I started visiting photobooths semi-regularly in 1999 when I decided to do my creative thesis project on women & self-portraiture photography. God bless UC Berkeley and interdisciplinary studies.
To contribute to Flickr's "Photobooth Friday" or check-out other 'booth enthusiasts, click here.
May all your fantasies come true.
I used to explain my crafting pseudonym by recalling my days as a resource librarian taking advantage of the intercom, but I will have to update my story because…I got a new job! Eeeeee! I’m a resource librarian again, now serenading interior designers at HBA Hirsch Bedner Associates.
If you were wondering, a resource library is a unique dedicated space specific to a particular job. In this case, I service a library tailor made for interior designers. As the librarian, I organize, edit, & file all kinds of awkwardly shaped materials including stone, carpet squares, metal finishes, paint chips, fabric samples, and more. I also maintain the catalogs of furniture, lighting, & accessories and a whole separate mini-library of good ol’ fashioned books.
When editing, this would be a clue that a binder needed to be updated. I think my dad had this suitcase...in the 80's. Trash. Blog. 
A lot of my time is spent coordinating with vendors requesting new materials and setting up presentations. Smart vendors feed us. But because of the limited space, I also play “gate keeper” making sure that only the best comes in and stays in. No amount of bribes will convince me to keep a binder if it really isn't a good match for our firm. Whippah! That's the sound of my whip.
Oh yeah. One last thing. I also manage all the interns. Aaaaah! Don’t get me wrong, I love my interns but that is like a whole ‘nother job. The good news is that in exchange for me teaching them the language of design and introducing them to the inner workings of a large hospitality firm, I get a hardworking, enthusiastic posse of library laborers.
I love my job.
My mom likes to give me crafty presents for Christmas. Many years ago she bought me a sewing machine and gave me the carrying case she made for the sewing machine her mom gave her. Score!
This year, I suggested we take a quilting class together. She completed one quilt "back in the day" (which is one more than I can say for myself) but has held onto a box of unfinished squares for YEARS. I mean, I remember seeing these squares in the 70's when I was a wee thing.
This year she so generously gave them to me as if they were a completed heirloom quilt. Nice try Mom. I am not going to finish your quilt. It's hard enough to finish my own!
After some research, we decided that we are going take a class on "improvisational piecing" with Denyse Schmitt in her Connecticut studio. My hope is that this less formal style of quilting will push us both closer to completing a project. And the bonus is...cool East Coast trip with my mom! We had so much fun the last time we went to New York. I can't wait to go with her again. Eee!
P.S. I don't think I could make up a dreamier post title except by adding the words dinosaur donuts and silhouette portraits. Talk about Whiskers on Kittens.
At Felt Club XL Holiday 2006 I showed some of my first attempts at cutting silhouette portraits. I brought them to get some feed back and someone actually took my information and contacted me for a commission! I was in shock. Excited! But shocked. I was not prepared for the anxiety that came with having to actually re-create the likeness of someone for actual money. I mean, it's not subjective. It either looks like the subject or it doesn't. What if the buyer doesn't like it? Do they still have to pay? Is it no longer art but rather a service? I wasn't sure if I really had the skills.
The good news was the subject is ADORABLE. The bad news was there was no way I could capture how incredible cute she is. Silhouette portraits tend to be a bit serious. Here's my subject:
I ended up adding an extra cut to emphasize her sweet elfin-like ear. It was a stylistic choice I feel good about.
The fellow who commissioned the portrait said he met the subject at Halloween party several years ago and she was dressed as red Fraggle. I think I captured her cuddle-y felt creature-ness.
I got a knock-off "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" bag on Santee Alley this weekend. I'm a sucker for pop culture phenomenons. My guess is that the knock-offs are made in the same factory in China as the originals.
Seems like everyone is trying to cash in on the Green movement these days...even the pumpkin patch!
"Let all things should be done decently and in order."
Even at an early age I appreciated the details, but that aqua & orange striped wallpaper with cornflower blue stars was actually lot less colorful and innocuous. I guess I've always had mid-century modern sensibilities. Hahaha.
The long hair that curls up into perfect buns, also a bit of a fantasy. I'm still trying to get that hair! But the saddle shoes and rosy cheeks were dead on. :)
A few years ago I started collecting hand cut silhouette portraits and teaching myself how-to cut from this amazing book Silhouettes: Rediscovering the Lost Art by Kathyrn Flocken. I'm still very much a beginner but I find great inspiration from the originals cut by professionals and sold as souvenirs at circuses, local fairs, or on the boardwalks across the United States. Before photo booths and Polaroids...there were silhouettes.
Here's an early acquisition, a "sweet old silhouette" found in a little antique shop in Sarasota, Florida. Thanks Jeff.
For Christmas last year, my mom gave me a portrait cut of her and her sister done at a local fair in Kansas in the late 50's. It hung in our hallway all the years I was growing up but was lost amongst a large group of photos in one of those collage mat frames. I couldn't believe I never noticed it! It's funny how something can be in front of your eyes but not on your radar.
Delores Jean is on the left. My mom, Patsy Ann, is on the right.
Notice anything similar? They are both "signature" stamped by L. Pierre Bottemer.
Although the stamps vary slightly (note the slant of the 'L', the loops on the 'B' and final 'r' flourish) they have to be the same person. I LOVE the personalized stamp signature (I use one in my own craft packaging on library cards) and I feel like it really opens up a dialog here. Why the juxtaposition of something handmade with something pre-fab especially when a signature is also considered one-of-kind? Does a stamp bring down the work's one-of-a-kindness or does it read more as being done by a professional? I feel like by making the signature a stamp and incorporating it as part of the graphic design, he is able to keep the focus on the silhouette while still taking pride in his work. Who is L. Pierre Bottemer and how many silhouettes did he do to warrant at least two different custom stamps? I'm totally geeking out over this.
As seen worn to work...
I made my beads from cut up pages of J.Crew catalogs. I want to give myself a gold star for recycling but what I really should do is cancel my subscription since I do most of my shopping on-line or in the store.
Carla from Craft: magazine sent her hubby, Mark, to the craft store to pick up misc. filler beads and he came back with a wacky variety pack. It was a source of great delight, filled with unusually colored alphabet beads, random plastic crystals (orange was the only color included), and a mish-mash of other beads. It was a hoot! 
Wendy hearts Jeff <blush>.
Who: Carla from Craft: Magazine and me
What: Felt Club Craft Class: paper bead making demonstration
When: Saturday, September 15 from 11 to 4 p.m.
Where: L.A. County Fair, Tapestry Building
Why: Because you want to support the d.i.y. spirit and eat a deep fried Twinkie. No really. The fair is aMAzing. There's a full-blown carnival with twinkle-y lights and hand painted signs, tons of educational exhibits to satiate your inner science nerd (green educational too!), and real live animals for petting. Can you tell I've never lived on a farm? And if you're lucky, the airbrush booth with be back.
Hope to see your there!
