Happy Anniversary!

One year ago, I decided to embark on an exciting adventure that is this blog.  Here I am, a year later, and still excited about sharing more with you all.

I wish I could tell you that I had a super-awesome give-away in honor of my blogoversary, but alas, I got nothing.

Unless, of course, any one of you would be interested in winning another personalized shirt with the "Maganda Malakas Sirenas" logo on it?  Or perhaps just a shirt with the mermaid tail?  Or maybe you don't want a shirt, but a skirt or a scarf?  I'm open.

Pick this design...

Or this design...

Then choose a color.

The Rules:

• Leave me a comment!  Just say hi!
• Tell me what color and size you would like in a shirt (American Apparel).
• Please leave your email, so that I can get in contact with you!
• If you share this give-away with anyone else, and they post a comment referring to you, you get 2 entries.
• If you have a translation of "mermaid" that I don't already have or you help me with one of the ones I already have (on the far right column), you get another entry.
• I'll pick a winner on June 30th via random number generator.

Relatively easy, yes?  I promise that next year, I'll have a brand spankin' new give-away.

But, on the topic of Anniversaries, today is also my parents' 29th Anniversary.  I know I'm one of the lucky folks who still have parents who love each other dearly.  It hasn't all been perfect.  There's been nights of someone sleeping on the couch, or arguing/debating, or losing patience.  But, for the most part, I know my parents love each other very much.  And they've done one hell of a job raising 3 crazy kids, 4 different dogs, and a pond of koi fish.

Here's one example (out of so many!) of how awesome my parents are:  When I was done with grad school, and things fell apart with my ex, I was at a crossroads - somewhat similar to the crossroads I'm currently facing.  Should I try to find another apartment in Boston?  Should I move home?  Should I go someplace completely different? 

While I know my parents would have wanted me to move home (like they're wanting me to now), they said to me, "You know, you could stay in Boston, you could move to Chicago, you could move back to L.A., but we know that no matter where you are, you'll be okay."

Truth be told, that little bit of encouragement has stuck with me.  So, while this blog is just another thing that I've stuck with, like choosing to live cross-country (for now), it's really a testament to my parents' never ending support.

With that, I leave you with a video of how my parents are, no matter who's in the room.  Happy Anniversary, to Gerry and Ani!

Mermaid Collages: Mermen

In honor of this crazy rainy weather, I'm posting 2 mermaid collages.  And in this special edition, I'm featuring my mermen.

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When I was in college, I was doing some work study at the university library.  We often had fabulous book covers that we didn't use, so I would usually take them to be used for little artsy projects.  I would also take photocopies of different images in photography books.  In other instances, I would save cut-outs from magazines, especially if there was some particularly interesting texture.

I'm pretty sure that's how these two collages came about.

Leather and tulle

 

Shrimp-man?

If you look closely at the dates, I must have been in a specific frame of mind to have done these within a 24 hour period.

In terms of the mythology, mermen are not as popular.  In fact, they're often portrayed as ugly and dangerous.  I'd have to admit that I don't know much about mermen either.  But recently, I've discovered this book of 27 stories from around the world.

Amazon Permalink:  http://amzn.com/1566563909

I think it's time to up my personal education of these mythological creatures.

Final One World One Heart 2010 Action

With February being what it was, I was pretty busy til the very end and then some.

But I had the chance to work through several emails with the winner of my One World One Heart giveaway on what she wanted.

Though she had already chosen a shirt color in her comments for the giveaway, I emailed her a picture of all the fabric paints I had.  It was fun to see them all bunched together when they're usually in an art box.  Though I have much more than those pictured below, I chose colors that would match with the shirt.

Cataloging

She settled on color #10, the Halo Blue Gold, which would come out a more shimmery green.  I explained to her that there would be some flex on where she wanted to place the image.  But we settled on keeping it where it was in my picture.

Though I had done a little bit of designing on shirts, I used to use regular paper stencils that I would cut out.  Since I was proposing that my friends and I make multiple shirts for the BARCC Walk, I knew I needed to use something more "professional."  But this was my first time ever using silk screens, so I didn't realize you needed to wash the screen every time you put paint on it.  Thus, I ended up with 2 screens.

2 screens, 1 shirt, 1 color

Finally, though, I was able to do the work, and on March 3rd, I sent it on it's merry way.  What I neglected to ask in all the preparations until the every end was where the shirt was going.  Well, ladies and gentlemen, it was going to Malaysia!!!

How cool is that???  I'm excited to know that this shirt is making its way across the world as we speak/type.

Ta da!

During our conversations, the winner of this shirt asked me why I didn't have an Etsy shop.  You know, I thought about that.  I've been told that I could sell several things, first my signature seashell necklaces and now my shirts.

She sells sea shells?

I guess I feel like I have to have all the necessary supplies on hand to be able to run a store.  Plus, I need to learn how to drill holes into shells.  The 2 necklaces above were already pre-drilled, so those have been easy.

Well, I don't need to make any decisions now.  In the meantime, I silk screened something for myself.

American Apparel Circle Scarf with Mermaid Tail