My Childhood Dress Put Away Indefinitely

For my Practice of Art class, my teacher assigned the seemingly easy task of creating a story using only 6 words, based on Hemingway's own six word story: "For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used."

It was a really fun task.

For my story I decided to play with the issues of memory and time. I envisioned a white lace dress being packed away into a box and put into storage, a symbol of childhood, as we also pack away memories as daily challenges occupy the forefront of our minds.

 My next task was to recreate this concept visually. I sketched out several ideas before settling on the creation of a paper Polaroid camera. In my exhibition, I crafted a Polaroid camera with a developing Polaroid picture still resting in its slot, a picture frame showing the developed picture, and a storage box packing away the frame. In this sequence, I hoped to capture the passage of time as is relative to the creation, possession, and storage of memory. Moreover, I made all of these items from paper to show how these items all possess the ability to decompose, to break down into nothing and lose their value over time. With time, the mind and memory share this very outcome. 

As a child, I parted with many items that I found incredibly sentimental. And each time this happened, I was told that the item would live on in my memory. The item is remembered, as it is captured in my exhibition, at its finest, the way we choose to remember it. But despite the fine quality we snapshot in our memory, the item does not live forever. With the element of time, nothing can last forever, not the actual item, not the paper-imitation item, and not even the memory itself. 

The Back is Not Yet Made, But It is Coming Along!

 The Polaroid represents that particular moment when the memory is created, as the photo has not yet developed. My choice to make everything out of cardstock paper allows for the capture of this particular moment (I wish I could, but I do not know how to do this chemically). 

 The framing of the Polaroid indicates the larger increment of time in which the love for the item (in this case the dress), and the possession of its memory still resides in the mind, as the  concept of framing so indicates. 

Finally, the box signifies the moment in which the item is taken from the shelf and put away, separated from the everyday life, separated from the mind's preoccupations and stored away somewhere where it now possesses the ability to be forgotten, as the placement below the top shelf portrays. 

Happy 75th to the Golden Gate Bridge

This Memorial Day weekend in celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary, Birthday what-have-you, San Francisco was alive (or should I say more alive?) with festivities, tourists, and activity every way you turned--if you could physically turn at all. 

In a pretty festive mood ourselves, two friends and I jumped onto the BART (which was the most crowded I'd ever seen) and headed to the Mission. Originally, we headed over to see the Brazilian Festival which was definitely underway when we got there. The air was filled with the delicious smells of elotes, grilled bacon-covered hot dogs, and barbeque, and almost everyone was carrying either watermelon or mango on a stick. People were dressed in elaborate, colorful costumes and everyone was dancing. It was so festive! 

We wandered through and learning that the parade was over decided to explore the Mission.

I'd never been to the Mission before, at least this particular part of it, and I must say, "It has character." Funny thing, this statement now possesses much more meaning. Sophie and I laughed at this accurate title. Previously, we have only used it to describe things that are just downright terrible, unpleasant, not to our liking...you know, I'm sure you've used this before. But the Mission really DOES have character, the kind that leaves you wanting to explore its odd mixture of rough patches and lovely oases. It was absolutely fascinating to see the quality of the neighborhood change from impoverished and down-trodden to chic and gentrified (one of my new favorite words, and one that was used several times during the day) all within the trek of one or two blocks.

An example of such a transition: we walked past several liquor stores and then hit a really chic boutique that was having a sample sale... 

MY FIRST SAMPLE SALE...EVER! 

 The sale was absolutely invigorating. Upon my first, casual glance at the sales tags, my initial reaction was to duck out of the store unnoticed. But then, looking up, I noticed the color-coded sales chart with prices between $15-$35, a much improved price range from the $150.00-a-shirt tags that had me hyperventilating. In the end, the three of us all walked out with lovely brown paper bags filled with out even lovelier dresses and other items. I found an amazing black maxi dress that I am struggling not to wear t this very second. 

After the sale, we continued our walk down the Mission through the more chic apothecaries, ice cream shops, and iconic San Francisco townhouses before we decided to head over to Ghirardelli Square to eat and set up camp to watch the fireworks. 

Even though it is more tourist-y and the restaurants are overpriced, we decided on Lou's Fish Shack. We passed it, but we were drawn to the live music and the chatter from inside. We stuffed ourselves with calamari, clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls and crab salad sandwiches before heading over to the Buena Vista, a small tavern-like bar famous for their Irish Coffee.

 Apparently, the FIRST Irish Coffee to be made in America was made right here! (I really am becoming a sucker for history...) And it did not disappoint. It was incredibly creamy and smooth and had great flavor. BUT even better! We met three really awesome girls, two from UCSD (one of which is graduating in three weeks!) and one from France who is leaving the States in three days. It was really nice just to mingle with new people and hear their stories. 

Courtney, Sophie, and I with out new friend Nicole in tow, then headed to the grassy park next to Buena Vista (it had a perfect view of the bridge) and sat to enjoy the fireworks. It was a spectacular show, and I honestly don't know how they will compete with it in 25 years. In fact, the evening was so great, I don't know how the rest of summer will compete, but I guess I'll soon find out!

Here's to Summer and Exceeding Expectations!

Twinkle Toes

Oh my...I haven't posted in quite some time! Now that it is summer, I envision myself blogging several times a week with some fun DIY project that I do to keep myself from dying of boredom, especially now that I don't have studying and reading to preoccupy all my waking moments. 

First Project of Summer: Revamping What At First Glance Already Appears to be Vamped Flats 

On Wednesday, I took some old clothes to Buffalo Exchange, a really awesome vintage thrift/consignment store. While I love doing this, I first have to muster up the courage to march in, take a number and watch the staff rifle through my items to pick what is Buffalo-worthy merchandise. There is seriously nothing like this experience that makes me feel like a person with a bag lady sense of fashion. Of an entire luggage full of clothes, only two items were tagged. These particular flats were praised, but deemed too worn.

But in the end, it worked out. I have been searching for plain, unadorned black flats for months. Bringing these back home I realized that I could redesign the flats using a little creativity and hot glue. 

 My first step was to cut off the center adorned piece (including the little loop connecting the center to the ankle strap). I left the center strip alone but cut off the two smaller side strips, so as to make use of it for ankle strap support.

 I then cut the center strip so that the length corresponded with the length of the heel of the flat, and hot glued it to the center of the heel.

Taking my beloved crop-o-dile, I punched six holes along the arc of the toe to add a little flair.

 And VOILA! New Mary-Jane style flats that have just a subtle hint of pop on the heel!

Jar of Hearts

This is such an easy and sweet way to cheer up someone's day, celebrate a birthday, or just say hi. AND it's inexpensive! Even sweeter!

All you need is red velvet cake mix, cream cheese frosting, a chocolate bar, and an empty jar with a lid (feel free to change flavors). I found this style of jar at a local shop called Daiso (everything is $1.50!) and decorated it to my hearts content. I love Pinterest and I have been dying to make the folded-heart paper flowers. 

For this project, I cut out six small hearts from solid cardstock and folded them in half. I then glued one side of each folded heart to the jar's lid to create a flower. Just make sure to glue down the same side of the heart so that every other flower petal stands up. Add a ribbon with a tag or whatever accent suits your style.

Note: I found that two cupcakes stacked and held together with frosting filled the jar in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. I topped them the two with more frosting and chocolate shreds. :)

 ENJOY!

We Know How to Do Fridays

Summer is officially in the air, and what perfect timing, as it seems to reflect my sunny disposition, a result of my excitement for Cal Day, my mom and sister's arrival, and Mom's Tea this Sunday. 

Friday's weather (dear Lord, I'm about to talk about the weather) was absolutely perfect adventure-weather. I am so proud to say that in just this one day I crossed many things off of my bucket list.

 To begin what ended as an amazing day, a few good friends and I went THRIFTING. By 1pm, all those bargains aroused in each of us a hunger that could only be satiated by fried chicken sandwiches from Bakesale Bette's (accompanied by lemon ices of course). We even skipped the mainstream method of eating our meal at a table and enjoyed our food in the cool shade of a tree. 

After enjoying our savory snack, we journeyed into Scream, an amazing neighboring sorbet shop whose White Guava ice cream is a flavor to rival Ici's entire uniquely-crafted menu. Scream had some very intriguing flavors, but since I tried the White Guava first, I didn't really feel the need to venture out and try all of them. Those that I did try just couldn't compete with the lingering light and fruity sweetness of the former.  

 I was extremely sad to learn that this flavor is to be discontinued sometime in the next few weeks. 

WHY, CRUEL WORLD??

 After our dessert, we meandered down the nearby street to a used craft store. Once our food had settled and our purchases made, we dropped off our friend Mel and headed to the Gourmet Ghetto of Berkeley to indulge in some chocolate tasting. The tasting featured a little history course on the chocolate we were eating, but in all honesty, I just wanted to eat!

Oh boy, did we eat! I guess I make this claim with the thought of quality and not quantity in mind since we didn't really eat that much. I really enjoyed the 73 1/2 dark chocolate with nibs. The cacao/sugar ratio was perfect and the slight crunch of each bite was a pleasant surprise. 

As if we needed any more sugar, we then headed to Masse's Pastries and treated ourselves to some delectable macarons. I tried the cassis and the yuzu. I personally think the yuzu tasted like sugar-coated grass, but the fact that I associated it with grass at all mystifies me more than the flavor. (I don't eat grass, I promise.)

Finally leaving the ever-tempting gourmet ghetto behind, we rejoined Mel and headed to Berkeley Marina to enjoy the sunshine and the scenery. It was so beautiful.  

I especially loved seeing the sailboats drifting along in the wind. But the wind got to be too much and we decided to pack up our glitter nail polish and red curtain (we used it as a makeshift blanket, see?) and headed to Vik's Chaat for some more food and good conversation, the perfect way to wind down from a busy but fun afternoon. 

Ribbon-Bound Journals

The end of the semester is steadily approaching, and I would be lying if I said that I was for once not dreading its arrival! While the end means, papers turned in and finals done and also summer (well actually summer school), it also means I have to endure a few all-nighters, many late night cram sessions, and stress! ARGH! I am NOT ready!

At this time, I have already said goodbye to my Jane Austen decal class as our last day was this past Tuesday. It was such a chill class and I am sad to have said goodbye. I have become quite the Janeite. I am even contemplating joining the Jane Austen Society of North America, how devout is that?

I know, there is no need to answer!

Well for our last day everyone submitted a final creative project. Now, for Christmas my mom bought me a book on bookbinding (this reads so funny!) called Adventures in Bookbinding and I have been itching to implement my newfound knowledge. I did tweak the method a bit as I do own the more intricate tools of the trade. 

I. HAD. SO. MUCH. FUN!

Our teachers were pretty flexible from the beginning, telling our class that we could pretty much do anything that involved the readings. I knew I wanted to make something, and when I decided to create a journal, I thought it would be fun to write this journal with the voice of 15 year old Jane. Practicing a little creative writing, something I have not done since my early teenage years when I was obsessed with writing horror stories (there really should be a genre entitled "spaghetti horrors" because these stories definitely fit into that category), I based the premise of my journal around what would have been Jane's 15th birthday--December 16, 1790. From here, I embodied what I felt to be the 15 year old intellectual/satirical voice of Jane Austen. The journal recounts fictionalized excerpts of her everyday encounters, encounters that are based loosely on the story and themes surrounding Pride and Prejudice, so as to suggest that her inspiration for the novel came from her own life experience, Elizabeth's relationship with Mr. Darcy included. 

 Making the Ribbon Bound Journal

Since I was attempting to create a journal from the 1790s, I tried to stay with muted, natural colors and a simple design. 

Using two cardboard rectangles 9" x 5 3/4" that I cut from an old box and wrapped in brown parchment paper, two pieces of burgundy ribbon 1 1/2" thick, burgundy embroidery thread, and several sheets of fine unlined paper folded and placed within one another, I created a simple, eco-friendly journal. 

1. Place all sheets together and make sure edges are even. Place a piece of ribbon on top of the creased edge, making sure the ribbon rests evenly divided. 

2. Thread embroidery through ribbon and pages and loop back, pulling thread back through to ribbon-side. 

3. Tie in knot and then tie in decorative bow. Repeat for top or bottom. Feel free to get creative and use thinner ribbon to make three of four bindings. 

4. Place parchment paper-wrapped cardboard on top of now bound journal pages (Make sure taped edge of wrapping is inside as it will be covered by inner page. Place ribbon binding on top of cover. Adhere ribbon to cover using glue dots or hot glue gun. Make sure to adhere ribbon right along the edge as well or the cover will flop away from binding when opened. Repeat. 

5. Inside, adhere first page of journal to inside cover. I placed my glue on inside cover and closed journal to see where the page naturally rested when closed.

Note: To decorate my cover, I used a dandelion stamp paired with a clear ink. After stamping my clear design (it shows up on the brown paper just as a watermark would), I sprinkled white embossing powder over my stamped work. After dusting off the excess powder, I heated the design using an electric heat tool (it dries the powder giving the design a three-dimensional, glossy finish).

Enjoy Your Lovely Little Works of Art and Happy Journaling!

Oh Sew Sweet Messages

Just in time for the Easter holidays! While I do love myself an Easter basket chock full of chocolates and plastic eggs filled with fun things, I love a heartfelt message even more. And what better way to remember the true meaning of Easter than with a sweet message and a bible verse--and all tied up in twine (my absolute favorite way to give a gift). 

Here is a sweet and unique way to let someone know that you are thinking about them.

 I recently asked my mom for old spools of thread and she sent me several bags filled with these gorgeous wooden spools (I really like the one on the far left). I untied the string and cut strips of colorful cardstock paper to fit in the groove of the spool. I adhered one end to the spool with a glue dot, the textured side away from the spool. I then wrote my message on the inner side of the paper and wrapped it around the spool, tying it in place with a small piece of twine.

SEW SIMPLE but SEW CUTE!