Simply Susie: creative juices

It's been such a busy few weeks, and this weekend was no exception. I have sooo many posts that I need to publish, but it's so hard to find time to edit them all...I have to give props to the girls who update daily; it's definitely not easy!

So this weekend I finally got my haul from the Sephora 15% off sale (more on that later!), finished my midterms, attended a friend's birthday party, played in an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament and scored the winning touchdown, painted a vase for Mother's Day, attended a church picnic, and realized that I really really reallyyyy want a dog or cat for my apartment next year. Whew! All without my much-needed 8 hours of sleep a night!

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First, I'm going to go off on a tangent~

Has anyone ever been to Color Me Mine? It's one of my favorite places to go when I'm thinking of things to do. Instead of the typical movie or shopping date, I like to suggest coming here! Color Me Mine is a chain of studios where you can come in, choose ready-made ceramic pieces, design and paint your chosen piece, and have them fire it up for you. You come back 3-5 days later and it's ready. They have things like vases, bathroom essentials like toothbrush holders and soap dishes, kitchen essentials like platters and mugs, jewelry boxes, cute sculptures....the pieces are endless and always changing! They provide the materials like paint and brushes for you...all you have to bring is your creativity. They charge a studio fee, but if you check the events calendar on their website, you can come on one of their special days when there is no studio fee and you just have to pay for the pottery piece you choose. I like coming here for fun dates or bonding time with my little cousins or sister. I spent a lot of time at the Color Me Mine near my house over the summer...

See all the different things you can choose to paint? Even a giant tea cup! :)

They usually have a finished product for every piece so that you can get an idea of what it will look like with paint and perhaps get some ideas for how you want to decorate yours. Look at this adorable doggie piece!

You can use masking tape to help you paint straight lines haha. This is one of the pair of mugs that I painted for the boy's parents over the summer~

One time we saw these goblets and decided to make "pimp cups" haha

We were going to bling them out with rhinestones after they were done.......alas, the thing with me and art projects is that sometimes I get really excited initially about an idea and then forget/get bored with it afterwards (so right now the goblets are missing some sparkles :P) as I move on to my next project...............

Sketch for my next project~

During one of those random summer evenings, I somehow ended up at Big Lots and while walking idly through the aisles, came upon a bunch of blank canvases. The boy and I immediately decided that we were going to paint some for the empty walls in our apartment rooms. Both our moms don't allow us to put up anything on the walls of our rooms at home (darn Asian moms and their refusal to put any holes in their pristine white walls), so we were going to make something for each other for our rooms away at school. We bought four panels each, then some paint, and then designed and executed our "works of art". We went for a smoking theme (neither of us smoke).

I even put on my beret to be more authentic hehe.

My finished product for him

And his for me. I think he was going for the abstract look. Hahahahahaha awww at least he had fun <3

Afterwards I felt compelled to put on my red retro sunnies and take pictures. Look at the paint all over my arms and fingers!

Regardless of one's skill level, doing artsy things is so good for the heart and soul. Whether it be painting, photography, ceramics, jewelry-making, sewing, even make-up!....I think we can all agree that when we use our senses to create beautiful things, the result is indescribable. There's just something about using our hands and our minds for aesthetic reasons...the idea is so simple yet complex and ultimately rewarding. You don't need to be a world-famous illustrator or celebrity make-up artist to feel good about your work or to have fun. It's all about the passion you put into it!

With that said, here are some pictures from my trip to the Santa Monica Color Me Mine over the weekend. I went with a friend and the boy so that we could paint something for our moms.

We all decided to paint vases. Here is A's vase, "au naturale"

He even put a little ladybug on the edge! Cute :)

The boy's vase for his mom~

And mine for my mommy. Green is my mom's favorite color. She loves all shades of it, so I chose the color "pistachio". Nice, right?

I was going for a lace looking design

They look like they could be part of a set :)

I also painted a cute little cupcake jewelry box for friend J. She just finished her master's at UCLA, yay! Whenever I go to my favorite cupcake shop, I always get her a red velvet. Now she'll always have a cupcake on hand!

All together...oh yea A also painted a picture frame for his mom. Color Me Mine gives you the glass cover and backing for picture frames after the decorated piece has been baked. Our ceramics look so pretty already! I'll post more pictures when I go to pick up the finished product...it'll look nice and shiny :)

Go check outthe Color Me Mine website to find a studio near you! It's super funnnn

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Now I leave you with a picture of the delicious Korean cold noodle dish naeng-myun that I had over the weekend in Irvine........

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....And the reasons why I really really really want a dog or cat for my apartment next year.....

I don't know what kind of cat this is or who it belongs to, but I always see him/her prowling around my neighborhood. Looks so cool!! Like part cheetah, part tiger, in a small form...