Hometown Holiday

Lately I've been loving the city: driving down the Sunset strip on the way home from work, taking my pick of weekend flea markets and discovering a great little fabric shop on the Westside. But there's still no place like your hometown for the Fourth of July, so that's just where we went for the long weekend - home to open lanes, open land and the Terrace Park fireworks. I brought along vintage trims in red white and blue (all from a box of old notions I found several weeks ago at the flea market). I decided to hand stitch them together to make a trio of tricolor cockades, which are quite fittingly, a very 18th century piece of insignia.

"It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with ...Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." John Adams to Abigail, July 3, 1776

Tea Light Lanterns: A Tutorial

Another tutorial I created is up at Project Wedding! I like to think of these as instant lanterns - in their unembellished form, they come together so easily from a few simple materials. These in particular remind me of an organdy dress, with their soft, ladylike details and cool simplicity. Make a batch for your next twilit summer celebration - you can find the full instructions and supplies list over at Project Wedding.

Slide Projector: The Pre-Raphaelites

Hello again! Dear me, somewhere between ending another school year and starting an internship, two weeks have quickly slipped by without a post. But this means I have a backlog of projects to share with you in the coming weeks (the craft closet is approaching completion and the dollhouse is finally going to be unveiled!). Before I completely abandon academics for the summer I wanted to add to the "Slide Projector" series with a group of artists I studied during the year.It's at the end of the first floor corridor, behind the dove gray door on the right. Room 1542, where the daydreamiest of students drift off on a bit of time travel. Not to the oft frequented Parisian exhibitions of most 19th century art history courses, but to England. To the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their circle, a thoroughly fascinating band of romantics, brooding and avant-garde, with the requisite starry eyed poet among them. They were fascinated by the medieval, and displaced by the shock of industrialism's soot and steam. Onto the banks of Ophelia's watery grave, across fields after rain, a vibrancy of color and gloried nature spills from their brushes, tempered by a compelling quality of the mysterious and the unsaid.

Little Italy

A few weeks ago I took a day trip with my parents and their friends to Little Italy, San Diego - an unexplored place in a familiar city.
We rode by train. Down the coast to Union Station, where we met with colored tile, old radiators, window panes and light through a Spanish arcade.
It was sunny and blue enough for a new summer dress. Pink and white stripes and lots of fabric in the skirt - to my detriment with wind gusts off the nearby harbor.
We strolled through the late morning's street market and bought daisies for two dollars a bunch.
The afternoon we filled with lunch and a tour; painted ceilings and stained glass, chocolate gelato, neighborhood history and being tourists in our own backyard.
With the end of the day, mom and I explored two more blocks plus a coffee shop, rejoining the others on the 7 o'clock train for all points north.

Seedling Kit Favors

I'm pleased to announce I'm contributing at Project Wedding! So if you'd like to learn how to make these little seedling kit gift boxes (or just see more pictures of them) head over to the tutorial page.

Two Days, Three Museums

My what an outing filled weekend! I made it to three museums and even caught Road to Morocco on the big screen Friday night. The Getty and The Norton Simon I had visited before, but I was so unprepared for The Huntington - expansive gardens complete with classical statues, colonnaded gallery buildings, sweeping lawns a conservatory. Simply glorious; we must go back to see it all! And now some sketches and notes from each destination (click each image for larger view)...The Getty Center, Friday Afternoon
Assignment: Observe, take notes and prepare for presentation on Gerard ter Borch's The Music Lesson, for art history class on Dutch Baroque painting.
Distractions: Taking in views of the city below, enjoying the weather on a cafe chair in the sun. Exploring the permanent collection of 18th century decorative arts (again), and admiring chandeliers. Seeing the special exhibitions - my highlights: (1) monumental volumes of illuminated manuscripts on book stands under glass (2) Portrait photography from the 19th century (among others) (3) design drawings for 18th century decorative objects and architectural elements.
The Norton Simon, Saturday Midday
Assignment: Meet Dutch Baroque class in the 17th century gallery and listen to classmate's presentations. Admire genre scenes and amazingly luscious still life paintings by Flemish and Dutch artists.
Distractions: Sunshine and water lilies in the sculpture garden. Degas pastels in the 19th century wing. Savoring my second visit.The Huntington, Saturday Afternoon
Assignment: View Weng collection painting and calligraphy exhibit at the Boone Gallery and observe the Chinese Garden for Art History of China class.
Distractions: Playing with calligraphy pens at the hands-on exhibit. Taking in the grounds and gardens and wishing we had more time to see the art galleries. Admiring weeping willows and classical statues in the rose garden, all the while feeling a bit like Mary Lennox. Loveliest place.

Craft Closet

Our apartment has two closets right off of the living room. One for music, the other for art; just perfectly in line with the interests of Apartment No. 10's two inhabitants. Nikki's shallow, doubled-doored space is already replete with keyboard, guitar, Beatles album covers and cozy stacks of Irving Berlin sheet music. Unfortunately I must report that my 16 square feet are still in the planning stages, but the pieces are starting to come together. This week I thought I would record my plans with ink and watercolor. You can click on the first and third images to see them larger.
Table: Classic sewing table, a $15 Craigslist find. It came complete with an older (probably '70s), iron Singer, but I'm planning to use it with my new (and first!) sewing machine, which is supposed to be prime for novice sewers. The table itself has been sanded and adjusted by my dad to be compatable with the new machine. The next three day weekend I'm headed back home to paint it.
Shelving: Mostly existing. The closet has a fairly deep shelf that wraps in an "L" shape around it's perimenter, in addition to two corner shelves (represented by the dashed lines in the floorplan above). I'm also planning to add a narrow shelf (picture ledge from IKEA) above the table, to catch smaller supplies and keep the work area clear.
Storage: Mostly clear containers of plastic and glass, existing and new. Bins, boxes, apothecary jars, etc. Trays for different paper types, from vellum to vintage.
Lighting: Lantern from Chinatown plus a pair of wall mounted lights (IKEA).
Printing Station: An existing cart. For printer, paper cutter, paper trays, storage boxes (to hold flatcards and envelopes), and spiral pads of watercolor and drawing papers.
Walls: I'm still hunting for the perfect pair of frames (or frame), which I plan to paint a high gloss white and use for my pegboard project. I came so very close to settling on one last Sunday at the flea market. As for the pegboard itself, I have an unconventional idea that I can't wait to try out.
I hope you've enjoyed these illustrated plans; I can't wait until it's finished and I can share the real thing!

My Dreams Have Petals

This place. Such a favorite. We revisited weeks ago on a spring break excursion. It's a hillside by the coast, planted with rows and rows of ranunculus. When I was very small we called it "rainbow hill" after the way the strands of petaled color seamlessly met the sky. There were fewer buildings then. Still when you're in the midst of it, with the dust of the road, the bright of noon, and a blue ribbon of sea in the distance, you find yourself quelling the impulse to run down the steeply plowed furrows and gather the largest bunch of ruffled blooms you've ever seen.

Sweet Surprise

Once upon a weekday in very early April a girl made cupcakes for a boy. In the kitchen at No. 10 the chessboard floors were dotted with unruly dozens of colored sprinkles. You see, it was not only a workday, a school day and a just-back-in-town day, but a birthday. And just as no birthday should be without sweets, no sweetheart should leave her boy without them. "Now there's a proper celebration!" she cried, "a candle, a cupcake, and cotton candy." The End.

Paper Cones: A Craft Tutorial

I'm afraid a case of the flu rendered me MIA last week, but I'm on the mend and so pleased to finally share a project tutorial I created for Once Wed. The paper cone is such a classic, and these are particularly old fashioned cut from sheet music dated 1907 and 1941. Fittingly, they remind me a bit of that Victorian aesthetic I was crazy about as a little girl - upswept hair and decoupaged violets. At the same time, they make me want to hum a few lines of These Foolish Things (Billie Holiday's 1936 recording is my favorite)."And still my heart has wings,
These foolish things remind me of you.
A tinkling piano in the next apartment,
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant."

Want to make some of your own? Head over to Once Wed for a list of materials and the illustrated instructions. Happy crafting!

Happy Easter

It's a lovely day today. Snapshots from my Sunday.

By Lantern Light: A Tutorial

The remaining few days of spring break slipped away too quickly, but thankfully not before I could fill them with enjoyable hours spent crafting and photographing. I think you'll agree that there's something purely enchanting about lights in trees and the quiet cool of dusk in early spring. Such was my inspiration for this DIY tutorial for Decor8 (you can find all the instructions and step by step photos over there). It's a simple project and the basic principle of adhereing printed vellum to glass can be used in a variety of ways - on a votive for example. Just be sure to use battery operated tea lights for safety. Enjoy the photos and head over to Decor8 for instructions on how to make a batch of your own!
"Twilight drops her curtain down and pins it with a star."
L.M. Montgomery