Happy Haunting

My costume is finally finished, after days of ironing and sewing and pinning and trying on and adjusting, I am a complete harlequin! To go through some of the process here are the photos I remembered to take along the way...

My initial sketch,

I got the idea from these amazing jewel tone rainbow diamond tight found on amazon.com. However I couldn't bring my self to pay for then and ended up wearing solid orange tights instead. My sister and I rummaged around my local salvation army thrift and found the wonderful paisley patterns and velvety solids I needed to complete the outfit, five in all.

The top in progress

This was pretty much two top halves bonded together with iron adhesive. The diamonds are iron adhered as well, super easy and quick. The puffy sleeve was a bit tricky, but well worth it!

Now for the bloomers, the begining process was taking a pain of lounge shorts that fit me nice and comfy and tracing a pattern from them. I left room for the hemming but forgot to take into account on the elasticity of the shorts material. To fix the problem I undid the outer seems and added more inches to go around my thighs. Once they fit well and had proper length, I took an old sweater sleeve and made the waist, nice and stretchy. I also incorporated elastic bands in the legs so I could scrunch them up for that billowy look. To finish the bottoms off I ironed more diamonds from the other fabrics.

And here is a final picture! I made fabric flowers from left over material and sewed another strap to keep my business secure fro the partying to take place. My makeup is mostly done with acrylic paint, if you try this make sure to test is you will have a reaction in a small area first. I like it because of the vibrancy of the colors and I have a nice supply already. The paint also washes off easily with a little soap on a cloth.

Accompanied by Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (AKA my sister) and our friend the zombie nerd

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Now for a picture process of my husband's PipBoy 3000 for his Fallout vault 101 dweller costume. I used a plastic water bottle, shopping bags, scotch tape, cardboard and acrylic paint.
One of my reference pictures

.....finishing touches

The final product!

Sean, who was very excited, wore his costume most of the day and of course all night.

Hope you all had a great haunting halloween!

Inspiration from a Mug

My mother has a cup with graphic cats upon it that looks something like the one below. Even since I was little that would be the cup I would use for my teas, hot chocolate and milk. I wasn't sure who it was by until my honeymoon when I saw the second cup below. The artists name is Laurel Burch and she is one of my favorites! She uses such bright and rich colors that catch your eye instantly. Even though her images are simple in a way, the colors make them pop out at you. And the way she layers the colors and figures adds to the complexity of the pieces. . .  

Inspired by her work, and in need for some pizazz  in my bathroom, I did a homage to the color and energy by doing my own painting. I had to choose a few components from the design on the cup and enlarged them for more impact. The flowers have such great texture and fanciful shapes, not to mention the brilliant bird! Because I wanted the bird to stand out more, I altered the sun's design excluding the face. I used acrylic paints after I sketched my design on canvas, then outlined with a gold paint pen for extra sparkle. . . and here it is;

Fleur de Lis

I heart fleur de lis motifs!

My husband and I, plus the beasties, often go up and visit his family on weekends. They have a spare bedroom that has pretty much become our room. My mother in law was redecorating and I offered to do some art for the walls, and below is my contribution. The overall style of the house is traditional with a lot of metal work designs. I was trying to get these fleur de lis to look like hammered metal, without the cost or effort! The green and purple colors I took from the bedspread which she already had. I chose a poem in french about spring because the sun is so beautiful through the window and fleur de lis is a french term!

I started with three canvases of equal size and painted them with green and tan spray paint. Then I added some texture with a sponge in the reddish purple. The inscriptions are done in a brown sharpie, I also put the english translation on the backs just for reference. My scrip writing is casual at best! The fleur de lis them selves were sketched and then cut out of brown paper bags. I then took my white school glue and did the contouring. When the glue dried I sprayed over with the brown spray paint. To highlight the ridges of glue I sponged white heavy on the tips and lighter towards the centers. Spray adhesive on the backs of the motifs secured them to the canvas, and there ya go! They were so light that pushpins were all we needed to hang them.

I like sets of three, not only because of the number, but because you can arrange the pieces in multiple ways for style or function of your space. The triangle way she hung these above the bed makes a bigger headboard. 

Falling for You

From Urbanpaisley's estsy, click this text to link

When I awoke this morning to take my puppies out for our morning walk, I was met with a pleasant surprise. As I opened the front door a rush of that timeless cool crisp air which precedes autumn overtook me! Needless to say I was not expecting such a fall-ish day and had to head back in to get a sweater. But isn't that marvelous? A fall day! Well actually it has only been a morning so far but I have high hopes of bundling up and making some slow cooker meal for dinner. My feelings for the beginning of fall are not unlike that for any other season beginning, because each bring its own unique perks. However, there is something about autumn that get me really rejuvenated! It is a time of transition for seasons, which means a change in wardrobe, as well as life, such as school. My love may have to do with the beginning of the holiday seasons which are full of my favorite things: family + food. Thanksgiving makes me salivate just thinking about it, and christmas at home gives me warm fuzzies throughout. But then I remember what holiday starts it all off? Halloween! A holiday of spookiness, which I'm not a huge fan of, but also a holiday where creativity is on parade! Think about it, every one dresses up and walks around looking at other participants' costumes not to mention decorations, even if store bought have to be arranged well. I think this is a holiday that continues to get better for me every year. When I was younger I was limited in my resources and mother's help to make the elaborate costumes I had thought up for myself. Not that they were full functioning transformers, and not that ever since being on my own I have made one from scratch. I have seen some pretty neat costumes that were store bought and hand made alike. But just love dressing up and seeing other's creativity, yeah!

My point of writing this today is to begin the process of my own costume. Since I have not made my own in a few years, two years back I was Leela from Futurama, it is time for a challenge! Leela had difficulties in the recreation process but they were only a few. I made a pair of glasses that was just the one eye out of perferated plasic so I could see through, though I wore it on my head like in the pic below most of the night! I sprayed my hair pink after it was in the ponytail and the color lasted a few shampoos which was fun. The gun I got at a costume store and painted to be more laser-gun-esk, it is not in the picture though, just my legit holster I altered to fit the gun.

here she is in her futuristic badness............

........here I am still addicted to chips, with my hubby aka M Shadows

I do not think it will be hard for me to top that costume, there wasn't a whole lot going on. But this year I think I may be over my head with ideas, that's why I need to start planning, now! I want to do something classic and sort of a celebration to the autumn season herself. A faery, elf or spirit of the wood would be a good direction, however I don't do well with those wings on my back. There is still time to work on these ideas only the longer I wait the less time I have to prepare, with school and life and all getting in the way =) Until I have more to share...

Happy Autumn Eve to you all!

a paisley for every season....this one is by alexandra weise

Mod Cloth

This store has some pretty amazing styles! I mostly look at them for inspiration, not only can not afford these pretty things, but practically I would hardly wear them. Still, the color and patterns and textures are very satisfying to gaze upon...

Flower patterns in modern and formal takes...

           

Peppermint-y fresh                                       Inviting you to play

Bird motifs on different canvases...

    

A promise made                                       Golden peacock

Here is the site for more vintage inspired fun- voila!

let's get started!

So, to get started with this blogging experience I thought it would be good to give some 'about me' information. I don't really want to spill my whole life story or fill out a genaric form of likes and type sets so here are the accounts of my recent birthday...

My name is Kate and I just celebrated my 22nd birthday last week. It was a fun two week celebration with multiple groups of people in my life. First, my wonderful husband took me to the Prado in Balboa Park, amazing! You should go for happy hour, it's worth it my friends. My sister works there which is cool because she knows what I would like for dessert =) That weekend my four siblings came over and we had great tacos with fresh salsa and carne plus pollo asada, fantastic! My husbando, our pups and I also made it up to Julian to visit both of our sets of parents over labor day weekend. We did a hike with his and had dinner on the patio with mine. And on top of all this I was able to bring in some loot, a new turntable (my thrift store model had fizzled out recently, RIP), sensual aromatherapy what-have-yous from my mother in law and some very alluring earrings handmade by my kick ass sister. Alas, it could not last forever, I'm back at school now and the homework is still piled up. I also gave up facebook for a month or so now and was missing connecting with others but something was missing, you know the feeling? Well, then I found this blogger site and now I cannot wait to share with you, whoever you are today tomorrow whenever, all the interests I have and what I need to know more about! If you are reading this (except my husband! ) leave a comment, anything will do, just a small gesture of recognition from a stranger would make my day!   Peace and love

a wild iris in athens, greece