number four
I put together another terrarium for my sister. This was a bit tricky because one of the succulents had sprouted a bunch of pretty yellow flowers. It has grown considerably since I bought it. I had to fit the stem through the tiny hole in the orb. Luckily I did it without damaging the flowers. Only lost one. Filled the terrarium with fun succulents and one that I plucked from our backyard. I’m really getting into making these.. I still have two orbs and another hanging candle holder that I need to fill.
twigmobiles in their new homes
First photo from Jen and second from Nik. Two twigmobiles in their new homes. It makes me so happy to see them!
Photos from Dani. Twigmobile in Chile! Her two cute pups were so curious about the package. Happy pictures…
late night drawings..
I couldn’t sleep, so I drew.
Now.. to think of what I can do with such things. A friend suggested prints.. tee shirts.. I wonder how well the line work would print. I could blow them up pretty huge and have them screenprinted off centered towards the bottom of a tee, or even near the collar. I’ll have to ask DK to see what can be done. Fun times!
succulent succotash!
Inspired by my aunt’s succulent tea cups, I decided to look into building succulent terrariums.
My last attempt at making a cacti terrarium ended in all of the succulents dying and the cacti are now about 2′ tall which is good, but the death of the succulents made me wary about trying this on my own. After some Google research, I saw that most people were using smaller succulents, and grouping them together in glass bowls, orbs, and another glass containers. I looked up “hanging orb” and came upon these candleholders from CB2. They looked like the perfect container for a tiny succulent terrarium.
I took my mom to the Cactus Center in Pasadena where we picked up a bunch of succulents. The pricing wasn’t bad and they had a huge selection of stuff. I could’ve stayed there all day picking plants, but I didn’t. I brought home 12 different succulents and I was in luck, because my shipment of orbs had arrived not an hour after I returned home!
Putting together these terrariums was a bit tricky. Some of the succulents have rather long roots. I had to position these strategically inside the 5″ orb. There was also the difficult in placement.. but, after trying twice on the first orb, I got the hang of it and made one for Jeanette (mother’s day gift) and another just to have hanging out in my room. I’ve got more succulents, but no more orbs, I think I may need to order more!
spring twigmobiles
Cutting coloured paper is fast becoming something I am very good at. Especially with my handy circle cutter (thank you Martha Stewart). Making twigmobiles like a madwoman, and hoping, to somehow work with new materials. After a recent conversation, I am thinking that I could try using gels that people use for lighting. They’re super thin and come in a myriad of colours. Now.. to find a way to get my hands on some!
twigmobiles
One of three new twigmobiles I’ve made in the last month. I am opening my Etsy shop for those who are interested in purchasing twigmobiles!! Fun times..
sea, see, si!
Squid toy for a certain black cat living on the opposite side of the country. I’ve made toys for cats before. Feltsies – stuffed to the gills with catnip. I am going to guess that they didn’t last very long. I’m hoping the tentacles will provide enough entertainment that the squid’s body will remain intact. Nothing but recycled plastic bags fill the body. Sewing the tentacles proved to be more tricky than I anticipated. But, I succeeded!
Tentacles are about 8″ long and body is about 6″ long. I was thinking about doing some sort of glitter effect all over the body but it’s for a CAT. I don’t want the poor kitty getting glitter tongue and sparkly hairballs.
Details of body and tentacles. I can’t remember if squid have the rectangular irises or if it’s just octopuses and cuttlefishies. 
I’m bad. I could look it up, but I already made the little guy.
Along with the squid, came Narwhal Two.
I’ve decided that the best way to make the tusk is to sew it the same way I did with Narwhal One and use a pipe cleaner inside to keep the tusk stable and sharp! READY FOR ICE BREAKING ACTION!
Oh man.. I’m getting ambitious thinking I could make an entire pod…
Oh hello Narwhal
The holidays always inspire me to start making stuff. This year, I forewent crocheting snowflakes, like I did last year, so I will be BAKING this year. Holy cow. We’ll see how that goes. Coconut macaroons and peppermint bark. I was thinking about making some sort of ornament, and turn it into a yearly thing – but honestly, I haven’t been feeling very motivated to sit and craft for hours.
Today, however, I did make a second narwhal. After digging through my drawer of dolls yesterday, I decided that felt would be the perfect material to use and I like the way it came out. I have to say, working with felt made me feel right at home. I’m really having trouble with the tusk. I think what I will do is try a few more different styles of tusks before I continue with the entire pod. I’m quite happy with how closely the doll resembles my drawings. That pleases me the most.
awaiting and editing
bee & bean weekend..
- over 400 photos shot for stop-motion animation
- peppermint tea x’s 4
- french-pressed coffee
- super instant coffee which resulted in a night of insomnia
- three blankets
- layers of clothing
- rain for three days
- playing vinyl for inspiration
- macaroons eaten: 4
- homemade pumpkin soup
- trips to the grocery store: 2
- Green Beans Coffee shop show
- Clouseau the Cat being CUTE
- granola breakfasts
- sleep under the sea
- characters used in animation: 10
- hours spent shooting: approximately 9
- hours spent editing: approximately 5
- days spent enjoying creation station: 4
I’m so excited about getting the animation all ready for public viewing. It’s going to take a while to tweak everything, but given the fact that both Emily and I have never done this before, I have to say we did pretty dang good.
sea creature creations
In following the sea theme that keeps popping up in my drawings lately, I promised to make the following dolls for upcoming movies:
- Wimpy the Whale
- Narwhals
- Sleepy Octopie
- Octobat
And I probably have to make another Quadropus as the one that was given away as a gift will never resurface again…
narwhal trial #1
Yesterday, I decided to start on a project I had been talking about for a while. I can’t say I was prepared to make a narwhal, because I was feeling mentally frustrated. I cut a pattern, chose fabric, cut and started to thread my needle. I should’ve stopped there. As I was threading my needle, I somehow made a tiny knot in the thread and couldn’t get it out. Instead of cutting the thread and starting all over, I barreled through it and started sewing. By the time it was ready for tusk attachment, the narwhal had taken on life and I couldn’t stop even though I knew it wasn’t going to be what I wanted. Half an hour later, in a fit of madness, I pulled so hard on a stitch that the thread busted and I was done.
I’ve learned my lesson. Do not force myself to make stuff just because an idea’s been sitting in my head for a while. It’s okay for things to marinate. However, in this attempt, I’ve learned things for the next time I try making a narwhal.
He still looks pretty happy too.
paint
I made these diptychs years ago. Matte black 1shot + glossy white 1shot on plexi. Why I haven’t painted in years is really no mystery. Working a job that takes up most of my day and not having time/space/money to put into painting are hindrances that I should overcome if I’m as passionate about painting as I say I am. But, sometimes, the process is so much harder than the creation.
I’m determined to get back into it. Ideas are already germinating, waiting to sprout. I am going to give them a little time. Wait and see..
BattyBoo takes FLIGHT
Oh, it’s just a little animation I made yesterday featuring BattyBoo flying over the trees. MORE TO COME!
twig mobile 003
From Sea To Sky
Inspiration doesn’t strike often when you work a 9-6 job and have things to stress out about (jury duty), so when it does hit, I take advantage of it.
I made my third twig mobile last week after feeling restless and wanting to create something. I have a small stack of coloured paper I keep for emergencies and this was the perfect case. After cutting discs for half an hour, I spent an hour stringing them together with tiny knots and multiple finger prickings. The result: From Sea To Sky. I rather enjoy titling these mobiles based on their colour schemes and the feelings given off by the movement of the discs as single pieces and as strands.
Must procure more twigs and purchase more paper to make more mobiles. It’s a nice and comforting process.. very different from doll-making which to me is more mentally challenging because there are more things to consider as far as placement of eyes, patterns, gathering fabric to stuff the doll with, colour and texture choices.. it’s all fun and good everything I set out to make, but there is a calm to twig mobile making that I am beginning to really enjoy.
twig mobiles 001 + 002
Inspired by seashell mobiles I see in kitschy shops, I decided to make my own paper version. Cut from cardstock and hung from twigs found in my front and backyards, I have made two mobiles so far.
Borne of the Sea
Wheat Fields Cloudless Sky Golden Sun
Jack & Mote
Ava and Lucy received their members of the Cookies ‘n’ Cream Gang. Ava named hers Jack and Lucy named hers Mote. Two of the cutest little girls ever!!
Cookies ‘n’ Cream Gang
I had been wanting to make some new pillows for a while, but if it wasn’t for a gentle maternal push from my mom, I wouldn’t have made the Cookies ‘n’ Cream Gang today.
Two of the CNC members will be arriving at a Southern California doorstep this week as I’ve promised them to two little girls as belated Christmas gifts.
Pillows are fun to make.
Pillows are fun to squeeze.
Pillows are fun to sleep with.
Pillows with faces especially rule.
Holiday Cheer
Greetings!
Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving.. I ate too much of course. It’s always good to get together with everyone and have a feast. Christmas is fast approaching and I’ve been busy making little goods to go along with gifts.
I was inspired by someone’s blog to crochet snowflakes. After scouring the web for patterns I could actually understand, I resorted to YouTube. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for.
Video instructions! This lady is the bomb dizzle.
I’ve made a bunch of snowflakes, but I haven’t perfected the technique. The whole single crochet, slip stitch, triple sau cow, scrambled eggs vocabulary hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m learning!! Tonight, I attempted an even smaller snowflake.. and now my fingers are paying for it.
cefiore logo mock-ups
Met up with team again for discussion of logo rebranding. A lot of concern over the mispronunciation of the Italian words as well as totally throwing foreign grammar out of the window. My struggles with the name made it difficult to create a mark that worked well. Too many of the ideas I had ended up looking like they were for trendy furniture stores rather than a place selling frozen yogurt. Mock-ups shown to Cefiore for consideration:
cozycloud tee shirts
The holidays are fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about gifts! I’m all for hand-made gifts and I’ve been wanting to make proper tee shirts for everyone. I think this is the year.
Instead of going with traditional screenprinting, I’m going to hand-draw tee shirts this year. Since I’ve never done that, I decided I’d experiment and I was quite pleased with the results.
I have a bag full of tee shirts that Emily gave me, so I pulled one out and drew on it with a Sharpie. My fabric markers were all dried up.
Fun times. I am going to buy some fabric markers, some tee shirts and I’ll be getting to work during the not-so-busy weekends making gifts!
Marcel
Fashion guru of the Seafarers, Marcel has been trained and worked with the best in the industry. Always on top of the latest haute couture, he spends his days on land photographing the best dressed of the seaside.
Captain Shark Bait so admires Marcel’s work that he set aside a private room in the quarterdeck for Marcel to sew and design to his heart’s content.
Sheldon
To say Sheldon is a genius inventor would be a gross understatement. He is fluent in 9 languages, including dolphin, won his first science fair at age 4 months and continues to amaze his fellow Seafarers with his ingenious mechanical creations. His recent project, labeled 8 Arms of Love is a robotic octopus which helps other octopuses find love under the sea.
Gustavo
Pensive Gustavo. He spends his days standing at the rail, watching the sea, daydreaming about life on land and his favourite thing of all, laps. If he wasn’t born a Seafarer, he’d be perfectly happy as a lap creature. He enjoys snuggling in laps on airplanes, on the couch, and most of all, during car rides.
Chapman
Chapman joins the Seafarers as not only a skilled fisherman, but also their deck engineer. Flexible and able to perform under pressure, he is often called upon to make repairs in the most precarious of situations.
