Resurgence

It's been a while...since my last attempt at a post I had gone through a period of some intense self-questioning. Thankfully, I have since arisen from the ashes of gloom with lessons learnt and eager to unleash my creative prowess!

What's to come....

***Room revamp. Going for that forest by the ocean kinda feels

 A little bit of this....

 With hopefully a color close to this...sooooo many paint options. Can't. Pick. One.

 Gorgeous bed sheets!

Loving the simple and light pairing :D

....Before and after shots to come...

** Furniture making

I REALLY want to DIY a patio bench...maybe I'll take a Wood Shop class?

Finally create a super cool planter with some awesome herbs :3

*Some water painting?? need to get my desk situated...
I miss my water colors.

~Continua <3

DIY Hacksssss

Need a reusable calendar??

Go to the nearest Goodwill or Dollar store and purchase a picture frame. Add some twine and white board marker...Vuola! You've got a calendar forever!!!

Next on the list...

My owl lantern!

I found this awesome lantern at the Goodwill for a dollar!!!....A DOLLAR! I added some twine tied to a push pin and popped it up on the ceiling. Can either use a real candle inside (burns brighter) or use a tea light candle :) Puuuuuurrrrrty awesome if I can say so myself. 

Old School Does New School

I've been wanting an Atari wallet ever since I found out that such a contraption is possible. So I set forth to look for our atari game collection for games we had duplicates of or could spare.

So I found these:

and magic ensued...

 Took the guts out...

 Filed & painted...

 Both...

 This piece was originally from the black Atari cartridge. I painted it white and used it as an insert for the Donkey Kong wallet.

 Added hinges, taken off of $1 boxes from Jo-Anns 

To both cartridges... 

And VUOLA! 

Fully Functional and for the most part, done. The white/DK cartridge just needs a bill holder. 

For the dismantling and assembly of these wallets I used: 

-wire cutters

-small metal file 

-Elmers Super Glue

-small hinges (jewelry box hinges)
-drill

-small screw drivers

-hammer

**BEFORE YOU PRY OPEN CARTRIDGE, make sure to take out the screws hidden in the front (behind images) of games. It will make the games a bit easier to open and you won't mess it up. 

I started to use a small saw to take off the plastic guts...then gave the wire cutters a try and it made the cuts a lot cleaner. I pinched parts of the plastic I wanted to remove and lightly hammered the plastic pieces. They came off nicely. Filed down all the bumps and cuts I missed and started assembling pieces. I spray painted the insides of both cartridges..just so the insides look cleaner. I think they came out pretty good. 

Excited to whip these babies out on my next purchase! :D

That's So Clutch? *_*

I've been wanting to making my own wallet for a while. I had initially started with these ideas...

Hand-drafted ideas of what I had in mind. (sorry for the image quality.
It was tucked away, got wrinkled aaand I didn't feel like scanning) :/

and initially was going to use these materials....

Kitten & sea foam green cloth 

However, that project ended up hiding away in my sewing bag. I even had put placement needles in the green cloth. Finally after some intense Pinterest'ing (gawd I <3 pinterest) and youtube searching I found another way to make a wallet/clutch-thingy. The materials would be more to my liking (as opposed to the very thin and flimsy cloth) and it wouldn't take as much work. 

(Note: I had broken my last needle for my sewing machine so I needed a more hand-stitch friendly project)

So this is what I started with....

Gold napkin, multi-colored (neutral) woven placemat,
scissors, gold yarn, placement needles

 I bought the napkin and placemat at Bed Bath & Beyond for $2.99 (mat) + $1.99 (napkin), coming out to $5 dollars total. I also found a pretty pastel green placemat at the Dollar Tree! I may wait to get some needles for my sewing machine for that one. I liked the colors of the placemat and napkin here (above) more for matching most my outfits, so I got started with this one first. 

I cut the napkin and placemat so that it was a bit smaller. The actual placemat was 14"x14" and napkin was about 1 inch longer on all sides. I wanted my clutch to be smaller so I cut it down to about 8 inches. After cutting to size, I lined the mat with my napkin and pinned it. The napkin wasn't necessary, but aesthetically I thought I would be nice to have a lining. I had to tuck away about 1" of the napkin to fit the size of the mat. 

Top is pinned. Bottom is all sewn up. 

So here is the inside lining and outside of what my clutch will look like. Now onto the next step...sewing up the sides!

Here we have a nice bag 8"width x 9" height (open) & 5" height (closed)

 Almost finished!!!

Time for some embellishments. 

Added a shell button? and a little button hidden underneath (like a pearl!)
Also, a nice off-white, gold-trimmed ribbon which wraps around the clutch

Here's what the clutch looks like closed and open

Side view (empty)

Side view-with items inside

Just another side view with items inside

My hand-sewing could use practice and cleaning up, but it's decent enough that it holds this project together. I used a mix of cross-stitch, button stitch, and other ones that I can't even name. I swear it holds well.

I was going to add a gold chain so I can wear it as a cross bag or purse, but decided against it. It looks nice just as is, and the whole reason for the clutch is that it was small enough to hold items, for me to hold and not be bothered by a purse swinging as I show off my badass dance moves on the dance floor.

Which brings me to the point of why I finally got around to this project. I wanted a clutch to take out for NYE. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to actually finish it before I went out. But now I have a pretty clutch to take out on my next dance/bar-venture. 

So, Eat Your Hearts Out Designer-pimpin fashionistas!

... and Happy New Year!

Repurpose Your Purpose

Long time no post, right!?

First off, I apologize that I haven't kept constant on my posts. I've been out and about creating new stories and finding inspiration, because lately I've had creator's block. Yes, that's the equivalent of writer's block. Now that I've found inspiration, I'm excited to share.

So let me just inform you on the whole repurpose concept. Take an old shirt or something you find at a thrift shop and make it into something more YOU...Cut it up, tie it up, sew it up. I've become quite familiar with my mom's old sewing machine :3 I've taken my dad's old work shirts and made an apron, an patriotic dress-shirt, took large t-shirts and made them into grocery tote bags. Today I bring you a a men's tank that I got at a thrift store and a shirt I had taken apart before and cleaned up the rough cutting.

Men's Large Tank -->split back women's tank shirt

front view

side view

back view

So yeah, there's the split back shirt. I saw these shirts on pinterest and thought they were so cute.  So I looked up a few d.i.y. ideas. Unfortunately, I came up empty on any 'how to' tutorials. :( So I just guesstimated on how one would go about creating the split back style. Cut the tank right down the middle (backside) and sewed it back up like a racer back, only sewing it closed a quarter of the way down. I'm satisfied with the way it came out. Now compare this $7 repurposed tank to what you find on the net/stores. Yeah, I'm a beast!  

 Blouse --> halter-racer back

front

back (w/bow)

So I took a blouse I had hidden among shirts I never wear and decided to tear it up.  Sorry I don't have a picture of what it looked like before.  So I took apart the sleeves completely. I didn't like the sleeves, they had that slight poof to the shoulders. Kind of like the sleeve below:

Yeah, the style can be very feminine and cute, but I had far outgrown the shirt, but I really like the nautical-like feel the blouse had and didn't want to part from it. So I changed it up. I looked up ideas on Pinterest (a great site for d.i.y. ideas) and found a few no sew repurposed shirt ideas.  First I had two straps going down the back that met at the bottom center- knotted at various points.  However, that looked too messy and bulky. So I took away all the tie-knots and sewed up pieces to make it look more clean. Cleaned up the arm area cut outs and added a bow at the bottom. Vuola!

Altogether both shirts took only a few hours in a day to complete. The tank to split back was really quick. I think it took me like 2 hours max to get it cut, pinned, fitted, and sewn. The blouse to halter took longer because I had to fix previous errors from my last repurpose and then figure out how to make it work using the materials I had left. If you have a sewing machine I highly recommend getting to know how to use it. You'll save yourself lots of money by finding bargain pieces and taking old clothes and making them awesome again! Also, sewing is a great skill to have.

Ok, before I end this post I have a question for my viewers. I have this small boys black t-shirt. Anyone have any suggestions/ideas of what I should do with it? I'd like to hear your thoughts :)

F.Y.I. you can buy any woman's Large/X-large blouse and make a dress out of it by adding a belt :) Just make sure it's the right length.

CIAO <3 <3

Research & ReConfigure

This is a model of the Landscape Architecture building for my LDA model making class. I failed to take any pictures of the front and sides before I took it apart. I had a lot of fun constructing the model and doing the research. Unfortunately, the fun ended when presentation time came and the teacher began to critique. She was one hard ball. I guess you have to be when you're in a male dominated career that is HIGHLY competitive in itself.

Some cool notes about this project:

-Researching the different bike racks was mind-blowing. The one I used here was the coolest and most efficient for the small space in between the building's two longer sides. The building in the middle is some kind of test lab..for what? I do not know. I think plants maybe. The Geology department and I think another department shares the building. Next store is the Plants Sciences building..I don't know. Bad department situating planning?

-I found some really interesting porch swings and waterfall-like porch covers. One inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright himself. Seriously...ARCHITECTURE IS WAAAAY COOL! Maybe I should have posted this in my other blog..merps. Ohswells! :)

-I spent a lot of time designing what I thought were pretty awesome planters. F.Y.I. professor didn't like my ideas or project all that much. gah! Talk about heart breaking. I guess my awesome research didn't quite show that well through my model. Though she kept telling us "abstract! abstract!" In my head that translates as "glarbitty gloobin, glarbitty gloobin"...in otherwords, I dun know whatcha talkin bout sista!
Momentary digression...
So like I said, spent lots of time coming up with cool ideas for the planter and being proud of what I had thought up. Good times, good times. :)

Yeah, so I don't have much to comment on this project. I promise I'll update with something more interesting on my next post. I'm slowly recovering my artistic tendencies. I've spent too long away from my pencil and pad :(

And A Lovely Galentines Day to You!

Happy Valentines day to all my viewers and a special Galentines Holla at these lovely ladies whom I have shared many an adventure with and love very dearly.

These gals (as seen in photo) have been such great friends to me through a lot of the ups and downs of this crazy world. Even miles away we still hangout via Googs + and occasional trips Northward or Southward :). 

Sorry ladies if this is publicly embarrassing, but you must know how amazeballs y'all are, especially for being so awesome and visiting for a Galentines Reunion! Anyways, I'll tone down the sappy. I know how some people get about mushy stuffs lol. I tried to find recent picks of all three of you ladies, and I found this one most suitable...Since it is a perfect reflection of the start of our friendship-as we all met at the Old Cabin. 

So Just wanted to say, Thank you ladies for your friendship!

OK, Now what many viewers/followers have been waiting for...(drum rolls)..........

TA-DA!!
"My Love Runs Deep..."

2'W x 1' 1/2" H: sheet metal, LED lights (lights off)

2'W x 1' 1/2" H: sheet metal, LED lights (lights on/angled)

2'W x 1' 1/2" H: sheet metal, LED lights (lights on/forward)

"My Love Runs Deep..." as I've titled my sculpture piece is a piece I would have liked to have entered in an art gallery open exhibit. Sadly, I was unable to finish it in time for registration. :( But I'm not all too bummed out, because I had lots of fun getting back into the swing of sculpture! Besides I'm still able to share it with all of you.

So I added three different images of the same sculpture. One with lights off as to give full effect of the red LED lights reflecting off the black of the sheet metal. For the most part it is done..I just need a few minor adjustments and some tine fin-tachments ;P....The next two images following the first are with the lights on and angled. I took an angled picture otherwise the viewer cannot really see the shape of the heart made by the two conjoining pieces.

Why did I name my piece as I did? Great question!
Let me first explain how I came to design my piece. With Valentines coming up I wanted to do something in relation to love. If you have not figured it by now, the two pieces are representative of two fish joining their tails together to form a heart. I took a sketch I had (image B) from my notes back in College...as I did (and still do) doodle. I love the arching of the fish and spherical forms in general. You can see in (A.) to the left is a slight sight of another fish facing the opposite direction. I played around with the idea of placing the fish emblem together. That's how I ended up at (B.).

B. sketches to Design

I decided to play with the emblem a little more, adding some darker parts and finally some color. The darker areas ended up being the parts of the sheet metal and the glowing red areas are where I cut and left open. So, basically took one of my random sketches and designed a sculpture piece from it. Pretty cool eh!

Alright, so back to the main question..how did I come to name it such? I was trying to come up with a few crafty names for this piece, but couldn't find any. So I looked hard at my drawing and thought..'well, there are red lights running through the body like blood or veins (looking at the sculpture itself the wiring and lights add a vein like effect on the backside) and these two pieces are living creatures that like all living things are just searching for a soul mate or another to form a bond with.' I kept thinking 'blood' & 'inner soul searching'...So I finally came up with "My Love Runs Deep..." as in blood(love, life) runs deep through ones body. And when you find your soul mate you share that love with them and give life. Also, you can think of fish as creatures of the deep sea, searching a vast ocean for some signs of life & a place in which it can only exist (water). So the title kind of takes that sense of "deep(er)" than physical love and plays with that idea. The ellipsis at the end is to give the viewer the freedom to finish and interpret the piece as they wish-perhaps have a more poetic take on it. Any how, I leave it up to the viewer to make something of this.

Hope you enjoy my piece. I'm really glad I have others to share my love with. :)

<3 Amore ti <3

Dr. Horrible, We Have a Pulse...

Hello my dearest viewer(s),

Hope your week has been better than mine, because tutoring a group of first graders has me pulling my hair most days. If my job were made into a sing-a-long, most of it would include a broken ominous soundtrack...ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit much. I swear, sometimes these kids make me want to crawl into fetal position and rock myself back to sanity. But enough of my wonderful adventures with Dr. Horrible and his minions. Let's solve some of those mysterious shapes from our last post...

1) A turtle 2) my attempt at a bulbasaur 3) boat 4) fish 5) giraffe 6) camera 7) coyote 8) badger? 9) Seahorse 10) dragon

Alright, ya'll want to see some sculpture making, right!? Here it is!

Fig. A: Sheet metal cut, primed (4'Lx 2'H) 

Fig. B: Sheet metal shaped

Ooops! Forgot to tell you, these pictures are just a preview. :) Didn't think I would spoil your Valentine's Surprise, did you? That would be lame. 

So here are just a few pics of my progress I've made since taking a piece of sheet metal and going all Edward Scissor Hands on it (Fig. A). The two pieces cut out have been cut, softened the edges (so I don't accidentally stab myself when putting it together), and put two layers of primer on them suckas. Yes, metal needs to be primed before painting. The primer didn't leave the best of surface texture, but luckily I can always improvise :). 

The next step (Fig. B) is shaping the pieces the way I want to set them. Of course, this is just one piece. I was hesitant about showing a preview of my piece, but I don't think I'm giving anything away with these pictures. I mean, I still have to paint, put together, and add the lighting to ALL of it. Oh, yeah! I also need to add a few minor attachments. 

Fig. C: Shaped and lit (Lit work space)

Fig. D: Shaped & lit (unlit work space)

So there you have it- an almost completely pulsating piece of sculpture. Thought you may want to see what it looks like lit. Hopefully, once I get it painted and the lights properly placed along the entire sculpture the red light will be more reflective and apparent. 

 I'm wishing for some good weather this weekend so I can finish my piece, and research all the reasons why Valentines Day is a joke :)... Or maybe just watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and eat my Christmas chocolate rose, given to me last year by one of my students. Ha!

Tutto è lecito in amore e in guerra

Midnight Encounters

6"x4" foam board cut out w/trace paper backing, prismacolor marker

Hrm...haven't posted anything for a while...Suppose my nearly non-existent audience deserves a few new posts for a new year.

I made this for my mom's birthday. My mom is a difficult lady to find a gift for..not to mention having to send whatever I got her via mail would probably be pricey. Being hundreds of miles North and with little to no budget (yeah, college!) I opted for a more affordable gift idea.

Now, who doesn't love homemade gifts, made with love, sweat, and tears...Hey, don't judge. Gift making can get emotional when you're running out of time, ideas, and patience..lol. Luckily, I took my mom's interest in wolves and put it into a light weight card.

Of course, this was going to take a little bit of research. First, I needed an image of a wolf in some kind of pose to draw from. I found an image of a wolf howling and used it as help to create my scene. Did the same with the landscape. I found a few images of a desert and meshed ideas. The research and drawing was the easy part. Carving the image out was more difficult, because I wanted that crisp cut. Yes, I used an exacto knife. However, This foam board was giving me some difficulty. Especially when it came to cutting out the cactus. Hrm...I suppose the fuzzy edges add character :).

Cut and pasted the trace paper onto the back, added some color and blending AND vuola, Magnifico! Packed it, sent it (with a b-day card), stamped it and off it went.

She called me a few days later to tell me she got it and loved it. Of course, she may have just said that she loved it because she's my mom and loves me ;p.

Design Concepts

Every year the design students are asked to submit their best projects to the gallery on campus. As an intern at the gallery, I was to come up with some ideas for the contest logo. Here is one of my ideas. 

 I love how the orange and yellow pop out against the black and green colors. I did not do any pre-sketching. Just went for it, with marker in hand. Sometimes I'm a genius, I know. :) Of course, there were four other interns that submitted ideas-all of which were design students. I was the only non-design (Art History) intern. Their logos were done via computer...mine, by hand. There ideas were cool, clean, and clever. BUT my ideas were fun, playful, and from the heart. Does that count? Guess not so much, since my ideas didn't make the cut...but I digress. 

Prismacolor marker on trace paper

I was going for a reflective effect. A work in progress. I would say the colors pop more in the physical copy than this image. My photoshop version hits the spot a little better...except I believe I deleted it. Hrmph :(...Well, I prefer this one over a computerized image any day. 

Axio-View

Ok, this is a piece from my Landscape Architecture class. Was the longest and most tedious assignment for that course. I enjoyed playing with the axionometric view though. This is when drawing becomes exciting! Imagine making a model for this. I miss the Shield's Library courtyard. I spent many hours reading, studying, observing, thinking there. It was most beautiful during fall and spring. The best views are on the third floor-sitting in the window ledges looking down at the courtyard. That library is has the best niches...especially to sleep ;)

I miss you Davis and all the wonderful memories you provided me <3