Art: Early 2018 Outdoors Ice-dye

For the last month or so it's been pretty cold by Vegas standards. We don't get nearly as cold as some regions of the country do, as many Vegas natives like to remind their relatives via Facebook when news reports start sounding off about snow out East, but we do still have our cold months. Temperatures in the mid 30s (fahrenheit) at night are about the worst our winters typically deliver, which is evidently just cold enough to prevent our ice-dyes from fully melting. We've been doing a lot of our recent projects indoors, which has worked out pretty well for those especially frigid periods, but the weather is prone towards warming quickly here and we're already getting up into the 70s again! With weather like this it's really hard not to want to be outdoors more often, as our recent camping venture may have hinted at. On the day these items were made it was quite lovely out so I took advantage of the pleasant climate and threw together some ice-dyes. We live within walking distance to a 711 (though the hill is quite steep) so there's ice always available. We could try to make our own but we have severely limited freezer space so I doubt we could ever comfortably make enough ice for more than a shirt or two at a time. No problem, though! I have a pedometer on my phone and have been keeping track of my daily step averages for ages now so I can't gripe too loudly about an opportunity to up my step count and work on my butt. Those inclines are great for your glutes, guys, so don't be scared to tackle some hills! I'm always doing stretches and squats at work, too, because I'm a giantess who's on her feet most of the day and a lot of the product in the store I work at is kept in cabinets below my knees or high up where I need to sometimes get on my tippy-toes to reach. Use it or lose it and all that, right? I try to stay active, whether it's creating new shirts or walking around. 

We've been cranking out shirts like mad recently, and I'm beyond thrilled with this development. I find most aspects of the process soothing, and love sharing the results with everyone! I'll be sharing more of the finished shirts here soon, so check back for that. For now, enjoy this batch!

More photos below!

Las Vegas: Brennan's B-day tie-dye shindig 2015-09-2

Antho and I tend to have a colorful cast of friends, so it's always a lot of fun to pool our social resources for collaborative events, and as it so happened, our friend Brennan happened to have a birthday coming up! He's a big fan of tie-dye so when he wanted to spend some time with us on his birthday it was a natural choice! There were four of us altogether with Brennan, Dalton, Antho and I and 6 shirts between us. I also had an old boring towel that I contributed. :) Dalton only wanted to do one shirt as it was his first go at tie-dye, his was the pink and black bull's eye! Isn't it pretty? He did a great job! Brennan also opted to only dye one shirt this time around, too. The boys brought Star Wars Monopoly (YES it's real and it's really fun!) so when the shirts were all tied off and well-saturated we retreated indoors to let them cure overnight. They came out great! 

More photos below!

Day trip to Berkeley

Welcome to Berkeley, a lovely little town north of San Francisco and Oakland, famous for having the oldest college campus in California along with it's politically liberal vibe.

While walking through Berkeley, it's evident that the town takes great pride in itself. The street lamps are adorned with baskets of flowers, the sidewalks are clean and the buildings beautiful and well maintained.

Quirky and creative individuals and businesses abound, with small cafes offering live orchestral performances or Japanese curry. One intersection has three distinct movie cinemas operating on different corners, each offering different movies. Amoeba records flagship store opened in 1990 in Berkeley, so if you're a music geek that's worth noting. It's a huge store with a robust selection and has expanded with newer locations in San Francisco (which we visited) and another in Hollywood.

While a fairly small town of permanent residents at around 100k, I imagine it's pretty safe to estimate that the population boons during college season. Several people remarked on the amusing contrast of seeing young preppie college kids mingling with a bunch of hippies, but that's the kind of atmosphere the town fosters. Everyone we spoke with was friendly and glowed with pride for their home.

Curious? I've got lots of photos for you below!

Return to Haight & The Dead House on 7/10

After checking in to our hostel, we returned to Haight street to check out the Grateful Dead house on 710 Ashbury on 7/10, because, duh. Between our psychedelic light show (710 Visuals) and our appreciation for the Dead it was a must stop on a tour, especially given the date.

Yeah, we're dorks.

San Francisco Haight Street

Haight Street is a haven of art and culture overflowing with colors and eclectic creations. Famous landmarks include the Grateful Dead house on 710 Ashbury, which we made a pilgrimage to on July 10th (7/10) at 7:10pm, but I digress, this post is about the rest of Haight street!

The area is known for being a bit "hippie-dippie", which is perfectly fine by us. 

Personally, I LOVED all the murals and street art adorning the buildings in the area.

I think every city really should have an area where they let the creativity flow freely…

Places for artists of all varieties to commune.

That was more or less the vibe I got on Haight street, so check out the photos below !

Las Vegas: 2015-04-25 Holi Festival of Color 2015

 

     Are you a fan of color? If, like me, you find the idea of antiquing complete strangers with fistfuls of colored powder appealing, then boy do I have an event for you! 

     The Holi Festival of Color! It's a traveling event celebrating an Indian tradition that largely involves satchels of colored cornstarch powder; animal safe, people safe (though mildly irritating to get in your eyes). People of all ages, shapes, styles, and sizes gathered for live group yoga sessions, live music, raffles, food, dancing, and the all important tossing of colors.