Skirt Project

Over the Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:57:00 +0000

My weekend did not start out very well.

It was a mess, much like this picture that I took after a project in art last week. I really have to watch the negative things that sit and fester in my heart. It takes such a toll on my well-being and spirit.

We went on a modern home tour this weekend. It was such a nice distraction to slip back into my life outside of school.

I sat in a big chair!

At Victor Tangos.

I heard my favorite author/artist/observer Maira Kalman.

I hope to observe and make more this week.

This week I will make a choice: embrace the positive.

xoxo

Made Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:12:00 +0000

I made myself go to the gym tonight and put in my 10,000 steps.

I'm also keeping a food diary, which has been quite helpful and eye opening.

A Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:43:00 +0000

Today I made:

A morning cappuccino, even though I drink tea,

A corned beef sandwich, extremely yummy!

Yesterday's made was a parade for the Chinese New Year,

All that work for 10 minutes,

But, everyone in the hallways cheered!

Yay, Art Club! We MADE it!

Sunday's Sun Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Over the Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:38:00 +0000

Friday:

I glittered up my 'Fu' poster.

This funny exchange from Friday made me laugh...

Mom: So, how do you spell Fu? F-U?

Me: Well, F-U too!

Saturday:

I tutored students at school for four hours, so I made a difference.

Here are a few things that made me happy:

A birthday gift, wrapped with pretty paper.

I spotted this heart on my way to China Town in Richardson...

We ate at the V-Spot on Henderson.

It was Vvvvvvvvery good.

Sunday:
It was a beautiful sunny day in Dallas. A perfect day to make sun prints!

A project in the making, on a Madewell shopping bag, no less!

We made some changes in the bedroom:

Curtains!

Then I did my Sunday chores:

I made a grocery list, lesson plans for the week and I did laundry.

I need another day...

mugs

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:46:00 +0000

Today, I made myself get out of bed this morning at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym.

The back of this mug says, "I don't do mornings." Which is sort of true. Jon would say that anyway. Sometimes he calls me Oscarina.

A few days before my birthday, I was washing one of the two mugs that we owned, just wishing I had a few more. I didn't share this sentiment and I didn't see the need to buy more. I figured I would just make do. But, thanks to three birthday presents, I don't have to make do! My mom gave me the Oscar the Grouch mug. I guess she doesn't think I'm a morning person either.

This pair of mugs is for Jon and I:

One is a Capricorn with whiskers and the other is a Taurus.

I love this last mug:

It reminds me of New Year's Day brunch with friends where Jon and I mustached mugged for the camera.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Back to Work...

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:23:00 +0000

Today I made a Kandinsky square as an example for my kindergarten class.

Some students from Art Club working on the Abraham Lincoln Mural.

Art Club's making progress on the dragon!

The students came up with the design, the dragon has gold teeth and everything!

It's really coming along.

Work Day

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:25:00 +0000

Today was a work day, and I was afraid that the only thing that I was going to make today were lists. But as it turned out, my lists took me to the party store where the rainbow colors inspired me...

Tonight, while watching television I made my valentines!

Hamburger Valentines! I'm in LOVE!

Between shows we ran to Yumilicious, where I made this:

Banana brûlée and avacado swirl with Mochi and Captain Crunch.

Over My Birthday Weekend, I Made

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:23:00 +0000

A to do list and a grocery list:

A deposit:

Hard boiled eggs for my diet, (more on that later):

Baked sweet potato with nothing on it, (also for my diet):

A pie party for my birthday!

The three pies included - a no sugar apple crumb, a chocolate meringue pie all the way from Paris, Texas and a frozen key lime pie, (ours came from Central Market and did not cost $69.99). 2012 is the year of pie, (more on that later.)

A reservation at The Grape for my birthday dinner:

I ate the 2009 Best Burger in Texas, and also a free birthday dessert - a tricked out sundae with candied bacon on top!

It was a great weekend, I hope to post more pics and tidbits about it all later this week.

2012 is going to be a great year.

Life is good.

Paris...

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:33:00 +0000

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. I'm telling myself that's the reason I didn't post.
Yesterday, we made our way to Paris, Texas, just as we did two and a half years before.

Not much has changed. This sign has faded with time and the Texas sun.

Still the same...

This is new!

I didn't realize that Paris, Texas was more than 150 years old. I think that is amazing for these parts.

We were in Paris to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Sam Bell Maxey House.

Built in 1868, this house has been closed due to exterior renovations. Jon worked on some of the elevations for the house. We had just started dating when he started to work on the project.

Learn more about Sam Bell Maxey and the house, here.

Bubbles

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:18:00 +0000

Made today, during a faculty meeting:

Made today, after the faculty meeting:

Hendrick's Gin and Dry Cucumber Soda.

Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:46:00 +0000

The dragon is coming along. We made progress.

The second mural is coming along. Making progress.

This made my day:

Jon is home today. That makes everything AWESOME!

xoxo

Seeing Red

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:05:00 +0000

I know, it's an extreme red edit. I like it that way.

The dragon has been covered with red paper, thanks to the glue mixture that I made today.

I don't really know what I'm doing, only that this mixture (50% glue and 50% water), has worked for me in the past. The structure is pretty weak, and the art paste made the surface puffy and kind of squishy. It's not bad, it adds volume quite nicely. It's just that the dragon needs a harder, stronger surface.

Jon comes home tomorrow, I really need his help and input with this...

I made more colors for another project:

I made 31 Chinese lanterns:

My students did all the decorating of course.

I made this crayon resist 'fu' poster, on the fly for two classes.

The activity went much better than planned. (!)

I pieced this mural together yesterday. Tuesday's Art Club touched him up.

I made some pieces for another mural, along with Tuesday's Art Club:

I hope it will get 'made' tomorrow.

I Made this Last Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:09:00 +0000

Besides the tea, I am drinking, I also made something at school today, but I forgot to document it. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow.

So, while I go and start my laundry, why don't you go ahead and check out this video that I helped produce last year.

School Zone Dallas Presents: John F. Kennedy Learning Center (EXTENDED VERSION) from Dallas Independent School Dist on Vimeo.

This is the shorter version, even though it says it's the extended version. Also, I'm not sure that "produce" is the right word. However, I did write the script, take care of all the details and even make an appearance in 0:50 in a SKIRT!

Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:02:00 +0000

Pictures I worked on this past summer.

This weekend I made plans to...

~~keep myself busy while Jon is away in China on business~~

~~meet my students at the Dallas Museum of Art~~

make a wedding binder full of ideas

eat better

join a co-op

exercise more

do laundry

~~teach elementary school art this week~~

~~get more sleep~~

Art Paste

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Today I made Art Paste, or methyl cellulose paste. Read more about it here.

It seemed to work pretty good. The kids really liked the gooey texture. They may have liked it a little too much, because our dragon head was starting to loose shape from too much pressure and too many hands on the structure.

Some parts look better than others on the surface, but only time will tell. I will have to check its' hardness and structure and report back on Monday.

Tonight, I also made a choice not to say hello to an old friend. We have not spoken to each other in years. We were good friends a few years ago, and I really valued her friendship, but we were in different places and grew apart. I might have made a decision to push her away. She was very kind and a great friend, we just had different beliefs and made different lifestyle choices. Anyway, my heart skipped a beat when she walked into the restaurant, which BTW, is TINY. Somehow she did not notice me. She was with someone, looked great and looked happy. That was enough for me. I am sure too much time has passed for anything that I say to make a difference and for us to be friends again, but I feel like I had closure tonight. I am happy she is happy. Growing up is so hard sometimes.

Lessons learned today:

Maybe 15 kids is too many when working on ONE papier-mâché project
It is not necessary to say hello to everyone that I used to know
The steamed sea bass at Asian Mint is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !

Hacer = to make

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:23:00 +0000

I made a purchase today - I bought another card reader. Tuesday's post and Wednesday's post now have pictures and a little more text.

I made myself up, i.e. I put on make-up, because when you look good, you feel good! So what if it was in the middle of the day? One of my fifth grade boys asked me if I were mad. "No. I'm just not wearing make-up." Lesson learned.

I was evaluated today. I think it went well... the lesson was about Chinese New Year decorations.

I made a PowerPoint about this man...

(Photo credit: N/A)

I made a collage from the J.Crew January catalog while watching Project Runway All Stars.

Did you know J.Crew has a blog? Where have I been?

Shades of Gray

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:18:00 +0000

*This post was updated with pics taken from the original date on 1/5/2012.

Well, I don't have my card reader anymore. It's late and I'm tired. If I get a card reader tomorrow, I'll post pics for yesterday and today.

Today, I made three pictures of the solar system as a demonstration for my classes using a crayon resist technique. The kids think it's AMAZING to wipe paint off their picture and reveal the colors below. I immediately tore up my examples, because I have learned that children will copy your picture, and it also helps them loosen up - not to be so hard on themselves and just have fun.

1st grade example. Don't you like her girl astronaut in the rocket ship?

5th grade example.

With the help of my Art Club, we made a frame for our Chinese dragon head using chicken wire and a pizza box. I have never done this before.

And,
I mixed 18 containers of paint for an upcoming project, therefore I made light blue, (or baby blue as the kids call it),

Marbled paint always reminds me of Rome.

Gray, light gray (baby gray, J/K! Couldn't resist), and dark gray.

Kind of reminds me of the phases of the moon.

Now I need to buy some more white paint.

Made It

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:29:00 +0000

Today I made it to two, TWO(!) going away parties.

Good-bye N.M. Love, Steph.

Skirt shot at Cosmo's.

Tuesday's Art Club made...

A dragon head sketch.

Make Someone Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Last night, I made some birthday cards,

Sorry for the terrible picture quality.
Therefore, today I made someone happy.

It was back to work today, which was both good and bad.

I made some missing pieces from my classroom calendar.

I made some plans (lessons) for this week and the month of January.

Today, I made...

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:54:00 +0000

Today, I made tea,

I made a mess,

(Italian black ink stains my hands as I type this post.)

And I made up my mind for 2012:

Inspired by Elise Blaha and this post, I decided on a word to guide me through 2012.

I love the romantic notion of New Year's Day. It's a chance to to reflect, revel in traditions and start anew.

Reflection of 2011: It wasn't such a bad year, I ...

got engaged at Walter de Maria's Lightning Field,
traveled to a new city - Seattle
traveled to New York, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio, Maryland, New Haven, and Albuquerque
stayed at a job longer than one year
stayed at a residence longer than one year

Revel in tradition: This New Years' traditions included:

12 grapes at midnight
Doughnuts
Black eyed peas
Champagne wishes and ceviche dreams
Family and friends
Mustaches

Start Anew...

I fell off the blogging bandwagon, so here we go again. I miss it! I blame my absence on work, but to be truthful, I stopped blogging because I am not sure what I have in mind for this blog space of mine.

"We'll see..."

That's something I find myself saying a lot these days, and it's the truth. I have some idea of what I want for my life, but I have to find the courage to say it out loud. I love my blog for the space to create and share. And so we shall see what will happen in 2012. I am excited.

To Post or to Clean... That is the Question.

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:56:00 +0000

The past two days have brought on the following excitement:

The bird
Lessons with colors and lines
Missoni for Target

Jon comes home tomorrow, so I must clean this house! I promise to catch up on these posts later this week, most likely Thursday night.

Have a great day!

Times Square, New York. May, 2011

Over the Weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:37:00 +0000

Blue and yellow - a nice color combination. Chicago. July 2011.

Jon, aka Mr. Wonderful, has been out of town on business this past week. He's in China, on his way to the Great Wall as I write this post. I miss him so much. But while he's been gone, I've spent more time with my girlfriends than I have in a long time, which has been amazing and so much fun! I'm going to make a point to hang out more with my female friends from now on. They're just too great not to.

I discovered that my camera cord is not communicating with my camera, so I am unable to upload any pictures from the weekend. I wanted to write about a skirt that I wore for Girls Night Out on Saturday, but the colorful photo from a trip to Chicago sums up my outfit. I'll save the skirt for another time.

In 2005 - 2006, I worked as an intern at the Dallas Museum of Art. There were nine of us; all working for peanuts, but following our dreams. I never would have thought that these ladies would be some of my very best friends six years later. Saturday, we got together to celebrate six years of friendship. We talked about the past, the present and the future. Six years later some of us are married, have children, have completed our Master's degrees, and have lived in foreign countries. Some still work in museums, some of us don't. These ladies are amazing - talented, intelligent and beautiful, and I am so lucky to know them. It was an impromptu get together, but we made a time capsule that we're supposed to open six years from now. How cool is that?

Sunday was September 11. I will never forget.

Poster graffiti. Brooklyn. May 2011

Nine. Ten. Eleven

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:33:00 +0000

This is how my pie turned out.

Nine. Ten. Eleven. Seems like a good date to start blogging again. I took a break with the intentions of coming back soon... But then soon turned into almost seven months.

I felt like I had nothing new or interesting to offer the world wide web. Maybe I still don't, but who cares?

I'll be honest, my old friend 'Self Doubt' came back to visit and stayed for a while. Working and coming back to Dallas, adjusting to life as it happens, just made me want to recoil and figure it all out.

But guess what? I still don't have it figured out, but my life is good and happy.

I am in very much in love.

I still take pictures with the same small camera.

I have a job that I love - it's different everyday and allows me to be creative.

I still make things.

I still travel.

I have great friends.

I have a loving family.

I have goals and projects that I am working on.

I still wear skirts.

I like my life,

And I want to write about it all right here.

A First

noreply@blogger.com (Lydia) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:25:00 +0000

While I've been healing, I've been reading my share of magazines. The inspiration for this post is the latest issue of Victoria, a magazine that I thought had gone under!

In the January/February issue there is an article, Peaks of Perfection, which is styled so scrumptiously and is totally on the topic of desserts with meringues. I have always been intrigued by meringues. They are so light and yet so dense at the same time. How and why is it like that? The best part is the way that it melts in your mouth. Mmmmm.

While I've always been intrigued, I've also been a bit petrified to make anything that has any inkling to be like meringue. I think I've filed the experience away in my brain as daunting, something that must be timed and perfectly produced, otherwise... disaster. Is this true?

I am about to find out. I am making a coconut cream pie, and to make a pie, one needs a crust.

This was my first crust from scratch, and hard work in my convalescing condition. Jon had to roll the last bit of thick dough for me.

I didn't have pie weights, so I had to improvise. A source on the internet recommended using beans or rice instead.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until golden brown.

A first!

Now comes the hard part, but I'm saving it for tomorrow.