Etsy: Plush Deer, Felt Art on Canvas + Photo Prints

I've added some new items in my Etsy shop! First up is 3 Felt Art Canvases featuring deer silhouettes. They measure 5 x 5 and are ready to hang.



Next up is 5 different doll-themed photo prints. I actually had these printed up 2 years ago but they ended up in storage for a while when I was moving around. I found them in a box + thought it would be a better idea to list them. They measure 5 x 7 and are printed on high quality Kodak Professional Endura Paper with a Luster finish. They come unframed, with a signature on the back. Check out my Etsy shop for more prints.



And last but not least is a new plush mohawked deer: Miss Blueberry Pie. She likes to go antique hunting at the local flea market. She loves buying old furniture and decorations to restore and re-paint.

Photos: My Apartment

I moved to Vancouver just over a month ago, and here are some pics from my apartment. :)

My sewing machine is all set up and ready to go. I LOVE this sewing area, it's my favourite place to work because of the view. :)



Here's a bunch of deer that are cut out and waiting to be stuffed.



"Snow Falling on Poppies" by Krista Huot.



Left Top: "Two Sisters" by Audrey Kawasaki / Left Bottom: photo print by me!

Right: "A Want To Believe" by Eric Fortune (gift from an amazing friend!)
+ a bunch of other fun stuff like a signed Emilie Autumn poster (from another amazing friend!)



A selection of Mark Ryden's postcards from his "Snow Yak Show Microportfolio".



Some of my toy collection + DIY vinyls waiting to be customized...



Me! ...watching Amelie. :)

Happy New Year!

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
~ Abraham Lincoln

Wishing everyone all the best in 2010! <3

Photos: Dominican Republic

I visited the Dominican Republic for one week earlier this month, and I had a great time. The water was crystal clear, the beaches were made of white sand, and the sun was hot: around 25-30C everyday! The showers didn't have hot water until after 4pm, so it was best to swim in the ocean during the day (it was so warm), and then shower in the afternoon. The Dominican Republic is a beautiful lush island full of friendly people and signifigant history. It's the place where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492, so there is a ton of old buildings dating back to the 1500's in the capital city of Santo Domingo. A lot of Spanish influence remains on this island in the architechture, culture, music, and of course the language.

BELOW: This pic below was taken on Calle El Conde, the main shopping strip. I fancied it up a bit in Photoshop, using bokeh from pics I took in Nova Scotia. :)



BELOW: The Panteón Nacional, was the last building constructed by the Spaniards (1748) in Santo Domingo.



BELOW: Posh café's in a pedestrian-only area of Santo Domingo.



BELOW: The Reloj de Sol, erected in 1753, is one of the oldest sun dials in all the Americas. It was used as the official time-teller and could be seen from the government offices in the Casas Reales. This dial sits atop a large stone pillar and has two vertical dials or faces. The Southeast face is to measure the morning hours, and the Southwest side is for the afternoon hours. The large metal plate with its raised parts show the hours by the shaded markings.



BELOW: This is the oldest church in all the Americas! Construction on the Catedral de Santa María la Menor begun in 1514 and was completed in 1540. Fronted with a golden-tinted coral limestone facade, the church combines elements of both Gothic and baroque with some lavish plateresque styles as exemplified by the high altar chiseled out of silver.



BELOW: A hotel sign in Boca Chica. Most hotels were lined with barbed wire, and even some residential homes used a smaller barb for their fences.







BELOW: I saw breathtakingly amazing sunsets each and every night. :)

Photos: Diminishing Light

Photos: Halifax

I had an opportunity to go into Halifax this weekend for the NSDCC Christmas Craft Market. My Dad was demo'ing his metal working techniques at the show for a few hours, so I took the opportunity to wander around outside to take a few pics. One of the treats about going to the craft show was that it was located right next to Pier 21, the entry port that 1.5million immigrants came through on their journey to Canada (from 1928-1971), including my Grandfather in 1930! It was a meaningful moment for me to see the place where my Grandfather began his new life. I like the quote that was engraved into one of the plaques:

"I am young and old, rich and poor, free and enslaved, fleeing and seeking. I came from every part of the world, with family and alone, with nothing and everything. Two stories complete me – the story I came from and the story I started when I landed in Canada. These merge in the next generation into gratitude to a country which has made it possible for my children to have only one story – the Canadian story.
Pier 21 stands as an important marker of our past, and as a place to celebrate the continued contributions of newcomers to Canada."

Although I'm enjoying my time in beautiful rural Bear River, it was sooo nice being in a vibrant city again with lots of urban landscapes and lights. :)

Photos: Shooting with a 35mm Disposable Camera

These photos were meant to be in the A Million Little Pictures project, but I got sick and wasn't able to get them in on time. :( The goal was to take 24 photos of a day in our life using a 35mm disposable camera, develop them, and send them off to the show. Even though I won't be participating in the project, I'm still going to feature these pics on my blog anyways! :P


{Alley way in Marina Del Rey} This is a typical street/alley through Marina Del Rey. You generally see surfers walking around in their wetsuits with their boards, bicyclists, and people walking their purse dogs around this area. The Venice Canals and the Pacific Ocean are both just around the corner.


{Urban Self-Portrait} I wanted to take a pic of myself in this urban landscape. I thought this would be perfect -- me surrounded by concrete and barely visible through the dirty glass and graffiti.

The project goal for AMLP was to take 24 photos of our life in one day. I had a ton of ideas for themes I wanted to do, but with the clock ticking I settled for taking photos around my neighbourhood. I decided to capture the things about where I live that is uniquely LA (or Californian) from my perspective. I'm originally from Toronto, Canada, and even though I've been living in California for almost 3 years now, everything still feels very "new" and "different" to me (isn't that kinda silly?).


{Marina Market & Liquor} The signs in LA have such a retro charm with the type of fonts they use. I love the orange/blue/yellow/green in this pic. Someone had tied those balloons to the newspaper boxes (just out of the frame). I also want to point out that alcohol is sold in grocery stores here in the States (it isn't in Canada).


{Looking North on the beach in Marina Del Rey} Usually the smog is so thick that you can't even see the mountains. It's been exceptionally clear lately

The camera that AMLP provided me with was a crappy disposable camera with regular 35mm film (and a piece of fuzz showed up on every pic -- ugh). Back in the day I used to shoot with film all the time. In fact, I used to feel like I was practically the last person to convert to a digital camera! lol. But now that I'm so used to digital, going back to regular film was almost a strange experience for me. I like that digital cameras let me instantly check the photo I just took to see if it's framed properly, what the lighting is like, etc, so I know if I need to re-take the shot again. And I can take like a million pics with my 8gb card without fearing that I might run out of space. With regular film you get one chance... that's it. Even pressing the shutter was so non-eventful. No sound at all. Actually, I thought the camera was broken at first, lol!


{Shadows} It's so sunny here all the time that it tends to wash all the colours out.


{Trees in Hermosa Beach}

My friend Emud Mokhberi who is an amazing photographer insists on shooting with regular film. He let me shoot with his Leica MP once (with a Noctilux lens... ohh so awesome), and although it was a wonderful experience to shoot with such a gorgeous high-end camera + lens, I just can't get past not being able to immediately see what my photos look like. I guess I'm spoiled. There is a lot of trust when you take pictures with regular film. You are forced to give the camera 100% of your trust that it will turn out just right. You'll never know what your photos really look like until you get them back from the developers. I found myself being way more picky about what I took a photo of, and feeling disappointed when I would see a great photo op, but my film had already run out. And then the disappointment when film doesn't turn out after all that work! :S Despite my hang-ups, I still had a lot of fun taking these photos, and I'm glad I did, even if they won't be on display with all the other participants at the Art House Gallery in Atlanta, GA. :P


{Gate} I love some of the architecture here in LA, it's got such an awesome Mexican/Spanish vibe that we don't have back in Canada. That's a skull above the doorway!


{Pathway to home... for now.} This is where I live -- for the moment. I've moved around so much in the past 3yrs that this is just another glimpse of "home", for now.

10 Things Self-Portrait

I was tagged by Leeanna to do another photo "meme" (here's my previous 16 Things About Me meme), so I needed to take another self portrait. So I took some more pics of myself and had fun experimenting with layers in Photoshop.

Here is the 10 Things About Me List:
1. I've eaten crickets and ants willingly. I ordered them at a restaurant. :D
2. My favourite comfort drink is tea. I drink it every single day.
3. When I was 3yrs old, I assumed the identity of a rabbit for almost a year. My parents were very worried. lol. (Story is here.)
4. I have 2 tattoos and want to get more. The only thing holding me back is deciding on a good design, and the fact that I faint around needles. :S
5. My dream is to live in Europe someday. I've been wanting to do this when I first visited the UK with my Grandmother when I was 12.
6. I used to have a Japanese penpal and we wrote letters back and forth for years. We have since lost touch, but I'm happy she was a part of my life.
7. I swear my cat has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)... he gets totally stressed out if I don't go to bed at a certain time every night.
8. I'm very indecisive with almost everything in my life... except for when it comes to art.
9. I love Spring + Fall, and don't like Summer + Winter. I don't like extreme heat or cold. I like it just right.
10. I'm not religious at all. It has no place in my life.

Photos: 2009 Re-Ment Calendar

Back in September '08 I was contacted by Re-Ment International about using one of my images in their 2009 Fan Club Calendar. I was so flattered that they asked me to be a part of their calendar because I love collecting and photographing Re-Ment's cute miniature toys. The calendar was made for the Los Angeles Re-Ment Fan Club meeting in November. Re-Ment sent me a copy of the calendar but I had already moved to the USA by that time. Last week when I came back to Toronto I was finally able to see the calender in person. My photo of the Marching Card Soldiers from the Fairy Tale Tablewear set are pictured on the month of April. Here's my photo of the 2009 Re-Ment Calendar:


The Marching Card Soldiers represent April in the Re-Ment 2009 calendar.

And here is the original photo:

Marching Card Soldiers by Emily

I buy Re-Ment from Ebay, Etsy, and in specialty collector shops like Valley of the Dolls. :)