smashing in red

through the course of my imagination, i'm not much of a visual person.  when my friends indulged themselves in tintin and disney, i read famous five and sidney sheldon.  those from my class graduated with distinction due to their exceptional artworks, i owed it more to my thesis in humanities and liberal arts.  although i started out as an art director in my advertising days, my remarkable projects were based on a music or phraseological presentation.  i didn't collect paintings—i disliked—like most of my fellow tete-a-tete townsman.

in the year 2000ish i came across a list—collector’s choice of rare books for collecting, which then led me to the 100 best books lists by modern library, readers and the rivals.  it was my ambition then to not only collect, but also read every single title on the ibca list. i thought i did quite well for the next couple of years, until i got distracted by other lists, amazon, catholicism, and of course harry potter, chic-lit, crafts, odd and ends. then other preoccupation such as passion, obsession, compassion rudely interrupted, and books are completely abandoned in piles, carts and lists.

i haven't read a single book in the past few years, but there was time when i read 4,000 pages of literature in a week and filled up a whole blank journal books with notes and conceptions.  it's a huge accomplishment considering my short concentration span (and don't let me start theorizing it).

for the pass 3 years i could barely pass the first page of unbearable lightness of being; but i will pick it up again.

meanwhile, i'm happy jotting down little things.  like most of us, tada...i'm smashing! 

does anyone recognize the words? :)

i usually start with the inside spreads when i'm building a book/album.  as i always said, the cover will build up on it's own.  here i am starting from the cover.  perhaps tonight i'll go pick some brain lint and start a couple of pages.

the uhlmann story

my first gift to the uhlmann was a photo book about the darling daughter—liv.  this second one is more about the whole family—pe, di and liv.

i used sunday picnic from webster's pages, resins and blooms from prima and various beads and florette trims.

the following are some of the inside spreads...

this photo book is picture heavy,

upon layers and layers of paper cut-outs,

among the flips,

folds,

pockets,

and pop-ups.

this copy is a reproduction of what i later shared (and another coming up in a couple of weeks) in classes at made with love, jakarta.

love life

if life is about living and loving the way we are, the uhlmann—a special family and friends, has given me full inspirational vision of it.

featuring a shabby wood plank finish and bound with various beads and blossoms in the colors of the beautiful days, after some of the uhlmann's captured moments—which i hope we would finish together in the near future; i'm repeating this album as classes for made with love. 

soliloquy

some of the best conversation i had, happened in my mind.  don't everybody's? a sharp-minded friend of mine finds it amusing that i speak it out in monologue...impromptu train of thoughts, just like that and  i can hardly repeat them.  if i try to, slowly, it will sound fake, rehearsed and...never as sharp.

such is the making of this book.  i just gather some scraps and strips of trims, lace, ribbons, whatever is in the bucket and stick them on.

i will use it to jot down my fragment of thoughts...

i don't watch or read news
it's too up-to-the-minute to merit attention
too "post hoc, ergo propter hoc"-ish
(english: after it, therefore because after it)
—which is hardly ever the case
or perhaps think the conflicts are too fabricated by those who don't actually understand (myself included) the issues
simply not quite interested, might be the case as well
(i must say i do on the occasions interrupting my little cocoon)

my dreams are adventurous and in colors, in between midnight black and midnight blue to be exact

anything after the year 1996 are too futuristic

by curse of nature lacking some mystical qualities, i have a severe navigational idiocy
(i should someday decide if it's due to some genes deficiency in ability to have the mentioned focus span instead)

talk no more, talk no more
i'd rather listen to your goldfish

i know some big words too...marmalade, aromatherapy, hermes

i don't drink
i'm too busy translating the asyndeton and aposiopesis of the drunk
to the drunk wannabe

if i'm so consistent,
i'd still be wearing a diaper

life is to live and to love,
i'm breathing it in the best i can
(well, almost...that's the plan at least)

i'm trying to rebuild myself
but i lost the blueprint of my frontal lobe

a friend defines me as a professional bum
because i master the art of bumming around
like no other
(i can be ad hominem too)
he's jay gatsby without the flair
 
after moses parted the red sea,
nothing can shock me anymore

refusing to think is pure evil

i do whatever my heart desires
without worrying too much of the label attached to it

i'm captivated
by the native american myths, legends and lores

watching austin power
is like staring at a cow for 45 minutes
(although i've tried neither)

hypothesis of why i'm like this:
#1 a flower pot fell on my head which left me
with no recollection whatsoever
i'm left with only notions,
no memories of any previous occurrence
#2 abstract defraged my frontal lobe,
the day i let my friend have half a day
trying to paint the color of my mind
#3 freud and his dramas!
blah blah blah of such magnitude
clutter the conversation between
my left and right brain hemisphere
#4 a+ thesis
the day i finally read the first paragraph of
the textbook years later
i second guess priority of reality

i'm rarely confrontational outside my head
but sometimes my mind has a big mouth

recedite liberal hippies
we conservatives are taking over

tragic has its moments

i insist, k armstrong is a carrier as destructive as of that enola gay
and her magnitude of pathological fallacies are astronomical

i retired because it seems romantic at the time
besides, i'm in between jobs
(hey, even budha sat under the bodhi tree for 40 years to get enlightened)

something like that, if not.

this piece was therapeutic and a pleasure in the making.

i wish to share it in a limited private class next week.

for the love of handbound books

here is a chunky book i bounded for a friend's early birthday present.  it covered 6 odd width signatures and 60 journaling pages.  i thought i did—i should have taken pictures of the inside spreads.  the spine band of each signature is something i like and would repeat again and again.

the garter belt like book band was rather distracting, so i took it off. 

took quite an effort and a couple nicks to batter up the spine.  a lady in my workshop saw me doing it and asked why was it all torn up and if i was doing it on purpose.  the binding was an all day job.  well...a couple considering i disbanded the first which was too flashy. this one is much more pleasing to my eyes.

i kind of showed her a picture of it and hinted it's coming her way.  she was thrilled.  i might do something similar for myself.

r.a.k. around the blogs

i wish i have more than 1 to give.  this time it goes to anita abdulkadir.  i thank everyone for the sweet commendations.  in the near future when i figured how or someone shows me how, i hope to post some tutorials.

just when i'm blogging this, i'm told that graphics 45 announced on their blog that they have chosen my impromptu tea party v.2 (still haven't quite finished with the 1st) as their r.a.k winner chosen from their ning gallery.  wow, this comes as a surprise as i didn't know anything about it. 

apparently graphics 45 is running r.a.k. (it's random acts of kindness, in case...).  if i'm reading them correctly, last week was a r.a.k. week.  they have chosen random people who have contributed to their galleries to win some prizes.  for the month of february they're running r.a.k. challenges which they call random crafts of kindness in their facebook page.

just yesterday in my tropical travelogue~hybrid camera workshop i was just saying how amazing graphics 45 creations are.  i can't be more honored and thankful.

r.a.k. in favor of the one man spanish armada

in the spirit of rooting for the spaniard rafael nadal on australian open, i pledged to give away a mini book for his win. he fought an epic battle like only the one man spanish armada could.  the match ended on the count when the momentum wasn't on his favor.  in his honor, we—his die heart devotee—joined him in taking it as the best of sport could.  rafa will get the next one and the many more to come, vamos!

anyone has a chance in owning this journal; the rule is you just have to want it.

leave me a note and i will choose who this journal goes to on february 17th, 2012.

what else...what else...

winter 2012 release which motivated me so far...

7 gypsies trousseau

on 7 gypsies preview i knew there and then that trousseau collection won my heart this season.  in fact, i can see vividly what i'm going to do down to the details  as soon as i get my hands on the set.  awesome!

as for the antiquaries postale, i hope i can make it to singapore when sharon does the class. 

october afternoon cakewalk

october afternoon has never failed my fondness.  there's something about its constancy retro, archetypal honesty, conventional everyday life which brings back childhood happiness at its utmost.  if i were to describe it in 2 words, it "genuinely clicks". 

i'll throw a bash on this cakewalk.

october afternoon 9 to 5

although i don't think i've ever had a 9 to 5 or a desk job, 9 to 5 is a must have.  it will serve a story of mine well.

graphic 45 little darling

maybe there will be one happy mother to be.

glitz french kiss

 check out that album cover.

tim holtz ideology

tim holtz is a household brand in this art.  each shopping list wouldn't be complete without each ideology; in this case, a few of those pulley wheels, clock keys, faucet knobs and every thing else in the collection.

these can't be it.  this is a short list on a short day trip.  there must be more to pile up. 

vodka, fleas and tetanus

a couple of things get me excited tonight.  i perfected my 5 minutes penne with crustacean in pink sauce which i've been cooking and eating for dinner the past 3 nights.  creamy pasta is my delicacy indulgence given that i tried giving up consuming mammals.  that would be since the new year minus the night i accidentally swallowed a slice of black pepper beef last week.

i was watching a crappy dvd i do not recall the title nor care to find out and landed on an interesting piece of information.  without further ado...i signed demeng's artlab #3 workshop:  crusted, crumbled, cracked. 

that's productive!  ;)

wild sacred heart

modernism has its pitfalls. it comes with ayn rand and karen armstrong whose philosophy i could argue endlessly; pollution and internet.  i remember nights before modernism blatantly robbed my favorite nocturnal pastime; watching the constellations in the sky and counting the stars, musing.  nowadays, i do after midnight online shopping.  in one of my shopping spree excursion, i came across a barbed wired heart necklace.  it reminded me of the sacred heart of jesus; which then reminded me of the bronze sacred heart and immaculate heart which i wait-listed and bought a while back.  i checked a few things so i can ensemble them into a scapular. right before checking out, i threw in the black swarovski wild heart pendant; the beauty of online shopping...everything is just a few clicks away.

last night while waiting for lethargy to kick in and pilgrim's progress wouldn't register, i ensembled the black wild heart.  i should have grabbed the wire as well, because the one i have turns out rather stiff.  it took me a few tries, well many actually, before i settled on the setting temporarily.  i will fix it when i see the right wire, 2 gauge down i think.

anyway, like anyone cares of all that...here is my wild sacred heart laid on pilgrim's progress.

geez...i forgot to say...happy new year!  fabulous 2012 everyone.

joy to the world...and

merry christmas!  i had our traditional christmas eve festive; family, santa, presents, carols, church and all with the clan. haven't had the chance to look at the pictures though.

before i pack up for the holiday trip (which is tomorrow), i'd like to present my most likely be first 2012 workshop.


tropical travelogue...of course!—growing up being an island girl myself— shaped after my g12 camera.  well, sort of!

i noticed on my last trip to the island that the brass window handles in the bedroom had turned patina.  as a matter of fact, anything metal exposed that close to the open sea would oxidized sooner than later. so that's that...patina or rust.

almost, but noticeably not quite done, still waiting a few stuff to come in.  rather bulky i must say.

my sea and sandy beach page.

this highly dynamic album is packed with folds, pockets, pull outs...

pop ups...

flips, flaps...

and the significant swivel screen!  i upgraded my g11 to g12 just for this feature, so it's a must in here.

so they say, jewel comes in little package.  well...in this case, not so little.  i can promise you, this is a hybrid scrapbook like no others.  warning ahead: compulsory meticulous efforts.  the almighty didn't create  water-sand and flora-fauna at the same day...lest i—thus this is a 2 days workshop of cutting, pasting, kneading, baking, smearing, painting, scraping.

i'll finish up after the holiday; details are most likely on my facebook by the 1st week of 2012. 

i wish the world a joyous holiday; and a merry kissmax (from you know who).  see you in wonderful 2012.