penelope pickerman and her marvelous mind

Hi friends!

This is the most exciting day of my ENTIRE LIFE. Okay. Maybe not. But it is pretty snazzy. For realz. Why? Because I am revealing my *top secret* project to you glorious virtual friends! Woah! How exciting! I KNOW! So. ARE YOU READY FOR IT? If my life was theatre, this is where we cue the lights, insert dramatic music, and the audience would collectively *gasp*! So, let's just pretend that all happened and you're all sitting in suspense and...

BAM!

Voila! Penelope Pickerman and her Marvelous Mind! My new children's book!

YAY! I AM SO EXCITED. I've always been a children's book junkie. I think they're magical! And so, "illustrate a children's book" was added on my life's bucket list long, long ago. With a chunk of time this summer, home at last in my small, boring town, I thought to myself, "Lexy. Just DO it." And so Penelope Pickerman's world was realized and colourized and brought to life! I've spent dozens of hours working on this, and I'm really happy to share a sneak peek of it with you all! Everything is very "me" - the story, the drawings - so it feels marvelous! Keep on reading for a mini-blurb of Penelope Pickerman's kooky world and a sneak peek of some of my original watercolour and pen & ink illustrations accompanying the tale!

 
"Penelope Pickerman has a marvelous mind and everyone knows it - she’s always being told to “get out of her imagination”! But she can’t help it! She likes being up in the clouds with rainbows and gremlins and magic. Much better than reality with Mr. Bland’s boring math problems or Suzie’s dull boy troubles. So, up in the clouds it is! Until, one day, an exotic creature arrives, sending Penelope right back down to reality - butterflies, bow ties, and all! Soon, Penelope is writing in cursive and borrowing and dividing like the others. No... It couldn’t be... Could it? Is Penelope’s marvelous mind gone for good?

Told with humor and rhyme, Penelope Pickerman and her Marvelous Mind is a whimsical tale about the beauty of imagination. Each book is hand-bound and features 20 original illustrations. This is a tale for all ages, so buckle up, find your inner child and let’s go on a rainbow ride!"

But Mr. Bland interrupted, “Penelope, Penelope! Now where is your head?” 
“Off to magical waters where butterflies have fled!” 
Mr. Bland rolled his droopy, bland eyes and started to scold. 
So Penelope turned off her thoughts and did as she was told. 
- Penelope Pickerman and her Marvelous Mind, page 3
 

And bam! There's a taste of Penelope Pickerman's world! The book itself features 20 original pen & ink illustrations and it is all hand-bounded by my own, bare hands. I am really happy with it and I think that you would be too! So, hey! Purchase it? It's $28 Canadian (not incl. shipping). I know that it is a little pricey, but that is because production cost is ridiculously high! (It works out that I'm making less than minimum wage with each book that I sell...) So your support would be greatly appreciated! Everything is made with almost too much love! I ship internationally! Even if you don't buy it, if you could blog it, tumblr it, tweet it, instagram it (I don't do any of these things, so pardon the un-tech-savvy terminology), I would seriously still send you infinite amounts of virtual love. You can find a more "official" (i.e. what I'm obnoxiously re-posting and re-posting on my Facebook! hehe) right here.

Thank you so much for your time! You all rock. Have the most beautiful day.
- Lexy

P.S. If you're interested in purchasing a copy of your own, or if you have any questions or feedback, please shoot me an email - lexyht@hotmail.com. I really would love to hear from you! Sending rainbows your way!

holstee manifesto

 

  

This was my Facebook profile picture recently. I'm not cool enough to have friends and, consequently, I don't get photographed a lot and, consequently, I change my profile picture approximately every four months (true story!) and, consequently, that means that this photo is meaningful. Or I think it makes me look cool. Or something. 

Ahem, anyways. Why am I always so awkward about everything? What I'm really trying to say is... 

 I think this is a brilliant manifesto and I really want to paint it on a canvas and hang it above my bed so I can dream about dreams and passions and love and perfect worlds!!!! Yay! 

What is YOUR passion? Tell me about it! (Really. I'm actually extremely passionate about passions. It's legitimately one of my favourite things in the entire world - people illuminated by doing the things they truly love and adore and live for. SO SHARE! Smiley face.) 

P.S. Oh, and I actually have really cool posts lined up... I just need to, you know, get them all done. But they're exciting. Weee! I hope that I've peaked your interest. Or not. Whatever. I'm nonchalant.

i parallel parked perfectly five times in a row!

asdjlaskjdlakldj WHY HAVEN'T I POSTED THIS DRESS BEFORE? (Yeah - no lame introduction apologizing for my lack of outfit posts due to lack of photographer; we're getting right to the point! Jump aboard!) I'm baffled. Why? This is my favourite dress. Ever. Why? Just look at it. Just look at how OBNOXIOUS it is. I love it! It has everything I could ask for in a dress - a whole plethora of colours, a heinous print, puffy sleeves reminiscent of five year old, the ability to be worn with crinoline... I've come up with a theory (it's deep - watch out): I just don't think I can ever have a bad day in this dress. It's just so joyous and fun. It makes me want to skip around and smile at strangers. I think that that's what fashion should do to you - bring joy, so you can spread it!

Recently, I've been completely, totally, and utterly bored with fashion.  I'm not mystified by what I'm seeing on runways or the internet or the streets any more. Everything strikes me as boooooring. Everything seems too serious. Too calculated. Too been there, seen that. What happened to the joy? What happened to the play? The fun? Fashion is such a privilege. To have the ability to express yourself, to even think "what will I wear today?"... that's a privilege. We're lucky to be in a society that's so developed that we don't have to worry about problems that were predominant a few centuries ago (and still in many parts of the world) like, say, growing crops to freaking eat or dying from now cure-able diseases or simply basic survival. To even to be able to have access to fashion is a privilege. And we should have fun with it! FUN! I guess I'm just kind of over the fashion industry's severe and serious take on the subject. I think we could amp up the "play" level a few notches! I mean, I just want to see girls cartwheeling down the runway and pop-up pages in magazines and more smiles on people in beautiful clothes because smiles and feelings is what it's all about. But maybe that's just me, stuck in the clouds...

(Dress - Vintage $25, Crinoline - Vintage, Head scarf - Vintage $2, Tights - H&M $5, Shoes - Vintage $15, Bangles - Assorted, Broaches - Nepal)

Anyways. I hope you have a joyous day! I really do. Smile at strangers!
What is your stance on "fashion"? What would you like to see more of?

39 degrees celsius. that's really hot.

Hi everyone! I've got a surprise. It's kind of big news, actually. I was a little nervous about letting you guys all in on this but, hey, I figured why not. So, if you must know.... I've become a DUCT TAPE MUMMY! Mwahhaha. You know... just casually... in my spare time...



If you thought to yourself, "Oh, well gosh! Look at that! Lexy! A duct tape mummy!" then I've got yet another surprise for you... TRICKED YA! I didn't really become a duct tape mummy on you! I was just playing a joke on you! I'm so funny! Ha! Hahah!

Ahem. Anyways. I should stop pretending I'm clever and just get to the point. And, the point is, well, I made a dress form out of duct tape! I've wanted a dress form forever to assist me with sewing, but I got bored of looking around and gasping at prices and additional shipping costs. So, at last, I had the brilliant idea... um, I'll make one! I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier - it just seems so obvious. So, a Google search later and BAM! We were ready to go!

Fairly attractive process, I'd say. I would highly recommend it to all my single readers lookin' for luvvvv.

It was fairly simple and strait forward. All you need is a baggy t-shirt (hey, dad's bingo shirt!) (which I actually think is cool! shhh...), duct tape, saran wrap, duct tape, a willing helper, and, optional: coloured duct tape for the extra BAM! I was going to post step-by-step tutorial but, let's face it, that would be going above and beyond expectations and, as much as I love you, I have better things to do (i.e. crochet and watch re-runs of modern family). Instead, why don't you just use the link I used? Yeah! Do it!

And voila! Some hard-labour (thanks, sibling!), a bit (lot) of sweat, and some awkward fumbling around, we've got our newest girlfrannnd... Here's a bit more about her...

Meet Paulette*. She is somewhat emotionally damaged. People suspect it derives from her unhealthy devotion to iguana themed videos, but this has not been proven. She might just be born a little wack. Like, she just can't help it (iguana videos or not). Still, she's a real riot. She started the "save the glitter" movement in '06 and regularly participates in protests and rallies related to the subject. Her favourite colour is hot pink. Suitably, she is hot pink (her favourite colour). And made of duct tape.
*Note: Paulette may also be Jean-Claude. I haven't decided yet. Jean-Claude is a drag queen. He is especially popular amongst the young, hispanic community. 


I've actually already used Paulette play around with old fabrics to make reversible collars. Wahoo!



They're made from scraps of old projects and clothes (hey, if you stalk my blog hard enough, you may be able to find the original goods!). They're fun. I think. I've worn them. It was fun. I'll post pictures. Okay.

So I hope you're all being snappy and snazzy and stupendous and all those other s-adjectives to make this alliteration thing super! I will talk to you all soon! Let me know what you think! Or don't. Like, I don't care. Pfft. (Praise me! Praise me!)

What is on your summer "to-do" list?

'11 leftovers 0.2

Hi guys! I have a fun idea. It's called "Let's continue the theme of last post." Sounds fun, right? RIGHT? Right!!! So let's get to it! Let's have fun! Let's continue the theme of last post!*

*Let's pretend that last post had a "theme." And let's pretend that that "theme" was "Stuff I just didn't get around to posting last time around." 

So here we go! In this addition of "Stuff I Just Didn't Get Around To Posting Last Time Around" (SIJDGATPLTA, if you will), I will be featuring a Calendar! How fun! I made this little lad for my parents' Christmas gift last year. It's about 9" x 12" and a product of blood, sweat, and tears (or, perhaps more accurately, lameness, love, and no life). It's not the most brilliant thing in the universe, but it did snatch up quite a handful of hours of my short life span and, for that, I thought it might be, you know, FUN! to share it. (Yes, the exclamation succeeding "fun" was totally, completely, and utterly necessary.) You also get a taste of other specimens that share the same blood as a creature as fabulous as myself. Super FUN! Enjoy?

(Also, side note, I promise I have more shenanigans to post. It's just that one of my most recent shenanigans is eating up a faiiiir bit of time and, consequently, taking away from all other shenanigans I have been meaning to post. You follow me, yeah?)

January - the Family in Iceland last July. National geographic, pen & ink

February - the Sibling and I doing an Etsy photoshoot. Pen & ink, construction paper, tulle, fabric, pearls

March - the Family in Iceland, Markers, pen & ink, buttons, thread

April - the Sibling and I at a nearby park, Pen & ink, foam to make 3d cut-outs

  May - the Sibling and I knitting, as we do, Construction paper, pen & ink, plastic bag

June - the family and I at my prom (awww!), Tissue paper, pen & ink, leather scraps from my prom dress

  July - My cousins and sibling and I in Guatemala, Pen & ink, string, coloured pencils

August - My cousins on the other side of the family, Construction paper, lined paper, white ink

  September - the Sibling and I frolicking with balloons in Iceland, Plastic bags, construction paper, pen & ink, thread

October  - the Sibling and I being posers around here, Thread (sewed on background, as well), pen & ink

  November - the Family in Iceland with black and white photos so it looks fancy, Construction paper quilled up, Pen & ink

December - the Sister and I being posers on the first snow fall, Marker, Pen & Ink

 

As you may know, I'm really into homemade gifts. Not only are they a lot cheaper, but they are all made from creativity and love and individuality and hey now! My mommy says I'm special! Hehe. But fo realz. I'm really into homemade and old school things, in general. And, unfortunately, I feel like it is all going on a severe decline and it makes me scared and sorry for future generations that may not understand the beauty of simplicity, and rather be obsessed with the mumbo-jumbo of "super cool" technology. If I ever have children (highly unlikely, but if), they will grow up reading from actual books with actual pages, writing letters with pens and papers and stamps and envelopes, sending boxes of chocolates to the door of the dearest lover, and giving they're beloved mother (that would be me!) gifts made with their bare hands and right brain cells. That's all! Have a snazzy day!

What's the best gift you have ever received? Given?

'11 leftovers

Ridiculously humid weather is inspiring less-than-creative outfits, except for maybe the desire to invent some sort of cute-wearable-popsicle-thing, or something, but I don't think that's possible, so I'm just walking around town naked. (Except for not really, because that's illegal, but that's far more cooler than the truth, which is that I'm just wearing dresses you've all seen before). Consequently, I'm doing this thing (because I'm so cool) where I try on clothes and plan out fall outfits because, as I said, I'm just so cool (hey now, I live in a small town! It's hot outside! Don't judge my lack of life!). Which reminded me of the fall, last year. And then I remembered that, hey ho, I have lots of outfits from fall, last year, that I never showed on my blog because I never took good pictures of 'em (holllla, photobooth!!!)

SO. Basically, that was a very boring and roundabout introduction to this post... Narcisstic-Photos-I-Have-Of-Myself-Wearing-Clothes-I-Wore-Last-Fall-But-Never-Showed-You-Guys-Because-of-Its-Crappy-Quality. I was thinking about hoarding these looks and wearing them next year but then I remembered that that would make me lame(r than I already am)... So, voila! Have... fun?

By the way, I know that the photo quality sucks (photobooth), the room is boring (at my grandma's house), and I look ridiculous (I always do). 

 

Some stylist from Milan or something complimented this outfit below, which is hilarious, but I also was wondering why she was shopping at Forever 21? I guess it's for everyone? (Do you guys see my semi-play-on-words? Can you pretend I'm clever now? Do you like me now? Do you?)

Someone asked me if I was going to a party when I was wearing this outfit... I never am. Never. #CanIBeCoolYet 

I wore this around Halloweentime. Someone asked me if I was in costume. I wasn't. Hahah.  

It was cold and I thought a double blazer was a clever way around wearing a jacket. I don't get it either...   

If you want to know specifics about what I'm specifically wearing... don't be shy! ask away! Though, I must warn you... there's a 90% chance that the answer will be "Value Village" or "Salvation Army" or "Second-Hand-in-General." Scratch that. 95% chance. 

And, yes, I wore all these in real life. I really don't know what I'm thinking sometimes... Also, I think we should also applaud my narcissim, for this post would not happen without it. Clap clapppp!

I like to end my posts with relative inquiries, but since this post lacks much substance aside from my cam-whoring (example of potential questions relating to this post... which outfit is your favourite? how cool is lexy on a scale of 1 to 10? how much does lexy need to get a life?), I will ask you semi-generic questions that I'd genuinely like to know your answers to... What is your favourite book, movie, and/or musician RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND? Yep, I'm on a hunt for new books to read and movies to watch and music to listen to! Let me in on all the cool jamz yo! Thanks! You rock!  Have a beautiful day! Yay!

a drawing a day keeps the doctor away*

Hi friends! How's it going? That was a semi-rhetorical question, but you are more than welcomed to enlighten me on your well-being in the comments below. It would be an honour, really. Um. I don't really know what I am saying, but I've been doing this weird thing where I've been staying up until 4:30 am, watching Project Runway and painting (three nights in a row!), and I think the lack of normal sleeping pattern is catching up to me.

So I will just ~swiftly~ move on to introduce you guys to my... dun dun dun... travel sketchbook! Whilst traveling, it was my goal to do a "Drawing a Day," which was fairly ambitious, but I'm quite content to say that I (semi) completed said goal! (Okay, I'll let you in on a secret... I pretty much completely gave up whilst in Europe, but hey ho! a drawing a day for four months in Morocco ain't too shabby!). Below is a taster of some of my drawings. I hope you like them. If you do like them, you can even check out my tumblr (woo, shameless self promotion!), which has been fairly poorly maintained and consequently remains only a taster of my drawings, but a better taster than the one presented below, so it's at least an improvement? Sure. And hey, if you really like them, then pop by to Canada and you can see them in real life! I will make you a nutella and orange sandwich in return for your efforts. I'm generous like that, you know. 

*by the way, can I just point out my super witty title? Which is also the title of my tumblr? Yeah, I'm clever. I play with my words. That's RIGHT. I think it's far more impressive than the actual sketchbook itself...

CLICKITY CLICK HERE FOR MORE WORDS AND PICTURES! Hollaaaa!

fourth of july reference in title 'cuz it ain't gonna come up anywhere else

FIRST OUTFIT POST OF THE YEAR!!!!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!

(Sorry for the obnoxiousness of the capital letters and exclamation marks, but I wanted to start this pivotal, life-changing moment with a real BANG!!!! Ya dig? No? Well, too bad. It's my blog. Mine, mine, MINE! No worries, kids. I'm still annoying/ just jokin' wit chaaa! tehehe.)

Fun story: my first day home marked one of the best days of the entire year. Yes, that's right, kids. This day, this glorious day, could only consist of one thing... VALUE VILLAGE'S 50% OFF SALE. When I received the email announcing this grand day (I'm a subscriber to VV's newsletter, obvz), I literally whooped in excitement. I thought to myself, "Yessss. This is a good omen for coming home. This makes my mundane town in Canada all okay." And it was.

I purchased da shirt and da overalls on said sale day. I'm absolutely in love with these overalls. They are probably one of the most unflattering items I own - it is ill-fitting, has a "mom" butt, and just generally makes me look like I'm a little boy in the 90s. I love it! Perhaps to compensate for the little boy aura of this outfit, I thought it'd be fun to wear some stripper heels/ clonkers just to, you know, go for "juxtaposition." Or something... Well, actually, I'm not really sure what vibe I was going for - perhaps some farmer boy porn star? - but it makes me happy! The overalls also reminds me of Phoebe Buffet - aka my favourite Friends character, aka another reason why they are so horrendously wonderful!

Whilst traveling for 5.5 months, I was determined to do the backpacking thing right. Consequently, I crammed all my clothes - along with other shenanigans, such as a whopping four guidebooks (shhh... I mean, I was a free spirit and just went with the wind and wandered to random lands and never looked at those guidebooks, pshhhh....) - in one backpack. Clothing-wise, this equated to one pair of pants, four long skirts (oh yeah, I had to be "Morocco friendly" aka rocked the "colourful nun" look everywhere... shuper shexy!), five shirts, one dress, one jean jacket and... yeah. That's all. As a maximalist-slash-I-just-love-dress-up-in-general this was, well, really good for me, actually. It was good to go through a style cleanse - as in, no style. Whatsoever. At all. I find that in Canada, there have been times that I have been concerned that I've been defined by my style. My style isn't who I am. Style shouldn't be who you are. It should be a reflection, a glimpse of who you are. Yet, there have been times where I have found myself feeling self-conscious, wondering if my style was been a defining characteristic of who I am, rather than merely a reflection. Like, maybe the only cool thing about me is the fact that I can stop traffic with my obnoxiously bright attire...

So it was good to go into foreign lands, where I was forced to meet people in relatively dull clothes that don't reflect me or my normal style at all. Generally speaking, whenever I walk out in drab clothes, I never feel like I'm representing myself well - I lose some confidence, I don't feel 100% me. But you know what? It was okay. Because we are MORE than our clothes, more than our style. It was really good for me to see that clothes don't define who I am, and people still saw me as joyous and bubbly and all those peppy things that colourful clothes generally elude towards and, more importantly, what I really am.

That being said, I really did miss my clothes. Not in a vain way. I know it sounds vain. And I don't mean that, at all. But I did miss the process of putting together a smashing - or a totally ridiculous farmer porn star - outfit together. The creative process, the self-expression, the dressing up. I realize that perhaps style means more to me than I initially thought, and I'm really grateful to be living in a country where there is freedom in dressing and self-expression. It's really nice to be able to play around and have fun again! But it's also nice knowing that I don't need wacky clothes to be myself! Aww!

(Shirt - Value Village $3, Overalls - Value Village $3, Necklace and bracelets - Nepal, Socks - homemade! my-mom-knit-them-because-she's-going-through-a-midlife-crisis-shhhh...), Shoes - Vintage $12)

 Have you ever felt defined by your clothes? How does your style play into your confidence, personality, etc?