lauren bailey blog

2011-11-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday Photography

For the past few weekends I have been borrowing Mitre's a-freakin'-mazing CannonEOS7D. Between reading tutorials online and making trips around Greensboro to the Aurboretum, Bicentenial Gardens, and some random/sketchy run down buildings around town I have been slowly warming up to digital photography. (see some pics here) This weekend I decided to take on a bigger and potentially less cliche project for myself: The Antique Bottle Show & Sale.

I know, it sounds kind of bizarre! But there are actually people who would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for an old glass bottle. Being somewhat of an old soul myself, I am so fascinated that people place value on these items that most would consider trash. In a world that is buzzing with technology I find comfort in slowing down to find beauty in something so simple and easily overlooked.

I spoke with one man for a while about how he goes about finding all of these old bottles. A lot of the time they are purchased from other people, but he does actually go on digs for antiques. How do you know where to begin digging for something so random? You can start by finding an old house. From there you can hope to find a place where they may have thrown out their trash and start your excavation.

More to come on my flickr!

2011-07-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

a productive saturday

This is how I am spending the majority of my Saturday: with a freelance project, coffee, and almond hershey's kisses. Oh and of course enjoying the beautiful day from the comfort of my air conditioned office.

2011-07-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

life recently

I wanted to share some film that I took over the past month or so. Just some quiet shots of my backyard here in Greensboro along with my dog, Etta.

2010-04-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

THIS MAKES ME SMILE

I just noticed that one of the invitations that I designed for SanLori last summer was featured on Invitation Consultant's home page. I'm about to design more wedding related invitations for friends who are getting married soon. It's always exciting to design for such an important day in someone's life and because they are my friends, it just means so much more to me.

2010-04-26T17:47:00.001-07:00

LIFE > BLOGGING

It seems I'm about as good at updating a blog as I am at returning phone calls lately. I'm spending most of my days either learning about web design, perfecting my portfolio, laying on the beach, or reading. Finding a job is always looming in my brain somewhere and I feel like this is why a lot of my dreams have been about design or web design related things. The "for rent" sign has officially been posted on the entrance gate to my apartment, which will only serve as a constant reminder that my time in Savannah is slipping through my fingers. It continues to blow my mind that I am graduating in a matter of weeks. My life is about to take a dramatic turn and I really have no clue where I will be, but that is so exciting. Until then I am taking things one day at a time. The next images are of a project that I'm working on for my Web Design class based off of "The Medium is the Massage" by Marshall McLuhan.

view site

2009-12-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

WEEKEND DISCOVERIES

last weekend i ventured up to fayetteville to catch up with some old friends. saturday jessica and i spent a few hours wondering through antique stores in tontitown. i managed to find some interesting necklaces and old stamps. i love the stamps that i found from chad, specifically the louis armstrong stamp. i kind of find his face hilarious. like he would be looking over at the return address unsure about something or hoping that the letter opener doesn't slice his way. i'm also crazy about the layout of the stamps and the colors. really nicely designed (to be a nerd) they just don't come like that anymore. i love the necklaces i found, but the whole reason i bought them was to sell them on my etsy . (if they ever sell) i'm going to have a hard time parting with them.

2009-12-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

hidden treasures

on thanksgiving weekend i went "black friday" shopping in batesville, arkansas. considering that the best possible store to find there is jcpenny, i was hoping to find some interesting antique stores. after yawning through the first nick-nack store we made it to the historic down town of batesville and found a store called "hidden treasures." my mother was drawn to the jewlery, and i was drawn to a section of piles and piles of old journals. scrapbooking wasn't even close to touching the michaels martha stewart section in the 1940s. in one of the old scrapbooks i found pages filled with intricately cut out images (probably from magazines). but the book that interested me the most was a journal that said "gladys twenty five years" in silver ink on the front. it was a journal so thick it barely even opened. it was filled with handwritten letters from people to gladys, what seemed like hundreds of old photographs, and at the end poetry written on a typewriter. i couldn't resist, and of course my grandmother still finds it quite strange. anyway, i figured out that gladys used to work at the university of chicago, and had decided to move to the country with her husband. she had worked there twenty five years before finally retiring and a lot of people loved her. i am currently in the process of reconstructing the old scrapbooks i found into newly bound journals, and turning the gladys twentyfive years book into a series of note cards. it was painful to rip some things apart, but at the same time nice to think that something meaningful to someone in the past can be turned around into something meaningful to someone now. almost like a reincarnation of the love.

i'm including some pictures of the scrapbook clippings and gladys' book.

2009-12-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

arkansas beauty

It's nice to be home again. Last Saturday I went on a hike with my grandparents on the land that my grandfather was born on. It's comforting to have those roots and some of the bluffs on the land are so beautiful. To see more pictures from that day go here.

2009-11-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

wise words

"Yes, I saw Twilight - my granddaughter made me watch it, she said it was the greatest vampire film ever. After the ''film'' was over I wanted to smack her across her head with my shoe, but I do not want a (tell-all) book called Grannie Dearest written on me when I die. So instead I gave her a DVD of Murnau''s 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu and told her, ''Now that''s a vampire film!'' And that goes for all of you! Watch Nosferatu instead!" -Lauren Bacall

2009-10-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

current happenings

Yep it's that time again. Mid-terms. Things haven't been too bad though because I spent most of my weekend printing, cutting, measuring, and gluing. Finally I got to move on to the final step of my package design project, photographing. It may be my favorite part. The work is done and now all I have to do is try and shove all of my antique lamps into one room and shoot away. Here are some photos from my somewhat comical photo shoot on the floor with my bath products. Next item on shopping list: better lights or photographer boyfriend.

2009-09-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

race for the cure

I just finished up SanLori's Race for the Cure design today & I'm really excited about it! Sadly, I will be back in Savannah before the race. To learn more about joining their team visit the website mentioned above or visit SanLori's website.

2009-08-25T17:28:00.001-07:00

weekend adventures

This weekend my family and I moved my sister into college in St. Louis. Weeks ago I stumbled upon Cheree Berry's lovely website and discovered that she lives in St. Louis. So I did something completely out of character for me, I e-mailed her and asked her if she wanted to meet with me. I was so shocked and excited when she agreed! We arrived in St. Louis Friday afternoon just in time for me to walk through the Central West End to find Cheree's charming studio. It was nice to meet her and hear advice from someone who is so successful and talented. I left her office even more excited about my senior year than I had been. St. Louis is currently one of my new favorite cities. I hope to return soon!

2009-08-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

designs in the making

This summer I've been spending my days at home working listening to Pandora (until my free music time runs out) designing wedding invitations for SanLori. I have been seeing branches everywhere on wedding sites and blogs! I found the image on top in Martha Stewart weddings. I designed an invite with flowering branches on Monday. It's really still in the works but, you will be able to purchase it from SanLori in the future along with other wedding designs.

It seems like a lot of people I know have been getting married lately. All of this wedding invitation "research" I have been doing has almost made me want to get married! Ha. almost.

2009-08-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

sunday jazz

I've always felt that Sundays were the best days for jazz. Enjoy this video by jazz pianist, Art Tatum.

2009-08-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

$2 love

I went shopping at Mid-Towne Antique Mall the other day and I probably wandered around for a few hours looking at everything. I am in love with places like that, full of old things that used to be new. It reminds me of my childhood because my mother was always dragging me through countless antique malls. I managed to escape with this scarf/headband, a gold clutch, and an old polaroid camera. My favorite is this headband from Magpie & Birdie. I am wearing it in the photos above, along with a tube top, which did not make the photograph...leaving me looking quite nude. I'm always so happy to support local business and especially artists like myself. Continuing my shopping, yesterday I went to Box Turtle, one of my favorite stores in Little Rock, and in their local designers section I found more dresses by Magpie & Birdie! They are everywhere! And now they are in my blog. Hah, enjoy and have a spectacular day.

2009-08-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

The kitty likes my invitations

I'm currently housesitting for my Aunt and Uncle while they are in Brazil. They have a darling cat named Paris that has been starved for attention after my sister, who hates cats, has been taking care of their pets for the past few weeks. Paris keeps me company while I am working. (she is currently playing with my iphone charger chord that is dangling from my computer)

2009-07-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

jazz vinyl

I love how all of these record covers by Dean Stone Martin feel exactly like the music. Colorful, bold, sporadic, but somehow it all makes perfect sense and I can't get enough of it.

2009-06-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

recent adventures

I recently got back from a much needed vacation.
2 weeks: Florence, Rome, Santorini, and Athens.

I took along one of my most prized possessions: an old 35 mm Nikomatt camera.
So here are some of my pictures. If you want you can view more here.