Julianne

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REGENERATING DOORS

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Finally, the wedding celebrations are complete! So now I can focus on other goals, like seeing David Bowie and riding that elephant. No time to elaborate.

I was away in New Orleans for three wonderful weeks, and in the week since I returned to not-so-sunny California I’ve been turning out bike seats like crazy! I could post each one, but a bike seat is a bike seat (even if I am proud of all the different paintings) and I have made so many other little things. Same idea for the zipper masks. I make these constantly, but there are only so many new ways I can blog about them!

And yet:

pumpkin mask

The reception/vacation really messed up my timing for Halloween orders. Seriously. But I did manage to get a few masks done in time for costuming.

While I was in New Orleans I re-vamped the screen doors at a friend’s house in Abita Springs. Her house is a gorgeous woodsy paradise, filled with art and healing and lots of fun times. She had these doors custom made from an artist in New Mexico, but a few hurricanes left them looking a little drab.

Before:

painted doors before

After:

painted doors

I somehow neglected to get a front shot after the doors were finished. D’oh!

Instead of repainting and obliterating the original design, I decided to enhance what was already there and give it my own rainbow spin. I won’t get into it, but the color concept was inspired by Carl Sagan, cause he’s awesome and so am I.

painted doors

The left handle had been broken off in a hurricane and found years later in the garden!

painted doors

I didn’t see it when I was actually there, but now the big orange flower looks like boobs with red spiral nipples. Which is still awesome.

painted doors

First time signing a painting with my new name!

painted doors painted doors

painted doors

I’m very proud of how they turned out, and I love the opportunity to contribute my art to such a beautiful space.

This project reminded me of how much I love painting! I’ve been focusing on textiles so much over the past few years, and the paintings that I have done have been graciously commissioned, but I hadn’t just sat down and painted what I felt in a long time. I’ve got big plans for our big coffee table now; maybe next time Jason is out of town I will fill our living room with paint!

And also, I’ve gotten a ton of requests for a boot tutorial. I will do this someday, but first I must discover the right fabric, and then have the urge to make another pair of boots. I’m not going to rush it, because then I’ll be stuck with another time-consuming project that I’m not really passionate about. I’m so excited about all the great responses the shoes, and even more excited to share all the wedding projects soon.

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RAINBOW RIBBON BOOTS

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Well, time to being showing off the wedding clothes! The boots seem an appropriate place to start, seeing as I’ve posted about them a few times already (and half the comments on my Animal Collective tee were asking about the boots!).

rainbow ribbon boots at burning man

Black Rock City in the background! I totally love this picture Jason took.

rainbow ribbon boots

As soon as we got engaged, I planned on wearing some handmade Thai boots from Siamese Dream Design. And while I love my boots to death, they weren’t completely comfortable. I was fine wearing them all day, but so happy to take them off at night. I wanted something better, and might as well make it myself!

rainbow ribbon boots

I had made the base of the boot in 2011, the night before we left for Burning Man. And they rocked! I loved the gold, which wasn’t too shiny. I used a zip-top sneaker from Kmart at the base and glued the gold cover on with E6000. It’s held up with no problem, making that stuff the greatest glue ever. As I was making these boots at midnight the night before we left for Burning Man, there are no pictures!

This year I replaced the old, slightly too tight zipper with a fabulous teal and gold zipper. I used red upholstery thread (from my Grandma’s sewing room) and sewed it by hand. And then came the trim… I spent $50 at Lincoln Fabrics on all these beautiful ribbons and trims, and picked up a few other pieces at Fabric Planet. The fabrics and zippers were in my stash, but pretty much none of the trims.

rainbow ribbon boots rainbow ribbon boots rainbow ribbon boots rainbow ribbon boots

Most of it is sewn by machine, which made the decorating a breeze! Some of it is glued on. This time around, I switched to Beacon fabric glue. I’ve had great results on other projects, but it wasn’t tough enough to hold all the trim in place on the boots. Which isn’t to say that it’s a bad glue (it was much easier to work with and smell than E6000). I’ll be picking off the old glue and re-attaching the trim at the bottom of the boot, and hand-sewing the rest.

I lined the shaft of the boot with some cotton jersey I had left over from leggings, so they are comfortable to wear with short socks.

I wore the boots throughout the week. They were eye-catching and much remarked upon, but most importantly: they were always comfortable! And perfect for the wedding.

facing the future

Yes, this picture again! It’s one of my favorites! In fact, Blake transferred it onto a wooden board and it’s hanging up in our living room.

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TACHYON, THE SPACE RACCOON

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This was my big costume for Burning Man this year! Our friend Shawn teaches Bikram up in Santa Cruz and performed our wedding ceremony! But before all that, he told me that he wanted to be a Space Raccoon. A Space Raccoon is not a terrestrial raccoon that got put in a space shuttle; it is a different creature entirely!

Tachyon

In all his glory, chilling on the back of the Sensatron! Thanks to Blake for the perfect photo.

tachyon the space raccoon tachyon the space raccoon

Wouldn’t you love to find this guy digging through your garbage?

tachyon the space raccoon tachyon the space raccoon

Because the playa can get cold but Shawn is hot, I designed the costumes with layers. The base is a set of leggings and long-sleeve tee, both made out of silver lycra. If need be, he could wear a layer of thermals under the silver. I’ve used this silver for several other projects, and I love tying them together.

tachyon the space raccoon tachyon the space raccoon faux fur

Next comes the pants. I got this faux fur at Blue Moon in the Fabric District, and I love how the gray tips create a lot of depth as the fabric moves. Nice and trippy! He’s got the same silver elastic at the waist, and sometimes wears a pair of suspenders with the pants.

tachyon the space raccoon tachyon the space raccoon

The tail is made from a black faux fur that I spray painted. Once the tail was sewn and stuffed, I used blue painters’ tape to mark off stripes, and then just blasted it with silver spray paint. Way easier than sewing stripes, and I like the graffiti feel of the spray paint–very fitting for an alley rodent!

tachyon the space raccoon

What space rodent would be complete without a Chewbacca-style bandolier? Tachyon’s is made from a wide silver elastic with pockets, elastic loops, and D-rings sewn onto it.

tachyon the space raccoon

tachyon the space raccoon

My favorite element of the Tachyon suit is the star mask. Part bandit, part Bowie!

It was originally a flat star, and I added the center seam to shape the mask around the nose.

The whiskers are silver pipe cleaners inside plastic tube boning. The wire makes them posable while the plastic prevents them from getting bent out of shape.

The eye holes and outside edge and bound in silver fabric and black fold-over elastic.

The mask is held on by an adjustable bra-style strap. Since the attachment points are at the widest part of the star, at the temple, the bottom of the mask hangs free. Since the bottom isn’t molded, any wearer has full facial mobility.

Rev Taylor

Here’s Shawn performing his ministerial duties, courtesy of Aleck Gandell.

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