Q + A // tips on how to get my haircut

I'd definitely recommend taking in photos of the cut you want, so if that means printing of some pictures of my hair from my blog, go ahead! I've had people do that before.  Keep in mind that unless your hair has similar curl to mine, cutting it like mine might not result in your hair looking like mine.  If your hair is curlier or straighter it'll probably look a bit different.  If you do want your hair curlier, I know that perm technology is better than when you'd end up looking like one of the Golden Girls. These days your stylist could probably give you something more similar to natural curls like mine.  I've never had any experience with perming, though so that's definitely a question for your stylist.

I cut my own hair, as I've never been to a stylist who knew how to cut curly hair and I've always left the salon with something other than what I had wanted.  Since curly hair is very forgiving, I cut my own hair at home, which means I save a lot of dough not having to go to the stylist every time I want a trim or cut!  And at least if I screw it up, I didn't pay a ton of money to be disappointed and the only person to blame is myself.

 

 

Here are some more specifics on my cut, which you can share with your stylist.  I usually have very short layers on top and then a bit longer layers under that, and then so on to blend to whatever length I'm at.  So when my hair was super long I had tons of layers at different lengths, but now that my hair is shorter there's only about three layers in it. Because my hair is curly, if I have it all at one length, it starts to get that triangle/pyramid-head look to it, because the volume is bigger at the bottom. Layering with shorter layers distributes the volume throughout my hair instead of having it concentrated at the bottom. It also helps keep my curls nice, because the shorter layers don't have as much hair weighing them down and stretching out the curls. I'd say my shortest layer on top can sometimes be as short as 5-6 inches, next 8-9 inches, next 10-12 inches, and so on. Since I cut my own hair, it's not an exact science, and curly hair is super forgiving. I'm sure it's super wonky, but it's hard to tell with the curls.

I usually cut my hair dry, because then you can actually see how the curl is going to react when you cut it and where it will lay.  When you cut wet, you're essentially cutting blind.  This works fine for straight hair, because straight hair lays essentially the same way wet and dry, but my hair behaves radically different when it's wet vs. dry.  I've never been to a stylist who cuts dry, but I've heard that there are some curly hair stylists out there who will do it!

remix archives // denim jacket

I'm actually featuring two different jackets in this post, but they're similar enough that I figured I might as well do both at once. These are such perfect spring and summer jackets.  They don't provide a ton of warmth but are that perfect weight for spring and cool summer days.  Doing these posts now is kind of funny to see my  hair growing!  Both of these jackets were acquired after I cut my hair short, so all of these images are of different stages of growth.  I liked my hair short, but I definitely feel more "me" with it longer.  Sometimes (very very rarely) I think about cutting it into a pixie or something super short, but then I get freaked out about how long it would take to grow out if I hated it.  Yikes!  My hair still feels super short compared to what it used to be.  My ponytail has started swinging around a bit when I workout though, which hasn't happened since I cut my hair!  Somehow this post became about hair rather than denim jackets... but what really needs to be said about denim jackets anyhow?  They're a style staple and a classic.  Nuff said.

the creative spark

I've been thinking a lot about time lately, as you can probably glean from my last few posts.  Trying to make more time, organize time, save time.  One of the things I miss a lot, which I feel like I don't have time for, is art making.  I never realized what a luxury it was to be an art student.  All you do is make art.  And you're all, "ugh, I have a drawing due on Friday in my Drawing II class, and I have to finish my print series before Monday to present it, and I have this business card to design for my typography class" and then all of a sudden you have no time to make art!  That's not true, I've slowly given that time away.  You have to fight for it, because it's art and it's not like it's bringing home the bacon (unless you're lucky).  
I have a pretty creative lifestyle, but I've realized that most of my creativity is focused on pleasing other people.  I'm never thinking of what I want to draw for myself, I'm always trying to decipher what the client wants, not what I want.  But that's how it works if you're not making your living as a studio artist, you're designing for clients.  Which can be great!  I love the design work I've done for clients.  But in some ways I think designing for clients has trained me to not design for myself, because, to think about it in the pavlovian sense, I'm "punished" when I do something I want because then (sometimes) I get feedback from the client saying they don't like it.  No matter how much designing for clients I've done, it's always hard to hear, as an artist having created something you thought was beautiful, when the client says "no, re-do this, I don't like it."  Honestly, it's really an emotional thing to deal with and I think you start unintentionally training yourself to stop trying to even think about making something you like, and focus more on just making the client happy.  And while I like doing design work,  I'm thinking of taking a break from my design work for a few months, so I can have time to put pencil to paper and actually get back to making art for myself.  I think, as an artist, that it's important to be able to hone your own craft and have your own perspective and aesthetic.  And I think that ultimately it's a benefit to a client, because at the end, I'm going to have more creativity to draw on.  At least, that's my mental justification.  

dress/courtesy of elegantees :: jacket/lulu's via swap :: boots/courtesy of blowfish tights/target :: bag + scarf/thrifted :: photos by Dan
I know a lot of artists have dry spells, and I know that I'm not being completely un-creative.  I'm painting our house, doing tons of interior decor, putting together outfits, doing photography and graphic design ... but there is something about that physical act of making marks on a blank canvas.  Something that needs no function other than to be beautiful.  It has no rules, no one can say, "no, move that line over there, change that color to be a bit lighter," it's total freedom and pure creativity.  I need more of that in my life.  Pure, unadulterated creativity.  

more time please

Is there ever enough time to do everything?  It doesn't seem that way lately.  So many things to do, so little time!  I was at the craft store yesterday picking up some things for various projects and I ended up in the paper/scrapbook section and found myself wanting to start a little scrapbook or album documenting our time working on our first house.  All the renovations and changes we're making, and fun times.  But I put the album down and walked out of the store because I just can't even think of when I would have time to sit down and scrapbook, or even just print some photos and stick them in sleeves.  I want to.  I want to have 36 hour days so I can do more!   I want to only need 4 hours of sleep.  I guess I just have to better organize the time I do have.   I've never been very good at having a strict schedule.  I don't feel like my brain works that way, but maybe that's just an excuse to keep from being disciplined.  I've been a lot better about disciplining myself in terms of working out, though.  I never was able to keep up a daily workout schedule, unless I was forced to (like going to track/basketball practice back in high school, or going to fitness classes in college).  But the past six months I've been doing pretty well at working out on a daily basis.  It's not scheduled in terms of what time of day I do it, though it usually ends up being pretty late), but at least I'm disciplining myself to actually get it done, even if it is at 11pm sometimes! 
top/hand-me-down :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: boots/target :: belt/thrifted jacket/courtesy of asianicandy :: scarf/gift :: necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis

making progress

We're slowly but surely making some progress on the exterior of our house.  Yesterday I painted our front door!  We were debating between chartreuse and rust, but since we did the kitchen chartreuse we decided on a nice rust color.  I still have to paint the second coat, but it looks great!  I love a brightly colored front door on a house.  We were hoping to get the exterior siding painted this week but it looks like it's supposed to rain all week, oh well.  So it goes when you try to paint outside in Washington in February.  But yesterday it was sunny and warm, so I was outside priming trim and watching CreativeLIVE on my laptop.  Learning and productivity simultaneously!Lately I've been wearing jewel tones like nobody's business.  It's mostly this cardigan's fault, as it tends to just gravitate towards other jewel tones.  I never really thought of myself as a jewel-tone person, but I've been liking these colors quite a bit lately.  This dress is actually the same cut as the one in this post, just in a different color/print.  I love that they are hand printed and embroidered.  Gives them such a nice natural feel.  Plus, they have a tent-like cut which means you can belt them for a more fitted look or leave them loose and breezy.dress/courtesy of mata traders :: hat/courtesy of yishka knits :: cardigan/thriftedtights/target :: shoes/minnetonka :: necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewisI wore this outfit to Dan's Grandma's wedding last Saturday.  It was a fun little ceremony up at her retirement center.  I wish our wedding had been that small!  So intimate and low-key with just family there.  It was a nice little day trip and fun to see her so happy.  It's always nice to see a grandparent find new life and love after their spouse has died.  My Grandma died a while ago, back when I was in high school, and he got married a year or so later.  It's definitely kind of strange at first to all of a sudden have a new family member sort of taking the place of someone who had been in your life since before you could remember.  But I think it would be nice to spend those later years with someone to keep you company and to help one another as you grow older and less spry.  Much better than being lonely in those later years.  I mean, being married for like 50 years and then all of a sudden being alone?  I feel like that would be one of the hardest parts of losing a spouse after that long.