weekend reads: five beautiful blogs

Here's something a little different for this week's weekend reads: I thought I'd shine the spotlight on five of the most beautiful blogs, in design and content, that you may not yet be reading. Take a look...


http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/
Casey's Elegant Musings
We have the same name (albeit spelled differently!) and we share a love of all things vintage, so it's rather a wonder that I only just came across the lovely Casey's Elegant Musings just this week. Five minutes spent viewing Casey's blog had me completely enthralled. Her outfit posts and her insights into the world of vintage, sewing, cooking and crafting are a true delight. Her blog is also incredibly pleasing from an aesthetic standpoint as well. Beautiful quality photographs and graphics and a perfectly customized layout make the space so bright, fresh and organized. Just lovely.


http://indiefixx.com/
Indie Fixx
Another blog I found just this week, Indie Fixx is a complete joy. In case you couldn't tell by the title, the girl behind the blog, Jen, is an indie darling. She shares some of the most delightful recipes, DIYs, links, interviews, decor inspiration and all manner of other wonderful things. There's something incredibly substantial about Indie Fixx; each entry is expertly compiled, filled with information and beautiful photos to accompany. Indie Fixx is so cool it even has its own book club!


http://www.ohhellofriendblog.com/
Oh, Hello Friend
I've mentioned Oh, Hello Friend many times before so I'm sure if you weren't reading it before my little blog you're certainly reading it now. Danni is a beautiful and incredibly talented artist and designista, filling her blog with all manner of creativity. She has absolutely the best eye for aesthetics. I mean, just look at that layout! It's even beyond that - somehow her photos and the graphics in her entries always fit so perfectly into the soft color scheme of her blog. The minute you visit Oh, Hello Friend you feel a cozy sense of belonging. Her sweet personality shines through her writing, too, inviting you into each and every lovely post.


http://secretsofabutterfly.typepad.com/
Secrets of a Butterfly
As Kathryn describes it, Secrets of a Butterfly is "the blog of a girl who loves: wildflowers, red squirrels, camomile tea, glistening rivers, listening to the honeytrees, believing in peace, seeing beauty & recieving white feathers." It's also a truly serene and peaceful blog-reading experience. You can almost hear The Honey Trees playing softly as you browse the endless pages of inspiration. This is the happy place to steal away to when life gets too busy, too loud or just too overwhelming. Secrets of a Butterfly is like a little secret garden, perfectly magical.


http://wolfandwillowblog.com/
Wolf and Willow
Wolf and Willow was love at first sight. The design of this blog is completely out of this world! I was so struck by Nancy's pretty header upon my first visit a few months ago, and as soon as I moved down the page I was caught by the lovely icons, graphics and photos used throughout the layout and entries. The content is just as wonderful and organized; Nancy offers plenty of fun themes such as Fashion Fancies, Vintage Icons, Peachy Prints and - my favorite - Yummy Delicious, because what's a pretty blog without pictures of pretty food? I've also found countless Etsy shops through her Etsy Love series. This is one of those blogs you could literally spend hours on.

Some truly stunning blogs, aren't they? I hope I've managed to introduce you to a new discovery with this post. If you have any favorite inspiration blogs that pop into your mind, I'd love for you to share the links! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

I Heart Dujour

Happy Thanksgiving to all my lovely Stateside friends! I hope you're all having a beautiful holiday. And to everyone else in the world, I hope you're having a beautiful Thursday! If you can stand a little more beauty check out this grand, free preview of the new Handmade Issue from Dujour Magazine! I especially love the interview with Katrina of Pugly Pixel. I adore this girl, her blog, her dogs and her stellar freebies. Learning that she's self-taught in all of her graphic design endeavors was quite a surprise to me. Proof that determination and hard work can help you achieve truly great things, huh?

Be sure to check out the Dujour blog as well, where you'll find all manner of lovely and beautiful things!

all walks beyond the catwalk

I'm so excited to share with you all an organization I came across the other day through one of my favorite blogs, Some Kind of Style. (If you aren't following, be sure to do so!) The lovely Camilla posted about supermodel Erin O'Connor and the year-young organization, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk.


All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is an organization that recognizes the power the fashion industry has to communicate positive messages to women and men about their bodies and acts.
Small steps, big ideas.
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk

Founded by O'Connor, Caryn Franklins and Debra Bourne and endorsed by the British Fashion Council, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is about embracing individuality in all forms - whether by race, color, shape or size - and has seen contributions and support from some of the leading names in the industry, including photographer Rankin and designers such as Antonio Berardi, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and my favorite fresh face, William Tempest! He is quoted on the All Walks web site for saying, "Individuality gives people style and charisma and is what keeps life fresh and interesting. It’s really refreshing to be making and seeing fashion on a variety of different shapes and sizes."

It's so wonderful to see more people tackling the issue of the fashion industry's narrow view on beauty. Take a moment to check out this inspiring video in which contributors talk about the organization and what it stands for...



There's also another great video interview over here with the marvelous Erin O'Connor. Be sure to check out more from Erin O'Connor in Cam's Erin O'Connor is 'Revealed'!

All Walks Beyond the Catwalk on Facebook
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk on Twitter

mike, molly and marie claire

I often wonder at the identity of my blog. Sometimes I think I haven't found it, other times I think it's not something that needs to be found. A blog - or at least this blog - is an extension of its author. If the author wants to take a break from being an author and create visually-inspiring entries with less emphasis on text before turning around and publishing an editorial-style entry, that's her prerogative, isn't it? That's why I feel comfortable brandishing my diversity with posts like Miu Miu by Kris Atomic and Friend Friday: Shapes and Sizes. That's also why I'm here with a few words about the now-infamous blog entry by Maura Kelly for Marie Claire, Should "Fatties" Get a Room? (Even on TV?). If you've missed this bit of weight-centric drama, I'll explain: Kelly was asked by her editor to write a post on the subject of plus-size actors on television. What resulted could be considered an attack on obese people by a woman suffering from anorexia and a blatant obsession with being thin. Kelly targeted CBS's new hit comedy Mike and Molly, which stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as overweight Chicagoans who meet and fall in love at Overeater's Anonymous. My mom and I watched the pilot, both ecstatic about seeing our dear Melissa McCarthy in a starring role after such hilarious and charming pursuits as Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls and Dena on Samantha Who?. Neither of us could get invested in the comedic tone of Mike and Molly, but it was certainly not for lack of trying on the part of the leads.



In regard to Kelly's article, Sharon Osbourne has spoken out about it, along with a legion of angry readers via Twitter, Facebook, the blogging world and in comments on the original post which have built up to almost 3,000. Kelly has since issued an apology - you can read that at the end of her original post. In my opinion, however, no apology will ever be sufficient for things like this:

Yes, anorexia is sick, but at least some slim models are simply naturally skinny. No one who is as fat as Mike and Molly can be healthy. And obesity is costing our country far more in terms of all the related health problems we are paying for, by way of our insurance, than any other health problem, even cancer.

So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.

...I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It's something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.

The average reader of Marie Claire is thirty years old (source), but it's still Maura Kelly's job as an author to evaluate her writing and thoroughly understand the influence it will have on its audience. Let's face it, there's no age-limit on being impressionable. Even adults can be swayed into believing one thing or another by the media. The first paragraph could easily influence a woman into believing that Kelly thinks being anorexic is okay because it's less expensive, or that there's no such thing as a naturally heavy person. Wording like this, whatever her intention, is very badly done. As to the second paragraph, the fact that anyone could possibly form those words in their mind, translate them to print and not for a moment entertain that they could be in any way offensive is perfect proof of how insensitive our society has become. Again, I fault Kelly as a writer for having such flippant regard for the way her words will be interpreted. My own personal interpretation of them was grossly negative and I was left wondering how someone with such little regard for language - nevermind someone who freely expresses such unhelpful opinions as these - could possibly have a career as a writer. Her obvious disgust at the idea of obese people "kissing", waking across a room or simply "doing anything" reeks of unhealthy body image issues and encourages the reader to notice and judge the appearance of others. I'm of the opinion that a person's weight is their own business and if an obese person makes a decision to be healthier there are specialists to help and discuss that. Our business ought to be to accept the people we share this world with. Publications like Maura Kelly's are throwing the acceptance process into complete reverse and society is impressionable enough to follow their trend. There may be a high obesity rate in this country, but low self-esteem is an epidemic.

While I'm disappointed in the author of the offending article, I also need to express my outright anger at the editor who first presented this topic to a woman with pre-established weight issues and who allowed its publication online.


Regardless of your opinions on weight-related issues, just look at those faces! Melissa is without question one of the perkiest, sweetest, most dazzling women on television right now. I don't understand how anyone could not enjoy watching her.
Mike and Molly co-star Swoosie Kurtz said of the show, "I think it will help people to feel not so alone. We all kind of build these little self-imposed prisons of loneliness for ourselves because of our feelings of inadequacy and insecurity." I agree wholeheartedly with this, and I applaud Melissa, Billy, the cast, crew and the CBS execs for giving this approach a chance.

This brings me to a few other posts I'd like to share which cover subjects relating in some ways to the ones above...


Beautifully Invisible: Can't we all just be Fashionistas?
The stimulating and anonymous Beautifully Invisible approaches the many words that stereotype fashion bloggers - "Plus size", "Curvy", "Fatshionista" - and voices her own opinion on the size issue in the fashion blogging world.



Grit and Glamour: Why I'm Not on Weardrobe, Chictopia, Lookbook or Hypeed
V of Grit and Glamour is the author of many inspiring posts (as are all the ladies I'm mentioning here - with the exception, perhaps, of the very first: Miss Kelly). In this particular piece V boldly acknowledges the favoritism and stereotyping issues of social fashion Web sites. The opinions she gives voice to in this post are some that I share in quite passionately.


ArtFashion: Friday Parade: The Fashion blogosphere - Is hate the new trend?
On a slightly different topic, Bere of ArtFashion has started a revolution to end the hate that has long gone uncontested in the fashion blogging world. She speaks out against those who create blogs for the sole purpose of "bashing" fashion bloggers and encourages everyone reading to embrace kindness. A must-read, as these all are.

I hope this post has been in some way beneficial to you, dear reader. If you're still with me, thank you very much for devoting a bit of your time to such prominent and challenging issues. I hope we can all work to change the negative perspectives that manage to suffocate the creative, unique and independent artists online.

get back in your book

Get Back in Your Book, a set of photographs in which characters from beloved novels escape into our world (by Lissy Elle). This is one of my favorite Flickr sets. Can you guess who the characters are? If not, a simple mouse-over should reveal their names - or just click each image to be taken to the Flickr page for all of Lissy's commentary and info. I love the idea of characters from books coming to life, it reminds me of Cornelia Funke's wonderful Inkheart and its sequels. Which characters from your favorite novels would you like to see come to life?

Anyway, I'm back from visiting my sister (who, by the way, happens to have dazzling footwork). After a small holiday from blogging I've found myself to be quite inspired with lots of new ideas for themes and a post series or two that I'm excited to start soon. I even have a very thrilling something-something coming up with one of my favorite bloggers - it's going to be amazing! I can't wait to share these things with you all. Stay tuned!

little book of quotes

My mom recently gave me this little Paris notebook to keep my favorite quotes in! Isn't it cute? I mentioned a few of my favorite quotes before, but here are some others...

"Keep me up till five only because all your stars
are out, and for no other reason."
- J.D. Salinger (Seymour: An Introduction)

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling
is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."
- Oscar Wilde

"We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we
would attend to it, than any other person can be."
- Jane Austen (Mansfield Park)

"Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you.
And sometimes, when you fall, you fly."
- Neil Gaiman

"I realize that most of us live on the skin - on the surface - without appreciating just how wonderful it is simply to be alive at all."
- Audrey Hepburn

"Remember, remember. This is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I’ve taken for granted"
- Sylvia Plath

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
- Lao Tzu

If you have any favorites I'd love to know them. I always enjoy finding new quotes. They can be so inspiring, and I often find myself remembering them right when I need them. I'm excited to fill up the notebook, but also a little nervous because my handwriting is...well, quite bad, really. Ha!

blogger's block, sean stiegemeier and a guest post

Have you ever had an "off" blogging day when you can't seem to come up with a scratch of creative content nor the ability to write even a moderately entertaining post? I never post out of obligation, but sometimes my desire to blog doesn't coincide with my ability. Shall we call this Blogger's Block? When I'm in a rut like that I Stumble. I'm hooked on Stumbling! There never seems to be a lack of inspiration out there on the web, and it doesn't take long for me to Stumble upon something that I can't wait to share.










Sean Stiegemeier is the creator of music videos unlike any I've seen before. His quiet genius behind a camera is nothing short of astounding. He must have some sort of spiritual connection to nature because somehow his videos reacquaint you with the beauty of this wonderful planet. These pictures barely do his videos justice.


Stomacher - Untitled/Dark Divider

This video was created for the band Stomacher, whose music seems to be the perfect audio companion to Sean Stiegemeier's fascinating imagery. If you like the song, Stomacher is offering their album free for download over here! Also check out Sean Stiegemeier's other videos on his Vimeo account, especially Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 which pairs more stunning landscape time-lapse footage with the ethereal music of Jónsi.

While we're somewhat on the topic of photography here, I'm so excited to share this next link with you: I was invited to do a guest post at one of my favorite blogs, Beautifully Invisible! It's just a little bit of me going on (and on and on) about why I love fashion photography and the photographers who capture my interest the most. If you're not yet following Beautifully Invisible I can only tell you to hurry up and remedy that. Her blog is so insightful, educating and always a fantastic experience. I still can't believe she let me do a post!

things I've stumbled upon

I'm very new to the phenomenon that is StumbleUpon, but I absolutely love it. If you don't know how it works (and don't worry, neither do I), StumbleUpon searches the web and recommends content based on your interests. For me it tends to recommend anything relating to literature, nature, travel, fashion and animals. I've seen everything from sequoia trees to Tim Walker's take on street signs. It's so fascinating! Here are a few things I've stumbled upon today...


the photography of Cole Rise
Astonishing photographs. The colors and tones are so spectacular.



fantasy forest tree house
Could you just imagine experiencing this? It reminds me of something from Lord of the Rings.



Rococo Vintage
I've found a few blogs through StumbleUpon and this is my favorite. So charming and whimsical.



desire to inspire: bookshelves
Bookshelves! StumbleUpon knows me well. I'm always excited to see how people house their books.



GrimmStories.com
You can read lots of Grimm fairytales on GrimmStories.com. Cinderella is one of my favorites.



Sistine Chapel
This is my favorite. The Vatican's web site uses some ground-breaking technology to transport you into the Sistine Chapel. You can zoom, turn around, look up, look down. It's really like you're there! It gives you the opportunity to experience Michelangelo's art in even greater detail than if you were there yourself. Just be careful - it takes a little while to get used to it and it made me quite dizzy!

I hope you've found something nice to stumble upon. If you're on the site feel free to follow me (or leave a link so I can follow you) and if you're feeling generous you can always stumble The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower. Wouldn't that be lovely?

inspiration and a blog award

(image credit)

Beauty, the world seemed to say. And as if to prove it (scientifically) wherever he looked at the houses, at the railings, at the antelopes stretching over the palings, beauty sprang instantly. To watch a leaf quivering in the rush of air was an exquisite joy. Up in the sky swallows swooping, swerving, flinging themselves in and out, round and round, yet always with perfect control as if elastics held them; and the flies rising and falling; and the sun spotting now this leaf, now that, in mockery, dazzling it with soft gold in pure good temper; and now again some chime (it might be a motor horn) tinkling divinely on the grass stalks—all of this, calm and reasonable as it was, made out of ordinary things as it was, was the truth now; beauty, that was the truth now. Beauty was everywhere. - Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dallaway

Stunning, no? Virigina Woolf is such a monumental inspiration to me as a writer.

I spent a good portion of my weekend trying to spiff up my little blog's layout. What do you think? I hope it's not too crowded. I was bored with the sidebar and wanted to try something new. I'm not yet finished so pardon some of the lesser aesthetics, like the navigation tabs being all shifted to the side like so. I'm hoping to do an overhaul of my labels and pages sometime this week.

My dear Jen gave me the Blog with Substance Award. Thanks again, love!


- Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five words.
- Pass this on to ten other bloggers that you feel have a substance in their blogs.

Five words could be difficult, but we'll go with... beauty, kindness, imagination, comfort, intellect. I think those words do well to describe what I'd like to convey with this blog, but also the people I've met and the blogs I read.

I'm going to cheat a bit here. I won't be passing the award on to ten other bloggers; I read so many spectacular blogs (check my blogroll for the full list), but when I saw this award, thought about the meaning of it, there was one blog in particular that came jumping to mind. I'd love to pass the award on to the lovely Berenice of ArtFashion. Reading her blog has been such a breathtaking experience for me. With each entry she stimulates and educates her readers, taking them into the depths of art as she sees it, with all its darkness and honesty. Fashion, film, music, writing, visual arts are all things she's passionate about and she has such a great understanding of the meaning behind them. It's beyond fascinating. Bere is a deep thinker, a fearless dreamer and just about the kindest gal I've ever met. If you're not following her blog yet I really can't urge you enough to get over to ArtFashion and see the kind of reading experiences that have been missing from your life!

great reads: online magazines

Online magazines are all the rage, and they're the perfect outlet for all the whimsical styles and talented artists found throughout the internet. Last week I mentioned the brand new design and inspiration magazine Rue; this week I'd love to share two of my newly-found favorites, Cellardoor and Unicorn/Dream. (I did a post previously about the fabulous photography of Mike Bailey-Gates in a past issue of Unicorn/Dream over here.) And yes, that's Kathryn Prescott (looking ever so lovely as a brunette) on the cover of Cellardoor!


In Unicorn/Dream I love the photography of Aleyn Comprendio (check out her gorgeous Flickr photostream - it's a beautiful place). She also photographed the beautiful cover. There are pages and pages of stunning photographs, poetry, Etsy finds (lace gloves!) and so much more to get lost in. Also, check out the delightful inspiration page on their web site for even more whimsical goodness.



And in Cellardoor it's so exciting to see Emma's interview with Marina Diamandis aka Marina and the Diamonds! I love Marina's music quite obsessively. Also loving the fab A/W Trends article with illustrations by Abby Wright and the Whimsical Wallpaper interview with Hannah Dick. Cellardoor also has a blog, so go check that out too!


I am Not a Robot - Marina and the Diamonds

Enjoy your weekend and happy reading!

pretty things and a questionnaire

Photos by {Jessica Louise}. Check out her gorgeous photostream!

The lovely Kristin from Crimson Rosella tagged me with a little bloggy questionnaire! Thanks so much for thinking of me, Kristin!

1. Why did you start blogging?
Well, when Jen (of Sprinkled Dreams) started the fashion blog SHE - Style through Her Eyes she asked me (and a few other girls, including Karen who still posts with us) to be a part of it; that was really my introduction to blogging. I was extremely eager to work with her on SHE because we have a lot of similarities in our personalities and we're great friends. Starting out on something like this with a friend is a great way to experience it. We have so much fun sharing ideas with each other and working to build up the site as a team. I decided to start The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower as my personal space for inspiration and sharing. It's grown into something of a fashion blog for my own personal style, but I'm hoping to continue to work with it and bring in elements of other things I enjoy too, such as art, books and music. I see it as a sort of scrapbook of things I like, things that inspire me. I don't know if any of that really answers the Why part of the question, but suffice it to say that I enjoy sharing things with people with the hope that they'll find something new and exciting to love.

2. Do you prefer Spring/Summer or Autumn/Winter?
Autumn and winter, definitely. I love everything about those seasons. I love the fashion, the holidays, snow storms when you don't have to go out and can curl up with a blanket, a book and a cup of hot chocolate. I'm a big fan of layering and accessories so summer doesn't tend to thrill me from a fashion standpoint. Although, watching all the livestreams from Fashion Week does have me oddly excited. I'm loving some of the trends for next year!

3. What did you notice first: Smokey eye makeup or bright lips?
Absolutely bright red lips. My sister had a make-up caboodle at a very young age because of her ballet performances and she had a candy apple red lipstick that I craved. I've been pretty fearless with red lips every since then.

4. Who are your style icons?
Audrey Hepburn is obvious, of course. I don't know that she's directly a fashion inspiration to me - because let's face it, those skinny black pants are just a far-off dream for some of us curvy gals - but her overall style inspires me a great deal, the classy and graceful way she always behaved. She had this amazing ability to not only be memorable but to be iconic, and she did it all without being outlandish or inappropriate. I think that's a pretty big deal. Class and grace, that was her style and that's what I try to achieve. My own personal version of it, I guess.

5. Describe your personality in 3 words.
Introverted, benevolent, refined. (I'm never very good at answering that question so I tried to be creative. Ha!)

6. If you had to leave the house with only one item of make-up what would it be?
Translucent pressed powder! I'm a victim of Shiny Face Syndrome throughout the day, so that's really a must.

7. Which era do you think influenced fashion the most?
Good question. Fashion in history is such an interesting subject to me, how it evolved and the different movements that influenced it. I think other people could give much better and more fascinating answers to this question than I can, though. Sometimes I think the sixties were incredibly influential because so much happened in those years and so many new things came around. Like the miniskirt, which obviously had a big effect on fashion. Bell bottoms, etc. A lot of things that fashion today seems to still pick up on or use to some extent. The eighties were monumental, too. There was such a stubbornly outspoken element to eighties fashion that seems to resonate still.

8. What beauty item do you always repurchase?
I recently ran out of my Maybelline Falsies mascara and I'm missing it so much! It's definitely going to be a repurchase for a while, I think. My other big ones are the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero and the Urban Decay shadow in Sin. The latter matches my skin tone well, but with an extra shine. I always use that for a base, every day. The glide-on pencil is so easy to use and it has such a dramatic effect. Love it.


And now I'll tag a few folks, but everyone can feel free to answer these questions in your own blog! On the other hand, if you've been tagged and you don't want to answer the questions that's perfectly fine, too!

ArtFashion
Beautifully Invisible
Sprinkled Dreams
The Layered Pancake
Those Things They Said