all leather everything

it's possible i harbor hidden desire for S&M, at least when it comes to fashion.

first, i cannot tell you how much i loved this belt on sienna miller when she first wore it, in 2008:

i looked everywhere for it. it ended up being, like, 500GBP from some schmancy store.

then, in my frolicking around the internet, i stumbled upon designer niels peeraer. and his AW12 line BLEWMEAWAY.

yes, please. i'd like this to use as a purse, please. thank you please.

love love love the bracelets. i'd wear these as "cuffs" everyday.

stop. this takes the harness belt to the next level. it would look obscene on me. i want it.

this. is. a. bow. tie.

just stop, niels. just stop. and no, you can't buy any of it in the states - no stockists carry it. and it's too expensive for me, anyhow, this is certain.

bonus, from SS11, this shot. again. beautiful.

visit niels peeraer online, here.

listening

icona pop, iconic EP

the magnetic fields, 69 Love Songs

the stone roses, the stone roses

beach fossils, beach fossils

inspiring: Cai Guo-Qiang

last summer, i went to the MOCA in LA and saw the amazing exhibition, Sky Ladder, of the work of Cai Guo-Qiang.

i was not lucky enough to go to the creation of the gunpowder drawing (which was HUGE), but here's an amazing video of the process, creation and detonation of the work.

Gunpowder Drawings for MOCA from MOCA on Vimeo.

there were a lot of alien elements: UFO's, large-eyed creatures, a recreation of the "i want to believe" poster from the x-files, etc. in the piece. the scale and the fact that it read almost like a timeline made a big impact on the way you viewed the work.

he also made these trippy crop-circles that were hung from the ceiling, as if the viewer was the alien (again, a stolen photo, since they did not allow photos in the gallery.)

and this giant alien on the side of the building:

here's a little behind-the-scenes of the creation of the alien:

the exhibition also had a large video component, where they showed large-formatted streams of his environmental-based firework displays. each is so temporal, so ephemeral, yet requires so much preparation not only with local governments, but to execute fireworks that are timed perfectly and to ensure no one is hurt. it's truly inspiring, and rather reminds me of Christo and Jean-Claude and the years (and sometimes decades)of planning they did for each of their works, even though the works themselves were only up for a short period of time. in short, i aspire to approach my own work with such discipline.

still from Black Ceremony over Qatar. watch the video, here.

watch more of Cai Guo-Qiang's work at his vimeo page, here.

you're too kind. no, really. you are.

judge more. accept less. words to live by.

you know you want one. or perhaps you have a friend that does. after all, you know what's best for them.

the original: accept no substitutes.

we slept together 4 times in the 90s, why are you wishing me a happy birthday?

not my neighborhood. don't get pissy, you know it's true.

collect them all, here. at 15 USD they are a STEAL.

update

here is the final product. i'm pretty excited about it. plus, if you're an artist with Society6, you get a discount. this case was about the same price as any other case, and it was exactly what i wanted. they use quality cases - provided by case-mate. it's pretty sleek, and, i ordered it last tuesday, and would have received it on saturday had i not shipped it to work! crazy fast turnaround for a custom case.

designing

after upgrading to the iphone 5, i found no case worthy of my new tech. so, i designed my own, and sent it off to Society6 to have it produced.

one of my all-time favorite dishy books is Valley of the Dolls. the 1967 film might even be better, perfectly campy with an overwrought performance by Patty Duke as Neely O'Hara, the ever-gorgeous/tragic Sharon Tate as Jennifer North, and Barbara Perkins as Anne Welles. gathering inspiration from a seminal moment in the film, i created my own illustration of "SPARKLE, NEELY, SPARKLE!"

yes, that's valium, lexapro, cymbalta, and a smattering of non-specific dolls.

like it? you can buy it in a variety of forms, here.

if you can spare a ton of money, buy me this OLT clutch? it would go so well with my iphone case. it might be out-of-stock, but i know you love me enough to track it down for me.

obsessing

listening

Patrick Martinez. more of his work, here.

if you haven't listened to This American Life's two-part program about Harper High School on the south side of Chicago, do it or queue it for when you can. it brings up a lot of valid points about gun violence in america today. if 29 people are shot in one day, it's a tragedy and can never happen again. if they are shot over the course of a year, it barely makes news. neither should be happening, and there needs to be frank conversations about all gun violence, and the reporting of said violence, in america.

part one, here.

part two, here.

if you feel moved after you listen to it, and wish to donate to Harper High School, you can do so, here. they're about 6% into their goal of $2 million USD.

reading

Richard E. Robbins: You've Been Lied to, and Other Truths About Educating Girls

from huffpo

additional bonus, beyonce bender.

my friends are all adults / i'm still a teenage girl

in my previous post, i wrote about my mood books. here are some excerpts.

from book one, started 01.2003

ewan

jeff buckley

blindfolded, from AnOther Magazine

spikes + lisa frank

stella + prada

viktor + rolf

black-haired boy + bright eyes

valentine made from a gum arabic transfer from a rubbing off a headstone, typography + the letterform

bright eyes

bright eyes

jewels

late to the party, as usual

pinterest. i used to despise it. in fact, when i first started using it, nearly a year ago i thought it was completely pointless. mostly because i'm a bit old school with my mood boards - i like them to be tangible objects. i love nothing more than a giant piece of foam core and a heap of magazine swipes. hell, i'll even tape things up to a blank wall.

when i was a teenager, my parents let me literally wallpaper the walls of my room. in 1994 (gasp!) it was all gavin rossdale. wall-to-wall gavin: stuff i had printed out off the internet (!!! do you know how LONG that took in 1994 with a dial-up AOL connection?! oh, to be that dedicated again), magazines i had cut up - all meticulously gridded on the wall. nothing meant more to me than a well-organized wall of gavin. i wish i still had pictures of it - it was truly epic (see the very last of it, on this blog, right here) it went quite nicely with the sunflower duvet set + matching drapes. i painted the ceiling of my room half light blue, and half midnight blue. on the midnight blue side i decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars (above my bed, duh) and on the light blue sky i sponged fluffy white clouds. needless to say, my sanctuaries reflect my inner mind, and i'm big into nesting.

in design school, i had decorated my workspace with everything i could find: bits of string, scraps of paper, fabric swatches, until the head of our program demanded that we put all of it into books, so as to not be distracted. that worked for awhile, and i still have those precious books in my burgeoning library, but i missed staring at the wall of things. now we talk about the "internet of things" but i miss the "walls of things." when i moved to LA, i continued my love of putting things up on walls by joining no less than three record label street teams. i loved going into coffee shops and vintage stores, chatting up the fellow comrades-in-retail-arms, and sticking up posters of my favorite bands.

my handiwork, in LA. yes that's a poster for hitch in the background.

now that i live in a studio, it's a lot harder to create mood boards, but it hasn't stopped me. and every few months, if you come by my apartment there will be pages and pages of drawings taped wherever they might fit. now, i have one piece of foam core that informed the first embroidery projects - i often wish instead of having to write and artist statement, i could have a visual statement. the board accurately reflects and references back to the work so much that i think it communicates far better where the work is coming from than i could write. because of this lack of space, and lack of funds to purchase more foam core, i've turned to my old nemesis: pinterest.

brought up in a recent skype with my bff in NYC, i expressed my disdain for pinterest. she countered that she can't see my boards if they exist only in my apartment. so, i downloaded the app, and promptly fell down the pin-hole. pinned about 225 things in two days. now i love it. now it makes sense. i still kind of hate it because it sucks my time, and it lacks the tangibility of a proper board, but it'll do for those things that exist only on the internet, or i don't want to bother printing. so i'm sold on pinterest. for now.

pin my boards (? i don't know the pin-lingo) here: black hearts

all grey everything

kitty-sitting for the always dapper HNB, the prime minister of underthebedistan. his secretary said he had lots of meetings, and that's why he refused cuddles, and spent time under the bed. he is a busy little dictator.

i told you not to bother me whilst i am in meetings. you will pay for this.

anatole, not now! forces from the ottoman are invading! have to be on the bed, even though the humanoid is on it.

we lost some comrades today. i am resigned to letting you pet me, in order to assuage some of my pain.

get my good side, for the official palace portrait.

all cats are grey in the dark.

reading

since starting a new job, my favorite lunch activity is to walk down to walgreens, pick up the trashiest/awesomest magazine i can find, and go to panera and eat lunch. today, i found a new magazine, Nail It!. it's obviously responding to the manic manicure trend that has sprung up in western female/girl culture (it's been alive and thriving in Japan forever.) just check out any instagram and you'll probably see a lot of nails. nails on nails on nails. all nails everything. so, onto Nail It!

i think the Nail It! logo is fresh:

starting out well, free samples of nail stickers. i effing love nail stickers:

Nail It! taught me that men care about your manicure, too. thanks a lot, Nail It!. i thought that my nails were the one thing i didn't have to worry about a man noticing. but, let's be honest, "Scott" isn't straight. so, that being said, gay guys are welcome to judge my nails all they want.

mmm now i want some ice cream...

ew, netflix for nails? would you use this? answer yes or no, with reasons, in the comments. i vote no out of hygiene and over-all ick factor, but prove me wrong.

yes, please, want very much. Dose Color Pills nail polish! j'adore the packaging. perfect chill pill is giving yourself an at-home mani.

over all, Nail It! was a fun romp through girly-thing-times. not entirely sold, and at 5.99USD an issue, it's kind of pricey for a lot of ads. anyhow, if you're into this kinda thing, visit Nail It! online, here.

palette play

paper is an excellent app for playing with color. i'm not a painter, and don't have the patience for watercolor, so it helps me play with color whenever i'm bored.

color tests for future embroideries.

what will i do / what i will do

current project list as of 02.26.13:

+ tattoo drawing (past due)

+ studio / apartment clean up for visit (03.01.13)

+ completion of current mid-size embroidery work for said studio visit (03.01.13)

+ table card design / place setting design for wedding (03.09.13)

+ two-headed great white shark with human heads in mouth crochet taxidermy (05.31.13)

+ website design for independent contractor (open-ended)

+ concept sketches for two large canvas works (open-ended)

current time sucks to be avoided, 02.26.13:

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