Orinui Has Moved!

Come on over to the new website. charikliazarris.com I will miss Orinui. Had a blast creating it but now is the time for a new home for all my art making info. Hope you will enjoy the new look.

Canon PowerShot

Ok I admit I just wanted to show off. But really I can't get over the zoom on my camera. This turtle is probably an inch and a half long and is hiding among the lilly pads you see on the right. I got this Canon Power Shot SX20 IS to take photos for my Etsy shop. I thought with a tripod it would be useful in low light product shots. Of course now I just use my iphone because it has such a great camera for low light situations. 

Learning Illustrator

Here is another project from my illustrator class. I am really disappointed in myself for not carving out enough time for class. I didn't quite get all the assignments done but I think I learned a lot. I plan on taking further classes in the dead of winter when there are not so many distractions. 

Otomi Quilt

As promised here are pictures of the Otomi fabric quilt. It is made of one yard of fabric printed from Spoonflower. I sewed the edges and the middle seams on the machine and everything else was done by hand. Me and sewing machines just don't get along very well. You can see it in some of the images how the fabric puckered up on me. I really enjoyed all the hand quilting. It was a nice project to do while traveling and in front of the tv.

Not sure when I will have the fabric up for sale on Spoonflower but when I do I will be sure to let you know.

This is my very first design with Illustrator. I am really excited and overwhelmed by the possibilities of designing on the computer versus painting everything by hand. I have the skills in Photoshop to get some basic things done but when I first attempted Illustrator it was like it was written in a foreign language. I took a one day class at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and it was helpful to get the basic idea of how it works. When it came time to pick a online course there were tons of choices out there. I picked Nicole's Classes and it is working out great. I liked how I was able to order the book form of the class to keep after the 5 week class is over. 

Fail

The Spring Bada Bing entry dead line has been extended and I thought maybe just maybe I would be able to get some new items together in time. But as you can see I will not be sewing up my new tea towels. Trying to decide if it is worth getting a new belt for my vintage Sears Kenmore machine or just getting something new. It does the job but has never sewn very strait. I am nervous about the quality being good enough to sell. No one wants a sad looking tea towel.

My First Fabric!

I have been trying to get my act together to start creating repeat patterns for fabric design. I thought I would start by seeing what would happen if I printed one of my paintings and had it printed at Spoonflower. After receiving a sample I had my four Otomi Prints printed on linen/cotton. The idea is to sell otomi tea towels in my etsy shop. I am very very nervous about sewing the edges. It has been a long time since I last sewed. 

HGTV Dream House 2012

Just spotted some of my artwork on the commercial for the 2012 HGTV Dream Home. Very cool but does this disqualify me from winning the house for myself?

Extra Large

I often have requests through my Etsy store for larger sizes of my prints. Several designs from my store are now being printed by the company I work for and are selling really well from Art.com as well as a few furniture stores. Spring Sakura got picked up by a big name furniture company but for some reason the are taking forever to put them up on their website. I will be sure to share the link as soon as they are available. 

The images above are my Four Sisters series. You may recognize these patterns from the Bright Eyes Prints in the Etsy Shop. Also available are: Haiku, Sakura Blossoms, Indigo Sakura, Fig Blossoms and Buttercup Botanicals. Click on any of the links and they will take you to the online store. 

Homegoods Finds

 Living Lovely

Pugs not Drugs

Nice to see Chariklia Zaris prints go to happy homes. These folks got some awesome deals at Homegoods. At just 10$ each I think I need to do some shopping myself. 

Me as a Disco Ball

Happy New Year! I still can't believe I really got this crazy sparkly dress. If you are familiar with my fashion style you know this is the polar opposite of my normal look but I really like the way it turned out. The dress is from a dress shop in Richmond and the beaded jacket is from Need Supply. You can see more sparkle on the #discomania Pinterest Board.

Yarn Wrapped Wreaths

By now most of my Christmas gifts have been delivered so now it is safe to share what I have been up to.  I love pinterest but it just enables my crazy Martha Stewart tendencies that come out around the holidays. I have been a big fan of yarn wrapped wreaths but they always looked like a lot of work until I saw this post on Pinterest to crochet thick yarn instead of wrapping. Each stage of the project was easy and quick and something I could do in front of the tv with the cat on my lap BUT when you make 19 the work really adds up. It was totally worth all the work. It was so much fun to play with all the different color combinations of yarn and felt.

Lewis Ginter Lights

Pictures from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Festival of Lights. So Much fun. Giant light up peacock, glowing veggie gardens, TWO rooms full of trains and lots of beautiful Christmas trees! Hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree

I have been getting lots of festive holiday crafting inspiration from Pinterest. It is fun to add a little something new each year and I really wanted to have some lights outside. Light up decorations can be really expensive so when I saw this idea for light up trees using upside down tomato cages as the base I thought that is something I can actually pull off! So I grabbed a few cages from the back yard and picked up a string of led lights for each tree. I used wire based garlands to swirl around the cages. They were very quick and easy to set up. You can just use the branches like a twist tie to anchor it to the cage in a few spots. Then just string the lights through the garland and fluff out the branches. I also learned the hard way to weight them down with a brick. We had a crazy storm front come through the other day and actually ripped the lights right out of the socket.

Vintage Indigo

On my trip to NYC last month I had the chance to visit Sri Threads and pick out a few vintage indigo fabrics. It was an amazing opportunity to visit the gallery and rifle through so many gorgeous fabrics. Almost as good as a trip to Japan.

I'm Back!

After a very very long hiatus I have reopened the etsy store with huge markdowns. Each piece has been lowered by 10.00$. Get them while you can I will not be printing more. I have big plans to change things up in the coming year. Follow along on the blog to see what I am up to. I promise not to leave poor Orinui so neglected. Thanks so much for following the blog again. You are the best!

This is it! The last week to get that Riki Zarris Print that you have had your eye on. At the end of the month I will be cleaning out my Etsy shop. The images above are going to be printed giclee and sold to fancy stores with fancy prices. Don't forget to use the coupon code MOD15 to get 15% off in the Etsy Store!!

If you are local you still have the chance to purchace them in person. Come visit me at Spring Bada Bing on Sunday April 17th.

Oh Happy Day

Wow what an exciting day. My Alma Mater VCU just beat Kansas for a spot in the Final Four. Go Rams! I was so nervous watching the game I had to do some internet shopping. I can't believe it I actually found the orinui dress from Calypso that I have been talking about since last October! The last time I was on their site it was missing from the final sale section but somehow mysteriously it reappeared today. Maybe I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket?

Help Japan

This and That From Japan

Sea Breeze Studio

A worst thing couldn't happen to a better people. Japan has been in our thoughts and our hearts these last few weeks. There are many many ways to donate to the people of Japan.  I wanted to mention a few Etsy sellers in Japan who are donating some of their profits. I just ordered some presents for myself and friends from Sea Breeze Studio. I have been lusting over this store for more than a year so now is the perfect time to shop. No one has better patterned fabric than in Japan.

Grey Day

(links)

Feeling grey today. But it's not all bad at least grey is my favorite color.