Schwartzframe

Here's the latest edition to my lair.  I think I'm going to do a glass matte. What do you think of the glitter/sequin gradient?

Precisely what I thought. Not enough glitter. I added more.

It goes without saying that meeting Robert Schwartzman was a glaring highlight of my year.

I don't think there is a song that he has written that I don't love. Really, I'm trying really hard to think of my least favourite song. I've got nothing. He's amazing. I asked him if I could give him a CD of my song "Out of the Blue" which contains a lyric with his name. He gladly accepted it and noted that the title reminded him of Electric Light Orchestra. *Sigh*

We took a picture together.

 And, then he played his set.

(Images via Leah LaPine)


The next day I tweeted that I finally got to see him in concert and can you believe he re-tweeted my tweet!

Whatever that means, but it sounds exciting and made this fan float cloud high.

Here's a little Rooney introduction track list for those who have yet to discover them. What I'll call their Essentials.

1. I'm Shakin'

2. I Can't Get Enough

3. When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

4. Love Me Or Leave Me

5. Popstars

6. Only Friend

7. Tell Me Soon

8. The Days Keep Going By

9. I Should Have Been After You

10. Losing All Control (My hands- down favourite song EVER...by them)

11. Stars and Stripes

12. Are You Afraid?

13. Daisy Duke

14. I Don't Understand

Then if you like those and can't get enough, you'll completely love Robert's side projects SOLOBOB and JR. His solo album, Double Capricorn can be found here. 

Somewhere In An Elevator

Jane Seymour as Elise McKenna in the cult classic film, Somewhere in Time.

I was recently in a play. My costume was a whispering, dove gray evening gown. Some said that it was not unlike something Elisa McKenna wore in 1912 at the Grand Hotel.

Therefore, I had to pay tribute to Somewhere in Time even if the photo was taken on the last day of the show... in a dingy elevator... with poor lighting.

It had to be done.

Thanks to Abby, I was able to have this shot.

Thanks, Abby!

For the record, the soundtrack to Somewhere in Time would most definitely grace my Top Ten Soundtracks of All Time (I should make that LaPine Design official.) Not only was it composed by John Barry (R.I.P.), it contains the ever exquisite "Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini" by Rachmaninov. You feel as if you are being transported to another time as it trickles on. I challenge you to name a more romantic soundtrack, if you dare! 

And, the poster design is quite timeless, if I may so.

Before I go, I must show you the "Back" Button from this great Somewhere in Time fan site. I know! How clever is that?!?

Janta's Workshop: Part 1

I rolled a lot of paper. I glued a lot of sequins. I burnt myself at least 2,000 times on the hot glue gun. You think I'd learn. I even sorted buttons according to colour with the help of my friends in one gruelling for them, pleasant for me evening.

Here are some of the results of our labor. Know that you are only able to see these ones because they have made it safely into the hands of their intended recipients. No surprises were spoiled in the posting of this blog.

My mother thought this was a funny looking picture. I thought it was nostalgic in nature not to mention cohesive with all the antique buttons.

Oh, and I made these for myself. One can only work with red sequins for so long before they get dorky ideas.

Stay posted for Part 2 of Janta's Workshop.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

April 14th, 2012

Why do I have to freak out in public when I see things like this? It's so embarrassing, but this was worth it.

So who else is looking forward to this?

What do you think of this version of the poster?

Compared to the original double sided poster...

I love that I actually have a very vivid memory of seeing this poster for the very first time in the fall of 1997.

I just was listening to a new artist I just discovered. Her name is Lauren Pritchard. And no lie, as I posted this picture, she sang the lyrics "the ship is going down and all I can do is stand and feel the water". Isn't that crazy!?!   It was in a great song called, "Not the Drinking" if you were curious. Check it out. It's worth your time, I promise.

Back to the posters. I own both of these and suppose I'll have to hunt down the new 3D version as well.  I wouldn't rest until I had a Titanic poster hanging in my room back in the day. I would say the new version is more traumatic and an actual still frame from the film. I know it's going to be a different audience than those that saw the film in 1997 which is hard to believe. I think this was even my first PG-13 movie and the first epic film that I saw in the theatres, It's so strange to think that this will be a brand new experience for anyone under the age of 14 or will it? Maybe most 13 years olds have already witnessed an epic. There have been many since. What was your first epic that you saw in the theatres?

There's still something very ominous about the older designs. I don't think the 3D poster needs to show one of the most climactic scenes. Afterall, there are still a few folks who have never seen this movie (Ahem, Dad) and will be waiting for that freeze frame (no pun intended). I really want to know what you think.

Speaking of posters, it pleased me to see that the Jane Eyre poster received acolades for being one of the best posters of 2011. Here, Here! I concur.

And these two posters weren't hard on the eyes either.

Any other poster lovers out there? Was there one you absolutely had to track down? To what extent did you go?

Where the Special Elves Work...

"Buddy the Elf--What's your favourite colour?"

There hasn't been time to blog with all the projects  that I've been making for friends and family this Christmas. I'll tell you more about those afterwards because I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Don't get too excited. They're mostly just buttons, glitter, and sequins glued to picture frames.

I don't think I was overly ambitious with these projects, but let's be honest--I had a few epic failures this holiday season.

Exhibit A:

I was determined to make this.

"This can't be too difficult--So I'm gonna make TWO! They only require 200 rolls of paper a piece--so 425 rolls should do it! Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy."

UGH! What they fail to tell you is that IT TAKES FOREVER!!!!  After 2 weeks I had only 43 rolls, and I hadn't even started coiling the rolls--which takes EVEN MORE TIME!!! "Why don't you just say it, I'm the worst toy maker in the world. I'm a cotton-headed ninny muggens."

I could have made a smaller bowl or maybe a tea candle votive, but that could be a fire hazard...and sad. 

I had to modify my plan. You'll get to see that later.

Exhibit B.

Saw this on Pinterest and loved it. She's like a Lady Lovely Locks.

You know, Lady Lovely Locks...from the 80's. I used to love these stories. I had the paper dolls. They were grand with their colourful tresses.

So, this look could be recreated using only oil pastels. "I'm listening."

Oil pastels- "I have oil pastels. I'm also feeling festive. I should attempt this."

I don't have a picture of the result. Trust me, you don't want to see it. It's heinous. Not only does it look like a bird ate a bunch of green sugar cookies and then crapped green poop on my head, only now am I starting to wonder if this will ever come out. Definitely something that I should have put into consideration before I started scribbling on my hair. 

I don't want to think about it, but oil paint would need turpentine.... UGH!

Ah, and how could we forget Exhibit C?

The Truffles.



 Who could be so caught up with making gifts and purchasing gifts and making lists that they forgot all about the chocolate and how they said that they were going to attempt to make truffles?

I guess, this girl.

Well, afterall, they're just truffles.

But this season means so much more.

How is it that we can get so distracted with everything else on our agendas and fail to remember the reason why we even celebrate.

I like what my good friend, Kris wrote in her family's annual Christmas letter.

Our letter would be empty and shallow if we did not confess that apart from Jesus we would not have survived this year. His provision, grace and love have sustained us through the best and worst of this year. Knowing He has a plan has steadied us through so much unknown and as we head into a new year we know that continuing to rest in Him is our only option. We hope you, too, find peace and joy from Him who works all things for our good and His glory.

If all else fails, I hope to get one thing right this Christmas.

May the birth of a Saviour bring you glad tidings of great joy!

Lace & Beaded Appliqués

http://kenziekate.blogspot.com/Makayla and I want to make these.

From kenziekate
We have been looking all over town for lace. Then I found these lace collars in the costume shop, but they aren't for sale.

 

Aren't they
beautiful?

I guess I could alway look on Etsy. They have quite the selection and they seem affordable.

It's still fun to search the local shops though.

Where would you begin your search?

Don't all these examples of lace remind you of Helga? You know, Helga?

Vintage Sequins from Diana Ross' Dress

On an ordinary Tuesday, blue oblong sequins were discovered on a very ordinary shelf in an ordinary antique store.

That ordinary event resulted in this pinecone ornament. I didn't intend to make a pinecone, but it definitely looks like one, doesn't it?

Though these sequins are heavy and very scuffed up, I love 'em! I was trying to imagine how old they could be.

Of course I will never learn the history of these inanimate objects,  but I'd like to think that they were once sewn on one of dresses worn by Diana Ross & The Supremes. I believed they performed at the Duluth Armory back in the day. (I don't know if that's a fact, but someone painted their silhouette on the building so that's only logical, right?)  There would always be three dresses of a kind to keep track of.  Maybe someone miscounted or one was accidentally left on the hook on the back of their dressing room door. By the time they discovered it was missing from their costume rack, they had performed a long list of shows in various cities. Fortunately a stage hand at the Armory discovered it, but he couldn't tell which of the Supremes it rightly belonged to. He tried to contact their manager, but to no avail.  Having no need for a glittering, midnight blue evening gown, the stage hand threw it into his trunk--out of site, and equally out of mind. Weeks later, when he saw Diana Ross & The Supremes perform on The Ed Sullivan Show while eating his cheap TV dinner, he remembered the neglected dress in his car. He thought, "This dress could actually be worth something, if these girls are on Ed Sullivan." He popped open the trunk and held the dress in his wind chapped hands. It had been sitting in a grease splotch and had started to unravel from the hem, making the sequins rapidly drop onto the icy drive way. He thought, "Who would want such a delapidated gown anymore?" Still he kept it just in case. In the 1987 one of his grand children  finally cut it into pieces, conceding that they could salvage the metal tear drops at least. They poured the sequins into a Maxwell House coffee tin for safe keeping. After the estate sale, the coffee tin made its way to the antique store on Superior Street where I bought them for only two dollars.

Who's to say that is totally unlikely? It could have happened.

 After the pinecone ornament, it felt only right to add them to this frame which I picked up at a rummage sale for a quarter this summer. The frame was orignally gold. I peacocked it. Yes. I just made that noun a verb. Trust me, it will never catch on.

What do you think? I even painted a piece of resin wallpaper behind the frame to create a shadow box effect and added some green velvet ribbon and a peacock feather. Next I want to try to make a mermaid tail of some sort with these sequins. They're just too beautiful to sit in a coffee tin for another 30 years.

Debbie Reynolds Auction

 I often daydream about visiting exhibits with Hollywood costumes on display. I sure lead an adventurous life.

When I saw that a portion of Debbie Reynolds' collection was being auctioned, I was anxious to view the catalog in flash. I managed to only take these screen shots before feeling that I could just post the link. (Now I wish I would have taken a screen shot of every page--Total hoarder mentality.)

A few of the gowns were once worn by the likes of Judy Garland, Vera Ellen, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor, and Miss Debbie Reynolds, of course.

I saw The Glass Bottom Boat right around the time when The Little Mermaid was still in theaters. It might be one of my favourite Doris Day movies next to Calamity Jane. 

 Vera Ellen wore this as Jessie Kalmar in Three Little Words. I need to see that movie again. I think I might find it inspiring as a songwriter this time around. Anyone else love that one?

This skirt was worn in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I absolutely love that movie. I love the barn building scene...Jane Powell's voice, not so much. I still think that this skirt is a memorable piece of Hollywood history.

Have you seen any costumes in person? I'd like to do a post on all the ones that I've taken pictures of, but I'll have to save that for another time.

If this floats your boat, you might enjoy this site: Hollywood Movie Costumes

Sweet dreams!