Malagueña

one change collage

malaguena — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:56:19 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in a terrific 4-week workshop called One Change, in which you select one important change for your life and take part in a number of mind-expanding self-awareness exercises over the following weeks.

Of course, I had so many to choose from, and it took nearly the full 4 weeks to nail down what my change would be, but after much deliberation I chose to work on the root of most of my dissatisfaction: procrastination.

This collage was our first assignment, and I chose to represent my current frustration around my creativity and lack of drive to explore it. I often feel paralyzed by the number of projects I want to work on and end up doing nothing, rather than make a decision to start on something. I think the image sums up my angst pretty accurately.

Posted in collage, musings

carrot cupcakes

malaguena — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:48:51 +0000

These carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing were so moist and delicious that I ended up making another batch the following week for a friend’s wedding shower.

Oh and they actually spelled “best wishes” when properly arranged, not “bewishitess”…

Posted in food

first colour

malaguena — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:48:55 +0000

Posted in painting

first acrylic in 8 years!

malaguena — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:44:10 +0000

This is the first exercise from week 1 of my Wednesday night painting class. An eensy 6×8 acrylic on canvas that feels really hard won.

You know when you get together with a really good friend you haven’t seen in a while and you’ve missed like crazy? There’s that awkwardness and hesitance at first, but before you know it you’re back in step like no time has passed. We’re not quite at that point, of course (that’ll take a longer than just one night!), but it did feel great and I caught myself smiling away at the sheer joy of pushing paint around and making an image appear out of nothing.

SO great :D

Posted in painting

ultra-specialization!

malaguena — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:52:34 +0000

I love that there is a woman in the world whose job it is to knit tiny “conceptual sweaters and garments”. She’s my hero.

Posted in crafts, inspiration

etobicoke renovation

malaguena — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:50:52 +0000

This past summer I did some design work for a lovely family in Etobicoke, who want to rebuild the creaky war-time summer porch on the rear of their house, replacing it with something more contemporary and usable (and insulated).

Construction will be starting in a couple months, once the cold has subsided enough for a good concrete pour, and I think it’s going to be great. This is my first exterior project, and there were a lot of sleepless nights and “lessons learned”, but I’m still so excited to see how it goes!

Posted in architecture, interiors, sketches

mouse à la mode

malaguena — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:37:21 +0000

My mom’s condo being the snazzy place it is, not just any mousepad will do! I saw this done by another blogger, found some fabulous Amy Butler fabric at macFab, ironed-on some interfacing and then glued ‘er on top of the old pad. I’m making one for myself as soon as I find another base.

Posted in crafts

sweater upgrader

malaguena — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:56:16 +0000

I pulled my sister’s name in our annual family secret Santa, and after some covert investigation (ie calling my sister-in-law), I discovered she wanted a new acrylic sweater.

Aside from the obvious question (who asks for an acrylic sweater?), the requirement actually made shopping pretty tough. Did you know you can get really nice cashmere blend sweaters for less than $50? Eventually I found a nice enough one, although it was a bit on the oatmealy side. Since I’ve been wanting to try my hand at felt flowers, I decided to dress it up with one.

And here it is. Not bad for a first try – I think I have a few people who might also like one… more to come.

Posted in crafts, jewellery

Christmas cookies

malaguena — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:59:03 +0000

A few shots of this year’s annual Christmas cookie packages, made up for my friends at the awesome Moss Sund Architects.

Last year I called the outfit “Sugarplums”; I think I should come up with a less holiday-specific name, no?

Posted in food

hallowe’en 2008 – monkeyin’ around

malaguena — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:31:54 +0000

So this year I sent R an email with about 12 Hallowe’en costume options, which I thought were pretty good, but he soundly knocked them out of contention with two words: sock monkeys.

And actually they were pretty easy to make. I took old pairs of our jogging pants and long-sleeved shirts, traced them onto the fabric with an extra couple inches all the way around, and sewed them up with zippers and elastic. The heads were basically hats with freehand ears and mouths stuffed with shoulder pad forms. Topped off with a little felt detailing, tails, jaunty scarves… and voila! Sock monkeys.

Posted in clothing, crafts