Not Your Grandmother's Crafts

Crochet Art by Joana Vasconcelos

One of my favorite trends in hand crafts and art is the idea of combining "old fashioned grandma crafts" with modern art. I like the contrast of modern ideas with older traditions to create something unique and beautiful.  Joana Vasconcelos is one of my favorite modern artists of all time.  A whole article about her work is to come later. One of her recent interesting exhibitions included, many crochet lace dressed animals. The little button eyes on the crab are so precious with tea stained vintage lace over deep red. Who knows, maybe I would  pin this to my shoulder over a strapless gown for a special event?

This tree looks cozy in a gown of grey lace from Lula's blog...

Crochet rocks by Knitalette on their Etsy site Resurrection Fern, made with rocks and handmade crochet and knit doilies. This would make a lovely wedding gift. 

A Crochet chair from an furniture exhibit I found on David Byrne's website blog. Love it!

A Woman Is a Woman

For years, I've been so inspired by The Nouvelle Vague Era of film. A woman is a woman is one of my favorite films by Jean-Luc Godard. The primary character played by Anna Karina is a genius performance. Though she is not as well publicized as Brigitte Bardot and some other French actresses of the highest fame. I find her work and her looks very unique and exciting. She's an amazingly talented actress and a true style icon. Take a peek....

And one of my favorite costumes and scenes, 

I Love Lula

Ever since it was first published, I've been in love with Lula!  I always find the most amazing inspiration, articles, art and photos in this publication. The hard to find Lula magazine is my all time favorite fashion mag right now. Issue eleven is out now with music artist Charlotte Gainsbourg in a beautiful white dress by Rodarte on the cover.  The Spring Rodarte collection is amazing, by the way, so check it out. Articles with Kim Gordon and an amazing historical account of Anna Pavlova are my two favorites.  The issue includes a lot of amazing art and talent. Peep this before it's gone!

If you can't get your hands on a print copy, check out the Lula Scrapbook blog online. Here is a small selection of some of my favorite photos, posted recently. 

Au Revoir!

Welcome 2011!

I'm so excited for the New Year and all of the new and exciting possibilities for the future. I hear so many amazing stories about one person or a small group of people making a huge difference by making a small difference in their own lives. Volunteer work and charity is increasing, despite the period of economic difficulty.  Of course, we are not close to being out of the woods with the environment or stability of our future yet and many countries economies around the world are literally collapsing. I hope this new year brings more peace, by encouraging and forcing people to evolve with the new state of life on Earth. 

One of my favorite things about these days is how many amazing, talented and real musicians are  Because of technology changing at a faster rate than ever before, emerging artists and designers are able to become know without the help of large corporate record deals or contracts. One of my favorite little known folk singers plays under the, The Tallest Man On Earth.  I happened upon this video one day on my favorite French music site, La Blogotheque.  Iv'e really enjoyed his albums classic approach to music that has always been great with a modern ideology mixed in.  Here are a couple of my favorite videos, performed live in various interesting locations.

Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Tallest man on earth - These Days (Nico Cover) - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

   Happy Holidays! XOXO

Love and peace in the New Year

Antique Boutique Hunting

Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays! Iv'e been so busy this season, I've hardly had time to do one of my most favorite things in the world, treasure hunting in boutiques.  Recently, I did have a chance to visit Centralia Washington, where I found a few lovely shops. Here is a peek at my favorite things from the trip!

What an a amazing idea for a ceiling!

I love this pretty pink and white hanging chandelier.

A Garden Room

Vintage clothes galore!

What a precious little girls section of vintage clothing they have

Downtown Centralia Washington

Looks like we reached our limit for the day!

The Third and The Seventh a Film by Alex Roman

            One of my favorite things every morning is to wake up and find out the latest amazing, helpful or artistic "thing of the moment" that my housemate/love has found. Today he showed me this beautiful short film using CG technology in a very interesting and creative way to create a this fantasy world, based on famous architecture and nature. With the popularity of Avatar and other films using CG, I've been curious to see how it will evolve. I especially love the segment with the cherry blossoms reflected into a the pond.  There are many details to notice in the film, including brief flash moments where you see the "bones" of each design in Autocad rendering form. The project took a year to create, which is amazing considering the amount of work that went into creating this.  The artist who is responsible for the concept and images is Alex Roman. Since posting this a month ago, the video has been watched over 500,000 times. His website is currently down do to overload on the server, view it now here on Vimeo by clicking the play button below, but I suggest you watch it full screen to get the full effect.

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Brehan Todd Design and Paper Treasure at Crafty Wonderland 2010! 

Please mark your calendars for this famously fun event!  Paper Treasure Jewelry and I will be sharing a booth at Crafty Wonderland and will be there to meet you as you shop. We are super excited, can't wait to see you there and show you are newest designs for the holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am more thankful this year, than ever before for all of the wonderful friends, family and dogs who make me laugh and feel happy, together. I am also quite thankful to the person who invented pumpkin pie. Thank you, eternally.  Oh, and  don't forget , music, art, books, films, anything that educates people is.

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom, this beatiful song has been one of my favorites since it came out several years ago. 

                     Bon Iver - Skinny Love - Une Soiree de Poche from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

New Brehan Todd Feature on Eco1start.com

I could not be more excited to a be added as a featured artist on Eco1sart.com this month! Thank you so much for all of your support and dedicated promotion! Visit the site to see the interview, bio, feature and blog article, as well as beautiful handmade cuff bracelets by yours truly. 

New Featured Artist Brehan Todd

Eco1stArt is proud to introduce our new featured artist Brehan Todd. Brehan creates captivating jewelry using vintage gemstones, pendants and crystals.  

"I hope to contribute in some small way to make it the norm for everyone to adjust their lifestyle and choose products that benefit and promote life."

~ Brehan Todd

Handwritten Cuff by Brehan Todd for Eco1start.com