The All-Mighty Newspaper

Aside from the obvious function of newspapers (getting information, duh) it has many uses. I discovered one of my new favorite uses is for wrapping things! Like gift wrapping. While abroad, one of the little stores I went into used newspaper to create bags for the customer's purchases. Brilliant!

Wrapping with newspaper turns out especially well when there is a large photo. A large photo in general looks really good and classy, in a newspapery kind of way. I found a beautiful one from the Travel section of my paper. Mmmmmmm, lookin' good.

   

Of course, there are only so many travel sections in the newspaper so thats where the comics come in handy. What if an object is to big for me to wrap? le gasp. Ill guess cross that bridge when I get there.

Hello, George Washington

I also have started sewing again. I took a break for a little while because I had been doing so much of it and I still have so many projects to finish (my never ending project box..is over flowing). One recent sewing project I did was a plaid, Converse dress. It was such a long dress that it looked really awkward on me considering Im so short. 

(my phone decided to take the worst looking possible photos on this particular day. BAD PHONE.)

I thought that this dress might look better on me as just an ordinary plaid shirt. Maybe a longer, over-another-shirt, kind of plaid. Like imitation flannel. So, I figured out how much I wanted to cut off, cut it and then sewed a hem. It was a simple and easy project. I like those (saving the challenges for later).

It looks so much better on me now. Before I just felt like George Washington or some other patriot fighting during the Revolutionary War (part of that I think came from the ruffles on the front side of the dress-now-shirt). 

I still might cut the ruffles off to remove that  feeling of 1776 but I think I will "test run" the shirt before making that decision. Who knows, maybe the patriot look will be the next hottest fashion trend.

Hopefully not.

Redeemed

re·deem

riˈdēm

1. 1.

   compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something).
2. 2.

   gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment

This was my latest string art project that I mentioned in my last post. I finished it last week but it just took me that long to get photos of it. Sometimes I am too lazy to go take photos of my finished work but that is the crucial last step! As I mentioned before, I chose to do the word "redeemed" which is important to me as through my faith I have been redeemed, saved, chosen. Plus, I just really wanted to try out this concept. 

I think it turned out rather well even if it was not how I pictured in my head. It is one of those things where it looks cool up close but you can read the word better from afar. It did not take me that long to string the whole thing, maybe an hour at max (I was watching tv while stringing so I was not completely focused). Plus, I was not following a distinct pattern or anything so I could just wrap and twist to my hearts content. I think most of the time consumed was from pounding nails. And yes. I did hit my thumb a couple of times. I used 3 different kinds of string for this project: thin, green; fatter, lighter green and a maroon that changed shades (think ombre). I planned on doing it all green but it definitely needed some kind of POP to pull it together.      Mission accomplished. 

What a great use of a random piece of wood that I found, dontcha think?! I already have ideas for other random pieces of wood that I own. I am getting excited for this one piece that I have in my head but I do not have the right colors to use for it (red, white and blue ;} ). Soooooo maybe I will work on one of my smaller ideas first. Who knows.

I have nothing but time right now.

Bored.

I have been so bored these past few days. I know there are lots of things I can do...they just dont peak my fancy. Whenever I get bored I feel like Sherlock.

Ok, maybe not as bad as him shooting the wall but when I am bored I definitely do some staring at the wall and watching ridiculous amounts of tv (binge watch Parks and Rec? yup.). I try not to do too much of that however so I picked up a string art project that I had started the previous month. Instead of doing an animal or a scene, I chose to do a word this time. The word I chose was "Redeemed".  So far it is turning out rather well.

The piece of wood I am using I picked up randomly from some place at school. My friends were just starting to get used to me having random pieces of wood in my apartment before the summer started. Now they can all see what I do with those random pieces of wood (see...Im not crazy!). This particular piece though had some unforgiving knots that made it difficult to hammer the nails straight in some parts. Luckily it works for this piece as it is not a piece that needs to be absolutely perfect or pristeen. I plan on putting nails around the perimeter and doing a reverse string art kind of effect. Ill post the results when I am done, of course.

Also to kill my boredom, I have been working on a commission for a friend of mine. Its supposed to be some sort of steampunk cityscape. So far so good..Im just in the sketching phases as of now. I prefer to sketch in as many details as possible that way when I bring it into Illustrator most of my work is finished. ^^

I almost forgot how much I love to draw and to sketch. I really should start doing more of it. And reading. I should do more reading.

Sain baina uu!

Photo Cred: Kiki

Well I am back! Not that you knew I was gone..
I took a trip to Mongolia for 6ish weeks where I taught around 30 teenagers English. It was the experience of a lifetime and I enjoyed every second of it. My group taught at a summer camp type place where I was one with nature for a solid 4 weeks. Seriously. I even washed my clothes in the nearby river. I rode a very slow horse, participated in the national holiday Naadam and swatted at moths and flys until I reached ninja status. I miss my students and the beautiful country I grew to love. I hope that one day I will be able to make it back. After all, I never got the chance to shoot a bow and arrow or sleep in a ger!

Photo Cred: Isaac

To be completely honest, I forgot I had even started this blog when I left. Obviously other things (arguably more important things) were on my mind. But.....now that I am back....Ill start blogging again? Maybe even start a video blog one day. Who knows. (Fun Fact: I have said I would start a video blog 4 or 5 times in my life and never actually did)

I am still recovering from some jet lag and lack of motivation but as soon as I do recover, I am sure I will have lots of projects or whatever to talk about. Until then, later alligator.