free stuff

i just discovered Canon's Creative Park, which offers all sorts of nifty printable downloads for free. my favourite are these adorable CD/DVD cases designed by Tomoko Suzuki. go take a peek, there's tonnes o' fun stuff!

a real gem

i've a love of hyper-realistic painting, as you may already know, and i am awed by Carly Waito's detailed renderings of gemstones so real i can almost touch them. as it happens, this extraordinarily talented artist lives right here in Toronto, so i'm hoping to see her work in person sometime! see more of Carly's paintings on flickr, and while you're at it, check out her fabulous blog.

R.I.P. Alex Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010)

all the king's women # 19 - joan o'brien

Joan O'Brien was born on Valentine's day in 1936, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. she began her career as a singer on a local television show while still in highschool and made her film debut in Handle With Care in 1958. Joan is perhaps most famous for her role in Operation Petticoat(1959) with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, in which she plays an army nurse whose bountiful proportions make it difficult for sailors to concentrate whilst confined to the tight quarters of a submarine.


O'Brien proved her versatility by appearing in dramas and comedies alike, and even starring opposite John Wayne in two westerns, The Alamo (1960) and The Comancheros (1961). oddly, however, Joan played a nurse in more than half of her films, and her appearance in Elvis' 12th movie, It Happened at the World's Fair (1963), was no exception.




as nurse Dianne Warren, Joan plays hard to get while Elvis' character pursues her in every way possible, even paying a young boy (played by an 11 year old Kurt Russell) to kick him in the shins so he'll have an excuse to visit the infirmary. in the end his advances pay off, of course.

Joan made one more film after this one (Get Yourself a College Girl (1964))before retiring from the screen due to a stormy personal life. O'Brien concentrated on raising her two children (one from the first and one from the second of four marriages) and eventually became a successful executive for the Hilton hotel chain.

if polygamy were legal # 30

if polygamy were legal, i would marry this 'Two-Wheeler Shirtdress' in a field somewhere, then renew my vows to it every summer for the rest of my life. i. need. this. dress.

[click on the image to enlarge. it's the pattern that slays me.]

spring along the mississippi

spring is finally peeking out from behind winter's petticoats and i couldn't be happier for it. i am victim to the wintry doldrums most years, and this has been no exception. as in past years, i welcome spring with every atom of my being. bienvenue fresh air and warm breezes! how i've missed you sun and leaves and little wee birdies!

on that note, here are some photos to get you i the springtime mood. these are from a series i found at the Life Photo Archives called Spring Along the Mississippi, taken by Loomis Dean in March 1949. so fresh and sweet and lovely, no?

shadows and thread

behold the extraordinary work of Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita. note that the portrait below is made entirely of thread and pins. astounding.

McQueen's last collection

the late Alexander Mcqueen's final collection is sublime. the world has lost a true master of his craft. see more here. [click on images to enlarge]

hall of dames #17 - meg tilly

my husband and i watched The Big Chill for the umpteenth time the other day, and i was reminded of how much i adore Meg Tilly. she has a quiet grace and a mysterious depth about her that captivates me. so much so, that i've decided to induct her into the Loose Leaf Tigers Hall of Dames...


Meg was born Margaret E. Chan on Valentines day 1960, in Longbeach, California. after her parents' divorce in 1963, she was raised by her mother, Patricia Tilly, and stepfather, on rural Texada Island in British Columbia, Canada. Tilly studied ballet as a teen and made her film debut as a dancer in Fame (1980). a serious back injury prevented Meg from continuing her dancing career, and so she decided to become an actress.



Tilly appeared in some of my favourite films -among them The Big Chill (1983), Agnes of God (1985)(for which she won a golden globe and was nominated for an oscar) and Leaving Normal (1992)- but retired from acting in 1995 to to devote herself to writing and raising a family.


Meg has three children, two with her first husband, and one with actor Colin Firth, with whom she had a five year relationship. Meg and Colin met while filming Valmont in 1989. Tilley's second husband was 30 years her senior, and a former president of Sony Pictures. the couple were married in 1995 and divorced in 2002. now remarried and living in British Columbia, Meg has written four novels - Singing Songs, Gemma, Porcupine and First Time. you can find out more about these books, as well as read Meg's blog at her official website.

R.I.P. Corey Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010)

werd.

jordan strong

i am entranced by this beautiful photoshoot from Jordan Strong's flickr stream. so ethereal and strangely inviting. makes me wanna put on a romper and run around the woods with this girl, y'know? it does look a bit chilly for a romper though :) see more of Jordan's photos here.

if money only grew like the buds of spring flowers

last august i declared that if only money grew on houseplants, I would own every piece of clothing in Kate Spade's fall collection (which is otherwise far beyond my budget). now that spring approaches, i find myself wishing for money trees once again, as the spring collection is fabulous too!

the heckman method

i just disovered the work of Carlo Heckman, an under-appreciated industrial designer from the 1950's via Core 77. Heckman was best known for his arrangement of birthday candles, dubbed the Heckman Method, which I think is absolutely brilliant! read more about these candles and other Heckman projects here.

gold leaf is the new black

the title of this post is taken from the myspace page of artist Serena Cole, whose work explores concepts of beauty and icon worship in the western world. her images are seductive and intoxicating. see more here.

if polygamy were legal # 29

let me preface by saying that i rarely, if ever, wear white clothing. not because i don't appreciate the aesthetic, but because i am well aware of the limits of my own coordination. being the clumsy sort of girl that i am, i have never been able to keep a white item white for very long, and as such, have shied away from them. that being said, this crisp, white, cotton dress seems absolutely perfect to me. if polygamy were legal, i would marry this dress and then divorce it, just so that i might marry it again. and i am so in love with its structure, that if it came in a hundred colours, i would marry each and every one of them. *sigh*

video vendredi turns japanese

kay, i'm not sure what to make of this, but it appears that Kirsten Dunst is branching out :/ if i'm to be prefectly honest, i think the song is effing terrible, but she looks adorable (if not also slightly ridiculous) and the video is heaps of fun! happy friday darlings!

yesterday's muse special edition - georgia hamilton revealed

photographed by Nina Leen for Life Magazine, 1948

if you're familiar with my Yesterday's Muse series, you may remember my post on model Georgia Hamilton [here], in which i revealed very little biographical information, as i was unable to find any on the internet. much to my surprise and delight, i recently received an email from Georgia's son, which i am so pleased to share with you now...

Hi -

I want to thank you for recognizing my mother, Georgia Hamilton, and giving you a little bit of her background.She was born in California in 1925, and after the death of her mother at 2, her father moved the family back east. The family moved a lot during the depression finally settling in Tenafly, NJ, where she graduated high school in 1944. She started modeling not long after that, which is how she met my father, photographer Steve Elliot, and they were married in 1946. Steve and his brother Mike started the television commercial production house EUE along with partner Bill Unger, and were one of the first people to produce television ads. Steve and Georgia had four children, three boys and a girl, and divorced in 1964.

Georgia's big break came with the Life cover, which accelerated her career and made her one of the top models of her era. She was a favorite of Richard Avedon and Harper's Bazaar, and graced their covers as well as several other magazines of the time.She was one of Eileen and Jerry Ford's first models, and it was there that she encouraged Mary Jane Russell, who was the receptionist at Fords', to do modeling as well, according to her husband, Ed. They remained close friends long after their careers ended in the early 60s. Georgia had a second career later as a designer and builder of homes in the Hamptons, and died in Southampton in 1995.

Again thank you for bringing her to attention of your followers. I've forwarded it to friends and family.

Best

Steve

thank you so much Steve!

for the birds

these have to be the cutest wee birds mine eyes have ever seen. *gush* (via cute overload)