Lorajean's Magazine, BLOG

I am loving the look of these Five outfits today! The natural earth tones really speak to me. I adore the boots they are all wearing,and I also like the cravat type bows a few of them are wearing at the neck. Hope you all have a great Friday! When the weather warms up I'll start posting spring fashion, it's still freezing here in the mountains of Utah. Clothes Designed by Carolina Herrera, images are from New York Fashion show

A s you all probably know, I've been in Love with the Regency Era of fashion as of late, and now it's affected the way I do my hair. As an experiment I tried to get my hair to look as authentic as I could, while putting in some modern adjustments. In the back I made what would have been perfect pin curls and ringlets into something a bit more messy; but I really liked how it all turned out. The shirt I chose to wear really reflects the gathered dress fronts of that era too, and that was not even intentional. ;) (See, It's infecting everything I do whether I want it to or not.) Oh, and the shoes were just a really great thrift store find that I had to share. They were only three bucks! Have a great day!

I happened upon this lovely collection of sweaters via Loobylu , a lovely illustrators blog I read. The sweaters, scarfs, and berets are designed by Kim Hargreaves . You really must look at her website because EVERY sweater is so beautiful. I love that they have a classical old fashioned twist to modern fashion. And who doesn't LOVE sweaters.

I have been obsessed with fashion history as of late, it came about from my love for these traditional paintings I've been "collecting" on my computer. I hope these inspire you as much as they do me. As a complete coincidence I watched Becoming Jane last night and fell even more in love with the Regency, or Empire fashion era. Its a MUST SEE!!! Loved it (I cried).

I 'm sure you all remember my recent post about inspiring art rooms , well I finally have my studio all made up with pretty things and now it's worthy of sharing with all of you. I don't have any expensive and amazing things like new furniture and storage units, but it is a beautiful room any way. I just made do with what I had already. I used somethings in different ways than they were meant to be used. And I painted the room with left-over paint from my daughters room makeover. I rearranged the furniture and now my drafting table is right next to the window for good light for painting and drawing, and the sewing/crafting table, with the inspiration board over it, is on the other wall so you can see it right when you walk in the room. It really turned out nice. In fact it surprises me, every time I go in, how great I feel when I'm in there. It's really a great space to work and be creative. To the Right, is the inspiration board, It is made from an old room div...

I am in love with these five outfits. The neutral base combined with one bright color looks so great. The grey/blue dress with ruffles on the bodice has to be my favorite! Close behind that is the Red coat! Love it Love it Love it. What can I say I just love all of them. The leggings the tights, the shoes! And I definitely love the layering. the skirts are too short for my taste but these outfits are inspiring nonetheless. All outfits by Karen Walker, images are from the fall 2008 NY fashion show.

F ive years ago today I married my best friend! I am so happy to have met him, and get to spend my life with him. Our love has grown with each passing day! Just look at how our family has blossomed.

T his morning I slept in way late and woke to a wonderful smell. At first I thought my husband was cooking the left over pizza for breakfast, but no it was Homemade BREAD! Ahhh, the smell of home made bread is so wonderful. And the taste is just beautiful. The warm, steamy, and soft bread almost melts in your mouth, except for the slight crunch of the perfect crust. Please Sir, can I have some more? To the side here I have photos of the still warm and very beautiful bread Trent made this morning. Aren't the designs he cut into the dough just amazing? They look like artisan bread, straight from the bakery ovens of France. Here is a brief bread history lesson from Trent himself (who worked for awhile in a French-style artisan bakery in Colorado). He says that the traditional French (and other) bakeries would cut different patterns into the bread tops to indicate the different flavors (ie:, olive, garlic, rosemary, whole wheat, rye, etc. [with sourdough versions of each]). Eac...

( Quaint Handmaid ) I n my studio you will not find shelves with neatly stacked boxes, all labeled and organized. You will not find vast shelving units, and large clear workspaces. You will be sure to find something so cluttered and horrific that I am not willing to share any photos or go into any further details. :) I will, however, share these inspiring images of what I dream of my craft room/art studio becoming someday! ********************** S TORAGE UNITY ( Lovely Days ) A h the vast shelving unit. It makes me so happy to see everything put away, when it actually has its own place. In my studio there is no such unit. But there are plans and dreams of making one. ( Zukes Us ) ******************************** "Tacked" and charm ( Zukes Us ) A ll art studios need an inspiration board. This is something I do have but it lacks beauty and charm. I dream of something that is beautiful even when nothing is tacked on it. ( Lovely Days ) ( Quaint Ha...

I don't claim to know a whole lot about fashion, in fact I am pretty naive about it. One thing I DO know is that I'd like to know much more about it than I do now. A few days ago I followed a link on Mer Mag out of curiosity, thinking it wouldn't really be my cup of tea, but ended up saving files and files of images I just loved! It really surprised me how many looks I adored. Milly By Michelle Smith I had become a little bored with my wardrobe and have now found a new hobby of looking at runway fashion shows for inspiration on how to mix up my existing wardrobe to be more interesting. It has been really fun and rewarding. Since I have so many beautiful styles saved up I will be posting more fashion love in the future. Enjoy your Friday every one! ;)

C laire had just opened up her Etsy shop, Sunday, when I stumbled upon her beautiful work yesterday, via Etsy's Pounce feature . I took a look at her blog and saw even more beautiful art. I Truly loved every single piece! It was then I asked If I could feature her art in my blog, and she very kindly consented! Claire's art takes on many forms, hand drawn paper dolls, Original paintings, prints of paintings, original sketches, and digital works. Each one individually stunning yet they all carry the same emotion and beautiful drawing technique only Claire's' art has. “I tend to make an attempt at subtle humor in my more gloomy concepts.” Claire says in reference to her style and subject. She graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design and is currently working as a designer at American Greetings World Headquarters. To see more of her work and visit h er Etsy shop take a look at these sites- Etsy Shop , Blog , Web Site Lorajeans maga...