The Urban Craft Center

So when I have time (eventually) I so want to check this place out!

It's a studio for crafty types here in Santa Monica.  They offer open studio time, classes, and have a library and store.  I think the coolest thing is that with their open studio time, they have access to all sorts of cool equipment that you might not use THAT often or might be too expensive to buy for their personal use.  

Some of the things they have to use are:

Janome Sew Precise sewing machines * Lendrum spinning wheels * Ashford drum carder * Bedazzler * Drop spindles * Snap maker * 1” Button maker and circle cutter * Gocco printers * Yudu screen printing machines * Cricut die-cut machine and design cartridges * Slice die-cut machine * Knitking knitting machine * Book Press * Dremmel * Large cutting mats * Irons and ironing boards * Fiskers rotary cutters * Gingher dressmaker’s shears * Swift & yarn ball winder * Variety of rubber stamps * Library of how-to books, copyright-free images, magazines, zines and a vintage books.

I think the Drum Carder is the most impressive, cause I've looked at them & they are CRAZY EXPENSIVE!  And my cousin-in-law has a Cricut & it's pretty cool, would just need to practice on if I can cut felt with it!

I'm so there....
eventually...

Dia De Los Muertos!

We spent yesterday at the Day of the Dead festival at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There were so many talented artists there selling work!  It was so awesome to be surrounded by wonderful costumes & beautiful art. I LOVE the folk art look of the altars, sugar skulls, masks, & skeleton figurines. The festival was such a celebration with live music & dancers... even though it was in a cemetery!

Most of these skeletons are hand-made of paper-mache or clay.  I just LOVE them!! So fantastic & so inspirational!  I wanna make skeletons now!

Sorry...

I haven't blogged in like a week! This last weekend was super busy, but fun! Got to spend some time with my brother, so now I'm trying to catch up on all my missed emails & blogs.

I thought I'd share a little something I came across last night. I was reading something on a blog... which led me to another website... then I came across a link... etc...

But I found this video showing painter Mark Ryden's process of creating a beautiful piece. I guess I have always like Ryden's work, and after seeing this video, I like him even more. I enjoy seeing process pictures of art. I enjoy seeing the awkward phases of a piece, where you think it looks horrible, but then turns out amazing in the end!






I also love seeing how many reference pictures he uses while painting!! I'm such a fan!

Unique Los Angeles!

If you are in Los Angeles area, be sure to check out the Unique Los Angeles show this weekend!! I was going to be a vendor here, but with everything going on, I decided to ship it this year. We are going today as visitors & to spend money on awesome Handmade Goodies!! The show runs this weekend April 24th & 25th from 11am- 7pm in Down Town. Be sure to go and support your local crafters and see some excellent work!!

And tomorrow, we are going to take an awesome Sunday PCH drive! I love driving up to Mailbu at maybe stopping at Neptune's Net for lunch!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Hawaiian Dreams....

So I don't know what it is... It could be the fact that my mom is going on a Caribbean Cruise next week, or the the T-Shirt Lady is blogging from Jamaica, or that the EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival is themed this, or that I just started my Day-Job a couple days ago... but I'm dreaming of a VACATION!! I don't have the excuse of being snowed in all winter like many of you, but I don't remember the last time I went on an official Vacation (not just visiting friends or family).



If I could go on vacation anywhere, I think I would go to Hawaii!! My boyfriend is Hawaiian & his whole family is amazed that I've never been there. I love going to the Hawaiian Festival every year here in L.A. I love watching the Hula Dancers, and love vintage Hawaiian themed stuff like advertisements, figurines, kitchen stuff, etc.






I also love Plumerias!! They have quickly become my favorite flowers!! I have 4 small plumeria plants that don't have flowers yet but I haven't killed them, so not too bad!! There are so many varieties, some smell so sweet, and the colors are so vibrant & different!! I think if I were to get more tattoos, I would get some plumeria flowers to surround the rose on my shoulder.







This is a painting by Mark Ryden. I like this image, and it shows that so many people are inspired by the Hawaiian culture. I can confirm from personal experience, that the laid-back, slow-going, no-pressure, no-stress stereo type of the Hawaiian is actually pretty accurate (as far as my boyfriend goes!!) He's so level headed, on the quiet side, but totally balances me out. I'm pretty high-stress & anxious, but he is always there to remind me that there are more important things than work, money, worries. This weekend was our unofficial 2 year anniversary, we didn't do anything special & I'm pretty sure he didn't remember, but that's okay. We don't need to do anything extra special to celebrate, we have fun every other day.

So we'll see... being poor kinda puts vacation planning on hold for a while... But I'm not getting any younger (turning 30 in a few months)... We should make the effort.

Sharing the Blog Award Love!!!

I was so humbled this week by being nominated by 2 different Bloggers for this awesome Blog Award!! I've been feeling a bit beat down this week & this definitely lifts my spirits!!

Thank You Eugena's Creations & Butterscotch Grove for nominating me for this Blog Award!!

(And yes, I'm going to cheat & nominate them back for the award, but whatever, they have great blogs & I want to give the love back!)

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.
The rules for accepting these award:
Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

So here are my 12 nominees:

http://www.craftypod.com/

http://cuteable.com/

http://dabbled.org/

http://www.ellifolks.com/blog/

http://thefunkyfelter.blogspot.com/

http://eyesoftime.blogspot.com/

http://needlefeltedart.blogspot.com/

http://curiouspug.blogspot.com/

http://eugenascreations.blogspot.com/

http://butterscotchgrove.wordpress.com/

http://thursdaysweettreat.blogspot.com/

http://salvagenation.blogspot.com/

Please check out a few of these amazing & inspiring blogs. Some of these blogs are new friends, some are old friends, and some are my secret Blog-crushes!!

Amazing Artist...

So just had to link to this Artist I saw on one of my favorite Blogs - Make: Online - It's the more Macho Brother of Craft: Online. It usually posts about all sorts of Tech-type subject or (in this case) AMAZING ARTISTS!! I just had to link to Matthew Albanese's website because I was blown away by the amazing photographs. He creates miniature landscapes, lights them, then photographs them. It's amazing to see each photo then read the Materials list, which includes things like "cotton, steel wool, sugar, paprika...".

Freak'n Amazing!!

Featured Blogger - NICO Designs!

**Thanx for all the comments about Crafts Shows yesterday!! It was awesome to see the variety of ideas that people have. I think it gave me a lot to think about, but I agree with your guys, definitely showcase my sculptures with my own "voice" coming through the displays.... BUT... I think I can capitalize on the Girly, Spring Feel of the show with a few specific items... Yea.. that sounds about right...


It's January & since I've been really bad about keeping up with the requirements of my EtsyBlogger team, I wanted to be sure that I got them done this month!! So I'm writing today's post on my fellow EtsyBlogger..... NICO Designs.



I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little stuffed pears that NICO Designs has in her Etsy Shop right now. They are PERFECT for the season & are made from cotton fabric scraps & eco-spun Felt.

I think NICO has a great eye for the interesting patterns she uses in her items. I like the retro feel of the patterns, they might be scrap, but they look vintage!







NICO Designs has also started to create these sweet little Art Dolls. On Blog she gives a little background about what inspired each one. They are lovely and, again, have a very retro, maybe even Art Deco feel to them. They kind of remind me of those figurative antique jewelry stands.

Also be sure to check out NICO Design's Blog!! She has all sorts of neat stories about her art, and (from a fellow blogger point of view) has a great Blog Design. I like how she post's a kind of "Question of the Day" and has links to "You might like this".



Now that I'm blogging more, I guess it's time to try and update & innovate my blog design!!! It's just that I loved reading all the comments yesterday & need to figure out how to get you guys talking more!!!


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Spreading the Geek

Thought I'd just share a bit of my geekiness with you guys today. I'm working on 2 felted sculptures, but don't have pictures to share yet. In the mean time, I've been watching the first season of the awesome PBS documentary series. If you don't know by now, I'm an UBER dork, and proud of it!! I can watch boring documentaries about pretty much anything (except war shows, not really into that). But science, history, art, religion, etc. This show is called
Art:21 - Art in the Twenty-First Century.

It's not the most action-packed show out there, but I think it's neat and inspiring. They basically go into a contemporary artist's studio & talk with them about whatever. It's not an interview, it's more like a monologue. Sometimes the artist is very descriptive of their process and inspirations, and sometimes they just talk all artsy-fartsy & philosophical-like. Depends on who the artist is. Some shows are better than others, but I feel like making art after I watch them, so it's doing it's job!!A

More info about Art:21

Art in the Twenty-First Century is a groundbreaking documentary television series focusing exclusively on contemporary visual art by artists working in the United States today.

The series provides behind-the-scenes views of the artists in their studios, homes, and communities. The artists speak directly to the audience, in their own words, about how, why, and what they create....

While many programs about visual art look to the past, Art:21 presents a diverse group of both established and emerging artists working in America today and to the art they are producing now. The ongoing goals of this project are to enlarge the definitions and comprehension of contemporary art; to minimize the intermediary positions of curator, gallery, and museum as arbiters of taste and value; to offer viewers, teachers, and students a straightforward experience of the artists and their work without interpretive mediation; and to encourage viewers and students to participate in interactive and outreach programs. The underlying philosophy of this project is that contemporary American art is of real interest to a national audience. By making contemporary art more accessible, the series affords viewers and students the opportunity to discover their own innate abilities to understand contemporary art and to explore possibilities for creative thinking and self-expression.

I'm not the biggest fan of "contemporary art". When I think of "contemporary art" I think of splashy painted canvases, or giant abstract wood sculptures, or an instillation space filled with rotting meat to show the decay of the western culture or something. Can you tell I'm kind of jaded with modern art? Anyways, I was a little hesitant to watch this show, thinking it would be filled with super-conceptual artists, but it's (mostly) not. There are some really cool artists, and it's definitely expanding my idea of what "contemporary art" is.

Here is a clip from one of the shows, I have only seen the first season (there are 5!), but I picked it cause you probably know the artist, Jeff Koons.

Just a Late Night Reminder...

1 WEEK TO GO!!
If you are in the Los Angeles Area, don't forget to come & visit me at the UNIQUE LOS ANGELES show!

December 5 & 6 - California Market Center - 11am-6pm - $10

**** PLUS **** Shepard Fairey's Studio No.1 has partnered with UNIQUE LA (omg)! Every attendee will get a free cotton tote bag featuring artwork exclusive to UNIQUE LA. That makes it a collectible. Soooo cool...