Finally! Yay!

Thank you for being such an awesome readers and following this blog.
Now I welcome all of you to check out my new blog and I hope you
enjoy your stay as much as you enjoy your stay here.

A way too late announcement

Dear you,

Since I couldn't no longer upload more pictures to this blog,
so I will have a new one on January, 1st. I think a new blog
for a new year is a superb idea! Right?

So, meanwhile I'm preparing for it you always welcome to
see my online gallery , tumblr and of course my shop and
follow my twitter for the latest updates!

Have a wonderful holiday season, everyone!

Karena saya sudah tidak lagi bisa mengunduh foto di
blog ini maka mulai tahun depan saya akan membuat
blog baru. Sebuah blog baru di tahun baru! Ide yang
sangat pas kan?


Sementara menunggu, silahkan mengunjungi galeri maya,
etsy, tumblr ataupun follow twitter saya, teman teman!


Terimakasih.

me and a project: 2kamera

I always want to have a photo blog project since last year,
but not until I met this one extraordinary lad that it finally
came true. We named this photography project 2 kamera,
where two eyes meet on one theme object. Every week, we choose
each other a colour for each other then on Thursday we will
upload the photos. I hope you like it as much as we are!:)

Saya selalu ingin punya sebuah proyek foto blog. Namun
selalu gagal sampai akhirnya saya bertemu Feransis dan
kita setuju untuk mencoba membuatnya. Setiap minggu
kami akan memilihkan warna untuk obyek yang kami foto
lalu setiap hari Kamis jam 9 pagi kami akan memasukkannya
ke blog foto kami ini. Terimakasih, Feransis!

me and giveaway: and the winners are...

Yes, I know I have been way too late to announce this and I am sorry.
I decide to pick one local winner and one international winner,
so without further ado they are...

Kriwul: I want to sent a postcard to an old friend of mine. She was my bestfriend, but I lost her. She hates me and stop talking to me for a reason I don't even know why. I keep sending her emails and text her, but she never replies. I call and she never pick up, but I never give up. I know someday she'll talk to me again and it's worth a try.

So, I'll send her a beautiful postcard and I'll write: hey, lovely, it's been 4 years... I'm still here, waiting for you until you're ready to talk. I'll try my best making it up to you.
Let's arrange a meet up, I'll book a flight to your place, let's have a pajamas party like we used to do. I miss your giggles, I miss your long stories, I miss your home made macaroni schottel. it's delicious, did I ever tell you? I miss you, you're my precious friend, and I hope someday we'll be friends again. Hugs and kisses and lollipops for you!

Reenek:  would like to send a postcard to my 5th grade teacher. She was the one who encourage me to become one!!!

Congrats you two! Now send me your mail address and wait for my next giveaway, peeps! 

I honestly blown away with all of your answers, thank you so so much!

What A Collage!

Dear Catherine,

First I would like to tell you how inspiring your collages are to me and I would love to hear your stories on them and also your own collage making process. Let's start with the questions, shall we?

1. I used to know collage when I start making zines, therefore my understanding of collage is like a paper art. But then as time goes by I notice that apart from paper there are many other material we can use. How about you and collage in general, how did it start? I have been creating all my life. About12 years ago I started noticing paper collage art and I just loved it! I loved the jumbled mix of images that could create such amazing scenes and moods. So i got into making paper collages for myself. I hadn't really made collages since. Now that I sew and create with fabric it was just a natural progession to try collage with fabrics. Sometimes i need to break away from plush making for a short time so that I don't feel stagnant.

2. I noticed that you make a fantastic rag dolls, are they inspires you then with the collage or is it the other way around? Are there many trial and error first before you nail them? I was inspired to make fabric collages because my plush dolls. For my plush I don't use patterns and I don't create from detailed sketches so my creations are free to come out as they come out. I am not so concered with making an exact copy of anything, even my own sketches. I prefer that my creations come from spontaneity. Creating this way for me brings happy surprises to me and I learn and grow from the results that I maybe wasn't expecting. This way of creating keeps it fun and fresh and exciting!

3. Apart from fabric and thread, are there any other materials that you've tried and how do they go? Apart from fabric and thread, I have added plastic doll parts such as arms. I love the idea of mixed media dolls/soft sculpure. I have also used metal parts such as a spring coil for a mouth. I really enjoy adding these other elements to my dolls and can only see myself continuing this.

4. Is there any special tips that you would like to share if someone would like to make one too? My advice to anyone wanting to start making their own plush is to first off not make too many rules for oneself. Start small and just see what happens. Make a simple sketch if you want. Mainly concentrate on the overall shape. Once you are comfortable and happy with your basic shape you can focus on the details.

5. Anything else that you would like to share with us like your shop, online gallery, flickr, etc? You can find my creations here at :

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JunkerJane

http://junkerjane.blogspot.com/

  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25728104@N02/

Thank you so much for sharing all these and being so inspiring,

Vantiani

me and blogsphere : being featured!

I remember when I first met Katie on an etsy chat.
She showed me her wedding pictures and story.
Beautifully inspiring, I tell you. Afterwards we met
again and again and she bought some of my cards.
And I follow her blog for more of her inspiring
love and life journey, plus her photography of course.
See what I mean?

http://www.theyouandmeshow.com/2009/10/telephone-man.html

Collage Comrade Column : Molly Bosley

Dear Molly,

Thank you so much for taking this opportunity to be featured on my blog. I am a pretty new collage artist therefore I always love to bump into another one especially with such an inspiring techniques, materials and concept. So, let’s start with the interview now shall we?

1. Please tell me a bit about yourself and how you are first finding collage as one of your creative expressions?
Two years ago I moved to Brooklyn right after I graduated college. It’s a wonderful place and I am inspired by the strange and fascinating things I see everyday. I first started collaging when I was very young but I only seriously started doing it in the last three years, when I discovered a store that sold old books and encyclopedias for only $.25. I fell in love and finally found what I had been waiting for.

2.Tell me about your creative process in making a collage? Is there any specific ritual or just wait for the inspirations to come or any other way?
Well, I usually spend a whole day just cutting out images from books and then once I have a good collection, I lay them all out on the floor around me. I kind of just play with the composition and what “feels” right. I like to layer a lot so I’ll try and get a bunch of different background images, fabric, doilies or old pattern pieces. I have really vivid and wild dreams so sometimes that influences the look of different pieces if I’m thinking about it. Sometimes I'll work on somethings and put it aside for a few weeks and then come back to work on it again when i have fresh eyes.

3.What kind of materials that you have been using or even try out after all these time? How many of them is actually works and are there any failures?
Collage is definitely a trial and error process. I like to research about unusual techniques to give the art variety and this way it will grow over time and you will see differences over the years. I think it is important to learn as many different ways of achieving the affect you are going for. I usually stick to the basics in terms of materials but lately I have been experimenting with cork and the surfaces that I am working on. I also really love learning new ways of transferring images. When you do this process it’s like Christmas because you never know how it will turn out.

4. Apart from making collages, are there any other craftworks that you make?
Yes! I also embroider but not enough. I wish I did this more. I knit and make sculptures and jewelry too. I make all of the beads out of the same books as the collages so they kind of having the same old and worn look to them. Silhouettes and shadows have fascinated me for years and years so I started cutting paper silhouettes and making dioramas. This is something I am really proud of because it takes a lot of dedication and a steady hand. Soon I hope to start making dolls out of found objects. I have been thinking about doing this for awhile now.

5. Now, let’s talk about selling the craftworks. Does it take a long time for you to decide that you can sell your collages or even actually live out of it?
Well I have only recently, in the past year, been putting myself out there and exhibiting. So far it’s been pretty successful but I don’t think I am at the point yet where I can live off of this as income. The problem is there isn’t enough time to work on art and sell it when I still have a full time job. In the next few weeks I hope to start selling at street fairs and markets on the weekends and see how that goes. I thought it would be hard to let go of these pieces that I’ve sold but I am happy that other people will display them in their home or give them as gifts and be able to appreciate them in a whole new way.

6.I notice that several collage artists are also into making and selling kits and organize workshops. I love doing workshops and hoping to have more next year. How about you?
I’ve never done a collage workshop. I think this is great for people just getting started and people who are curious as to how to go about the whole process but to me it is important to maintain the uniqueness in my artwork. Making art is a very personal and organic method so following a kit just doesn’t seem natural to me. I think you can learn about of useful and interesting techniques from these workshops but part of it should also be an instinctual course of action.

7. Have you done any exhibitions? Would you like to tell us what was it like?
I have had great success in the last few months. This past summer I have exhibited in four shows and I have another solo exhibition coming up in November. It’s a lot of work to get organized and submit for these shows. I would rather spend my free time working on art instead of managing the business side of it but this is really equally as important if you want anyone to see your work. The opening receptions are really fun too! People come and want to talk to you about your work and are very supportive.

8.I’ve notice also that there are so many medium where we can put our collages in apart just make them into wall-hanging or ACEO. How about you? What kind of medium that you’ve used or plan to use for your collages?
I think it’s great to expand the idea of how to display your work. I would like to make some of my work functional and have thought about doing work on housewares recently. I would also like to make prints of my work so that they can be more affordable. I have collaborated with a few bands to do their album art and this is a great way to work with other talented artists and display the art in a different context, perhaps with someone elses interpretation behind it.

9.What do you like most about making collages? Is there anything that you don’t like about it?
I am not a very patient person and I love the satisfaction of completing collages in one sitting. I can work on many pieces all at once and when I’m done I am surrounded by my accomplishments just from that day. The only downside of collage art is that sometimes I feel like I should be doing more. Sometimes I think ‘anyone can do this’ and ‘I’m not showing my full potential or spectrum of what I am capable of.’ I try to incorporate illustrations into the pieces or do processes that take a bit longer so that I feel it has a little more value and weight to it. If I really thought this was a problem I would move on to something else but I really love doing it and I love what I make so I’m just going to keep exploring and expanding.

10. Any last words? And please share us your email, shop, gallery or anything that you would like to share with us.
I guess I just want to explain a little about what this art means to me. I want people to look at it and interpret it how they see it. I like to use images that do not have any context attached to them so that the audience can see it how they wish. I want to give people the feeling of memories or nostalgic scenes from the past. The intimacy in my work is reflected in the size and worn, used feeling, which draws people in physically and emotionally. The family photographs in my artwork are way of creating personalities and lives of people I never knew. I love to imagine what their lives could have been like when the photo was taken.

I will be setting up a website in the new few months and hopefully will have an etsy store available with prints and original works for sale! In the mean time if you want to contact me about purchasing the art or just any questions about it please feel free to email me at MollyBosley@gmail.com and check out my flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/mustardfestival.

My artwork is on display until the end of August at Red’s Tapas Bar if you are in the Brooklyn area and would like to see it in person. The food is great too!

me and blog: a new column every Saturday!

I believe scissor is one of our favorite tool as artists and crafters.

Heck, I couldn't even imagine living without it! Right?

So, starting next Saturday I will have a new column called

Scissor Saturday, where I will show my fave scissor and a story

about it. And of course I invite you all to join me! Yay!

Just send me pretty pictures on your fave scissors and

stories on them either when you bought it or all those intimate

moments the two of you shared after all these times.

Anything. And of course there will be a special something

for you that joins! Oh this is exciting!

me and etsian: CakeEaters

I love embroidery, and I love Katie's. Well, I love her blog too

actually. And Katie loves chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Plus, the best part of cake that she loves is the cake itself.

Of course. Oh my! So many love exchanges her between

Katie and me. Yay! Who is Katie again, you may ask..

"My name is Katie Baird and I am a sophomore at Millikin

University in the oh so charming city of Decatur Illinois.

I am currently earning a BFA commercial art/computer

design degree with an emphasis in drawing.

I spend most my time doodling, embroidering,

making softies, knitting, eating olives, paper cutting,

and staring at my bun Rothko.
other interests include antique collecting, coffee,

worms, animal teeth, lemons, patron saints, lomography,

x-rays, trumpet solos, veladoras, fishing lures,

ornate gold things, cute animals, typography,

vintage children’s book illustrations, feathers,

peppermint, tap dancing, side shows, sea glass,

apothecaries, teacups, totem poles, and marigolds."

Such an interesting lady, right? And to know more

about her you can go here http://www.katieeatscake.com/

and here http://www.cakeeaters.etsy.com/

Oh you will be swoon, I know you will!:)

me and secret: a giggly and dirty one

Read at www.etsychatters.blogspot.com and you may 

also win ten of my collage postcards!