Previous month:
June 2008
Next month:
August 2008

July 2008

Necklace and Memories :)

Detalle_collar_copy

Collar_full_image_copy

Today I wanted to show you this necklace that I made about three years ago. I used to wear it almost everyday and then somehow I forgot about it. Yesterday I found it in my studio and I was so happy to see it again! It is amazing how objects can carry so many memories with them. Looking at this necklace made me go back in time and remember everything about 2005. I was so busy with baby Diego and Natalie but at the same time I needed to create something with my hands whenever I had a chance. That's how I started experimenting with translucent polymer clay and transfer paper. I made lots of pendants like the one in the pictures with tiny crystals that I took from old jewelry from the flea market. I wanted the pendants to look like ivory or some kind of old plastic material. I am wearing this necklace today and it makes me so happy :)

Have a wonderful day!
Elsita :)


New Pin Party!!!

1untitled1


223girl_bee_copy_3

1bigger_mushroom

8purple

2pink_mushroom


3girl

4orange_bee


5_bird


6ratoncito


12gatico_7


7_light


9turquesa

I am sooo excited about sharing my new pins with you!!!!
Each one of them was made with looooots of love and attention to detail. Making these pins is one of the most enjoyable experiences that I have had in the last weeks because they make me relax and have fun at the same time. Some of them are one-of-a-kind and some are tiny editions of 4 and from those 4 one will stay in my little felt jewelry collection! Yay!!

I hope that you enjoy them! They are already listed right here in my store.

Have a wonderful day and see you tomorrow!
Elsita :)


Family Connection.

Before we took our little vacation I was concerned about Diego missing a whole week of therapy. Each therapy is such an important thing for him. I was afraid that he was going to go back a little bit in his progress but at the same time I was sure that we all needed that week away from our intense routine.

How wrong I was about thinking that Diego was going to suffer from his lack of therapy! Bill and I were extremely surprised to see how it was completely the opposite. Being together as a family and enjoying the connection with each other was the best therapy ever for our little man (and for the rest of us too). In this photos you can see me giving Diego some leg massage. He falls down often because he is not so aware of his own body, his muscle tone is low but when we give him a leg massage he stays very quiet because he realizes that he has two legs and it feels wonderful.


2_diego_massage

The same thing happens with the people that we love. We sometimes get so used to them that we forget how wonderful is having them in our lives. This week-long vacation was something so important for all of us, we had the opportunity to reconnect with each other and to enjoy each others company every minute. Happiness has a lot to do with human connection and this is specially important for children. There is nothing that a child needs more than love and protection. That's why as a mother I try to give my children as much love and protection as I can. And the love that we get back from them is all I need to wake up everyday feeling that I have a huge reason to stay alive and strong.

I am so proud of being the mother of Mister little Diego and Mi Seniorita Princess Natalie :) What else can I ask for?

Here is your friend sharing these little feelings with you. Thank you so much for listening :)
Elsita :)


Back from the Moon!

Hello my friend!

Landscape

Looooong sigh now as we look at the landscape......................................
It's soooooo wonderful to visit another planet!
Far away from the land of Los Angeles City!

Casita_amarilla

We couldn't ask for a better vacation :)

Casita_oja

Imagine stopping and noticing something special around you with every step.
Like those tiny blue birds up there in the photos, they stay still while you take pictures of them next to their houses.

Caballo

Horses wearing sunglasses to keep the bugs away :0

Rio

In his explorations Bill found this quiet river...

Diego_rio_linda

Perfect for our little man El Diego, who wanted to stay there forever while Natalie and I went treasure hunting (little rocks, pieces of wood, etc.)

Florecitas

Hello wild flowers! We just love these little ones. They are such a gift from nature. I want to thank nature for wild flowers :) And also I want to thank my friend Margie for teaching me how to appreciate them :)

Papi_jugando

Playing and playing and playing!!!!!!!!!

Bill_playing_kids

And playing again with the kids! What could be more fun?!

Bill_armonica

Well, maybe some Harmonica concert in the woods by Billy-Billy with the enthusiastic audience of one adult and two children.

2girl_bee_copy

And then, some quiet time in the middle of nature for creating something with my hands. I am so grateful for this precious time spent with the family! Now that I am back I feel so strong and motivated to keep going. Today, as every Monday, will be very busy because Diego will go back to his intense therapies, Bill will go back to his busy job and Natalie is the luckiest one! She doesn't have to go to school until September!!! Yay!!! She will spend hours drawing, painting, cutting papers and just having fun. I want to be Natalie!

I hope that life is going well for you around this time. Things are never perfect but something is for sure: a good state of mind can make a huge difference! I say that from a scale of 1 to 10 we should keep our level of positivism around 11.5!!! Now I must go but I will be back tomorrow!

Have a great Monday!
Elsita :)


Elsita Reporting :)

You won't believe it!
Following the idea of my previous post: Yesterday in the afternoon Bill called me from his office to say that the premiere that we were supposed to attend was in August! (there was a mistake with the invitation) but we still had the option to go to the promotional screening of TROPIC THUNDER and I said LET'S GO FOR IT! I have to tell you, we laughed until our stomachs hurt. This will be the biggest comedy hit of the summer, directed by Ben Stiller and produced by Stuart Cornfeld. If you want to laugh and have a fun time don't miss this movie but be ready because it is outrageous! The casting is great and the biggest surprise in my opinion was Tom Cruise. I had no idea that he was going to be in this movie and then he suddenly appears playing this hilarious character that you could never imagine him playing.

And after this Hollywood experience we are ready for a little vacation with the family. We are going to disconnect from our daily routine for a week, no therapies for Diego (for the first time in 10 months) no work for Bill and I and no school for Natalie. We are going to the Moon in our magic rocket. Natalie will be attending an intergalactic art camp and Diego will take a brake from his busy life to do whatever he wants to do and this will more likely include lots or running all over the places with me chasing him. Bill will play his flute and I will try to relax whenever Diego is taking a nap.

I am tired my friend, to be honest, I need this brake a lot and I know that once I am back I will have lots of new energy to keep going. I have different exciting projects to finish (I will tell you about everything when I return) but before I take care of them I need to take care of myself and give my brain and body a little brake. I am planning to listen to the birds, sit down and do nothing, go for a walk, dance, sing...

I wish you many good things in the next days. I hope that you can also find a little space for relaxing and recharging the batteries :) I will be back here with you on Monday, July 28!!!!

Lots of love!
Elsita :)


Tonight!

Good morning my friend, just two lines to report that tonight Bill and I are going to the circus!!!!!
Or as they call it over here: A MOVIE PREMIERE :O I am so sorry about the irony, I must be punished by the Hollywood commission :() Bill got invited to this premiere where some famous people will show up and I will try to take a couple of pictures for you if I am allowed to. If not I will give you a report about the experience tomorrow anyway. I am sure that it's going to be fun :)
I don't know what I will be wearing yet but one thing is for sure: I won't leave the house without a handmade pin on and also I am planning to hide a camera in my big hair. JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!

I will be back tomorrow!
Elsita :)


WONDERFUL NEWS!!! BUENAS NOTICIAS!!!

Good morning my friend!
I have been dying to tell you about something wonderful that happened to my flower girls!!!!
First you can see some new characters that arrived in my botanical school and then I will tell you everything!

Odilia_copy

Madelaine

Tula_copy

Tula

Juanita_copy

Juanita

Amore_copy

Amore

Dorotea_copy

Dorotea

Luisa_copy

Juisa

Madelaine_copy_2


Odilia

Sandra_copy

Sandra

And now the story for you:

Someone very special, a lady that is a real human flower herself contacted me some time ago. She wanted to know if I I liked the idea of turning my flower girls into beautiful boxed notecards. YEEEES, I LOVE THE IDEA SOOO MUCH!!! That was my answer and after that we didn't stop working on this project. Rina works for a prestigious publishing company named teNeues that has branches in different countries and this is the company that is working on my notecards. They make top quality cards, calendars and beautiful books. The contract has been signed, the designers are doing their part now and one day not too far from now the cards will be available for everyone who likes them. I can't believe that my flower girls will be traveling all over the world, they are sooo lucky! They will be in different stores, museums etc.

And the presentation will be like this:

20 notecards, 4 each of 5 images
20 envelopes
Sturdy, re-useable box, great for storage
Measures 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches (14 x 19.1 x 3.8 cm)

Isn't that wonderful!!!!
Can you believe it? One day I followed Diego in his garden adventures, then he inspired me to make the flower girls and now they have a life on their own! I am celebrating this right now with a glass or orange juice!!! Yay!!!! And one thing is for sure, as soon as I get a few of these boxes I will have a giveaway right here in my blog because here is the place were they were found by Rina.

I am sooo happy to share this news with you today!!!!
And now let's keep having a great day and see you tomorrow!
Elsita :)


Winter Girl :)

Definitiva_copy

This girl was carrying a tree when some creatures from another planet came to see what she was doing. The girl said that she had to plant a snow tree in her backyard. Snow tree? Asked the creatures. Yes, replied the girl: what happens is that tomorrow when the summer arrives the heat is going to be impossible and all I will want to do is sit next to my snow tree and eat its ice cream fruits. ICE CREAM FRUITS! The creatures got all excited and even one of them jumped on the tree and tried to get an ice cream fruit. But the girl said: STOP little one! In order to eat these fruits you will need a bird mask like mine. They were disappointed but the girl said: Don't worry, I have a birdfriend who makes the best bird masks in town. Hurrah!!!! said the creatures!!!!
Next day the creatures got the masks, they ate the ice cream fruits and before they headed back to their planet the girl gave each one of them a small box with lots of snow tree seeds as a souvenir :)

The End!

This illustration is based on one of my biggest fantasies from when I was a little girl. I wanted to have an ice cream tree in my backyard. Cuba is such a hot country all year long, it becomes hard to function normally sometimes so anything related to ice, winter, refrigerators...was my obsession. My dream never came true :0 but just having its picture in my imagination made me tolerate the heat so much better :)

Now as an adult all I want is a magic miniature machine that I can hold in my hand and it takes me wherever I want to go. I just have to say the name of the location and a second later I arrive in the place! No car, no gas and no wasting time in traffic! Yay!!!

So little machine, take me to location #1 right now!!!! Let's go!!!!!
******************************************************

HELLO! This is Elsita reporting from location #1, just to let you know that I arrived safe and sound! :0

See you tomorrow!
Elsita :)

(I created this illustration for an independent magazine that is being published in Argentina, I will give you more details as soon as I get a copy of it :)


Embroidered Life :)

Good morning my friend!
Another Monday, a new day to go out and do a million things. Mondays are always very busy for me but that's completely OK.

Doblado_copy

Today I wanted to start the day showing you this beautiful treasure that my Sister in Law gave me for my birthday! If you could see this embroidery work in person you would love it, what a detailed work! Every stitch is made with so much care, it is just amazing.

Embroidery_horizontal_copy

This piece is pretty old but it looks like new. I was trying to visualize the person who made this exquisite masterpiece. I imagine her waking up in the morning and saying: OK, another Monday to work on my embroidery project, I only have one hundred years left to finish it so I better get my needle going!

Detail_1_copy

Life is just like an embroidery project, it takes lots of work and patience to make it. If you do a careful job and put lots of love in every stitch then the final result will be beautiful.

Flor_detail_copy

That's what I will be thinking about today :) In many years from now I want to look at my life and be proud of all the things that I did so I better go out and work on my life stitches right now!

Little_flower_detail_copy


Whatever we do today let's do it nicely!
And see you tomorrow!
Elsita :)


Join my Party! :)

Yay!!!
You are invited to my pin party!!!
I have been making these pins in the last days and I am enjoying them sooo much!

9_pins_copy

Blusas_copy

1pin_copy

2pin_copy

3pin_copy

4pin_copy

5pin_copy

6pin_copy

7_pin_copy

8pin_copy

9pin_copy

They are made out of 100% wool felt, buttons, sequins, thread, glass beads...and loooooots of love. These pins are already listed here on my Etsy store. Also, I wanted to let you know that I ordered some extra black stiffened felt for making more black and white pins because I run out of this material, as soon as I get the felt I will start making them :)

And guess what's going to happen this weekend! My five-year-old daughter Natalie is going to the beauty salon for the first time ever, for a professional haircut. And this was all Bill's idea! That's the place where he has been getting his haircut for years so he thought that it was a good idea to take Natalie over there. I have been cutting my hair and everybody's hair since I was a teenager. The only hair that I am not allowed to cut is my husband's! And that's OK with me but now I have one less client because I am sure that after this experience Natalie will want to keep going for the professional haircut! By the way, please say hi to your hair for me, in my opinion our hair is like another person apart from us, with its own personality and ways to behave, I have been drawing about this lately and I will be happy to show you the pictures in the future {:o

Now I should leave but first I want to wish you a great Friday and also a wonderful weekend!!!
See you on Monday!
Elsita :)