The multicolor green girl: designer Carolina Wallin

Update! Read the Seattle Met article about Carolina and her studio in the May 2014 Behind the Scenes section.

Designer Carolina Wallin

I saw Carolina Wallin from halfway down the block, and she was a beacon of softened DayGlo, unassuming and Junoesque. “I love your colors!” I said as she passed, and she laughed and removed her stereo earbuds to say hello.

She immediately introduced herself, and we had a friendly chat right there. Carolina’s a designer from Sweden, and her line, The Green Girl, is a collection of jewelry, accessories, and clothes distinguished by clever meshing of geometrics, and unexpected color combinations. She was on her way to buy some plants for her studio, where Seattle Met magazine is doing a photo shoot of her designs this Friday. She and her husband just moved to Capitol Hill ten days ago, so she has been busy unpacking and preparing for the studio visit.

We talked materials—she designed her choker, comprising precision-cut craft foam—and gold vs. silver. I used to wear more silver, but have become more fond of gold over time. Maybe because of my wedding ring, which is a simple gold band. Carolina’s gold wedding ring is of her own design, and incorporates her grandmother’s ring.

She also designed her handbag, a mix of materials and hand embroidery on a gold chain. Gold and orange is a great combination, and the metal works so well with her blouse.

A handbag of Carolina's design

Carolina and her husband have lived in Seattle since this last January, and prior to that she designed for H&M after studying at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

I simply was struck by her bearing, color sense, and unique style. I’m sure she’s finding an enthusiastic audience for her designs in Seattle.

Stay abreast of Carolina’s work at http://thegreengirl.se, and follow her on Instagram and Pinterest.

And don't forget to watch for Seattle Met’s story about Carolina, which will soon be online in their Fashion and Shopping section.

Third Avenue Gem

Do you ever cheat when you walk across the street? You know: you start walking in a perfect perpendicular line to the street you're crossing, but then you cut a corner and veer inward toward the middle of your destination block to save time, or because you're lazy, or just because you can.

So I was crossing Third this morning and did that veering thing towards the front of the downtown Seattle YMCA, and watch out! I'm glad I didn't veer more, as I would have stepped on him. The roach was just hanging out on the sidewalk about 8" from the curb. I stopped and poked him with the toe of my shoe (clog, actually). Yep. Alive.

Mr. Roach

Mr. Roach, in context

But look at him; isn't he kind of pretty? You can see why insects have inspired beautiful jewelry for thousands of years. They possess symmetry, combine pleasing, rounded shape with strange, wiry appendages, and their armored exoskeletons are so opposite of our own anatomy.

Egyptian gold ring inlaid with lapis
lazuli scarab and glass, 1350 B.C.
Image credit: Susie Ward Aber

When I saw the King Tutankhamun exhibit in 1978, I really loved the scarabs. Whodda thunk someone could get so inspired by a beetle that they'd create something so beautiful?

I'm no entomologist, but I do want to clarify that roaches and scarabs, while related to the level of the infraclass Neoptera, belong to different superorders and orders. Scarabs are beetles of the order Coleoptera, and roaches Blattaria (as are termites). I also want to come clean and clarify that this insect taxonomy thing is stuff that I had to look up to write about it.

About 30,000 scarab species exist, and Egyptians long ago viewed the sacred scarab as a form of the sun god Khepri. I don't know if there have been any cultures that viewed the cockroach as the embodiment of a god. Perhaps we could make the roach the "God of the Unsanitized Gym Shower Stall," or "He Who Waves in Delight at the Midnight Restaurant Dumpster Bounty."

For a lovely story about an insect pet and information on actual bejeweled beetles, check out The Holy Enchilda's blog.