Saturday, December 5, 2009

farewell Vancouver!

my life has been pretty boring as of late since all i do is clean, sell, and pack my cr@p! so of course i had to make a flyer :)


my inspiration for the flyer came with my Clockwork Orange poster and the No Doubt poster which also was inspired by Clockwork. Stanley Kubrick is genius and so is this graphic designer.

the making of...

Pieces of Me,
finally went to print in This Little City a local Vancouver fashion news print. you can check out the online version on tlc-vancouver.com. p.s. i switched a couple pages around.




and here's the story board i put together for my team to make sure we're all on the same page.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

i'm sick!

i've been cooped up in bed for the last 3 days getting over this stupid flu and of course i've been watching cartoons, movies, and going to blog sites. i stumbled across this hilarious video that made me smile. i don't post video blogs but i just had to do it :)
do yo thang Cubby!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

an interview!

check it: modelresource did an interview on me and photography! instead of reading the article my hubby put it on audio playback which was kinda erie but it also made me sound really insightful and stuff :)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

the purging

i'm moving back out to Toronto for the holidays before i make my even bigger move to NY. oh what a bitter-sweet feeling I have, however more sweet than bitter. my stay here in Vancouver, BC for the past 3 years has been quite the learning curve. i made a cute little artist haven here that i'll miss dearly but y'all know building my NY empire of an eclectic home will give me plenty to blog about. my search for the perfect NY pad has begun! i'm aiming to be there end of february 2010. i'm bending the universe right now to ensure that happens ;)
so my purging consists of my lovely moss green couch that i reupholstered myself, all my furniture even my cool 1940's Singer sewing machine with the built in table, my very own customized chairs, my frickin' mattress that i paid good money for that screwed up my back, my only ikea item: the skinny work table....GONE! everything GONE! thanks to my bestie craigslist my non-essentials are going to good homes.
all i can say is it's about dang time! everyone always asks why i moved out west. there are many reasons, but my most prominent one was to grow up. i was living at home with my mama and bra, eating good food, taking the roof i had over my head for granted, friends and a social life galore, caught up in the fashion scene, indecisive about my love life with the then boy friend (i love you boo boo), and going a million miles per second. sometime you just gotta step back and take it all in from a far. 3 years later imma coming home to tear this roof off! back home to the cities that make me vibrate with creativity! so many projects in the works...tee hee hee. oh i'm gonna destroy it!

any who, here's my little online garage sale. i'll more than likely be posting cool finds of the bottom of my dresser.
no more shopping for me...for now :)

Saturday, November 7, 2009

and then some

a few more. this should be the last of my insanity
shout outs to Andy!


the wait is over

finally! after slaving like a beast here are the long awaited pics as per my fan requests. remember last year? this time around i embraced the elements that make Minnie all that, a bag a chips and the dip. cheers!
this one is my fav! nothing screams cartoon like a floating head. p.s. please don't sue me disney


and in black and white


here i learned the wonderful uses of 'preset brushes' in photoshop. p.s. don't mess around with Minnie :)


gotta throw in the retro shots


and of course Minnie is all about being feminine and girlie hence the pink

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

look at me! or at least my work :)

i've been invited to take part in yet another fashion event/ photo exhibition. this time Fashion Cures a la Mode taking place in Ottawa from Nov 4th-7th. having my work out on display for others to appreciate is such a rewarding feeling. exhibits really challenge me to bring my A game up, not that i'm not already trying :P
this time around i swayed away from my coloured images and went black and white on ya AND i did a bit of photoshop rendering... très risque!
the other challenge here was transporting 5 prints ready to hang at the most affordable budget known to man. my prints were 11x14 so i headed over to DeSerres and bought me some archival foam, archival tact to adhere my prints to the foam and finally hanging clips that punch through the back of the foam board. darnet! i should have taken photos of the whole process but i was a little stressed out with dead lines and such that is the life of Maya :)
any ways the process was faster than i thought and in the end cost me $25 to get my prints to hang and another $37 to ship. not bad, not bad. any who i did manage to take this last minute shot of the final results on my hallway wall. i'll reveal the collection name, close ups, my process and all that jazz later. enjoy!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

i wish it were halloween all the time. ok maybe not all the time but more than once a year. dressing up is way too much fun! it's the one time of the year creativity is bubbling everywhere. as you all know i'm Minnie Mouse and being the crafty person i am i set out to make my costume. my first stop was Dressew. this store is off the hook! i always find my textile needs here. every Halloween this store is jam packed with last minute shoppers and of course i was no exception.




the first part of my costume i tackled were the gloves. i'm thinking this will SELL the cartoonESQUE of my costume and it's the hardest. here's what i did:
1) i started first by making a pattern by tracing my hand.
2) after i traced around that with 4 chubby fingers.
3) gloves typically have 2 layers: front and back, but i wanted thick gloves so each glove had 4 layers: 2 for the front 2 for the back.
4) i used the sewing machine to go around the complete outline of the glove to bind them all together
5) and then a zig zag stitch around AGAIN to keep the fabric from fraying.
6) and finally i added 3 huge black stitches to give it that cartoon look


the next part of my costume were the bloomers Minnie wears underneath her skirt. you could probably skip this part but i'm a sucker for detail. i pulled out a pair of pj's i owned and made a rough pattern for my bloomers from those. since the bloomers are baggy there's room for inaccuracies.




and of course Minnie's signature skirt. i loved working with vinyl since it doesn't fray which means less work for me. i made the pattern for Minnie's skirt from a green leather skirt i own. my only regret is i wish i had a poofy skirt to copy from. the dress i made isn't as tight as my pencil skirt but it could be wider. at $4.99 a meter and only buying 1.5 meters you can't go wrong


and finally Minnie's bow. i was gonna go old skool and do the hat but it cost more time and money. so bow it is!


that's all for the costume sewing. i'm gonna run and paint my face and have some fun tonight. the final results will be posted asap along with full on photo shoot :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

it's that time again...

...Halloween that is. i've been boggling my mind as to what i'm going to be and it just came to me. MINNIE MOUSE! i'm going to be soooo cute! and of course i'm going to do a photo shoot for yall. here's my inspiration image:


i hit up the fabric stores tomorrow to start my hunt. i'll post all my diy steps. oh i'm gonna be a riot!

Monday, October 5, 2009

can i take your picture?

why of course!
it's the Vancouver International Film Festival right now and i was invited to hit up the red carpet with my homie Luisa (aka Stories on the Stage) who is about to take over Vancouver and Canada for that matter. and your frugalite got to finally premiere her Versace number! i'm so glad i bought this dress! my boobs are impenetrable and can shoot bullets in this number. speaking of numbers i happen to be #1 'most unique' dressed as seen on Style Quotient
but now i divulge. i paid $100 for this Versace number at Century 21. try not to hate.



me acting a fool


i hooked myself up with some handmade earrings to round off the look. and that's Luisa and yes she kinda looks like Miley Cyrus but hotter and exotic

District 9



i don't know about you but i LOVED District 9! i just came home from watching it and i was pleasantly surprised. i loved how they casted obscure actors, i loved how the CG or whatever they used looked very convincing (i always said productions should go back and use animatronics. like check out Falkor in The Never Ending Story...he's like real!). and to top it all off i loved how this movie wasn't about the lead up to the aliens. they showed them right off the top and gave them a voice and the circumstances they were discovered were all believable. and hats off to Neill Blomkamp director and writer or District 9. it's a politic statement done in such a creative and inventive way. VERY powerful! and props to Neill for shedding some light on the military and District 6. i can't wait to watch District 10 and hopefully they don't sell out like the Matrix. So far my movies of 2009 are this along with Up

Sunday, October 4, 2009

technology loves me

i am soooooo very sorry for the non-existent posts. i finally got a new mac (mine crashed) with all my new programs that were deleted AND i got the lovely snow leopard. it also didn't help that i was in NY with my hubby who's internet was all wonky for the 2 weeks i was there and then forgetting my cell phone's charger there leaving me isolated from everything i love! no phone and internet is THE WORST!!!
check out my 'new' phone i had to buy off craigslist for $20 since stupid telus (phone provider) wanted to charge me $40 for a charger! and since i'm not signing a new contract no spiffy phone for me. besides, i won't be here much longer since i'm planning the big to the big apple soon. any who...take a look. progressing from left to right is the evolution or rather devolution of my telus phones the right being my current phone. hurrrmmm...is it me or is there something wrong with this photo? i effing can't wait to move to NY in feb/march so EFFF YOU telus!
p.s.s. more posts coming your way. stay tuned...

Thursday, September 24, 2009

chi-town throw back!

my fashion week wasn't that exciting so i ran off to Chicago to visit fams with my hubby. my great grandmother aka granny and grand ma aka Zelma are pure jokes and they are both still alive and kickin'. my granny still chugs her Old Style beer everyday at her "watering hole" also known as a bar and girl friend still works at 93 years old and drives a 2008 pontiac! words cannot begin to describe how funny these two personalities are. David was dying of sheer laughter, he had no idea how wonderfully funny and awesome my grannies are! my family on my father's side is from Clarksdale, Mississippi and later moved to Chi-Town in the late 30's. it's crazy how much my great granny has seen in her life time from workin' for nothing in the cotton fields to seeing Obama elected as president! we actually got to pass by Obama's home in Hyde Park but didn't see a thing since SWAT cars are guarding and barricading a 2 block radius but very cool!
Next to kickin' jokes, eating grits, drinking Old Style and sight seeing I managed to scan a few old skool polaroids of my fams back in the day. i love old photos! they just look artsy no matter who's taking it.
par example


my uncle is hidden in the top row first on the left



i love this photo! it's so 70's and as we all know i should have been around to enjoy the 70's. that's my uncle bottom left


here's my papa. aren't the couch and wall paper to die for?!!!

that's my grandma Zelma second from the left


my great granny on the left and grandma on the right


i love how these guys are rockin' their hats


that's my aunt. i love her shirt! it's so random


how many people can say they have photos of their great great GREAT grand parents? well that's mine above.
i love old photos :)

yours truly! i'm such an asian baby with baggy diapers :P

Friday, September 11, 2009

here i come NY!!!

i arrive in NY on Sept 14th!!! 3 days from now! i'll get to catch the tail end of fashion week in NY for the very first time. i generally avoid large crowds but i'm curious to check out the scene. any fashion heads in NY wanna hit up some fashion venues with yours truly holla!!
p.s. my effin' mac crashed this weekend deleting everything!
lucky me is getting my laptop replaced fo FREE PLUS upgrades! I LOVE YOU MAC! as the saying goes...with every disadvantage there is a greater advantage. any who i can't wait to watch all the drama unfold

Thursday, September 3, 2009

summer's passing

it's sad but true. summer is gone and fall is here. but fall happens to be my favorite season of the year. and why? the nostalgic memories of back to school, the beautiful kaleidoscope of colours the trees take on and the perfect temperatures are a few of the reasons why.
so here's my shoot from this past weekend that says farewell to summer.


photography: yours truly
model: Madison
styling: Cassy Meier
makeup: Ghassan
agent: Corey @ Next

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Vancouver's Heritage meets Modern

this weekend i'm switching it up and photographing home interiors. a few friends of mine (Ronse Massey) are in the business of home renovations and turn out hot-mess homes into modern, luxurious habitats while revitalizing Vancouver's Heritage. for those of you who don't know Vancouver, BC is known for it's cottage-esque architecture. however, mass production developers have done away with the old (quality) and in with the new (cheap) condo-shoe-box living. team Massey on the other hand has pulled out all the stops while maintaining integrity and I absolutely love what they've done. the amount of detail they paid attention to is insane! lovin' the clean lines! next up for Maya Washington...livin' large :)