Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, to those who celebrate. To those who don't, I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I've been so overwhelmed with the holiday this year, it didn't hit me that in a few days, it'll be a new year! This holiday season really snuck up on us, huh.

I also realized that I haven't posted in a while. My creativity juices have been flowing and I've been taking advantage. Been doing things. I'm proud of myself. I'm involved in a few different projects at the moment, but that's how I do. Page 04, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.

Here is the book I made years ago which features all the pages that I've shown so far. Accordion styled book with 6 pages/12 sides. Made the book from cardboard, and old shirt (LOVE the pattern, which is why I decided to fill this book in first), and recycled paper.

On Thursday, I took a wonderful day off from everything and had a relaxing artsy day.

My brother's girlfriend Serina was over, so we had an arts and crafts day (we watched the Eureka marathon on Syfy and Elf). I taught her how to sew; we decorated our oversized sweatshirts. They both came out so good. I plan on buying more sweatshirts and decorating them. I think she plans on doing that too.

Here's mine:

Here's Serina's:

I'm so excited for all the things I have planned for winter break. Three more days of classes and I'm done. So close.

And can I say, I am SO excited for new Silversun Pickups music. I know it'll be a while 'til they release anything, but knowing that they're recording right now makes me so happy. I just heard their b-sides EP they released in November, and I'm in love. It's only an audio, not an actual video, but listen to it. It's amazing. They're amazing.

I've been forgetting to post. Been overwhelmed with school still, but good news is that I'm almost done! Tuesday and Wednesday classes are officially done. Now it's just Monday and Thursday I need to tackle.

As classes are coming to an end, I've been slowly cleaning up my mess in my room and everywhere else I've taken over. Looking at all the things I've made over the years, I became nostalgic. I went through this wrist-cuff making phase in middle school. I could never find any wristbands in stores that fit my wrist, so I made my own.

I always made them out of leather belts or elastic waistbands from old clothing. I studded them, beaded them, and sewn them up. For the studding, I did them by hand; I found a method that worked for me. I usually bought studs from Michaels or A.C. Moore. They may be a little crappy, but they did the job and they look pretty snazzy.

I really should wear these more often. They still fit and they're not falling apart. I don't see why not.

On a side note, I love everything about this song and video. All hail Siouxsie Sioux and her greatness!

Things have been a bit hectic the past couple of days. Finishing final projects, or at least trying to. For some reason it's been a bit hard for me to just sit and paint. I guess my mind has been racing a bit, and I'm really anxious for the semester to end.

I'm currently taking a five minute breather to let a movie finish loading before I continue to paint. Need some kind of entertainment as I work on a project I really don't want to work in. But during this five minute breather, I decided to compile a list of goals I'd like to accomplish during winter break.

01. Finish projects. Over the years, I've always started projects and never finished them. Yep, I'm one of those people. I get ideas and I start them before I forget, but the pile always grows and never shrinks. I always plan this every break from school, but this time I'm really determined.

02. Set up an Etsy account. There are so many things I'd like to sell, and some unfinished projects I'd like to finish and sell. Obviously, I have to sell myself a bit first before selling my products. I need to network and spread the word to make people interested. That should be a whole other goal, but I'll keep that one with the "Etsy" goal.

03. Read. I need to read. I have so many untouched books that I buy but don't read. A year ago I started this routine where after waking up in the morning, I'd lay in bed and try to read at least one chapter, and I did well. Carried this into the semester, but once it started getting overwhelming, I needed all the sleep I could get which cut into the reading time. So I gave up on it. But I plan on starting it up again.

04. Organize. My room has gotten so messy, it's out of control. I need to bring it back to the way it was before the semester started. If possible, I'd like to make it even cleaner. I want to get rid of things I don't need, donate clothes and shoes I don't wear, and not to collect things I don't use. I've made quite a dent over the year throwing out lots of things, but I want to make more of a difference in here. It's so cluttered.

05. Keep up with social networking sites. I'm not one to use them often, but the accounts I do have I'd like to use a little more, which in a way would relate to number 2. Social networking sites are there to help you in that sense, so I'd like to take advantage a little more. This also includes the few other sites I've had for years. I'd like for them to get more traffic, but that's really up to me and how I "spread the word".

06. Socialize. While I have all these things I plan on doing, I need to keep up with friends and such. I've listed things that are for me to handle on my own, at home. I sometimes tend to forget about friends and hibernate during winter, and I'd like to have a decent social like this break. So many things to do and so many people to see. I want to keep busy.

Six, a nice even number and a good amount of goals. They're for the most part pretty vague, as I didn't get into much detail. But they're things that I know I can handle but need to actually keep up with.
This ended up being longer than a five minute breather.

Had this song on repeat this whole week.

Two and a half more weeks left of class! Things are getting real hectic; I have so much to do! During Thanksgiving break I've been bouncing between four projects, and those aren't all the projects that are due. Luckily I did finish one, but unfortunately that wasn't the final project for that class. I don't know how I'll be pulling it off, but I always manage. For now I'm just panicking.

One project we have to decorate a promotional box, something that "represents" us and our work. I decided to make a monster box. This sort of thing is up my ally. Whenever I get a project like this, I know I can have fun and go all out since we don't get projects like this very often. This project lightens up my mood because I know I'm having fun, even when I'm super stressed out. I'll describe it more when I'm finished; there's more to it that I haven't gotten around to yet.

Also have to create movie styled posters for typography class. I chose to make posters for Twin Peaks. This is just a sketch, but this is how it's looking so far. Can't wait to finish it. It's one out of three. Painting this in acrylic. Still trying to finalize my ideas for the last two.
Clearly having fun with the camera effects in my new phone!

I also want to share this video. It's a short called Dream Machine featuring Mary Timony, "90s indie rocker". She really does rock. When I first watched this, I absolutely loved it. It's cute and pleasant, and wished it lasted longer. I adore Mary Timony.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Didn't get around to posting a Wishlist Wednesday yesterday. Was making pie for today, which came out wonderful!

Anyway, wish I had some kind of Thanksgiving illustration to share for today's post, but I have none. I'll just post what I would have posted if today wasn't a holiday.

Page 01, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.
Oh how I love Robert Smith. His silhouette is fun to draw, mostly because of his wild hair. Love love love.

On a side note (I love going off topic), I made a trip to Michaels yesterday to pick up a few supplies for school assignments. I picked up the Autumn issue of Mingle while I was there. It's a part of Stampington & Company. They publish so many great magazines perfect for arts and craft lovers. I always pick up something of theirs when I take a trip to an art store, and I think you should too. They truly are inspirational.

If you love crafting and are interested, check Stampington at Stampington.com

I'm finally a proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S! Renewed my plan about two weeks ago and decided to upgrade my phone too. I really wanted a smartphone and saw the Galaxy got good reviews, so I went with it. I'm really satisfied with it. Got a hot pink gel case too that matches my Casio watch.

Also treated myself to new rings. Purchased these Day of the Dead rings from SpotLightJewelry. They're so cute.

I also obtained free Cherry Blossom coasters. My parents went to an engagement party recently and these were the party favors. They gave them to me, and I can't wait to use them in the future. Too bad that there are only two coasters.

Also got a a few packs of free brushes. These work wonderfully. Kudos to Princeton Art & Brush Co.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Monday.
On a side note, have you watched the new Ladytron video? I'm so happy they made a video for this song. It's my favorite off the new album and I can't stop watching it. It's perfect.

Just finished sewing up one of my vests. I found this sitting in my basement about two weeks ago, so I tried it on and it fit pretty well. I took it and decorated it!
It was a plain old GAP vest that needed something fun done to it. The floral fabric was a shirt that my mom didn't like/wear. So I took it apart and sewed bits and pieces in the front and back.

Here's another GAP vest that I found with the other vest in the basement. I found this one a few months ago and decorated it. Once again, the fabric I used was a part of an item of clothing that my mother didn't want. It's fun fabric, and it definitely livens up the vest.

I love wearing these.

On a side note, I made cinnamon pie yesterday with a friend.
I've never made pie before, so I'm not too familiar with consistencies of pie, but I don't think it came out too bad. Tastes delicious! My family couldn't stop eating it.

We used the recipe from All Recipes.com.

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (10 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the beaten egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix well and add the milk.
Pour mixture into an unbaked 10 inch pie crust (glass pie plate is best).
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Let cool and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.

I totally recommend you try this.

Don't know if I'll be making this a weekly post, but we'll see how I'm feeling.

Last year around this time is when I started experimenting with water color pencils. I've had these Caran D'ache colored pencils for a while that I've used only as colored pencils. When I bought the Caran D'ache crayons, I started experimenting using them as water color. Then realized I had colored pencils that can be used as water color. And it hit me. I started using them and really enjoyed it. I find it different than using regular watercolors. They don't work with me, but the pencils do. Kinda made me appreciate water colors more.

My first experimenting was a Danny Elfman picture! I remember I ordered one of their albums and it arrived in the mail the day I experimented. Drew and painted an image from the CD packet and listened at the same time to get me all psyched up. It worked. I love Danny and water color pencils.

Painted him, glued him on a piece of cardboard that I painted black with green glitter, and hung it up on my wall. It's pretty snazzy.

Hope you all had a great Thursday! Had class all day; just got home half an hour ago. Just in time to do my weekly Thursday post!

Page 06, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.
It's a little sketch of Gwen Stefani. Fun fact: Gwen has been my idol since I was about nine years old.
She's the coolest person in the world. Another fun fact.

Another weekly post!
I'm not a materialistic person, well maybe I am. There's so many things I'd like to buy in the world. Here are some cute things that I wish I could own. Maybe I'll treat myself to one of these soon.

01. Cat Eye Glasses Ring from The Harbinger Co. I would wear this all the time.

02. Screen Printed Wool Log Pillow from My Imaginary Boyfriend on Etsy. Makes me think of Twin Peaks.

03. Primitive Art Pro-Keds Royal High Top Sneakers from Zazzle. These are fun!

04. Alice In Wonderland Two Cards Glass from Urban Outfitters. I have three other glasses from this set. I'd like to have this one to make it an even number.

05. No Wave by Marc Masters from Amazon. I love reading music-related books. I was so anti-reading up until I picked up Kristin Hersh's memoir Rat Girl. I fell in love with it and just started reading books on music or memoirs/biographies about musicians. It got me back into liking books. This book seems really good and informative.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Wednesday!
Can't wait for that new Psych episode tonight.

So, I might have spoken too soon when writing my last post. I actually found some free time last night and touched up my hair. I dyed it two tones in the beginning of October. I dyed it red over the summer, it faded to orange, then I dyed my right side a brown that was similar to my natural hair color. The left side was really faded and being that I dyed it over the summer, my roots have grown over an inch and a half. It desperately needed touching up. Dyed it orange!

Used my favorite dye, the L'Oreal Excellence HiColor HiLights in Copper. This stuff is insane. It's made for people with naturally dark hair, and will come out the color it says it will. It works wonders.

I'll get a better picture in when I'm not so flustered and when my hair is not all wet.

While cleaning up yesterday after finishing up my assignment, I broke my favorite little paintbrush, and my heart sank. Ran straight for tape and fixed it up, but it will never be the same. I'm a little heartbroken.

Got to keep myself on track tonight. Work needs to get done!

Maybe it's the weather change, or maybe I'm just super stressed, but I think I may be coming down with something. I'm sniffling at the moment, and I'm not enjoying this. Woke up with a minor sore throat. I really hope it's just the weather that's making me feel under the weather.

Besides all this talk about possibly being sick, there's just so much I want to do with no time to do it. College is taking up my time. I have no spare time because I'm constantly working on assignments. I just want to take a day off and maybe just have some kind of "girly" day for myself. Been meaning to give myself a manicure since September. I've had a box of hair dye I bought in September as well just waiting to be used. I really would like a haircut too, which I think is a package deal with the hair dying bit. My room looks like it exploded, but I can't put anything away because I will only be taking it out a few hours later for assignments. My pile of clothes to sew and adjust just keeps growing as I think of more ideas with what to do with my wardrobe. It's out of control. I have no ME time.

But I'm somehow keeping myself sane. Maybe the 'internal freakout' happens when I have a few minutes of downtime, like right now; when I wake up and look around, it hits me. In a few minutes I'll disappear into my little world again and I won't think twice about anything.

Besides all of that, I really want a new pair of glasses. I just got my new prescription and new frames over the summer, but I don't think it'd be so bad having a second pair as some kind of backup or just to wear for a little variety in my life.

I kind of really like these Marc Jacobs frames, but would like to see all my options of frames that look like this. I want them looking a little more 'cat-eye' like.

Anyone know of any?
I think my quest to find the perfect pair should/will officially commence tomorrow!

Anyway, this just song just popped up in my head and I can't get it out. I hope it gets stuck in your head too. It's wonderful.

Well, being that it's technically Sunday morning right now, this weekend feels like it flew by. But a few hours ago when it was still Saturday, it felt like a really LONG weekend. It's weird to explain, but it's one of those feelings? I'm dead tired, so I'm not making sense at the moment.

Been working non stop since Wednesday on this project for my General Illustration class: a holiday postcard. Wanted to do something fun and colorful, so I did a postcard for Dia De Los Muertos/Day Of The Dead.
I, of course, was inspired by Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party album cover. Don't be surprised by that statement.

Still needs a little tweaking, but this is pretty much close to the final product at the moment.

I like the idea of having a weekly post. It helps me make sure that I definitely will be posting.
I mentioned I like book making? Over the years I made quite a number of books and I didn't know what to do with them. So I decided that I'LL use them.

I'm all for reusing anything. I have two draws filled to the top with scrap paper. I like scribbling all over them and pasting them into my books to do collage type art in my books. I sometimes save little doodles I've drawn in class or wherever, cut them out, and paste them in too. REUSING! It's pretty fun.
So I guess every Thursday can be "Take A Page Out Of My Book Thursdays"? How exciting.

Page 03, in my 001. Under The Milky Way art journal.
Did I also mention that I absolutely adore Danny Elfman? Well I'll mention it now. I LOVE him. He's a genius, and I draw him way too much. I may be a little too obsessed.

I want you all to go listen to Oingo Boingo NOW. In fact, I'll make it easier by posting a video.
I bet you won't be able to resist bopping your head along to the song. I'd like to see you try!

Here's a little about me:

I'm Maria. I'm in my early twenties. I live in New York.
I got my associates degree in textile science. I'm on my way to getting my bachelors degree in illustration. Afterwards, I plan on going to graduate school for art therapy.
I picked up a lot of hobbies when I was young, resulted from being a lonely and lost child. Drawing, painting, collage/decoupage, sewing. Recently picked up book binding and paper making. My room is basically storage for found items, paper, fabric, and anything else you could think of.
My life revolves around art and music. I'm a die-hard music fanatic and respect musicians and everything they do, mostly because that's one part of the art world that doesn't come easy to me. I've taught myself guitar and bass guitar, but I don't play well whatsoever. So I like leaving it up to the professionals.
I'm a fan on 80s new wave, 90s alternative and rock, metal, and a little bit of today's indie bands.

I actually went to see Duran Duran in Atlantic City last weekend. My third time seeing them. They always put on an amazing show.
I'll end this post with two images from the show. Love love LOVE John Taylor.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with blogspot. I'd create a blog, then delete it, create another one, then delete. Here I am once again. I'm not one for blogging about my life, but I'd love to have a blog to post my art and post things that I personally want to keep track of. Music, movies, travels, photos, whatever. I hate constantly joining social networking sites though. I really try to pick and choose which I want to be a part of, but at the end of the day I always end up joining them all. Keeping up with them is a whole other story. I'm trying to get tough on myself these days and select which ones I will actually keep up with, and delete the other ones. Still working on that though.

A few months ago, I created a Tumblr account for my artwork and such, but thinking about the chance that it will be a long term site I will want to keep doesn't seem so possible. Tumblr seems like another internet fad that will slowly fade into what Myspace is now. With all these social networking sites coming and going, Blogspot seems to be doing well. Hell, I came back! I think I want to keep up with life on here and delete that Tumblr account. I think fun reblogs should stay there, and "business" should be here. That's my plan. Let's see if I actually stick with it.

Crappy intro, but it's something that fills that awkward first post.

Had this on repeat while typing this post. I could never have enough Twin Peaks in my life.

(I need to create some kind of nice layout for this blog. And a decent profile page. It's a goal for the next couple of days. *Keeping that in the back of my mind*)