a little sick of it

Sorry for the late post. I actually feel asleep last night during the show and had to watch all that I missed this morning.

Challenge: To make an outfit for an international jet setter.
Challenge twist: The designers would model their own outfits. They then flew to Paris to see how well the outfits traveled and then were told who was out.

Someone left a comment last week about how they were not enjoying how mean spirited this season of PR has become. I have to say that I agree whole-heartedly. In the beginning I so much enjoyed being a Project Runway "sportscaster" if you will, running down the shows highlights and talking about all the personality quirks. Over the last couple of weeks I have watched the show desolve into something I am not really enjoying. I am sad to say it has never been more obvious that the shows producers have just as much input on the winners and losers of the challenges as the judges. It seems to me that Jeffrey has become the focus on the show. They cut to his face to get his reaction for almost everything. His negativity is repulsive.
At this point I don't care who wins as long as it is not him.

So riddle me this: Kayne and Jeffrey's outfit were both very much them. Why was Kayne's outfit ridiculed and Jeffrey's outfit praised. From my stand point and I know you will tell me if you think I am wrong...Kayne's outfit looked much better constructed, the details were interesting. His belt was over the top but that is Kayne. Jeffrey's jacket lapel looked sloppy and what was up with the crotch chain? As far as I could tell the t-shirt was his own (is that even fair?) I thought his outfit looked like he rolled out of bed. So what we learned today is that good construction and fit are nothing if you outfit looks like it should be on a rockstar. Hmmm?

I thought Laura's dress was beautiful even if the color was a little boring. I am a little sick of the same garmet Uli makes over and over. Vincent's was a cop out. Michael's was interesting but not my fav. Angela's ugh! It was time to go. Au revoir rosettes.

So what do you guys think? Are you still enjoying the show? Thoughts and comments always welcome!

my talented friends-part one

The collage above is from my friend Mary Ann. We did an another art trade, collages this time around. Isn't this just the sweetest thing? Sorry for the not so great picture, it doesn't do the collage justice. The mirror she incorporated made a good pic a little difficult but i just had to share the meaning behind it. She told me the mirror represents the reflection of an artist. I love that! As always Mary Ann, thank you for indulging me in you beautiful art. I hope you don't get sick of me never getting mine to you before the deadline . It's coming, I swear :)

The adorable journal above was made by my open yours 09 partner Kristi. I adore all things embroidered and that is what she did on the cover. So cute. She also sent me a bunch of other fun things too. Handmade adorable cards (saving those for another post), some great hair clips and fun stuff to collage with. So thoughtful, thank you Kristi.

we interrupt this program...

to give my loyal blog readers some HUGE love. You guys! Thanks so much to all of you for your sweet and heartfelt comments about my last post. Reading them throughout the day made a world of difference and of course she did great. Apparently, kindergarten is more fun than Magic Mountain! At least that is what my little girl told me. (For those of you that don't know, Magic Mountain is an amusement park in So CAL.) So thank you from the bottom of my almost mended heart.

Now onto the Project Runway recap because that is the real reason you are here, right? So in keeping with the emotional week I am having, tonight's Project Runway was no exception.

The challenge was to make an outfit for the everyday woman. Seems easy enough right? Wrong. The everyday women were moms and sisters of the designers. The designers each had to pick a "model" and you could not pick your own mother or sister. I have to say that I absolutely hated how they picked playground style for the models. Of course the slimmer women went first and the bigger women were picked last.

So ok all you Jeffrey fans out there, I am gonna say it. I officially hate him. Now I myself am not a big Angela fan but Angela's mom is not Angela. He was so just so hateful and mean to her. I was appalled. I also gained a little respect for Angela for not totaling losing it and going off on him. If anyone EVER talked to my mom that way, I would kick their ass. Talented or not (and tonight his dress showed no signs) I am giving up my seat in the Jeffrey cheering section.

So as far as the designs went this week I only had a few that I even liked. It was a very tough challenge. Much to almost everyone's amazement (including mine) Vincent's was one of the best. I thought the style was very age appropriate and the color and fit was nice. Of course Michaels outfit was the cutest. Don't you want that dress? Although he had an advantage because his model was small. I couldn't understand why everyone hated Kayne's outfit so much. I thought it made Michael's mom look younger and hip. I thought the color looked great on her. Oh well what do I know? I disliked Uli's outfit although the judges loved it. I thought it was ill-fitting and that necklace. Robert's outfit was the worst (so boring again) although his model was probably the biggest. He has had several chances and he could of given a little personality to his outfit. A scarf or something! Laura's outfit looked like something a stewardess would have worn in the 1980's.

Too tired for my random runway thoughts. Please leave one of yours! That show kinda drained me tonight, here's to hoping for a more upbeat show next week. If you haven't done this already come back in a few days and read all the comments people have been leaving about my update. People are really getting into this, I love it.

That's my opinion. What is yours?

bittersweet

My baby's first day of kindergarten

I probably owe you an email, in fact I am sure I do. I have lots of projects to work on. Not today though. I have to nurse my heart, it is aching a little and I have this lump in my throat. Until tomorrow.

busy as a bee (for now)

available at my etsy store

Hi friends, things are a little crazy around here so I just wanted to check in. In-laws are here, my first born starts kindergarten on Monday. As well as the usual collages to make, projects to finish and packages to mail out. Hang in there, the next few day will be fairly boring around here. Missed my wip Friday, I am going to be making custom thank you cards for a wedding. I am actually really excited about these. I will give you a sneak peek sometimes this upcoming week. Have a good weekend.

Some serious ugly

Challenge: Create an outfit from recycled material.

This definitely has to be the most challenging task to date. Although I am beginning to despise Laura, (she is clearly the new villain), she always has one clear and concise thing to say on every show. There was a whole lot of ugly in that room. Kayne's dress was the worst, however he was honest with the judges and has shown potential in the past. Allison's dress was definitely ill-fitted and not very innovative. I have to agree with the judges decision to vote Allison's out although I already know some of you will disagree me.

On a brighter note, once again Michael Knight wins the challenge. His outfits are always so well thought out and his construction is impeccable. He just never gets it wrong. By the way do you think KIT had anything to do with his two wins?? :)

Surprisingly there were no rosettes or fleurshauns anywhere to be seen on Angela's dress, she opted for a space suit instead.

Then there is Jeffrey who is just bitter with a capital B. He said Michael's dress was "The equivalent of diabetic food. There is no flavor. " The holier than thou bit is getting a little old Jeffrey. Like Laura said last week, If you are all that Jeffrey, then what are you doing here?
Let's see ya win a challenge bitter boy.

Ok on a final note, a few random things:
Six - The number of F bombs that were dropped on the show tonight.

Three - The number of times Vincent refered to his dress in a sexual way" Ewwwwwwwww!

Too many - the number of times Laura has worn her riding outfit on the show. If you listened closely when they were leaving to find out what their challenge was Allison said to Laura, " It's a good thing you have on your riding outfit in case it's a horse" (challenge) Hilarious!

Zero - The number of remaining weeks I can tolerate Vincent's painful and freakish facial expressions.

That's all I can think of tonight. What do you think???

my latest creation

This is for my open yours trade 09. I hope Jessica doesn't check my blog. I have had the canvas and the heart done for a while. It just needed a little something extra to finish it. Voila!
The heart is made from crayola crayon wax. A messy but fun experiment.
Stay tuned for the Project Runway Update later tonight.

mail call

Is one of these packages for you?

an unexpected gift

from Marieke just for leaving a comment on her celebration of completion( for her 2nd journal )post. I love this card because it is so unlike what I do with paper. Visit her blog and take a look at her amazing daily journal entries.

maryann

My friend Maryann sends me stuff. Random stuff, all the time and I love it. Ephemera, ribbons, vintage cards anything she thinks I will like. I know her handwriting and smile when I open my mailbox and there she is. She is such a generous and positive person. We are currently doing a an art collage swap I cannot wait to see what she comes up with. Above is a card she recently sent me. It is so beautiful, I just love it. Looking at it make me feel at peace, which doesn't happen very often.

Maryann also made these magnets. Aren't they great! Sorry for the bad picture. My daughter made me laugh when she looked at the finch one. She said, "I feel sorry for that one, he only has a head." Oh the mind of a 5 year old. Happy Saturday!

WIP

This is what I have been working on this week. It is for a friend that is going through some big changes in her life. She drew the couch and I was inspired by it so I asked her if I could have the drawing to make her something. I painted the couch with watercolors then layered on all the collage pieces. There are 4 buttons because she has 4 children. Do you see the cameo head in the middle of the buttons? That represents my friend, we laugh and call ourselves domestic goodesses (we are kidding of course) The piece is better in "real life" Sometimes the computer screen just cannot translate the texture of a collage very well. Looks like red is playing a big role in my art lately. Hmmm wonder what that means.

fill in favorite title here

Challenge: Modernize the Look of a Fashion Icon
Challenge Twist: The models got to pick which designer they wanted to work with and which icon the designer made the modern outfit for.

There are so many things I could have called this post: Read below and pick your favorite:

Playing the new villan is...- since Keith is gone someone has to fill his evil, arrogant shoes. The only question is will it be Jeffery or Laura? Gotta love a little PR catfight :) For the record, I would bet money that Angela did screw up that machine.

Welcome aboard Captain Save a 'Ho- So all the Michael fans were right, it was finally his time to shine. It was so refreshing to actually see into Michael's world on this episode. To watch his process, hear his thoughts along the way and to see the final product. Very exciting! Although, I am sure glad I am not the one that has to wear the hot pants. I also can't believe he remade the outfit and still won. Wow!

Did Gramma steal Robert's fashion Mojo?- Did Robert hear his icon's name wrong? It's Jackie O Robert, not Jackie Old. Did he just get lucky in the first few challenges? These last two outfit have seriously got me thinking he may need to go home soon too. I mean YIKES! Can anyone out there help me understand why he didn't use the Tiffany blue fabric he originally bought???

Angela's rosettes get a new name - Last week and the week before they were called rosettes but now they are fleurshauns? HUH? By the way, please forgive me if that really is indeed a word, as I have no idea how to spell it. Anyone want to place a wager that the rosettes, I mean fleurshauns will once again make it onto the outfit next week? What will they be called next time? Flowerette de used too mucho?

Space Cadet goes home- Sorry to say, but I am glad to see Bradley go home. He is always so scattered, it really was only a matter of time. I think he was a little out of his league, or maybe on another planet.

A few random thoughts:

* I thought Heidi's runway dress was sooo cute.

* I had to rewind my Tivo 3 time before I believed that Michael really did say Captain Save A 'HO

* Is it me or do Kayne's teeth blind you while you watch?

That my 2 cents worth. What's yours???

gift tag swap - part one

I finished my 10 tags for Tammie's gift tag swap this weekend. Pictured above is my favorite one. I used fairly large tags as I have a hard time working small, like on an ATC for example. The small size seems to stunt my creativity somehow. Anyone else feel this way? Anyhow I digress, the best news about all of this is that I actually finished the tags well before their due date. (August 21) This my friends has NEVER happened before. Woohoo me, what will I do with all my extra time. Oh yeah, I need to work on my open yours package, complete Maryanne's collage and get started on Dee's collage. Busy, that is just how I like it :)

vintage button swap

My vintage button partner Joanne spoiled me rotten. She sent many more than the 12 buttons required. Also included in her package: wonderful antique wallpaper and cut origami paper, not to mention a few creations of her own. Thank you so much Joanne. I love it all.
Of course a big thanks to Sally for hosting this swap. Thanks Sally!

I wanted to show you more pictures today but of course blogger is being non compliant once again. Is this why all you professionals switch to typepad? Oh and the fact that you can actually email people back via their comments to your blog.

Anyhow...regarding my last post. A couple of you mentioned you wanted to see finished pics of the onesies, well people don't hold your breath. I commmited the ultimate blogger crime. I forgot to photograph the onesies before I gave them to the mommy to be. They did turn out really cute and I will be making some more because they were really easy. Sorry peeps!

WIP

First inspired by this post, today I am working on a baby gift for a long time family friend. The final result is more like this and this on a onsie. Her shower is tomorrow. Nothing like working at the last minute. I came up with a chickie, a hippo, an elephant and a lion. My favorite one so far is the elephant. I still have to do the finish work, put some eyes and mouths on the animals. Right now I am waiting for them to come out of the washing machine. I wanted to make sure they withstood the laundry test. I'll post a pic with I am done. Wish me luck!

short post/some artwork

My postcard for the Open Yours Trade 09

Theme - Gift of giving

Angela won???

Challenge - A 3 piece look for the INC line at Macy's

Alrighty then, the shows dismissal wasn't quite as dramatic as the previews made it out to be. You pretty much knew from the start that it was going to be Keith who was kicked off. Although I do think he is talented, I could not stand his arrogance and was happy to see him go. His little speech after he was told to leave confirmed that. These are his words: I felt bad, I think we are all under a lot of stress and we wind up sort of finding a scapegoat sometimes.
Ummm dude? Reality check, you broke the rules. Buh Bye!

So on to the challenge. I found this challenge a little boring but understood why it had to take place. Macy's is sponsoring the mentorship for the winning designer therefore they need some airtime. I thought the judges were spot on in their picks. I have to say I thought Robert's outfit was the worst. Which is surprising because everything he's worked on up until now has been designed well. His dress last week was fabulous. Bonnie's outfit wasn't very stylish but I thought the lines and proportions were better than Robert's. So Bonnie was out. I am ok with that because I never really saw her star shine. I have seen Robert's potential and know it is there. Like Malan, his outfit just didn't translate. So good for him to get a second chance.

Ok now to the win of Angela. What to say? Obviously the girl had to have some kind of talent to get on this show in the first place. I think she was saved by the two of the best designers being on her team, Laura and Michael. Laura wouldn't let Angela get out of control and kept the taste card intact. ( I imagine that is how she deals with her 6 children) Michael just did what he always does, executed a classic, beautiful outfit. So good for you Angela, you are safe another week. Here's to hoping you'll have a another team challenge because that is what saved you. Oh and one more thing, what is up with the rosette obsession? Angela, stop watching reruns of Sex and the City circa 2002.

Yeah you could say I'm kinda getting into this show but remember this is just my opinion. What's yours?????

one more, then I'll stop

last saturday after playing with water balloons

Ok I'm sure you are all sick of leaving "oh how cute" comments on my blog but I just couldn't resist. The hat is the only part I played in this outfit, the rest was all his idea. Doesn't the hat look super-imposed or something. He just has a small nugget!

I once told a friend that my blog would reflect my world. Some days I feel like an artist and some days I feel like a mommy. Some days both. I have obviously been feeling very mommy lately. Thank you for your comments on both of my worlds. I read and cherish every one.

ps. tooth fairy came, left $1 and a sparkly bead.

Next up project runway recap and Friday WIP.