I used to have a copy of photo-shop, however that machine has since died an old computer death and taken the historic version of photo-shop with it. I've never been an expert at using it but I have always enjoyed have the control (freak) to do things myself. So I downloaded "GIMP".
Yes the title did crack me up just as much as you're probably laughing right now too. Its actually very easy to use. I tried using photo-shop again and was well lost trying to find tools, brushes and what not else that I was so familiar with on "GIMP". Sad but true. So I thought I'd show you a THING I've been working on then all the layers and tools and effects that went into making it. Sound exciting?
Other than numerous edits and versions (I like to save a copy as I go in-case I mess up irreversibly) this is the FINAL copy.
And yes I'm teaching a Burlesque Class at a High Tea event. This is the poster.. pretty cute, yes?
Now - how did I make it? - Click the image to enlarge.
Look for this cute wee image anywhere and have fun!
The best thing about GIMP is that is Free Open Source software so if you want it to do something, chances are that someone else had that thought too and created a plug in so you wouldn't have to do it all manually! YAY Here is what they say about it on their website!
GIMP is Free Software and a part of the GNU Project. In the free software world, there is generally no distinction between users and developers. As in a friendly neighbourhood, everybody pitches in to help their neighbors. Please consider the time you give in assistance to others as payment.
Most of my weekend was spent preparing for an interview, but I did get out of the house for a wee 2 hour walk around the CBD. I love living so central, I can save the planet AND get out of the house! Its amazing.
Wandering all the way down from K rd, with a monster coffee from Revel which had me bouncing off the walls for the rest of the afternoon, all the way to Britomart. I wanted to pop into Curate's new store on Gore Street, and its cute and cosy. So many gorgeous things. Mostly the stuff I like has a more rock n roll edge to it so instead of blabbing on about Fashion that most of you don't care about I though I'd take photos then you know what I mean!
Chaos and Harmony shoes - CUTE, and this absolutely amazing Belt. I think has to be mine... Perfect!
A Stolen GirlFriends Jacket... This print is AWESOME.. I love skull print or skull anything really - not bad!
Then we went to the Gateau House... I tried really hard to resist buying one of these pink round deliciousness!
No DOGS okay Just Cats Thanks..
And then I bought Lingerie, which you can see because it is in the best bag ever. I can't believe she had to ask if I didn't mind an extra $2 for it... YEP that's fine, just give me the cute pink spotty bag now please!!
All in all despite the over cast weather it was fun and TONIGHT am off to see Florence and the Machine!!!!
The WTF campaign is for everybody who cares about equality and its especially for all you straight people out there! Whether you’re already an active supporter, want to show your support for the first time, or hadn’t given equality a lot of thought before now, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people all over New Zealand need you to stand up and help them make change.
And for all you gay, lesbian, takatapui, bisexual and transgender folks—we need and want your voice too! Because this campaign is for you. Not only can you help us to stand up and make a change to inequality in New Zealand, but you can help get the straight people in your life to stand up and say “What the f**k?”, to discrimination...
What. The. F**K.
Where are the funds?
Our campaign exists around outrage – we’re upset, we’re angry and we’re taking a stand. We’re a passionate bunch of change makers who are striving to keep up with demand, and to keep serving our communities. But without the funding we might not to be able to carry on.
We’re asking you all to take a stand – to be outraged, and make noise. Help us to do the work that needs to be done.
Nothing like this has ever been attempted in New Zealand, nor has any one campaign rallied as many of our country’s top faces under its banner and the support from so many well-known kiwis has encouraged us to speak up even louder for those being discriminated against. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect, so it’s time we ask New Zealand “WTF?”
How can you get involved?
You can help us rally against discrimination and ask WTF New Zealand by:
Scrap-booking is something I've done for years.. but mine look more like a school project than art. A collection of ticket stubs, cards, magazine cut outs and photos taped into a A4 hard cover school book with small inked captions scrawled underneath. Sentimental yes, arty... well not so much.
This is what I call art: maggiesdoodads.blogspot.co.nz Maggie is a "propper" scrapbooker, the professional artistic kind. From making die-cuts, acrilic paints, 3D nick naks, lace, pearls, paper and stencils her work is creative and AMAZING!
Maggie tutors at SENZ (Scrapbook Expo of New Zealand) and is an Executive contibutor to NZ Paper Chase which is a Scrapbooking magazine!
I specifically love her work because she shares a love of things that look grungy, vintage or have that old school classic feel about them. I think I'm going to have to learn a thing or two about all this stuff when Maggie is next taking classes.
Lately the most creative things I've been doing have been making costumes. Redecorating corsets for costumes or making little hats to complete a burlesque ensomble. Talking to Maggie this kind of creativity, although in my opinion isn't scrapbooking falls loosely under an "Off the Page" category of artwork.
A corset to which I covered in fabric, appliquéd applied a huge number of Swarovski crystals.
http://tenealewilliams.com.au
Gorgeous right? I think so And I can't wait to have a go myself very soon! All photos are Maggie's work unless othewise credited. I've asked if I could interview her so hopefully I'll have some more on the wonders of scrap-booking and all this creative craft entails soon! Keep your eyes peeled!
Last night I went to the Herald Theatre to see Dumped as a date for my lovely friend Leda Petit. As part of the NZ Comedy Festival for 2012 its something different from a lone comedian standing on stage cracking jokes with or at the audience. A show piece that took the audience on a journey with its cast members.
Starring: Andrew Clay, Rachael Blampied, Michael Saccente, Dane Dawson, with special guest Jackie Clarke. Personally I peg Jackie Clarke as the absolute STAR of the show. She was funny, took a wee opportunity to sing a little and basically the show revolved around her and Michael Saccente. They were the hillariously wizzend, older, cynical although not necessarily wiser grown ups giving the young stroppy spoilt technology dependant generation Y and Z relationship advice. Poking fun at unfortunate reality -perfectly!
Andy likes Fiona, Fiona likes Andy, Mickey likes nobody, Danny likes everybody, Pam likes a drink, but will it all end in tears? Probably, the show’s called “Dumped” after all.
LADY GAGA is coming to New Zealand! I'm off to see her... This will be the third time I've seen her. Bring it on.
Also myself and a couple of other Bloggers are organising a "Nails" party - See above picture.. Like a pre-party but the day before to get our nails all did up for the concert! Very excited! If your going let me know!
Satchels! This is in the mail to me! I wish I could have the tea-pot too but oh well.
I'm very lucky to have it less than retail! Woot... thanks GemBox xx
And I'm currently cat-sitting this gorgeous feline... Enjoy these visions of cuteness! If you want kittens too please contact SPCA regarding the Fostering program. I recommend it and they are very helpful and the kittens are so CUTE!
OUT TODAY!! I've been listening to the album and its AWESOME! I've always loved The Gossip and am excited with the new music they are putting out! Listen now and buy when it comes out on the 22nd!
Mother's day is this weekend.. I'm prepared this year. Normally I am busy so its not till commercialiscm sneaks up on me to smack my in the face that I've got to make sure I see her and the rest of the family and get her a gift. My tattooist is doing a flash day - Two Hands Tattoo on Ponsonby Road... for Mother's day no less.
My mother is tradition.. shes amazing and I love her but maybe not a tattoo for her this year..
Something more along the Mothers day vein. And if you really are stumped for a gift.. Visit www.flossie.com for ideas and vouchers for your amazing mother. It seems just right coming from one Phlossy about another... so check it out and get something to pamper her!
Want to do something more personal? This is BRILLIANT.. go to a antiques store or garage sale and pick up a vintage mug! Bake cupcakes and pop them inside the mug as a present... Or get a "KeepCup" a recyclable cup in the shape of a disposeable coffee cup... they come in all sorts of colours!
I love jewellery!! Hand made unique items are GORGEOUS and super special and I want to show you all one of my favourite designers! Nick von K!! Rock&Roll and high fashion! Yes please!
What does a guy like you on a normal day “at work”?
I spend most of my time working on strategy for the business, which can be anything from how we will go about moving into Australia, to organising a photo shoot, to talking to prospective new clients, to liaising with customers on commission work. And of course, preparing to go to Bali to design the next collection.
My wonderful assistant Anja takes care of the workshop where all orders are filled and stock is organised – which frees my time up so I can work on the business instead of ‘in’ the business.
In Bali I design. The process for me has become one where I leave a lot of the designing until I get to Bali. I like to have the theme pretty solid before I go, with a few ideas floating around in my head. But once Im there its all about honing each idea while I ride on my scooter through the hill villages and rice fields. I ride for a total of 3 hours, every other day, to the silver village and the carving village, and I find this perfectly suited to meditating on each design and fleshing them out. Something about the tropical heat, the weaving ride and the beautiful views puts me in exactly the right space for designing.
How did you get into the industry and what made you decide this is what you wanted to make a living out of?
When I was about 20 I was playing around in a few different creative fields, namely; painting, music, writing, jewellery and sculpture. I met a great mentor at that time who suggested rather than being a jack-of-all-trades, I pick one to master. And he then suggested I pick jewellery as the one that seemed to have the most promise for me.
Well, he was right! It took a few years to get it going but once I hooked up with Ricochet making all their accessories things really began to take off. So I guess at the beginning I wouldn’t have chosen this path for myself if it wasn’t for the great advice I received – but looking back now it makes so much sense as I personally love to wear a lot of jewellery and I always have.
I have to say I think I have the best job in the world, and I consider myself very lucky as I always wanted a creative career. Not to say there isn’t a lot of hard work involved, of course there is – but its hard work that is very satisfying.
What tips would you give new others who might be interested in a similar career?
Its really not that difficult to make and sell jewellery, many of the shops I sold to when I started out were really open to looking at my creations and buying them. I think that’s a New Zealand thing – its not like other countries that have a lot of chain stores that are hard to contact let alone sell to, there are a lot of individual shops who all want something different and are really open to meeting new designers and viewing their designs.
Of course, it is perhaps hard to make a decent living out of it, but that just takes patience and perseverance, and a bit of good luck and good management. So my advice would be to give it a go, and then keep going – if you stick at it eventually you will break through.
The other great piece of advice that was given to me was never pretend to know everything – if you approach people in the industry, including the shops you want to sell to, with an attitude that you are interested in their advice then they will most likely give it to you. People love to give advice and often its invaluable, so ask questions and listen to the answers.
When did you discover there was life outside the corporate 9-5 Office grind? Was there a specific event or epiphany that brought that about?
Hahaha, that’s a funny one. You know I’ve never really had a 9 to 5 job. When I was 17 I met a psychic who told me that they really couldn’t see me doing the typical 9 to 5 – which I instantly knew was 100% correct. And that knowledge completely freaked me out because I thought “Well, what the hell am I going to do then???”. So from that point on I was always looking for the alternative situation. You know the funniest thing is that these days I often do work from 9 to 5, but working for yourself is a completely different story.
Have you ever struggled to get what you do at work or out of work taken seriously?
Ever since I was a child I have made things in my spare time. My parents constructed a small workbench for me under the house where I would spend hours every day making all sorts of odds and ends, and I would often give these away at Christmas as presents to the family. Or else I would be drawing and painting somewhere, and generally making a mess.
But funnily enough my parents made it very clear to me that being an artist was not an option as “Artists never make any money – until they’re dead.”
Finally after dropping out of a boring commerce degree at Uni I took to my passion of painting, and my Mum, bless her heart, helped finance me into a studio where I could live out my dream. The painting never really took off, but it did lead to jewellery – and its been ever so sweet to be successful as an artist before I’m dead!!
Your work is very specialized – is this something you’ve learned in an education system or did you fall into it?
I once did a night course in jewellery making, which gave me some basic skills, but really its something that I have learned along the way. Working with the team at Ricochet for many years taught me a lot – initially they would give me designs to make, or we would design together. And then gradually I would bring more and more to the table.
I began going to Bali during this period and that really expanded the possibilities of what I could design. Then when I decided to begin the Nick Von K label I had years of experience in Bali to draw upon, and so I took that knowledge and expanded upon it into what I do now.
What effect has the Internet had on the way that you work?
We launched the website nickvonk.com at the same time as the label itself back in September 2010, and it has been awesome for the business. Everything from direct sales, to stylists here in NZ and overseas finding us, to prospective shops researching us.
Plus I often search for images on the net that will explain a design that is in my mind to a wax carver or bone carver. Then I’ll print these out as a reference for when I sit down with the carver to go over the idea.
Facebook has also been a great resource. Being able to communicate directly with the customers and fans on the Nick Von K facebook page is invaluable, especially as I mostly wholesale to shops so often do not meet the people who buy my stuff.
What is the biggest, most exciting project you’ve worked on / are most proud of?
Being involved with the American clothing designer Nicole Miller has been amazing. We met just as I launched the label at the 2010 NZ Fashion Week where she bought some of my jewellery for herself and for her stores in the States. Then when I told her I was coming over to New York she organised a launch for the label at her Soho store. The launch was even filmed by her team and produced into a short clip on youtube. You can find the link to it on our website in the press section. She also took a huge crowd out to dinner afterwards and sat me down next to the one and only Heather Graham (aka Roller Girl). So there I was talking chit chat with a very beautiful and famous actress all night long – I couldn’t believe it!!!
Have you got anything exciting in the pipeline that you would like to share with us?
Right now I am in Bali working on the next collection. At the moment its all under wraps so I can’t really tell you anything about it until its officially launched in the coming months. But let me say that personally I am really excited about it – its quite a fresh direction for me so be prepared for something a little bit different to the previous seasons. I’ve also given myself plenty of time to work on each design so the ideas are really fleshed out and there are lots of little details for people to discover.
I've a very special unique commission Nick von K piece in the pipeline myself! I can't wait to show you all... its going to be to die for gorgeous... I'm excited just thinking about it. He made this beautiful honey bee ring on commission for my beautiful friend Leda Petit...
