Happy hiving (2)

Today is the perfect day to share some more Stylehive favourites (why? Um. Because).

I know what you're going to say. "Why does she always go for black". Maybe it's the somehow surviving honorary goth in me, maybe because it's slimming, maybe because it's my favourite non-colour. So I've picked some colourful stuff as well, just so you know I don't actually spend my everyday clad from head to toe a la Morticia Adams (I'm proud to say that today I'm actually wearing purple!).

First up is Clarisse's lovely black and gold prom dress, available at Roxanne's Runway. This is actually the type of thing I'd wear on a Friday night out at my local drinking hole (cheap cava, anyone?), only I'd never spend 270 american dollars on a dress for a Friday night out. Come to think of it, I'd probably never spend 270 bucks on a dress (all my designer gear is thrifted or bought at discount price). But I promise I won't judge you if YOU do. (In any case I'd sew some straps on, looks like you'd need some powerful bosom power to keep that up). Oh, f**k it, I actually bought a similar but much nicer dress at Zara years ago for a tenth of the price.

Ok, so if I were to spend big money it would be on something like these Givency heels, but then again, I'm a sucker for Givency. It's my mum's fault, she bought Ysatis perfume for years, and as a child I always marvelled at the bottle's sophisticated look. It does seem a bit dated to me now, but the brand hasn't lost its hold on me. You can get them at Polyvore.

Speaking of purple, I love this UniqueVintage dress, as well as most of their garments. Pin up style with black lace, you just can't beat it. Look like a 1950s superstar for just $98.

And of course there has to be a handbag. This one even has a longer strap attached so you don't have to be limited to uncomfortable clutching. You can get it at Saks. And yeah, it's pretty pricey, no less than $245 (sometimes I wonder why you'd want to pay that kind of money to look punk-ish. I'm sure a second hand leather handbag would look equally great with a few metal studs stuck on). I found this via VieCouture, which comes up with some lovely items when they're not drooling over charm bracelets (seriously, what is it with charm bracelets, isn't it time the novelty wore off?).

Me

The lovely and very talented Jesús Belly is working on an art show where he intends to include pop-art type portraits of bloggers whom he follows and are also his own followers and fans. And that includes moi! I've been blogging in Spanish since 2004, so it's nice when once in a while you get this kind of perks.You can see some of his other work on his blog and on his design website, including this project. And here's my portrait, which makes me very very happy:

The portrait is based on a photo taken by the extraordinary photographer and poet Marco Antonio Raya.

Devil in the details

So this is what I've been up to for the last week. Layers and layers of red paint and black fineliner. It might end up being another bracelet box, I'm still not sure. It's not finished yet, and all I know is that it's taking ages. No worries, I personally, deep down, never to be said out loud, very modestly indeed, think that it's fucking awesome.

I've done a few others, but this is my favourite so far. Notice my favourite pen ever, Staedler's M Lumocolor,sitting at my (almost) eternal disposal. After four boxes decorated in this fashion, it has finally started to show signs of weakness. The cardboard boxes are actually leftovers from my brother's computer shop. Talk about upcycling.

Greener than green.

Treehouses are something I've never personally experienced. Maybe we just don't get that kind of enourmous, back-garden type of tree in the South of Spain (I did have an apple tree as a child in England, however). Maybe we just don't realise what we're missing, what with all the swimming pools and beaches... Or maybe we'd be more interested if all tree houses looked like the Wilkinson Residence in Portland:

Not bad. Not bad at all. This is what happens when you ask architect Robert Harvey Oshatz to design your house.

More Etsy delight

Etsy is probably the worst thing ever to happen to my personal economy. In any case, here goes this week's supply of beautiful must-haves I wish I could afford:

Handbags by Daphne involves two of my personal fetishes: handbags and beautiful, luxurious textiles. How can one say no to a combination of both, specially in sensational black and white?

As a creative person myself, I'm always on the lookout for pretty new ways to decorate my packages when I sell jewellery. Luvs2create2 makes the cutest gift tags you can come accross, and I've always been a fan of Peter Rabbit and everything Beatrix Potter:

Etsy jewellery maker Terrastratum makes incredibly original and stunning pieces. Personally, I adore these chopstick earrings, in oxidised silver and gold dust!

But my week's favourite has to be chriswrinn. Chris specialises in precious metals and PMC (polymer metal clay), and uses an infinite amount of imagination and patience to come up with special beauties like these:

Believe me, I will never purchase cheap, mass produced jewellery again! Stunning creations like these deserve all the attention they can get.

Step by step

Sometimes people say things that inspire me. I've spent quite some time on Knock Off Wood, a fun blog that provides plans for "knocking off" popular pieces of wooden furniture. From Ikea to Pottery Barn, Ana White delivers the plans and shows off her own examples of furniture building. But maybe the best part is all the space and attention she devotes to all her fans and readers, people who set out to make their own wonders using her plans. They showcase some spectacular stuff, and here are just a few examples:

Ana came up with this lovely shelf in no time using some discarded pallets!

And here we have an amazing child kitchen, made by Ana's guest blogger Kirsten from Crafting Chicks

For more great furniture ideas you should definitely pay Ana a visit, but going back to my original statement, Ana is also a very interesting women with plenty to share. I was personally touched by how she sees life: taking one day at a time and managing everything step by step, definitely what I'm trying to do now! You should read the whole post, but I think it sums up into this:

As we look at this mountain in perspective, this hike seems incredibly amazing.  But in actuality, everything amazing is merely a combination of very ordinary steps.  Never once did I look ahead, and think, I am going to climb to the top of that mountain.  Oh no, it was more like, I am going to make it to the next drainage without being carried.  And when we would reach the next drainage, I would think, I know I have one more drainage in me.  And before I knew it, there was no more drainages.  We were on top.

Organic Architecture

Javier Senosiain's work for Arquitectura Organica reminds me a bit of Gaudí, in his use of colourful tiles and almost biological curves. All of his buildings and designs aspire to become one with nature, and they're often constructed using animal thems. One of my favourites is his Nautilus shell-like house. More info and photos at the article on this place at Beautiful Life, or at Javier's website.