My Son Is Interning With Barney Burman - Oscar Winner for Makeup FX

If you’ve read my blog, you probably know my friend Sica made the dress worn by Barney Burman’s wife at the Academy Awards in 2010. Barney won for his work on Star Trek in Make-up FX. I was fortunately enough to meet Barney at the time and as a result have been in contact with him off and on since. In January 2011, Barney posted on Facebook he was looking for an intern. My older son Jayson was interested. A few weeks later he posted he was in need of help moving his shop. Jayson and I helped Barney begin the move process. It seems a number of people were interested in learning from Barney, but fewer were interested in helping him move. After helping with the move, Barney offered Jayson the opportunity to join him in the shop to help and learn. Even though it’s not a “paid” position, the opportunity provides so much more than a simple paycheck would. To learn from someone who is a third generation make-up artist, and an Academy Award winner, WOW!! My son is ‘loving it’ and learning so much. Each day he is exposed to a new process, technique or experience. I am thrilled he is able to have this experience and excited to see where it takes him. Kudos to my son, and a big thank you to Barney for the opportunity!!




A few examples of Barney's work. (I don't believe these are from Star Trek, but I could be wrong...watch the movie and you will see some great work!)

Late Post from Last Holloween

It seems it’s been quite a while since I posted. It also seems I am behind on my seasons. However, I’m not going to let that stop me from posting something I should have posted around Halloween.

Below are photos of some cuffs I made for my friend Tami. I made the cuffs so they could be worn at times other than Halloween, being careful not to use spider web fabric. I think they turned out well and plan on making more.

"GLEE"...

I am a huge fan of Glee…I call it my “guilty pleasure”. As it turns out I'm not alone. However, I was sort of a fan before it was “cool”. My reasoning is multifaceted. We used to live in Long Beach before moving closer to “tinsel town”. The high school my sons attended is one of the filming locations for Glee. My mom also used to work at said high school and both mom and sons still have contact with teachers and staff at the school. When I watch the show I tend to watch for locations I recognize from the years of being at the school for one reason or another. Silly but fun. Anyway, I have favorites on the show. I really like Chris Colfer’s voice, (he plays Kurt). My second favorite male voice is that of Mark Salling who plays “Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman”.

Now the reason for this post...

Week before last, while dining in the little sandwich shop downstairs at work, I discovered myself sitting two feet from Mark Salling!! He is young enough to be my son, but it was a thrill to meet him. He’s a really nice guy and when asked, was very gracious and posed for a picture with Craig and little 'ole me! Apparently he has a solo career in the music industry and is with Universal Music, which is located in our building. He was meeting with his manager, going over a very busy schedule, preparing for an upcoming music video shoot. Go Mark!!!



One final note about Glee. My favorite female voice is Lea Michele who plays “Rachel Berry”. I just learned that "Rachel’s" middle name is Barbara! Poor dear…

TTFN!!

A Bag for a Friend...

Even though I have tons to share, I haven't been able to post in a very long time. While I won't be able to share a lot today, I want to at least share some shots of a bag set I made for a friend of mine. The pictures show the fronts and backs of the two bags in the set. Enjoy!

Congrats to My Friend Sica and Her Friend Barney

Can you believe I am mixing fashion and Tinsletown in one post! Here goes...

Last night my friend Sica Schmitz had the pleasure of watching one of her creations on the Oscar telecast. She made the dress for Barney Burman's wife. (Sica and Shielu, Barney's wife, are seen in the photo. Sica was pretty much wiped out, having worked through the night finishing up the gown.) Barney won in his category, 'Make-up Effects', for Star Trek. Afterwards he gave a shoutout to Sica via the backstage Oscar "Thank You Cam", which can be viewed at the bottom of this post. (Barney starts at about 25 seconds. Sorry, but this is the only version I have at this time. If I can get a better version, I'll upload it.)

Many congrats to Sica on a job well done!! And to Barney as well. :)

On Saturday evening, my other half, Craig and I were fortunate enough to meet Barney and his lovely wife Shielu. The visit took place at Barney's studio which was quite fun as there were many examples of his work throughout. I am a fan of the work he does, so it was quite fun. I fell in love with this type of stuff when I first saw the "cantina" scene in Star Wars. I have also been a fan of Star Trek, not that I am a Trekie, but I have watched some of each of the TV series, as well as all of the movies. Even before I knew Barney was a part of the most recent movie, I felt it was the best one because it made references to the original TV show as well as answered questions never fully explained. Barney has a new fan!! Sica already had me as a fan. :)

I know I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, I've meant to and even began a few, but something always seems to come up, preventing me from doing so. My goal is to post a bit more frequently as I have a number of things I want to share. With any kind of luck, I will have more soon. Thanks for checking in.

My Weekend Adventures

Yesterday I had the pleasure of accompanying my friend Sica on a shopping trip. (She's my costume/fashion designer friend who's blog one wild and precious life I follow). We ventured on a quest for the perfect fabric to make a dress for the Oscars. She has been asked to make a dress for the wife of one of the nominees. She previously worked with him and he likes her work, so of course he chose her! Anyway, she asked if I wanted to go along on the search...how could I NOT go?!?!!!! I always love the opportunity to go fabric shopping, but for something so gorgeous, you bet I was on board for that adventure! After a failed attempt in downtown LA, we headed off towards Beverly Hills and found many beautiful and fabulous options...I can't wait to see the finished gown!




Then today, Craig and I went out for a bite to eat at a little cafe over in Studio City. Waiting in line behind us was Nathan Fillion of Firefly, Serenity, Castle, Dr. Horrible...need I go on??? I took the opportunity to let him know how much I enjoy Castle and mentioned how my sons are big fans of all of his work. I know that sounds like I don't like the rest of his work...I did word it much better at the time, letting him know I just never got into Firefly...I suppose that doesn't sound so good either...maybe I should have mentioned how much I really enjoyed Dr. Horrible???

We placed our order and headed off to find a seat. To my surprise, he and his lady friend ended up finding a seat right near us...although he did sit with his back to us, but I'm going to believe that was not on purpose! My eldest was rather excited to hear the news and tried to make it to the bistro before his departure, but failed in his attempt.

I managed to snap a few pics with my iPhone. I probably should have taken my HD quality camera out of my purse and use it, but was trying not to be obvious. Too bad I had such bad angles. Oh well, it was awesome meeting him, he is a very nice guy. Extremely gracious.

Living where we do and working the day job that I have, we tend to see famous people frequently, but rarely meet someone who's work we regularly enjoy. Week before last we saw Glenn Close and Finola Hughes at lunch...again in Studio City. I see people all the time on the lot at work...when I actually go out on the lot! I just don't usually make the trek out. Oh the adventures and tales I have...wow, that sounds exciting...too bad it really sounds more exciting when it is mentioned in such a vague way. The reality is, it may not be so exciting after all...or is it??? I guess it depends on your perspective.

It occurs to me I should be paying more attention to what the famous people I see are wearing. I remember Finola Hughes was dressed in a cute little dress and boots. She looked amazing! Glenn Close was wearing pants of some sort. Nathan had on a blue sweatshirt?!?!!! (Guess you can tell by the pics, huh!)

Anyway, Nathan Fillion was very nice, I am very excited to see the creation my friend Sica comes up with, and in the future I hope to pay more attention to what the famous people I see are wearing!!

Loving "Marc Jacob Collection - Fall 2010"

After checking out Marc Jacob's webpage, specifically his "Marc Jacob Collection - Fall 2010", I am in love!!! I love the fashions, the colors, the fabrics, you name it...just awesome!!! Check it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think by posting a comment to this blog post.

Marc Jacobs Collection - Fall 2010

Reminds me of Parfait...or Pehaps Sherbert...

Today I am serving up a delicious scarf I knitted. I incorporated ribbons, charms and beads into the fringe.

Bags I made...

I just realized I never posted pics of some bags I made. The first one was for a coworker. We sit near each other so I see this bag pretty much everyday at work, since she uses it all the time!! Pretty awesome when you can tell someone really appreciates the gift you have given them!

The second one was for my Aunt Connie. She was visiting and needed a bag to cart home all of the stuff she acquired while visiting. She was making some comments about needing to pick up a cheap bag at a thrift store or something so she could carry her stuff home on the plane. Of course I wouldn't hear of that!! I didn't have a lot of time to sort through all of the fabrics I have to find something really fabulous, let alone plan and make the bag. I was forced to simply grab the closest fabrics I could find which didn't completely clash and whip up a simple bag. I know, if it was so "simple", why the pockets? Blame my mother for that! She was here too and said Connie needed pockets on her bag...so mom was put in charge of pockets. I did the sewing, mom planned, measured and cut the pockets. Thanks for the help mom!!

I have a few projects I'm trying to finish up which I hope to post soon.

Thanks for checking in...

Cool Vintage Fabrics and Buttons!

I went to an estate sale yesterday and found some great vintage fabrics, lace trims, and buttons. Great pricing on some really nice stuff. The pictures really don't do justice to the fabrics. There are wools, silks, linens, rayon, bark cloth and cottons. The buttons have jet and Bakelite as well as glass. There are several other types of fabrics and buttons, but the majority fall into these categories. The camera captured different looking colors in some of the fabrics than what they look like with the naked eye. They are much nicer looking in person and feel so luxurious. I also got a knitting book from 1936 which has styles for Hollywood starlets. I hope you enjoy.

I'm not posting photos of all of the fabrics, but rather just a sampling of what I was fortunate enough to score!

These are some of the wools.


Some silks...

...still more silks.

Linens...

...bark cloth, rayon's, lace trims...

...cottons and misc. fabrics.

And now for the buttons...

The ones at the top are hand carved leather with the yellow ones to the right being Bakelite and brass. Below those are glass.

Several sizes and styles of Jet.

And this is the 1936 knitting magazine...

I hope you have enjoyed seeing all this great vintage stuff. Now to find time to do something with all of it. I am open to hearing how to best use my fabulous finds. Please leave me a comment to this post with your ideas.

More Interesting Blogs and Sites

Here are some more blogs and pages with items I find interesting which I hope you will too...

Understanding Thread Tension Comes from "Threads" magazine site. Good for understanding machine tension.



corsetiere.net Everything you ever wanted to know about corsets...ok, maybe not everything, but an interesting place to learn more about vintage lingerie.



Custom Fabric This is a blog entry about custom created fabric. What a great idea if you want something really special. All you need is some fabulous artwork of your own!



one wild and precious life
One final blog link for today...for those of you who either know or know of my neighbor Sica, this is a blog of her trip to Bali and beyond. She's a costume designer and world class globetrotter...well, perhaps she hasn't fully reached her potential as either, but her blog is a rather enjoyable read. Check it out if you get a chance.




Threadbanger Episodes And finally...for those of you interested in learning more about the various options of cutting tools available, check out the "Quickie" videos on Threadbanger. I was amazed to learn I really NEED a couple more pairs of shears/scissors!!! Who knew?!?!!!

Some Interesting Things I Found on the Web...

I have a number of blogs I check out on a regular basis. Mostly sewing, upcycling, and vintage/retro related. Here are just a few:


Blog For Better Sewing: A sewing and vintage related site which was started by a gal who found a Vogue sewing book called Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing. It promises you will be a better sewing if you make all of the garments outlined in the book. This gal, Girtie, has searched for the vintage patterns and is in the process of sewing up each garment.

What I Found: This has vintage/reto related fashion stuff and is somewhat interesting provided you like that sort of thing. I love the old fashions, especially the ones from the 30's and 40's, so I really enjoy what she has to offer.

Craftzine: There are frequent posts here, mostly craft related but with enough good ideas that it's worth checking out.

Wardrobe Refashion: A site that focuses on reworking garments, whether from your own closet, a thrift store or some source other than new. Great ideas for reusing things you may have but no longer fit or are out of style.

Sew I Thought: This gal has a real knack for seeing potential in garments which look completely outdated and otherwise uninspiring.


There are a number of other sites I check regularly, including Threadbanger, but these are good for a start.

Let me know what you think.