Mind over body

muchachos y muchachas!

It's been a while, and my schedule got pushed back because of work and life.. and as much as i tried to schedule work, family, and LPS in one day.. plus the 4 hour commute.. it didnt work out, my body would be so tired.


but hey, you know what? I was reminded of this quote i saw once "Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. Its always tired. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired".
This has been my motto, my mind is always always thinking of LPS and things i should do, mental lists, lists on my mac, lists on paper, new lists, lost lists, ideas, shopping lists, images of things to do, make or draw.. etc. my body.. was always tired.
But, as much as i love my sleep (its a hobby of mine), I have smiles of children imprinted into my tiny brain.

so, i just wanted to let you guys know, we're still on, we'll always be on. and we're still aiming to launch at the end of august/beginning of September.



knitted line is ready for launch, jewelry is almost ready, im working on greeting cards, and ethical blank t-shirts are currently making their journey to my doorstep, so that I can screen print them :)


And our First photoshoot is scheduled for this weekend!


so lots is happening! for the time being, check out these items i made.. the beads are awesome, and come from different parts of the world through fair trade! so we're already helping communities across the globe. small steps. small steps my friends!

journals,flowers and jewelry!

Its been crazy busy around the house lately, so i've had a break for the past couple of days.

but before that, i was on a Le Petit Sourire craze!

part of my accessories collection includes hair flowers and so i got my fabric scraps out and using scissors, a candle, thread and a needle.. i made a few shapes and types, all in teal now. we'll get to other colors soon. i dig the flower in the hair look, its so feminine and girly and fresh. i think guys should wear it too.

i've also been book binding as usual, its one of my favorite things to do after eating and traveling, and reading, and drawing, and day dreaming. oh and sleeping, and driving, and learning languages and... listening to music and changing the world. that makes it.. 11 on my list.
i'm making three little notebooks at the moment, and already finished a small sketchbook with original artwork on it. book binding is super easy (but time consuming) and although it requires a legit book press and tools, ive managed so far with a few heavy books and my brother's weights.. i'll post the process one day for those who are... interested:)

Also, this project started because i wanted to use my skills for change, but I wouldn't have taken the first steps without a push from people around me. I seriously started considering doing Le Petit Sourire because I've had a few friends, and a couple of strangers like the earrings or jewelry i made. its probably number 12 on my list of things i love doing. a portion of LPS's merchandise will be accessories and jewelry items, so i've worked on a couple of bracelets and earrings during the week.

today, its still crazy around the house, but i'm keeping myself in the atelier to get a few things done for all the children out there whose life might be touched by this project :)

i sort of know how to build websites..

I wish building a website was as easy as designing the template in Photoshop. i'd be building one every day!
alas! what took me 2 days of planning on photoshop will take me weeks to make in Dreamweaver, or Flash (which i am completely illiterate in.. but Flash websites are funnnn!)




anyyyyways! I made a few templates with different themes, then chose this one to proceed with..here's a sneak peak :)

draw, draw, draw!

ink pen +india ink + paper = euphoria for a few good hours.
I've been sketching for the website for the past 2 days, and Im sure, at some point.. im going to need someone to take away my drawing equipment because I might just keep going and going.. SO much fun.

also finished, is the site map.. I'm sure my interactivity (aka interaction design, aka website design) instructor wouldn't approve of it, its slightly (or, highly..) indecipherable.. but! it makes sense in my head, I even color coded it. so its all good. As long as at the end of the day, the world wide web gets a website that works..

here are a few of the sketches ive been working on.They're just roughs and i plan to play around with them in photoshop/illustrator or with watercolors/gouache paints..they also might not even end up on the site... I have no idea how this website will look like at the end.. but In my head.. i see illustrations and drawings.. so shall it be! 

Click to open in new window, then click again to enlarge =)

step one, check.

I'm so grateful for the four walls surrounding my basement that shielded the eyes of passers by from the mess that was my basement. SO grateful. you literally couldn't walk from point A to point B (5 feet away from each other) without tripping over a tube of oil paint, book binding tools, old artwork, and fabric scraps.
Im not usually that messy. ok thats a blatant lie. im messy when it comes to art work, and i dont mind. I need a messy, yet somehow organized atmosphere to create.

So my goal for the past weekend was to arrange my basement and have it ready for Le Petit Sourire. the floors are now clear, desks, organizers, drawers and boxes have been added, all in all, creating workstations for the following: Sewing/fabric-related art station, illustrating/book making/ greeting cards station, lino cuts/stamp making station, jewelry making station and a final area for screen printing and fabric painting.

with that, we scratch STEP ONE from our to-do list!

now that my atelier is ready for business.. we move on to step 2, the website! i'll keep you posted on that one!

and so it begins..

Five months of summer..I cant contain my excitement!!
I plan to spend those 5 months immersed in my work on Le Petit Sourire (as well as other happenings), and I figured it would be kind of cool to let you guys in on whats going on, since you guys have been with me since the beginning- re: the name contest we had, which ultimately decided this project shall bear the name of Le Petit Sourire!


so for those of you joining us at this point, and are wondering what Le Petit Sourire is..

I have decided that all the crazy ideas in my head and the to-make lists that include accessories, hand made books/journals, crocheted/knitted scarves and hats, sewed anything and everything, screen printed/any kind of printed clothing/fabric crafts, painted/sprayed/sketched/..stuff could be made! and I shall make them for the world!

the jist of the project is this: I make all of the above and then some, you and the rest of the human population on the planet (or a tiny percentile of it..) will kindly purchase them for yourselves, loved ones, anyone! and 60% of what you give will go towards building a school in the world with Free The Children, and 40% goes back into the project for more materials and tools =)

I dont know how successful this will be, i might end up with boxes and boxes of my hand made crafts, or it might actually work and then we'll have a school somewhere for children whose basic human right is to get the education they deserve!

this project and all the effort and passion in me for a better world is and always will be inspired by the restless idealists who work everyday for a better world, and by the smiles on the faces of the children worldwide- particularly vivid in my mind are those smiles of the children of San Miguel de Pomachaca and Gulahuayco in Ecuador who kindly gave me a lifetime's worth of high fives!

join me in this journey! lets see where we end up!