Sunday, November 30, 2008

Wow

I was about to head to bed last night when I just had to check the front page of Etsy. It was a beautiful front page, all sunny and yellow in contrast to the snow outside (yes, we had our first heavy snowfall, yay!), but one item stood out and made me go "Wow!". I clicked on the photo and it led me to one of the most amazing shops I've stumbled upon on Etsy.



In her store SprattersandJayne, yarn artist Rachael has the the biggest cowls I've seen! I love how she photographs them, they look so warm and cozy, perfect for the coming winter months. Even better still, they are adorned with the HUGE wooden buttons that are oh-so-adorable.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving to you


Trimmings, originally uploaded by desireux.

This year will be a quiet Thanksgiving for me. November just flew by, it has been a very busy time of the year for both science and art projects. So yes, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet dinner at my favorite chinese buffet and then a movie.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Teeny-Weeny ones


One lonely heart, originally uploaded by desireux.

My latest project involves cutting out tons of teeny-weeny letters. I always smile when I see LittlePut of Etsy's description of her location: Paper Coated in Portland. I feel you, LittlePut! With this project, I find the letters on my clothes, on the floor, in my sheets, and boy, do they have the ability to wander from room to room!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

When two become one


When two become one, originally uploaded by desireux.

I was making more of Red Nosed Rudolph when I noticed how cute they were before I glued them together.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Transient Beauty


Transient Beauty, originally uploaded by desireux.

The beauty of autumnal colors is often short lived. One day, everything around you is a warm gold, but it takes no more than a gusty afternoon and all you have left are naked branches. I was glad I walked a little slower to lunch on Tuesday.

The weather in Urbana-Champaign was lovely a few days ago. Even though it was November, I could wear my shorts out. It felt like I was in California! Even though I was feeling rather tired this week, the perfect weather and gorgeous colors were enough to make me smile. Today however was a day of thunderstorms. All the pretty colors were on the floor in muddy puddles. Soon the trees will be bare and cold, but winter has its own beauty, and it's approaching fast.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Snow Crystals in November


Pure and Peaceful, originally uploaded by desireux.

I finally made my snowflakes pop-up card :) This design took me quite some time, from the snowflake illustration to joining the snowflakes to make the intricate "network" of snowflakes at the top of the arch and finally putting the piece together.

One of the challenges of making pop-up cards is that one has to always think of the cutting step or the assembly step while proceeding with the illustration. The illustration has to look good as a cut-out, meaning that one has to think of it in terms of negative and positive spaces.

After the card is made, another challenge would be the photography of the card. I find these 180 degree cards easier to photograph because they are clearly three dimensional. However, for the 90 degree cards, the cards need to be at an angle where you can see the "pop up". This is an aspect which is important too, because I want my pop-ups to not only look good in person but in photographs too. This is why I even envision the photo taking process at the designing stage of the pop-up.

I have my Snow Crystals pop-up card on Etsy now, together with the rest of my 2009 Holiday Collection which I will post of more in days to come. Meanwhile, hope November goes well for all of you!