Dream Snaps

I have loved this look of old photographs forever and apparently it can be done with this camera. Where has this been all my life? Now I really really want one.







Read about them here

Handy Holiday Preps

So I am very eager to cheat and reveal some of my holiday projects but I can't! As my Dad always says, Tis the season for no questions. But if you ask me without la familia around I will happily divulge. Plus the Christmas card is more fun this year so I am looking forward to sending those out soon.
I will probably post some pics up of the girls gifty within a few days since, you know, they won't read this. I thought of an awesome idea for Scott and Luke (finally) but alas, they are similar in execution so you'll have to wait. And if I can finish the huge watercolor I started for Scott, then it's a bonus (there is one reveal).
Anyway, just wanted to send an update that AcadeMe is not forgotten. Only slower until the 26th! Then I'll load it up with updates. Stay tuned.....
In the meantime, anyone else making gifts? I would love more ideas...

Wide Open

Liked these clouds painted by Michael Stack.

Scrap Table

Saw this table in the latest Readymade and thought it was such a rad idea. He used a bunch of random scrap pieces of wood and glued/screwed them all together, then used a 4' diameter circle of plywood as a guide to trim all the edges off, sanded the whole thing down with progressively finer sand paper and finished with primer, paint and polyurethane. Such a unique piece. I think the choice of having it all doused in one color is what makes it so interesting. And I like how the sanding wore into the pieces around the edges and the top.
Now I really wish I had some tools....

Talented Friend

Today I decided to call an old friend, Mitch Baird (still fondly nicknamed "MitchellThomas"). In college he was my mod buddy. We rode our vespas together, went to live shows, shared music and hung out. I haven't been good at keeping in touch...Now they have a baby girl! It was fun to learn about a new daughter and hear how his art is going. He is so talented and an incredible painter. I just put a couple up here to show, but check out his site to see more. Great to catch up with you, MT! (And still call me if you go paint Spain!)

Girl Next Door Holiday Show

Here are a couple of images from the show. I will have more on the site soon if you are interested. I snagged what I could before people started sneaking through the door. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see the rooms full of people. I feel blessed to know such great people who make this show a success. It's so fun to share and have it supported. If you were involved or attended, THANK YOU! :)

Das Boats

Finally posting some pics of the finished boats. I did five total for my experimental round. The two tallest were approx. 22" high, mid 18" and smallest 12". Some notes and ideas for the next go:
-I intended to use all this cool fabric for the sails but it was distracting from the vintage map hulls. I ended up using white for the most part, which looked great, but now I want to add more texture to them like applique some cool crests and heraldry on the sails, monograms, etc.
-For the printed fabric sails I want to try using vintage handkerchiefs as well as textured fabric. Wouldn't a great, all over dark ship look mysterious with velvet sails?! Ooh boy... just think of the possibilities.
-All of these have one mast. Next time I want to try more masts to get that pirate/Peter Pan look
-I pulled out some of the map colors by using colored twine and eyelets/rivets for hardware and assembly. Should I paint the wood beams? I'm not sure yet.
-Thought it may be fun to place something tiny inside each boat to add that cherry on top of imagination. In case any child has it hanging in their room and one day ventures a ladder to peek inside, they discover a residential surprise! Like a small book or tea cup..... I know, I'm weird.

Is It Just Me?

Wow- Sometimes I come across an artist that amazes me and stirs my soul. It's such a weird conflict of emotion because I absolutely feast on their detail or expression and at the same time I am jealous of how wonderful it is. Jealous because I want to create at that level and do it instantly! I want to have others feel what I feel as I look at their work. That is something so great about artistry and creating.... sharing something personal with others and having them 'see' what you see. IF they see it... but when they do, it's magic! It's not for approval or praise or recognition, it's sincere desire to share beauty as a gift. Someday I hope to create at this level.
This woman just oozes talent and has exquisite papercuts so I wanted to share some of her work.
PS-The pics inspired: Detail. I loved the orange/charcoal rabbit combo- this would be cool to do with my kids silhouettes (a project I've had on the back burner and now I'm motivated). I liked the curved house/tree piece... the 'scene' idea is interesting.

Taking Shape

Some of the boats in progress... Like?

Decor Dreams

So I'm weird when it comes to decorating and have a hard time finding things I like, affording things I like (curse you DWR) and actually attempting to make it look good. But I kept these pictures to remember these pieces. The first one, the table, is some random unique find that the owner acquired in some shop. No designer was listed. I absolutely love the base of it and the worn wood top. It's fab. It would be fun to see in a slightly more modern setting so it's style could stand out. For starters, a cool shaggy rug to show off the base!





And this dresser... I know it's a bit random and not usually my style but just picture this in a cool designer mountain retreat. Add a leather Eames lounge, a great lamp and voilá! You have a cool work of art that nods to the organic surroundings. Do you see? Well, maybe you still don't and that's okay. It's made with Turkish blankets. Each one was supposedly different. And don't overlook the details- the riveted leather trim and pulls.
Too bad it's not for sale anymore.

Featured!

Girl Next Door was recently featured in Summerlin Home News! Circulation of about 30,000! Could be good for our show...

(And it has been edited a bit, as publishing goes, so if you find all my condensed descriptions a bit excessive... I agree. But I'm not complaining. :) )

New Idea

Birds! I think I am going to wrap these in cool vintage fabric...
I also am realizing I need power tools. Fun fun! I see a table saw in
my future...maybe a drill press...

Sea My Progress

Here are some images of the boat progress.
I started by saving empty boxes that I thought had a good cardboard weight to them and cut the larger, flat side out.
You can see from the first image kind of how I do it. I keep one end of box (it's usually the 'bottom' flap of the box), cut the other end off and then cut strips lengthwise, stopping at the flap fold. Then I cut the flap into thirds and fold inward, creating the back of my boat. I took the center, bottom strip and joined it with the two outside strips to create the basic frame of the boat, then stapled the rest of the strips to follow the shape.
Ta-da! A basic boat hull. Mmm... who wants some Jo-Jo's? The person sitting inside sure will...
I cut some newspaper into long strips and started to mache the hulls. I did some research and decided to try this art paste for my maiden voyage. It was easy to make and worked really well but I was a little grossed out at first by it's texture. So "Ghostbusters" and slimy- like the goop that the ghost smears all over the books in the library... you remember, right? But then things like that turn fun and you feel like a kid finger painting or something. Now I am hooked!
Anyway, wrapped each one in newsprint and let them dry as I worked on the next one. It was a gorgeous day so the sun dried them quickly and made the work very pleasant. By the time I finished the last one, the first was dry, so I went inside and sorted my vintage maps. I grouped them by color and cut them in strips. Then back out to put on the map layers.
I liked selecting the areas of paper I wanted to be visible. Maybe a girl or boy will notice these small details. Maybe an adult will. Maybe only I will. :)
The paper mache part really altered some of my card board structures, though. You can see how warped and curled some became. I still think after some painting and the sails they will look good...at least I hope so. Now I am thinking of different materials to try.
Anyway, very fun. I'm already dreaming up different things to make! And hopefully to launch at GND which means you can see them soon. Tease tease....

Cycling Chic

This is such a great blog with amazing images of local cycling culture. Apparently it's standard Copenhagen transport and also apparently, most people there are beautiful. :)
She does a great job photographing what it's like. I want to paint half of her images. Makes me really, really want to go there for a relaxing few months and just live a fancy euro life, ride bikes in the night holding hands, stop at café's, take in the incredible scenery. Most of these women are in heels or heeled boots! Pedals sure don't stop them from dressing well....
If you have time, I recommend browsing her Flickr album....

Busy

Finally did the flyer. Now back to projects.
Been making some great basic silver jewelry since K can't make it this show (I won't come near her talent but hopefully it was satiate her fans), playing with paper maché and cardboard boat hulls, some vinyl ideas, maybe some pen drawings... (maybe)....some sewing.... too many ideas and not much time. Hopefully I can get some teasers up here before it comes and goes.

Growing Wonder

Incredible stick work by Patrick Dougherty. Really cool pics on his site so check it one-two. So atmospheric, like a story book. I really like the frozen motion of this one by the stairs. And don't you want to walk through those tree houses? Hmmmm. I need a tree house.

Maybe in this tree.

Halloween Awards

I am finally getting this picture up. I had some great dark plum and olive ribbon that I found afterward... would have been so fun to make more in different colors. Ah well. Next year. The discs were about 3.5" in diameter so the ribbons hung long down the front. I like the results and did not tire of the possibilities. Hopefully the winners were proud.
Can I make one for who ate the most Turkey next month?

Leah Giberson

I really like her work.
Interesting subject matter, great shadows.... very calm.

Hope

Setting Course

I found my maps.
They range in different sizes but look just how I wanted them too.
Finding a variety is changing my original plan. I was going to create a few boats of the same size and test out my idea. Now I think they will range depending on the paper. Cool, yes!? Having the paper be the beginning of their individual destination? I am excited to try this and see how my dream boats will form....
While they are shipping I can begin to assemble the hulls! I'm going to feel like a gigantic, greedy Noah... standing over my many boats....

Comeen Comeen!

Now that I have filled my plate with things I'd like to do, I will soon be posting things I am doing and have been busy doing. Mostly holiday things...but still creative fuel.

Vitamin D

There is something so wonderful about the sun. We get a lot of it here and I don't mind it at all. I love to meditate as the kids swim and observe the strong contrast that such a bright, direct light casts onto the earth for a few months. Most things I have painted usually include strong shadows because I love how much they add to a simple shape. Anyway, as I was by the pool the other day (it's still been so warm here), I was reminded how this summer I kept intending to take pictures of our floating pool toys and want to try and paint them, and only them. Just the toy and the shadow and leave the rest of the paper white......... I wonder what it would look like.....

Love the classic mid-cent design to some of these....

Floating Dreams

Um.... I can't even express how much I love this idea. Does it play on my mobile fixation? How absolutely dreamy is this?!? Think of all you could wonder lying beneath this floating architecture. I just LOVE it! Looks like quite the undertaking as this artist creates the hulls with paper mache, wire, etc. Eesh. But they are so beautiful. The last photo of them from below seriously took my breath away....

'School' Books

I have been wanting to try screen printing for a while and lately a crop of little books have interested me in following through.
Don't school books break the bank!? :-) Oh well.
Memo to me: specifically check these out