Cuff Month

Forgive me readers for I have sinned, it's been two months since my last blog post! Yes, it's been a while but I continue to desire to update you on what has been going on. So here goes.

I will call the month of March (and some of April) Cuff Month! I have been getting a lot of orders for my cuffs and most of them have been coming from my dear friend M who has become my bestest customer in the world! I am going to have to give her an award, seriously! I last wrote about M in this post back in January of 2009. Well, M, asked me if I was interested in a wholesale gig and I said YES! So this is what I have been working on. I think I made her about 25 cuffs all together. It may not sound like a lot but when you have two kids and your babysitter decides to take a three week vacation, then it is a lot!!!!! But I did it and am so grateful for the opportunity. She has been selling them at various events and I am so happy for the exposure. It also pushed me to mix it up a bit in terms of the fabric choices. M suggetsed I do some of them with red fabric and I pulled a couple of switcheroos in terms of fabric and icons. Here are a couple of pics. You'll recognize the fabric from other cuffs I have done. These will be available in my shop soon.



By the way, M has a shop on etsy too. She sells beautiful, nostalgic, eccentric pieces that are amazingly crafted. Check out the Hand of Fatima Designs here.

Tomorrow, I'll talk a little about new additions to the shop.

The Artistic Mother

I am ECSTATIC!!!! about this book, The Artistic Mother: A Practical Guide to Fitting Creativity into Your Busy Life by Shona Cole, and I cannot wait to get my copy. I browsed though it at the Barnes in Nobles at Cross County and it is definitely the book to have if you are a creative mom trying to squeeze artistic time into your life. If you have read my blog for some time, you know that this has been my challenge. I do carve out time to work on my my clothing line, Nelesc Designs, and this provides a great creative outlet. However, recently, I have been wanting to make more collage art like this, which I posted in March and I think this is the book to jumpstart it given that Shona herself is a collage artist. Since I can only work on my personal art projects when the baby is not at the sitter, I am looking forward to hearing about Shona's tips on creating more time for self expression.

Here is what you will find in her book:

• The Artist’s Workshop, a 12-week art course that teaches you how to bring creativity back into your life

• Step-by-step instructions for more than 12 finished art pieces celebrating motherhood and family

• A weekly action plan to help you make the best use of your time

• Artist Spotlights that introduce you to 7 inspiring artist-mommas

• Tips on creating time and space in your life for your art

• A beginner’s guide to each of three much-loved arts: poetry, photography and mixed media

You can purchase the book at various Barnes and Nobles or here at Amazon.com. Shona also has a wonderful blog which I also follow. Check it out at http://www.shonastudio.blogspot.com/.

Happy Birthday Julia de Burgos and FREE shipping!

Julia de Burgos was born Febuary 17, 1914 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. She is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico and generally considered as one of the greatest poets of Latin America. She was also an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico and an ardent civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers.

So....to honor this amazing woman, I would like to offer free shipping on each of the the two Julia de Burgos items in my shop. I will simply return your shipping fee to your PayPal account after you check out. This will go on for the rest of February and the entire month of March. I can also print this image on a top you send me and I will ship it for free.

Feliz Cumpleanos, Julia!

This shirt is Illegal, reconstruction from the past #2

Here's another t-shirt reconstruction I did this past summer. My hubby got it from a VOM conference held in my church. VOM stands for The Voice of the Martyrs. The following is taken from their website, http://www.persecution.com/. "The Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, inter-denominational Christian organization dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide. VOM was founded in 1967 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned 14 years in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ. His wife, Sabina, was imprisoned for three years. In the 1960s, Richard, Sabina, and their son, Mihai, were ransomed out of Romania and came to the United States. Through their travels, the Wurmbrands spread the message of the atrocities that Christians face in restricted nations, while establishing a network of offices dedicated to assisting the persecuted church." When people see my website, some might think that I am a communist and atheist. I am neither. In fact, I am a Christian who loves Jesus. To me, He's the most powerful revolutionary of all because he spoke of revolution within. Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean that I can't be inspired by Che, Angela or Pedro (some of the people I screenprint). These people were passionate and risked their lives for the poor and disenfranchised. They weren't perfect, just passionate and that is what I celebrate. One day, when I find an image that does Jesus justice, I'll print it on a t-shirt. For now, I like my collection of cultural/revolutionary people and look forward to adding more.

Without further ado, here is this too big t-shirt transformed into a perfect, chic summer top. And yes, this shirt is illegal in 52 countries.

Reconstruction from the Past

In keeping with my targeted posts, I am showing you one of my past t-shirt transformations that I never posted. I forgot who gave me this t-shirt but it was clearly too big. I added subtle flutter sleeves and a slit neckline.

Happy New Year!!! Blog and Nelesc Designs goals for 2010.

My first blog post of the year!!! So sorry it took this long. I am really hoping that this year I can post more consistently. I know I said that last year, and although I improved from the year before, I still was not as steady as I wanted to be. I do want to do some new things with this blog which I hope will keep me motivated. As well as posting newly listed items from my shop, I would like to feature other Etsy shops, write about my creative process, interview other creative people and find out about their process, review books about art, fashion, spirituality, and motherhood, and feature contemporary, modern and historical people who have made a difference in the world. I know, I know, for someone who is not a consistent blogger, these are lofty plans but hey, at least I have a goal!

I also decided to focus my attention on three key elements concerning my shop. I will offer more ready made tops with my cultural icon screenprints in multiple sizes and colors. This has been a major request from my clients and I listened! I also plan to create more screens, particularly of men since I only have two males featured in my collection, and, in order to feed my love for design and reconstruction, I would like to do do more t-shirt reconstructions from pre-printed t-shirts and t-shirts I print myself. Not to mention, I still plan to be available for custom orders. I know I will probably vear a bit from this plan but again, a girl has to have a plan to vear from. LOL!! No, really, I really want to stick to this for 2010. When my smallest boy starts school in September, I will be able to do more, but right now I need to focus!!!

So, here's a little taste of some of my newly listed tops in multiple sizes and colors!!! Go to http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/ for more information on sizing. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!!!

In Memory of Bryson Ross

I was so saddened to hear that the son of a fellow mom blogger, Shellie Ross’s (@military_mom on twitter), drowned in her backyard pool. He was only 2.5 years old. That is the same age as my little Dan. I have no words except those that come from the Bible in Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit..."

Please join me in praying for this mom and her family in this time of suffering.