Birthday Gift

A friend of mine celebrated her birthday recently and in an effort to get/create something for her that I could spend minimal monies on, I decided to take an existing shirt and create an applique on another.  As a kid she liked Pokemon, so to keep her youthful memories alive (though admittedly, neither of us is very old) I took an old Pokemon shirt, cut out the main picture and stitched it onto a new one.

Simple process, but it was cheap and easy and something homemade is always nice!

You can't see the shirt, but it's a normal black shirt from Forever 21 (only an easy $3.50!). 

Here's a little detail on the stitching.  Just a basic stitch. 

And since the applique was fairly simple and even impersonal, I decided to stitch on a little heart to the back of the shirt.  It's placed on the bottom left hand side and I meant it to be a sort of secret.  I attempted to attach a little A in the middle (her name starts with an A), but ran out of time.

Overall, I'm happy with the turn out, though I believe next time I'll work on something more hand made and less of an applique.

Sweet Tooth Satisfied.

This past Saturday I baked some goodies for a bake sale/art show called Sweets for the Sweet.  It was put on by Red Hands Media in order to raise money for a future large art installation in Long Beach. 

My friend Genesis invited me to partake, so I spent Saturday afternoon mixing, kneading, and rolling out some lollipop pies.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the process (there was a whole lot more going on that day aside from the baked goods), but here's a picture of the end result:

It's a tad hard to see, but they are shaped like hearts.  The filling is blueberry.  I planned on making cupcakes as well.  Actually, I MADE them, but didn't have time to decorate them.  Just as well, anyway, since some adorable little girls contributed a ton of cute ones!  Yep, that's a "spaghetti and meatball" you're seeing.

A couple of artists from the Red Hands Media group also created work specifically for this show.  This is Cyndee's and one of my faves.  They are fruit bats!  I love the colors and how she displayed them.

Also, Art (the creator of Red Hands Media) and his lady-friend, Genesis, collaborated on a piece:

I have a lot of talented friends and I'm happy they can display and sell their artwork in such a great community environment.  Hopefully I'll be able to continue to help them.

Sweets for the Sweet

A good friend of mine invited me recently to partake in a bake sale/art show this Saturday.  Here's the flier:

Since I was just asked a few days ago, I haven't the time (what with summer school 4 days) to craft or create anything sweets-related.  No moneys either!  I'm spending a few bucks on ingredients to make some (hopefully) sweet cupcakes.  Come see me and support art!  A portion of the proceeds will go to the Red Hands Media group and the rest will go to a starving artist (me, hahaha). 

Paaaar-tay

I've been lying low recently and not doing much but riding bikes, swimming, and eating. Ha.

I haven't much moneys right now, so I haven't done anything artsy. But a friend of mine celebrated her birthday by throwing a zombie themed party. In honor of her awesome ways, I made her a zombie unicorn pinata. I didn't make the actual pinata (toooo lazy to go through that), but I bought a horse from a party store and transformed it.

The unicorn part was easy.   Last year, my best bud Gaby and I made a unicorn pinata (for this same friend.  What? She likes unicorns!) and it was so simple.  Just a horn, really.  This year after the horn, I wasn't sure which direction to go.

This is a preliminary photo.  I added blood, scarring, and green skin.  I put black for the eyes, but wasn't sure what to add.  I also added black paper to the left foot to try and create a "missing foot".  It didn't quite work.

This is the finished product.  More blood, and green skin.  I also changed the colors in the tail, but you can't see it here.  There were also pink heart on the front and sides.  I left the front one, but changed the side ones to black and green then added more blood.  I also added blood to the missing foot that you can kind of make out.  I think my favorite part of all is the bloodied horn.

And here is the aftermath.  She really enjoyed the pinata.  She was actually the only gal to hit it since her second swing knocked the body clear off, leaving only the decapitated head dangling for all to see.  Inside, I stuffed the pinata with mini lollipops, fizzy lollipops, whistles, bouncy balls, two normal sized candy bars (for two lucky drunkards), condoms (plain old rubber and festive colored ones!), and smoke bombs!  The smoke bombs were a total hit. 

Overall, the pinata was a hit.  I had a good time making it.  And it was SO cheap.  I had leftover streamers for adding gore and got most of the favors from The Dollar Tree (my fave store since I became so broke).  More than anything, I'm happy happy happy it was a hit with my friend and the party.  I hope she keeps that severed zombie unicorn head forever. 

 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

I finished my J book a few weeks ago and due to finals never had a chance to blog about it.

It's by Shirley Jackson and I believe it was her last novel. I haven't read any of her other stories, though I know her short story, The Lottery, is famous and lauded many times over.

The book was quite good. The story was interesting and the narrator, Merricat, was fascinating. She seemed crazy, maybe delusional. Her accounts of events, at first, were fully believable, as it seems a narrator should in a book. However, the more I read, the more it appeared Merricat might be more than just kooky. The idea of a narrator skewing stories works rather well with this book.

The story itself is flat. The characters are static, situations don't change. In this respect, I could see why some people wouldn't like Jackson's novel. For me, though, it really pulled the story along. I thought the story wasn't so much about Merricat and her sister, but about their surroundings, their neighbors and how people reacted to them.

I loved it for its dark, creepy thoughts. I loved it because it didn't hold back much from the cruelty of others, the cruelty people can force onto others just because they can.

I have no complaints about this book. It was beautifully written and well worth a read.

PS. I'll post a picture later.

Product

I haven't posted much of anything in a while.

I'm being more productive, though, I swear. And summer is full of potential, I can feel it in me. I want to create, create, create. Make some little videos. Make some art. And write till my hands swell up and fall off.

I'm working on a few different things and the worst one thus far is my children's book(s). Who knew writing for children could be so difficult? I've got the story mapped out. I just need to get the actual words down.

Fingers crossed. Summer will be my time to work out all the kinks.

Bones

I was having really restless sleep last night. I kept waking up every hour or so. I was tired, but couldn't find myself in a proper state of sleep. I woke up one last time at around 6:45am and couldn't fall back asleep until I churned this out. It's a first run and not revised, written in half sleep. Eat it up, my dears.


It takes a lot out of us.
Sitting sideways, the way we like.
Our shoulders jut out, bones beneath the sun.
It doesn’t last long, but it warms us just enough

We’ve still got our hair grown, but not growing
You always moan that you forgot.
It’s our hair that keeps us human
Our hair that won’t be growing.

Dust gathers in heaps around our feet
Leaving dirt under nails,
Smudges on our cheeks.
We forget, we forget,
To keep our eyes to the sun
We forget to stay human
Our hair grown, but not growing.