Experimentalk

More new stuff...

2013-04-03T15:17:00.000-04:00

Always busy making something.. :) This time I was making lots of checkbook covers, business cards holders to give them to your girlfriends, bridesmaids, mothers, teachers, etc, etc. I made them using some cute, funny, bright, colorful cotton fabric that I found in my closet (fabric closet). The patterns that I used were cats, owls, flowers, birds, chevron, geometric, etc, etc. You will love them! They are really, really cute!

Enjoy my pictures and if you want to see more just visit my store! Bye and see you next time!

More cute fabric!

Brown black

Black white chevron

In pink

In white

Inside

Flowers

Colorful pile

Pile of some business card holders!

Cats

Birds

Interior

More cuties!

Returning....

2013-02-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

I have to recognize that I'm been a bit lazy. :( but the thing is that I was so busy making a lot of customer orders that I hadn't enough time to sit in front of my computer to write something or to organize all my ideas to make a post.

I'm suffering because I really love my blog and I also love what I do. I'm not complaining!! I'm happy that I'm selling a lot of clutches :) and seeing that my customers are really happy about my work.

I want to write little stories about a new project, my life and everything else. I have to many things to share with you. The point is to find the right moment and the inspiration to make it!

I also have a lot of plans in my mind about new designs, new techniques, new ideas, etc, etc. The hardest part is to put everything together!

Returning from a long journey,
where I were not with you!

For Mom!

2011-05-08T16:00:00.000-04:00

For a Mother who lives so far away from me!
For a Mother who taught me how to be a good human being.
For a Mother who showed me how to survive in this complicated world.
For my Mother....

I love you mami...
Lolo Sinclair!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the world!

Copyright© 2011 Lolo Sinclair

Something for her... in zakka style!

2011-04-22T18:00:00.002-04:00

I think one of my objective in my life is to bring happiness to my family. And specially to my sweet daughter. She is so good that you have no idea. I love her so much because she is a really good human being.

She is growing up so fast and I know that is a part life that I don't like. I know that one day she will fly away from the nest and I won't be ready for that moment, ever.

I like to make her laugh a lot because later in life it will be harder when you are alone trying to survive in this crazy world.

I also like to make a lot of different things for her, like purses, creatures, pillows, etc, etc so that she has a nice memory about her youth.

So this time I made a new pouch for her. Really cute and unique. Specially for her! My zakka style!

She likes blue, flowers, birds and other things. I made this pouch using some elements that she likes.

I used an unbleached cotton fabric to make the pouch. For the inside I used a print flowered cotton fabric and decorated the front using some craft felt and cotton fabric.

Enjoy my process and pictures.

Please don't copy my designs. If you are interested in having something similar for you or someone else just let me know!

My Day!

2011-03-16T17:57:00.004-04:00

Adorable ice-cream cupcake pincushion!

I was born today some years ago!
Yesterday night I was trying to stop the time, but it was impossible!
We have to accept it!!

Another year... OMG!! I'm getting old?
I don't think so!
Every year means for me to have more wisdom.

It is beautiful to see another new wrinkle in your face. Or another new gray hair. I have a lot since I was 18!!

To get old is awesome and specially if you are surrounded with all the people that you love.

Happy Birthday to me!
Decoration from my dear and lovely husband!

New pouches...

2011-02-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

New Collection!

Last year, around November I started working on a new bag design. I have a lot of linen fabric in my closet that I bought some months ago before I moved to NY State so I decided to use them to make my new, fresh and unique pouches. I pleated them really carefully and sewn the pleats using some similar color thread.

For the inside I used calico print cotton fabric that I quilted. I love to feel the softness of the quilt inside the pouch.

And finally I added to the design a delicate fabric rose of course handmade by me, inspired by all my collection of dry flowers that I have had for many years. My special touch!

My new collection is called " Romantic Rose ". I'm a very romantic girl! :)

Pillow cases for a good cause!

2011-02-18T19:15:00.000-05:00

Last year I participated in a noble cause called "1 Million Pillowcase Challenge"

I made 13 pillowcases using all the fabric that I have in my closet. It was a wonderful experience to do this for a good reason. I just wanted to make more but it was impossible because I was so busy making a lot of pouches that I didn't have enough time to make anything else.

So by the end of December I took all the pillow cases that I made including some from my team mates to the quilting store in my town to be donated to a local charity.

The store owner was thrilled to see all the pillowcases that I gave to her.

If you don't know how to make a pillow case for yourself you will find a good tutorial about how to make them using the french seams technique. Really easy to follow!

My process, some fabric that I used, my pillowcases and the nice lady at Quilters Corner.

Quilters Corner

Love...

2011-02-14T14:05:00.015-05:00

Love,
unique and beautiful
when you find it.

Love,
pain and bitter
when someone hurts you.

Love,
innocent and pure
during your childhood.

Love,
strong and mature
when I open my heart
to yours!

Lolo Sinclair

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Copyright © 2011 Lolo Sinclair

Cool hats!

2011-02-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cute winter hats!

We recently moved to live in a cold area so we needed to have new and fun winter, warm hats.

I made one for my husband, one for my daughter and of course one for me.

Fleece seemed like a good choice of material since it is so soft and warm . They are really wonderful to wear in this cold NY winter weather.

My husband is crazy about robots "Mr. Robots" so I made his hat with a cute yellow robot applique. He loves it! Unfortunately some pictures are not so good because I was working on the hat at night!

My daughter is crazy about cats "Miss Kitty" so I made for her a blue cat hat. The design that I used to create the hat was her own cat design. She was thrilled to see her own drawing become a hat. Her classmates were amazed when they saw the cat hat at school! :))

For me I just made a monster, skeleton hat. I didn't have some white fleece to make the eyes so I had to use yellow. My skeleton turns into a funny monster!

Graffiti City...

2011-02-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

This week I'm making new iPhone cases. They are my new unique designs. I'm still working on my new collection!

I'm crazy about buildings and this time I just wanted to create my own funky, unique, graffiti, comics designs. I had this idea for a long time but I didn't have the time to sit down to work on it!

They are my first building theme collection. During this week I will make more in different colors. I also want to create mini quilts with the same theme. But I'm not sure yet if I'm going to paint the background or I'm going to paint the buildings. Difficult decision! We will see! I love to experiment with new things and of course I enjoy to face new challenges so much.

Here are some photos about my process and materials as well. I used some corduroy, wool felt and left over fabric. Hope you like them!

Into the Woods...

2011-01-13T15:14:00.017-05:00

White snow falling from the sky,
white thoughts through the path,
white innocence in your eyes,
white love to my heart!

Purity!
By Lolo Sinclair

Last weekend I decided to go into the woods to take some pictures. It was beautiful to see all the trees, ground, plants almost covered in white. The tranquility was awesome! No sounds of civilization, just sounds of the wind when it goes through the trees and the sound of my steps when I was walking on the snow.

I love nature moments so much! It is a relaxing time for cleaning your thoughts!

I love the textures of the trees and the colors that they go throughout the years. Some of them are brown, and some of them are gray. Great combination!

During my adventure into the woods a neighbor came to me with her lovely dog. I took a picture of her when she was walking with her dog and this was my last photo from that day. My awesome lens didn't work anymore. I could not focus and I could not do anything else. I wanted to cry at that moment! :(

The lens was broken. But it didn't break at that moment. I broke it a month ago when I was taking some pictures inside the house and the camera fell down on the floor when I was upstairs. I don't now why it fell down! Maybe the tripod was unstable. Anyway, from that day on the lens worked weird all the time. Till that Sunday when it decided to not work anymore :(

That night I had to buy another lens online. And it came on Tuesday. Yuppie! Really fast shipping! So now I will be more carefully with my camera and the tripod. I learned my lesson in a tough way!

Taking the horses into the stable for the cold night!

This picture was taken with my small camera.

It was snowing huge flakes!

Sunset!
I tried my best but I was late to catch the perfect moment.
Next time I will be ready!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T18:47:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!

This is my last post for 2010. So many things happened to me in 2010. Good and bad as well. But this is the real life. I have a lot of new ideas for the next year that I need to work on.

Thank you so much to all of you for your visits and comments. :)

Happy New Year! Let's make 2011 a better, kinder year for everyone, including Mother Earth!

Lolo Sinclair and family! :))

Handmade gifts!

2010-12-28T16:15:00.011-05:00

I made this snowman about two years ago. It was made using the needle felting method.

This year it was another handmade Christmas for me. I made hats, purses, crocheted coasters, eggs and more.

I had a white Christmas for the first time ever. It was awesome!!

When I lived in Germany it didn't snow so much at this time of the year. It was freaking cold !

Yesterday we had a snow storm. My windows were almost covered with the snow but I forgot to take some pictures to show you the windows. They looked beautiful covered in white.

My house!

Anyway, I started making some handmade presents on Monday . I know... it was a little late, but I didn't have enough time to make them before.

I had to make 4 eggs for my daughter's friends. I had to make them because my sweetheart had an accident at school playing handball. She got a small fracture in her right thumb . So she could not write or crochet something. As a good mother :)) I made the presents for her friends, I didn't have another choice! I crocheted 4 eggs. She could only make the cards! That night I went to bed at 4:00 O'clock in the morning!

Making the red egg!

Making the light blue egg!

Ready to go!

We have a really nice neighbor. She is a widow with two Dalmatian dogs. She moved here in October. We help her to walk the dogs. They are huge and wild specially the girl. She likes to put her head in holes to try to find some mice or something else. She is a beast!

I made some apple coasters for her . When she got them she was really happy because she didn't have any coasters at all. It was a good idea! :) It is hard to give something to someone that you don't know so much.

Making the coasters!

Cute apple coasters!

Coasters with my daughter's card!

In another post I will write more about my other handmade presents.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas like mine!

Surprise SWAP!

2010-12-22T18:08:00.009-05:00

Handmade surprise for my secret friend!

The other night I was really busy trying to finish my handmade Christmas presents as soon as I could for a lovely team mate from the Etsy Latino Team.

We are 13 girls that are participating in this great Christmas presents SWAP!

For all of us it is a big challenge to make something pretty and tasteful for a person that you don't know personally but only as a team mate. To get some ideas what our secret friends like we answered some questions to help each other. It was funny to discover that some of your team mates are so much alike. :)

The best thing about this game is that all the presents are handmade with a lot of love and dedication for that special friend that lives far away from you.

I love Swaps, I think they are awesome!

My package was shipped the other day to her destination. I hope she will get it soon before Christmas. Crossing fingers!

Here are some pics about my process. I can't put all of them because my mysterious friend could read my post and discover that she was my secret friend. So in another post I will show you more pictures about my gifts. Unfortunately the pictures won't be so good because I was working at night and did not have the fantastic natural winter light.

My messy table. Looking for the right fabric to make my gift!

Some extra materials for a little cute thing to hang on her Christmas tree!

Some cute little flowers to add to the gift.

Making a 100% handmade Christmas card with my own handmade foam stamp.

Merry Christmas to my secret friend!
Enjoy your surprise!

Introducing Jen... A blog friend!

2010-12-15T15:32:00.010-05:00

Frieda by jdavissquared

I meet Jen a year ago when I started blogging. She won my first giveaway. She is a fantastic lovely girl with a lot of positive energy. It is hard to find in this blogger world nice people to be friends with but with her was different. I really enjoy visiting her blog. She likes to write about life, design and inspiration, that is everything... including myself.:)

She has a lovely online store "jdavissquared". There you can find some very funny sock creatures, personalized snack bowls, personalized piggy banks, and more and more.

jdavissquared

Right now she is having a "Sockey Sale". Hurry up if you are interested in getting one of these funny creatures to giveaway for Christmas, they will surely make someone very happy.

jdavissquared

I like to look at things that remind me that life, with all its difficulties is to be worn with a smile that we can share with others, and Jen's work gives me that feeling. I think you will find that as well.

-Her Blog

- Her Facebook Fan Page
- Her Twitter

White Thoughts!

2010-12-01T18:05:00.011-05:00

Snow day!

Today it was an awesome day! When I was sewing a new pleated pouch I looked trough the window and I saw it was snowing! Yuppie!

You don't know for how many years I was waiting for this moment. A lot! And today my dream came true!

I love the snow since I was a little child. I enjoy so much playing outside making snow balls or snow men. Where I come from we have a lot of snowy days in winter. It is also really cold and windy just like here. I feel to be in my city sometimes. :-)

After 30 minutes of snowing the ground was covered in white everywhere. I couldn't resist and went outside for a walk! No more sewing just relax and enjoy the snow!

I took my little camera and my iPhone as well to take some pictures. It wasn't so cold but I forgot to bring my hat so after a few minutes my hair was a bit wet.

I came back home to pick up my fancy hat because my head was feeling a bit cold. Then I went around my small neighborhood taking some more pictures.

All the trees outside my house are naked. No more colorful leaves! Just beautiful shades of gray!

At the other side of my house is a farm with a lot of horses! During winter the owner covers them with a jacket ( they look so cute ) and at 4:00 PM they take the horses inside the farm and tuck'em in, nighty night!. Every day in the morning when we are eating breakfast we see when they bringe the horses outside one by one. They are beautiful!

I didn't realize that across my street was a little pine tree. I noticed today when I was taking this picture. This area has a lot of pine trees everywhere and they are huge. This one is still a baby!

White thoughts in my dreams,
white rain touching my skin,
white drops falling from the sky
white snow trough my black eyes.

Lolo Sinclair!

Labor pains!

2010-11-09T17:45:00.013-05:00

Cute skull brooches by Me!

Don't be scared! :-))))
You will love them!
They are really sweet!!

Busy, busy making new stuff! Working with some recycled craft felt, stuffing, embroidery thread and my crazy imagination giving birth to...

... some cute and unique brooches. They are small and sooooooo sweet!

I really love to make them. My obsession for the moment and also my relaxation I think !

The Birth!

They are inside!

OMG!
HELP!
They are coming out!

Push, push, push!

Yeah! It's almost done!
Be strong!
You can do it!

They are so sweet!
They look like their father!
I'm so proud of you!
You made it!

Hope you enjoy the birth of my new children.
They are ready to go to a new home.
They are well educated, gentlemanly, funny and sooooo sweet!

Lulu my new bird!!!

2010-10-26T15:13:00.017-04:00

Lulu!

"Lulu the lovely pink bird flying to find her new sweet home "

Lulu loves to be near the window, looking at the sky and listening to you. She is really quiet and a special friend to talk to! You will love her!

Next to the window, looking at the sky!

I created Lulu some weeks ago using some Eco friendly, recycled craft felt!

I was sitting in front of my desk before I went to bed, thinking about what else could I create. So the idea came to me to make some birds. Cute little birdies to decorate your special space in your home, studio, etc, etc.

That night Lulu was born. A cute little bird in pink!

I drew the shape of the body in a piece of paper to make the pattern. It's tiny!

Making another Lulu in purple!

I cut the shape using my new pattern in a little piece of craft felt. I cut out a little circle in the head and at the back I put a piece of white felt to create the big eyes. I hand embroidered the little Lulu using different kind of embroidery threads. For the legs I used craft wire. It wasn't easy to make them. After trying bending the wire a couple of times I got it the way I wanted it.

So that way my new cute little bird could land!

Now I'm making more Lulu's in different colors, like the pictures above!

I hope you like my new design. She is ready to go to your home. Available in my cute store!

Taking a little fly and resting at a big stone outside my door!

Sitting next to me, hearing what I'm saying to her!

Lulu!

Together Forever!

2010-10-22T16:30:00.024-04:00

Lolo Sinclair

"We can not split after dead so we have to continue staying "Together Forever" ha, ha, ha!"

Inspiration to create this piece came from the famous Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada and mexican sugar skulls. Posada had a special humor about skeletons and so do I... I think!

This piece was published in "Cloth Paper and Scissors Magazine" 2010, issue #32, September/October.

"Together Forever" was made using wood, Apoxie® Clay, paper, wire, fabric, felt and metal. The heads were created with recycled craft felt that I hand embroidered. The hat is a beer cap that was burned and stamped, and the veil was made with acrylic- painted tulle. The tree is a natural branch and the base is made of steel nails and Apoxie clay.

Published in a Magazine! September/October 2010!

I was so happy when the editor of the magazine sent me an email telling me that my piece was selected to be published for the next issue. I couldn't believe it! I was in Heaven again!!

I made this piece thinking about me and my husband. We are a crazy couple!! The inspiration to make this piece how I said before came from Posada and my husband as well. He is a Mexican artist and he has a special kind of humor about dead and skeletons.

So this unique piece are Me and Him together forever. You can't run away from me baby! Te jodiste, jajajaja!

I like to take pictures about my work and the whole process as well and I also love to share it with You. So lets get started!! No more words!

Enjoy the long journey and don't be scared!

Cutting the pattern!

Embroidered the eyes!

Almost done with the face!

The first idea that I got to make the body ( bones ) was using some wire and soldering the pieces together. I thought It was a piece of cake to do this. I was wrong!! I couldn't do it!! I'm not soldering ( stained glass ) any more so I lost my powers. I felt depressed!! I just wanted to cry! The only thing that I got that day was thousands of mosquito bites because I was working outside to avoid the fumes!

Fracaso!
Failure!

So after my depression my dear husband gave me a wise idea. He told me to use Apoxie clay to make the bones. And this is was I did!

Bones!

Skeletons!

Making the veil!

Adding some vintage color!

Finished Veil !

Te Amo cap hat!

Making and painting the flowers!

Sewing the veil to the head of the bride!

Gluing the bottle cap to the head of the groom!

Branches from outside my house!

Making the base of the tree!

Painting the base of the tree!

Close up of the couple!

Together Forever
Ha ha ha!
My Husband and Me!

Hope you enjoy the long journey just as I did. It was an excited process where I learned a lot of new things.

Recycled shoe bag!

2010-10-08T19:05:00.015-04:00

Recycled bag using some old T-shirts

Last week I was busy making a new bag for my daughter. She needed a new one to put her tennis shoes inside to take to school for PE. So after thinking about what kind of fabric I had to use I looked at my stash of recycled cloth that I have in my new closet.

I selected some of my daughter's old T-shirts in white, pink and light blue.

Old T-shirts!

The T-shirt that I selected to be the main fabric was a pink solid color and a little bit boring so I decided to adorn it with some letters, butterflies that I cut it out from the same fabric. The bag needed to have something fun on it!

Sewing the letters to the fabric!

The result was pretty good. The letters and the butterflies looked beautiful and the most important think is that the customer ( my daughter ) was satisfied with the result.

My unique decoration for the front!

After I finished the bag she put her shoes inside and carried it the next day for PE. Her new friends loved her new and unique shoes bag.

It was really fun to make this bag using recycled T-shirts. It was my first project of that kind ever! Of course that I had some little problems when I started making it, like always. Next time I will make a really simple tutorial to show you how to make something like that.

Shoes inside the bag!

Another view of the bag!

Closing the bag with the shoes inside!

Rolling the bag to put it away !

Hope you like my new creation.

Going, going, ...GO!

2010-09-22T20:38:00.001-04:00

My house in Gainesville before we moved!

It took me more than two months to login again into my blog. I have so many things to share that I have no idea how to start. Lot of things are going on in my head! New life, new ideas, new satisfactions, new people, new, new, new... Everything is new right now in my life!

I moved almost two months ago from Gainesville, Florida. It was a new and stressful experience for all of us. To pack your whole house by yourself was to much for me. I was really destroyed! Thanks God that I have a wonderful husband that supports me so much and helps me all the time when I need something.

Thousand of boxes were everywhere!

We had a very bad experience with the company we hired to move our things to our new location. To start they broke a special, beautiful and antique vase while they were putting our stuff into the truck. They didn't care and they didn't even say " Sorry ". I was completely pissed off at that moment.

Another view of the messy living room!

At the end of the day they told us to leave some of our belongings there because they could not put more stuff inside the truck. Can you believe this? We hired a huge truck! Those guys didn't know how to accommodate all the boxes and we had to rent a small U-Haul to put the remaining stuff that they couldn't fit inside the huge truck. Unbelievable!! It was a nightmare!

view towards the kitchen!

Then another nightmare. When the truck arrived to our new house we realized that our belongings were in another truck. Meaning they took all our stuff out of one and put in into another without any care or reason. Boxes labeled "very fragile" ended up under heavy book boxes or crates! Since we were not present during this change they broke many things including furniture, antiques etc. I need to say that it was all perfectly packed, we have moved from country to country and never lost one thing. They even managed to break some furniture, factory packed from IKEA!. And who covered those loses? No one, because the company washed their hands and demanded pictures of every item before and after, something obviously impossible. And then they would pay .60 cents per pound lost!!!
Worst experience ever!

Arriving at our new house!

We are now living in upstate New York. We are 10 minutes away from Ithaca in a little town called Brooktondale. The view is amazing! The landscape is wonderful. I am so happy to be here. The trees right now are changing color. After almost 8 years I have the happiness to see the seasons again. Autumn is beautiful in an area like this. We are so excited about winter. I know it's going to be cold but I don't care. I love cold weather. I come from a cold city at the end of the world. I lived in Europe, Munich, New York City and now here! New life, new thoughts!

Ithaca!

One of the many waterfalls in the area!

Another Waterfall!

Patchwork blankets II

2010-07-07T19:01:00.014-04:00

My pile of knitting squares!

I got my last packages of crocheted and knitted squares from two fantastic Etsy sellers.

Thank you so much for your help, kindness and generosity.

They will soon be in my country to help earthquake affected people get warm in the cold weather in the South. If you don't already know about the beautiful cause called "frazada solidaria" (solidarity blanket) I invite you to read my article about it.

The first squares that I sent to Chile were already sewn together to create more blankets.

Check out this link with some pictures about the sewing process in Chile. Link

Let me share with you some pictures about the beautiful squares that I got!

Squares going to Chile! Yuppie!

unflappableproducts

unflappableproducts

aemcdraw

aemcdraw

Next are my squares. This time I knitted them because for me it's faster than crochet. I'm trying to use different kinds of yarn that I have in my house. Hope they like them! They are made with a lot of patience an dedication!

Lolos

Lolos

Thank you so much!

Love Waves and More...

2010-06-19T20:08:00.020-04:00

New Collection!

For a couple of weeks I was really busy working on a new kind of pleats and more. It took me more hours that I thought to create my new collection. By now I'm pretty good!

I'm working with linen. Plain and bright! To pleat them takes some time and patience as well but that is what I have when I'm doing what I love.

They are also quilted inside! Soft and cozy!

I called them "Love Waves " because when my husband saw the design he said: Waves!

He was right! The pleats are like waves and I didn't realize it until he told me. It is really helpful to have a husband like mine, hahaha! Creative mind!

Love Waves in dark pansy purple!

Love Waves in hot pink!

Love Waves in turquoise!

But these pouches were not the only thing that I was making. I also made some new checkbook covers. Specially one inspired by the "South Africa World Cup 2010". Check it out!

Goooooooooooooool!
Checkbook cover!

This year the Chilean team was selected to participate in South Africa 2010! Awesome! We were absent from the World Cup for many years but now we are there, fighting to try to get to the next round. I'm crossing all my fingers!

I know it is just a game but we as Latinos love it. It is our traditional sport. We play it everywhere.

Red, blue and white the colors of my team! Go Chile! Viva la Roja!

The other checkbook covers that I made are funny, unique and cool skulls. I enjoy so much making them. I'm going crazy all the time when I have the time to make them.

The Hippie Skull with colorful hair!

The Hippie Skull in Black with turquoise hair!

Now I'm busy making some new iPhone cases for the new thinner iPhone. I hope to finish them soon. I will post some nice pictures about the process and the final result as well. See you soon!

Father's Day Blues With The Etsy Latino Team

2010-06-08T18:09:00.009-04:00

Papá Checkbook cover!

I'm so happy!!

The article that I wrote with my dear friend BululuStudio about Father's Day was published today on Etsy " Storque Blog". Hooray!

I wanted to write something different about this special day. Check it out! It's a funny story!

-------------------------------
The mere mention of Father's Day gives me the cramps!. Any other "day", Mother's, Teacher's, Secretaries or Valentines have very well defined shopping targets. Well, that is what all these days are all about right? I know, I know, you are supposed to recognize and celebrate the great deeds or fumbles of all the creatures that procreate, regulate, control and coerce you. And how do you do that? very easy. Mother likes to be taken to The Steak House at the end of a day that must include, breakfast in bed, no yoga, a trip to the spa with nails, hair and soothing massage. Done, easy.

Nice teachers get scented candles for some reason. I guess unconsciously we imagine them in a sort of altar where we worship them and ask for their favors (usually A's). Nasty teachers get scented candles as well. We hope somehow they catch fire and return to Hell where they come from.

Secretaries, we all know, get chocolates, usually the big box so we can also eat our favorites.The important thing in all these cases as we know, is that we do it first thing in the morning before the "other", otherwise we lose points.

Valentine's day is a cinch. First of all a card, always a card, the funnier the better. The good thing about this one is that there are so many options including forgetting it, which will bring catastrophic results including psychological torture among others. Otherwise get a mylar balloon, some flowers and a little Tchochke if you remember their particular obsessions; is it frogs or dinosaurs? elephants or bumblebees? make sure you check beforehand. If you are like me, you are sure to have many of these plastic souvenirs that you collect in fairs, conventions and such. The important thing is the significance of the gesture, or so we are told. So far it has always worked.

But Father's Day? I shudder... The memory of socks and ties, even underpants or suspenders that my mom gave my dad as presents, forcing his otherwise gentle smile into a grimace as he had to fake the emotion of being remembered as a sock wearer has always managed to give me a bowel movement.

My circle of girlfriends see no problem in buying their father yet another barbecue themed apron, a Gator beer holder or a pair of purple sleepers. Not me, not ever. I agonize for at least a couple of weeks before this dreaded date, lose my concentration and gain weight as I wander aimlessly across the mall, knowing quite well that there is no chance I will find something that he would be interested in.

But wait, what about Etsy? that's it! where else can you find something unique that really surprises him? something unexpected? I feel better now, my anxiety is gone...Happy Father's Day!!!
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I invite you to visit the Storque and to take a look at the whole article. Don't forget to leave some comments as well! See you there!

Pachamama!

2010-06-04T16:58:00.032-04:00

"Pachamama"

She needs protection, she needs love... she needs you!

This recycled material art-doll was inspirited by what I found inside my trash-can and inside my house. It represents Our Mother Earth (Pachamama in the Quechua language of the Andes) beautiful and fragile, carrying between her arms the hope of a new life. She also carries with her all the trash that we, as humans have so carelessly made our trademark.

My trash-can!

Wow... It took me a month to try to publish this post about my art doll. I was really busy trying to solve a lot of ideas and personal stuff as well. So today I just decided to take some free time to seat in front of my computer and write down this story and take care of my blog that I love so much.

Let me start from the beginning. In December 2009 I sent this doll to a well known art and craft magazine. I entered a Challenge called "Mother Earth ". One day before Christmas night I got the news that my doll was selected to be published together with a few other artists work to represent " Mother Earth ". It was the best Christmas present ever!

I was so happy when I read my email that you have no idea. I started shouting and running like a crazy cat in my house. But hours before I read the email I was completely depressed. Suffering and questioning my whole life.

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine!
Me!

I was in heaven! And I'm still in heaven because I will be published again with another art doll. But I let you know later about it. Stay tuned!

So now it's time to show you my process and how I made the doll and what I used to make it!. But first I have to warn you because my post it's going to be long with a lot of pictures. I love to share every step about my creations. Maybe you can get inspired! Let me know!

Ready for the journey? Here we go!

All the materials that I used to create this doll are recycled.

Drawing the face in a little piece of muslin fabric using some color pencil and ink.

Sewing the face using some black embroidery thread.

Adding some polyester stuffing to the face.

She's ready to get some nice hair!

She got some yarn, fabric, thread and burlap as hair.

For the body she got a wine cork, black hair pins for the legs and copper wire for the arms.

Making the dress!

Sewing the dress!

Writing some words using my vintage typewriter!

Sewing the words to the dress!

Using some vintage ink to stain the little pieces of paper.

Making the shoes and sewing them to the hair pins.
Aren't they cute?

Painting the trash-bag using some acrylic colors.

Trash-bag full with our waste.

Making the base and adding some white artist gesso.

Base painted with acrylic paint!

Drawing the Baby!

Sewing the Baby!

Wrapping the Baby!

Pachamama and the baby!

Another view!

"Pachamama"
Handmade by Lolo Sinclair 2010

Reusing your leftovers has unlimited potential. I'm making more little things for myself, my family and for selling as well. This is my small contribution to protect our lovely Pachamama for the next generation.

I hope you enjoyed my journey!