::back+back+back::

little by little i plan to do some catching up around here. it's time to get back to blogging! or so i say. now that i've had a good long break from posting regularly, something inside of me is telling me it's the right time to share.

the last several months have been quite the whirlwind, between marrying, getting a new job, settling and recalibrating, blogging has taken a serious backseat.

to start things off, i wanted to share a bit more from our wedding. from the beginning i wanted to work with a neutral color palette. mister fm and i decided on gold, silver, bronze and copper. we collaborated on every bit of the printed aspects of our wedding. starting with the engagement party invite to the wedding celebration program. i decided i would create a paper quilt collage that would reflect our personalities and individual interests. from there we started with the engagement party invite, then the 'thank-you' notecard, wedding invite, rsvp card, and finally the wedding program, each piece building upon the last.

i am most proud of what we were able to create together. of course we'd had practice collaborating before, but this had more to do with us, together forever. so, i spent a whole lot of time looking at other wedding printed designs, inspired to create a custom refined look for our event. mister fm took my collage and sketches, defined them, adding the graphic minimal modern touches i was looking and hoping for. it was his idea to incorporate the (texas) stars, lightning bolt and cloud. i liked the idea of adding diamonds and "c" waves to frame the individual bits of information. i think we came up with something that we could live with and grow with and build upon. i have this feeling we'll be collaborating again soon. after all, every day this married life is about collaborating.

so, time flies and now we're here, four months in. this weekend i have been working on cleaning and reorganizing our living space. our apartment, combines our living and work space, which i prefer anyway, but it's a grand balancing act. since mr. fm has been at the annual aiga conference, i have been thinking about how to make our home a better place to rest and relax, create and work. i'm looking for spaces of serenity and for spaces that evoke creativity. so today, i'm going to look for some better organizational storage, and see what i can come up with.

we don't have any immediate plans to move, so i'm only interested in making our space livable, effective, efficient, warm and simple. for me, it is exciting to share the space, we have time to grow, there's no sense in hurrying through these early days in our marriage.

okay, so again, look for more updates. i want to give it 100%, that means lists, ideas, new art, new pictures, you name it, phantomcrimes is back!

welcome!

=wedding=if you know what i mean=

on saturday my bridesmaids hosted the loveliest d.i.y. shower for me at my mother's home. due to the severe weather we'd had last week, many of us still were without electricity on saturday. so we gathered in the brightness of the morning. it was the most precious time, almost unbelievable to me that in a month i'll be a married girl. we dubbed the shower theme as "the no power shower." there was coffee and pastries from the coffee shops, a homemade quiche', and some incredible pico de gallo made by mom's latino friends. the decorations, made by my sister suzanne and bestie katie and provided by my aunt cathy were amazing! from the red tissue paper flowers and centerpieces to the silver and gold velum flowers on twigs to the mexican party banners, all were so beautiful.

my dear sister's in laws made the invitation for shower and gathered the food and paper ware. the entire day came together in a spectacular fashion. it boosted my excitement and allowed me to see friends i don't often get to see. in other wedding news, we started to decoration making process now, which i'm excited to share soon. we also have our invites mailed, and my first dress fitting was last week. we'll start packing mister f.m. up, getting ready to move him into my apartment, which oughta be super fun fun. we've got a plan that i'm excited about and think will work for the immediate future.

i wanted to make a whole bunch of this garland for the wedding reception but decided against the many hours it would've taken. instead a chose a nice white paper garland from bake it pretty. i also got several stars from luna bazaar. they are huge, let me tell you! i had no idea, but they're absolutely gorgeous!

in other non-wedding related news.

my friend kvs and i are creating/making bags from my (she is sewing + i am advising or something like that) ::on the fence:: banner material. we're still working on 2-3 prototypes and other sorts of things but we'll be launching and selling limited edition pieces, so keep checking here for updates.

i am also planning on having a large art sale in the next week. I plan to post new art work on etsy and mark down prices. Please be sure to check in daily for new deals on new art work. i am ready to begin a new series of work and start a brand new commission piece as well.

art.a.ma.jig is right around the corner and a summer full of painting, collaborating with my brand new husband, bike riding and market shopping. these days are life, these days are like a sunny day. i have several more things i want to share but until then, enjoy!

+wedding+progress+

it's like this i guess, or so i have heard. that when a wedding is in the works life takes you for a ride. well. there's been progress and lots of it. i wish i had time to post all of the great things i have found along the way. the dresses, the suits, the bouquet, the cake, the venue, the engagement photos. i wish. i wish. i had more time in the day. except 4 bridges is right around the corner. best guess is that i'll be here more often after the greatest art fest of the year. until then...we went to a great little wedding expo and had some sweet little photos taken. i'm so excited!!! 60 days to go ;)

+engagment invite+

i have decided that i'm am going to share bits and pieces of my upcoming wedding with the world via my blog. it has been forever since i have written about anything much more outside of creating and making art. i cannot deny how excited i am, how thrilling these moments are, how fun it's been collaborating with fernando and celebrating with family and friends. it's just too awesome not to share a bit of all with my few and far between readers. those of you who still exist i hope you enjoy.

so to catch and get you caught up on all the most recent news...in a list form, which i love love love the most. here and briefly are the details as of today.

1. date of wedding - june 2011 - it's going to be an evening wedding, outside on a mountain

2. small wedding - 100 people on the guest list

3. engagement ring - includes a 100 year old diamond that was my great great grandmother's, she lived until she was 101, can you believe that?

4. dress found & ordered - i am so so so excited about this one!

5. engagement party this past weekend was incredible. our dear sweet friends threw us this amazing party. we had it at the chattanooga choo-choo in the victorian lounge. photographs coming! fernando and i collaborated on the engagement party invitation. i created the collage, as seen in previous blog post, he incorporated the invite text. being that fernando is originally from texas, we think stars are cool!

6. colors chosen - metallics here we come! can you say, "gold, silver, copper, and bronze"? cannot wait to show you all what we're going to be working on for decor.

7. i've chosen an etsy shop for the headdress/headband and grooms ring. cannot wait to show you all.

well for now that's about it. i have got a couple art project in progress too! woohoo!

.en.gage.ment.

this is the first phase, first layer of our engagement party invite. nano is working on the rest today. i cannot wait! i'll keep you posted as i've made more plans.

also working on commission and logo designs for couple of friends/clients. with christmas right around the corner, i'm taking a tiny break. what can i say...

::first solo show::color inspired

i'm gearing up for my first ever solo show, quickly approaching this friday december 3, 2010. i'm showing at leo handmade gallery, a fantastic shop offering local handmade "everything." i think i ought to blog more :)

clothesline + new art

hi folks! i spent the weekend at our clothesline art show and am just now catching up on things here. it has definitely been a minute. i have completed several new pieces. the piece pictured above is my above my newest. i haven't quite decided on a title, nothing seems to be hitting me right. i've got words and thoughts about this piece and what it felt like while making it, but nothing, as of yet, is coming to the surface. for now i have been calling it ::snow lightning trees:: i really have absolutely no idea why. it's rather a bother and not worth the fuss.

i am taking several of my new works to a photo lab this week, to shoot some higher quality images of them. after that i plan to update my etsy shop.

i have a holiday show coming up on november 13, two new canvases ready for paint and a solo show coming up in december. i rather doubt i am going to have much time to update but i will try as hard as i might.

i find that my life is changing, it always does but these days, life is directing me in ways i have never quite experienced before. where some things seemed at one time blurry, they are now becoming more clear to me, more in focus. goals i have been reaching for and working toward seem to be growing increasingly closer to achieving. i have these sneaking suspicions and have no idea what i am really suspecting. i think mostly i can see and hear and feel inspiring things, affirming words and sense some echoing truths about where and what i am supposed to be doing. and as fantastical as it may sound i sense all this through making my art, painting and drawing. just the idea of creating something has begun to lead me in ways i never really spent time imagining. and it isn't as if i've got a whole lot of time to spend contemplating these matters. i am still working a full time job, still making art as much as i can in the evenings, still reading as much as i can, still seeing the family and friends. additionally i've begun writing for a local online news source; chattarati.com. its a way for me to go and study art, review and critique, then put my thoughts down about what seems right and worthy. it is a completely new feeling of fulfillment i never would have cared to think about. now i feel like writing about art all of the time and hunt for the next opportunity to write about a new show or exhibit. i am not even sure i am all that good of a writer but it seems to me that having been given the opportunity in the first place, i might make the best of it. and it's delightful.

i never knew that experience could be added up and that by a certain point in time i'd find myself in a place of peace about the vast majority of things that never mattered in the fist place. and that's not just because life as i know it right now is or has been all that easy, it's just i feel i might be getting better at listening to myself, the inner self, i mean. and something about making art makes me feel like i can hear better. i believe that makes sense. for now at least and that is all that matters. i ought to wrap up here, the night and the book are calling my name now. sleep well.