Resort 2012 - Stella McCartney

The last Resort 2012 collection I'm featuring is Stella McCartney, as her white-washed tropical prints in mirrored prints just HAD to be talked about! Keep your eyes open for these two key trends that are going on and will be trickling down the pipe even more: tropical themes and mirrored prints.

I remember when mirrored prints were being used as an 'easy way' to put artwork into repeat or by those who hadn't yet mastered the allover repeat in their pattern designing. Now, however, mirrored prints are on trend, making a statement and being created in a very controlled and meaningful way. This technique is being used in allover prints and in placement designs. It brings beauty and a calming symmetry to the design, and makes it better than it would have been originally. I feel it makes the artwork more captivating when done right. What do you think?

I hope showcasing the Resort 2012 collection has been inspiring to you! Fashion definitely has an influence on me and my work. It just makes my heart skip a beat when I look at the collections. Sigh. I just love looking at beauty, color, and fresh, forward thinking. It's one of the things that really moves me and inspires me.

What inspires you?

Resort 2012 - Missoni

Missoni's Resort 2012 collection was packed full of color and psychedelic prints that were teamed up with their signature space-dyed raschel knit technique. I also just love the background they used for the photo shoot! It adds such a punch of juicy color and texture and makes me ready for summer!

Check out the wavy-heeled platforms! As a tall girl already, I will only be admiring these beauties from afar - well that and the price tag, of course!

{Images from Style.com}

Resort 2012 - Matthew Williamson

Another one of my favorite fashion brands is Matthew Williamson as he always has unique prints and fabulous color stories! This Resort 2012 season he incorporated inspiration from the Far East including traditional Japanese motifs and paintings.

Be sure to keep your eyes open for the return of Japanese prints and inspiration from the East - but done in a new way. There has been a lot of designers including this inspiration in their lines over the past couple of seasons.

{All images from Style.com}

Resort 2012 - Emilio Pucci

I've always been a huge fan of Pucci prints. What's really fun about following this iconic fashion house on the runway is seeing them breathe new life into their signature prints or bring something new in completely that still sits perfectly with their brand's vibe. I absolutely love what they've done in the photo's above with the white-washed prints and over-scale ikat with Pucci movement!

{All images from Style.com}

And check out those shoes! Gorgeous!

The Emilio Pucci book is at Amazon, and features hundreds of gorgeous photo's, drawings, and candid shots from the family archive of this amazing fashion brand. What's also fun about this book is that it is bound in original Pucci fabrics, offering over a dozen different covers!

To see more photo's of the inside of this book, head over to Taschen!

Resort 2012 - Marc Jacobs

What I love about Marc Jacobs' 2012 Resort line is the faded quality of the prints and the soft washed out and barely there colors. To achieve this worn-in and faded quality in the prints, Jacobs and his team printed the daisies and wallpaper prints on the reverse side of the fabrics. LOVE the effect, don't you? Makes me want to pull out some of my fabric, turn it over and see which prints will be most effective for this sun-faded look!

{Images from Style.com}

Resort 2012 - Anna Sui

I love the Deco inspired prints from Anna Sui's 2012 Resort collection. She takes the tribal trend and flips it into something feminine and refreshing with her clean cuts, bold prints and de-lish color stories. Truly my favorite designer season after season!

{Images from Style.com}

Resort 2012 - Emanuel Ungaro

I just love these brightly colored, fluid dresses from Emanuel Ungaro. The one above reminds me of rainbows in a blue sky. Just gorgeous. Love the photography here too! What a beautiful setting of contrast for such bright, printed frocks!

{Images from Style.com}

Resort 2012 - Tory Burch

I thought I'd go ahead and share with you some of the Resort 2012 runway shows that are super-inspiring! First up: Tory Burch. Her southwest & Santa Fe inspired color story is just delicious! I love that colors are starting to warm-up. I don't know about you, but I'm just about ready to give-up my wardrobe of greys and neutrals and head for some fab color!

Keep your eyes peeled for the comeback of patterned pants, maxi-dresses becoming a closet staple, and the rise of rusty clay red.

{All images from Style.com}

Book Review: Decorate

I have finally got my hands on the long awaited book 'Decorate' by Holly Becker, founder of the Decor8 blog, and Joanna Copestick. It's a highly enjoyable visual feast! One of the many wonderful things about this book is that instead of focusing on one decorating style, they have concentrated on ideas that offer fresh insight on how you can transform your home.

Another of my fave's about this book is the area devoted to 'Setting Your Style', which offers ideas for 8 different decorating styles: Simple, Natural, Modern, Flea Market, Colorful, Floral, Eclectic & Modern Glamour Style. I myself think my decorating style is a cross between 'Modern Glamour', 'Eclectic' and 'Natural'. I love color theme's, pattern, lush fabrics & textures mixed with natural elements such as woods & metals. If you have the book - which style(s) fit your decorating style?




There are 4 sections to this book:

SECTION 1: SPACE MATTERS
From Using your Space to Linking your spaces

SECTION 2: SETTING YOUR STYLE
Simple, Natural, Modern, Flea Market, Colorful, Floral, Eclectic & Modern Glamour Style

SECTION 3: ROOM BY ROOM
Covering Kitchesn, Bedrooms, Bathrooms to kids rooms & creative spaces

SECTION 4: ATTENTION TO DETAIL
From mirrors and lighting to pillows and table settings


Over all, the book is chocked-full of beautiful photo's of so many different homes - it's a book that integrates eye candy with advice & ideas in a way that makes you want to look through it time and time again. If you love decorating, I'm pretty sure this book will be right up your alley!

Just Dandy! on Print & Pattern Blog

HUGE thanks to Bowie Style at her fabulous Print & Pattern blog for posting about Just Dandy! Head on over to her blog for some luscious pattern inspiration and to see all the Just Dandy images!

Just Dandy! Project Ideas

I've uploaded the patterns I've used for my 'Just Dandy!' photo shoot to my website's inspiration page, and I thought I'd share with you the details in a blog post. This way you could hear a little bit more about the patterns I chose, and have the links to click on in case you wanted to find the patterns quickly. Are you ready for some spring sewing?

To get ready for my 'Just Dandy!' photo shoot, I researched the web for some cute patterns for kiddo's. This is my first photo shoot with kids, and let me just tell you - they are SO fun and balls of energy! The funnest part was having one of the girls put on her outfits and say 'I just feel so cute'! That right there is what makes this so fun and rewarding!

As I was madly preparing for Surtex, and working full-time at the time, my wonderful friend Karin sewed all of the garments for me, which enabled the photo shoot to actually happen and be successful.

I found a lot of the patterns on Etsy, and I wanted to share them with you today.

{'Darla Jumper' by Kati Cupcake Pattern Co}

First up, one of my absolute favorites, the 'Darla Jumper' by Kati Cupcake Pattern Co. We used my Just Dandy! fabrics in the 'Blue Jay' color combo for this beauty. I just love how it turned out in the blue and green color story! Perfect for Spring.

{'Rosie Posie Ruffle Pants & Top' Sewing Pattern by Pink Fig}

The second pattern I want to share with you is the 'Rosie Posie Ruffle Pants & Top' Sewing Pattern by Pink Fig. I bought the light pink tank at Old Navy and we applied the ruffles to it. The ruffled bell-bottoms are just so gorgeous!

{Romper by Simplicity, pattern #2380}

{Jumper by Simplicity, pattern #2380}
Next up are the romper and jumper by Simplicity, pattern #2380. These styles are just so on trend right right now, so I was really happy to find a pattern for them! The romper being in the dark navy color really looks stylish - I just love that navy and gold dot as an accent! For the jumper, we used my ditsy floral and a hot pink grosgrain ribbon, which I think keeps the jumper looking pretty cool.

{'The Stripwork Skirt' by Pink Fig}

Another of my fave's is the 'The Stripwork Skirt' by Pink Fig. This skirt just turned out so cute! My friend Karin hand-stitched the athletic numbers 23 on the front of an aqua colored tee, to pull the outfit together. I just love the mix of sporty and girly together!

{Drop waist dress Simplicity pattern #2574}

{Modified dress using Simplicity pattern #5243}

Out of the last three dresses, the two drop-waist dresses are made using Simplicity pattern #2574. The last dress is made using Simplicity pattern #5243 which Karin used as a base and applied ruffles all around the dress to add a bit more interest to it.

{Drop waist dress Simplicity pattern #2574}

Just Dandy! is now in stores and ready to be used for your Spring and Summer sewing projects! You can find the Just Dandy! fabric line at these e-tailers:

www.fabricworm.com
www.hawthornethreads.com
www.pinkchalkfabrics.com
www.sewmamasew.com

Happy Sewing!!

Just Dandy! Inspiration Images

{All photo's by Natalie G| Photography}

Now that my Just Dandy! fabric collection with Robert Kaufman is in stores, I have finally got around to uploading the photo's from my photo shoot to Flickr. The photo's are also now easily accessible on my blog's left hand side.When you have the chance, swing on over to Flickr to see the fun we had that day!



I have also created a Just Dandy! Flickr group and would absolutely LOVE it if you would upload any projects you create using any amount of my Just Dandy! fabrics! I didn't do this for my Glam Garden collection, and wish I had because so many of you contacted me with such fabulous projects & photo's! This time I didn't want to miss the opportunity of you being able to share with everyone just what you're up to. So please, don't be shy!



If you are selling your creations, blogging about them, or anything else that you want to share, please feel free to add the web link to the photo you upload in the Just Dandy! Flickr group.


Thanks so much everyone, and I look forward to seeing what you create!