be spending most of mine indoors trying to get more work on the shop done (you can see a sneak peek of the shop here) so I need to live vicariously through you!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here Monday! 

<3 jena

Cecile Belmont

This clothing collection by German designer Cecile Belmont is putting me in a very happy place. It's not only the fact that the clothes are hip and unique, urban and artistic... it's the whole vibe, the expression behind them, the energy that radiates off the photos. They make me want to don one of her dresses and scamper off across a bridge somewhere in Belgium on my way to the market, to pick up yummy things for a picnic in the park. What do these clothes make you think of? 

See more designs on Cecile's site and shop your heart out in her dawanda shop.

Going Native

I want. And I want. And I want.

Spool 72 is seriously torturing me with their addition of these Native American inspired goodies- the clutches are made from vintage Navajo rugs and that green kimono style sweater? Oh my god, that has me written all over it! Must resist. Can't resist. Must resist!

Michelle Arcila

Eventhough it's sunny and in the 60's today here in Portland, I'm loving these snowy photos by Michelle Arcila. Snow is much easier to enjoy when you're not trying to land it in at the Denver airport, or drive through it in Fargo, ND (take a peek at my recent road trip adventures on my personal blog to see what I mean) Yes, I like this snow much better... silent. Pretty. And far far away from where I am :)

Tangleweeds

I'm having a hard time getting moving today- maybe it has something to do with the Dirty Projectors show I saw last night, hmm? While the coffee kicks in slowly, I started perusing my etsy favorites and landed on this fabulous shop I had yet to write about- Tangleweeds.

Tangleweeds is full of brilliant jewelry with a really rustic feel. I love the worn metals, the leather feathers, the lush gemstones... it all seems perfect for fall. See more beauties over in the shop!

View from the Road

Well, I made it to Denver and out of Denver successfully, but barely! And 3 hours later than expected. But I eventually made it to Minneapolis, helped Clara finish packing and cleaning up, we turned in her keys, had a quick night's stay at her friend's house and then we were off! On the road, heading back to Portland. Unfortunately I couldn't help drive because I'm manual-transmission deficient, but I was there to help navigate, offer moral support and help keep Clara awake on our 30 hour drive. And take pictures, of course!

We stayed in tiny Glendive, MT the first night, and pretty cool Missoula, MT the next. On the last day we passed through 4 different states- Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and finally landed in the prettiest place of all, Portland!

There were mini adventures like hitting a freak blizzard near Fargo, ND, almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere wilderness on the border of Montana, and me leaving my wallet in a Bozeman bathroom that Clara oh so luckily noticed and found. But other than that, it was just lots of snacking, lots of talking and lots of looking at the pretty skies.

Yay for road trips! And yay for Clara being a Portland resident now. I'm so glad you're here, Clarabear!

For a little explanation of all these pics, plus lots lots more from the road, check out my flickr set here.

Tortoise Loves Donkey

Spotted on the etsy front page- these adorable terrarium & airplant goodies from Tortoise Loves Donkey!

They're tiny and adorable and so easy to care for, even the blackest of thumbs can keep these guys alive and kickin'. I happen to think that lots of plant life in the home makes it all the more homier, and these are a great way to bring some nature inside! Find more living goodness over in the shop.