love forever

Girl's Night In: Nailed It.

The nails in their splendor. Note the chevron rug below...

Remember that episode of Sex and the City where the girls talk about their Secret Single Behavior, the weird purely-for-them stuff they do when their partners aren't home?
The Mr. was in NYC for a few days and I decided to engage in my own favorite SSB: I got take-out, watched a movie (Midnight in Paris) and attempted a new home manicure: the chevron nail!
Two hours later, the movie was over but my nails were only half finished. One episode of vintage: Law and Order and they were perfecto! Well, not perfect but I am pretty proud of them. I followed this tutorial but used painter's tape instead of scotch. And I did two different colors for the chevrons. Next up, the holy grail of DIY nail art: the marbelized nail. I might need to do this one over the course of a weekend. It looks brutal!

What's your favorite night in activity?

Maskmaker, Maskmaker

As promised, my masquerade costume for the company holiday party!









Slightly creepy, but in an awesome way. I made a mold of my face and stiffened vintage lace over the mold using this magical stuff. I had to do about five coats to get the thing really stiff. Then I sewed sequins and more lace pieces all over the mask. For the collar, I used a pattern I already had, sewed together a few more pieces of lace, some more sequins and whole lotta feathers. I was afraid, like many of my well-intentioned ideas, that it wouldn't last through the night, but it held up through champagne toasts, sweaty dancing and serious photobooth posing.

Here it is in action at the party with a few of my co-workers/partners in crime. They all made their own masks too- hey, as the visual team we have to represent at a costume party!


Band photo!


Masquerades are so much fun! Hiding behind a mask for the night is oddly liberating. Usually I like dressing up for the party more than the party itself but put a mask on me and all bets are off!

Have a Fabulous Halloween!

pop pumpkins by Happy Mundane, right from Martha Stewart

What are you doing this Halloween? Are you dressing up? I'm not but the dogs at my office do and they have a little parade! Then I think I'll go home and pass out candy. I'm still new to trick or treaters actually going around to my house (in New York, kids in my neighborhood trick or treat at the stores!) and I love to see what everyone's wearing.

These are my current favorite jack o'lantern variations. I love the idea of painting on pumpkins (plus when you don't cut them, they live practically forever!) in non-traditional colors. On the other hand, I dream of having a big porch spilling over with gorgeously carved pumpkins with leaf motifs. I tend to not get into the spooky side of Halloween as much as the fall-time, harvesty side. Any new pumpkin "trick" you're trying out?

A few more fun Halloween-y links to get you in the mood:

The New York Public Library gets crafty with a video showing how-to carve their famous lions (otherwise known as Patience and Fortitude) into a pumpkin!

Diana Schoenbrun of the Beasties book (you can see my review here!) made this ah-mazing stop motion animation of her Beasties coming to life. I don't know how she did it but it's awesome.

 

Susanna Bauer- Artist

 

While Susanna Bauer's full-time job is model-making for TV and movies (like the cheese in Wallace and Grommit- oh my!), her more personal work is much more quiet and introspective. Incorporating traditional craft techniques like crochet and weaving into small objects from nature, Bauers sculptural objects focus on the juxtaposition of material, "fragility versus strength" and the process of making itself.

 

The Art- Squam Part II

I don't get a lot of chances to make art for art's sake. That is, most of the things I make are work of some sort. It's incredibly hard to just sit down and make myself something when deadlines and checklists loom closeby. But my one and only responsibility at Squam was to give a speech and I did that the first night!  After that I was free to have fun, make art and try not to take myself too seriously. The last part is always the hardest. I had to keep reminding myself that I could just make what I felt like making, experiement with new techniques and that it didn't have to be award winning work.

So here's what I made:
Day One: Botanical Printing with Maya Donenfeld

This class was all about making prints using the natural world as our inspiration. It might be cliché but I am always so inspired by the shapes of flowers. Maya had these beautiful farmer's market bouquets on each table and they provided the starting point for a lot of my prints. We began with more basic silhouettes, then spent some time outside sketching (So fun!Why don't I sketch outside more?) and then worked on a more complicated print in the afternoon. I experiemented with layers of colored prints over each other. not perfect but I like the idea.
I look forward to using these prints in my sewing projects, incorporating them in patchwork and applique.

Day Two: Cardboard wonders with Diana Fayt

This class was right up my alley because I love using old materials to make collages. Even though I am familiar with multi-media collages, I learned a few new techniques and got to experiement with adding paint to my work, something I haven't really tried yet. And really, the best part of the class was just having the time and mental space to make things and play! I'm really digging how this piece came out. Again with the flowers you say. I guess I was just loving on flowers last week!

Day Three: the Joy of Intention with Alena Henessey

So, the funny part of taking this class was: I showed up without an intention. Duh, what was I thinking? Luckily I recovered from my mind-melt quickly and realized that my intention was to make a safe creative place for myself both emotionally/spiritually and physically. I mean, that's the theme of the whole week! Again, duh.
I made this piece to represent my creative nest: one that is filled with color,layers of print and pattern but has that balance of negative space and openness.
This was just a morning class so I really had to be challenged to make quick and thoughful decisions in my art making. I don't mind a little pressure every once in a while! 

Thank you so much again to Elizabeth and all of my teachers for the best time ever!

Full Circle- Squam Part I

 

What can I say about my week at Squam Art Workshops? There are both too many words and things that can't ever be put into words. But I'm going to try.




It's not often in life that we get to do something that can be described as life-changing. Most of the time I, like pretty much everyone else on this planet, plod through my daily routines, not think or examining the what or the why. When offered a chance to spend five days in the woods making art, I jumped at it. Some of you know that my job can mostly be described as "creative" but my work is not mine, it belongs to the company. It has a purpose and a goal and I don't get to keep it, literally and figuratively. My work is also demanding, and though the daily challenges can be a gift it is also hard to maintain a space just for me.




Elizabeth, the founder of Squam Art Workshops, asked me to be the keynote speaker at the fall session of Squam about a year ago and I have been looking forward to it/quite nervous about it ever since. Nervous because I was travelling and attending mostly alone and because I was speaking to a crowd of 150 people, looking forward because, well, it was Squam and I have always wanted to go.



I have heard that, though everyone's experience at Squam is different, it is intense, cathartic and emotional, like a spark plug of creativity, that kick in the pants we all need to ditch the excuses and start making things. There is an incredible feeling of nurturing and understanding at Squam: there is no wrong way to experience a week there. You can go to ever class and event or none, make new friends or keep to yourself, eat your veggies or have waffles a la mode for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In five days I re-learned that there are people out there that are "my people", that I am creative and that I can actually speak in front of 150 people and I can do it well.

I learned that the fancy shoes and the big-city cynicism that I often hide behind aren't worth a damn.

I learned that when people tell you to pack layers for cold New Hampshire nights, they are not joking around.

I accepted that loving solitude is OK, that it doesn't make me defective.

I remembered that I like the woods, the quiet, the slowing down, actually seeing stars in the sky.

I remembered what it was like to make things just for me, how good it feels.

I learned that Squam is this little magical wonderland and that I can't wait to go back.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk more about my classes and the work I made...

Bookkeeping

It's been a while since I've talked books but this week was a busy one in Appliqué Your Way-land and I wanted to post some updates:

One, I finally re-linked both of my books on the blog. One day, they just disappeared like "poof" and it seriously took me this long to put them back up. And by me I mean Mr. Loveforever, who is way more tech savvy than I.

Two, my super-talented little brother Jesse is trying to raise money to produce his second record on Pledge Music (like Kickastarter but for musicians) and, if you so desire, you can donate by buying an autographed copy of my book plus a kit to make these woodland creature ornaments above. My mom contributed this project to the book and we made the kits together. It's a real family affair folks!

Three, you can enter to win a copy of my book over at the Clay, Wood and Cotton blog. All you have to tell them is what your favorite summer read was. Easy as pie.

Get Ready for the Craft Derby!

My pals Kristen and Kristy from the always-awesome store Clay, Wood and Cotton emailed me yesterday so I could share the news of heir first-ever Craft Derby! What's a Craft Derby you ask? It's a friendly little craft competetion. Every two weeks, on Tuesdays, they will put out a call here on our blog for craft projects following a different theme. Entrants will have two weeks to send in photos and a description of their project for consideration.

There will be two winners for each theme: a Judges’ Choice winner and a People’s Choice winner. The Judges Choice winner will be chosen by Kristen and Kirsty + a different Special Guest Judge each week. The remaining entries will be eligible to be the People's Choice winner, based on voting on their blog. 

And the best part: they will collect all of the winning projects in a book, which will be available for sale as a PDF download on ClayWoodandCotton.com, and in softcover in their shop in Beacon, NY. 

So head on over an get crafting!

Fall Leaf Napkins Tutorial on Parents.com

Fall is suddenly here and I am ready to nest. As soon as the cold weather hits, I start thinking about gathering friends and family together for big dinners. I always like to use cloth napkins; they coudn't be easier to make! I'll teach you how to print on napkins using fall leaves as your printing medium over on Parents Magazine website.

Daughters of Simone: Vintage Wedding Dresses

I don't talk about weddings very much because I was not a traditional bride. I wore a champagne colored cocktail dress, purchased for $75 at a thrift shop in Connecticut.



I can totally see why a lady might want a big poofy white dress but I definitely didn't. That's why I got excited when I saw Daughters of Simone's well-curated shop of totally affordable, drop dead gorgeous vintage wedding dresses and accessories. The two ladies behind Daughters of Simone, Brittany and Christy, "envisioned their woman as a rare bird, someone who would breathe new life into “the dress” and feel that it represented the entirety of her essence." In other words, the dress doesn't wear you, you make the dress awesome.

And the hipster-goddess-frolicking-through-the-woods styling of the photos doesn't hurt either. Who wouldn't want to look this pretty on their wedding day?