flamingo parade :: part uno

my light fitting::

i would love to send this fitting to a new home and replace with some jar lights like these ones featured on design*sponge a while back. unfortunately, i don't have any fabulous old jars lying around, and the working with electricity bit worries me just a little.


so for now, i have myself a blank canvas. i have been throwing around different ideas to make this fitting more interesting, and the obvious solution that springs to mind involves covering in fabric. some problems with that idea::
- i already have a lot of pattern and colour in the room
- i change my mind too often to commit to one fabric (!)


then a simple little paper bag sparked another idea::

this paper bag came from my mother bearing wonderful gifts purchased from etsy. being the creative hoarder i am, i kept it and placed a jar with a tealight inside. what a sweet addition to the window ledge!


the inspiration, of course, is the silhouette animal figures. while i adore these little creatures, i feel like the woodlands animals have been exhausted in the craft realm! 


one of the highlights of my travels last year was visiting the san diego zoo. of all the animals i saw there though, it wasn't the giant pandas or the big cats or the polar bears that had me most excited. the creatures that had me swooning the most were the flamingos! 

i have always been a little bit obsessed with waterbirds anyway, and the flamingos stole my heart. the most stunning colour and the most perfect poise! 

so it follows that bland light fitting + silhouette animals ( x flamingos) = fabulous idea!

a quick google image search and i sourced these fab flamingo silhouettes from istockphoto.com.

i picked out a few of my favourite silhouettes, enlarged each one to fill up an a4 sheet, and printed them on to cardstock. i tidied the edges with a sharpie, then carefully cut them out::

here are the flamingos all lined up and ready to go::

the next bit of the project is a bit fiddly as it involves climbing ladders and glue (though hopefully not at once!). i will post the finished product later in the week. for now though, buenas tarvis::


jasmine//sparkle

the year ahead

i am actually quite embarrassed at how uncommitted i have been to the whole craft of blogging. i am a university-qualified professional writer and i love making and creating, yet i struggle with the discipline of blogging.


this year, though, is my year. and the reason i can say so with such confidence is in the past, the busier i make myself, the more disciplined i become. so this year, i will blog more. maybe not every day, but at least every week. i will also study more. i have enrolled for a graduate diploma in psychology (via correspondence). i am taking spanish classes and listening to tapes most days. i am crafting again and loving the potential in fabrics and the process of creating something from nothing. i am learning to stop being obsessed with the crafting environment, and focus on the projects at hand. i will travel, maybe not as much as last year, but i will make concerted efforts to document the travels. i will make concerted efforts to document everything. this, on top of a demanding full-time job and running a household with my sister. 


what am i getting myself in for?


hasta manana::
jasmine//sparkle

in the works

i seem to be one of these people that always has projects in the works, but never seems to finish anything. i am proud to have finally moved overseas (a plan that had been in the works since graduating university almost four years ago), but since my twenty-fifth birthday last month, i keep wondering what else i have actually achieved.


i have a lot of plans and a lot of goals and sometimes i find it too overwhelming to make anything happen, because there is just so much i want to do before i leave this earth. and so for a long time nothing happens. i am working on this though.


jasmine//sparkle

the discovery of polyvore

i just discovered polyvore for the first time thanks to this awesome collaborative contest given one of my favourite bloggers gala darling and cosmetics line sugarpill.

this is my first ever polyvore, just for the competition:

while i wouldn't consider this my natural fashion style, there are still a lot of elements that i totally love. i'd wear any of the jewelry in a heartbeat (crazy about the bowie brooch), the juicy couture "don't talk to me" t-shirt is perfectly apt for a monday morning, and of course the sugarpill eyeshadows are completely rad.

i spent hours working on it, and since publishing it i haven't been able to stop thinking about making the next one! it seems like a totally awesome way to figure out how i am going to style my new purchases, and what better way to start that with my sam edelman sandals.

i love these sandals and fortunately it has been warm enough in vancouver to wear them every day:

the sandals are amazing. they are cut low enough around the ankle to be flattering, so they look great with skirts and dresses as well as with jeans. they can be dressed up or down and have already earned me a few compliments! so far they are pretty comfortable - although i find the second toe on my right foot is being cut into by the thong piece. i'm sure this will get better once i wear them in a little more. either way it is not enough to make them unbearable and i managed to walk in them all day yesterday and get home blister-free!

i am completely excited about my new sandals and all the possibilities of polyvore!

jasmine//sparkle

just some facts

i am obsessed with typography and formatting. one of my favourite books is hand job: a catalog of type by michael perry. a little piece of me dies every time i see the papyrus font used. i really want to go to type camp one day. i would probably love to work in graphic design or publishing.

i am planning to apply to parsons the new school to study fashion marketing. i have actually been working on my application essay for almost a year.

i love organising in general, and i am not sure if this is the cause of or the result from an unhealthy addiction to tetris. my high score on DS is over five million, and i secretly want to get the world record and have it verified by twin galaxies. i love packing shopping bags (when i was a checkout operator i had regulars who came to me just because they liked the way i packed their bags) and i don't even mind shifting boxes in the shoe store where i currently work. i guess they are both sort of like bigger versions of tetris.

i wish i was better at photography. i love taking photographs but get increasingly frustrated as they never turn out as good as the ones in my mind. i like to take photos of scenery and birds and flowers and my boyfriend. he is so photogenic it is sickening.

even though i don't really have a house, i am obsessed with homewares. i am in love with every house and every item ever featured on designsponge. one day i will own a house with a verandah. it will be close to the beach with dark timber floors and impossibly high ceilings and big windows and doors to let in the sea breeze. it will be a place for all the beautiful and strange things i have acquired, a museum where it is okay to touch!

i know i have hoarding tendencies, and so i watch hoarders to remind me of what could happen if i don't keep check of my things. i obsessively purge useless items whenever i watch that show.

i miss my family and my friends, but i have been lucky to meet such awesome people here in canada.

my sister is my opposite but somehow she is my best friend. my mum and i are so alike it is scary. we have similar tastes and similar tendencies and similar thoughts and similar senses of humour. my dad is so sweet and caring. he is the epitome of masculine style.

i want to volunteer in morocco and work at the summer olympics and sail the pacific and work in far north western australia and have a store where i can sell things i've made and

travel overland from cape town to cairo and climb mount kilimanjaro and drive around australia and live in new york city and wander the silk road and live in a yurt and cross the trans-siberian and own a backpackers and so many other things . . .

i am jasmine, these are just some facts about me, and in time you will learn more.

jasmine//sparkle

a to do list

my to do list is continually growing and i feel myself continually procrastinating. i will never succeed in anything if i continue this way, and i will never start if i do not make a tangible list of things that i actually, need, to, do:

1. write this blog at least twice per week

2. make a budget for the next six months that will reduce some debt and still let me have all the pretty things and exciting adventures i have been planning

3. work hard at selling shoes. even though i hate selling shoes, it will make ^ budgeting easier

4. work on the ultimate encyclopedia to every (useless and useful) thing

5. take up yoga without giggling hysterically

i think this is a good start. it's not too overwhelming. i think i can achieve it with a little perseverance.

jasmine//sparkle

a new day

and a new commitment, inspired by one of my favourite bloggers, gala darling.

i have a new macbook, a day off work, sunshine and rain, what a curious tuesday...

What is the strangest compliment you’ve ever received?

that i am an excellent writer, so much so that at first i come across as more interesting and engaging in writing, than i actually am in person.

What’s your little-known talent?

i am pretty good with directions.

What do you obsessively search for on eBay?

vintage fabric. i have spent so much time and money on beautiful one-of-a-kind fabrics from all over the world. such joy!

When you were a child, who did you worship & want to be like?

i can't think of anyone specific, but i always wished i could have adventures like the characters in enid blyton's stories, like the magic faraway tree and cherry tree farm and malory towers.

What was your palate band?

aka the first band that made me realise the world of music was larger than whatever the Top 20 singles were - oasis. something changed in me the day i listened to definitely maybe.

jasmine//sparkle