September 30, 2011

Team Spirit Hair Accessories

Slowly but surely, I'm getting these hair bows done. I'm a busy girl, planning baby showers and putting up wall collages. Catering to the mister. Helping a friend and her boyfriend pick out furniture and accessories for their new home. (That'll be a future post, promise.)

Honestly though, I'm trying to be careful with these. I put all my love in them especially since I'm giving them to all my favorite girls.

 I love it though. So far I made one for my sister. By made one for my sister, I mean, I made one for one of the babies but then my sister took one for herself. Gotta love her, she even gave me the puppy dog eyes, when I asked for it back. She wears it to all of the games and to school, so maybe I'm onto something here.

 These two are for my Goddaughter, Nahtalia. Pictures to come of her soon. She's cute and she knows it.


Abuelita sewed Sophia's fastener right onto the headband she was hearing that day.
Baby Sophia and her mother, Lizzie.
Still stuck on what to make for my nephew. I'll be sure to blog about it as soon as I figure it out. 

September 28, 2011

Wall collage update and my new buddy

I have a new toy. It's a laser level that I bought at Home Depot. He can be really obnoxious sometimes but I still love him. He helped me with my wall collage so I love him even more.

I shall call him Yobi. 
Here's the plus sides to my Yobi: It has a vacuum mechanism to hold its self onto a wall while displaying a straight laser line. It's the perfect tool for a wall collage. I don't need to make holes into a wall with pins just to keep it up like other laser levels or have someone else hold it up will I make markings.. He's pocket size if you have a big pocket and he fits just fine in the little toolbox that I have.

Did I mention he was obnoxious? Yes. He makes a buzzing sound. Very reminiscent of a game board buzzer. Taboo anyone? I live in an apartment so the sounds of buzzing vibrations against a connecting wall to my neighbor's was a bit of a concern. I only needed him for the time that I needed to make markings on my wall, so no neighbors came knocking on my door.

I had five picture frames, and only had to make five holes. Well, six because I measured wrong but it's a laser not a miracle maker. Without Yobi, I have a feeling I would have made about 20 holes before giving up and The Wall would have prevailed again. I've got some many ideas for him, it'll have to wait when my lease is up. It took 30 minutes to do the actual hanging, thank goodness.

This is my collage for now:


Excuse the lighting, I tried to fix it with Picnik but I'm still not that savvy. Oh and if anyone would like to give me a decent camera for oh... let's say Christmas, I'd appreciate it. :D 


I say for now because it feels like something's missing. I kept staring at if for about three days trying to figure it out. There's a void. Do you see it? I'm thinking it needs a sign. Something like this...

Again, bad photography. It'll get better, promise.

or this:


I'll be on the hunt for a sign. Why is it that I see signs at the stores when I don't need them and now that I do, I can't find them. Ugh! Happy with The Wall so far and wish I had done this sooner. Many thanks to Hermes Alers, who diligently worked on India until I was happy. 

What I learned: 
  • Measure twice, cut once. I know this but I'm stubborn. 
  • Patience is a virtue.
  • The phrase, Dance like no one is watching, comes from this poem:

Work like you don't need the money.Love like you've never been hurt.Dance like no-one's watching.Sing like no-one's listening.Live like there's no tomorrow.Fear like a stone.
  • Or this Irish saying: 

Dance as if no one's watching, sing as if no one's listening, and live everyday as if it were your last.

September 16, 2011

Choosing Art for my Collage

I'm almost done with choosing everything for my frame collage. One of the biggest challenges was finding the right art for the biggest frame that will be on the wall. Throughout my apartment I have a music theme but I wanted something unique. 

So an old friend of mine, Hermes, used all these photo software thingamobobbers to get the job done. It seemed like he used everything from Photoshop to Picnik. I owe him a milkshake. :D  


Don't let this this picture fool you. That frame is 22 x 28 inches. So La India is gonna be huge!

Hermes used the cover to my favorite salsa album to make his masterpiece. I'm so in love with it. Sobre El Fuego saved my life! I was 15 when I first heard it. I was heart broken and she got me over it. 

Also in the mix, pictures of Mister Smith and I. The pic above and below will go in the smallest frame. 

La Tati, the roommate, will also get featured in my frame. Who ever gave her those shoes was a genius!


Of course, I have to be featured too. I tried to get some common themes with all of the pictures I have in my database of pictures, i.e. my cell phone. I have 1,266 pictures in my phone. So finding these pictures with common themes was a bit of a challenge. I'm still iffy about these two. We look awesome but the back of a building and a gas station aren't very appealing. Even when I softened the areas a bit, it still didn't look all that great.. These pictures were taken at the most random hour of the night and yet (I'd like to think.) We both look fabulous. 

Edit 9/28/11...I also added this pic to the mix:


That's my brother EJ and my roommate La Tati. The soon-to-be-parents. 

September 2, 2011

Frame Collage Project

This has been the ultimate thorn in my side. I have this wall and a couch that has nothing to anchor it. This blank wall mocks me, laughing at me everytime I pass it, teasing me because I just can't figure out what to do with it.

I want a statement, I just don't know what statement I want to make or what statement I can afford. Remember, I'm saving for more important things and so, I didn't want to spend $200 for something halfway decent, or something that I can't change out later on. I can't paint my walls because I'm not staying here long but I still wanted to claim this wall. Make it my biotch.

So I went Goodwill Hunting without a true sense of what I really wanted. I ended up buying this:

I got all of that for $28. Four frames, an iron cross, a storage bin, an ironing board and.....



This etched glass for a quarter. That's my alma mater. Swoop!


The other stuff like the ironing board and the storage bin were things that I really needed.



Anyways, all those frames gave me the idea of a frame collage wall. I also had some frames in my coat closet, taking up space that was starting to drive the Roomy insane. So I placed all of them on my floor and started arranging them until they started making sense.

I still don't know if this is the layout that I'm going to work with. I want something organic and flowy but I also don't want it to feel like I'm hourding artwork and photos. By the way, I refuse to have pink in my apartment so these frames will get painted, just not sure what color or treatment they'll be getting.


I found some guides:










And some hanging frame tips:
EHOW Tutorial

Frame Hanging Hack from View Along the Way:

Well, I'll be shopping for artwork in the next couple of days or so. I've considered scrapbook material, fabric, actual artwork, facebook pics. Hopefully with the tutorials, the actual collage layout will be easiest part of this project. 

OH! By the way, I'm having a nephew!!!! He's due in the same month as my birthday. I'm gonna need ideas on what to make a boy. After all, I don't think he'll appreaciate hair clips and tutus. :D