Honeysuckle

Every year at the end of the year, I really look forward to Pantone revealing the color for the new year.
For 2011 the color of the year is Honeysuckle.

I am very excited about Honeysuckle being the color of 2011 and everything the color stands for.  
Below I have included tidbits from the Pantone Web Site and official Press Release.
Visit their website for the full press release here.

A Color for All Seasons
Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.


2010 press releases
Pantone Reveals Color of the Year for 2011:
PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle
Energizing Honeysuckle Lifts Spirits and Imparts Confidence to Meet Life's Ongoing Challenges
CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 9, 2010 – Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 18-2120 Honeysuckle, a vibrant, energetic hue, as the color of the year for 2011.

While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

“In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”


Eiseman continues, “The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”

Honeysuckle is guaranteed to produce a healthy glow when worn by both men and women. It's a striking, eye-catching hue that works well for day and night in women's apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men's ties, shirts and sportswear. Add a lively flair to interior spaces with Honeysuckle patterned pillows, bedspreads, small appliances and tabletop accessories. Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Honeysuckle for a dynamic burst of energy in the family room, kitchen or hallway.

Christmas on Crack

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you, Christmas on crack.
These pictures are from the famous Christmas house my family visited in Novato.  
Every year they decorate every inch of the inside and outside of their house (and I mean every inch).
They invite strangers into their home every night to view the Christmas wonder (and madness).
Every single room is covered with their collection of Holiday items and there isn't a bed, couch or chair in sight that you either see or can actually sit on.
Enjoy!

Bold


(dress-Thrift via Wasteland, tights-Hue, purse-Kate Spade, headband-DIY made by my sister, ring-craft fair, top-PureBody via GapBody)
Bold sun, bold dress, bold print, bold colors, bold mood.
Love this dress I picked up from Wasteland!  The colors and print are what especially caught my eye (obviously).  
Visiting Wasteland on Haight St. is always a fun treasure hunt looking for something that is unique, retro or has a nostalgic twist.  I love it when a dress I love actually fits, so I lucked out with this one.  
 I always like to ground bold colors and prints with black to let the statement piece really do the talking.  
I also love this headband my sister made me for Christmas!  It is so chic and vintage, and the touch of maroon went perfect with this dress.

DIY Christmas Tree

This year my family got very crafty with our tree.  Almost all of the ornaments are DIY or vintage.
We were inspired by the DIY movement and whimsy that hand made decorations add to the tree.
It was a fun family effort to make different ornaments for the tree out of different mediums.

Here are some of our DIY Christmas tree decoration instructions:
  • Yarn Balls: We bought Styrofoam balls and skeins of yarn and just went to town wrapping the Styrofoam in the yarn. This was a quick and easy way to have DIY yarn ball ornaments on the tree! 
  • Felt Flowers: I have to give my mom credit for these.  She cut out flower shapes from felt and hand sewed a front and back to make tiny flower pillows.  Then she hand stitched colored thread around the edges of the flower to give it a hand made look.  She then added some tiny felt flower and silk flower pieces in the middle, and then made the center of the flower either out of buttons, rhinestones or tiny silk flowers to finish the ornament off.
  • Pom-Pom Garland: My mom also made this garland where she basically glued every little pom-pom on the ribbon to create a fun and colorful garland.  I think this is my favorite part of the tree--it's so colorful, fun and I love anything with pom-poms!
  • Fabric Collage Ornaments: My whole family made a set of fabric collaged ornaments.  We bought pieces of fabric at the craft store.  Then we cut out ornament shapes from card stock and covered them in a collage of different fabric pieces, prints and shapes.
Another cool thing we used for garland were scarves.  We bought fun and brightly colored knitted scarves at Old Navy and used them as large garlands on the tree.  This added to the hand made look of the tree, and the resourceful part is that we can wear these scarves after the Holidays when they come off the tree!
Over the past couple years my parents have collected some really cool vintage ornaments from various vintage craft fairs, so having these retro ornaments on the tree make it incredibly nostalgic.
A DIY tree is fun, interactive and memorable.  The best part is that it is pretty low budget too, and all it takes are a few collaborative crafty pieces to be made to spice up your current collection of ornaments.

Lace Escape

(Vintage Lace Jacket-Vintage,  jeggings-AG jeans, shoes-Micael Kors, top-Gap, sunglasses-borrowed from Brother)

I am obsessed with lace, especially vintage lace.  Vintage lace pieces always make me feel like I am wearing a treasure or piece of art.
I love the shape of this blazer and how the fishtail back gives the whole outfit a unique look.  This jacket is a statement piece, so it is best to let statement pieces speak for themselves and do their job to draw attention to that one piece in the outfit.  That is why I opted to keep the colors in the rest of my outfit black, so I could let the jacket make the statement and be noticed.  Since an allover lace jacket is quite fancy I used a pop of bright fuchsia lipstick as my only accessory.  This way color can be infused into the outfit to help complete the look.  

From Me, To You

Here are some of the cards I made over Thanksgiving break.  I wanted to make a mini set of hand made holiday cards, so I chose to have a snowman, stocking and psychedelic holiday tree.  (I actually got the inspiration for the snowman from a set of cards I saw at a boutique.)
These cards were fun and easy to make.  I got the scalloped paper at Paper Source and then painted the Holiday images on them.  Then I placed the scalloped mini paintings on silver cards I got at Michael's.  
Now my friends and family can receive hand made cards, made with love from me to you.

Like a Rainbow

(top-Gap PureBody, skirt-Wasteland, shoes-Jeffrey Campbell, tights-Gap, ring-Thrift, purse-H&M, necklaces-Urban Outfitters)
  
If you haven't heard the Rolling Stones song, She's Like a Rainbow...then go listen to it right now. 
It's such a pretty, romantic song. 
This vintage skirt I got at a thrift store reminds me of rainbows, and sometimes rainbows remind me of the Rolling Stones.

She comes in colors everywhere;
She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors

Have you seen her all in gold
Like a queen in days of old

She shoots colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen the lady fairer

(Rolling Stones-She's Like a Rainbow) 

Pink Dreams

images from the Jeffrey Campbell Spring/Summer  2011 lookbook


Absolutely dying over these amazing Pink Jeffrey Campbell shoes. 
Pink has just gone to a whole other level--sex-kitten-meow-pink-a-licious heels that are so sexy and feminine they scream pin-up in a girly to-die-for way that would make any woman jealous and man's heart melt.

Blush & Bloom

,
(top-Urban Outfitters, shawl-Thrift @ Wasteland SF, shoes-Jeffrey Campbell, jeggings-Gap, accessories- vintage/thrift/F21/Lucky/H&M, purse-H&M)
 The foggy weather in SF is making weekend days feel dreamy and calm.  I adore this floral shawl I got from Wasteland on Haight Street in SF.  It can be worn in the winter or spring with its icy, fresh colors.  A fun shawl is the perfect piece to wear to stay cozy and chic on a foggy day at the beach.