I just came across Maia Flore's enchanting photography work.
What I favorite the most is her Sleep Elevations series.
Enjoy!
"Sleepy Inuit Village" button ring
I'm fascinated by igloos. It's crazy to think about how early Inuits were able to live and flourish in the harshest of conditions.
There's a dreamy documentary from the 1920's (the first feature-length documentary ever) called Nanook Of The North that follows the lives of a family in the Arctic. Here's a little clip of Nanook building an igloo for his family in under an hour. Complete with a window made of ice and snow to reflect the warm sunlight inside.
And that's the inspiration for my latest creations...
One button...
Two button...
Delectable clothing buttons repurposed into...
"Sleepy Inuit Village" button rings
A miniature Inuit village sits atop the frozen lake of turquoise flecked with gold. Two stacked buttons create the scene of chilly igloos set on a pearlescent stage. Their three-dimensional character and subtle variations are the perfect splash of color for a cold winter's day. Each ring is completed with an antique brass-plated band.
The finer details...
The ring's face is made of 2 plastic buttons made in Italy. The top is a transparent light green, speckled with gold. The bottom button is aquamarine, faceted, and 7/8" in diameter with pearlish speckles. The band is a very strong, adjustable antique brass-plated, 4mm in width.
I have been creating button rings for the past year and this one will finally be listed in my Etsy shop available for purchase. Head on over to purchase your very own.
Each ring is shipped in an itty bitty box, ready to give as a gift. Special attention is given to the packaging to make it special for you or your recipient. It's a lovely gift to give a friend, family member, or co-worker.
Make Friends
I made a new friend recently. More of a reacquaintance, really.
Not of human form, but of an art medium form. That is of gouache. It was in college when we were first introduced. I wasn't too interested then. Maybe it was because my college instructor only supplied our art bins with black and white.
Months ago I purchased a fine gouache colour set on a whim from a local art store.
It hasn't been 'til late that I decided to open them up. The newness of the year can sure motivate you to look back and think of the things you wanted to accomplish in the past year.
As a result, I'm so delighted to have gained a new friend in gouache paint.
Gouache are traditional water based opaque colours which give flat, smooth washes.
I've been hauling them around with me... even bringing them to morning lattes, instead of drawing.
My friend Kim knitting some fingerless gloves at 3 Friends Coffee House.
Saw this lil' guy... one of my favorite plant eating dinosaurs.
"Roadtrip Abound" compass ring
I looove roadtrips. Don't you?
I love the excitement getting up in the morning, packing a lunch, camera, sketch book or possibly a novel to read when we hit our destination. Heading out the door, picking up some mouthwatering pastries & piping hot coffee, and then away we go! The anticipation of the sights we'll see!
Spontaneous road trips are the best. Which direction to go? Who knows what you'll run into.
My love & I have discovered some amazing places, especially being new to Oregon... Silver Falls, Pittock Mansion, Mount Angel...
There's a new comrade in my Etsy shop inspired by roadtrips!
Let me acquaint you with...
"Roadtrip Abound" compass ring
I was enamored when I came across some vintage miniature compasses. I got to thinking about those Cracker Jack prizes. As a child, digging my fingers into a Cracker Jack box and pulling out that delightful lil' prize. I wouldn't think twice about sacrificing my fingers to the stickiness. Wouldn't it be merry to transform these compasses into a wearable?
This vintage miniature compass (3/4" in diameter) actually works, but has had a change of career from function to fashion. Instead of getting you through the woods, this compass will lend your day a note of eclectic style. This piece is finished off with a strong, stainless-steel toned adjustable band.
Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale 2010
December was a busy month! I've been meaning to post about the Super Colossal Holiday Sale for almost a month. Here we go... finally!
Saturday, December 11th and Sunday, December 12th were 2 amazing days. One event that has made Portland so welcoming for me has been Crafty Wonderland. I am so humbled that there are people out there that get down with their art nerdy selves; appreciators & creators alike. I would love to give a shout out to all those who attended and supported handmade.
Over 12,000 shoppers attended! The organizers said that this show was by far their biggest and best event to date. It was so nice to meet new and old faces... sale goers & vendors. There was so much handmade awesomeness that I wanted to marvel over, but I had to man my booth. Ha!
A few snaps of my booth...
Greeting cards, Mini vintage Scrabble rings, button rings, bingo rings, compass rings, and vintage Portland map rings in a vintage fisherman's tackle box
Suitcase filled with Herb Series prints & framings • Vintage Oregon map marble magnets on edge
A handful of my favorite vendors handmade awesomeness...
View more snaps on my Flickr.
I really can't wait for next year's Holiday sale!
A few Etsy Treasuries in December
Here's a few fun Etsy Treasuries that I was featured in recently!
Click on images to view treasuries on Etsy.
Quiet the Humming Robots - earrings
Get your handmade shop on!
Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! And... Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
Will you be there?
My booth number this year is 165! Stop on by and say hi!
Crafty Wonderland Pop-Up Shop
Multnomah County Central Library & Finnegan's Toys has a new neighbor for November & December. The City of Portland has asked Crafty Wonderland to participate in their Pop-Up Shop program. Basically they fill vacant storefronts downtown with local talent over the Holidays. The Crafty Wonderland ladies have exclusively hand-selected 80-some awesome crafters & artists to sell their hip handmade work at their storefront in downtown Portland. They call it a "pop-up shop" because it is only open temporarily, from November 9th through December 30th. I was pretty stoked to be asked to sell my artwork and jewelry there, along with all the other local talented artists & crafters.
The shop is located at 802 SW 10th Avenue in downtown Portland. It's on the corner of SW Yamhill & 10th.
There's a SmartPark parking garage right across the street. Oh so very convenient. There is also parking available at metered street spots. The shop is open from 10:00am – 7:00pm, Monday through Saturday and 12:00pm – 6:00pm on Sundays. There are going to be some fun special events at the shop. For example, wacky holiday photo booth on December 4th, which is this coming Saturday. For more information about events, visit www.craftywonderland.com/pop-up-shop.
I took lots of snaps of the shop and have posted some below. If you would like to see more of them, hop on over to my Flickr here.
Give the gift of handmade this year. Instead of giving your dad a clichéd sweater, give him some something creative and unique!
Support a local artist. Viva handmade!
Azure Ray at Mississippi Studios
Fair warning: I'm a huge music appreciator... listener... whatever. Well, with good music... that is. I may possibly be a music snob ;)
For the very first time I got to see Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink sing in unison right before me. It was the first time too that I got to experience Mississippi Studios' intiment setting. It was awesome and magical. I've been a fan of Azure Ray since that day I came across their album, Burn & Shiver at a local record store in Omaha, Nebraska. Since the band disbanded in 2004, I've seen Maria perform a few times around her solo albums. I've seen Orenda alongside Adrianne (from The Anniversary) performing as Art in Manila too.
photo via azureraymusic.com
When I found out that Azure Ray was getting back together, I was a very happy girl. I think I even jumped up and down a couple times. Big dork present? Yes. When Drawing Down the Moon album become available on Saddle Creek's website, I purchased those mp3's immediately. I hope to own it on vinyl someday. Saddle Creek has a charming Drawing Down the Moon vinyl + t-shirt + flair package. Hint hint.
Along with A.R.'s performance that night... I also got to see Tim Fite. I had no clue who this guy was. I didn't bother to listen to his stuff before the show. And boy was I surprised after his first song. I was thinking, 'okay he's probably going to be some singer-songwriter artist, that would coincide with A.R.'s genre'. Nope. It's was like country, hip-hop, and alternative music mashed together. It threw me off at first. It was pretty fun music though. My friend and I giggled most of the time. I loved how his friend was on webcam singing along on the screen behind him.
He ended his performance with teaching us his "gang sign" which soon turned into hand/finger motions of Itsy Bitsy Spider. He told us we can join his gang even if we are in one already. Lol.
You can download his latest album for free on his website. To be honest I got pretty annoyed with every song after sampling 20 seconds of them. He has pretty repetitive lyrics... and a little too focused on the topic modern culture of consumerism and greed for my taste. So overall, I enjoyed his silliness live but probably won't jam out to his work in the future.
I'm leaving you with a snippet of Azure Ray playing their last song that night... one of my favorites, Rise. Even if Orenda didn't want to play the audience's request.
Holiday craft show season is here
Here are a some snaps from the Lewis Elementary Holiday Bazaar that was on Saturday!
:: My booth ::
I displayed a vintage suitcase holding framings of Herb Series & Standard Movement Series drawings...
I decided to go simple this time around with the table display...
:: art prints, button rings, and more ::
My most recent vintage store purchase, a fisherman's tackle box...
Bingo chips, buttons, cabochons, and Scrabble rings...
Quiet the Humming Robots earrings on faux mossy rocks...
:: lunch time ::
Lewis Elementary's PTA made awesome soup! I couldn't resist...
Many thanks to the friendly parents and teachers who made a great event. I enjoyed meeting you! I'll be back next year! Better yet, I'll be signing up for the Lewis' Garden Fair in April. I had so much fun doing last year's. I think it's awesome that an elementary school has a garden program! For more info on Lewis Garden Program, go here.
Also, thanks to all artists participating in this sale who gave a portion of the their proceeds to Lewis Elementary School.
Lastly, thanks to those who attended and supported local & handmade!
An Arrested Development Halloween
Annyong.
For Halloween my husband & I decided to be Maeby & George Michael from Arrested Development!
Arrested Development is one of our absolute favorite television shows. Sadly it only aired for 3 seasons, from 2003 - 2006.
Storyline...
"Michael Bluth, a widower with a 13-year-old son, named George-Michael, is forced to keep his large and dysfunctional family together after his father is arrested for shifty accounting practices at the family-owned conglomerate and the Bluth family assets are frozen, making each member of the eccentric family panic. Michael's snobbish mother, Lucille, finds herself living alone in a penthouse without the financial means to maintain it, while Michael's two brothers, GOB and Buster, and his sister Lindsay with her husband Tobias and her daughter Maeby also find themselves having to recreate their lifestyles to fit their new financial status." -IMDB
The thing I love about Halloween is being creative and seeing others be creative. I really enjoy the process of making the costume, down to the finest details from dying a shirt yellow to rebuilding a banana logo so I can iron it on fabric. I hunted for the perfect pieces at thrift stores and on the internet.
For more photos from our Halloween night, visit my friend Camp Smartypants' blog. She has some excellent shots of our dinner, appetizers, and photo booth time!
Justin & I already have a bunch of ideas for next year's costumes!
Ol' home sweet home
I miss you dearly, ol' home sweet home.
Sigh...
I once lived in Lincoln, Nebraska... for four and a half years. Three of which my love & I lived in this awesome historic building near the zoo. It once was a water pump station, many many years later it was renovated into condominiums. I miss those big atrium windows letting all that natural light in. If my cat, Yoshimi could speak, she'd probably say the same.
I want to give a shout out to my friend Russ... Thank you for snapping this photo on your run. You made my day!
Show & Tell: Urban Weeds blog
Who doesn't enjoy discovering a good read on the internet nowadays? On Thursdays I will feature one of my favorite blogs that I follow.
Let Show & Tell Favorite Blogs begin! :)
Happy Thursday!
- - - - - - - • - - - - - - -
Blog: Urban Weeds - Portland Street Style
Urban Weeds is a blog that features hip and stylish folks walking the streets of Portland. Every post lists the street the photos were snapped at and breaks down each article of clothing. The photography is wonderful. I love how clean it is and how it captures the individuals and their surroundings so well. I'm totally a fan of all that white space too.
My friend Helen was on there recently. She's so adorable, isn't she?
Photo via Urban Weeds: Portland Street Style.
Our Portland Story, Volume One!
Justin & I contributed to an awesome book called Our Portland Story. Founded by Melissa Delzio, she describes it best: "Our Portland Story Volume 1 is part yearbook, part insider’s travel guide, and part collected memoirs, but is all about Portland by Portlanders." A total of 77 authors and 68 designers contributed. Kudos Melissa! We attended it's release party a couple of weeks ago and got our hands on a copy!
Here's the story we wrote about the legendary & wacky Voodoo Doughnut. We ended our story with a quote from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, "San Dimas High School Football Rules!". Brittany Hanson, a fellow dMobber, illustrated and designed the page.
I've been wanting to share the illustration and design that I did for the book with you for many many months. Remember when I gave you a sneak peek? Well now you can see it as a whole! The story was written by a big fan of the Tualatin River. I had so much fun drawing wildlife illustrations and collaging it with the author's photo.
I loved the messages addressed to Portland that are included within the book, kinda like a high school yearbook.
If you would like to find out more info about the book, be sure to stop by ourportlandstory.com Maybe snag a copy of the book for yourself or gift it this holiday season for that Portland lover you know.
Penguins chasing a butterfly
I discovered this video taken at the Philadelphia Zoo of silly & cute penguins. Happy Monday!
Finland Folk Dancers
Lately I've been intrigued of my ancestry. During my visit home to Nebraska, my grandma sent me home with some books about Finland. I've been having fun skimming the glossy pages of pictures and drawing in my sketchbook. My old high school art teacher, Ms. D would be proud of my continuous lines.
Poppy Seed drawing print has a slight new look. It will be released very very soon. To pre-order a 5"x7" or 8"x10" print be sure to drop me a line.
I heart buttons. I have so many buttons, it's ridiculous. I have a vintage Pyrex bowl filled with them. Speaking of items soon to be released, I will be listing little surprises in the shop like button rings. Each ring has a antique brass band and is topped off with eye catching buttons.
I did a print & framing custom order last week. Aren't they exquisite? I love these 16" x 20" frames with their milky white mats. From left to right: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Poppy Seed.
Bucket o' Doughnuts
My very sweet friend Elaine and I took a trip to Voodoo Doughnut Too the other day. I bought a bucket of doughnuts. Crazy huh? And no, I didn't eat all of them by myself. I like to share, I really do. I bought them with the intention of sharing them with my coworkers. At Voodoo they have a photobooth...
Elaine makes wonderful and very intricate crocheted jewelry. If you are interested you can check out her Facebook Fan page here.
Here's a quick drawing of Monkey Flower I did the other day at Drawing Club. I love Gelly Rolls' pen series called Moonlight. I really love that they are opaque, waterproof, and you can draw on vellum to. I only have a few pens of the series... blue, white, and turquoise. I saw on Amazon that there is a pack of 10 assorted colors. Weee! I'm adding these to my Art Wish List.
Lastly, the earrings that I made titled, "That time my toes met the shoreline" are being mailed out to their new home all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast, New Jersey! Shortly after that order was made another order was placed. So exciting that these cute little earrings are selling like hot cakes today. I have a few more left. So if you've had your eyes on them, you may want to make the jump!
Breakfast for Lunch
My love and I took a bike ride to Mississippi Avenue for the weekend. It's one of my favorites. There are so many shops and street art.
We were so excited to see that Cup & Saucer opened a location on Mississippi. We couldn't resist eating there for lunch. If you haven't ate there I totally recommend it!
Check out the delicious grub we ordered...
Garden Omelet with scone & potatoes Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, mushroom, spinach and cheddar
Lucky Scramble Bacon, mushroom, green onion, cheddar cheese scrambled with three eggs on top of potatoes
Lastly, here's a recent drawing I did when I was visiting Nebraska. I finally snapped a photo for you to see. Enjoy!
Roadtrip to the Oregon Coast
My husband, Justin and I drove out to the coast this last Saturday. We finally celebrated his birthday, it was in the beginning of July.Here are lots of photos! Enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment.
Out on the open road - Hwy 99W
Rectangle shaped stacked hay bales
We are almost to the finish line!
Look! It's a deer!
Standing on Proposal Rock
Looking up at Proposal Rock
Looking up at Proposal Rock - close up
Crevice in Proposal Rock
Seaweed find
Where's Proposal Rock?
Close up of the orchids on Neskowin Beach
Looking out Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR
Crafting at Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, Oregon
My sandy foot and crafting/drawing tools
Looking out Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR
Sea Lions at Siletz Bay in Lincoln City, OR
I cheese sandwich you
I have so many things to share with you about my recent visit to my homestate, Nebraska. Being there for 2 weeks, I couldn't help taking lots of photography. I plan on dedicating a few future blog posts to the highlights. Above is a shot I snapped in rural eastern Nebraska. I do miss the drives; being out and about between Columbus, Lincoln, and Omaha. It was nice to be reacquainted with the rows and rows of corn stalks. One thing I didn't miss was the 90° - 100° humid mosquito infested summer weather.
When I left Portland at the end of June I began reading my friend, Kim's novel suggestion... The Time Traveler's Wife. Wow, it was such a good read. It's confusing at first with all the time traveling dates. I don't think I have ever read a novel (that was not a mandatory high school or college requirement) so fast. Niffenegger's writing is to die for. I fell in love with her writing style. This is really her first book? I didn't notice. Very well done Niffenegger. Before I read this book I wasn't fond of the name Henry. Felt so old-fashioned. After reading this book, let's be honest, I have a new appreciation for it. I loved the dreamy character Henry. Who wouldn't. He's compassionate, dashing, and a time traveling adventurous stud. I don't normally read chick novels but this one went well under the radar for me. I give it 5 stars. I'm a little leary of watching the movie. It seems like when books are made into movies they are just not as good.
Chick novels... chick flicks... I only like a handful of either of them. Maybe 3 or 4. Love & Sex is an adorable and funny one. I watched this flick a couple times this week. One of my favorite quotes is when Adam says to Kate, "I cheese sandwich you." If you haven't watched it, the 2 were discussing, that after a while, saying "I love you" is like saying "cheese sandwich". Saying "I love you" starts to lose it's meaning.
This is off subject, but I'll give you a little heads up of what I have been crafting up these days. I crafted these... "Handpicking La France Pears In Japan" earrings. When the day comes that I get to visit Japan, I do hope to visit a pear orchard. I love how the La France Pear is uniquely spherical, like these lemon jade beads. I have listed a few pairs in the ol' Etsy shop. Click here to be directed to my shop.
Well I hope you lovelies have a great weekend. If you are in Portland... stay cool. It's going to be a warm one! It would be a good time to go to the coast.