Friday, November 25, 2011

The Friday Five

The Friday Five is dedicated to the five things that I have loved about this week...



Hearing live music as I walk down a street...




 Fresh cranberries...




 The first signs of The Nutcracker coming to town...




Hot, blueberry bagels...right from the oven...




The absolutely gigantic iron I almost ran into...the only iron I have ever liked : )



Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The invitations are out...


Ava's "butterfly" birthday party is almost here.  The invitations are out and she is growing more excited every day.  


I love these invitations for their three-dimensional quality.  It makes them far more interesting than images printed on a flat piece of paper.  They are very simple to make as well. 



You will need:
  • 5x7 white notecards
  • 5x7 envelopes (brightly colored) 
    ek success brand butterfly punch
  • buttons of various colors and sizes
  • white thread and needle
  • butterfly punch (ek success brand 3 in 1 butterfly punch)
  • 3 pieces of scrapbook paper-
             (1 print, 1 solid color card stock, 1 solid color with a different texture or finish)
  • yellow, light green and dark green permanent markers (fine point)
  • super glue

  1. After deciding on the wording you would like, align the text to the right and print the note-cards. 
  2. Pick buttons that coordinate with the paper you have chosen.  Place the buttons at the heights you would like the flowers to be and sew them onto the card.
  3. Draw in the stems and leaves with a dotted line to mimic stitches.  I used the bright yellow first, then added the light green to the leaves and used the dark green for the shadows.
  4. Using the 3 in 1 butterfly punch, punch out the butterflies from each of the three papers- each paper should be punched out with a different stage of the punch.  I chose pink card stock as the solid butterfly punch, the floral print as the middle butterfly and the glossy finish turquoise paper as the top butterfly punch. 
  5. Slightly bend the wings on the butterfly punch-outs and then glue them together at the bend of the butterflies. 
  6. Place the butterfly where you would like it on the note-card.  Glue the bottom of the butterfly to the note-card.

And then....voila! instant "butterfly in flight" invitations : )


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Artist Spotlight: Annie Leibovitz's new book Pilgrimage

Image courtesy of Seattle Arts and Lectures
Annie Liebovitz is the most prolific photographer of our time.  She has worked as a photographer for 30 years and is responsible for some of the most iconic photos in history. 


Liebovitz took this picture with a Polaroid camera. John Lennon would be shot dead five hours later.  It is one of the most famous photos of all time.



Leibovitz took this photo for the August 1991 Vanity Fair cover- what would become a huge controversy and widely discussed throughout the country.  Did the image contribute to the sexualization of the maternal female form or did it help to empower women?

Whatever the result, both this magazine cover and the photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the cover of Rolling Stone in  January 1981, were voted the #1 and #2 most influential magazine covers of all time by TIME magazine. 

Leibovitz is also known for her photographs of musicians, the royals, movie stars, dancers-

Johnny Cash and June Cater




Iggy Pop
The White Stripes



Queen Elizabeth
Nicole Kidman
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Angelina Jolie

Leibovitz is also known for her Vanity Fair "The Hollywood Issue" photo montages-


April 2003 "Alpha List"
April 2002 "Rhapsody In Blue"



March 2008 "Fresh Faces"



Leibovitz has published seven books featuring her portrait photography- her favorite subjects acquired throughout her career as a photographer for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.

I have always loved Leibovitz's work but her new book is a complete departure from what we know of Leibovitz...and I loved every minute of it.



Pilgramage is a homage to everyone and every place that has influenced Leibovitz's career as an artist, a woman and a mother.  She traveled to the locations that have inspired some of the greatest, influential people in this world.  She shows us the intimate spaces where some of the greatest minds of our time flourished.  She showcases the objects that inspired the people who inspired her and the world.  The list of people she highlights in this book is expansive, varied and eclectic- a perfect mix of artists, writers, politicians, musicians, philosophers...and shows them as people.  Leibovitz is able to reclaim the emotion of inanimate objects and give them a voice. 

A book of pressed flowers Emily Dickinson created when she was a little girl

Emily Dickinson's only surviving dress

"the Mountain" outside of Georgia O'Keeffe's house that showed up in many of her pieces

Georgia O'Keeffe's box of pastels

The gloves Abraham Lincoln was wearing the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre

Annie Oakley's target

Old Faithful

Sigmund Freud's couch

Ansel Adams' darkroom

Virginia Woolf's bedroom
 
Leibovitz is very accomplished at combining the humanity and glamour of her subjects...and it was amazing to see that even though there are no people in these new photos, you do not miss them.  It feels like if you look at the photo long enough, the person will walk in. 

I have been in awe of Leibovitz for a very long time, but I have a new level of respect for the artist she is and this new place she has taken us to.  She once again has created a book of portraits...a book of portraits that embodies it's subjects more than any of her other photos have...and there were no people.

I loved it! Loved it! Loved it!


(photographs from Pilgrimage by Annie Leibovitz, Copyright © 2011 A.L. Archive LLC.)





Friday, November 18, 2011

The Friday Five



A last hurrah from Fall...





A winter hat's first foray into the cold...





Nature making it's mark in the city...






The first sip of a perfect cup of coffee...






The sun saying goodnight at the end of a bitterly cold day...




The Friday five is dedicated to the five things I love each week.  Often it's the little things that make each day wonderful : )   

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Design Dilemma: Everyone needs a place to rest their head

picture from thepaperjunkie

 For about a year now, I have been looking for a "big girl" bed for my youngest daughter Isabella.  I always run into the same problem with any design decision I have to make- I forget that it is not realistic to expect someone else to have designed, manufactured and marketed the exact image I have created in my head.

There are many other options out there- with a little time and an open mind, you can create the perfect headboard (or bed)  for your home. More often than not, what YOU come up with will make you happier than settling for someone else's vision. 



You could use the most simple of materials like paint...

picture from tatertotsandjello.com

picture from shelterness.com
picture from houseography.blogspot.com
picture from shelterness.com

 I absolutely love this idea...not very practical if the chalk was not set. You can easily set a chalk drawing with permanent fixative which can be bought at any art store.



You could use textiles...


picture from shelterness.com
picture from shelterness.com

picture from shelterness.com

picture from shelterness.com



You could use wallpaper...

picture from tatertotsandjello.com
picture from shelterness.com


You could use wood...

picture from tatertotsandjello.com

picture from ishandchi.blogspot.com

I love this one for it's simplicity...



You could use wall graphics...

picture from pronto.com
picture from shelterness.com

picture from modernests.com


You could reclaim architectural structures...

picture from tatertotsandjello.com

picture from shelterness.com
picture from homestoriesatoz.com

love...love...love...


You could re-purpose a mirror...

picture from curbly.com
picture from countryliving.com


Use a forgotten antique in a new way...


picture from shelterness.com
picture from tatertotsandjello.com
picture from sheknows.com
picture from sallyleebythesea.com


Use an architectural detail to your advantage...

picture from shelterness.com



Or, you could step way out of your comfort zone and do something entirely unexpected...

picture from curbly.com
picture from shelterness.com
picture from knightman.com


The possibilities are endless...isn't it wonderful?


I had forgotten that I own an antique fireplace mantle that is currently in storage.  The wheels are turning...I see another  DIY project on the horizon : )



I am thinking something like this:


                                  something like it...  : )