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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Giveaway #4 Winners!

I apologize for not posting this sooner, but with Christmas and all of that I got kind of distracted.

Instead of doing a video documenting the drawings for the winners of the giveaway, I took the lazy, hi-tech route of using random.org.

Please see the results below:



If you are one of the winners, please email me at sass[dot]trent[at]gmail[dot]com with an address of where to send you your prize! Congrats to the winners and stay tuned for more giveaways.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Giveaway!

Come on people! Enter my giveaway (:

I am opening entries to include facebook posts about my blog giveaway. I'll edit the previous post to include this.

Good luck to all! Just a couple days left before the contest closes and the drawing takes place.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Giveaway #4! 200th Post Edition. *EDITED

Congratulations me! This is my 200th blog post since I started it in February.

To celebrate, I'm doing a huge giveaway. Watch the video for the deets and then read the rules below.

200th Blog post Vlog from Polygnome on Vimeo.




1st prize: I DIDN'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP CLUTCH
P1010035

2nd prize: TWEED MAGIC WALLET
magwallet3

3rd prize: VINTAGE ART DECO EARRINGS
earrings

This is how you can enter:

I. Simply comment on this post (if you are entering multiple times, please note that in your comment[s]).

II. Follow me @polygnome and tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post.

III. Post on your own blog about the giveaway! Make sure to link to this post and feel free to use pictures/vlog I've posted to embed in your blog.


*[EDITED TO INCLUDE THE 4TH WAY TO ENTER] IV. Post on facebook about it! Add me as a friend on facebook too (:

Each contestant may enter a maximum of [edit: 4] times. Friday the 18th at midnight PST the contest will close for entries. I will draw the winners and announce them probably around the 19th or 20th. The first name I draw wins the clutch, the second name I draw wins the magic wallet and the third name I draw will win the earrings!

Good luck!

Let me know if you have any questions or if I left out any pertinent details (:

Friday, December 11, 2009

photo shoot vanity (NSFW probably)

With Christmas nearing so quickly, one of my ideas (Michael's idea really) was to make calendars as gifts for my friends and family. Naturally, the pictures for the calendar would be pictures of me.

Last night Michael and I did a quick photoshoot and here are some of the looks we got:

Undetermined month. Cristal Connors look.
cristalconners

Summer fun. June.
june

January?
winter2

wintercrop


Also, I've been trying to become a lookbook.nu celebrity and so I've been posting some of my outfits there. Here's the latest one. The lighting in the stairwell where I live is beautiful. Click here to hype it or other looks I've posted.

shoesandbag

1


PS Here are the stockings I made:

stockings

From L to R: Archie's (he's a cat, so he gets a mouse on his), mine which is just plain ridiculous looking, Peter's (with a paintbrush), Garrett's (with a camera).

PPS This is my 199th post. I don't know what I'm going to do for my 200th, but get ready.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Rodarte for Target?

no no no!



image via joonbug

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Etsy Art

Just went through all my favorites and picked some pieces I thought you might like to see. Of particular interest to me was restlessthings. Her shop is filled with all kinds of weird cool pieces. Sigh and Groan (see: owl with three boobs)is also one of my favorite artists on etsy and it was very hard to pick just one piece from her collection for this feature.

etsyarts
1.
a) "Yellow Ten Speed Road Bike" - Limited Edition Art Print by HillarieTasche. From Series 14 Bicycles.
b) "The Lion and the Lamb Driving a Motorcycle" Art Print by lulunjay
c) Would you like a shower of red color today, Miss? Art Print by vantiani

2.
a)I'm Okay God doesn't make junk II by pinkbeatrice
b)scarf bunnies gocco print by argylewhale
c) Chewbacca Calavera Limited Edition Gocco Serigraph by MisNopalesArt

3.
a) Human Nude by LivaRutmane
b) Sitting Pretty by SighandGroan
c) you can't always be friendly, there just isn't the time... by restlessthings

Who are you favorite artists?

How do you pronounce "hanger?"

hanger
n
1. a. any support, such as a hook, strap, peg, or loop, on or by which something may be hung
b. See coat hanger
2. a. a person who hangs something
b. (in combination) paperhanger
3. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) a bracket designed to attach one part of a mechanical structure to another, such as the one that attaches the spring shackle of a motor car to the chassis
4. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Forestry) a wood on a steep hillside, characteristically beech growing on chalk in southern England
5. (Military / Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms))
a. a loop or strap on a sword belt from which a short sword or dagger was hung
b. the weapon itself

Do you pronounce this word with a soft "ng" sound? Or do you pronounce it with a hard g?

Does "singer" rhyme with "finger?" It's an important question that has been plaguing this household. Please vote on the poll which uses the example does"hanger" rhyme perfectly with "anger?" to help settle this conflict.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Drooollll ... Rodarte

I subscribe to a lot of those "invite only" / "exclusive membership" type stores that sell designer clothing at discounted prices. My favorite is gilt.com. It's the best quality, I think and is pretty classy for a discount store. Granted, it's discounted designerwear so think: Original price $2760 vs. the Gilt price of a mere $798. Practically Gilt-free! Ugh. Anyway, I can't afford any of this, but they are having a Rodarte sale right now. Which is uhhhmaazing. I love Rodarte. A lot is sold out, but here are some of my faves:


treated linen contrast linen panel jacket


leather zipper detail biker bomber jacket


tulle lace overlay blouse


If you've got a spare couple thou lying around, go ahead and click on over to gilt.com (: The Rodarte sale ends tomorrow at 9pm PST

Greed. The perfume that doesn't exist.

I saw this today and thought it was so great. Do you remember the trailer to the fake Caligula remake? That was Francesco Vezzoli. He's 38 years old, Italian--obviously, and his project, GREED, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli was shown at the Gagosian Gallery in Rome earlier this year. I can't believe I didn't hear about this sooner.


Marcel Duchamp's Belle Haleine eau de voilette

In an artinfo.com interview he was asked: How concerned were you with the example of Duchamp as you conceived of Greed?
It was very important. His perfume bottle is such a genius piece. And then it ends up in the hands of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge — you can’t imagine a more appropriate metaphor for the past century, you know, Eau de Voilette by Duchamp ends up in the hands of the two most sophisticated, gay, creative brains in France since the War; it’s such a great story. The Duchamp perfume for me is unlike some of his objects — I know that this is dangerous to say, and people will think Vezzoli is taking some weird drugs — but compared to the urinal or other famous pieces, this has a kind of dandyish touch, a play with the vocabulary of fashion with Man Ray shooting him dressed like Rrose Selavy. I love that. There’s no real intellectual agenda. Just to say how much I loved that part of his work.

Francesco Vezzoli's Greed, 2009
Crystal, paper and ribbon, 15 11/16 x 10 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches (40 x 27 x 13 cm)

Francesco, how did the idea for Greed come about?
I’ve done a trailer for a movie that didn’t exist, an election campaign for candidates who were completely fictitious, and a premiere for a play that was never going to run. A project about the launch of a perfume that didn’t exist seemed like a natural next step.
I presume you started this project before the current economic crisis.
Yes, otherwise nobody would have green-lighted it.

One of many posters Vezzoli designed for Greed.

The Greed Commercial

Click here for a much better quality version of the video.

Of course I was super excited also to find out that Vezzoli is friends with Lady Gaga:

The New Yorker had an article about Lady Gaga and Vezzoli and Frank Gehry which I found quite entertaining:
a large silver leather headdress brooded like an alien hen: Gehry had designed it, at Vezzoli’s behest, and Prada had fabricated it, for the avant-garde, hat-friendly pop star Lady Gaga to wear during a performance with dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet ... Gehry said that he had done the initial drawing on his iPhone, which an assistant then produced: a violet scribble with a black-and-blue iris at the center. “Since I’ve never designed a hat before, I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to walk,” he said. “I did have an idea that involved people with sticks holding it up, walking behind her. I didn’t know how far I could go with this thing."

Yeah, and Damien Hirst customized that pink butterfly piano she's playing in the performance. (?!?!)

Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, here is the Caligula remake trailer with tons of moviestar cameos and Gore Vidal himself! And btw, it's definitely NSFW.

Amazing.

This is the sponsor reel for the Minneapolis screening of the AICP/Art & Technique of the American Commercial Show.

AICP Show: Minnesota Sponsor Reel from motion504 on Vimeo.



via ifitshipitshere

http://www.aicpshow.com/

Friday, December 4, 2009

Preview of new HH products

Yesterday Michael and I did a photoshoot and took over 1,000 photos. Needless to say, I have a lot of TON of work to do. I've spent the day thus far photoshopping and I listed a couple of items.


archiecat

parachutedress

purplewrapdress2

buswomlunch

plaiddress


Check out http://hallandhautes.com/ to see what I've listed so far and stay tuned for the coming listings.

Etsy Shop Feature #1: SparkleRocks



I've decided to do a series of interview posts featuring some awesome online stores that some of my friends run. The first one is SparkleRocks owned and operated by my dear friend Amy who makes the most amazing colorful and kawaii accessories.

I sent her a few Q's and here are her A's:

How did you come up with the name for your shop?

I was in Texas at the time I thunk it up, but I remember it sort of spawning off of my YouTube username which is SparkleRock7. I have always really loved the word "Sparkle" and music is the blood that flows through my creative veins, so Sparkle Rock is naturally fitting. I'm definitely a rock n' roll girl, just a little more colorful than what you're probably used to. To apply it to my jewelry would be appropriate since jewels are sparkly and I'm obsessed with all things encrusted in jewels or sparkles, so, SparkleRocks. :) I also really enjoy Pop Rocks the candy, so a few of my other usernames, like Twitter is SparklePopRocks. It all sort of has the same thread of sparkles, rocks, and poppy, fun, bright things :)


The Gift of Sweetness - A Miniature Box of Birthday Cookies Ring. Yes, this is a ring Amy made! I love it.


Where do you find such cute little cabs and charms to make your jewelry?

Well actually, my favorite seller on Etsy EVER is PinkHelloKitty who runs Gingerbread Jewelry. I have always idolized her and her work, and eventually I became friends with her, and now we send each other huge care packages full of supplies and goodies as trades. So, I get a lot of my nifty, kawaii pieces from her, but if I chose to buy them, I'd buy from MimiLoLo on Etsy.

Where do you take your inspiration from for your creations?

Music. Completely music. I am actually working on completely revamping my store and style right now, for years it's been kawaii and cute girly things, but I'm leaning now more towards grown up sparkles that are eye popping and statement pieces. I can't wait to see how it turns out. My inspiration comes from my love of music like The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Santogold, MIA, Lady Gaga and from some of my favorite visual artists like Natalia Fabia and Jessica Louise. It will be an interesting mix of grown up, colorful goth. :D

Tell me about an item you loved too much to put in your store and kept:

Oh goodness, where do I start? My most recent example of this would be this absolutely fascinating (pun completely intended) Cameo/feather fascinator hair pin I just made. It's absolutely lovely, it's on a silver bobbypin blank, and has a sprawl of rainbow feathers with a vintage black and white cameo as it's center. I'm tempted to add some AB Crystals on the feathers, we shall see. :)


New Love Galaxy - Collage Necklace


Who do you think your target demographic is?

With the items currently in my shop, I'd say colorful, explorative and funky teenage girls who want to step outside the box a little bit and show off their love for kawaii. My new items I think will be aimed more toward and independent, intelligent and glamorous young 20's through late 30's woman. Hopefully. :)

What's your favorite item in your store right now, and why?



I'd have to say the Hello Kitty Sunset Party Charm Bracelet. It's absolutely stunning in person and absolutely fun to wear. The pink chain really sets it apart from my other bracelets. The charm bracelets have seemed to do me really well, I might open up a little shop on the side to sell some chunky kawaii charm bracelets...Gotta get rid of all my supply somehow!

Check out Amy's store at http://sparklerocks.etsy.com/ and maybe you'll find a Christmas gift for someone you know, or for yourself.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Recipe Post - Bacon Wrapped Dates

bacondates


This is one of the hors d'oeuvres I made for Fakesgiving. I found the recipe in November's Good Housekeeping and mostly followed it. I thought these were so tasty I made some more this morning with the leftover dates (I made a special morning grocery run to get more bacon) and wanted to share the recipe with you guys. The recipe is simple and I'm not including amounts because really it's one to one to one for everything.

Ingredients:

Pitted Medjool Dates
Pecan halves (cut in half, so really, pecan quarters)
Thick cut bacon (uncooked) slices cut in half so you have short slices
Fresh Rosemary
Toothpicks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff each date with a quarter of a pecan. If you're using pitted dates it's easy to just pack it into the hole.
2. Wrap each stuffed date with one of the half slices of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
3. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with foil for easy cleanup (it will get very greasy!) for 25 minutes or until crisp. Turn once during baking.
4. Take the bacon wrapped dates out and let them cool on paper towels. Remove the toothpicks and shove little sprigs of rosemary into one hole where the toothpick was. Serve immediately.

These little bundles of tastiness are soo yummy and they make your kitchen smell wonderful too.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Fakesgiving Picture Journal

As promised, here are some more photos of the Fakesgiving I had yesterday with my friends.

groupphoto

garrett1

archieaction

peter

michaelmermaid

I unfortunately didn't get any good pics of David as Janeane Garofolo or Michael as Donatella Versace. He did turn into a topless mermaid later in the night though.

I'm sick and feel icky--congested, coughy and tired. Last night after everyone left from Fakesgiving I got a fever of 102.7 and became deliriously ill, made Peter go to the store to buy me medicine, and eventually passed out after I took a lukewarm shower to break my fever.

Today I felt a little better because I didn't have much of a fever and joined Michael and his family at Claim Jumper for Realsgiving. I had prime rib and it was delicious and I love Michael's mom because the way she talks, she makes everything sound like it's a really juicy secret.

After dinner, Michael and I went to see New Moon which was great.

Between all of this, I worked on the website and am proud to offer you some great deals. 20% off your entire purchase for Black Friday! Plus special markdowns on black items. See some of the sale items below and check it all out here: http://hallandhautes.com/








Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Room with a View

Here's a better picture of the pie (I took it with the morning light just now)

karlpie


and another picture I took yesterday when I was at the gynecologist. This has always baffled me, as my lady doctor clinic is on the 14th floor of a building in a fairly densely populated area of seattle.

2009-11-24 08.53.05


If my view from the exam room is this building. Then what are all the views from THAT ENTIRE side of the building?? I mean, I assume it is mostly people who do not have telescopes or binoculars in their offices ... but it seems kind of off to me.

Moving on--today I'll be doing lots of cooking and eating. I'll try to post some pics up tomorrow of the drag/fakesgiving. Hope everyone has a happy TG too!

Fakesgiving

Tomorrow (today, I guess since it's 3am) I'm having "Fakesgiving" with Peter, Garrett, Michael and David. It's a themed get together and the theme is cross-dressing.

I decided I would dress up as Karl Lagerfeld. I tested out some options and came up with a plan for an outfit:

karl


Also, I just finished baking this pie. YEAH, I know. It is amazing.

karlpie

Monday, November 23, 2009

lookbook.nu

I just started to really get into lookbook.nu recently.

Today, Michael and I did a few quick photoshoots for it, and here are some examples of the results. We were trying to go for ultra hipster bordering on douchebagginess hipsterness. I think we succeeded.

plaid2

plaid1

plaid3


You can "hype" my looks by logging in via twitter or facebook or whatever, or just sign up as a member. The site is invitation only to join, but if you want an invite to lookbook.nu, just let me know. (:

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Internet, don't fail me now!

Lorisshoes.com is having a "secret sale" (is it really that much of a secret? The coupon code is: secretsale

It's 20% off! AAHHHH. Why must shoes cost money?

Anyway, despite sketchy internet connection (there's a windstorm tonight), I have been ogling some amazing shoes I have no business looking at. The discount applies even to sale items! The prices I've listed are without the 20% off. Here are some of my faves:



Jeffrey Campbell ZIP-004 - Black/Grey
. $306 ):


Max Studio United - Black
. Originally $290.00 reduced to $204.90


Jeffrey Campbell Miley - Black
. AH! Amazing mesh platform sandals! Originally $104 now $74.90


Pajar Bomba - Off White. Oh I have been loving these all-weather boots for at least a year now. Loves them. $154


Dolce Vita Wesley - Black. $124. I love me some Dolce Vita.


Oh, and this bag was "recommended to me" as I was looking at those Dolce Vita shoes:


Pietro Alessandro 2084. I love the foldover style. $198.

What's actually in my price range? Well, nothing. But the closest thing is probably these socks:



Hue Delicate Pointelle Sock - Blush. 2 bucks.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Recent happenings photolog.

Last night Peatar and I took a walk because it was windy and dark and rainy. We bundled up and brought our cameras. Here are a few pictures of it:

i51
Looking down on I-5 & downtown

riteaid
The RiteAid on Broadway

lights2
The lightshow or whatever it is on the hill


We took a trip to the grocery store on our way back. When we got home I decided to make molasses crinkles ("The best cooky from 1930-1935!") and chocolate chip cookies with Heath bar crumbles in them. They were delicious. At probably 11pm or so, Peter, Garrett and I decided to bring some cookies to welcome our new neighbors. One neighbor, Maria, was surprised but friendly. The other new neighbors' lights were off, so we just knocked on the door of the next apartment which lights were on. Daryl, was gruff and slightly socially scary, but I think he was appreciative. All in all it was exceedingly awkward and fun and we got to know some of the people that live in our building.

molassescrinkles


This morning I got up it was way too f-ing bright. Blindingly bright. So I took some pictures to contrast with last night's dark walk pictures:


shadow

fingbright