Aliens, Eyeballs, and Pretty Bows

So, back to work for the weekend, but I'm pretty happy because I crafted straight through my three days off. It's so nice to finally have time to make things again. College and too much time off almost made me forget how great it feels to be creative.

Of course, before I craft I always have to organize my supplies - some of which, are lego pieces! I really liked how they looked after I color coordinated them. Not many color wheels are as pretty as a lego one. And, yes I know it's not a literal color wheel. I wouldn't get any true complimentary or contrasting colors here! ;)

I also got a chance to make a new art piece! It has been months since I even touched any of my assemblage materials to make a new box. This piece is supposed to be about solitude, loneliness, and the dark places your mind takes you when you're alone. Good and bad. But, I was at my job and saw Albert Camus' book, The Stranger, and was reminded of my piece. So, I might make this piece dedicated to Mersault from the book. :)

I have taken to hand sewing a lot of small crafts too. I think I like hand sewing because I can do it while watching shows or talking with family. I had been eyeing (hehe) some eyeball felt pins on etsy for a while, but wasn't willing to pay shipping from the UK to get one, so I finally just bought some felt and made my own. I hand sewed these two pins, an alien and a blood shot eyeball. I'm hoping to find a jean jacket and deck it out with patches and kitschy pins soon. 

More hand sewing and more bows! The few I made for Found on Fremont flew out of the shop, so I took a trip to Scrap in NE Portland and made a whole new line. I'm super stoked with how pretty they are. I still want to order some funky patterned fabric soon, but for now the bows are made out of recycled fabric scraps! 

And, lastly I refined some old collages by adding something to hang them with. Collages are fun, so I was glad to find a way to make them useful for wall decor. 

Overall, it was a very productive three days and I'm looking forward to more crafting binges. 

All Day Crafting - Bows, Scrabble Necklaces, and Rings

I have been so busy these past few weeks. I got a new job at the best book store in town and have been working almost everyday. I'm finally on my normal schedule and am on the first days off! It's funny how much more I can appreciate the free time in summer now that I've filled most of it with work. I guess it's a good thing, because I have been crafting all day.

I had been buying bow hair clips from some great storenvy and etsy stores to accessorize, but it didn't dawn on me that I could make my own until a few weeks ago. Got a chance to try it out yesterday and I absolutely adore the new bows I made. I'll be selling a few in Found on Fremont through mom's space soon. I can't wait to get some new novelty fabrics and make more!

I also got a chance to try some more delicate jewelry work with scrabble tiles. I have always loved collaging, so naturally collaging on a smaller scale was even more fun. I even made a bottle cap necklace, which I haven't done since I was ten. I'd say it looks a lot better than the ones I made as a kid. These will also be for sale in Found on Fremont soon. I'm hoping to make a great display for them soon.

I got some great supplies from an etsy store called Skymagenta, which included a ton of ring shanks. I made some rings out of layered vintage buttons, resin flowers, and even some kitschy domino rings. These turned out so much better than I expected and I can't wait to sell these on Last Thursdays on Alberta. I think they'll be a hit! 

This has been one of my most productive craft days in months. It finally feels like summer! :) 

IB Art Memories

Took the time to go through my old IB Journals from high school and found my old art to be pretty motivating. I'm always wary of being too inspired by artists and copying their styles, but getting inspired by my old art is something without qualms! I'm going to start sketching again and try to kick out some new pieces this summer.

Here are a few of my favorite media experiments from when I was a junior/senior in high school. Hard to believe it's been almost 3 years since I made these.

Watercolor Explorations

I remember getting told this subject matter was "too cutesy." Picky grading with IB

Crayola Marker

(I don't care about what fancy pens I should have used, I still love Crayola markers)

These two were a running theme in my IB art notebook. Political symbolism figures, because people let politics define them. These two will be main characters in a comic I have yet to make someday. 

From when I studied the Chicano Art Movement and Xavier Viramontes' work. I think was one of the media experiments that got sent to the international grading for IB. 

Collage Work

I was too lazy to make time consuming media experiments, so collages were a preferred medium throughout high school

Gel transfer collages are a lot of fun

Pop art with a tabasco twist

Sketches and Such

I went through (perhaps still going through) a manga phase and really tried to develop a style with it. This particular sketch was inspired by the manga, Bizenghast, that I really loved at the time. 

Required self portraits. Doesn't look a lot like me anymore, but the picture I based it on doesn't really look me anymore either. 

From my first box of prismacolor pencils on the way to Canada. 

New Leather Flowers

Took at trip to Scrap with mom last week and was inspired by felt flower hair clips. I decided to make my own version of the flowers by sewing layered leather flower pieces together. I'm really happy with how they turned out! They're now listed on my etsy and storenvy shop. Weather permitting, I'm hoping to make some more for Last Thursdays on Alberta too.

Vintage Things and New Legos

Have officially been on summer break for about two weeks now. I haven't done too much yet except job hunting, listing vintage items on etsy, and gardening. I got to enjoy a lovely week of nice weather to kickstart my summer break and got all my seeds planted in the ground. They're just starting to sprout now as the weather decided to take a turn for the worse - rain all week! :( I'll start posting about my garden when the plants look more substantial and less soggy.

For Mother's Day we took a detour to the Lego Store! It's quite a drive, so it's such a treat to go and handpick my legos for the jewelry and frames I make out them. I was in luck too because they had pastel colors! They're going to make some awesome new earrings my shop.

I've been focusing on vintage items on my etsy lately. Just posted some new things today. Now that it's summer all the great estate sales and flea markets are up and running. I'm looking forward to finding lots of new treasures!

Check out my new items here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jreyesha

A Short Update and Lego Frames

As usual when school is going on, I haven't blogged in months... I'm more than halfway through the semester and already looking forward to summer. I haven't been able to work on anything new, but I've been updating my etsy store constantly and sales have really taken off. Taking trips to the post office and finding ways to recycle old boxes and envelopes is part of my weekly routine now.

Over winter break I was finally able to finish these lego frames that been sitting around my room. These are now listed and are available in my esty shop for $10-12. Check them out, along with the wide variety of vintage and handmade items listed!

Refinished Chair

School is back in session, but I used my last day of break to finish up a chair I'd had in the studio for months. It was in really bad shape when I saw it at a yard sale, but I thought it had some great bones for a chair and I hadn't refinished a chair in a while. Guess the guy at the yard sale thought I was crazy for wanting it so he gave it to me! I'm really proud of the transformation. Amazing what cleaning, sanding, a few coats of paint, and some reupholstery can do.

Before and After