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Test Post Three Ways to Pick up Your Day

Flashback Summer: The Boyer Sisters - 3 Ways to Pick Up Your Day

From Emileigh: This week I'm on vacation in Florida!  You better believe I'm soaking up the sun and taking a million photos of the outfits I've been sewing for the occasion!  Meanwhile, I've got some lovely blogger pals that have agreed to guest post for me over the next few days, starting with the Boyer Sisters!

Hello there! We are the Boyer Sisters: Jessica, Brigid, and Charlotte; and we blog over at Boyer Family Singers Blog! Over there we post all about vintage fashion, living a creative lifestyle, and the occasional singing adventure (we sing 1940s Andrews Sisters music, which you can check out more on here).

It's a given that we all have days that just don't turn out sunny-side up... But that doesn't mean we can't try and flip them over! In following along with Emileigh's theme this month of "April Showers bring May Flowers", we girls have collected up our favorite ways to pick up a day that is down in the dumps.

Flashback Summer: The Boyer Sisters - 3 Ways to Pick Up Your Day

Jessica's Tip: Go an a Walk
After a long morning of clicking on my keyboard, doing household chores, or an afternoon spent working at our local Greenhouse, a good walk always sets me up for the late hours of the day until bedtime. I can’t explain why it is that a walk makes me feel so good, except that it has been a daily practice of mine for the past 6 years. After one has been doing something for 6 years, one does not readily drop the habit. So, I have found that when I can’t go on a walk, and the end of the day comes around, I always get the feeling that something is missing–my body doesn’t feel thoroughly done-in. My mind becomes slightly restless.  

Walks for me are the time when I can use up that extra bit of energy in exercise; a time to lift up my heart and soul to the Lord, and overall just let my thoughts wander, peacefully. I always have a furry friend with me, whose company I enjoy greatly. I like to look down and see the four little legs trotting in quick time with my longer strides. Along with all of this I keep my ears alert for bird calls. I have been an avid bird watcher since my childhood, and going on a walk always means an opportunity to see new activity from the pretty dwellers of the sky. I can name each and every bird just from the diverse sounds of their voices, and I love to play the game of hearing them and trying to spot them in the trees before they fly!

 Ah me. There is nothing like a good walk!

Flashback Summer: The Boyer Sisters - 3 Ways to Pick Up Your Day

Brigid's Tip: Create Something
Any time that I am feeling down in the dumps, as I examine the reasons why I may not be feeling very happy, typically I will realize that I haven’t made anything that day. I am such a hands-on, creative person, it really messes with me if I can’t create or work with my hands. Of course there are days where I don’t feel inspired to do or make anything, but just doing the smallest creative activity can lift your mood. Whether it be adding a row to my current knitting project, or sewing a seam on a dress, or even cleaning up my workspace so I can get started on a project the next day, the little things really do lift my spirit. If you ever find yourself in a slump, examine the reasons why, and if one of them is “I haven’t done something I love today” then do something; knit, sew, bake, cook, clean, even if you think it’s too small to help your mood! It will help!


Flashback Summer: The Boyer Sisters - 3 Ways to Pick Up Your Day

Charlotte's Tip: Wear Makeup
I am a makeup fanatic of sorts, so I guess in that reality, it's no surprise that my tip relates to that subject ;) When I'm having a rough day, my appearance is definitely affected. A tired face, messy hair, and overall blah-ness really doesn't do much to boost one's morale and mood. I like to counter this by freshening up my face a bit with some basic makeup essentials: foundation (just here and there, where I need it), blush (it does wonders to liven up a droopy complexion), filling-in of the eyebrows (the most basic way to define your features without going too over the top. They do frame your eyes after all!), mascara (duh!), and my signature lipstick (Revlon Super Lustrous in Siren). It doesn't have to be much, keeping things simple on an off day is probably best too, since messing with layers upon layers of makeup can be very time consuming and tedious, which is the last thing you need! Do whatever works best to lift your face and give you a fresh, pristine look. It's always nice to be able to look in the mirror and see a face that has been looked after and manicured.

That's all for today, folks! Be sure to check out & follow our blog for more uplifting & inspiring blog posts all about fashion, creativity, and lifestyle!

How do you like to pick up your day?

xo,
-The B. Girls

New Blog Design Additions

Added Today
-custom search bar

-blog archive
-custom pinterest hover button

-header

-custom background pattern (It's knitting!)



custom social media icons with roll-over color change

custom social media share buttons at footer




Coming Soon


sidebar categories
custom related posts widget at footer
custom follow by email sign-up
blog footer

Please let me know if this is going in the right direction or if you have any changes you'd like to see. Any colors/ fonts/ layout can be changed! Also let me know what you want the navigation to look like. I have two separate nav bars here, like A Beautiful Mess but any of that can be changed however you like.

Test Post Moroccan-1960s Fusion Dress

Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929


Flashback Summer: Moroccan 1960s Fusion Dress, Simplicity 3929




After a sneak peek the other day of the fabrics and pattern I used, I'm finally ready to show you all the Moroccan-1960s fusion dress I made for my sister Aria!  In case you didn't see the other post, the formal at my sister's university (the occasion for this dress-making venture) was "Night in Morocco," and my sister said that although the theme of the night didn't come across in more than some Middle Eastern-esque lanterns in the center of the tables, she coordinated perfectly!

(If you'd like to read more about the traditional Moroccan garments inspiring this and the designing thought behind it, go to my sneak peek post!)

I ended up using the vintage pattern, 1960s Simplicity 3929, because it looked like it would be more likely to fit my sister's more petite size than the modern re-released 60s pattern.  I made a mock up that fit, but when I tried it in the fashion fabric the top was far too tight!  Though frustrating, I had enough fabric left to try again, and it worked the second time!




I lined the top in another silky gold fabric I had in my stash and hand-sewed all the trim around the neckline.  I added a notch into the neckline to give a faux layered look that is incorporated into traditional Moroccan caftans, then I added fancy embellishment and ribbon.  Next, I made self-covered buttons with a layer of the gold fabric and two layers of the navy tulle and centered them down the front.  These buttons in combination with the chunky belt seem to be a popular detail on Moroccan garments, too.

For the bottom, I gathered several yards of tulle (folded in half with selvedges at the top) onto the skirt for lots of volume.  I think it contrasts nicely with the pencil-shaped skirt below for some extra drama!  My sister was afraid it would come off as too poofy, but I assured her that poof only means one's waist looks smaller, and it's never anything to be afraid of!  In the end, I think it turned out with enough puffiness to make us both happy.  I got my drama and Aria got her easy wearability!





She wore this to her university's spring formal and said she not only got lots of compliments, but she was perfectly comfortable dancing in it, too!  Success!  This was the first time I have ever made a full garment for someone else from scratch, and I'm very relieved that it turned out and that Aria liked it.  (I was nervous about botching it, I won't lie!  I'm connected to Aria forever; high stakes!)

Doesn't she look amazing?!  Her hair, makeup, dress, everything!  She's rocking it!



Blog Design Loves

Hi Emileigh

I went back through our convos and just wanted to re-visit everything you mentioned in the beginning about what you love and need in a new blog design. I'll be using this as a strong reference as I work and will be looking at these elements and designs closely while we build yours!

Blogs/pages I like the look of and why:
- http://boyerfamilysingersblog.com - very open and clean, jump breaks, social media square, not all white


BRITTANY's NOTES
this blog is really nice! I love how clean it is and their side bar is so un-cluttered and easy to navigate. The drop down menu is nice too! Here are some screen-caps of the design elements:




 
- http://www.abeautifulmess.com - navigation and theme pages like this: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/gift-ideas/


BRITTANY's NOTES:
I love how the top nav bar is all business and the bottom one directs to content. I think splitting things up when you have a lot of pages makes it easier to navigate. ABM uses a different blogging platform that allows for the themed pages to automatically populate. As I mentioned before, blogger doesn't have this feature but I do know how to manually code pages like that and I can do that for you for an additional, $50. They do require up-keep so if you post a new tutorial, you'll have to go in and add the code for it to the page but it's really just copy and pasting in the right spot. You can see an example of a manually coded blogger page like this on my blog here:
http://www.vavoomvintage.net/p/beauty-tutorials.html . 
If you decide that you want this feature, I'll always be here to help you figure out how to add new posts to the pages also! :)






 
- http://www.thecluelessgirl.com - navigation is clean and easy to use, layout is great, open space at the top, social media buttons awesome


BRITTANY'S NOTES:
I can definitely make the social media buttons part of your banner like that!





Keywords:
Clean – strong – military – ethnic

If Rosie the Riveter and Captain America traveled to Africa and had a blog baby, this would be it.


Colors I like:
- Navy
- Sea foam/mint

Improvements from current:
- More open space
- Better, more organized navigation
- cleaner look
- updated head shot
- less wordy, more visually appealing organization on sidebars


Must haves:
- search bar
- easy to update

BRITTANY'S NOTES
add white space between header and content
custom logo design for blog, social media, business cards, etc.
jump-breaks on posts
drop-down or regular navigation bars
social media buttons with roll-over color effect- any shape or orientation that you like
lots of open space, clean look
subscribe by email button so readers get your posts in their inbox
search bar
custom category buttons in sidebar instead of labels
blog archive
social media share buttons on all posts at footer
pinterest hover button on all blog images
gallery footer with more content at the very bottom of your blog

pages- about, contact, sponsor, subscribe

nav bar pages- “DIY, patterns, home and hospitality, reviews, intercultural”


NAVIGATION:
if you would like a drop down navigation, we'll need to decide what we want the nav bar to say and what drop-down pages there will be. I can have them link to a separate gallery page or link to a post label, for example, if you clicked "outfits" it would take you to all of your outfit posts

Style Guide Selections



Hi Emileigh!
 This is your test blog so you can see work in progress and make changes as we go.
Today I wanted to start with your style guide to choose what colors, fonts and general feel you want for your blog. I'm also adding the mood board from your pinterest board here.

This morning, I pulled the colors directly from your pinterest mood board and lined them up together, so you can choose the shades that really appeal to you and delete the shades that don't work. I picked my favorites from the images above but the whole selection is in the image below, so you can swap out colors if there is something that you like more.

I also compiled a big selection of 1940s and 1950s fonts for you to choose from. If none of these really pop, let me know and I can post some more. I have a ton!!  I also have some 1940s lettering books so if you prefer hand lettering, I can do it myself and scan it in.

to contact me, you can always reach me through facebook messenger, email at brittanyvavoomvintage@gmail.com or you can call or text me at 636-541-0155