Holidaze

I've been due for a new post for a long time now! School and the band have kept me pretty busy these past few months and to be honest, I haven't really had too much time to make anything.

Well that's sort of true. I found excuses here and there to make small things and here are some pictures!

On Thanksgiving I decided it would be nice to make some sort of table piece out of branches from our tree. We actually didn't have too much room on the table, so I opted to hang it from the ceiling.

I spray painted the branch white, wound some green ribbon around the branches, and stuck some feathers in there. I searched through my junk collection and also found these little plastic figs and some letter cutouts.
It was super last minute, but really fun! My uncle took these nice photos.

A couple nights ago, Justine and I were wrapping some presents and were wishing for some little cards to go with them. We ended up making these little gingerbread man cards with some cardstock, felt, riffraff, and sequins.

They took a while to make, but once we got a system going, we were able to make about 24 of them! We also added magnets on the back.

Oh by the way, it's Christmas! Hope everyone is having a wonderful, laid back day.
I walked into the living room this morning and when I saw this my jaw dropped and my eyes started tearing up. So unexpected!
I have always wanted an antique vanity. But I just figured it's something I would have to wait for later on in life and plus, I didn't really have the room for it in my room.

I guess my mom was frantically looking for a present for me yesterday and found this! Haha. I LOVE it. I had to rearrange some things in my room, but it fits!

Now I'm going to need to make lots of other changes in my room to accommodate it, but of course I'm okay with that. These past couple months I've had to let go of all my other ideas and projects, but the vanity has sparked a new enthusiasm for my room, and I'm going to start working on it again! So much to do! But I'm so excited.

I used to have this vision of a complete room, but I've realized that I can never really complete it. And why would I want to? I feel that my bedroom reflects who I am, and as I've changed over the years, my room has gone through several transformations. These past couple months weren't the easiest for me, and as long as I wasn't going anywhere my room wasn't either. I do feel a change in my life right now, and I know it'll show through the environment that I'm ready to start creating again. I have so much cleaning out and reorganizing to do, but a new year is the perfect time for that! I'm ready for a fresh start and I'll be sure to keep you updated along the way!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
And since this is the last day I can push this, go download our Christmas singles that we wrote with Naive Thieves!! (click the photo)

Happy Birthday Mia

Made a fabric envelope with a ribbon to tie around her bottle of whiskey.
:)



The video is finally done! Filmed by Benji Newell.

The Summer Twins: "Crying In My Sleep" from Benji Newell on Vimeo.

Watching it at the premier brought tears to my eyes!
Here's a Behind the Scenes video by Joy Newell!

Crying In My Sleep BTS from Benji Newell on Vimeo.

Flying & Postcards

We're working on a music video for 'Crying in My Sleep.'
If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember listening to this song, right after I wrote it! It's so exciting to see how far its come along.

It inspired lots of ideas for the the video and now that the video is almost finished, it's thrilling to see what was once just ideas, in concrete. It took so much work and detail!
Because of the line "flying in my dreams" in the song, I knew we had to have wings somewhere in the video.

(Here's a behind the scenes photo taken by Joy Newell)

I really wanted them to look handmade, so I made them!

I used wire as a frame, a glue gun, and just started ripping and tearing old fabric to see where it would take me.
I added some feathers and glitter as well.
Some of this fabric was actually from the curtains that were hanging when we first moved into this house. When we took them down, I saved them to make something out of them. I never knew what to use them for, so they sat in my closet for years. I'm happy to give them a new life, even if it means shredding them to pieces.

This video gave me an opportunity (and reason) to make something that I normally wouldn't. And I really really enjoyed it! It reminded me that it's good to try something different now and then; try playing with something you've never worked with before.

I thought I'd share them with you guys because you won't really be able to get a close look at them in the video.

Now that we're done with them, I think I'm going to hang them from my ceiling.

So last night, I got the urge to just make something. It had been a while since I pulled out all my scraps and paper.

I was thinking of my friends and decided to make some postcards using pieces of cardboard, old encyclopedias, photos, cards, my typewriters, paint, and some varnish.

I also used a little thread on this one..


This is my favorite sort of project. Starting out with a blank piece, picking out images or colors, then just playing with them- ripping, arranging, adding, painting. The whole process just feels really organic and stimulating. You never know how it will turn out!

When applying varnish to this one (below), I didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry, so it smudged onto the photo. But I actually really like how it looks! The project takes shape as you go.


Here's the catch-
they're mini postcards!
I think I'm going to send them in envelopes anyway though, because they might be too small to send alone and I'm scared they'll fall apart.

Nonetheless, I wanted them to look like postcards anyway so I added these old stamps...

...which I took from this old paper I found found at a flea market in Italy.

They're really fun to make! It'd be a fun to project to sit and down and do with friends.
The whole idea came from missing my friends- Brad, Josh, and Hanie, who live in San Francisco and Idaho. I just wanted to send a little hello.
I have an extra though, so I'm trying to figure out where to send that one!

Press Kits

So I've had this vision for our press kits for a while now. I wanted to use old manila folders and have everything laid out nicely.

It actually took a while to get it all sorted out, due to my being picky. I couldn't find a font that I liked, so I ended up typing everything out on my typewriter, scanning it, fixing it in photoshop, trying to arrange it right, and printing it.

Since the folders are recycled, I used ribbon with double-sided tape to cover up the old labels.

It's got some reviews, contact info, info about shows, our bio, photo, and music!

Used a sewing machine to stitch on the paper. Glue would be so much faster, but the thread really makes it special.
The reviews here are 3 pages, and sewed at the top, so the viewer can flip the pages up.

I love how they turned out, but I just spent about 2 and 1/2 hours just making 11 of them! Too much detail. I'll probably make some more of them, but I'm definitely going to make them easier to assemble next time.

we love you

Some nice things for my grandma, who's sick.


The sole purpose of making an envelope was so I could incorporate this cute mini clothespin:

Felt, paper, typewriter, stitching


Justine made her this cute little bear

Thinkin' about you grandma.

Something Stupid

I haven't been making anything too exciting lately. I've been busy with band business, but I still try to keep that fun.

Here are our new business cards! I'm excited to hand them out.




Oh, and our newest music video is finally complete!

The More I Think of You from Summer Twins on Vimeo.

I've been writing a lot lately and I'm really excited to work these 2 new songs into our set.
You can listen to the rough versions I recorded on garageband:

I always have several songs in the works, but this one is one of the newest. It kind of came out of nowhere..
Worryhead by citybirdd

This one is a duet and I'm going to make Marcio sing it with me. It's inspired by a mixture between "Something Stupid" sang by Frank and Nancy Sinatra ( listen!)and "Bros" by Panda Bear.

I know that by citybirdd

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think.

new love

A mix for Hanie
I decided to make some sort of case for the CD out of this old linen cover. It has a nice little pocket in the front.

Covered cardboard with fabric, then sewed the plastic onto that.

Track listing fits in the little pocket in front

I sort of messed up the zipper from the linen cover, but I found this cute pink one instead.


If you like, you can download the mix here. The songs might be out of order.

Here is a rough recording of a new song I wrote maybe 2 weeks ago. I was feeling a sort of Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra vibe when I wrote it.

Teardrops on my pillow by citybirdd

and..

You can probably imagine why I love this video

Dirt Dress - Stray Cats from Dirt Dress on Vimeo.

The Good Things

I have some catching up to do!
Here is the artwork for our EP that we just put out (unfortunately way later than we should have)
Cover photos are by Joy Newell.






I'm waiting for copies of the actual sleeves to come in the mail. I can't wait to get them!
Go download it for free!

catamaran

I'm back! It's been a while.
Here are a couple things I've been working on:

Summer pins sets! We'll be selling these for $2 at our shows.

I put together the designs and Rob's Vintique made them for us.
Scraps of fabric glued to cardboard as the backdrops.

This is now hanging on my wall

Welcome to the family, barometer. I'm so glad I found you at the antique store today.

You look good in my study (aka the top of my desk).



My friend, Adam Roth, showed me this video/song by Candy Claws. It is so so beautiful.



Also, I was fortunate to take part in the Wickerbasket popup shop.

Wickerbasket : "We are a small artist collective based out of Riverside, California. Our goal is to improve the city of Riverside through projects which encourage community, create space for interaction, and nurture the creative class. We believe that the quality of interaction and engagement among citizens of a particular city is key to contributing to the health of communities in a tangible way."

Our popup shop was a temporary retail space, in which artists and collectors were gathered together. Customers and friends were encouraged to come and hang out and we had some live music. It was such a success and one of my favorite summer memories. We raised money to fund future projects and events. Here is a video of the popup shop by Joy Newell:

WickerBasket Pop Up Shop from Joy Newell on Vimeo.

I'm actually working on some new projects right now, so more coming soon!
xo