Second Red Sari Poster Winner Announced!

A great big shout-out and congratulations go out to Ms. Donna Hawkins of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, who is the proud new owner of the Red Sari poster featured in last weekend's giveaway!  Donna was thrilled to be the winner- and I hope she enjoys her print!  She heard about the giveaway on the Delta's page on Facebook.  If you'd like to get in on the giveaways, just shoot me an email at info@caprichostudio1.com and I'll get you on the mailing list...and I will keep your info under lock and key, I promise.

I am absolutely beside myself...Spring Break is now less than 24 hours away!  Studio time!  Time to work on the website update...work on developing some new patterns and purses and a bunch of new stuff for upcoming shows.  I am planning a trunk show in late March/early April so stay tuned for more details.  I already promised Bruno a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo and the Childrens' Aquarium at Fair Park, and that is all he's talking about.  There are a few other little excursions that I am scheming on, too- so we'll see.  I don't DARE mention anything else or I can forget having ANY studio time! 

Winner of Red Sari Giveaway Announced! What the heck, let's do it AGAIN!

 This girl's got a new home!

Congrats go out to Sandra Pedregal, winner of the Red Sari poster!  Sandra was the first to locate the token on the Gallery page at the Caprichos Studio website. 

What the heck, let's do it again- I'm giving away a signed Red Sari poster to the 21st person to send me an email telling me where they heard of the contest. At this time U.S. residents only- sorry! Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

KANZASHI

Just the word gives me goosebumps.  I shoulda been a geisha so that I could wear these things!  Doesn't matter- I'm gonna find some kind of way to rock them with my dreads.  It's funny how I discovered them- Everything that I have been making lately has an Asian vibe to it.  I've been doing Bollywood for awhile now- but recently I'm doing purses with a lot of convolutions and folds, and I got the wild idea to research origami to see if I could find anything that would translate.  I found lots of stuff, but nothing really grabbed me by the throat and demanded that I explore it further.  Instead, I started encountering these FABULOUS images of geisha with these...well, delicate bits of magnificence in their wigs.  Like little bitty flowers which I later discovered were hundreds of tiny folded pieces of heavily starched silks and fabric called chirimen (rayon) designed to look like flowers- plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, all kinds of flowers.  Words escape me.  Look at them and GASP, like I did.  Awesomeness.

Anyway, the purses are still in the cooker but I had to digress a little to go on a crusade for tutorials for everything about them.  Spring break is coming in a week (THANK GOD!!!) and  I'll have a few minutes to rub together soon- hopefully I'll have time to make a few and share them with you here.

Red Sari Giveaway! Contest ends Saturday March 5

I'm giving away a signed print of Red Sari to the first person to give the location of the Red Sari Giveaway Token located on my website, www.caprichostudio1.com.  Just click on the link for the email and give the correct response.  If you're the first to hit me back, YOU WIN! 

 

This is what you're lookin' for.

I absolutely love this image.  It's one of my all-time favorites.  I'm a fanatic for South Asian fashion, fabrics, jewelry (gold and uncut diamonds and chunky natural rubies), the unusual and unexpected color combinations, you name it.  Indian and Pakistani Bridal stuff makes me SWOON, do you hear me?   Red Sari is a painting inspired by the understated elegance of  the sari- a garment that is thousands of years old and consists of like 5 yards of fabric wrapped around a woman's form in a way that utterly transforms her. I enjoy cultural exchange and I actively seek out ways to combine elements of diverse cultures in my work.  I thought that nothing would be cooler than to depict a graceful, elegant Sista crowned with long, flowing dreadlocks in a traditional red bridal sari.  Many bridal saris are encrusted with heavy zardozi embroidery involving delicate gold coils attached to silk.  I decided to keep this one simple, and to allow her graceful curves and gesture speak for itself.  I imagine her as a young bride, or a young Proverbs 31 woman in the works.

 If you're interested in checking out South Asian fashion, exclusively.in.com and  Silk Threads (owned by Ruby Bhandari, they're local, too, Dallas folks!) has some eye candy, wow, there are soooo many vendors of gorgeous saris, lengha cholis (long skirt and midriff top) and my personal favorite, the salwar kameez.  To me, the salwar suit is the epitome of modest elegance.  I went through a stretch where they were all I wore- dress 'em up, dress 'em down and accessorize with a billowy, diaphonous dupatta (a long shawl/scarf) that can be worn a number of ways to accent the suit.  

Anyhoo...go to www.caprichostudio1.com and be the first to find the token!  Time's a wastin'!  

Art Expose 2011 at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Today was the big day, and I am about to crawl into bed.  Thank God spring break is coming soon- but I doubt if I will spend much time resting up- gotta entertain the troops, i.e., Bruno.  That's not his REAL name, by the way- it's John, but I digress.  The art show at church today was a grand success- I introduced some new product- these cool little cut paper collage pieces with scriptures that have really been speaking to me lately.  Guess they are talking to other people too- they got snatched up pretty quick, so I think I will make more.  It is so funny how you can read or hear certain scriptures forever and you're like, aw, yeah, that's cool, and then God starts working on you and dag-gone, every time you turn around it's like the Spirit is talkin' to YOU.  Lately for me it's been relative to maintaining a positive attitude and remaining focused.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  As a woman is in her heart, so is she...and so on.  Casting down crazy notions and subjecting them to Christ.  I'll have some pieces to put online soon- so much going on on the homefront lately that I haven't had time to really devote to developing ideas and when I get a few moments to rub together things combust and I just can't force myself to go to bed- like last night.  Finally crawled into the sack about 3 a.m. last night, set the clock for 6, made it up by 6:30.  Told myself I would call my play cousin Tammy in Hawaii tonite (that 5 hour time difference is something else!) and then crash at a reasonable hour.  Called Tam, but she didn't pick up- probably out paddling or surfing or something.  Laid down on the couch and just as I nodded off Bruno came calling for me and  I woke up just in time to keep from getting  hurled on. Got him cleaned up, but who's sleepy now?  So get ready for the upcoming week- and try to figure out how to squeeze in some time for art.

Winner of the Wallet Giveaway Announced!

Congratulations go out to Susan Abell, who answered the Bruno's Multitasking Mama Blog question and found the GIVEAWAY TOKEN located on the "About Us" page at www.caprichostudio1.com!  Susan won the wallet- ENJOY!  I had a ball making it.  Also, thanks to all who entered, and watch out for more goodies coming up soon at www.brunosmultitaskingmama.blogspot.com.

Bruno's Multitasking Mama's Super Cool Handmade Wallet Giveaway

 

Hot off of the sewing machine!

 Welcome to my first giveaway on Bruno's Multitasking Mama.  I'm really into creating purses, wallets, slippers... stuff that holds stuff lately.  We had another snow (ice, rather) day Wednesday and I got a little more playtime in the studio than expected this week.  YAY!  Started playing around with some goodies in my African stash and this is what came out of it.  Figured I'd share the luv.  This baby is 9" long x 4 1/2" wide made from authentic African mudcloth and handwoven Kente cloth.  Bears the Proverbs 30 ONE Woman label on front magnetic snap closure with blanket stitch detail.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Look inside - it'll hold wads of cash, your cards and has a sleeve to hold your ID.  3 1/2" x 4" velcro pocket holds pocket change, and a 3" x 3" Kente patch pocket will safeguard an electronic device.  Lined with bright red hand-dyed cotton.

Retails for $45.00

Makes a nice Valentine's Day gift for a loved one- or keep it for yourself!

Here's how you get it:

I'm looking for the 21st sender!

Go to www.caprichostudio1.com and look for the Super Cool Handmade Wallet Giveaway Token.  It looks like this:

Once you've found it, shoot me an email  revealing what page you found it on.
If you're the 21st sender with the correct response, it's YOURS!

Contest ends 12 midnight (central time) on 12 February 2011. I will announce the winner on Sunday 13 February 2011.  Sorry, no international entries at this time. 

Now, go find that token! ;-D

Hey Y'all! Welcome to Bruno's Multitasking Mama!

Ok, so I'm in Dallas and we've been iced in for the last week- and we're supposed to get hit again on Wednesday.  I don't care, I think it's fun.  I teach and I will tell ANYONE, I will take those days however I can get them.  Besides, the time off has given me the opportunity to not only work on rearranging/organizing my studio, but I have had the chance to just cook, cook cook.   But I digress.  I'm from parts north (Tennessee, Northern Virginia, Maryland and Wisconsin) so I know enough to stay in when the temps are in the single digits and the roads are icy.  Unfortunately though, when the weatherfolk were hawking the message of the wintry mix, I pooh-poohed it off because in the  past it's just been a bunch of hot air.  Hubby is from "The Boot" (Louisiana, that is), and he had a different chant.  "Beth, we ALWAYS get bad weather around the Superbowl."  And sho' 'nuff ( as both of my grannies used to say), it hit- HARD.

My frozen tundra

Anyway, I didn't go to Save-A-Lot or Tom Thumb like I shoulda.  I didn't even make a quick run to the 99cents Only store.  I love to cook and ordinarily I keep the deep freeze, cupboard and fridge well-stocked and packed tight.   I did pretty good, though, even though the rations were starting to get lighter than I would have liked.  We still ate GOOD and I didn't miss a trick.  Pozole, Pakoras, Kadhi Pakodi, Spaghetti, and Chicken and Dumplings tonight.  I got lazy and relied upon Mr. Pillsbury (when 99c Only gets the Organic Chocolate Chip and holiday sugar cookies I usually stock up for a quick fix for Bruno, my wacky 5 year-old) and we munched on a lot of popcorn.  But the snow and cold weather had me craving one of my holiday staples- soft molasses cookies.  One problem, though.

There was no butter in the house.

And we don't fool with margarine.  What to do?  I got adventurous.  I used olive oil instead, and the Brotha from The Boot was none the wiser until I told him.  I figured, what the heck?  It's GOOD fat, right? My pint-sized cookie conoisseur loves them.  Cool.

So, here's my recipe.  I've been looking for this for years- a cookie that is soft and moist and chewy on the inside, a little crispy around the edges.  Can't remember if I found it at recipesource, cooks.com or Martha's vault, but here it is- including my own little tweaks and trick-ups.  Enjoy!  Be sure to hit me back to tell me how you liked 'em.

 Hungry yet?

CHEWY MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES

Ingredients

Makes 36

·         2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

·         1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
      (Now, if you like your cookies spicy, add this along with the dry ingredients: 1/8 tsp. ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. Jamaican allspice and 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger.  If you are real adventurous and can get your hands on it, finely chop up 1/4 cup candied ginger in the dough. I grind my spices fresh whenever I can.)

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 1/2 cups sugar (1/2 cup is to roll 'em around in.  I combine 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup granulated for the cookie dough.)

·         3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (Or use 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil!)

·         1 large egg

·         1/4 cup molasses ( I use 1/3 to 1/2 cup- love the flavor!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms.

Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved granulated sugar to coat.

Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days. Don't bank on them lasting that long.  We're down to 3 in the cake safe, and that's only because Bruno doesn't know they are there.

The chix and dumplings are off the chain. Recipe coming soon!