Holy Smokes.... What a Response!

Wow. 

I was so worried nothing would really sell and in less than 24 hours 75% of my finished tooled leather cuffs were sold out.  Warm fuzzies to the tenth.

I agonize over my art.  Mostly myself.  I have to love it.  That is most important.  But then secondly....  will anyone else like it?  Agonize.  Not even kidding.

Tonight I listed a new cuff.

Here is it:

Cool, calm and collected.  Thats the name of the game.  Real women do not engage in public drama.  They do not fight dirty.  They do not react impulsively.  They do not wrestle with pigs.. 

Because pigs like it, and you'll get dirty. 

But don't let that fool you into thinking women are weak. 

The opposite is true.  It takes immense strength to not give in to the fight and to stand tall regardless.of.all.else.  And in the end the truth always comes out.

Thats what this bracelet is about. 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TOUGH  I AM

This one of a kind hand tooled cuff made by yours truely belongs on the arm of every lady.  Because you know...  being a lady and having power are the same... in that if you have to tell people you ARE...  you aren't.

Measures 9.5 inches by 1.5 inches.  Adjustable two snap closure. 

PS.  This bracelet has my favorite wings ever.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104029047/wondercam-hand-tooled-leather-cuff-you

xoxo Cam

WonderCam the Leather Whisperer - My ETSY SHOP IS NOW OPEN!!

My new ETSY shop is OPEN!!  Omg, omg, omg, omg..  I"m so anxious! 

I wonder if anything will acutally sell.  And then the buyer gets it will they love it?  And will I be able to keep it stocked?

Oh, I should let you all know.  Any money I manage to earn is going into savings.  Cause mama needs a new pair of boobs. 

Yup, you read that right. 

xoxox to all,

Cam

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeatherWhisperer?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

Some Stuff you can buy:  :)

Transformation of a Vintage Train Trunk

A couple weeks ago I went to Orlando to visit my most favorite Floridians:

Lorraine (Hot chick on the right) introduced me to transforming vintage train trucks..  mixed media style... 

And then she let me pick one from her 'stash to work on during my visit. 

(This is a true demonstration on REAL GENUINE LOVE)

I forgot to take pictures of the trunk I was actually working on before I started, but it was similar to this in size and style.   

And I was kind of about 6 hours into it before I started to take pictures at all.. 

I started by building my background.  I used blue strips of paper in the background and applied them to the trunk with Mod Podge... tinted with a little bit of light blue paint. 

Why add paint to the Mod?

When working with papers in the same color range that I want to really flow well together, adding just a small amount of paint to the mod adds the exact same base shade to all the papers... so they look like they could have been sold together in a package. 

When applying the papers to the trunk:

First, using a broad paint brush, apply a thin to medium coat of mod podge (hereto referred to as "mod") directly to the back side of your paper.  Then add a thin coat of mod to the surface of the trunk where you intend to place the paper.  Next, place the paper onto the trunk and add a final coat of mod to the front of the paper. 

Why add mod to the paper?  Why not just mod the trunk surface and stick the paper on?

Paper is a wood based product... and what does wood do when it sits in water?  Absorbs and expands.  When applying paper to any surface, 90% of air bubbles develop because the paper is absorbing the water out of the paint or mod, and expanding... buckling and wrinking.  Applying mod to the paper on its own gives the paper time to expand BEFORE its applied to the surface...of whatever you are applying it to.  Way less bubbles, wrinkles, folds... etc, and then...  as the paper dries its going to want to shrink back down.  It can't because, well it's immersed in drying glue...  but what it does is leave a very smooth tight surface.

I worked very carefully around my hardware, as it was not removable. 

Holding the paper in place and then using a fingernail or art tool to indent the paper around the shape of the hardware.  This creates a template but cutting on the crease lines.

My trees are all hand cut out of paper.  Easier than you'd think, just time consuming.  On the backside of your paper trace an outline of a tree.  Using pointy detail scissors, start at the tips of the branches and begin cutting away the negative space working inward towards the trunk. 

If you accidental dismember a tree limb, just remember where it goes and glue it in place.... trust me, no one has to know.. 

Use mod to glue the tree in place.  Start at the trunk and apply mod to small groups of limbs individually rather than attempting to adhere the entire tree in one fell swoop. 

On to design:

I have been contemplating in my personal life about why things never seem to get to that perfect "sweet spot" where everything is perfect and you feel so satisfied with everything... and you just feel that way forever...

... and the realization that never happens. 

It is the very nature of live to evolve and transform.  Each season building on the next.  Ever changing.  Constantly changing. 

A few years ago I started to get very anxious in the fall when the weather started to get cold and the days started to get short.  I have this lifetime fear that plagues me that I'm going to end up homeless and that I will die by freezing to death in an alley behind a Chinese food restaurant. 

I know this feeling is COMPLETELY 100% reasonable and normal, which is why I just don't fight it. 

Anyway, the onset of winter really freaks me out.  Once it has been cold for a few weeks I'm totally fine, but initially... yeah, I'm freakin' out.

Summer is of course my favorite season because no one... and I mean no one has ever frozen to death behind a Chinese food restaurant in the middle of the summer.  At least not in Boise.  In summer, all you have to worry about are dead bodies in the water.  (shivers!)  but I'll save that idiosyncrasy for another art project. (Well, you are welcome!)

On the lid of my trunk case I hand sketched a tree, and then divided the tree limbs into the four seasons transitioning from spring through winter.

"No winter lasts forever,

no spring skips its turn"

This trunk is to remind me that I AM exactly where I need to be, at exactly the time I need to be there.  The winds of change are constantly blowing.  I can trust  that I am where I'm supposed to be.  The people I meet and allow into my life are intended to be connected to me during this time and place.  The challenges which occur in life are supposed to be happening.  And that everything is going to change.

For the better or the worse..  It's going to change.

I shadowed in 4 children flying kites to represent my children, and the connection they have in my life.  It is not random chance than placed these specific souls in my care, they are supposed to be my children.  Specifically. 

All of my tree leaves are hand cut, and the flowers bordering the walkway are hand painted.

Next comes fall and sweaters and beautiful colors... the last hoo-rah of carefree warm days. 

And into the frigid, low down, good for nothing, COLD winter.  Yup...  I'm not a fan.  

I did at least try to make winter pretty and enjoyable, and I suppose if I could sit behind a large very thick window in a very well heated room and watch this little scene I may enjoy it. ;) 

I did hand piece from paper my little snowman.  Closest I'll get to making a real one.

And into spring... and tweeting birds, and love and romance.

This is when I can finally exhale (and begin eating Chinese food again).

The leaves on this tree were made in a typeset fashion, by pressing a leather stamping tool into an ink pad and transferring the ink to the tree, then outlining in black.

Handpainted tulips. xoxo

(or maybe they look more like orchids?)

Little personal Brave Girls Club message...

Texture.  I used mod to adhere thread to the trunk for my kite strings.  I love the way all the textures play into each other.

Finally coat the entire finished trunk with a layer of mod, tinted very lightly with dark brown paint. Then load it up.   

I'm so excited.

Someone needs to invite me over to make art so I can carry my trunk around.  :) 

You know how sometimes you have a concept in your head, but find actually implementing the idea can prove to be challenging at best?

This was not one of those times.  This is exactly what I was going for, and I am in love with my trunk.  (and sooo happy!)

xoxo

Cam

Creating Safety and Trust

It's my creed.  My statement of belief.

Before all else, before Love, and Trust, and Faith, and Passion and Commitment there must first come saftey.  If there is not safety then how can anything else be expected to survive?  We all have the natural instinct of self preservation, avoiding pain and discomfort.

Do we take RISKS?

Absolutely.  Until they proof to be too dangerous...  too risky. 

What is it about personal relationships that challenges our our basic common sense when it comes to safety?

You see a HOT fire.

::You don't stick your hand in it::

Yet there are certain people in our lives who hurt us, over and over again... and what do we do??  Keep going back for more. 

Maybe it's the hope that people can (and sometimes do) change? Maybe it's optomistic attitudes that tell us the good outweights the bad?  Maybe the person is so good at manipulation that the facts are discombobulated, and nothing seems as it is or was, and maybe YOU begin to feel responsible?

Maybe it's our life expereinces that make us feel like we deserve to be burned... or that we're going to be burned anyway, whether its here and now or in the next relationship. 

MAYBE we begin to feel like it's suppose to burn... and not in a Johnny Cash kind of way.  Maybe it burns for so long that burning becomes what is safe?

 What else is there?

xoxo Cam

Body Image.

(Paraphrased from Wikipedia)

Body image refers to a person's feelings of the aesthetics and sexual attractiveness of his or her own body... Human society has at all times placed great value on beauty of the human body, but a person's perception of their own body may not correspond to society's standards.

A person's body image is thought to be, in part, a product of his or her personal experiences, personality, and various social and cultural forces. A person's sense of his or her own physical appearance, usually in relation to others or in relation to some cultural "ideal," can shape his or her body image. A person's perception of their appearance can be different from how others actually perceive him or her.

What others SEE, and what I see.

That's all. 

I've been over this topic about a hundred times on my blog so I don't want to do it all over again.  I'm just tired and frustrated of always stressing about really stupid stuff...  Like can I wear this outfit, or will I look fat and lumpy when I sit down, or stand a particular way? 

Ugh.

What I wouldn't give if I could go without even consider my body image again and feel perfectly content and happy about it.   

xoxo

Cam

Three Ingredient Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe.

Lungfish. Did you know a lungfish can survive up to 4 years without eating? That's what I want for children. I'll trade them for humans when they grow up, because lungfish are really ugly.

Since going back to work full time, I have lost any joy I once took in cooking...  which was always minuscule.  Since then, there has been a lot of take out, dine out, premade, frozen and box meals in my house.  Why, because I have kids, and they like to eat.

Every night it's the same old.. 

"Mom, can you start dinner now?" 

"Mom...  I thought you were going to start dinner?" 

"Mom, what's for dinner?"

"Mom, I'm starving." 
"Mom, can you start dinner NOW??"

(Ahem.  My son just walked up behind me and read this...  his comments: 
"That is so true.")

I'm pretty sure my cooking skills have regressed... or deteriorated... or something.  I use to be pretty good in the kitchen.  I made my all my own bread, canned food excessively, cooked from scratch...I even wrote recipes and everything. See:

My Peach Tofu Smoothie Recipe:  http://shesonehotmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-famous-peach-tofu-smoothie-recipe.html

My Herb Chicken in Creamy Tofu Sauce Over Spinach: (This is SERIOUSLY Good!) http://shesonehotmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/herb-chicken-in-creamy-tofu-sauce-over.html

 The (not mine) Heart Attack Monte Cristo Sandwich: http://shesonehotmama.blogspot.com/2009/02/heart-attack-monte-cristo-sandwich.html

And Now...  well lets just say there's a reason I'm not assigned cooking duties at Brave Girls Camp.  I'm going to try and get back to cooking more (no I'm not.  Really.  Not.  I just can't figure out how to transition to the next part, and that sounds like the best thing to say).

And so tonight, I'm going to cook up some deliciousness.  You can too, but simply following my instructions below.  (see what I mean about the flow?)

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen meatballs, to taste
1 can of spaghetti sauce
1 bag of spaghetti noodles.  Cook it all, or cook half, depending on how much usually sticks to the bottom of the pot.
1 bag of frozen steamable veggies (optional)
1 loaf of garlic bread. (Optional) (Most grocery stored sell it this way... which is cool.)

Step one: Empty a bag of frozen meatballs into a pan.  I think it's called a saucepan.  Try a double boiler, I think it will burn less that way.

Step two:  Pour in a can of spaghetti sauce. 

Step Three: Put the saucepan thing on the stove on low heat. 

Step four:  Fill a large pot with water and add about a tablespoon of salt.

Step five: Heat water to boiling.

Step six:  add spaghetti noodles to boiling water, reduce heat to medium high.

Step seven:  Now you have some free time while your stove is working it's magic.  I would recommend filling it with facebook, or blogging, or that report you haven't finished at work.  It's okay to just lose yourself in distractions.

Step eight: After about 7-10 minutes, or anytime you smell burning, check the noodles and stir the sauce and meatballs.

Step nine: When the noodles are done....  how do you know when they're done?  Try throwing a noodle against the wall.  If it sticks supposedly that means it's done... drain the water, and add a bit or olive oil to stop the noodles from sticking together.  If the noodles have cooked into one massive clump, never fear... you can cut portions with a steak knife. 

Step ten: When the sauce is hot enough that it's bubbly pour over the cooked noodles. 

Step eleven: microwave the veggies about 5 minutes and empty into a bowl. 

Step twelve: slice the garlic bread.  Sometimes you have to put the garlic bread in the oven to melt the butter.  If that's the cast, you're sort of on your own.


Wah-lah, and you're welcome.  Now, If you're trying to woo that special someone, start sucking up those noodles and pushing meatballs around with your nose.  IT TOTALLY WORKS, AND SEND PICTURES.

As for me and mine...  We're now working on our lungfish skills.  My next recipe will be posted in about four years.

xoxo Cam

KONY 2012

Scroll down and turn off the music, and then PLEASE watch this video.  It's time for action.

No more ignorance.

http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012

xoxo Cam