Tag: entertainment

30 Days of Creativity 2011, Day 17

Last fall when I did my Canvas to Couture collection, I’d planned on completing twelve looks. Then Project Runway did a challenge toward the end of the season in which the designers were asked to create their own fabrics and design a look for Heidi Klum. I’m starting to think she conceived this entire series as a means to fill her own closet.

That meant I ended up with thirteen looks, and you know that number makes me twitch. I could have dropped one of the looks before I hang the collection in August, making it a pleasant dozen, but since I needed another creative project anyway…


First I did this. Then I began working on this.

It isn’t finished–you may see pins and a needle and thread sticking out of the bottom. It also needs to be accessorized; that yellow ribbon holding it together while I sew it is not part of the final look. Still, it will take the Canvas to Couture series to a satisfying fourteen.

30 Days of Creativity 2011, Day 5

I’m very excited today! Not because I saw the new trailer for Breaking Dawn* online, although when I told Tom that and how the movie would be out November 18, he said, “I have another reason to live.” He’s so supportive and never at all sarcastic, that Tom.

What I’m excited about is my new pop art series inspired by bottle caps. I put the finishing touches on the first two paintings today.


“Tim Has Moxie”
mixed media on 8×10-inch stretched canvas


“Lindsey: Refreshingly Different”
mixed media on 8×10-inch stretched canvas

*I’d link to the Breaking Dawn trailer, but it’s being pulled for copyright issues as fast as people can upload it. Funny people.

Also, thank you to Tim for the donation of the bottle caps.

30 Days of Creativity 2011, Day 1

Last year when I kicked off 30 Days of Creativity on June 1, I made a new outfit for Barbie Basic doll Laura Lee. I might as well turn it into a tradition, so this year, as promised, Mattel’s Debbie Harry Barbie doll is wearing a new design made exclusively by me for her. However, it was Tim’s comment about my doll that inspired me. He said that she needed “a Stephen Sprouse something” to wear.

The truth is, I had no idea who Stephen Sprouse was when I read Tim’s comment. But I know now, and if you’d like to read more about the late designer and his work, check out The Stephen Sprouse Book. If you look at some of the images there, you’ll see my inspiration. (Hint: If you wish, you can turn off the music on that site in the lower right corner.)

Sprouse was known for his use of Day-Glo colors and street art, including graffiti, in his designs. He also made collections based on retro looks. Using elements from past decades to create new Barbie fashions is exactly what I most like to sew, so I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off this month’s projects.

Posed against the backdrop of an unfinished painting by Timothy J. Lambert, Debbie shows off her midi coat of many neon colors with LOVE graffiti made so popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Debbie removes her coat to reveal her yellow vinyl mini dress, With a front zipper, she’s got the fashion vibe covered from the 60s to the 80s. I call this her Cherry Pie dress–a double nod to the 80s big hair band Warrant and to the Louis Vuitton collection which made use of Sprouse’s rose motif–including a dress with a large sequined rose.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first creative effort. If you check out 30 Days of Creativity’s Pinterest site, you can see what other folks are creating. Maybe you’d even like to join in!

She finally caught up to me

Almost six years ago, I blogged that Brad Pitt sent me e-mail. His then-estranged-wife Jennifer Aniston has finally caught up to me, and today I received email from her. She only wanted to talk about pilates, though. I’m not opening her email until she promises me a 1.5 million dollar inheritance from some dead notable person in Africa. I used to hope for only a hundred thousand dollars, but my sister told me it wouldn’t be enough for me.

Call me, call me any time (call me)

I still remember the first time I saw Debbie Harry and Blondie on TV. Regardless of what heights she achieved in the rock and roll pantheon, to me she’ll always be that adorably quirky girl who nearly tripped on her microphone cord while performing on Midnight Special in… Oh, it matters not what year. I think Lynne and I were something like two at the time (she was watching with me).

I got Mattel’s Debbie Harry Barbie for a steal on eBay because she didn’t arrive with her clothes or accessories. No biggie that she is sans pink vinyl dress. I’ll design a whole new look for her soon, I hope.

Animal print fabric gift of Marika.

Cinnamon Girl

Even though I stole my title from Neil Young, his is not the youtube video I’m linking at the end of this post. When I was shooting my cereal photo this morning, I ruminated on cinnamon. I have a love/hate relationship with this spice. I like the occasional cinnamon toast, but sometimes the scent of cinnamon repulses me. There is at least anecdotal evidence that cinnamon helps improve insulin sensitivity, meaning it can be good for metabolizing sugar (a plus for people who have diabetes). So we’ve been watching for cereals in the health food aisle that include a dusting of cinnamon.

Last week, I found a healthy kids’ cereal–you know it’s for kids because there are bunny shapes in it. Adults know bunnies are killers.


If only Monty Python had known how raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a little milk render bunnies harmless. Speaking of the British, that coffee mug (from Puterbaugh) is a London Underground Map mug. Mind the Gap!

This week, Tom found a cereal of oat flakes with pecans and cinnamon.


I like the color of the blueberries and strawberries with the yellow bowl. I bought that bowl a couple of years ago at a thrift store, intending it to be a gift to a Pyrex collector I know. But it has a sunflower lid, so I selfishly held on to it. That’s an Irish coffee mug, but there’s only a little shot of chocolate in my iced coffee–no whiskey.

As I was shooting the photo and thinking about cinnamon, I remembered a song that a childhood friend, Susan B (more Lynne’s friend than mine) used to love. I looked for it on youtube and was charmed by this video someone made to go with it–oh, the days of 45 records piled high on the record player. Enjoy!