This change has manifested in my toes. I used to be a nude toe polish girl. No reds, no pinks, no blues, greens, frosted or sparkled. Nude! Not only Nude, but opaque Nude. My current favorite is Sonia Kashuk Ideal Nude, which you can get at Target. Ideal Nude,...it is Ideal. She should rename it Perfect Nude That I Love Ever So Much. But as much as I love nude toenails, I have been really feeling the need to go Dark. Not Goth Dark, but almost. I bought a bottle of Revlon Vixen a week or so ago and as I was applying the first coat, I came to understand why people pay hundreds of dollars a year to have someone else do this for them. I am not one for pedicures, I don't really like strange people touching me, but Dark nail polish may be the straw that drives me to the salon. It's very challenging and very messy. I discovered the phenomena of Dark polish melting into a Dark stain that goes everywhere and is really hard to get off once Nail Polish Remover is applied. I think I am going to need one of these corrector pens. October 27, 2004
I am loving Brandy's calendar pages so much! I am also very intrigued by her binder of themes she compiled. I currently have a small plastic file box that is CRAMMED with magazine clippings and such organized into files like "Halloween Ideas" and "Fashion Crafts". The problem I am having is that it's really kind of messy, and it's a major event looking through everything. The reason I kept these things is because they inspired me, but they aren't doing me any good if I never look at them. I have been thinking of re-organizing them using the same method I use for recipes. I want to get a three ring binder and put my clippings in clear plastic sleeves. That way I can flip through it like a book. I love the binders from Russell + Hazel, but 20 bucks for a binder? I just don't know. I saw in a Pottery Barn once some binders on a shelf that looked like the plain white ones you get at the office supply store. The ones that have a clear plastic coating on them that enable you to slip stuff in the covers and spines. I like that idea.
Also, excited about "snazzy" as this week's illustration Friday. I am bummed about missing Fiesta, I totally forgot about it. I can't believe it's Wednesday already! Where do the days go?
Purse update: Sequins are ordered and on their way.
J and I have decided that after this wine harvest is over, we are going to celebrate with a little trip to Portland. We are going to do the whole wine tasting thing, fancy dinner thing, and hang out in Portland thing. We are both extremely excited as my Pooky-butt J has worked 40 of the past 43 days, at an average of 10 hours a day and is in dire need of a break. Poor, poor, Pooky-butt J. One of the best things about going to Portland is that we both get to buy new fancy dinner outfits. Thank you God, for blessing me with a boyfriend that likes to shop more than I do.
I realized last night that in addition to a fancy new outfit, I need a fancy new purse. I bought a new "everyday" purse a while back (mine was black), and I love it. But it's too large and bulky and not exactly fancy-dinner fancy enough. Instead of buying a fancy new purse, I have decided to attempt to make a fancy new purse.
I have been trying to decided what kind of craft to tackle next, and I have always been intrigued with the idea of making purses, like a lot of us are, so a fancy new purse seemed an excellent choice.
My first thought was to make one of the gorgeous little bags out of Omyiage. I decided against that because those bags seem a little more complicated than am ready to deal with, and not quite big enough. Plus, I would need to decide what kind of fabric to use and where to get them and so on, and so forth and already it was starting to get to difficult.
I decided to make a simple rectangle bag with a simple handle almost exactly like the one in this pattern (the pink one right in the middle). I also know that I want it to be black, probably a dupioni, which I can get at the local Joanns. Easy. I don't think I am going to buy the pattern because I am sure I can figure it out myself, and I have a ton of muslin to practice with.
The next decision is how to jazz it up enough to make it fancy dinner worthy. I have come up with four variations:
They are pretty similar, just variations on materials.
1. This was inspired by some pillows I saw in a magazine that were covered in spangly sequins. The crafster blog pointed to a sequin source a while back which is fabulous. I am thinking for this variation that the black iridescent 17 mm oval (scroll down) would be perfect. I have never worked with sequins so I am not sure if this would work. Plus side for this is that the sequins are very economical and I could sewn them on while watching TV.
2. This is a variation on #1, using these fabulous tooth shaped bone beads from Shipwreck beads. My concern about this one is I don' t know how heavy all of those beads would make it and if the fabric could handle it. Plus side is that Shipwreck is close by and I can check them out in person. This one is sort of becoming my favorite.
3. This one is inspired by two things. A purse I clipped out of a fashion magazine a while back that I cannot find for the LIFE of me. (note to self: need to re-think current organization method) It had SUPER long fringe. Crazy long. And to reinforce this image, I was watching Sex and the City this weekend and Carrie had a purse that had the longest fringe I have ever seen. It was the episode where Berger dumps her with the Post-it, I think. Hence, the super long beaded fringe. As much as I like this idea, this one has too many unknowns. What kind of beads? What colors? Should I make a pattern? How should I string them? Decisions, decisions...
4. This one is inspired by a shawl I saw in a Living Etc. magazine. It had peacock feathers attached to the bottom edge and it was beautiful. As luck would have it, I caught and episode of DIY Jewelry Making where they showed how to turn feathers into earrings, and I think I could use that same technique to attach the peacock feathers to the purse. Downside of this one is that I have never worked with feathers or wire or any of that and am unsure of the success. I am thinking of buying all of the materials so I can work out all variations at once. We'll see how it goes!
I bought the Holiday issue of Country Living magazine the other day and they have a article that features the art of Terry John Woods. He creates fabulous folk art and teddy bears and has patterns for sale. One of my favorite of his creations are the sewn paper santas. I love these! I am already starting to think about the holidays. It's not hard with all of the crap I am getting in the mail. I got a Hold Everything catalog and fell in LOVE with these big foot stockings (right hand side of the page). What a clever idea..putting toes on your stockings. I also got a Garnet Hill catalog and found what may be the perfect tree to display my pickle ornaments.
I went to the craft store yesterday and I found the most perfectest tool to aid in my postage stamp obsession. You may recall a while back that I bought some postage stamp sheets. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best product for me. The stamp sheets are perfect for RUBBER stampers and I wanted something I could run through the printer.
I went to the craft store looking for one of those rounded corner punches. I ordered a bunch of paper stuffs from Paper-Source to use to create my business cards and whatnot and I wanted to use that punch to round the corners of the cards. I got distracted, however, by the glory that is the postage stamp punch. It is perfection. Needless to say, I left the store without my rounded corner punch, which I'll have to go back for. I am planning on printing my "stamps" on a full sheet label stock, a glossy one if I can find it, and then punch the stamps with my punch.
Every so often I buy a How magazine, whenever they come out with the awards for self-promotion, business identity, posters, and so on. I have been doing this for several years to get some inspiration for my own venture. I never really get very far. I told a friend once that I am the worst client I ever had. A few years ago, the use of stamps in conjunction with identity was fresh and new and I loved it as soon as I saw it. That was probably around the same time as Griffin and Sabine. Thank god for the burgeoning craft of scrapbooking with its novel inventions!
- I joined a gym! I can hardly believe it. I am still learning the moves and equipment, but I am pretty excited about it. And sore. Ow.
- Crazy vegetables that look like they belong on a Star Trek episode. I went to the farmer's market this weekend, and my favorite farmer had this amazing vegetable shown on the wonderful Superhero journal. It's a Romanesque Cauliflower/Broccoli. It was very yummy.
-Crazy vegetables #2. My favorite farmer also had a purple cauliflower..Purple! I had to have it. We also belong to a vegetable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and we got a bag of purple beans in our box this week. Purple! Tonight is going to be the purple meal. Beans and cauliflower, and what else....what else is purple? Eggplant..
-Erika points us to some great ideas..Penelope's Illustration Friday. This week it's "Smelly"...got to start thinking about that...also Keri Smiths poster of her day.
-I made some chili this weekend that I have been eating for breakfast. Chili for breakfast? Yes indeedy.
The other day, as I was looking at my cable guide searching for something to watch, I noticed that my cable company has FINALLY decided to offer the DIY Network and Fine Living. They stuck them close to all of the High Def channels and I usually zoom past those so I don't know how long they have been there, but I only just noticed them. Suffice it to say, I am pretty excited. Now I can watch Knitty Gritty.
I have been watching those two channels as much as I can just to see what shows are worthy. I saw one on Fine Living that was hosted by that Gordon Elliot guy, who normally drives me nuts. I can't stand him. But I endured him because he was at a puzzle factory in Vermont that makes hand cut wood puzzles that are stunning. And expensive..as well they should be I suppose. I have always wanted to make a wood puzzle. It's one of those "some day" things, since I don't have a jigsaw...or the space. My mom DOES have a jigsaw however, and a few years ago I had her cut me a simple little puzzle I saw in the background of a lamp book. This is a very simple rendering of what it looked like:
I still have it, still trying to figure out how to paint it which is pretty silly since it only took me a few minutes to make that graphic. But anyway...I really love puzzles. I haven't put one together in a very long time though...perhaps I will look into getting one.
Alrighty! The new project is up! Halloween Tag Art Dolls.I have been picking up the magazine Somerset Studio whenever I happen to see a new one and I am always impressed and inspired by the projects. This tag art doll was inspired by one I spotted in that magazine.
I am also really coveting several of the Martha by Mail products:
I don't NEED a cake stand, but I REALLY liked it. Should I have bought it? I don't know. I guess if I didn't buy it as soon as I saw it then I really didn't want it that bad. I sort of forgot about it until I saw it in the current issue of Lucky.
I am really loving the fall up here right now. It's foggy in the mornings and the sun breaks out about noon leaving a gorgeous, crisp, sunny fall day. I am sure I mentioned at least once that fall is my favorite season. Unfortunatley it's also the grape harvest so my man is working like crazy and can't savor the beauty with me.
I still trying to get everything completed for this site overhaul. I gave myself an October 1st deadline, and as you can tell, I didn't quite make it. Oh well! Slowly but surely.
I am going to put up a Cafe Press shop, still working on the graphics for that, so it's not quite ready. I put some new pieces in the portfolio section. A graphic for each of the books I have worked on: One, two and three.
I am also working on a Halloween Tag Art Doll that I am going to make available for download..a PDF or something. Here is a sneak peak:
I need to get to get busy!
October 3, 2004
Hello! This site is going to be a little crazy for a few days while I am trying to get everything changed and uploaded...
