Packing for Positano!

I did not have time to go shopping before my vacation, so I have to be creative about what I am bringing to Italy. I will be taking my NYC style to the Amalfi Coast (whether they like it or not)! 


1. White Fedora because baseball hats and visors are for Americans! I live in the east village- not far from the craziest street selling anything from sunglasses to fedoras in every shape, size and color: St. Marks Place! You must bargain with the vendors for the best price. I paid no more than $15 for mine.


2. Red lipstick. Red is very Italian! Thats why I am bringing Viva La Glam Cyndi Lauper lipstick. Also, this purchase goes to MAC Aids FUND to support the fight against Aids.

3. Mix-and-Matched bikinis! To be clear, I do NOT own a pink leopard print bikini but I do plan to mix my corals with blacks, etc.

4. Barbie Video Camera. I actually do NOT plan to purchase this video camera...but I thought this video was cool. Not sure how the Italians would feel about me carrying around Barbie into the Pantheon and the Vatican. 

5. iPhone Wine App. I recently bought the Approach Guides WINE App off of iTunes. This app does not require internet connection, so when traveling out of the country, you don't have to worry about roaming charges. Plus this app is handy when picking wine and food pairings.

6. Italian Speaking Boyfriend. Check!  I have been learning some things on my own. I have been using LiveMocha learning phrases like: La Donna e' grassa...haha...which will be ME after I get back from Italy!

7. Positano Playlist. A vacation is not complete without a PLAYLIST to get you in the spirit of traveling. Some songs on mine: "We No Speak Americano" by Yolando Be Cool & Dcup, "Hey London Remix" by Chiddy Bang, "Armour Love" by La Roux, "Paris is burning" by Ladyhawke, "Holiday" by Madonna, "Ca plane pour moi" by Plastic bertrand and "Girl from Impanema" by Babel Gilberto.


8. Sequin Sweater. JCrew has a fabulous sheer sequin sweater that is perfect for dining on the coast. The breezes from the Mediterranean sea will keep the nights cool, and this sweater will keep you warm!


9. Non-expensive jewelry. When I travel, I bring a few necklaces and a couple of earrings. Its not necessary to bring your jewels with you to a foreign country. I go to Urban Outfitters, Target, H&M, and thrift stores to look for statement necklaces and earrings that will jazz up an ordinary black dress. 


10. Red rimmed sunglasses! I chose an aviator style for me, but the classic 80s style in red is a nice touch too.

Dead or Alive at MAD

I wanted to share some of my photos of art work from the Dead or Alive exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York City. These pieces of art are made of organisms that were once alive. At first, I thought some of it was crap, to be honest with you, but then I watched a video of how the artist came to conceptualizing the installation. It may have not been the way I would have conceptualized the idea...but it was natural...it was organic...so I began to appreciate the art more for its developmental values than just what meets the eyes.

The images above are from a piece called SPICE SKULLS by Helen Altman. This was one of my favorites. If you stood close enough to the skulls you could smell the nutmeg or the rosemary or the curry that made up each individual skull. I wanted to take one and use it in a pasta later that night.

This is where all my donated "locks-of-love" hair went! I knew it! This installation CAUDA EQUINA which means "Horse Tail" in spanish, is by contemporary artist Keith Bentley.

Intrinsecus by Jennifer Trask was simple and beautiful. The once alive coral draped the corner of the frame and extended beyond its perimeter.

This chair was not apart of the Dead or Alive exhibit. It was on the home-design floor. I thought it was interesting and colorful. How'd I love to spec something like this for a building I am working on!

Tools for creativity

While reading one of my favorite blogs, Logo Design Love, I was directed to a website called CreatingMinds.org . On this site, there was a list of "creative tools".  I include these creative tools below (who knew there were so many!):

• Absence Thinking: Think about what is not there.
• Adoption Checklist: A checklist of what leads to adoption.
• Art streaming: Keep creating until you get through the blocks.
• Assumption Busting: Surfacing and challenging unconscious assumptions.
• Attribute Listing: Listing attributes of objects and then challenging them.
• Brainstorming: the classic creative method for groups.
• Braindrawing: Good for reticent groups.
• Brainmapping: Combining brainwriting and mind-mapping.
• Brainwriting: Group doodling for non-verbal stimulation.
• Breakdown: Careful decomposition to explore the whole system.
• CATWOE: A checklist for thinking about problems and solutions.
• Challenge: Challenge any part of the problem.
• ChangingMinds: The ultimate persuasion website.
• Chunking: Take a higher or more detailed view.
• Concept Screening: Comparing options against a baseline benchmark.
• Context Map: Mapping the overall problem domain.
• Crawford Slip Method: Getting ideas from a large audience.
• A Day In The Life Of...: Seeing things as they are experienced.
• Delphi Method: Explore ideas or gain consensus with remote group.
• Diffusion Lifecycle: Spreading ideas one group at a time.
• Doodling: Let your subconscious do the drawing.
• Essence: Looking elsewhere whilst retaining essential qualities.
• Forced Conflict: Using conflict to stimulate the subconscious.
• Force-field Analysis: Exploring forces for and against an idea.
• Guided Imagery: Letting your subconscious give you a message.
• Head, Heart and Hands: Get all three systems of motivation engaged.
• The Hundred Dollar Test: How will you spend $100 on your ideas?
• How-How Diagram: Break down problem by asking 'how'.
• How to: Frame statements as 'How to' to trigger focused thinking.
• Incubation: Letting the subconscious do the work.
• Is − Is not: To scope out boundary of problems.
• The Kipling method (5W1H): ask simple questions for great answers.
• Lateral thinking: Thinking sideways to create new ideas.
• Lotus Blossom: Unfold the flower of extended ideas.
• Mind-mapping: Hierarchical breakdown and exploration.
• Modeling: For the artist in everyone.
• Moment of Truth (MoT) Analysis: Finding vulnerable customer moments.
• Morphological Analysis: Forcing combinations of attribute values.
• Negative Selection: Sort out the 'definitely nots' first.
• Nominal Group Technique: Getting ideas with minimal personal interaction.
• NUF Test: Check idea is New, Useful and Feasible.
• Pause: Think more deeply for a minute.
• PINC Filter: Evaluate pros and cons of ideas.
• Positives, Negatives: Look at both problems and benefits.
• Post-Up: Brainstorming with Post-It Notes.
• Problem Statement: Getting a clear statement of what you are trying to achieve.
• Provocation: Shake up the session by going off-piste.
• PSI: Problem + Stimulus = Idea!
• Purposing: Finding the real purpose of what you are doing.
• Random Words: Using a random word as a stimulus.
• Remembrance: Remembering solutions not yet discovered.
• Reversal: Looking at the problem backwards.
• Reverse Brainstorming: Seek first to prevent your problem from happening.
• Reverse Planning: Working backwards from a perfect future.
• Rightbraining: Combine incomplete doodles around the problem.
• Role-play: Become other people. Let them solve the problem.
• Rubber-ducking: Get someone else to listen to your talk.
• SCAMPER: Using action verbs as stimuli.
• Six Thinking Hats: Think comfortably in different ways about the problem.
• Storyboarding: Creating a visual story to explore or explain.
• Swap sort:  Sorting a short list by priority swapping.
• Take a break: When creativity is fading.
• Talk streaming: Just talk and talk and talk until you unblock.
• TRIZ Contradiction Analysis: Use methods already used in many patents.
• Unfolding: Gradually unfolding the real problem from the outside.
• Value Analysis: Deep analysis of where true value is created.
• Visioning: Creating a motivating view of the future.
• Voting: Democratic casting of votes for the best idea.
• Why not?: Challenge objections and assumptions.
• Wishing: State ideas as wishes to expand thinking.
• Write streaming: Write and write and write until you unblock.

I'm trying to figure out, which one of these tools I used to design these three options for a contractor's desk...and well the pig and the wolf were thrown in for laughs! 

LSU in lower contrast

These images prove that you don't need a fancy camera to create beautiful images. I took these last friday at my sister's graduation at LSU, with my iPhone. Instead of adding saturation and contrast (which is a technique I sometimes use when trying to create more interest in photos), I desaturated these and lowered the contrast levels. 

My models: My Dad & My Nephew, Ben.

Kitchen Before & After photos

Ben & I added paint to the very white walls. We applied blue on two sides & black chalkboard paint on the entry wall. I found some vintage marquis letters on ebay. I bought two: one "K" and one "B"...totally forgot about getting an old "C" for Charlie....but I am working on it. We added shelves behind the frig and hung my "Crawfish Festival 2001" poster. 

Upholstery Class #4 of 4: The Final Steps!

ah...yes, we left off at piping!

Once the piping is applied on all four sides, we applied the fabric that covers the sides of the ottoman. We stapled the back side of the fabric, upside-down along the underside of the piping. We overlapped the two edges at one corner.  We left about 2 to 3 inches of overlap on these two corners.

After all the fabric was stapled to the ottoman, we applied a stiffening strip to the underside of the piping... holding very tight to the piping. 

After the stiffening strip (which resembles cardboard or chip board in texture and stiffness), we attached more dacron to all four sides. The dacron should align with top of piping cord. Smooth with right hand, tighten and hold with left hand, then staple with right hand...repeat...on all four sides. 

Place ottoman upside-down for the next finishing steps. Pull fabric upward and use ruler to push dacron down on top of piping seam. Put two temporary staples at the corner where the fabric meets. Staple all four side to underside of ottoman, creating 90 degree angles at corners. The corner, where the fabric meet, is too tough for me to repeat....infact I didn't even do it, which was unlike me...since I was getting used to doing things twice (in this class). I got my teacher to finish that corner for me. 

Cut access material from bottom. Add bottom- we used a thin black material. I forget the name of this stuff...I was excited to have almost completed this sucker.

Add gliders to each corner of the bottom. You can just hammer them into the bottom. I should probably say "you can hammer these gliders into the bottom with skill and experience" since I broke the exposed plastic part of the glider atleast 4 times before getting one into the bottom of the ottoman...successfully.


Sew up edge with an invisible seam. 

Last step & final step: carry home and prop your feet up!