Dioramas

There is something so magical and familiar about dioramas.  When I see them I feel like I am tasting and smelling and touching a memory all at the same time from when I was a child.

Jardindelis on etsy

Anonymous

Mexican Folk Art Diorama

Sugar Egg

New Year's Resolutions

Each year the day before New Years Even I feel obligated to come up with a makeshift resolution, which normally consists of me saying I'm going to stop biting my nails.  For some reason my resolution is always something associated with a criticism or a negative habit.  This year I started thinking about the things I want to accomplish instead.  And it got me thinking that I have for quite some time wanted to begin sewing ultimately resulting in me one day being able to whip up an outfit for myself.  Let's be serious this is an epic goal for someone like me who is impatient and loves collecting hobbies, so I have decided that by the end of the year I want to start and finish a quilt.  My grandmother quilts.  Beautiful amazing quilts!  I need to document all of them (part two I have now decided of my new years resolution/goals).  Here is a little inspiration:

Quilt by Amy Sullivan 

Found here

Gee's Bend Quilt

Pan de Muerto

Pan de Muerto is made for Dia de los Muertos and placed on the altars for the
spirits that come to visit on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2. It's pretty tasty!

Pumpkin Carving

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Our Wedding

A little sampling of what the night was like most photos courtesy of one of our amazing friends who did some amazing photography for us! Thanks you.

Handmade tissue paper flowers made by my sisters, David's little sisters and I.

            

Pumpkins carved by our guests the night before at a bbq over at David's house.

Carrot cake made by David's mom with a family recipe
looking amazing on my mother's Otomi tablecloth
she has had since we lived in Mexico City when I was a kid.   

Spoiler Alert!

I just can't help it!  I'm so excited about the cake topper I made!  We each picked the other person's person. And I created the whole scene.



*The letters are a Jurassic Park font and the dinosaur is actually a Jurassic Park action figure from way back.

Wedding Invitations

Here are the invitations that I made for our wedding!  Now that they have been sent out I feel like I can share them.  11 days to go!

To be watched over and over

"Litany" by Billy Collins
You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
 However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
 It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
 And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
 It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
 I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
 I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine .

Cross it off the list

Remember that post of mine about those amazing polish handmade chandelier called pajakis?  For a while there I didn't think I was going to get to make one for the wedding, but.....

A little sneak peak of what I have been working on for the wedding.  I am so excited I just can't wait!

birthdays

Happy Birthday to my sister and me!  I share my birthday with my younger sister. I know amazing right?  No not a miracle, just a scheduling conflict with the doctor which lead to July 29th being the fated day.  Since my sister just moved here a few weeks ago, we actually got to share our birthdays together this year just like old times. Though my ideal birthday is spent in an amazing restaurant for a five hour long dinner I also was given some wonderful gifts. Two in particular I had been coveting for quite some time.




ring by David Neale from my sisters

Swedish Hasbeens Clog Boots from my mom and dad

Painting

I finished the monster painting! So pleased.

Papel Picado

I promised a few weeks ago that I would photograph the actual paper cut made for the save the dates. Here it is!  

Below is an informative video on how papel picado is traditionally made.  I only made one! So I just used an xacto knife. It would have been fabulous if I had made them like the artist in the video. Each person could have had their own little papel picado banner! It's one of the crafts that I fell in love with as a kid when we lived in Mexico City.

new wax

 

tattooed arm (adjustable ring)

sketch

sketch for a collaboration with this writer

color and happiness

The Wish Come True Festival by Friends with you. For two weeks the city was sprinkled with all of this happiness by Friends With You during Toronto's arts festival Luminato. Wishing I had been there.

cake

work in progress...i am having so much fun painting this. she unintentionally looks like my older sister.

wedding odds and ends

possibly a summer wedding project...many if not most of the wedding is pretty diy by me and the fiance or other artisans. it's been rather exciting. these i have been fascinated by for quite some time and the occasion is as good an excuse as any!

These are pajaki:The literal translation is "spiders of straw". Located 90 kilometers from Warsaw the town of Lowicz and surrounding villages comprise the center of what many consider to be Poland's most colorful folk region. A typical village house from this area was full of colored flower paintings, fancy paper cut-outs and mobiles made of straw and colored paper. The mobiles or pajaki are delicate creations hand made by the women and girls of the villages as decorations for their homes

first from WREN Handmade

definition and second from the Polish Art Center

Painting

Sorry for the poor photos. I forgot to take photos this morning when there's better natural light because first thing this morning I was in a wedding dress boutique after I relapsed into thinking I wanted a wedding gown!!! No worries back to my usual self again...phew! More on wedding stuff later. Right now I am just proud to be painting again. I showed sketches of this one a few months ago. Half done stage (the stage where I start to freak out) so it's been slow going for a few days.

I didn't start with a sketch with the fiasco ensuing during high tea. Sometimes I feel like when I sketch something and then do a finished sketch, the drawing loses some of it's energy, so I'm toying with the idea of just using my first sketch.

Giveaway over at Modish

There's a great giveaway over at Modish

salivating

see by chloe. everyone should know that this skirt is $600. there it's out there now, so there's no purchasing this because i know you know how much I spent on it! ugh!

art history

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.


thank you ms. network news!

new wax

After all of my browsing and researching papel picado and making save the dates I still couldn't get it out of my head. I love them, now. i think i might hate them when sanding. The fox will become a pendant and the smaller one will become earrings.

p.s. i am also an art teacher

I went to the National Art Educators Association Annual Conference this year. I was very excited because my school sent me along with 2 other classroom teachers. It was nice to share it. It was in Baltimore and this was the view from our hotel window. As we pulled back the curtains it blew our minds.















And this is the museum (that is now my favorite) which caused me to miss my bus home to New York. Whoops! The American Visionary Art Museum!

papel picado

i conquered the save the dates over my spring break. i first tried to just draw it and then scan it into photoshop, but it wasn't working out so well, so I ended up actually whippin out the old xacto knife and cutting it out of paper by hand. Tedious but satisfying. Then i scanned them in and David helped choose the color. Voila!

p.s. I will try and photograph the hand cut one i think it's actually really beautiful

stop motion love

marriage

so i'm engaged...plans are in the works for the celebration and such, but to tide you all over this is my engagement ring. david and i picked it out together. we also had a diamond of my mother's set and there is a small micro pave diamond band on it's way (those two will be my wedding bands). all designed by the wonderful caitlin mociun of mociun. so yes folks, there is not just one, or two, but three rings for me to play with. variety is the spice of life as they say.

holi- the festival of colors

happiness

holi, a hindu festival, which celebrates the triumph of good over and welcomes the new spring.

thanks to craftivism

jewelry

new work! my shop name will be cast in silver and i'm going to use that as a logo when it's photographed. the loop will be a ring and the snake will be a pair of earrings (that i plan on wearing every single day-i have had a thing for snake jewelry since i was a kid). and last but not least i finally finished the most painstakingly slow to sand and finish bracelet. hopefully i will have my shop up and running by late april. i need to build up my inventory and such and then i will be good to go. i'm pumped!

sketches