Latest Piece: Anchor

I've been assembling pieces to decorate the wall above my bed. I have some pieces that friends made for me, from embroidery to paintings, a sun burst piece, a dream catcher my beau's mom gave me and a flashcard of a Dulcinea. I decided that I wanted a larger piece, something grounding, something stabilizing. An anchor came to mind and I quickly went to work on it. Recently I've been stretching my work onto wood frames and kind of, but not totally, abandoning the embroidery hoop frame I've used for a while. I'm really happy with how it turned out and not to jinx myself, but last night, the first night it was up on my wall, I slept so hard and so peacefully. *contented sigh*

xo,
*M*

Break Free

Spread the Word

There's a lot going on in the world right now that's just plain ol' shitty (Wisconsin and the tsunami for example). And then a friend pointed out this Rachel Maddow video to me about the atrocity that's going down in Michigan. I was born and raised in the Mitt. My mom and many of my close friends still live there. If the Governor there actually gets to do the things he's setting out to do reported in this video, Michigan (my friends and family) will indeed be screwed.

Please watch this video. Educate yourself and spread the word.



*M*

Facehugger

Sometimes you just have to make a facehugger ski mask.
Right?
Ya damn right.

Eyebrows.

Yep.

Y: The Last Man

About ten minutes ago I finally finished the graphic novel series Y:The Last Man. I've been plowing through all ten books, one after another, like candy. I haven't been able to get enough of them and now it's over. It's all over. It's been a long time since I've finished a book(s) and found myself so engaged with the story and characters that I was sad when I came to the end.

I can't believe it ended.

Most of my friends are comic book geeks (I say this with great affection), but up until about two years ago I could never get into them. Then I took a chance and read Watchmen and I've spiraled into graphic novel heaven ever since. So far, everything I've read I've loved, but Y: The Last Man was the first to actually make me fight back tears when I came to the end.

The graphic above begins the premise of the story; A plague hits the earth killing every living being with a Y chromosome...except one man and his monkey, Ampersand. Dun dun dun!!! I could go into it further, but then I'd give away too much. So, in short, READ THESE BOOKS!

*M*

PS. Why does it have to be over? le sigh.

Girl Crush

I can't deny that my girl crush on Zooey Deschanel is getting more and more out of hand.

This video doesn't help.

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.

PS. I don't mean to snuff M. Ward by any means. I crush him, too. :)

Catch Up

It would seem I haven't posted here since August. I guess that happens when you start a blog that requires you to post something everyday for a year. :)

Anyhoo, I'm just going to play a quick catch up on the things that I've made recently. My peeps on the Facebook seem to enjoy photos of the things I make, so I might as well share it here, too.








Work in progress:

Getting Through It

One of my favorite blogs is 1000 Awesome Things, which lists 1000 things that make life...well...awesome. I love it because it often makes me laugh because I can relate to the simplicity of the awesome things they point out. It just makes me happy that there's at least one other person out there who sees life for the simple joys and revels in them.

Today I saw this post: Getting Through It

I have to admit that I normally just read the subject title to a post because I get it right away. Example: Christmas Hugs. Dude. I totally understand that one. I understood the title of the Getting Through It, too, but today I just had to read the whole post. It helped reaffirm things I've been feeling lately.

So, folks, I hope you're able to look at the tough times and realize how amazing you are for getting through it. Kudos to you.

You.
Are.
Awesome.

xo,
*M*

The Fiber Between Us

Dear Readers,

I'm putting together a site for handmade wedding gifts. At the moment I'm calling the site The Fiber Between Us.

I've just come to notice that a lot of my friends who have gotten married over the past five years have asked to make them something for their wedding and I really enjoy the process. I have listed items like handkerchiefs, chuppahs, embroidered detail on veils, fabric/crocheted garlands, banners and of course, custom orders. I'm still tweaking the site before I officially launch it and I'm looking for advice from brides and grooms on what kind of things they would like to see on such a site. If any of you have tips or suggestions I'd love to hear them. :)

Thank ya kindly and happy Wednesday!
*M*

The List of Things to Come

1. All in the Timing opens in less than a week. I. Am. STOKED.

2. I decided today that I'm going to submit my Badasses Drinking Through Straws series to the Textile Arts Center opening show. I just have to write an artist statement. Currently mulling over that one.

3. Going to see Toy Story 3 tonight and I've been texting my boyfriend with things like "toy story toy story toy story! I'm so excited!!! :D". I'm ready. I want to see it right friggin now.

4. I've started a new embroidery series. I'm stitching simple inspirational quotes, such as "When you throw dirt, you lose ground", but mixing up the letters within the words. The concept is that there are so many simple solutions to life's problems and we tend to over complicate those solutions and make things harder for ourselves. Hopefully, the series makes sense to people. That is the point after all. *wink wink*

5. Sunday is Father's Day. Don't forget to call yo' papa!

xoxo,
*M*

Can't

I've been thinking a lot about how I've never been one to think "I can't (fill in the blank)". It kills me when I see someone say that they can't do something. When I was younger I worked with this children's theatre company called The Treehouse Players in Detroit. The best thing they ever taught us was "Can't...is not an option." That phrase has stuck with me my entire life.

YOU are not so unimportant as to let such a small word like "can't" get in your way.

YOU are amazing. Wake up and deal with your amazingness.

Start realizing how much you CAN do.

Love,
*M*

Me & Philip Glass

We (Focal Point Theatre Company) had our first rehearsal for All in the Timing by David Ives this past week. The production consists of four ten minutes plays, one of which is called Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread. People seem to be very excited that we're attempting to perform this piece. Basically, the dialogue is written in the same vain as Glass' music. It's chaotic, simultaneous, sparse, intense, lovely and difficult. Melissa, our director, decided that for our first night of rehearsal we would focus on just that piece and thank God she did! We broke the script up into 28 movements, figured out the tempos and timing and by the end of it we were all fried. Happily fried. Happily, confidently, satisfyingly fried. This is one of the most challenging pieces I've ever done. I can see why people don't perform it often. And I can't wait to show our audiences that we can pull it off. :)

I've discovered that there is a documentary on Philip Glass on Netflix (that I'm watching as I type this). Within the first 4 minutes I had a better understanding of how his mind works. The opening interview follows his wife as she describes the chaos that is his office. How she hopes there's never a fire in their house because (while the originals of all his scores are in archives) his entire library of all his music was sitting on one shelf in that room. How his desk is covered in papers until he finishes a piece at which time he cleans everything only to have it a complete mess three days later. His sense of humor really surprised me. Not sure why. He also makes his own pizza dough. How can you not love that? :)



*M*

The best thing I've seen in a long time

Mr. T's 80s Fashion Extravaganza!

A New Endeavor!

Dear Readers,

I'm pleased to announce that I am the new managing director for the Focal Point Theatre Company here in Chicago.! :)

One of my best friends and I have been talking about starting our own company for a couple of years now and this is the year we're making it happen. We're about to go into rehearsals for our inaugural production of David Ives' All in the Timing. All the proceeds will go towards applying for our 501c3. If you're in the area the week of June 23-26th please come visit us at the historic Flat Iron Building in Wicker Park.

We'll soon have a blog up and running, but for the mean time please check out our new website: www.focalpointtheatre.com We're also on Facebook, so please become our friend!

Woo hoo!
*M*

Threadknits Winner!

Dear Readers...

I won! I found out over the weekend that I won 2nd place for crochet in the Threadknits contest hosted by Threadless Shirts!

You can see all the winners here!

I'm super excited that my zombie suit won. He was a labor of love (with an emphasis on the labor).



Congrats to all the winners! Woo hoo!

*M*

Espresso and a New Series

There is nothing quite like spending a sunny afternoon embroidering to your heart's content with a side of espresso readily available.

I've started a new embroidery series. Basically, I'll be taking images of nature from illustrated dictionaries and such and couple them with lyrics from rock songs.

This little guy is a Fire Weaver and his lyric will be "I'm a breathing time machine" -The Avett Brothers.

We're Open and the Reviews Are In!

Dear Readers,

Vanishing Points is open and our first weekend went smashingly! With that said...I'm so happy to have a couple days off! We went through tech and dress rehearsals for almost two weeks straight and I. Am. POOPED.

Luckily, we're getting some good reviews. Yay for hard work paying off!

Chicago Theatre Blog
Time Out Chicago

Turn off your TV and come support your local theatre! STAT!

xoxo,
*M*

Opening Night

Howdy Friends!

We open Vanishing Points tonight! POC had some company members sit in on our last dress rehearsal yesterday and we got a lot of positive feedback. Woo hoo! I'm so ready for this play to open. It feels like we've been working on it forever and now it's time for the public to see all our hard work. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please come check us out! www.pointofcontention.org

Almost Open

Howdy Howdy!

Well, we're less then a week from the opening of Vanishing Points!

The show has been coming together quite nicely. We're finally done with Q2Q and tonight we have our first run in the space. Costumes, lights, makeup, sound, the whole shebang.

If you're going to be in the Chicagoland area over the next month come check us out!

Vanishing Points
Feb. 25-March 20th

*M*

P.S. I'm so friggin' tired. At least, it's a good tired. :)