A super fun outtake photo from last month’s shoot! I ended up using this for a fun hang tag.

I know, I know… this photo shoot happened well over a month ago, but who’s keeping track? The great Evan Hayden shot the photos and I couldn’t be happier with them. A big thank you to Evan and my lovely models! I just wanted to share a few of my favorite shots.

As you may have noticed, there are two items in the above photo that are not yet in my shop! They’ll be up soon, for sure. And lastly, I had to include the following photo in this recap, because as I mentioned in my last post this shoot was a great learning experience… to NOT wear work out clothing and no makeup on the day of a photo shoot, because then fun group photos are inevitably taken and I look like a sloppy Sally.

But whatever. Until the next photo shoot! Also, I recently surpassed 100 fans on Facebook! In celebration of this milestone (I’m almost to 150!) I’m offering up the coupon code BABSLOVESU in my Etsy Shop for 15% off of your order. Thanks for all of the Facebook love! And the support in general.

As many of you know by now (since I won’t stop talking about it) Babushka Designs will be a part of Unique LA next month! Click here for more details, and to RSVP.

Aside from crocheting and knitting like crazy to get ready for the show, I decided to re-shoot everything to make the shop and my marketing materials a little nicer (the camera on my iPhone is no longer cutting it!). My friend Evan shot the photos at my apartment this past weekend – it was SO MUCH FUN! (Click here to check out his work) I should have them sometime within the next week, but for now here are some behind the scenes shots I took.

As you can see above (photo by Jane), I was still in my workout clothes (I went to pilates that morning). Important lesson learned – always look photo-ready, but that’s ok. I’m keeping it real. I love how Marissa (the model) is looking at me like I’m crazy in this photo. And that’s Evan doing his thang on the right.

Every good photo shoot needs fun music to pump everyone up. About 10 minutes after taking this photo, I came to realize that the music I thought was fun, wasn’t what everyone else considered fun. We soon switched over to Party Favorites, and later, hip hop.

Last but not least, everyone knows models love popcorn chicken, fried cheese, and mini pizzas. So of course we had that handy.

That’s a wrap! Will be sharing the photos as soon as I get them. Yay!

Image: Victorville, California circa 1935

I haven’t been back to Southern California to visit my family and hometown since the holidays, so a few friends and I decided to drive down road trip-style last weekend. We left good ole’ San Francisco Thursday evening and got to our respective hometowns at a semi-respectable hour.

My return home was exactly what I was expecting, and was looking forward to: a low-key, relaxing visit filled with good food and good people – and of course, adventures with Bri.

I contacted Bri on Saturday morning to see if she would like to embark on a little adventure into Old Towne Victorville with me so I could document the cool signage. She said yes, of course (because she’s awesome) and we headed out to search for good design in our beloved city. We couldn’t, however, start our trip without stopping at Sonic first.

Visits to Sonic with Bri have become a tradition of sorts when I visit home. I like creating traditions, a lot.

Anyway, after our abundant lunch and milkshakes (buy 1 get 1 free! How could I pass that up?) we drove down Bear Valley Rd. toward 7^th Street. Along the way I saw an abandoned building in the distance with colorful, somewhat attractive graffiti, so I had to pull over.

Not the most amazing graffiti art, but on this boring road on this boring building, it was kind of refreshing.

We finally made our way to 7^th Street and it was an unusual “I Saw the Sign” experience for me, because normally, when I’m taking photos, I’m on foot. Being in a car trying to find neat signs is kind of a challenge. Even more so when your travel companion reminds you of the surrounding crime and/or bored police in the area just waiting to harass you for no reason. Needless to say, this adventure was a hasty one.

I really liked this old timey font, and fun fact: this photo was really difficult to take.

I had to pull over and park awkwardly while trying not to get hit by cars whizzing by, and at the same time, there were guys working in this garage staring at me probably wondering what the hell I was doing. Good times!

V is for Victorville.

I thought the type used here was very suggestive of the desert/southwest culture that seems to dominate in our little city. Sometimes if you are lucky, you’ll see cowboys.

If you weren’t already aware, Route 66 goes right through Victorville. I would really like to meet someone who has gotten their kicks on Route 66. Where is the best place to do that exactly?

The Boys locker room at what used to be known to me as Victor Valley Junior High School, which is now a College Preparatory school. Don’t worry, school was not in session. I’m not a perv, I promise.

Alas, the culmination of our trip, Reflections. A venue many of us remember fondly, or maybe not so fondly.

I personally have a lot of great memories here, watching my friends’ bands perform and feeling like there was a place in the desert that I could escape to that wasn’t the mall or Victor Bowl.

Those tiles are clearly faux, and painted by hand. But don’t you love the ska vibes? I do.

Bri and I had a good laugh over the fact that the website advertised does not exist.

And that completes I Saw the Sign: Victorville! Bri also suggested that we head into old town Apple Valley, but we’ll save that for our next adventure.

Note reads: “Check out the mustache. Jackson was Hispanic!”

Last weekend when I was home, my parents left some cash on the counter so I could pick up dinner (ahhh, the perks of visiting home!). Along with the cash was the above note. I chuckled out loud. I obviously took a photo with my iPhone. I was way too amused by it. If any of you were wondering where I get my sense of humor, this note from my Dad pretty much explains it.

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: House of Mirth, c.1906, May

I found this gem while perusing the Library of Congress online photo archive yesterday and had to share. We don’t know too much about the subjects, but it’s not too difficult to fit the pieces together. Taken about 2 weeks after the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, the overall mood of San Francisco as we know it today is captured in the good-humored signage attached to this temporary home that this group of people created. According to the signs, the House of Mirth is complete with running water, steam heat and an elevator. Even in the worst of circumstances, San Franciscans are resilient and are able to retain a sense of humor.

Name: Chelsea
Age: 17 (in 3 days)
Inspirations: Lady Gaga, Makeup, Horror Films, Marc Jacobs, the Twilight saga

A while back a friend of mine told me about the wonders of the Toy Camera application for the iPhone. I bought it immediately (only $1.99!). This app basically lets you edit your photos without uploading them to the computer and prettying them up in Photoshop. You can add vintage color effects and change the saturation. Is Toy Camera a replacement for my beloved Photoshop? No way. But it’s a fun little tool to impress your friends and/or lovers.

above: TiltShift Generator in action

The new app that I discovered today that I really like is TiltShift Generator (aka Fake DSLR), brought to us by the creators of  Toy Camera (Art & Mobile). Only 99 cents, this application allows you to change the contrast and brightness as well as the saturation of your photos, and add either a radial or linear blur. Kinda neat. Kinda fun. I think I got my money’s worth.

Now, now. I really do like LA. I love the energy, the history, and just the overall punk rock feeling mixed with the uber corporate. The best of both worlds really, but also an incredibly strange place. Very ugly beautiful, but the other way around, I guess. Beautiful ugly?

Enough of my rambling! There is a point to this entry, I promise.

It’s the beginning of June. The beginning of Summer. And when I think of summer, I think of travel and trips on the metrolink to LA, because I did a lot of that last year. Whether it was to visit friends who live there or to see shows, LA will always be associated with summer and good friends for me.

So! This summer there are a lot of cool exhibits and museums that I need to check out. You should too! Here are my top three that I need to see (like that rhyme?):

Classical Frieze: Eleanor Antin at LACMA

Remember a long time ago when I went to see WACK at the Geffen Contemporary? And how I went on and on about how much I love Eleanor Antin? Well, to reiterate, I think the lady is pretty great. I want to see her newer work and how she has evolved as an artist and great thinker.

The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900 at the Hammer Museum

The museum website describes this exhibit as the hidden art from this time; the seedy underbelly, if you will. Focusing mostly on works from France and Germany, these pieces present a darker side of the Impressionist era.  I’ve never been to the Hammer Museum. I remember last year they were showing Kara Walker’s work and I missed out! I will not miss this.

Craft and Folk Art Museum

Their tagline explains “because a shrinking world requires an expanded mind.” YES! I agree, CaFAM! Their exhibit Celestial Ash looks neat. Their other current exhibit doesn’t sound all that exciting to me. I’m interested in seeing their permanent collection. I can’t believe this museum is right across the street from LACMA and I’ve never noticed it! I stumbled upon this site today. I’ll keep you posted when I visit. Admission is $5 for general public. Not too shabby!

Unfortunately I can’t use it for my project, but isn’t it amazingly gorgeous? Or as Ted Mosby would say “hauntingly beautiful”?

I found this little guy on sale for $269.99 on the Joanns website. And hey! Is that Martha Stewart I see smiling there on the page endorsing this machine? I think it is. Am I sold? Not quite yet. I currently have a Singer sewing machine, and my mom has my Babunia’s ancient Singer sewing machine from the old days. I still think we should take that thing to Antiques Roadshow. That would be so much fun. But anyway, that was a little beside my point. I’m a pretty loyal Singer customer, as my machine has done me well for the past 3 years. (Knocks on wood). The crazy old ladies in my sewing class last year seemed to have issues about my machine, saying that their Husqvarna and Bernina machines were superior. But my stance is this: the tools you use don’t matter as much as what you are able to create with them. And frankly, their crap was not any better than my crap. So there you go.

I’m going to be moving soon, so I think I will get a little more serious about this purchase in a month or so.

In other news, and in anticipation of moving, I have been giving more thought to the current decoration scheme in my apartment. Which is totally a joke because there is none. (Enter pre-recorded studio audience laughter here). In efforts to make my apartment a place I love to be (more than I already do), I think I’m going to fill my share of the space with photography by my two favorite Etsy photographers:

sixhours Photography

she hit pause studios

Check em out. Support independent artists. Support etsy sellers in general.