Going Places, Avoiding Things

Hey everyone again! I'm back with vintage themes and okay-ish photography. Today I had to make a lookbook for one of my classes, so why not have some fun with it? These are rockabilly looks inspired from completely different eras and set in stylistic black and white. (Rockabilly is the mesh of vintage and modern clothing to create new and interesting looks). Let's start with my first look:

Note: Normally one would have captions saying where each piece came from but these pieces are mostly from thrift shops so...sorry...

Causal 



This look may not be called "casual" by everyone but technically fits so why not be a bit extra? I found the cloak at a thrift store in the middle of summer and I've been trying to match it with something ever since. I paired it with the dress for a minimalistic look. The outfit works quite well, but I'm not sure if the pearls are too "old" for what I'm going for.

Formal


While I love polka dots, I feel like I shouldn't categorize this outfit into the 50's look. The hat was popularized in the 20's, and coke was definitely not commonly sipped from a milkshake glass during any era. However, I still had to add this look. Just look at how adorable all of it is! I love it! I wouldn't necessarily wear it out of the house, but still, love it.

Work



Probably the most bada** of any of these outfits. It's fresh, it's new, it's what all the teeny-bobbers are wearing these days. Nah, it's still a bit too formal for the last statement. However, while this style is formal it's probably the most wearable outfit out of all three looks. None of the items are vintage (although the style of top is definitely Victorian, and I am fully willing to fight you on that), but this outfit is so strong and cool I had to post it.

Where is it? The shop I went to is located in Fort Langley inside an area called "Gasoline Alley". They have more locations across Canada. (below is where the one in Fort Langley is located)


Verdict? The coffee itself is pretty tasty. They have their own brand of beans and unlike most shops I've been to, everything was never sour nor cold. The only issues is that they're on the pricier side and don't have many places to sit indoors (which can get annoying during winter. Overall, if you're an avid lover of coffee I would definitely recommend checking out one of their locations yourself.

How do you feel about strawberries and basil? For me, they are a daily commodity used in nearly every sweet thing I make (like in my strawberry cake recipe). So, when I found a recipe for strawberry basil water I immediately had to try it. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was one of the first pics I uploaded to my food instagram @camerasandcooking.

After ad-libbing a recipe I put my concoction in the fridge and waited overnight for all the flavours to mesh together. In the morning I took my drink out, now a pretty pink, and it surprisingly tasted pretty darn good. It's not like cold tea, nor is it like a thawed Slurpee. It's lightly sweet, fresh, and aromatic.  The drink is perfect for relaxing by the pool side or imagining you're doing so while freezing in front of the fireplace during the dead of winter. Either way it's great. Plus there are only 3 ingredients! (but feel free to experiment with more!)

Recipe

- 3-5 basil leaves
- a pitcher of cold water
- 4-6 strawberries, pitted
- wedge of lemon (optional)

1. cut basil and strawberries into slices
2. combine all ingredients
3. put in fridge for 3-12 hours
4. stir and serve cold

 

This year I've joined an independent research class called "Butterfly Effect". We get to research and write about anything we'd like. Google, being a big name search engine, is what I usually used to look things up. Google is definitely most people's first choice, but it's easy to get lost in all the results. You can spend hours looking through all the results when you could've spent minutes. So, here are some tips to help make you find whatever you're searching for way easier.


1. Brackets: Wanna look a phrase up but you keep getting random keyword results? Searching a phrase in brackets will yield only pages with the same words in the same order as what’s in the quotes. It’s one of the most vital search tips, especially useful if you’re trying to find results containing a specific a phrase.

I remember watching fantasy movies like Narnia, Merlin or LOTR when I was really young and the witches would always live in these old, creppy cabins. You know, the ones with animal bones and dried herbs hanging from the rafters. I remember promising myself that my house would look just like that when I grew up (with a few more secret doors of course). After my family changed houses I got the opportunity to set up how my room looked, and I hadn't forgotten the promise my younger self made. However, animal bones and hanging plants from the ceiling was something my parents probably wouldn't like as much as I would, so I had to tone it down a bit for the moment. 

I was pleasantly surprised with what I could do on the dried flowers part. You can press and frame the flowers, make a pot pourri, or simply put them in a vase.

Here are some of my favourite tutorials on how to dry flowers and what to do with them afterwards.

6 Ways How To Dry Flowers


https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/Preserving-Flowers-Six-Ways-of-Drying-Flowers

This is by far my favourite tutorial on drying flowers. Not only does the author go into depth on each possible process, but they also give you both traditional and modern methods to follow. I recommend checking this post out before looking at the others.

I've gathered some of my favourite tutorials on modern looking ideas below.

What To Do With The Dried Flowers:

1. Frame Them


http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/uo_diy_how_to_press_and_frame_flowers?cm_re=Blog_Content-_-B3-_-uo_diy_how_to_press_and_frame_flowers&crlt.pid=camp.SYxd1YRgmFo2

2. Add Them To A Candle


https://madeinaday.com/oven-dried-flowers/

4. Make A Sun Catcher

http://twigandtoadstool.blogspot.ca/2014/03/mandala-sun-catchers.html

5. Or Simply Put the On Display \(*u*)/

Recently there's a photographer who's been appearing all over my feed named Brandon Woelfel, you've probably seen his work with fairy lights: