hey I made that, part 2

My latest DIY is up at Crushable...I made my own Miu Miu kitty collar!

It was super easy, super cheap and super fun. Super!
Go make yr own!

she's crafty

The crafternoon bug has struck again!! I will be posting my hey-I-made-that's over at Crushable.com, hopefully weekly, if the inspiration strikes.

HEMPY CHAINLINK!

My latest project: Recreating the Alexis Bittar necklace I saw in the March issue of American Vogue. Super cheap, pretty easy, a little bit time consuming.

Check it out!

pleetz pleez

The Samantha Pleet F/W 2010 show & afterparty was truly a friend filled fun fest.

 SAM AND HER MODELS, POST RUNWAY

Sam's collection, which is really my absolute fave of hers to date, is full of plaids n parkas and capes and rompers and paperbagged highwaisted skirts that are going to be major.

She did a collab with Osborn (they of my Somali-pirate oxfords that I bought in April 09 at the Brooklyn Flea) and used silks that had been first buried in the ground for 3 months (I know)!
 Sam is nothing if not whimsical.

The lookbook was styled and shot by the insanely wonderful and vivacious duo of Miss Kathleen Clements and Andrew DeFrancesco, respectively. They also co-directed a video to accompany the collection.

When Kat proposed I crafternoon with her to make some quasi-hippie-mystical jewwwrieees for SP Fall 2010, how could I say no? I love adding a SLASH to my job title!

Here is a melange of SP related imagery for Fall 2010. Some lookbook, some runway, some film stills, some shots of my jangles and some of my iphone pics...Start making your lists nowwww:

HEMP & LEATHER BOWTIE BY WHITE LIGHTNING JANGLES

OBSESSED WITH THIS CAPE & OSBORN FOR SAM PLEET WOOL OXFORDS

 HEMP CROWN WITH ARROWHEAD & HEALING CRYSTALS / WHITE LIGHTNING JANGLES

 MY OTHER MUST HAVE- PARKA & MATCHING ANKLE BOOTS!!!

BLAIR WALDORF AT BURNING MAN HEMP BOW HEADBAND / WHITE LIGHTNING JANGLES

 

Peep the video:

Samantha Pleet A/W 2010 from Samantha Pleet on Vimeo.


photo credits: Lookbook pics by Andrew De Franceso, film stills by Andrew DeFrancesco & Kathleen Adams Clements, runway pics by Paul o Colliton, iPhone runway pics by me

i made a thing, part IV

CRAFTERNOONNIGHTS with Keren are back on track, now that the holidaze and thangs are out of the way. If you remember the last installment, we made jewwreez outta tape n paperclips. This week's theme was STUFF ON OUR HEADS!

Keren was making hats for a lookbook and so I took a cue from that.
I got obsessed with construction paper feathers?

WAY too fun. Not entirely sure when I will need to wear ths, I guess for my next SPIRIT ANIMAL SEANCE ? JUST A HEADDRESS AND A SMILE!

JUTE TWINE & NEON NYLON ROPE HEADBAND, CONSTRUCTION PAPER FEATHERS

PAPER FEATHER FASCINATOR

I didn't get any good pics of Keren and her handiwork, but here is a lil video I like to call CRAFTERMATH. If you've ever wondered what kind of a mess we get ourselves into, it looks like this.

You can see my feathers, Keren's goth-y velvety fascinators, and Palazzo's uh.."project" which I termed his THINKING CAP.

It looks like this:

THIS IS ONLY HALF FINISHED, THERE ARE GOOGLY EYES ON IT NOW

And when you put it on, it makes ya DANCE LIKE THIS

SO HAPPY CRAFTERNIGHTZ are BACK! What will we make next week? Stay tuned, brahs!

the craftiest of crafternoons

I have been dreaming and dreaming some more about the Comme des Garçons blanket coats from the second I saw those bumpyheadedpinkladies come tromping down the runways.

COMME DES GARÇONS F/W 2009

LOOOOOK AT IT. What a glorious thing. DREAMMAKER & HEARTBREAKER, that's what you are Ms. Kawakubo.

Sigh.

Sorry, where was I? OH RIGHT. Welllllll....I figured I might DIE without one and since my CASH FLOW does not allow for such acquisitions, I decided to take matters into my own (well-intentioned but not very sew-savvy) hands.

When I finally made a thriting/funtimes Philly date with my girl Sunshine, who is WAY more talented than I, I emailed her a pic of the coat and was like..can we also make these? She was like, duh, sure, no PROBS. AND I WAS FILLED WITH JOY.

So..how do you make one? First you hafta get the goods. What you will need is: a coat you wanna hack into, a blanket, an iron, a sewing machine (it COULD be hand-stitched but you might cry), and some thread. A dress form was pretty helpful, mainly because we were making this up as we went along.
No dress form? Make your little sister stand there for you while you poke her full of pins.

Men's army trench: $5.95. Crazy wool blanket: $2.95. Both from the thrift earlier that day. Clown painting: optional.

Got it all? Start that shit already! Cut up that coat! Fold the raw edge, iron that shiz, sew it up.

Please note I refused to take off the new fur I had ALSO thrfited. It made me feel like Sharon Stone in Casino. I am nothing if not weird.

HI SUNSHINE, HI

So then you just...fiddle around with the blanket. We basically folded ours in 4 and cut the corner out (poncho ideas?). Then we sliced up the front and...pinned it and tried it on and til it looked right.

I decided I HAD to have pockets, because I always want pockets. So (with Sunshine's amazingly patient and helpful talk-through) I cut the pockets out of the trench, cut a slash in the blanket, and sewed them in! AMAZING.

HEY, I MADE THAT

And that is IT. Swear to Gagaloo, it was PRETTY EASY. The hardest/most annoying part (besides getting the drape right)? Sewing through a blanket. There is a LOT of FABRIC at times and it can make the machine a lil bit BITCHY. Other than that, it was pretty easypease. It took about..2 hours total, tops.


Would I have figured some sort of version of this out without Sunshine's help? Probably. Would it have looked nearly as good without Sunshine's help? ABSOLUTELY NOT. THANK YOU, SUNSHINE!!!

YAYAYAYAYYYYY...I AM GETTING SO DIY ADDICTED.

It's not perfect, it's not realdealholyfield, but I am pretty happy with it!

One thing I would've done differently: My coat was ginorm and so I had to move buttons around and do a lil sleeve doctoring to make it fit better. Sunshine used a perfectly fitted trench for hers and that was totally better.I love that we made the same thing but with 2 totally different results!

HOW CUTE IS THIS??

I am sure that Sunshine will post a much more comprehensive how-to on her blog if you need more specifics.

 

AND NOW I MATCH MY BATHROOM. DREAMS DO COME TRUE.

I am on such a DIYHIGH, guys! What project can I tackle next????

secret weaponz

The latest installment of Spiridakis/Richter Crafternoon(night) was maaayyyybeeee our best?
There was the Lady Gaga bow day, and the crazy knots day..now we have moved onto the very refined world of PAPER CLIPS AND ELECTRICAL TAPE, inspired by the mystical and awesome Manu jangles that we love but sadly cannot afford.

We started with a table full of glitter n tape n shiny thangs and cookies (all important craft supplies, obvs).

And then...we got down to bidness? The whole thang is wayyyyy easy and fun to do, fer serious.
One word of ADVICE: if you get too ambitious on yer tangram triangle pattern, it starts to feel a lot like math class and it sorta hurts yer head. But if you freeflow it, it pretty much turns out doppppeee.

First attempt! I call it The Ripper, cuz the triangles remind me of YACHT.

Paperclips + electrical tape = approx $2.00 (not even)

Here's Keren modeling it for me.

Next: The Bjorn Borg cuz the neon is like a tennis ball (what?)

Paperclips + electrical tape + the paper label from the electrical tape covered with neon nylon string from the hardware store = I mean, I don't know, $2.50? If that?

Mr Christopher Palazzo; bringer of cookies, weirdness, polar bear hats and exotic animal skins:

 

 

 I mean..cmon, so good right?

Protoype for Bootsy Collins-esque weirdo glasses, inspired by Slanties:

Paper labels from electrical tape + electrical tape + nylon string + silver glitter = ??? Fiddy cent? I mean, it's mainly trash cept fer the glittah.

James Ryang: the fantastic photographer of the all the photos in this post and moonlightning sunglasses model:

AWESOME!

YAY for photogenic friends!

How could a Tuesday night be any better?

Keren and I decided we will be doing this weekly, inviting a rotating third party to join in the crafterness.

I hope everyone likes these because this will likely be your Christmas present this year, oopsy.

Stay tuned for next Tuesday when we attempt fashion Snuggies (JK? For us to know, and you to find out)

duh-duh-duh-dope

Where have I BEEN? I escaped the citayyyy for a few to chill in da dirrty souf. Doin shit like sleepin in a tent and makin mulled wine (highly recommended).

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Just carved my first pumpkin for the first time since middle school and it is sort of RAD, NO BIG DEAL.

Whatcha think?



Gagaloo The Great (White) Pumpkin!
Alexander Wang shades & au courant head accoutrement, obvi.

Please realize that I cannot stop laughing at it. Sometimes I love how shtoops I can be.



Hunter made a Nirvana face-0-lantern, I wish you could see it in the dark, it is sooooo good. Mabes better than mine but don't tell him I said that.

Wanna make your own? All you need is a white pumpkin, serial killer knife handling skills (apparently I weild a knife in a disturbing way), a boy to trace the exact shape of the sunglasses you have requested, and a major case of the ridiculous.

make one!

brokeness is the mother of invention

i am a total shaolin craftmaster, behold my MONKEY'S FIST !



i totally made that thing! crafternoon at keren's house.

100 ft of rope from the hardware store on bedford ave ($11.00) + keychain ($2.50) + youtube videos of knots = DOPE!



it's not perfect but its pretty cool.



looks like i bought it somewhere, no? (tell me sweet little lies!)

i also invented this thing:



the hangman's telephone cord noose jangle? i don't know.



i have like a million more feet of rope, gonna try and make more jangles! it's kinda fun.

ps i am totally incapable of taking photos without making a face today, sowwy

ready for this jelly (destiny's child puns!!)

went to the aquarium in baltimore..I LIVE FOR A JELLYFISH EXHIBIT, dudes. i love those freakytown things!

is it demented that i have a really nice and expensive LUMIX but i usually prefer the camera on my iphone? it makes everything look like a still from a 1970s jacques cousteau documentary:



i really want to print this photo on fabric and make dresses like the christopher kane resort ones:



jellyfish look like atom bombs.
and i want to wear them on my person.

how can i do this?! I NEED JELLYFISH BOMB CUT OUT DRESSES AND I NEED IT NOWWWWW.

ps more jelllies & that city wolf cover of "where is my mind" that i can't get out of my head over on the tumblr. happy wednesday, brahs.

that's what i'm talkin about

patterns patterns patternssssssss!!!!


christopher kane / prada / erdem
resort 2010

even though i feel like i am not PRETTY enough for resort "OH TEN" (as i am calling it)...i am still psyched on all the prints and patterns and clashy and crazy.

btw, i want to take scissors to an old tee and make something like the top of that c.kane dress...crafternoonz?
i mean...what else do i have to do tomorrow (spolier alert: NOTHING).

truly madly deeply

captivating me...again & again & again with their total insane genius:



yokoo & sunshine
the GIGANTAGIST chain and a SNACK CADDY LID HEADBAND.

come ON!
i love these two.

can you gals do some sort of crafty 'exquisite corpse' project where one starts something and the other finishes it?...i would die.

i am weak.

i can't take it anymore.
i haaaaave to make one of these shredded up jimjamz that everyone is doing..
this picture from outsapop trashion sealed the deal:

she takes commissions, but i gotta think i can handle my own shredz...right? (crickets)

miss outsapop posted a tutorial (and of course camille has one as well) that makes it seems pretty doable, i don't know, this may HAVE to be this weekend's project...keren? kat? lou? who's with me?

pic from outsapop

i already hit up all the mailboxes etcetera in new yawk city

dear lady gaga,

the fucking jig is UP.
i found your inspiration board!


(click to reallllly enjoy the GENIUS)

DALE BOZZIO of MISSING PERSONS is TOOOOTALLLY your IDOL.
(it's true, nobody walks in LA) (check that link, GAGA all over the place!!)

i just started my vest made out of bubble wrap and it has an epic margiela shoulder- don't even fucking try it bitch. i also put a call in to DOLPH LUNDGREN, and now we are in love.

GAME RECOGNIZE GAME.

all my love,
WL

ps, this all came to me in a tidal wave of epiphanic absurdity due to the awesomeness of jon farb who fucking diez for the 80s and was like, this band rules watch these vids. and i realized HOLY SHIT THIS IS LADY GAGA. this has been a public service announcement for INSTANT MESSAGING. it'll save your life!

never not awesome

i live for the mood that rei creates every season.


comme des garcons f/w 09 (click pic to make it biggerrrr)

this is twisted practicality at it's finest.
(it's winter, just wear your blanket UNDER your teeny jacket)

i covet all of it and WISH upon wish to be the girl who could pull this off

add to crafternoon list: trompe l'oeil jacket painting, tulle leggings