Sunday, March 28, 2010

My Week In Pics

Flowers Blooming everywhere

I love the bubbles and color of freshly refilled olive oil

Latest addition to the NIMO. Spring Summer line.
(The coral and pearl remind me of strawberries and whipped cream
or fresh tomatoes with mozarella)

One of the crazy squirrels in our neighborhood sitting on our roof

A rose blooming right next to our doorstep

I can't believe it's sunday again! Although this week has been much more laid back than last, time has still gone by very quickly.
This week was filled with the usual screenprinting (only two more colors to go - can't wait to be done!), flowers blooming everywhere, crazy squirrels running around and chasing each other; friends, working on some jewelry and enjoying the sun.

Print in progress. Printing 10 colors takes a while!

Black disposable gloves. It can't get funkier than that!

The highlights have been the release of my boyfriends amazing new video and a fun "couple-pact" we have made: I learn how to play Mario Cart and Mikki does all the dishes!!! Now you might think that's not a fair trade, but you have to understand: I have NEVER had the slightest interest in video games, in a 12 year long relationship Mikki has never gotten me to play any game that involves two players. Poor guy.
Anyways, although I'm not enjoying it as much as I should (I'll probably get hooked once I'm able to play), Mikki has shown me what an amazing teacher he is. Wow. I have never seen anybody so patient and able to put himself in the position of somebody who has absolutely no clue about something.


Can you tell Mikki likes games by all the different controllers we have on our coffee table?

Mikki's hair after he trimmed it

Oh, and talking about experts: this morning he cut my bangs. And they look great. They really do!
It's definitely these kind of events that make me realize what a lucky girl I am. Not that I had any doubts before - but this guy is a keeper [big smile]!!!
So although my week might not have been very action filled, it has been a great one - a very happy one indeed.
Hope you had a nice week too. I'm off to finish reading my book in the warmth of the afternoon sun...

Friday, March 26, 2010

Candy for the Senses



This past monday, March 22, the new Loyal Enemy videoclip has been released. Most of you might already know, but for those of you who don't:
Loyal Enemy is my boyfriend Mikki's main musical project.
While we were back home in Spain over the holidays, we got the amazing chance to work on a videoclip for one of the slower tracks.
Luck and timing was perfect: Ibon Antuñano

, an extremely talented camera man/director, had just gotten his new Canon SLR that also shoots video. By the way, he also happens to be the father of Mikki's nephew (who also starrs in this video)! So one thing lead to another and in no time, Ibon and Eva (Mikki's sister) had come up with the entire storyline and the breathtaking location (the very surreal and gigantic workspace of artist Manuel Olarte, gone actor for this video).
To make a long story short, I got the opportunity to be in charge of Mikki's wardrobe, some of the decor (the papers on the board and the never-ending chalk equations on the floors) and some of the still photography.
The truth is it was great to work with these incredibly talented people and even more so, because they are, in some way or another, part of my "chosen" family (my boyfriend, his sister, her boyfriend and their beautiful baby boy).
Anyways, I hope you enjoy(ed) watching the video and remember - less than 10 people worked on it, and on an extremely low budget!!!
Facts:
Director: Ibon Antuñano & Eva Nilsen
Production: Overposed
Cast: Mikki Nilsen, Adur Antuñano Nilsen, Manuel Olarte
Makeup: Eva Velasco
Wardrobe: Naomi Plange
Special Effects: Biktor Kero




Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I'm in a treasury!

Yeay! I'm in another Etsy treasury!!!
Over the weekend I joined the LASTeam on etsy and today they included me in a treasury! How exciting - can't wait to start meeting all the members in real life at the next Space 15 Twenty Flea Market in April!
The sun is shining and we have incredible spring weather over here in LA, my nose is itching but my head is full of ideas and I have that tingling sensation in my fingertips - can't wait to start working!
Have a great first week of Spring everybody

Sunday, March 21, 2010

My Week In Pics


Phew. What an eventful week. I feel like I need some time out - and it's already sunday afternoon! Spring finally came, so my week has been dominated by sunshine and vivid colors. I got so carried away by it all, that I have tons and tons of photos this week. I hope I wont overwhelm you :) My past week included screen printing, meeting friends, several trips to different parts of town and even a 4.4 earthquake!!! Try topping that!

My trip to the Fashion District in downtown LA was probably the first one I did just for the fun of it, spending some time with my friends and to get some color inspirations for possible prints. So it involved no money spending and, even better: no stress!

On tuesday morning I woke rather startled, clinging onto my boyfriend because all the windows in our tiny old house were rattling and shaking - and so were we: like almost every other angeleno, the 4.4 earthquake woke us up at 4:04am {spooky coincidence in those numbers!} and made us all very aware of how powerful mother nature is.

I also got the chance to work on my "Follow the Leader" screen printing project - a 10 color [!!!] illustration that combines all major world religions in one deity. I hadn't printed in about three months and I had completely forgotten how much fun it is (oh and how much preparation and cleaning up it involves!).

On friday night I attended Project Ethos, a fashion, music and art show that was part of the LA Fashion Week. Although I wasn't very impressed by most designers, I have to admit that I very much enjoyed Haus of Estrada (whose designer, Jesus Estrada, has been on project runway). Fashion was followed by delicious Pho Soup in Koreatown!

On saturday a couple of my friends and I ventured to Silverlake, a very laid back and hip neighborhood, to try out LAMill - a superb coffee place! (We opted for Creme Brulée Macchiato) Then we strolled along Silverlake Boulevard, having a look at some very inspiring boutiques (mainly interior decoration).

This morning I decided to check out Hollywood's Farmers Market and the adjoining Space 15 Twenty Flea Market. What a great place for people watching! Punkrockhippies stocking up on organic foods while slurping fresh strawberry lemonade! And I am very happy to say that you will be very likely to meet me at my NIMO. table during the next Space 15 Twenty Flea Market events, which are every third sunday of the month, as I recently joined the LosAngelesStreetTeam on etsy, who are the organizers.
I don't know how I did it, but I also managed to throw my weekly workout routine and some partying in my week - so I'm sure you can understand my exhaustion!
Hope you had a great week, too.
xx Naomi


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Going Green!

What better way to celebrate St Patrick's Day, than by going green? That's what I'm doing, and I strongly suggest you do the same :)
So, instead of (or in addition to) wearing green, kissing all the Irish you come across and drinking green beer (yuck!) - go green in another way: the eco way!
My blog is going green - I'm participating in the german initiative "Mach's grün" (make it green). By adding this green leaf button to your web or blog, the organization plants a tree!!! Yes, easy as that. You don't even have to get your hand dirty.
Go ahead, click here and check out their project, and help to plant trees!
Happy GREEN St Patrick's Day!!!!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

My Week In Pics

1. My table at the Urban Arts Festival at UC Irvine
2. One of the two white roses at our doorstep in Pasadena
3. The RadIsRad Tee I traded for
4. this NIMO. Rose Ribbon Necklace
5.Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland"
6. Beautiful (and tasty) Mochi ice cream
7. My dad sitting in his orange Landrover in the early 80s
8. My dog, Simba, as a puppy in 1992
9. Detail of a ZARA tee
10. Sweetpotatoe fries and veggie sandwich


Wow. This sure was a colorful week! I had the chance to participate at another pop-up store event at UCI (University of California, Irvine - for those of you who might not be familiar with the american university abbreviations). Wow, what a campus - gigantic, to say the least. I later heard, that landwise it's the biggest in California. The weather this past week has been amazing, clear blue skies, everything is nice and green and flowers are blooming everywhere. Spring has finally arrived!
On saturday we had sushi dinner with friends and finally watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. And? I loved it. To tell you the truth I had had my doubts about the movie, I don't know why - I guess the trailer looked a little strange (not in the good weird Burton-Depp kind of way) and I couldn't get used to the extremely colorful Mad Hatter. But the movie was great, Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter was amazing (as always) and I enjoyed every bit of it. Apart from all the characters, the amazing landscapes and the fact that it was the first movie I actually enjoyed watching in 3D, the costumes were mindblowing. Colleen Atwood surely surpassed herself again (she was also responsible for the costumes in Memories of a Geisha and Sweeney Todd).
Alice in Wonderland was like a trip down memory lane with a twist, I had forgotten how much I loved the Disney movie as a kid and it was fun to hear all the typical phrases in English and remembering them all in German (the language I watched it in as a kid).
As I don't believe in coincidences, my dad had just sent me some old photos from my childhood a few days before. One of him in the first car I remember and another one of my dog, Simba as a puppy (she passed away this winter at a stunning 17 and a half years!).
To finish off such a nice spring-time week I decided to go for a shopping stroll. Not a very successful one, I can't wrap myself around the 80s fashion, I'm sorry. Been there, done that. Not very likely to do the same mistake again. -Looking forward to the 90s though. I can already see them coming in all the torn jeans, converse shoes (I have a serious addiction), plaid shirts and old looking tees. Yeay for the nineties ;) Anyways, I really liked the military details on the ZARA tee, so I'm thinking I might customize some other shirt in that way...
and because the weather was so nice we had a couple of lunches outside and I just had to take a picture of those super orange sweet potato fries next to my delicious goat cheese veggie sandwich on rosemary bread - yum!
Anyways, I hope you all had a great week and got some rest on the weekend to get a great start into the next week!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

..and the WINNER is...


If you walked by my table at the Urban Arts Fest at UC Irvine this week, you got the chance to participate in a necklace giveaway.
I used random.org to randomly draw a number from my email subscribers and voilá:
carlbenji
Congrats: you are now the owner of a the one-of-a-kind NIMO. necklace. Enjoy!!!




Sunday, March 7, 2010

My Week In Pics


Quick stop in Chinatown

"In Memory of RFK" by Sister Mary Corita

Our Lady of Angels Cathedral

New NIMO. flyers

Saturday Hail!

Sunday Rainbow

New Limited Edition "LALA LAND" necklace

I'm glad to say (or write, for that matter), that this week was more exciting than last ;)
I had the opportunity to drive downtown, to watch an exhibit of a controversial nun! Yes, finally I hear about a controversial nun - she was an art teacher in LA and spent her summers doing color- and meaningful screen prints. Her name: Sister Mary Corita.

The exhibit was in the extremely modern Cathedral of the Lady of Angels, by spanish architect Rafael Moneo. A wonderful building from the outside. Not so much from the inside.

It still fills me with excitement, whenever I receive my printed graphic designs. It makes such a difference to be able to touch and feel your designs, instead of only seeing them on a screen! So yeay for me and my flyers ;0)

The highlights of this weekend were hail on saturday - remember: I live in Los Angeles, where it hardly ever even rains and I grew up in Southern Spain, where the weather is identical.
And then on sunday: a rainbow! Another rarity in the smoggy LA sky.
We also went to the movies, and watched "Shutter Island" - a definite must, if you haven't seen it yet. Oh, and we had amazing pizzas [believe me, another rarity in Pasadena] at the Avanti Café. Whose owner was kind enough to give a homeless woman a hot soup - dinner package just before closing.

But it wasn't all fun and games this week. I finally got to work on a project I had been thinking
about for a while now. A limited edition, LA LA Land necklace. My tribute to Los Angeles, a city that has given me so much in this past three years. In the picture you can see the prototype, which I made today. The necklace will be available in silver and brass.

I'm leaving you now, to keep watching the Oscars, have a great week everybody!