l.a. zine fest!

On Sunday my best friend Jennie and I took our new music/art zine, Library Sciences, to show at the first annual L.A. Zine Fest!  We’re new to the zine world and we weren’t totally sure what to expect from the fest, but it ended up being the greatest DIY event either of us have ever had the pleasure of attending.  We were so happy to be a part of it, and the organizers really turned it out when it came to putting the whole thing together.  There were almost a hundred exhibitors from all around the country, and as you can see from the L.A. Zine Fest Flickr pool, the place was packed all day long.

What was really great about the event was the huge variety of incredibly talented people represented — everyone from Ayun Holliday of The East Village Inky and the trio behind Henry & Glenn Forever to local artists selling their print-and-staple comics — and how amazingly cool everyone was.  When Jennie and I walked in and saw all the girls setting up in their candy-colored tights and killer accessories, we felt like we had finally found our people.  The DIY spirit and sense of community was seriously inspiring.

Speaking of seriously inspiring, I can’t even tell you what a treat for the eyes this event was — everyone was dressed in cartoon style, looking effortless and completely delicious, and I was in total heaven.

Above are the really fabulous Emi of Pygmy Hippo and Marie of Agent Lover, whose ensembles I basically killed myself over from the second I saw Emi’s polka-dot headscarf and Marie’s hot pink knee socks.

Sheika of OMGcow.com was there with a ton of incredible comics and was basically a total beacon of adorability in her bright yellow dress — you couldn’t help but be drawn to her table!  And she drew a really cute portrait of me in about two seconds flat:

So cute!

Grissel, above, was at the fest with Never Press, and I loved her retro printed dress, nude fishnets and cute little flats, not to mention that hair (and her super sweet personality)!

Sylvia of The Doktor Is In was one of the first people I saw when I walked into the fest, and I was immediately drawn to her amazing tone-on-tone outfit, which reminded me a little bit of Velma from Scooby-Doo (a style icon if I’ve ever seen one).  I got to pick up a couple of her zines and I really love her self-deprecating sense of humor and straight talk.

And how cute is Sarah, above, who was at the fest with No More Geeks?  Girl is serving some modern indie Mia Farrow and I like it.

Thanks to our friend Emilio of Aperture Priority for the fisheye photos!

To our huge surprise, we sold out of the entire first run of Library Sciences Issue One!  We listed more on Etsy today and are really looking forward to putting out our second issue and participating in a lot more events like L.A. Zine Fest.

Not too shabby!

february mood board

Just a quick collage of some things that have been inspiring me these past couple of weeks…

My usual mix of cartoony, creepy, and country, I guess, with a heavy dose of pink and red for Valentine’s Day.  The dagger flash in the upper lefthand corner is by artist David M. Cook, whose Tumblr I am really into right now.

Speaking of stuff that is cartoony and cute, yesterday I exhibited at L.A. Zine Fest, and the girls there were pretty much the greatest-looking things I have ever seen.  I took some great photos and I’ll post them soon!

i ♡ jezzy belle’s

IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME AGAIN.

This time I have a $25.00 credit for my favorite Etsy vintage boutique, Jezzy Belle’s, up for grabs!

All you have to do is comment on this post!  Just say that you want to enter the giveaway, and I’ll draw a winner at random on February 13th — consider it a Galentine’s Day celebration, except instead of a throw pillow with your face and the newspaper headline from the day you were born on it, you might get an awesome twenty-five bucks to spend on vintage clothes and accessories.

My girl Deborah, who runs the shop, sent me this awesome leopard silk blouse to entice you:

I don’t actually wear a lot of vintage, which might result in me having my fashion blogger card revoked if my fashion blogger card hadn’t been lost in the mail (I mean, that’s the only reason I don’t have one, right?). It’s not that I don’t like vintage clothes — I do — but I’m in Southern California, where the thrift stores are picked over and the vintage stores are totally overpriced. I live all of two blocks from Long Beach’s famous* Retro Row, a whole strip of really cute vintage shops, but I’ve never been the type to spend a day scouring the racks for hidden treasure. Lack of patience, I guess. And lack of money (because anything worth buying from Retro Row is usually priced exorbitantly high). That’s why I like vintage shops on Etsy like Jezzy Belle’s — someone else has already done the work for me (I’m lazy and not particularly talented at spotting gems amongst crap), and things are generally priced way more fairly.

Like, I probably never would have caught this leopard-print silk blouse in a thrift store, but thank god someone (Deborah!) did, because it’s really cute.

I’m wearing it with a retro-style longline bra and a pin for my friends’ band Honey Badgers.  Also hot pink lipstick to match the hot pink pin, because I’m matchy like that.

Vintage blouse from Jezzy Belle’s, Mossimo for Target skinny jeans, Forever 21 belt, Rampage longline bra, Qupid velveteen loafers.

After a long search for the perfect hot pink lipstick that also costs less than $10, I finally hit on Cover Girl’s Lip Perfection in “Spellbound” (stupid name, cute color).  For some reason it doesn’t show up nearly as vibrant in photos as it does in person.  The webcam shot is much more true to life.

Don’t forget to leave a comment and enter the Jezzy Belle’s giveaway!  I’ll draw a winner at random and announce it on February 13th!

 

* Not famous.

hairy teeth & bellbottoms

I can’t start this next post without acknowledging my last one. I really want to thank all my readers and friends, both online and in my real life, for the support and encouragement regarding my ongoing struggles with depression. It’s always difficult for me to come forward and talk about my own emotions (that whole issue of “having a wall up,” I guess), but it’s also always a huge relief afterwards to be reminded that I am far from alone in grappling with this stuff. All the emails and comments I’ve received have been hugely helpful to me — thank you guys so much. If you ever want to have a dialogue with me about this or anything else, please feel free to write me: mycartoonheart@gmail.com.

ANYWAY. ON TO LIGHTER THINGS.

My friend Josh, né JOSHR, is an incredible artist (I have a huge painting of his hanging over my bed to prove it), and his two-man show with Stink, called Hairy Teeth, is opening at Hurley’s H Space Gallery in Laguna Beach tonight.  My super-bestie Jennie was also heavily involved in getting this show together so it’s basically going to be a night of friends and art and tacos.  Really stoked that my amazing friends are getting some recognition for their hard work and serious talent.

Here’s what I threw on for the show tonight:

Gap coat, Ambience cardigan, H&M scarf, vintage t-shirt, Forever 21 bellbottoms, Steve Madden wedges, MAC lipstick in Russian Red.

Nothing exciting, basically just what I wore to work but with wedges and lipstick thrown in to fool people into thinking I made an effort. I think buffalo plaid and leopard spots are two prints that play well together, though. The white t-shirt is an ancient Neil Diamond concert shirt I’ve had since I was 18 or so, hence why the neckline is sliced off as if it is 2004.

Not gonna lie, I’m feeling the bellbottoms. I’ve been a skinny jeans girl since before skinny jeans were even something that you could easily buy in stores (before that it was all about hand-tapering for maximum tightness, usually using dental floss in lieu of thread because dental floss is more punk rock), but secretly I’ve always had a thing for bellbottoms. Probably because when I was in eighth grade I had a Really Extremely Cool¹ pair with burgundy-and-pink tulips embroidered on the flares, which I always wore with a matching burgundy chenille sweater, and it was in this outfit that a boy first asked me for my phone number². So clearly I equate bellbottoms (embroidered or not) with being completely and totally alluring.

Hopefully I’m right and they are completely and totally alluring and some dude will once again be hypnotized by the ringin’ of my bells and ask for my phone number tonight, though honestly, I’m not holding my breath, because there is still the whole issue of the Neil Diamond t-shirt working against me, and also that whole thing about how I am totally awkward and ridiculous in any kind of social situation. Oh and also that whole thing about how I am actually currently terrified of human contact and basically incapable of being in a relationship sooooo maybe not.

¹ Really not cool at all. I was painfully uncool in junior high. LOOK AT ME NOW, SUCKERS! Oh, wait.

² I was not even interested but the very idea that someone would ask for my phone number was so foreign to me at the time that I gave it to him. He used it to call and give me running commentary on the episode of “The Simpsons” that he was watching. I never have been a “Simpsons” fan. Needless to say our relationship was over before it ever truly began.

jason wu for target

Here’s the complete lookbook for Jason Wu’s capsule collection for Target.  I’m not that stoked on it.  The only thing I really like at all is this cat-print scarf:

Nothing else is thrilling me, but sometimes it’s hard to tell in photos.  I’ll still check it out when the collection arrives in stores on February 5th.

january mood board

I’m really loving your new year’s resolutions, guys…don’t forget, you have until Wednesday to get yours in and maybe win some really cute jewelry!

Here’s a mood board I put together reflecting some things that are interesting and inspiring me stylistically this month.  It’s always interesting to put all the pictures I’ve been collecting on Pinterest and Tumblr together in one image to get a sort of aesthetic overview.

I guess my mood boards are always pretty similar: glasses, glitter, guitars, punk rock icons, cartoony style, Pop-art-bright makeup, and the desert (the tiny canned ham Airstream above is from the Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree, somewhere I desperately want to be this year).  Also, how great is the Black Flag “TV Party” tattoo flash in the bottom right corner?  I’m not sure who the artist is, but as both a Black Flag fan and someone who spends a lot of tine zoning out in front of the boob tube, I’m pretty obsessed.

For your time:

ALL RIGHT!

rhinestone cowgirl

I.N.C. leopard swing coat, Target t-shirt and jeans, vintage cowboy boots, MAC Russian Red lipstick.

I always feel the most like myself when my outfit is a little on the ridiculous side.  This morning when I got dressed I was thinking about Exene Cervenka in her cowboy boots and red lipstick on New Year’s Eve.  I love that juxtaposition of glammy punk rock and relaxed country, and I think it’s pretty reflective of my personal style these days too.

My vintage rhinestone necklace was a swapmeet find that’s a little outside my normal aesthetic but that I really love, especially paired with casual stuff.  The mink jawbone necklace is from Skullery and was a Christmas gift from my roommate and heterosexual life partner Farron.  They’re not normally things I’d think to wear together, but I like the way the V-shape of the mink jaw kind of echoes the V-shape of the rhinestone necklace.

I picked up these old black Joe Sanchez cowboy boots a few years ago at a vintage store in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, while I was on a rowdy 1o-day jaunt across the South that included my making heart-shaped eyes at Unknown Hinson at the Star Bar in Atlanta and being thrown out of a Waffle House off the I-75 at 3:30 in the morning.  I love them not only because they are the perfect pair of basic cowboy boots, but also because they remind me of being 21 and partying all over Georgia with a bunch of awesome people I haven’t seen since.

another day

Another day in my new workspace.  I’m getting so much done!

It’s always freezing in here so I’ve been wearing lots of layers.  I went to Target and bought a 5-pack of little boys’ A-shirts and I wear them under my sweaters, which I wear under jackets and coats…

Forever 21 letterman jacket, scarf, and sweater, Target jeans, UNIF loafers.

I like to be comfortable while I’m in here but I still want to look OK because I share the space with a lot of other people…plus the Volcom building is across the street and it is absolutely crawling with hot long-haired boys.

Wearing a lot of my favorite jewelry today.  My dude picked up a ton of vintage prayer medals at a yard sale a while back and I just made them all into little necklaces.  I’m selling them on my Etsy for $5 a pop (and they make good stocking stuffers, hint hint!) but I saved a couple of these Virgin Mary medals for myself.  I was raised Catholic and the iconography still really resonates with me. I particularly love the back of this St. Christopher medal:

Seems a little archaic, no?

P.S. I just updated my t-shirts page with some potential new designs I’ve been working on!  I’d love for you guys to weigh in.

working hard or hardly working?

I’m stoked to be pretty much moved into my new workspace!  Today was another day of organizing and hanging and running around, so I was going pretty laid back.  It’s also finally starting to get chilly out, which is nice because coats and boots are my favorite.

H&M Divided coat and beret, Forever 21 top, Cheap Monday jeans, Frye boots, GoJane glasses.

I bought this shirt a while ago under the impression that it was long and loose-fitting (that’s how it looked on the model), so imagine my surprise when this boxy crop top arrived.  I’ve grown to like its weird shape with my higher-waisted stuff.

Also this yellow coat is my favorite.  I was on the hunt for a mustard-colored heavier coat for the colder seasons and when I found this one in the Divided section at H&M I lost my breath for a second (seriously) because it is exactly what I imagined, and cost half what I’d paid for the Missoni for Target coat that did not fit the bill at all and was subsequently returned.

The beret is also from H&M and I’ve been wearing it a lot lately; I fear I’m becoming a hat person.  I’m aware it looks a little ridiculous but that’s kind of what I like about it.  I feel a little like Judy Funnie when I wear it.

And here’s the beginnings of my little workspace in the new studio I’m be sharing with my dang ol’ friend Jennie:

Getting everything organized and having a place to work is already making me feel so much more productive.  I got a couple of new Hippie Speedball designs done in the past couple of days that I want to share with you guys soon, and some other things in the works as well.  Having a place to do it all, and sharing it with one of my favorite people in the entire world, is going to be pretty rad.

peg bundy, c’est moi

If yesterday I was overdressed for absolutely no reason, today I am Peg Bundying it super hard.  So hard I even drew myself a Peggy-style cigarette with three inches of ash.

Thakoon for Target sweater, leggings from the Compton swapmeet, GoJane velvet loafers.

I might be the only “fashion” blogger online who is just willingly throwing my cameltoe out there for everyone.  But lately I just can’t even care.  If someone else has issues with the contours of my vagina through my leggings then frankly that’s their problem.  It’s raining outside and I’m lazy and I’d rather have a little bit of ‘toe showing than be in, like, sweats that say JUICY on the butt.

Just realized you can totes see my black underwear through these leggings too.  I am so high fashion.