メリークリスマス

My brother Dominick currently teaches English to elementary school students in Nagahama, Japan.  He is home for the holidays (it's been a year and a half since we've seen him) but before he left he took this awesome picture with his class wishing our mom a Merry Christmas.  It's just really way too cute.  My brother is the redheaded caucasian top and center, in case you were wondering :)

Beautiful Pharmacopoeia

19th century botanical illustrations are a rare and perhaps nearly forgotten display where science and the arts intertwine. We are all accustomed to the appreciation of full floral blossoms and buds whether they be printed, photographed, or carefully arranged in a vase for the sole purpose to aid in the visual appeal of our surroundings. The anatomical illustrations of various plant specimens, however, can be just as admirable and even a bit more interesting than the familiar allover pattern of roses.

Development of the pharmaceutical industry grew rapidly in the 19th century and banks of new information were published through advanced printing processes. This, in turn, created a new career for artists as botanical illustrators. Botanical illustrators worked in watercolor and consulted with scientists to depict the anatomy, color, and fine details of plant species which benefited the discovery of new medicines.

Medicinal plant specimen have been depicted since the beginning of human civilization, but the 19th century illustrators refined and developed the scientific visual aids into a unique and beautiful category of its own. I recently found some of these images on the Internet and printed 8x10 pictures and framed four of them in my bathroom. Of course the botanical illustrations I chose were not ones that are known for their poison extractions, but instead found beautiful depictions of "bathroom relevant specimen" such as aloe vera.

There is something quite interesting and beautiful about the illustration of the deconstructed flowering plants. Perhaps it's because an art so ancient still remains to look so modern.

The Go! Team

I love this damn video!

Now I Know

So this past holiday season I made about 100 crochet christmas ornaments which were sold at Funk and Standard Variety Store (my previous awesome employer). I wanted to give the ornies as gifts to friends and family as well, but I didn't have anything to wrap them in (being it was Christmas Eve and well.. I didn't really think it through). I grabbed the iPad and did a quick youtube search (gotta love it) and found this awesome "how-to make a box out of scrap paper" vid from etsy! How awesome? All it took was some construction paper and a pair of scissors (minimal cutting involved) and I had the perfect sized boxes to stash these little guys! So awesome! If you're feeling saucy you can even create your own print by using stamps, stencils, or whatever!

Here's the easy to follow vid-ya:



I also have this gem of a book "LOTTA PRINTS: How to Print Anything, From Potatoes to Linoleum" by Lotta Jansdotter. It even comes with stencils! YAY!

Crochet Olé

Recently I've been making chunky crochet throw blankets as gifts or as per request. I get the satisfaction of creating home decor but not having to spend months making anything too enormous (My killer gigantic Empress Blanket [WIP] will be posted in the near future). I normally start with a solid base color and then accent the piece with colorful borders and sew on some sort of floral appliqué. Here are two throws I made for my niece and sister over the past few months.

I used Lion Brand Yarn's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. I love this yarn because it's super-soft, warm, and has a super bulky weight. Perfect for a chilly night! The negatives?? It can get really expensive due to the quick use of yarn. That doesn't stop me because I plan on making another throw very soon... green??

New Etsy Store Coming Soon!

For customization inquiries please contact me: duffandlorelei@gmail.com

Where to begin...

I was raised in somewhat of a "crafty" family. My mother was an amazing cross-stitch artist, quilter, and sewer. Some of my fondest memories include either sitting by her while she worked on any given project, bringing me along to the folk craft fair, and accompanying her to the wallpaper store where I would sit and look at unique paper designs for what seemed like long peaceful hours. It was around this time where my obsession for things "DIY" began to blossom.

My Aunt Janet was also an amazing crafter and she had this awesome craft room where she would create her various house decorations and later sell them at craft fairs that I loved to tag-a-long. My Aunt Annie was my favorite amateur cartoon artist and she would create these hilarious custom-made coloring books with personalized titles such as: "Jessie Goes To The Beach" (1987) depicting my 6 yr old self having a blast with my siblings down in Seaside Heights.

My Grandma crocheted afghans for as long as I've known her. She'd sit on her couch and crochet beautiful afghans for everyone in the family. She would try to teach me how when I was little, but it didn't really catch on. When my Grandma passed away in 2005, I was heartbroken. It was then I picked up Debbie Stoller's Stitch' N' Bitch Knit & Crochet books and taught myself the craft that my Grandmother loved so much. I became hooked (pun intended).

I never thought myself to be dedicated to one particular hobby. As far back as I can remember, I've always been the girl to save little pieces of paper, collect markers, stamps, and pretty fabric. I would also draw crazy little comics, reconstruct tired clothing, experiment with photos, audio, and video arts (pre-digital era). I can say I never really grew out of this and my collection of art & craft supplies and projects grew over the years. At first I would usually just store them in my collection of wine crates and take them out to look at once in a while. On occasion, I would make something whether it be just for fun or if I was desperate to make a last minute gift for a friend.

This little memoir of my delight in DIY, makes me want to express how important it is to never lose your creativity. The unique skills our ancestors possessed are fading away due to the fast-paced capitalistic-digital world we were born into and we all have to look a little more carefully to find inspiration.

Duff & Lorelei is a little blog spot where I can actually share some of my inspiration and various projects (finished or tortured WIP [works in progress]).