DIY Inspiration

FASHION

My Future DIY Endeavor 

Although, I am  not one to endeavor into "Do It Yourself" projects, I have found a reason to at the very least try a DIY project. This image of - presumably - a woman in a metal platted denim jacket has inspired me.

It has the right amount of edge that my closet so desperately needs and I think it would look amazing with the latest Sweatpants and Heels trend.

Made Me Smile

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight."

 - Phyllis Diller

______________________

A child's face always makes me smile, 

so naturally when I came across this image today on the web I smiled.

What Made You Smile Today? 

Trayvon Martin

CURRENT ISSUES

HOT TOPIC

"I believe that there lives a burning desire in the most sequestered private heart of every American, a desire to belong to a great country. I believe that every citizen wants to stand on the world stage and represent a noble country where the mighty do not not always crush the weak and the dream of a democracy is not the sole possession of the strong. We must hear the questions raised...years ago...

What do I think of my country? What is there, which elevates my shoulders and stirs my blood when I hear the words, the United States of America: Do I laud my fellow citizens enough? What is there about my country that makes me hang my head and avert my eyes when I hear the United States of America, and what am I doing about it? Am I relating my disappointment to my leaders and to my fellow citizens, or am I like someone not involved, sitting high and looking low? As Americans, we should not be afraid to respond..." (Angelou, 2008, p. 83)

As an American, I am not afraid to respond. I can say with shoulders elevated and my head held high that I belong to a country that: strives for excellence, seeks nobility, values freedom, and provides opportunities. However, it is just as easy for me to be stricken with shame as it is for me to be stricken with pride when hearing the words the United States of America.

Consider the popular case of Trayvon Martin (seen above, left), a high school student, who was shot and murdered by George Zimmerman (seen above, right), a self-appointed neighborhood watchmen. 

ABC News has been tracking Martin's story since February 26, 2012 in their current Timeline of Events where, at the very least,  police conduct appears questionable - "Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Florida high school student, is found shot and killed, in Sanford, Fla., a community north of Orlando. Several eyewitnesses report to police that they heard a scuffle, then a cry for help, and then a gunshot. According to the Sanford police report, George Zimmerman, 28, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, is found armed with a handgun, standing over Martin. He has a bloody nose and a wound in the back of his head. Martin is unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. He has no weapons on him, only a pack of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea. Zimmerman tells police he killed Martin in self defense. Taking him at his word, police do not arrest him, nor administer a drug or alcohol test. They also did not run a background check."

As Martin's story unfolds more is being learned and more allegations are being made; while, some consider the incident to be a prime example of "walking while black," others are quick to portray a young adolescent as "a thug" and a nuisance - recent reports indicate that Martin was having problems at school and "recent pictures on the web and social media show him with gold dental grill and making obscene gestures to the camera." (Gutman, March 27, 2012)  It appears that people are loosing sight of the big picture and taking sides.  

It's disappointing. If any side should be taken it should be that of justice. As an American I have high expectations for my country's police departments; I expect for them to honor our country's name and act in accordance to their code - "all law enforcement officers must be fully aware of the ethical responsibilities of their position and must strive constantly to live up to the highest possible standards of professional policing." (Police Code of Conduct) It is in my opinion that "all" of law enforcement officers  involved in this incident were not living up to the highest possible standards.

What Are Your Thoughts? 

The Jewelry Factory

FASHION & ART

Pure Love is a place where my fashion mind wonders for inspiration and where my creative mind lets loose; it's a place where I find myself and my passion. 

The latest post written by me on Pure Love highlights the creative mind of Pamela Love and her Fall 2012 presentation during Mercedes-Benz's Fashion Week, where "dirty" faced beauties model sculptured pieces. 

Click here, to see more images and to read about the collection.

Love Life

MUSIC

Young Homie

Lately, I have not been buying any music; nothing has been worth  it to me. However, I had to come out of hibernation and buy the autobiographical, Young Homie from Chris Rene - "It was the song that won him a spot on the first season of Fox’s The X Factor (USA) and made him a YouTube hit  just days after his audition aired...And now, fans can," (Nenedog, February 23, 2012)  buy Rene's studio single via itunes. If you haven't heard it before, you must check it out. It's worth it. Young Homie is one of those feel good songs that reminds you that you can't sweat the small stuff, because life is too short; instead, you must "love life," embrace it, and live each moment like it's your last (at least that's what kind of song it is for me).

The Lyrics

Open up my mind with these spoken words,

Let this music heal like an overture,

She’s the only one, one, one, yeah, yeah

And so I roll with her, ooh,

That’s how it’s supposed to be,

Living life with loved ones close to me,

Shh, ahh, this is the remedy,

And I got the recipe, I don’t need no Hennessy,

Yeah, it’s been nine months now,

Haven’t had a drink and I’m starting to see clear now,

I’m putting all my fears down,

I can hear the cheers now,

Seeing peace signs when I look around

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on

Looking at life, like how did I get it wrong,

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters, when will we get along,

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on,

Looking at life, like how did I get it wrong,

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters when will we get along

Open up your eyes, look around

Homie, can you see how it’s going down?

Brothers locked up, sisters knocked up

If you wanna build your love up, put your hate down

Ooh, that’s the only way to live

Turnin’ negatives to positives

"It’s gonna be alright" Bob Marley said

F*ck the dumb sh*t, keep it movin’, that’s what time it is

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on

Looking at life, like how did I get it wrong,

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters, when will we get along

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on

Looking at life, like how did I get it wrong,

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters, when will we get along

Give peace to the war in the streets,

Give peace to the evil that creeps, yeah,

I just ride, put my hand to the sky,

Live life like I’m never gon’ die,

See we be fighting and fussing over nothing,

So much destruction, looking like puppets,

Combusting like nothing, now listen,

It takes education, to change your reputation,

From bad to good, you’re gettin’ better now you’re elevating,

They be singing, family’s hanging, everybody’s chillin’

Not gonna stop this, living on the feeling,

Man this is the real thing, tell me can you feel me,

Wait ‘til they drop this, dancing on the ceiling

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on

Ah, what you really trippin’ on,

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters when will we get along,

Hey, young homie what you trippin’ on,

Looking at life, like how did I get it wrong

Life’s too short, gotta live it long,

To my brothers and sisters when will we get along

Young homie what you trippin’ on

Visit Chris Rene on his official webpage:

www.chrisreneofficial.com 

 Talk with him on Facebook 

Listen to the single on itunes, today! 

Nike Women 2012 Look Book

FITNESS

Clothes That Inspire You! 

When I first started exercising, I wore typical lounge wear - sweat pants and an old t-shirt. However, after discovering the magic of Dri-FIT, I stopped wearing lounge wear and started wearing the appropriate clothing for exercising; although, some of the more comfortable exercise clothes can cost more than I would like, the switch has been the best thing I've done for myself and my weight loss goals.

Years, later I have come to learn that new exercise clothes motivates me; any time I purchase a new piece, I must wear it the next day to exercise in, and it always seems as though I work out harder. My initial thought to my recent discovery was "how weird," which your probably thinking. However, it appears that I am not as odd as I thought. "In fact, experts say, what you wear to the gym can go a long way toward helping you stay motivated and confident -- and can even improve your workout performance. 'Putting on a flattering outfit motivates people to actually go to the gym or to exercise outdoors in public,' says performance coach Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA, president of Performance and Success Coaching LLC in Philadelphia" (Carol, Sorgen) 

So, in the spirit of providing motivation, 

here is Nike Women's 2012 Look Book. 

Red Pumps For A Cause

HEALTH & WELLNESS

What Pumps Were You Rocking 

Yesterday? 

Yesterday, “on March 10, the United States recognized National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). Launched by the Office of Women’s Health, NWGHAAD is a nationwide observance that encourages people to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS and raise awareness of its impact on women and girls.

While great progress has been made in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group.” (Rock the Red Pump™ Campaign!)

In observance of NWGHAAD, my sister, my mother, and I rocked our red pumps along with other ladies who participated in the 4th Annual Rock the Red Pump™ Campaign!; the campaigns goal is to get people talking in the blogosphere about HIV/AIDS and how it affects women.

 (My sister and I)  

So, let’s get talking!

Click here, to become a part of the conversation 

we already started on “Get the Picture.” 

Own It

BEAUTY

“We are all beautiful - this empowering statement is sometimes overshadowed by the media’s portrayal of what it means to be beautiful: a luscious pout, shiny hair, and mesmerizing eyes...” (Barron, March 2, 2012) 

Yet, “there is no beauty without strangeness.” (Karl Lagerfeld) We must embrace each and every one of our features; including the ones we think are strange or unattractive - from the one too many freckles to the cleft (dimpled) chin.We must own them! Here are some beauty tips to help you emphasize your "best" features.

Eyebrows 

“Whether you have thin or thick eyebrows, the best way to emphasize your arches is to apply a light eye shadow color just below your brows. For thin eyebrows, use an eyebrow pencil to make them darker, thus giving the illusion of [a fuller eyebrow]. “ (Barron, March 2, 2012) As for the ladies with straight eyebrows I would not recommend reshaping them so that you have an arch; instead, I would exaggerate them more with an eyebrow pencil.   

 (Thick & Straight)

 (Thick & Straight) 

(Thick) 

(Thin) 

Hair

While, the media may portray beautiful hair as being straight and shiny, kinky hair is just as beautiful. In order to embrace your naturally kinky hair you should use hair products that are not harsh and are designed to bring out your natural beauty; the key to using hair products is being sure not use too many. 

Teeth & Dimpled Chins 

The best way to emphasize the lovely gap between your teeth is by smiling more. As for those ladies with dimpled chins there's not much more you can do to bring attention to your chin but to wear it with confidence, because "no matter what a woman looks like, if she's confident, she's sexy." (Paris Hilton) 

(Gap) 

(Gap & Dimpled Chin) 

(Dimpled Chin) 

Freckles

“Instead of hiding your freckles in layers of foundation and powder, show off one of beauty’s many faces. Go au naturel [or use] light layers of cover-up makeup, which allows you to play around with bright colors on your eyes and lips.”(Barron, March 2, 2012)

My "Best" Feature 

When I was in high school I use to feel very self-conscious; like most teenagers I was concerned about my appearance and I thought that my eyebrows were my worst feature. I thought "they were thick and ugly." No matter how much I wanted to get my eyebrows plucked I couldn't, because my mother would not allow me. Now, years later, I am so glad that my mother refused to let me ruin my natural beauty. I love my eyebrows; I have had them all my life but for the last few years I have been owning them. 

What is your "best" feature? 

Are you owning it?

Artistic Pursuits

ART & WORLD NEWS

"The Grant Museum of Zoology is the only remaining university zoological museum in London. It houses around 67,000 specimens, covering the whole Animal Kingdom. Founded in 1828 as a teaching collection, the Museum is packed full of skeletons, mounted animals and specimens preserved in fluid;..."(UCL) to add to the collection, the Museum has packed a section of their showroom with paintings created by animals for a limited amount of time in the exhibit "Art by Animals." 

The exhibit questions the cognitive abilities of primates by suggesting that some animals may indeed create art. The focus of the exhibit is on the actual paintings created by apes and elephants;

(Created by Nong Bank, an elephant in Samutprakarn Zoo, Thailand, 2010)

“Placing their handiwork alongside animal specimens and historical documentation [the exposition] explore[s] why some animal creations are considered valuable and [artistic], while others are dismissed as meaningless.”(UCL)

"Co-curator Mike Tuck said: 'We believe the exhibition at the Grant Museum to be the first to exhibit multiple species’ paintings and to attempt to take a broad view of the phenomenon.'

Since the mid-50s, zoos have used art and painting as a leisure activity for animals, even selling the pieces to raise funds.' While individual elephants are trained to always paint the same thing, art produced by apes is a lot more creative and is almost undistinguishable [sic] from abstract art by humans that use similar techniques.'...

 (Created by Joseph, a Sumatran Orangutan living at Erie Zoo, Pennsylvania)

(Created by Samantha, a Western lowland gorilla from Erie Zoo, Pennsylvania, 2011)  

(Created by Sumatran Orangutan Baka, from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado (right), 

and Bakhari, a chimp from St Louis Zoo (left))

'Ape art is often compared to that of two- or three-year-old children in the "scribble stage",' he added. Co-curator Will Tuck added: 'Although it is fairly clear that any notion of art by animals is essentially anthropomorphic, it starts to raise very interesting questions about the nature of human art.' Images of monkeys painting date back to at least the 17th century in European art, but it was not until the 1950s that the animal paintings themselves became important.Their rise in popularity coincided with the abstract expressionist movement in art, which started to look closely at the act of making, and what it reveals about an artist’s subconscious. Within this context, the art of animals - particularly primates - took on a radically different meaning..." (Reynolds, February 28, 2012)  

Watch The Video

To Learn More  

More on Art & Animals

Guido Daniele, an Italian artist, received his training in sculpting from Brera School of Arts. However, he is known internationally for his painting abilities, which are exemplified in his “Handimals”- interpretations of animals through the use of human hands (below are a few of my favorite).  

Click here, to see more of  Daniele's Handimals