Friday Link Party: The Twelve Films Project.

"The Cathedral of Junk is an art project created by Vince Hannemann in Austin, TX. It's part clubhouse, part social experiment (he gets anonymous boxes of junk to add to the Cathedral) and totally wonderful to walk through."

This is one video in a twelve-part series made by Austin filmmaker Christian Remde, founder of The Twelve Films Project.  In lieu of this blog's regular Friday Link Party, I've decided to solely focus on Christian, since I am just that into what he's doing.

Every month, Christian is making a new film, to celebrate the fact that he got a new Canon 7D camera in December.  In May, he shot a documentary on Bryce Gilmore (owner of Odd Duck food trailer), and in September, he's shooting a short narrative film at Austin-Bergstrom Airport.

"The September film is called Layover and is set in an airport late at night. It's got a larger cast than my other narrative films and we'll be shooting it at the Austin-Bergstrom Airport overnight."

The Twelve Films Project is an extension of Christian's New Year's resolutions, and as everyone knows, I love a quirky New Year's idea.  I chose a New Year's "word" - openness - which led to aerial silks dancing, which I am now completely obsessed with. 

You know what I am also open to?  A VACATION.  So I booked one!  Kind of on a whim.  It's for Ross (husband) and I, it is a weekend in Fredericksburg.  This whole summer Ross has been building a music studio in our backyard, with no breaks, and while I did get to go on a pretty fab trip to New York, that was for work.  Now I want to go somewhere where I decide when to wake up, where I decide whether it's OK or not to drink wine at 11:00am (answer: yes), and where I decide to ignore my gadgets.  

In fact, I don't think I'm taking any.  Just this:

That is a plastic camera my friend, with real film.  I'll share my pictures when I get them back!

hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Link Party + Rene Geneva.

Me post-party.

I went to an Austin Fashion Week trunk show last night for my best buddy Rene Geneva (whom you may remember her from our blue wall), at Bella Salon here in town.  But lo, I forgot Danger Kate!  

It was ok though, because I had my camera phone.  Crisis averted.

Let's take a moment to appreciate both A) those grid tights Rene is wearing, and B) that utterly delightful floor.  I now want both of those prints somewhere in my life.  Don't you?  

For Friday Link Party today, I thought I would link to three creative lifestyle bloggers who embrace life offline.  I talked about my new vision for Austin Eavesdropper on Wednesday, and life offline is a big part of it!  Powering down the phone ... shutting the computer ... and living.  It's a movement.  

*Moorea Seal*

Moorea is a jewelry designer, graphic designer, and all-around badass in Seattle.  I loved this guest post on baking spiked cakes.  

*Srsly Liz*

Liz is a cute nerd who lives in my old home: Sacaramento!  You will find much to enjoy here - such as Liz's outfit posts and her craft/beauty tutorials, like DIY: Leopard Print Nails - but I especially loved her recent post on biting off more than you can chew, and not letting the Internet rule your life.

*Eat Sleep Cuddle*

My friend Kelly Ann introduced this sweet blog to me.  I don't know the blogger Whitney personally, but I adore her washed-out photography and sweet snapshots of domesticity.  

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Offline excitement: Date night with Ross tonight, finishing a DIY chandelier this weekend, going to a "meditation mob" (!) at the capitol and then a 1920s/30s themed party on Sunday.  I hope you have the most wonderful weekend!

Friday Link Party!

Good morning.

Did you drink too much red wine last night?

If so, I am sorry.  I don't have any idea what that's like.  I don't have the foggiest clue about making dinner with a friend, celebrating your awesome dinner-making skills with red wine, lots of red wine, falling asleep fully-dressed, then staring at your blog the next morning and suddenly forgetting how to type.  Nope!  Would just not know anything about that!

(Or, forgetting how to spell. God bless you and your helpful red underline, Blogger).

Thank goodness it's Friday, or more specifically Friday Link Party, where I point you in the direction of other worthy corners of the Internet.  Today I want to discuss four of my favorite Austin blogs, who have been keeping me in stitches / making me thinking / generally improving my quality of life all week long.

REPUBLIC OF AUSTIN

This is a cute post for Austinites and non-Austinites alike: "1500 Historical Postcards from the 1900's of Austin with water!"  I have a total thing for vintage postcards, and not only did this introduce me to a local archive of them -- AustinPostcard.com -- but Chris Apollo Lynn, Republic of Austin's editor, completely cracked me up with this post.  It's also kind of NUTS to see Austinites in Victorian garb hanging out at Barton Springs ... I guess it took a few years before it became legal to sunbathe topless there.

*Austin Gastronomist*
This food blog is just gorgeous.  I want it to be a radio show.  Or on TV.  Recipes.  Local food news.  Profiles.  Killer photography.  Anyway, the main reason I'm including it in Friday Link Party though is the feature blogger Kathryn Hutchison writes each week: "This Week's Meal Plan."  I've started following it, and getting ideas for my own weekly meals!  Ross (husband) is still the main chef here at Château Moseley-Carnes, but Kathryn has inspired me to look into organic vegetable delivery services here in town.  So much smarter / easier / tastier than schlepping it to the grocery store each week, non?

*Furnish123*
Confession.  I'm co-hosting a party at Furnish123's store here in town on August 30, so this is a teensy weeny plug I am pulling right now!  Are we ok with that?  Still friends?  You the Preppy to my Slater?

Maureen Stevens of Inspired Mrs. Stevens and I are co-hosting this party, and she wrote a super-cute post this week on her first piece of adult furniture.  If you are here in Austin, and enjoy winning free things, like furniture, stay tuned -- I'll have more to say about that next week.  But in the meantime, read Maureen's reflections on getting to the point in life where you say, "ok self.  It is time I buy one piece of furniture that did not come from Craigslist.  I'm going to get something nice and NEW for myself."  Because it's a milestone, non?

*Hipstercrite*
I read Hipstercrite daily, but I love, love Lauren Modery's heartfelt post from Wednesday: "I Need a Blog Mentor." God I can relate to this.  As can almost every blogger I know -- the feelings of inadequacy, the excitement of small blogging victories, the slow, step-by-step build-up of traffic and readership.

*Trophy Boutique*
Are you reading this adorable style blog yet?  I'm lucky enough to know blogger Laurel Kinney in real life, and she is as goofy, funny, and hip in person and she is on her blog.  I bookmarked her post "Summer Job Interview," for all of those work occasions when the outfit called for is cute-but-also-take-me-seriously.  I'm not the best at melding work and play in outfits, but Laurel is.

hope you enjoy those!  what quality posts have you come across this week?

Friday Link Party!

Happy Friday, world!

I am about to jump up and do the splits, because I finally finished a mondo article I've been working on the past couple of weeks.  And while writing it, I got an idea!

See, I love it whenever other bloggers do a weekly "link round-up." And since I read so many blogs myself, I thought it might be interesting for you all to see the other corners of the Internet where I hang out.

Besides other Austin blogs, I actually spend the majority of my time on art / craft / visual inspiration blogs.  And because the story I was working on last week focused on the Austin art scene, I made one completely rad, eyes-bugging-out-in-cartoon-like-fashion, discovery:

ALYSON FOX

These photographs are by the multi-talented Austin artist, Alyson Fox, who also did these color study designs, below.

... and these illustrations.

Alyson Fox does it all, folks.  

She draws.  She designs jewelry.  She takes pictures.  She makes this flatware.  She is probably doing something right now that the art world hasn't even invented yet.

I had heard of her before, but how did it take me so long to discover the Alyson full monty?  I could get lost in her website, and I love her big, bold use of negative space.  She used to be an Anthropologie visual display designer, just like my little sister-in-law.  

Here are links to more of my favorite spots on the Internet:

*August Empress*

Walls that will blow your freaking mind. Seriously!  Go look, then come back and let's talk about it.  How badly do you want one of those walls?

*Here's Looking at Me, Kid*

Cheap date night activities, from one of my favorite funny bloggers.  Mandi is a gifted designer, and part of the Freckled Nest collective (who I hired to redesign this blog).

*The Flowerchild Dwelling*

The Beatles, in watercolor.  Kelly Ann, who writes that blog, is the artist who designed Austin Eavesdropper!

*I Just Might Explode*

Vintage inspiration from "Sew-It-Yourself."  I want to curl on up in those grainy photographs, and wake up to sun-drenched '70s mornings.

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I hope you enjoyed your first Friday Link Party as much as I did.  Let's do it every week!

have a great weekend.