zine dream

So Coachella was a blast! All the craft workshops were really fun. Since we were running ours, I didn't really have time to check out many others, but I did have time to check out Zineworks!

This was actually my first time making a zine and they had a ton of cool magazines and old textbooks, so it was really fun.
I kind of just picked out all the things I liked then developed a theme from there. It turned out to be my "guide to life" sort of thing.

Click 'em to enlarge 'em






Zineworks has a great resource handbook that tells you everything from what a zine is, where to begin, some different formats you can make, and how to distribute your zine. You can download it here:
www.iheartyes.com/zineworks

I also have some extra copies of mine, so if you want one, let me know.

I want to make some more! Let's have a zine night!

Chapstick of the Week!

So all of my friends know that I have a pretty bad chapstick addiction and will never be seen without chapstick nearby.
Somehow over the last couple months, I've accumulated a lot of different kinds and some people suggested that I do a "Chapstick of the Week" feature. So here it is!
I'm pretty excited about it and I hope I can keep it up each week!


I thought I would start with the obvious this week...Burt's Bees. Who doesn't love Burt's Bees?! It makes your lips feel amazing and tingly. I think I could happily use only this chapstick for the rest of my life!

Summer Lovin'

I needed to whip up some thank-you cards for my wonderful grandparents and aunts, so I made these little strawberry cards, based off of one I made for Navil the other day. I miss you Navil!

The strawberries are actually from Martha Stewart's scrapbook collection, but they'd be pretty easy to make. I'm thinking I should make some little felt birds or fruits to keep handy for when I need to make a card.

We have a ton of ripe lemons on our tree, so I decided to make some fresh-squeezed lemonade. I got a little carried away, of course, and had to make it look all cute.

I gave this to Ryan. The bottle is recycled from Trader Joe's TeJava (I think it's called) bottled iced tea. I love their tea! It's so good and pretty reasonable. The bottle is really nice too, so I'm glad I was finally able to do something with it.

Made a little label out of fabric and a felt lemon that I stitched.

Here is the portrait that Ivan painted! I love it so much. Someone said it looks like one of those paintings in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and I agree. It's kinda creepy...I love the huge bow and the wallpaper..and especially Tubby, because I can just hear him purring in this painting. Well done, Ivan! You can view more of his work here: http://ivanaguirreart.blogspot.com/

felize

I had my 5-year-old-style birthday party last Sunday, so I thought I'd post a couple of my favorite photos taken my Marcio, Navil, + more with Marcio's camera.

Navil's widdow feet:


flowers, beer, and PB&J


Ok so Ivan actually painted a portrait of Tubby and I! I was really surprised.
It's so amazing, I almost cried! I will post the actual portrait on here soon!






Hanie made this amazing cat cake! Unfortunately, all that was left by this time was the eyes & mouth:

So we ordered some of our supplies for our Wild Fanimals craft booth for Coachella, and just got them in today. I have to say, there is something really, super exciting about opening a box and pulling out new craft supplies in huge amounts!!
Check out this huge tube of tacky glue! And this 12 pack of glue!! Annnnd a POUND of glitter!! ahh!
(also, my new favorite tiny glasses necklace from forever 21!)
I have a ton of project ideas, but not enough time to make them all right now!
So, more to come...
Also, Marcio and I had a little photoshoot recently, so I'll be posting those up soon!

Keaney

I wanted to dedicate a post to the "sad eye" paintings/prints that my family likes to collect. They're also known as Keane paintings (after the artist, Margaret Keane, who was a pioneer of this style) and apparently are also called "waifs." Many of my friends just call them "creepy."
Haha, they are creepy, but that's part of their charm.
There are all different kinds, done by different artists around the 60s.

The first two here are Justine's. She says that the girl in the rocking chair looks like me. In the second one, the girl is crying!! Aw. So sad, so cute.



















These two are hanging in my room. I love the ones of girls and their pets. I always tell Ivan that he needs to paint a Keane portrait of Tubby and I! That poodle's eyes are pretty creepy..
I'm pretty sure I got all of mine from my parents' collection.


















These elf ones are also pretty common. These used to be hanging in my room, but now they're sitting in my closet. Not sure if I'm going to hang them back up,


The rest here are ones I found online. I love the boy & girl 60s dancing ones. They're usually dressed mod-style and sometimes have a record player. Justine and I should do an album cover like this!! haha!

Found these two on this blog: http://fasterkittykill.blogspot.com
What an amazing collection! I think Justine should do something like that in her room; she has so much wall space.
I want this girl-painting-the-kitty-one! So cute!







Some more cute pets ones I found online.
I've heard of a Keane sailor girl out there; I would die to have that one!

Not only do these paintings have a sort-of underground following, but I think it's fair to say that they've influenced some great contemporary artists.
Lot's of Mark Ryden's weird "low-bro" surrealist art features those big, sad eyes:



Sorry the layout for this post is kinda weird! It took me a long time just to get it somewhat normal. I think I'm going to switch to Tumblr soon..

Very Merry Unbirthday

Why does it seem like everyone's birthday is in March?! (Mine is too!)
I've been into the idea of alternatives crafts for birthday cards--like the ribbon birthday pendant I made for Hanie.

Marvin's birthday was last week, so I decided to make him some kind of card. I was looking at this small, cyclindrical container, when I got the idea for a birthday message in a bottle.

I got really excited and headed down to a local antique store to find an old glass bottle.
I also have to mention that I just saw Alice in Wonderland, and my results sort of resemble the little bottle she drinks from to shrink; maybe there is some connection there!

This is kind of funny, but I included some tweezers in a little handmade felt pouch. How else will he get the message out?

I used some old sheet music for the message

I also threw in a dried flower, a small key, and a small cross, to make it more treasure-like.


Happy Birthday Marvin!

Oh yeah, and suspenders:

Justine gave me this shirt and I love it! I has little cats and dogs on it and says "Friends." One of the cats totally looks like Tubby.

Sunny Wednesday

I was lurking other blogs and decided to make a random post.

I came across these photos from the Sublet Fall 2010 collection (http://www.subletclothing.com/) from this blog: http://forme-foryou.com/
WOW.
I LOVE this skirt:

I also LOVE the last outfit here. So into those shorts and I love suspenders on girls.


Lovely piece of furniture that caught my eye from this blog: http://aestheteslament.blogspot.com/
I like the pink fabric and I think this would be a good idea to embellish some boring piece of furniture. Maybe I'll do something like that on my bed..

From the other day, mixing polka dots with stripes..

I look kinda spaced out..
Anyway, blazer from Goodwill, shirt is H&M from Deelux, skirt and belt from Forever 21.

For me, for you (blog) also posted this video from the Morning Benders. It's really nice and inspiring:

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

You can also stream their whole album on their website:
http://themorningbenders.com/