Ode To An Ex Lover...

I mentioned in a recent blog post that I purchased the MoMA Exclusive edition of the Diana F+. I finally took a few rolls of film to be processed and printed and love this photo:



I didn't plan it out or anything. It's a double exposure of a view from my subway station's platform and the view looking down at my shoes.

What's interesting is that I just ended a thing I had with a guy I was on-again/off-again dating for two years. The last positive thing I remember him saying to me was "I like those shoes, they're like ballet flats." He grew up in my current neighborhood and used the train station I took a photo of.

So I named it "Ballet Flats & Dyckman St: An Ode." It seems obvious that my sub-conscious wanted something physical to grasp when I thought of the last two years of steamy fun and emotional turmoil.

<3 Always,
--Taina

I heart custom orders!

A few weeks ago, a former coworker of mine asked me if I could make a makeup bag for her friend's birthday. I was so excited! She picked out the fabric (Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo in Sage), and said she'd love turquoise or yellow for lining and zipper. Well, I thought turquoise and yellow might be a bit much, so I used a white zipper and turquoise canvas for the lining and I love how the finished product turned out! I will have to make more of these for my shop.



Today? I'm off to drop the bag off at work even though it's my day off. Cara doesn't work with me anymore, she works in a different department in the same Museum. Then I'm off to Mood to buy some muslin and a 20" zipper for the dress I want to make and then to my parents' place, as my cousin Andy is home on leave from Afghanistan and I want to give him a huge hug before he goes back.

<3 Always,
--Taina

My Etsyversary!

Today marks my Three Year Etsyversary. Yup, that's right, I registered my shop on Etsy on September 10th, 2005. I was planning this big promotional sale and just kind of...forgot? It sneaked (snuck is incorrect, btw) up on me this year!

Looking back to the very beginning, this was the first item I ever sold:



A handknit baby hat made from microspun acrylic yarn for $12. I sold it on Sept. 28th, 18 days after registering my shop name, and 17 days after listing my first item.

I remember how thrilled I was to have sold something! I remember checking my e-mail and seeing that sale and practically jumping for joy! I was beaming! I called everyone I knew who knew I knit.

I STILL do a happy dance every time an item sells, three years later! It feels sooooo good to be recognized as having made products that people want to own or give as gifts. It's an amazing feeling.

I hope to reach 300 items sold by Dec. 31st, 2008. We will see if I can make that goal come true! Here's to hoping! I am off to make some things for my etsy shop!

Happy Etsyversary to meeeee!

<3 Always,
--Taina

My latest artsy endeavor...

I've been eyeing various Lomography cameras for quite some time. MoMA just came out with a MoMA exclusive Diana F+, it's the same as the Diana F+ for sale on Lomography.com but they changed the blue to "MoMA Red", an actual color MoMA has the rights to.



Two years ago, my dept. at work had a Lomography contest. We got to choose between the Supersampler or the Fisheye and our theme was "Spring Fling". I won runner-up and received a Fisheye camera as my prize.



Last Thursday, we were just told we are having another contest, this time using the Diana F+ , a Lomolito, or the Fisheye 2. The theme is "New York Surreal". The deal is that each employee interested in entering the contest gets to borrow one of the cameras with a roll of film for 4 days. We then enter our undeveloped roll of film as our entry to the contest. Of course, because I want a Diana F+ so badly, I bought a ton of film and have been shooting all sorts of things. I have yet to use the roll given to us for the contest and have to return the camera on Tuesday. I will be buying MoMA's version of the Diana F+ the day I return my borrowed camera.

I am super excited about the contest and seeing how these photos turn out. Lomography will process our film, put our photos onto a CD and send them back to us after choosing their favorite 3 photos from all of the entries at the end of this month. The prizes are cameras, but not the Diana F+. Instead they are colorsplash and sampler cameras.

When I get these first two rolls of film developed, I will most definitely post some photos. I just created a profile on lomography.com, I look forward to their monthly contests on the website as well as the tips and tricks from other lomo users.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Organization and Squirrels

Once I put together my fabric pantry, I went through tons of large and small lidded plastic tubs of fabric, zippers, notions, thread and tons more sewing-related things. I then proceeded to organize and refold all of the stuff and then put them into my new pantry. This took at least an hour, it was incredible. I have fabric I completely forgot about! Yards and yards of it! It's almost a little insane.

I then realized I am not unlike a squirrel. I buy all of this fabric and hide it away in plastic tubs in case, I don't know, all fabric stores in the world cease to exist? Then, months later, I find fabric I'd completely forgotten about. Squirrels are known to do this with nuts. They burry them for later and occasionally forget about them.

So here's my latest creation from fabric I'd forgotten I had:



As always, you can click the photo for more info.

I love this fabric, it's named "Caribe", I'm guessing after the Caribbean Sea. The colors are so reminiscent of the ocean. My brother's name is also Caribe, after the Caribbean indians and the sea. I once thought I'd make him pillows for his dorm, but they are not really his style, so I opted not to. Maybe if he has a kid one day, I can make something out of the fabric for the child.

I found other fabrics, too. Things I can't wait to use, so stay tuned to my shop for new things in the upcoming days!

<3 Always,
--Taina