Change of Course: Getting Under Way!

Change of Course: Getting Under Way!: Follow yacht-builder, sailor and author Glenn Henderson as he journeys from Florida to Costa Rica aboard his new sailboat! This blog will...

Daddy's birthday

So my father is one of the most difficult people ever to shop for, because if he ever needs or wants anything, he just buys it for himself.  He is also a very practical man that doesn't like watches, doesn't wear ties anymore, and will wear shoes until they have holes, even though he could easily afford new ones.  

There is a basic formula that has seemed to work throughout the years.  It is "buy gator shit."  He went to the University of Florida for undergrad and a year of his masters (he was offered a job before he finished his masters and has been with the company ever since).  So he literally has all the artwork, memorabilia, and polos that UF has to offer.  We are always trying to buy him something different and end up resorting to the UF formula.  This year, I decided to make him some things. 

I know this isn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but in my defense I had drank a lot of wine while doing it.  I made it at a "paint your own" pottery place called All Fired Up in Winter Park because I had some expiring Groupons.  Now, this glorious place not only ALWAYS has a groupon but there is no time limit and there is a BYOB rule.  They have it figured out, drunk people spend more money than sober people.  

A spoon holder thingy for the stove.   He calls himself "Chef Pierre," when cooking.

Then I found a great set of beer glasses for the appropriate beer type at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I bought some glass acrylic paint in, surprise surprise, gator colors to personalize them for him.  

Finished product!

I also spent the time to go to Whole foods and have the beer guy there and built a 6 pack of each beer so he could use the glasses... of course he likes his beer cold and didn't end up using the dang glasses...  

Upgraded Holder for my Jewels

So I upgraded my previous Jewelry Holder, which I would like to point out was made over 2 1/2 years ago.... 

Michael's had 50% off all frames & I became helpless!  Granted, I just moved and when I realized I could not put that lovely poster frame jewelry holder ANYWHERE that could be hidden, I had already kinda decided in my head it needed a facelift, or something. I mean I attached it with wire and didn't even think to know the MAJESTY of a big & tough staple gun yet(from Home Depot, not that elementary school wussy shit).  Here is the Jewelry Holder 2.0.

1.0, You were great.  It's me, not you.

I saw a design show one time in which the designer, Martyn Lawerence-Bullard redesigned a living room space using high heels & purses as part of the "art," in the room on the bookshelf.  Now, the "living room,"  was part of a $20 million apartment in NYC, the bookshelf was a custom piece and the "shoes," were Jimmy Choo spattered with gold paint.  Clearly, I am on a different budget PLANET.

Regardless, I decided with all my jewels, I could kill 2 mosquitos with one swatter (I don't like hurting animals and don't consider mosquitos living things...more like demons).  

"I will make an efficient way to see all my jewelry & make it blend in as art to the rest of my wall decor."

Ingredients

Frame (whatever size you need, mine was 2'x3')

Poultry Wire (make sure the width is at least as long as the frame)

Wire cutters

Staple Gun

1/2" staples

Straight Wire
S Hooks (I used 1 1/2")

The Poultry Wire adds a nice geometric pattern to the wire where there is not anything in front of it.  The wire (teeny tiny little rectangles) I used before ended up looking really busy and not as "luxurious."  

First, put a towel or something down, if you have hard floors, so you do not scratch the frame.  Roll out the Poultry Wire and temporarily mount it to the frame with the straight wire you bought.  Cut off the excess, making sure to leave room for error.

Keep in mind, if there is a long line in the PW like there was in mine, line it up so it is in the middle of the frame and temporarily attach it.  You will need to pull it and manipulate it the whole time pretty much to get it right.  If you aren't a Type A psychopath, you can just attach it where your little heart sees fit.  

The temporary attaching phase.

Once the PW is exactly where you want it, get your staple out and get to work!  Keep the wire on the whole time, so the PW stays in place until the whole thing is securely fastened down.  Remember, don't be too impulsive with the gun... staples are a real pain in the ass to get out of it is off in the slightest. 

Some of the staples were already there...I did go a little nuts with my new staple gun though.

I found it easiest to match up the line in my Stanley staple gun to the PW in order to make it straight every time! #typeA

Gorgeous.

When everything is COMPLETELY securely fastened, take your wire cutters and cut off excess as well as jagged pieces that will stab you.  And believe me they will.  That way when you take it down in a year or more, you won't remember the hard way you were over eager to hang it up.

Once you have secured all the PW, take the wire off! 

 It is now ready to be mounted and jewels to be adorned on it!  Use the S Hooks to hold up necklaces, bracelets, hoops (bigger the hoop, bigger the HOOOOOO)  and rings!

Marvel at your creation...again!

i like turtles.

Ever since I was little, I have genuinely loved turtles.  Being a privileged Florida girl, I was able to spend my summers at Anna Maria Island, at the time that the sea turtle eggs were hatching, and on more than one occasion was able to help in the effort to save the baby turtles when they hatched.  A quick lesson for non-beach living people, when turtles hatch they follow the moon to the sea.  Well, with modern (and quite selfish) technology and humans insistence to take over everything beautiful on this earth, the turtles now have started going towards beach house lights and headlights on car, which inevitably kills off a large amount of the beautiful Loggerhead turtle babies, an endangered species.  Luckily, the people living on the Gulf beach want to be part of the effort to protect this precious species, and now turn off all artificial lights during the nesting through the hatching period. Holding baby Loggerhead turtles in my hands started a lifelong love affair with sea turtles.  

Ok, earth-loving tree hugger rant over.  

We only have one earth, and humans are destroying it.  

Ok, now I'm done.

  There is a photo I have been obsessed with since I was in high school, which I always have wanted to blow up and put as art in my room.  Being that the photo is really tiny and being the expert (self proclaimed) photography guru I am, I know that due to the small amount of pixelation with this photo, it will come out quite grainy and not the majesty that it is.

As anyone who follows my blog (hopefully more people than just me), you should know when it comes to painting, I am really REALLY Type A and a lot of the joy of the hobby is lost with me trying to perfectly duplicate images I see (i.e. the chandelier piece), so I attempted to remedy this problem by letting Stella take over.  Aka drunk me.  Bring on da Chianti, y'all.

Let the journey of the large canvas begin (2'x3')

Now, we all know that after seeing my first Van Gogh painting in the flesh last summer in London, I fell completely head over heels for his style.  Although, Starry Night is incredible and I can appreciate that it is the piece that speaks to most people, "A Wheat field with Cypresses," took my breath away.  Apparently my favorite time period for Van Gogh  was his mental asylum stuff, reaffirming that I feel "mentally nuts," people produce the best art.    Anyways, 

I stood there just admiring the strokes, the colors, the whimsical nature of how something so seemingly plain could be captured with its true beauty.  Maybe that's another reason for my love affair with this tortured ginger... his love of nature and everyday life.  After seeing this masterpiece, I needed to not only go back, but also break a cardinal rule of art and take a photo of it.  I had to be sneaky and don't worry, I would never use a flash.  Clearly, the pictures came out wonderfully.  

In December, I was blessed enough to be able to go back to Europe and visited Amsterdam, one of the must see places for Van Gogh fanatics.  They have an incredible "My Dream," exhibition going on that uses technology to peel off layers of the pieces and show the breath taking colors that Van Gogh actually used.  This is all computer imaged, no pieces were harmed in the making of this exhibition.  I give you "A Wheat field with Cypresses," at its most radiant.

Ok, so the point of all this is that I have been wanting to employ some of Van Gogh's genius to my pieces.  To do this I needed to get to the right level of what I like to call, "Van Gogh drunk."  I did a lot of field research in this department.  I'm quite dedicated to my endeavors.  For the record, it is a thin line between inspirational zone and falling asleep in your bed, with your paint clothes on.

Looks like a smurf's vagina.  Not that I have seen one.

I also love watching, "Deadliest Catch," while painting.  Which, I know, is bizarre. 

Blending my preschool oils that dilute with water.

My little turtles!

Betsey got caught in the crossfire or my blue painting.

Sexy.

Always sacrifices to be made.  It's a process.

 

My tools.

  

Inspiration for the striations on the turtle's back.

Briefly put up, to avoid being destroyed, as I frequently host a toddler.

Painting the movement of the turtles was really where I wanted the piece to shine.  I will never stop being jealous of how graceful flying through aquamarine water looks.

Hm, which way should be considered, "up?"

I wanted to show the air bubbles, another one of my favorite things to watch in water, so instead of painting them, I used Swarovski  crystals in lime, yellow, light blue and white in 3 different sizes.  Photos of it don't do it justice, for in the sunlight, it sparkles! 

"A mermaid's view."

Another plant bites the dust...

So a few months ago, I came back from Amsterdam with beautiful looking tulip bulbs and went on a green thumb spree.  While at Home Depot buying soil for the tulips, I also purchased a few Dahlia bulbs.  I just really love a fresh oxygen for carbon dioxide exchange in my close quarters. 

Within a week I had a beautiful little green lady coming out of the soil!

Soon my beautiful Dahlia, I named Delilah (if you know anything about me, you know I name everything) was stretching out her little arms and legs, ready to feel the sunshine!

Nestled between Lilo & Stitch was a great spot for her to live. 

 I even bought her a beautiful new blue pot to live in!

But alas... I think that may not have been the best idea to repot her, because shortly after she was growing out of her last pot, even after I put in a growing stick thingy, she passed.  

This is the 3rd plant that was nestled between Lilo & Stitch that committed suicide.. I hope I don't have a couple of bullies on my hands.  I have been loving them for over 3 years without a bloom...THREE YEARS!!!!!!  and this is the response I get!

So, today I went to Home Depot and after telling the guy I was looking for a plant for my pot indoors, he replying, "well indoors is horrible for plants.  Invest in something silk because they are always pretty and you won't have to worry about all the care for a plant, like watering it," (WHAT A DICK!) I decided to leave the place I had always been so loyal to and venture to the Lowes.  

Much better experience.  

PS I know this is all super interesting, but I am a half a bottle deep in Chianti and felt the need to rant about HD for a minute.

So at Lowes, I found a new plant to call my own... if it will grow that is.

My darling Gus Gus' new home!

I really love Basil, so this was an impulse buy, but I'm stoked for fresh herbs! (I LOVE HERBS!)

Alright, Lilo & Stitch ... time to be the sweet kids I know you can be...

Welcome home GusGus the Zinnia & Benny the Basil!

Merp.

Apple cider vinegar

So, as I sit here watching "Modern Family," in my sexy bikini moomoo (a moomoo is a long oversized shirt that beckons others to wonder, is he/she wearing any unmentionables underneath that...which the answer is always, "nope.") and I started to think about all the weird stuff people do to make their appearance look effortless. I will expose a few of my secrets that I have tried out tonight, as I feel we should all be comfortable enough to talk about it. At least with the same sex.



Firs off: I went tanning today. No not spray tanning, which entails gettin neeked at the tanning salon, covering your hair with a shower cap, getting in a time machine looking device, getting sprayed with a FREEZING, stinky solution, then jumping out quickly afterwards to rub hand sanitizer on your palms and bottom of your feet (or else, god forbid, someone would know the tan was a scam!) then AVOIDING WATER LIKE THE PLAGUE for the next 4-6 hours. That is a process. Also, not what I chose today. I chose the cancer bed. In my defense, I started "spraying," as they call it on the streets, because I don't want to increase my chances of cancer. But I have a wedding in 10 days and I need a base tan! So after I upgraded my "level 3," bed that was included in my Groupon to a level 4&5 bed, the lady asks, "you don't burn easily, do you?" Um RUDE! THE FULL 10 MINUTES, TAN LADY! .... That of course was a big mistake, because all though most of my body can take 10 minutes, full blast of uv rays, my ASS, can not. Burnt. To. A. Crisp. To put it nicely.
So, as an ode to my burnt butt, I had to sit in apple cider vinegar in my bath tub, a nice homeopathic remedy. Now I smell like a bag f chips (you know, the salt and VINEGAR ones).
Looking through the other uses of ACV ( I bought 3 gallons of it, not realizing only 2 cups was needed for the bath), I found that it also can be used as a blemish reducer. I read that it is the "secret weapon," for Scarlett Johansen, so here I am with pure ACV all over my face.




Monday, I burnt the heck our of my forehead on my hairline with a curling iron, and my roommate has this amazing Chinese powder that helps speed up the recovery time for any skin ailments. It is a bright orange powder. In my hair. I am looking HOT right now. Not to mention I have heel cream and foot cream on my feet with my "lotion," socks on that no matter how much I wash them, have black on the bottom of them.





The end of this blog, that I will probably regret posting tomorrow, is that us girls have to stick together when it comes to beauty secrets. And if I can make my face look like Scarlet Johansen's, I will buy stock in Apple Cider Vinegar.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Golden-haired goddess lair.

Dandelion art

So I am completely obsessed with this picture I found on Pinterest, and have been trying to figure out how I want to duplicate it, while still making it my own.    

Since I am so completely obsessed with Dandelions (as you can see in my most recent ink) and for me, I think they represent such a beautiful thing.  They have one of the strongest roots in the world and have a great knack for survival.  Although it is a weed, it is beautiful and represents a real whimsical, childlikeness.

I since I relate more to dandelions than birds, I decided that I wanted to show a girl (or me, notice the big culo) that is just walking and in front of her is a tiny dandelion.  The spores represent different dreams and aspirations.

I want it to read that as the female figure walks, the wind catches her ambiance and fills all the air behind her, almost like the way a scent does when you walk past someone in the mall.  I wanted a very "Pocahontas," feel.  

I wanted to really convey how colorful this figure makes the world, literally by just being in it.  She fills it will all these aspirations and positivity, it flows around her, very "Lady Lovely Locks," style. 

Not done, but when I get inspired again, I will finish it.

Sharpie Mug

I've really been loosing my mind lately, partly because I am not working at the moment and partly because I am completely addicted to energy supplements.  So I JUST rearranged my room and gave myself back a desk (which used to be nightstand) for me to keep my Applebaby on.  This way I can stare at my new vision board and the TV.  We will see how long this lasts, but currently I am really diggin having a place to type away on my computer again.  Anyways...   

I have been really obsessed with Florida lately, maybe because I spent a good portion of the last year hating everything about 'Merica, and stumbled upon this little number from the FABULOUS Lilly Pultizer that creates beautiful prints in big bright colors (love LOVE color!).  I have been keeping it on my phone and my computer, hoping to be inspired to do something similar to pay homage to my home.  

So on Pinterest, I kept seeing pins about "Sharpie Mugs," and how it is so easy to make if you have sharpies... which coincidentally I always have a stash of kept in a mug (Tinkerbell mug, more specifically, the Disney character I most identified with as a child and now the one I just hope I look like forever) so I figured, "why the hell not?"

• White mug - make sure it is CERAMIC
• Sharpie marker(s)
• Glass cleaner + a lint-free cloth
• Oven

        So clean your mug with the glass cleaner, make sure it is dry, and begin your art!  I chose to do a sun, sand dollar, flamingo, stingray, palm trees, orange and orange blossom.  I colored in the blank space with my favorite color blue, which is also the color of the Gulf of Mexico on a beautiful summer day in the Sunshine State :) 

        Place your completed mug on the middle rack of the oven and crank up the temperature to 350 degrees.  Start the timer, when you start the temperature, to 30 minutes.  

         

When the timer goes off, turn the oven off and let the mug cool naturally.  Wait till it is completely cooled to remove.  Then marvel at your work :)

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

~Albert Einstein