Keep Me Hangin' On

Considering my track record with electronics, i thought it might be smart to invest in a camera bag. Except right now I've got way more time on my hands than money, so i just whipped one up out of some materials I had lying around the house. and by 'whipped one up' I mean spent hours going "why cant this %#^@ machine just do what i &*$# tell it to??" while breaking needle after mother loving needle. Patience really is a virtue.  Honestly, it was worth every minute. I love Sylvia's new home.

Thats right. My camera's name is Sylvia. 

Rather just hand over the cash? Scroll down for some beautiful options from etsy. 

Just because its holding precious cargo does not mean it needs to be ugly, grey, or have sporty reflective piping. While I'm sure the gortex finished cases with all their aerodynamic features are great for professional photographers who are carrying their equipment around with them in rain, sleet, or snow, that just ain't me. A few below that fulfill both requirements: looking good AND super sturdy. 

top left: Porteen Gear $125, right: Canter Bags $218, bottom left: Sizzle Strapz $549.99

...When You Came into My Life

Finally, after years of careful planning and deliberation (i.e. avoiding the inevitable) I finally got a new camera. I would have put it off longer but when it comes to gift giving, electronics are kind of my mothers specialty. After 5 minutes of playing around with it though, I realized all the hype around quality cameras. Um, its because they are great. Really, really great. I mean, look at that soft focus portrait of Sue.

clockwise from top: Sue (Ben and I's pup), some framed photos and artwork of mine, Haley Ann's mini deer, cross stitch from 8 Limbs in Echo Park, diorama by Teresa Pilar Huerte, and my manicure, thanks to OPI samples at Sephora. 

necklace soon to be available in my shop, my back patio, succulent closeup, and watching the sunset from my kitchen.

the sunset setting is one of my favorites, especially when you've got a highlighter pink striped sky. No better thing to come home to (although my holiday in Florida was full of amazing sunsets also).

Go back and get it

 Josephine Baker

Marsha Hunt

Pat Cleveland

Adgbani Darego

A concise collection of some beautiful women in history. These women helped (and are still helping) to let the world know - black is beautiful. Below is a Sankofa symbol, an West African Adinkra symbol that means literally go back and get it, as in learning from the past. 

Where is Sleepy Darlings?

She woke up and re-named her blog The Aquarians. Deal with it!

Long story short, after 2 1/2 years of a name I wasn't totally in love with to begin with, I've decided its time to start something new. It's still all my favorite artists and designers, DIY projects, and personal projects, just with a title that fits my work a little better. It's about creating unity within the creative community, a search for brotherhood (and sistahood), enlightenment, and peace through art and design.

I'm an Aquarian by birth, but I'm also really drawn to the idea of a new and enlightened age, moving on from the sometimes materialistic and selfish ways of our current lives (something I'm always having internal fights about). While the actual date of this age is under debate, gaining insight through its meaning is what is really important. Aquarius is most associated with concepts like humanism, philanthropy, and modernization, as well as freedom, nonconformity, and rebellion. I can dig it.

Altered Mood

The Temptresss

The Sun Queen

The Dream Garden

I love making mood boards.

Double Sided

Vivienne Strauss Collages available at The Double Sided Vivienne. With names like "He couldn't cut the mustard" how can you resist?

Peach, Pumpkin, Persimmon

Whatever the shade of orange, it's all right in my book. The bastard child of yellow and red that was condemned for decades to reside only in old hook-yarn rugs, the print on your grandmothers chenille couch, or the velvet lining of that old suitcase.

Things are about to change. Pantone has named it's 2012 color of the year as none other than Tangerine Tango, a bright orange with a strong red hue. A delightful departure from last years so-sweet-it-made-you-vomit honeysuckle pink.

side note, OH wow, how badly do I need those shoes?? Actually, i pretty much would love to own all of this. Family, take note. Just kidding. Maybe not. UPDATE: those shoes are no longer for sale. ehem.

1. Leather Wrap Bracelet - A Cute Cute, $9
2. Necklace- Ginger Hallows, $32
3. Kisslock Billfold - The Vintage Suitcases, $9.99
4. Fur Trimmed Jacket - Divine Excess, $325
5. Flash Lightning Boots - Green CanyonRoad...
6. Birdy Skirt - Tansy Pool, $18.50
7. Beaded Eagle Necklace - Fidget Finds, $20
8. Hand Painted Scarf - Somewhere In Time Scarf, $15
9. Tangerine Tango, in full effect.

Body Amour

Ann Tabor shot by Howard Grey, 1969.

Mummy, I want a python!

Some recent drawings i did of jewelry designer Maria Francesca Pepe's Lookbook. I was so drawn in by the way the snakes integrate with her body, and the use of all black clothes to really showcase the jewelry. It's almost as though the jewelry itself were the clothing and the black just an extension of the female form. 

Go take a look at her product catalogs, too. I love how she takes a concept and just runs with it. You can see the themes running through her collections for multiple seasons, the snake being a very clear continuation on a theme. 

 Keeping in the vein of a DIY holiday season that doesn't cause credit debt, heres a  fun, quick, project for a holiday party accessory, or a gift for a friend. I had all the materials lying around the house, but a quick trip to the craft store is all you need if you dont have these supplies (or, even better, just improvise!). 

I had been looking for long metal bars to use in my jewelry,and when I found some old picture hanging mounts I knew they would be perfect. You can also put a clasp at the ends instead of the embroidery tie, i just thought this piece was begging for a little more color.

Freedom IS Free

I've documented for you all the process of turning some low hanging branches into the cheapest of holiday decorations. I'm not very sappy (oh my god the puns never stop) or sentimental, but decorating a bundle of sticks and making it look like a Christmas tree got me really nostalgic and put me in a great mood.

Starting with some pine tree branches salvaged from the park across the street, we jammed the ends into our umbrella base, then pretty much tangled them up in enough rope to make it resemble something close to a tree shape. After further enforcing this glorified tumbleweed with a string of lights, we ran around the house grabbing trinkets and tying them to the tree. No better, or cheaper, way to light up the house with love. 

I have fond memories of going out with my dad and finding the cheapest tree (always under $20) so I feel like I really made him proud with this one. Doesn't get much cheaper than free. **NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that my mother was the one who set the $20 limit on the Christmas tree, my dad was just following her orders. That almost makes it more fun of a story...**

Usually I hear "glass miniatures" and think "lost and broken." Something about these adorable miniatures makes me re-consider. 

Kiva Ford on Etsy.

Reverie

God I love studio visits. The mess, the chaos, the trinkets, all an integral part of the creative process (except maybe the trinkets. that might be just me.) The Makers is a website found on Anthology, and am I glad I found it. Some images from the jewelry designer behind reverie's studio, from the website.

Makes me want to take over the rest of my living room with jewelry hooks. Want to see my studio? Go over to Lune Vintage for a tour! Heres a few images from her post of my workspace...

Babies on Fire

 God I love these photos. She's selling the purses, but i just can't help but think parades and marching bands. They are still really simple photos which do the classic shapes of the bag justice, but the costumes say "i know how to have fun!" By fun, I mean running around half naked and playing dress-up in your schools costume department. Which i highly suggest to you all. SABRINA TACH handbags on etsy. 

Oh, and did i mention? "The tanneries used by Sabrina Tach have strict environmental policies. All of the leathers come from animals bred in free-range Uruguayan estancias, and are by-products of the meat industry." cool. 

a few more babes from her shop.

Dead Supermodels

Did a bunch of drawing this weekend, what better way to save money on a model than to draw her? So here it is, some of my jewelry on the infamous Donyale Luna. If you've never heard of her, look her up. While her real lineage is uncertain, she claims to be Afro-Egypitan, indigenous Mexican, Indonesian, Irish, and Native American, really a woman of the world (which i can clearly identify with). Unfortunately she passed at 33, but her face is pretty much etched into my brain by now. or sketched. tee hee.

"If there is anything in the world of high fashion more vulnerable to whim than clothes, it is the models who wear them. They seem to emerge from nowhere, sparkle brilliantly, then plunge into Stygian darkness,* the victims of too much deja vu. Now rising into ascendancy is a new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season.

Donyale Luna, as she calls herself, is unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment. She is only 20, a Negro, hails from Detroit, and is not to be missed..."

The Luna Year -Time Magazine, 1966

My mind has been blown

Please allow me to introduce you to: The Metalepsis Project. from top, wood prints of e5, b2, and e3, a few pieces from the collection, and the collection map.

Paraphrasing is not my strong point, especially when it comes to jewelry of a fine art caliber, so I'll let the project speak for itself:

"The 2012 Metalepsis Projects collection is inspired by mid-century Scandinavian sensibilities in combining linear and curved geometries, and by the art and methodology of Sol Lewitt.

Often Lewitt’s works ... visually explore all methods of combining groups of modular geometries. Similarly, our collection comprises a series of cast bronze modular geometries that can be paired in an array of ways.

Each Metalepsis cast is un-finished, meaning that it retains the patina with which it emerges from the mold. This patina is wholly unique; even two castings of the same piece will have differing patinas. The patina will continue to develop slowly over time as the necklace encounters salt, oxygen, etc.

Necklaces are available in all combinations shown at left, though not all combinations have been photographed. 11" x 14" wood block prints are also available in all combinations shown."

the Metalepsis Project, Found via Dossier Journal, currently changing the way i think about creating. 

We be illin'

My boyfriend gave me cooties and now I'm stuck at home sick. These silk pajamas from Creatures of Comfort would be the perfect outfit for a moments like this. For today, I will continue to wear my blanket as pajamas.

A wise falcon hides its talons

A collage including some of the drawings and paintings I've been working on. The peregrine falcon has probably one of the coolest in-flight-bird shots I've ever seen. It's structure is graphically appealing, and its bird of prey reputation makes for a really great source of inspiration. 

From top: 

perigrine falcon image: here, leather paintings done by me, talon necklace: made her think via bona drag, Balmain dress via style.com, kimono via Cult of Aphrodite on Etsy, Falcon drawing done by me, bird mask via Twilight and Filigree on Etsy, Girl via theblowup.com, girl with bird in center, she just kind of showed up on my harddrive. and I'm willing to bet thats not a falcon in her hands. Double sorry. 

 A few weeks ago, I saw Florence Welsch on SNL wearing that Balmain dress (right) and spent the rest of the evening looking for the dress. It's since managed to integrate itself into my sketches and leather painting, much to my delight. Soon I'll just get to drawing the dress... 

Alyssa Pheobus Mumtaz - Collage of fragments from discontinued Pakistani one rupee notes. found via Creatures of Comfort blog. 

Then things got a little weird

Amber Anderson by Simon Burstall for Elle France via Fashion Gone Rogue