Paper Airplane Art Installation

I came upon this amazing art installation at the Central World Shopping Mall in Bangkok.  It's made entirely of orange paper airplanes! Such a simple concept yet so beautiful.

How great would that look as a DIY mobile for you nursery?! Maybe that's one to put on the project list when I get home?  For now check these two out - 1. by Beautiful Weirdos on Etsy, 2. An idea from Real Simple.

My Sparkletaneous Kit

My agent calls me on Wednesday: "Your ticket is confirmed, you fly to Bangkok on Friday"

me: "wha????"

Thailand? in two days? Really? No joke?

I had no idea that when I chose my word for the year what it would really mean.

I chose the word, "sparkletanous" because my life can be chaotic.  In my line of work I have to be ready at a moments notice for anything.   It's really hard to plan anything because I often have to cancel if a job pops up.   Last year I began to get annoyed that I couldn't commit to plans, that my career path kept me on a constant roller coaster of work and waiting for work to come.  My mom even had to cancel a trip to visit me in LA because the week she planned to come I got sent to do a job in New York.  

This year I chose the word, "spontaneous" to remind myself to embrace the surprise.  I gave myself permission  to avoid planning too much and to say yes to new opportunities.  The "sparkle" in sparkletaneous comes in the details.

So, as I blog this post from my hotel room in Bangkok, I would like to share with you one of those details:  My Sparkletaneous kit.  It's a little bag which I keep packed and organized.  This bag keeps all my travel necessities in one place and allows me to be ready to go anywhere at a moments notice.

Inspiration: Rock Star * Lead Guitar * Nursery

 

DIY  Guitar Pick Mobile - so simple yet so fun and colorful - check it out at Rooks Paper Scissors' Blog

Guitar Necks, Vinyl Wall Decor - available at Vinyl Wall accents on Etsy

Groovy Guitar - 3 piece Crib set - custom made and available at Birds Have Flowers on Etsy

Turquoise Ultra Shag Rug --- Every Rock Star needs a plush shag underfoot!

Electric Guitar Mirror - Found this one online at LittleKidsBedrooms.com 

Electric Guitar Pillow - Made by Gabrielo Pardo and available on Etsy

Rock and Roll Roadie Dresser - this features a drawer and chest for lots of fun storage available at Sears

Electric Guitar Wall Art - hand printed on wood available at skartshop.com

Cake Decorating 101: Airplane Birthday Cake

Last year about this time.  I helped my good friend make a cake for her son's 2nd birthday party.  It was robot themed so naturally we decided to make a robot cake.  We are both talented artists and designers and we were filled with ideas on how to make the cake look amazing.  Little did we know that frosting is not an easy medium to work in.  The result, although tasty, was slightly embarrassing.  See for yourself:

This year her son will be 3; we need to take it up a notch.  I invited my friend Karen from Katana cakes over to give  us a few tips on how to decorate a cake like a pro.  It's amazing how a few little tricks can make all the difference.

For more detailed instructions CLICK HERE

Skårt featured in Fox's newest sitcom's Nursery

I Just found out that Skårt has been on TV again.
Check it out in a screen shot from the Fox Show Traffic Light (Tuesday' at 9:30pm)

I accidentally happened upon this fact through a new brilliant blog I read called Buy Modern Baby.  As the name suggests it's a great resource for all things modern for the little ones. She does a great feature where she examines nurseries designed for TV and  researches what the products are and where to find them.  Like this Nursery from Gossip Girl and this one from Traffic Light which is how I stumbled on to my artwork on the wall.

She also ahem ahem happened to do a great feature on me this week.  Check it

Oh and while we are on the subject of TV nurseries, I just realized I never posted the pictures of Skårt which was featured in a Nursery on How I Met Your Mother.
.......Better late than never:

Monkeying Around -- New Skårt

 

My newest design was inspired by The Ahoy Mate crib set by Nojo, ie the bedding in my friend's, soon to be mommy, nursery.  The Bedding is very nautical but I couldn't resist highlighting the monkey element.  I drew three monkeys doing acrobatics off rigging lines and flags which could imply  a ship or a circus tent and work in a variety of decors.  

Currently available for purchase at Skartshop.com in Navy, Green, Red or Orange.  Or choose your own color to match your decor.  

This print is also available on paper in my Etsy shop

Photo by Jennifer Long

Why I hate Living in LA (or is that just what we want you to think)

-- "There are no seasons, therefor you don't appreciate the weather"

That is the number one justification that I hear ALL THE TIME from New Yorkers when they talk about why they wouldn't like to live in LA. Well, let me tell you something.  There are seasons (warm, a little warmer, chilly and pleasantly warm).  We even get rain here and there.  Just because the majority of the time it's gorgeous here in Southern California I still totally appreciate it when we get a perfect day.....  like today, for instance:  
 80 degrees F (27 Celsius) and not a cloud in the sky
In fact, I've been appreciating the weather this week so much that I've been too busy hiking, biking and participating in assorted other outdoor activities I seem to have neglected my printing.

So the blog post that I had planned for today featuring all my exciting new prints is not going to happen. But I can share with you pictures from my glorious hike yesterday.

view of downtown LA from Culver City (yes those are snow capped mountains in the background)

and maybe I can give you a little sneak preview of the screen for one of the new designs about to be released

Maybe it will rain this weekend and I can get some work done to have something more exciting to post on Monday.   And, it's okay if all you cynics  stay away from L.A.  "because the weather is too nice all the time".  It just means the hiking trails will be less crowded for me!

Cake Pop Update; Because I know you were wondering!

Despite the initial debacle with the Cake Pop disaster I persevered and tried another batch.  It was a friend's birthday party and I wasn't giving up this time.  He's a friend with an odd sense of humor which happened to match my baking (or lack thereof) skills perfectly.  And so I created Cthulhu Cake pops!

So they kind of looked weird and disgusting with tentacles and a green uneven texture -- but fortunately that's how Cthulhu looks.  And those who were brave enough to try them will attest to the fact that they tasted pretty darn delicious.  

I also made a little display of simple round cake pops in milk chocolate coating and colorful sprinkles.  These were an instant hit (the ones that made it to the party ahem ahem ... i had to taste a few myself first!)

Final Assessment: Cake Pops are great --- just keep it simple for your first time out.  You can't go wrong with chocolate and sprinkles.  For an easy DIY tutorial check out this one from Roxy Cakes.

New Skårt: Penguin Footprints

Following on the theme of "Take your Sister to Work Week".  My sister tried her hand at designing and making a few t-shirts.  She came up with this adorable scene of two Penguins trudging through the snow.  So adorable, that I helped her turn it into Skårt.  You can find different colored versions of this print for $16.00 on Etsy.  

Now I'm trying to convince her to design a few more so we can turn this into a series and print it on wood.  What would you like to see? A series of 4 different penguin prints?  Or other animals, maybe polar bears? seals? or other arctic/antarctic creatures?