Happy Halloween!
Unfortunately it doesn't feel so much like Halloween here in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. Haven't spotted any young trick-or-treaters, and have to yet to hear the doorbell ring. This year will surely be a quiet Halloween, but at least there's a general consensus to postpone it. It's better to play it safe for the kids.

My family was truly lucky to have made it through the whole storm without losing power. Also being that my town is in the middle of Long Island, we didn't suffer from any flooding and whatnot. Although, waking up the morning after to watch all news reports and updates of the damage Sandy left behind was heartbreaking. I've never seen New York and New Jersey in this condition, ever. It's going to take quite a while for the Tri-state area to get back on its feet, but I know we can do it. My heart truly goes out to everyone who had suffered from this storm.

That being said, we shouldn't let Sandy suck all the fun out of our Halloween this year.
I put together a fun little playlist of songs to get me through Halloween '12. I hope you enjoy it!

HallowMix from marimars on 8tracks Radio.

- In no specific order -
Be Your Own Pet - The Kelly Affair
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting [The Vampire Song]
The Dagons - Skinless Jim
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Echo & The Bunnymen - People Are Strange
Horrorpops - Walk Like A Zombie
Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear [But Fear Itself]
The Raveonettes - Attack Of The Ghost Riders
The Rezillos - Flying Saucer Attack
Schoolyard Heroes - Curse Of The Werewolf
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Halloween
The Soft Moon - Tiny Spiders
The Swayback - Vampires In The Mirror
Zombina & The Skeletones - Spring Heeled Jack

90s inspiration post!
A few weeks ago, I reblogged a Bjork photo on Tumblr, and her shirt reminded me a lot like this shirt I've seen Gwen Stefani wear. A white and rainbow stripe shirt.

I loved the way the rainbow strip carries from one sleeve, across the chest to the other sleeve. I loved it so much that I wanted a shirt of my own similar to it.

It occurred to me that I had a plain white long sleeved shirt that was in need of jazzing up, and a long strip of pastel colored stripes that I wasn't opposed to using. So I gathered my materials.

I began by pinning and sewing a strip across the chest. The sleeves were a little tougher to take on being that they have to line up evenly with the strip across the chest. (my the arm stripes didn't align properly, so I plan on redoing it.)
I decided to not add another pastel rainbow strip in the back, but only keep it in the front, as well as circulating around the arms. Personal preference, really.

But I'm a fan of the result, and I hope this inspires you to make your own 90s white and rainbow stripe shirt!
Super easy shmeezy project to take on.

Another book post!

I started this book with the intention of cutting out boxes and coloring them with primaries. I was super inspired by Mondrian art, if that wasn't apparent already. But I played around with my own twist.

I put in seven signatures, with I think 6 pages in each signatures.
Since finishing it, I've given it to a friend who requested to have it when it was all done. She loves them primary colors!

Thrifting is wonderful. The idea of finding something fun, unusual, and vintage - isn't it great? Cheap and awesome, it can't get better than that.

But what if you find the perfect item and the size is way too big? You have three options: (01) leave it, (02) buy it and wear it uncomfortably large (some people can pull that off. I certainly can't), or (03) buy it and resize it. Option three has always been my favorite. There are lots of reasons why this option rocks that I'd like to share.

• I love making something from nothing. You have complete control over everything to make it original and totally yours. Sometimes this power is overwhelming, and there are chances things can go wrong (believe me, it happens). But it's all about trial and error. You start to learn what techniques work and don't work, and it starts to become quite easy.
• You have all options in the world with what you can do. You can add or subtract, mix and match, etc. Plus another benefit of resizing is the fact that you'll most likely be cutting off fabric, so you're bound to have awesome leftover fabric for other exciting projects.
• One of my favorite reasons is that it makes shopping so easy that when you adjust to the idea of sewing up clothes, you tend to stop looking at sizes. How awesome is that? Nothing can stop you from buying what you want.
• Besides all of that, it's a good hobby and time filler. It helps you explore your creative side; you're given the chance to see what you can do with fabric.

This is the story of my life, and I wanted to share new possibilities. I think it's a good challenge to take on for those interested in trying out something new. If you've never challenged yourself this way, maybe it's something for you try sometime.

I've been wanting to create playlists to post in the blog, but didn't know how to come about making it convenient and legal. I discovered 8tracks and signed up!

Here's my first playlist that I'm loving at the moment.

kaleidoscope from marimars on 8tracks Radio.

-- In no specific order --
Beck - Go It Alone
DNA + Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Gorillaz - Tomorrow Comes Today
Keep Shelly In Athens - Fokionos Negri Street
Moby - Porcelain
Phantogram - Don't Move
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside A Broken Phonebooth...
The Primitives - You Are The Way [Re-Ravishing Mix]
Silver Swans - Secrets
Sneakerpimps - 6 Underground

Very trip-hop-like for "chill" times, I guess you can say.
Enjoy!

Been slacking in posts lately. Woops.

I've been working on making this book for a while. Between school and life, the process took a while. All the books I make take forever. My process isn't complicated, just time consuming. Between waiting for dryings and the motivation to keep going, it turns out to be a lengthy process. I decided to discuss my "lengthy" process here.

I start with two pieces of cardboard paper, the same size. I usually gather magazine clippings with a idea of a kind of design I want, and decoupage them on. In this case I painted a base coat of this salmon kind of color. When I started the book, I had purchased the Martha Stewart cupcake punch and wanted to have fun with that. I was afraid the book would look a little boring, so I decoupaged white tissue paper first. Then the cupcakes and strips of paper across the top.

When it was all good to go, I sprayed a layer of Krylon Clear Glaze. When that was dried, I punched out holes for the binding.

The covers were finished, so next was the paper part. I found scraps of white paper, took measurements and figured out how many signatures to make. I had five signatures and six sheets of paper making up each signature. (Thirty sheets of evenly cut paper). I figured out where the holes needed to be made in the creased parts of the signature so it could be binded.

I pulled up the handy dandy video I always refer to when it comes to binding, and followed instructions.

After the binding is done, I always like to take precautionary measures and glue the yarn that makes up the binding. And voila!

(I'd like to make note of the different camera apps I used along the way. So much for being consistent.)