CONSCIOUS STREAMS OF CREATIVITY

WORK IT OUT

OK are you checkin' out my site's new look? I am getting so much better at formatting. I even "added" my Links, a section for Video Clips, and a section for my Celebrity Gossip sites. I knew I'd figure out how to edit the HTML stuff eventually. My next step is inserting more pictures.

So whil I'm workin' it out...you better...Watch-out-dere-nah!

PROJECTS ON THE HORIZON

This weekend I organized my work space in order to be able to find everything, and began working on several new projects. I'm in a place where I have to finish things, and just give them an updated look.

When my cousin Dena and I were at the L.A. Gift Show I saw this jewelry display and it was made out of cardboard, well I just had to go home and try it. I found a big old piece of cardboard I was saving (I collect and save so much stuff 'cause you never know when you're going to need it - :0)! )

And here's a picture of it so far. I've still got black paint under my short nails. I mean you scrub and scrub but it gets stuck in your nailbed.

I added some corrugated paper so that it looks like the arms have sleeves. I'm not sure if I'll add pearls or glitter to jazz this up.

I found a way to make the arms link together, so that they'll stand upright...it will be in an "X" configuration. I'm gonna paint the fingernails with glitter and we'll see how well it holds up under pressure.

I love it when things just come together. I hope to make other kinds of similiar items using foam board. The thing with foam board is that it is so hard to cut. I even bought a special cutter, and it still comes out raggedy. What I need next is to get myself a craft table to work on. Right now, I have a TV Tray....as suitable as it has been for all that I've been doing....I need more workspace. I used to have everything I needed at my house in DC.....guess I'll have to show you what I mean once I find those pictures. Boo hoo....I sure do miss that house!

CHAP BOOKS

This is a picture of the cigarette box books we made.



Every time I look up, I see these empty cigarette boxes on the ground. I have to stop myself from continuing to pick them up.

Jon what have you done to me???? :0)

I've got about 6 packs now. Once they're finished I think I have an idea just who I'll give them to.

MARCUS MILLER AT THE VAULT 350

Here is a picture of me and the girls at the Marcus Miller concert with the keyboardist Bobby. His cousin is a friend of my cousin Dena's. We had a blast. Bobby is so baaad, the man was playing the keyboard with his elbow....he was leanin' on it!!! LOL You go boy.



And here's Marcus and Laylah jammin' on the song, "Killin' Me Softly". Marcus can play damn near any instrument. He said that he did have a hard time playing the harmonica though. And Miss Laylah, what can I say about her? I saw her at the House of Blues on Sunset with my boy Rasaahn Patterson (HE IS SO WONDERFUL), and they tore it up.

Laylah is so down to earth and has a very humorous side to her. She has such a gentle spirit and in no way revels in who she is and how fabulous she is. She is just a woman that inherited her Daddy's pipes (her little sister Kenya is singing too). The girl can sing ANYTHING....and she just puts you in a place that you want to stay in forever. I plan to purchase all of her CD's...I've got to have her in my CD collection.

PLAYIN' DRESS UP

I don't know about anybody else....but I still play dress up and strut around the house in my fabulous one-of-a-kind costumes. Sometimes I don't have a clue that I'm going to do it, but I'll be sitting at home and I'll hear some music which leads me to dance, which leads me to try on different costumes. And these days, even though my body ain't where I want it, I still can fit into those outfits that leave very little to the imagination. I mean what's an entertainer supposed to do but entertain??

Everyday we see the images on TV, in the videos and somewhere deep inside we want to look just that fabulous!!! I am not ashamed of my body....I was told many years ago that I am very proportioned and so I'm embracing what God gave me. But my look has to be very put together. So even when I think it's too this or too that....I just remember what and who I'm dressing it up for. I want to be edgy and unusual, not the typical sex pot or video ho!

Years ago when I lived in Silver Spring, MD and I was just beginning to explore my interests in Fashion, I began experimenting with how I wore my clothing. I took every day items like blouses and even an apron and transformed them by wearing them in a way they weren't meant to be worn. I didn't take any pictures of the clothes, but I still dabble in that idea of transforming everyday wear into something else because that's how you begin creating new things. The discovery a new use for an old item of clothing is what really excites me and gets my creative juices flowing.

My cousin Dena and I live to design! My other cousin in Sac., Diane, is an artist and she sews too. It's in our blood chile. It's like I said before....my family has folks with a wide array of skills in all mediums.

Dena's been sewing a lot longer than me, so she can cut, sew and stitch up anything! Last year when we went to the Pasadena Jazz festival...she helped me finish up a T-Shirt dress that I had begun. They say 2 heads are better than one, and we absolutely made it work.

She and I are so alike it's scary. The first couple of years we were hanging out....we just laughed histerically at some of the things we had in common.....and we are still finding that out to this day. I tell you, there's no better feeling than to find someone who "gets it". Someone who wants to create and design as much as you do, and who has the talent and tenacity to get the job done. It is only a matter of time before everyone will see how we roll. She and I have been doing it separately....so now it's time to feed off one another, inspire and make our dreams come true.

And all of this comes from playing dress up, and wanting to be different from the rest. I can't stand these fads out here. Every time I look up....everybody's wearing the same doggone thing. The minute the fad changes, then everybody jumps on that bandwagon. I have never been one to buy something and wear it all season long, or just because that's what's in. If I like it, that's one thing, but to buy something just because everyone else has it....I don't think so. I want to be able to set the trend, and not a fad....because fads come and go like the day. Trends stay around, and go away and come back again. T-R-E-N-D-S-E-T-T-E-R....yea that's what I want to be known as.

The ladies at my job call me a Fashionista (fash•ion•ista /fnist/ noun (used especially in newspapers) a fashion designer, or a person who is always dressed in a fashionable way). I can say that I never thought of myself in that way, but I guess it's true. I do have a very fashionable wardrobe. I don't dress that way "everyday" though, because I don't want to appear "pretentious" like I just gotta wear A-list stuff all the time. I try to mix it up from casual to dressy, to funky because then when you "fail" in your attempts....no one is dissin' you about how you look. They'll accept the downlow look, as well as all the other looks you have. But honey, if I could go to work dressed to the Nine's everyday....I would!! I ain't gon' lie! People get envious or resentful of you....and so I don't. I have a very generous benefactor who has kept me in style with lots and lots of designer duds and then what I purchase on my own.

In any event, I get noticed for one thing or another. I'm not doing too bad. But I have never bought or owned anything from the more well-known high end designers. I guess one day I'd like to wear something from Dolce & Gabana, Chanel, Prada, or Gucci....just because I could afford it, not because I "have" to wear designer clothes. I know that whatever I buy will be unusual and beautifully made...something I'm striving for in my designs.

God is so good to me, and even though I'm not a working artist (still have a day job), I've sold a few Cigar Box purses to date. I've sold other items when I lived in DC too. Since being back in Cali...I've begun to create so many more projects, and I love it. I do not want to be limited to one medium, and God has made sure of that. I have been blessed to create a number of items and I'm teaching myself, and learning about the skill needed to become proficient in all of them. Lesley Riley said that no one comes into this world being perfect at their given talent. We understand about being a "genius", but even being a genius means you practice at your craft. I'm not out here just making all kinds of junk 'cause I think I can. I truly believe that I have been blessed with a know-how and the skill to achieve far greater rewards than I ever realized before.

That is why I must, and cannot continue to let these years pass me by and not work to get my ideas out into the world. God did not bless you with whatever he blesses you with so that you sit on it and just keep it to yourself. We are vessels to be used to further his ministry in whatever way we can....and I believe that I am embarking upon that mission. A change is gonna come....so I'll never give up, never give up!