For about six Christmases in a row, my childhood wish for Santa was that he bring me some socks that fit. My 5,000 pair just didn't feel right on my feet. I'm serious. We have it on camera. If you talk to Chris or any of my family members you'll find out that I'm known for my temper tantrums about clothes and the way they fit and look. I was really excited (and a little nervous) when The ModBod gave me some clothes to try out. Here's how I wore them and my honest opinion of each garment:

Outfit details:

• sweater: thrifted
• yellow necklace: Brazil
• purple necklace: Right-Aid (ages ago)
• cowl top: The ModBod
• pants: Gap
• boots: thrifted

The Kali Cowl is fitted in all the right places, loose in even better places and has a sweet pleated detail in the front. It comes in brown & plum; plum being one of the hottest colors of the season. Granted it's a lighter plum, but it looks great with all those dark purple accents that are popping most everywhere. The fabric is a medium weight, soft jersey knit, perfectly warm for layering when chilly, or wearing plain on warm fall/winter days. Fits true to size. And I've worn this top three times this week.

Outfit details:

• amberlee jacket: The ModBod
• perfect tee: The ModBod
• tiered silver necklace: Forever 21
• silver + turquoise necklace: handmade by my dad
• denim: Pura*Mania, Brazil
• suede boots: thrifted

The amberlee jacket has button details on the pockets, zippered front and has a slight hint of military styling. It's a light-weight sweater jersey with plenty of stretch. I love the side orientation of the pockets and the fit in the sleeves. There's no collar or hood which is perfect if you want to layer a scarf or two. Fits true to size. The perfect tee has a very appropriate name. The half-sleeve length is my favorite part about the fit, capped sleeves are becoming a little dated (IMHO) and they're not flattering on old arms. The fabric is very soft and very stretchy. The neckline is high, but it never bugged me. I'm not used to wearing very tight shirts these days so the uber fit took a little getting used to. If you're not comfortable with form-fitted shirts, buy a size larger. It was tighter in the chest and armpits and tummy when I first put it on, but loosened up in the tummy area after a while. This shirt kept riding up, probably because the shirt was a little tight.

Outfit Details:

• earrings: thrifted
• scarf: thrifted
• top: DownEast Basics
• bracelet cuff: Wet Seal
• belt: thrifted
• katie jean skirt: The ModBod
• tights: Wal*Mart
• boots: Bass Outlet

The katie jean skirt is that perfect shade of denim that easily coordinates with both dark and light colors. I thought from the photo on the site that it would be more of a greyish, brown denim, but it's actually more blue than brown or grey. I'm a sucker for the inverted pleats (isn't that what they're called?). The only downside I see to this skirt is that it wrinkles quite quickly. It's not nearly as bad as linen, but you definitely need to iron before wearing (as you can see from the photos above). I like skirts to hit at my natural waist or a little higher, so I'm wearing a size smaller. It still seems a to fit a little low on the waist.

Outfit details:

• necklaces: thrifted
• collared shirt: thrifted
• banded cardigan: The ModBod
• red belt: thrifted
• dark denim: Forever 21
• red shoes: thrifted

The banded cardigan is my favorite item of the bunch. It comes in black, charcoal and brown in a silky-soft, lightweight jersey. My first impression was that my skin was happy to be touching something so wonderful. It has a deep V with buttons down the front. Have I told anyone that this is my FAVORITE color combo to wear? The cardigan fits true to size, so go up a size if you're looking for a more draped look. The sleeve cuffs are snug and fit me well, but as anyone who has seen me heaving to lift my 18-month old daughter can attest, I have  super scrawny arms. I might be looking for a larger size if I had better-developed biceps. Fit makes or breaks any garment, so I hope that my sizing notes are helpful. The cardigan and the skirt are my favorite ModBod pieces of the group. I've been impressed by the ModBod's quality of fabric and construction, and I've found myself wearing at least one of these items every day this week. Now that you're thoroughly convinced that you need every single piece from The ModBod's fall clothing line, use the promo code above for 15% off your online order! Hurry! Promo expires December 7th, 2009!

Full Disclosure: I was given free product in exchange for a review. These are my honest opinions and have not been influenced by the ModBod.

It was a great week for me. I had a wonderful time with my in-laws cooking, eating and vegging. Here's what we did on Thanksgiving:

Waiting for turkey. Isn't his shirt cool?

In she goes.

Deep fried turkey. SUCCESS!

Chilled soda. Grapefruit. MMM.

Waiting for food.

Carving the turkey.

Doesn't that turkey make you salivate? It was delicious.

Good pie. Sad crust.

Too many cups on the table.

Still waiting for food.

The turkey-induced coma.

Penelope trying to learn the Ukulele from a comatose Brookie.

food overload. It looks like I'm 18 weeks along! I'm not.

I've been thinking on and off about the things and people that I'm grateful for and it's boiled down to two lists. The silly things I'm grateful for and the sappy things I'm grateful for.

The silly things I'm grateful for:

• An abundance of socks. Nice fuzzy socks and colorful tights. It's been a childhood dream of mine to own comfortable socks.
• Black Friday sales. I just got 50% off some amazing clothes at Tulle.
• Sweet vintage chairs (more on that when I find my perfect table--Thanks Annie!)
• The Yudu machine. Thanks Linda!
• My wacom tablet.
• My purple suede boots.

The sappy things I'm grateful for:

• My husband, of course! Chris is the only one that fills that lonely void in my heart. He's my other half. He makes me so, so happy. There's no one in the entire universe that I trust more with my heart than him. He's my perfect prince charming and he makes an excellent Mr. Mom.
• My family. I'm grateful for all of my family members and for the support they've given me. I am also so grateful that Chris and I were able to start our own little family. I have loved Penelope from the very beginning. I feel really humbled that Penelope came into our lives as fast as she did. I know of so many couples struggling with fertility, and sometimes I feel a little undeserving to have such a beautiful and healthy child. I won't take her for granted. I love Penelope so much.
• My circumstances. I'm learning a TON from our current situation, and for that I'm thankful. I've gained more perspective, more confidence in my work and more love and appreciation for Chris and Penelope.
• My church. I believe in God and I believe God is good. Very good. I'm thankful that my church has helped me figure that out.

Natalie made this candy cane sweater. It's so soft, so cute!

My cousin James and his wife Natalie visit us often; our weekends are very incomplete without a visit from them. I'm really happy James found a lady as rad as Natalie. It's been great to get to know her better every weekend. So, Natalie, I think you're really awesome and thanks so much for the sweater! While we're talking about giving thanks, I've made a little fill-in-the-blank printable for you to fill out and send to the folks in your life that you might like to thank for something. Please enjoy the FREE printable and please use it this Thanksgiving. Click on the button below to download.

This printable is free for personal use. It cannot be distributed or republished without my written consent. Altering the file(s) is NOT ALLOWED. Thanks.

Have any of you noticed how horrible I am at taking half-decent "before" pictures? I should be so ashamed. Then again, a bad "before" photo always makes the "after" photo look so much better.

I've had this shirt forever and I swear the neckline just gets lower and lower every time I wear it. Last time I wore it, I thought how great it would be if I did a simple refashion to bring up the neckline. I was going to braid an intricate insert, then I got lazy and decided a cowel neck could be cooler. NOPE. Not at all. It looked like I was wearing a knotted dickie and that put me in a pretty sour mood. I was just about to throw in the towel and proclaim the shirt dead, then my better half (aka Chris) reminded me that there was such a thing as a seam ripper and not all was lost.

Instead of butchering another neckline I decided to re-enter my comfort zone and refashion the shirt into a dress for Penelope. Isn't Penelope adorable? These sorts of refashions are a lot of fun, and not very time-consuming. I think I like that shirt so much better on Penelope.

Here's a little preview of the tutorial

I think it's high time I give you a tutorial on how to do it. Yeah, there are a million other tutorials out there on this type of thing, but this is my take on it. Since natural light is pretty rare around these parts, I thought I'd illustrate each step instead. Let's be honest, I was really just looking for an excuse to use my new Wacom tablet. Please enjoy the free tutorial. Click on the button below to download.

This tutorial is free for personal use. It cannot be distributed without my written consent. All content is original and exclusive to IS•LY.

click on image to enlarge

This little eBook has been in the works for nearly nine months. It's gestated just like a baby sans the vomiting and weight gain. See, bookbinding isn't just for conservators with 2,000 square feet of art space and thousands of dollars in tools. It's very inclusive, so join the club! Bookbinding requires a desk, some floor space and a few inexpensive supplies that you might already have. So here it is; learn to bind a flatback journal—just like the blank books in the bookstore—at home, using regular crafting tools. Get your copy by making a selection and clicking the button below. If you're not sure about the tools to buy, add the tools eBook for only $2 more!

EEE! Christopher was so sweet and bought me a wacom tablet for my birthday and it arrived in the mail today! Boy, am I spoiled. Chris even threw me a surprise birthday party. All I gave him was a fanny pack for his birthday. Looks like I need to step it up for Christmas. Now that I have a fancy, handy dandy wacom tablet, you'll probably see some printables coming your way. SQUEAL! Here's the first thing I did upon starting up my new toy. I'm such a newb, but I'm having SOO much fun!!

Here we all are having a serious moment. Andy (middle) taught the silkscreening classes which I so stupidly missed. He's really cool.

Being able to participate in Nicole's Art weekend was so much fun! The last bookbinding class I taught was nearly a year ago, so it was great to get back into sharing the addiction. In two classes we bound nearly 30 books! I was so impressed with how well all everyone did. Sadly I didn't get a photo of a single one of their books. Oops. Alma, one of cool art weekend teachers (and one of my dear friends) gave me a super rad flower brooch. She teaches fabulous illustrator classes, designs beautiful repeat patterns and sews these fabulous felt pins (among other things). Check out her etsy shop here. Her husband taught the photoshop & workflow classes (which I heard were great) and their baby. Oh. Their baby taught the how to melt everyone's heart class. He's very cute. very. I had the pleasure to Audit Nicole Hill Gerulat's Tabletop photography class. I learned all sorts of cool tips and tricks to get better photos. Nicole convinced me that I need to start shooting manual and focusing manual. I learned a lot more about photography that way. We were in such a dark room for this, but look at how the coke can was lit! Nicole is very impressive with her lighting abilities. She's also very nice and one of my favorite photographers. You should take her classes. These photos I took with my lensbaby because my regular zoom lens is an embarrassing piece of j-u-n-k that stopped focusing that afternoon. Now I'm getting a new zoom lens, can't wait to get it in the mail! I had a great weekend, it was so packed with creative time I just crashed on Sunday. I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep. It was a pleasure to meet and hang out with everyone at art weekend. I surely hope it's not my last!

Not only do I turn a quarter century today, but this blog turns the big T-W-O!

It's going to be a good day. I can feel it. To celebrate, I'm doing a giveaway! YUP. Another blank journal giveaway for those that you didn't win last time. SHAMELESS PLUG: Don't want to take your chances winning a book? Why don't you learn how to make one? Take my bookbinding class this weekend! Click here to sign up. Please follow the guidelines below for entry:

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