Handmade cards- they're a part of my DNA

New York Stationery Show 1998

Even though I closed Avant Carde ten years ago,  I still love making cards.  Whether it be party invitations, a one-of-a-kind birthday card, or Thanksgiving placecards, the process of cutting, designing, gluing and sewing is a kind of therapy for me.

I haven't made holiday cards for a few years due to hectic show schedules, but this year is different. A hiatus from my design business means I have time to celebrate Christmas in more personal ways.

2010 was an exciting year for our family, so I thought a photo mosaic would be a good place to start. I selected a few of my favorite digital photo and used Big Huge Labs to create the mosaic. It's as easy as downloading your photos and choosing a layout. Voila!

My first goal in making anything is using what I have. But I didn't have card stock for the backing so, on a hunch, headed to the 99 cents store. Turns out they sell large white poster boards for 50 cents each. On my way to check out,  I found something packaged as "tissue paper" (a very thin printed plastic) with atypical holiday colors. I scooped it up not knowing what I'd do with it...but I knew I liked it!  I hit Big Lots on the way home and found green #10 envelopes marked way way down.  I purchased the basics for less than $10.00, or 20 cents per card.

I love to recycled old sewing patterns and especially love the printed instruction pages.  Usually they're yellowed with age and have lots of interesting graphics and lines. They're sort of a trademark in my work and wanted to incorporate them, as well.

The envelope dictated the card shape- skinny horizontal- 3.5 x 8.5.  The poster board provided the base, topped with a layer of instruction paper, and the printed photo mosaic on the left.  After cutting the three layers, (and ironing the instruction sheets), I lightly glued them together before sewing with a zigzag stitch. 

 

 Hmmm... but what about the right hand side? This is where the fun started!

I bought a laminator at Costco last month.  I'd never used one before, except to laminate a couple of photos at Staples.  I've been following Mark Montano's blog which includes several projects with laminated design work.  I was excited to experiment!  I topped the poinsettia paper with thin strips of metallic electrician's tape, gold and silver glitter, and the holiday message that I printed on recycled Fed Ex envelopes. Into the laminator it went...and out the other end came a very cool conglomeration of sparkly paper and plastic. I trimmed the sheets into smaller pieces.

(I like shiny things.)

I decided to use the "tissue paper" that was really plastic paper as a liner/wrapper for the card. I cut the pieces to size and wrapped the card-  imbuing it with a sense of mystery and protecting it from potential postal pitfalls.

As a final step, I signed the back with a personal note in red Sharpie. Oh, and I found the fine point Sharpies at the 99 cents store too.  :)

Fall, finally

Yes, this weekend it finally hit me.

It's fall.

Thanksgiving is four days away.

The warm temperatures had lulled me into a false sense of summer.  But the clouds and rain followed by glimpses of snow in the local mountains brought it home. Time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

We've hosted the holiday for both of our families for many years.  However...this is the first time in over 10 years that I haven't had trunk shows and art fairs competing for my attention in October and November.  So that refreshing change of pace coupled with the non-stop flip-flop weather put me a little behind schedule.

With lots of practice and our share of mistakes, we've come close to mastering the food preparation. (I used the word "mastering" loosely, by the way.)  So now, it's fun to focus on the decorating- my favorite part.  This weekend I embraced the season and spent some time putting together a few vignettes around the house.   I'm loving all of the fall colors right now.

 

 

 

In the past I've stayed pretty traditional with table decor...incorporating the expected china, glassware and centerpieces.  (Hard to believe, huh?) This year I'm parting with tradition and going for a mix of textile patterns and accessories.  And for the first time ever....paper plates.  (Insert many smiley faces here.)  Here's a peek at the mix!

 

 

 

 

I had fun designing the placecards.  I hope the family enjoys the embarrassing photos.

The Well Dressed Home

If you love fashion and decorating, you'll love this book. Annette Tatum reveals how to draw inspiration from the fashion world, pop culture and especially your own closet to create stunning room designs.

Without being formulaic, she introduces the reader to a broad variety of fashion styles like modern, vintage or bohemian and encourages you to use the colors, fabrics and textures to decorate your home. I loved her idea of creating inspiration boards similar to those used by fashion designers to distill and focus your vision.

The book includes more than 200 lush, colorful photographs representing the partnership of fashion and interior design.

Dia de los Muertos 2010

Today is Dia de los Muertos.  This year the holiday falls on Election Day in the United States.  I'm hoping that everyone remembers to vote and then remembers to remember.

We all have family members, friends and public figures who have influenced our lives. I  set aside this day, as do millions of other people, to honor their memory and thank them for their lives.  Sometimes I wonder whether they even knew how much they influenced me. Creating my altar is a way to let them know.

I usually start working on it about a week before November 2nd by gathering up photos, memorabilia, and objects that I've found on my trips to Mexico over the years. I find a space in my home to set up a table and begin layering it with textiles and boxes to create height and variations.  It's different every year.

 

 

For a few years I've been wanting to attend the Dia de los Muertos event that's held at Hollywood Forever cemetery.  So this year, I asked my friend, Kim, whether she'd like to go.  She said she'd love to go so we decided to dress in authentic Mexican costume and paint our faces in the traditional sugar skull style. We had a great time and now I can cross this wish off of my list.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

 

I'm thinking about doing something different next year. I was so inspired by the large altars at the event, that I'd love to make something bigger...maybe take it outside....maybe invite some friends and families to participate.  A party?  A celebration?  We'll see what comes of my ideas. 

Make your own Spicy Chai Latte

I'm a huge coffee fan but in the cooler months I enjoy an occasional cup of Chai Latte. I recently purchased a pricey can of the instant mix and have been enjoying a cup in the evenings - as a kind of indulgent and comforting dessert.  Rather than replace the dwindling can, I thought I'd try to find a recipe to make it myself. And I did! It makes quite a bit, so I'm considering packaging some of it into air tight containers and giving it to friends during the holidays.  The recipe calls for less chemically stuff than is mentioned on the canned label but this isn't a particularly "healthy" drink. It is, however, a soothing guilty pleasure for those cold nights.

 

Spicy Chai Latte Mix

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

2 packages instant vanilla pudding

2 1/2 cups sugar (turbinado or brown sugar if you prefer)

1 1/2 cups instant tea

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon cardamon

1/4 teaspoon anise

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well to incorporate all of the powders. You'll see that the consistency is a bit grainy so if you have a blender or coffee grinder, it's worth the time to run it through for a finer texture.  I used my Cuisanart burr grinder which worked beautifully. 

To make the latte, add three tablespoons of the mix to a cup of boiling water, stir and enjoy. 

And the universe responded

My to-do list mocked me yesterday morning. "You think you're so organized and efficient with this list of yours but why is it that one item never seems to get crossed off? You just carry it to the next list, renewing its hope."

CLEAN AND ORGANIZE THE PANTRY

All right all right. I get it. Maybe this weekend. This is what I said yesterday morning. In the afternoon I walked to the mailbox to find my new Real Simple magazine. A magazine that I love. A magazine that I read from cover to cover.  The same magazine that when I consider tearing out articles to archive, it transforms to a pile of torn pages. It's all good.

We drove into Santa Ana last night to attend an industry awards dinner, so I took the magazine. (I'm one of the lucky ones who can read in the car).  It's about a 50 minute drive- the perfect allotment of uninterrupted reading time. Thumbing through the pages...I found myself gearing up for Thanksgiving and all that entails...the decorating, the cooking, the planning, the cleaning. Oh right...the cleaning.  Then, what should I see but this article:

The article promises it will only take 15 minutes.  I carefully tore out the article and when we got home I placed it next to my list.  I think maybe today is the day. 15 minutes. We'll see.

A shade more interesting?

I was wandering through Anthropologie last week and became enamored with their embellished lampshades. I decided to make one myself. After all, for what they were asking, I could buy a dress instead. (Which I did.)  I gathered together a collection of textile remnants from my studio stash, borrowed Carl's Super 77 spray adhesive (sshhh don't tell) and just dove into the project.  My style is a jumbled mix of a little bit of everything so I enjoyed the mashup of plaid, florals, silks and knits with a few ribbons and trims. It was a really fun project and I finished the shade within a couple hours.  

 

I started with a bronze metallic papered shade with the thought that if it showed through it would be okay.  The adhesive is stinky and messy so I opted to do the project in Carl's workshop. I covered his pretty bench with newspaper and gathered my supplies. 

After selecting each piece, I turned it over and sprayed it with the adhesive. I let it set up for about 15 seconds then applied it to the shade. The adhesive remains repositionable for a little while, so don't worry if you need to move it once you've set it on the shade. I layered the textiles, trying to add as much texture and color as possible. I added trims to the top and bottom as a final touch. What I enjoyed about this project was entering it with a sense of abandon and knowing I could finish it rather quickly. That's my kind of DIY!

Changes...

Today I spent most of the day redesigning/redecorating the living room.  I decided to move the whole Mexican folk art collection upstairs. The guest room has the travel theme with an emphasis on Mexico so it just seemed right to move the Oaxacan carvings and Mexican ceramics there.

But then I began to think about the personality of the living room. What is it? All of a sudden it felt sort of lost. So... that is my focus right now- to create the essence of the downstairs living area. It revolves around original art, color and texture. And I'm trying to inject a little personal technology into the eclectic design element because, after all, I spend a good amount of my time sitting in a comfy chair, blogging, facebooking, flickring, etc. etc. etc. So it would be disingenuous to pretend that wasn't going on. I love the idea of a true mix of vintage and modern.

An homage to modern art

I just finished this project today. I had an old Ikea dresser that was my son's years ago and when he moved out he left it here. (Yes, it was that ugly.) It served a purpose in my studio- additional storage- but I got tired of looking at its ugliness. I've been wanting to decoupage it for several months but lacked the inspiration. On Friday I found a large hardcover Modern Art textbook chock full of glossy images. Exactly what I needed to get motivated. I spent the last three days cutting, adhering and clearcoating. It's the first thing you see when you go downstairs and turn left to my studio.

This is what it looked like before.

Supplies:

Inspirational images
Scissors
X-acto knife
Mod Podge
Ceramcoat glossy varnish
Wax paper
Brayer
Brushes

Better than a new car

Our Northstar refrigerator was delivered this week and I am in love. Think it's exciting to get a new car? Well, it is, but this was far more exciting for me. We spied a photo of her in a Fine Homebuilding magazine a couple years ago and I've been fantasizing about it since then. Two months ago we drove to Orange County to see a model in person and then decided it was time to replace our old refrigerator that had been making increasingly louder clunking sounds about every 12 minutes for the past 22 months. (Yes, I documented when they started.) We placed the order 9 weeks ago through Kiva Appliances who represents Elmira Stoveworks, the manufacturer. Each piece is made to order and ships from Canada. It's a little over 18 cubic feet which is plenty of space for the two of us. And we added the optional icemaker so as soon as I get a plumber over here, we'll be ready for a celebratory margarita on the rocks. Here's the inside view in which you'll understand why I'm re-thinking all of those condiment bottles holding about 4 ounces each.

Re-thinking the space

Thinking. Pondering. Re-imagining.

I love my studio space and am thinking about ways to redefine it. It's planned around designing and sewing clothes. The sewing part continues to intrigue me but the fashion is no longer a part of the plan. (Except for a few special customers who I'm happy to work with.)

Yesterday I placed my remaining garments in zip-up bags and want to cover the rolling rack with some kind of protective yet decorative cover. So that's my first project. Then my son, Kevin, needed his television stand back which housed all of my trim bins under the table. They need to be reorganized and that's my second project.

Overall, I'm thinking about a larger table in the middle (to invite friends for creative fun?) and another way to utilize the dividing (hiding?) folding screen.

We'll see what I come up with. :)

Carl...about the guest room windows...

Thanks to all of you for your kind notes and emails. I'm really excited about this transition but I'm not disappearing! I'll be around should you want to come and hang out...have a cup of coffee...a glass of wine...or play in the studio. I'm lining up some new projects but with a different twist- home and garden! I've been thinking about making some curtains for the guest room from vintage souvenir scarves... the ones with the beautiful graphics and travel imagery. I've accumulated a nice collection and think they'd make a fun addition to the room. My little garden on the east side of the house is thriving and the flowers are in full bloom. Can't tell you how happy that makes me!

So...check back in when you have a minute. I'll be posting photos of my projects and it'll be a way for us to stay in touch!

Rainy outdoors but sunny inside

Yes, I know we need it. Yes. Yes. Yes. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Today, as sheets of rain are blown around by the wind, I am happy to stay inside and drink a cup of Passion tea with small shot of agave nectar.

On days like this, I need color and was a little surprised when I looked in this corner of our house to see that I matched the room. I suppose it makes sense. The funny thing is that I bought this Moroccan vase in 1998 and the velvet top in 2009. It's a color that will always be a part of my life...I enjoy its warm glow. Especially nice on days like today.

Happy news!

My daughter, Jessica, and her husband, Jared, are expecting a baby! They announced the news to the family on Christmas and it made the holiday really special. (Every time I say "special" I feel like The Church Lady on SNL. S/he ruined that word.) To say I'm excited is putting it mildly and I am secretly hoping for a girl so I can make all kinds of cute clothes for her. But of course the gender doesn't really matter. I'm just so happy that there's a new little Gilstrap on the way.

New studio space

With our newly emptied nest, we inherited some freed up space "down under." Over the past nine years, I've been gradually encroaching on the upstairs guest room so I decided to keep my separate jewelry design space upstairs and move the garment design and sewing into the basement. The carpeting hadn't been replaced since the last flood incident, so we decided to use Qwikrete garage floor epoxy paint to brighten up the room. It worked really well and looks a little like vintage speckled linoleum. I purchased most of the furniture and fixtures from Ikea and resurrected track lighting from the attic where it had been stored since the days of the big wholesale shows in Philly. I like having an area to meet with clients- separate from my sewing- and also now have a dedicated space (behind the screen) for my photography setup. All I have left to do is move the sewing machine table and the rest of my fabrics, trims and supplies...and I'm ready to start working again! And that's good because I have a show coming up on October 23 and 24!

The Cupcake Movement

I was curious about the cult-like obsession with cupcakes lately, so we ended Ethan's week by baking a batch. Duncan Hines extra moist cake mix topped with made from scratch chocolate frosting and sprinkles. We shared the cake batter mixing duties and then I frosted and he sprinkled. We both decided that cupcakes are are fun to make. And tasty, too.

24 Years and many more to come

A few photos from our little celebration