Amanda Michael Designs

New FunBuns for sale!

2011-03-08T08:24:00.000-06:00

When I woke up this morning and groggily opened up my googlereader, I was delightfully surprised to find that I have been featured on the fantastic blog Mr X Stitch!

Check out the post in todays too-cute-tuesday!!

Unfortunately, I had also realized that there is nuthin' (!!!) in my etsy shop right now, so I rushed three new buns up there, just in case I get some nice traffic today! Check them out!

Oh, and thanks to my Best Fiber Friend Natalie Khan Artist for being awesome and suggesting me to Mr X Stitch. She's the bees knees.

Kill Joy and The Untitled Weaving Warrior

2010-11-04T00:27:00.000-05:00

I haven't talked much about my school work here before, but I really want to talk about Kill Joy. Kill Joy is a villain that I created for a Weaving assignment. I wove parts of her costume, put it all together and began creating a story for her. It all started as an inside weaving joke, but I feel like it could become a narrative that I could work on in the long run. I visualize her as a sewing vigilante gone sour. She runs around the city with scissors, cutting down her opponents and anything creative that gets in her way. She was burned one too many times and has lost her mind. Her major opponent is yet to be named - but I envision her as a gleaming white weaving warrior. Her mission would be to create for the greater good and she would be known as the fastest weaver in the west.

There is so much that I can do with this, my head is bursting with ideas. I want the energy and effort to put into this so desperately. This is something I need to do. I want to create the warrior's costume, I want to put together a small graphic novel with this narrative. I'm hoping to present this whole idea to my professors in the spring, in an effort to spend the entire semester working around this concept for a senior project.

Anyway, I just needed to get that out. It's been sitting in my head for far too long, and it needs to get out before it's starts to rot away and get covered in dust.

Here are some of the photos from my Kill Joy project from the spring (Taken by the absolutely fantastic Zack Huggins):

FunBuns for sale!!

2010-10-01T20:02:00.000-05:00

http://etsy.com/shop/amandamichael

Hello everyone!

I wanted to let everyone know that I have put up my FunBuns for sale over on my Etsy account! Go check them out and tell everyone that you know! And as always, feel free to buy one!

Check out these great books about Etsy!

Unseen Embroidery

2010-06-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I picked up one of Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching books, Embroidered Effects. I had done embroidery in school before, and I completed a really beautiful pillow, but that was all I ever did with it. After I picked up the book, I decided that I wanted to spend more time learning and honing my embroidery skills. I thought I would post what I have done with embroidery so far, and hopefully get some opinions from you!

Pillow done for an Introduction to Fibers course

Embroidery over screen print remnant

Well, I am!

Embroidery on my Ukulele Case

I like to call this Embroodling. Doodling with thread!

Some Doctor Who embroidery

Mooch, from the comic strip Mutts

Muerto Bunnies!

2010-06-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

These are my little Muerto FunBuns! They're made with muslin and the designs were hand drawn with Prismacolor markers. They were fun to make and a really fun experiment in bunny making!

I still have a few craft issues to work out with them, but eventually I think I could screen print the designs on, if I decided to become really dedicated to this idea.

I've got three more regular bunnies planned right now, I'm waiting on some buttons and more stuffing before I start sewing them. As soon as they're done, I think I'll start working on the etsy store, so I can start selling these guys!

Check out these great books on the Dia De Los Muertos culture:

FunBuns!

2010-06-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

Made a few more fun bunnies, aka, FunBuns - and one little creature who isn't really any kind of animal, but he has a zipper. That's got to count for something right?

I'm starting to run out of my fun fabrics and I definitely need more buttons! If you feel like donating some buttons I wouldn't be opposed!

Acid Fluffies!

2010-06-02T14:45:00.000-05:00

I did these drawings last year and had completely forgotten about them. I'd love to see them as handmade plushies! If I ever get the time and resources, they might become tangible!

The Rabbittown Four!

2010-05-29T00:39:00.001-05:00

These are The Rabbittown Four! They began as a weaving assignment, and now they have taken on a life of their own. I've got some stories written up for them and there is a potential book to be made out of them.

They even have their own video!

The bunnies have become relatively popular in my circle and soon I'm going to be making even more to sell. I'm going to be selling some of them off at a local market in the upcoming month, but more about that later. Ideally, I'd like to get an etsy up and running, but I'll save that for a time when I'm feeling extra productive.

Let me know what you think of the Rabbittown Four!

Need more bunny cuteness? Peep these sweet books:

Two Years Later...

2010-05-28T13:19:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's been two years since my last post. It seems that as soon as I got to school, I abandoned this blog and photography in general. In that time I changed majors and have acquired a huge backlog of work. I've moved on to Fiber Art and other studio arts, and I've never been happier in what I'm creating. Now that summer has hit, I've decided to return, and I have a whole new direction for what I want to do with my time this summer. I'll be posting my own work - some from the past semester, some of what I'm doing this summer - and I'll be posting any great fiber art, resources and DIY tutorials that I find on the interwebs.

Here are a few books that are really great craft resources - check 'em out!

Graffiti in ATX

2008-08-21T13:40:00.004-05:00

Photos taken in Austin, TX. Shot with Nikon EM + generic BW film.

The Blues.

2008-07-14T12:52:00.003-05:00

Thinking about my last month here. I feel like there's so much that I want to do here, and I desperately don't want to leave. I see calendars and I get sad. I know it's all for the best, but I can't help but think about the people that are still here. I hate change. I don't want to leave.

---

But on the other side of it, I do really want to go. I am ready to leave. I will have an amazing time. I will finally finish this schooling, and start living. Yes. This is all good.

Drive-by shootings.

2008-07-12T16:35:00.003-05:00

I decided that if I ever had a photography business I'd call it Drive By Shootings. We'd get confused by gangstas looking in the yellow pages, but in the end it'd be alright because then we'd have street cred. Maybe. If we were lucky.

Little Summer.

2008-07-10T09:14:00.002-05:00

A little bit of summer in my backyard. This is how I spend my afternoons.

Today is.

2008-07-07T10:04:00.003-05:00

Today is quiet. Today is sitting in the house, doing chores, listening to music, being a little lazy. Today is ignoring the fact that you woke up late for your midterm (but you made a good grade, so it doesn't matter anyway). Today is trying to be okay with the very loud construction noise happening right outside your window. Today is breathing.

Pounding Heads

2008-07-06T12:50:00.003-05:00

Went out last night. Hit one sad little club, ditched it for a nicer environment at my favorite bar. My head hurts today, but it's certainly not from drinking too much. I think the end of the week has hit me and I need to slow it down next week. Things are getting blurry, and something is telling me to calm down.

A Revival.

2008-07-05T19:46:00.007-05:00

July means lots of free time on my hands, so I'm reviving the blog. I'm shooting for at least a post every other day. This is my last free month for awhile, so I'm going to make the best of it. I'm going to do it, not just say it.

Friends in B&W

2008-01-03T18:47:00.000-06:00

I've been lucky these past few weeks, and been able to have a lot of faces to shoot. These are good friends that I haven't seen in ages and new friends that will eventually develop a tolerance for my photo taking. I love them all for being a part of my photographer's life.

Georgia and Kitty

Beautiful Hayley

Brandon

Lucy Love

Georgia begs Jesse to make the phototaking stop.

Mason Love

On a side note, Happy New Year to all of you. I look forward to a new year of photo adventures and new friends. This year holds several life changing events for me, and I hope that amidst any chaos that I might endure, that photography will remain a constant in my life. I hope the new year treats you all well!

Lucy's 21st!

2007-12-23T16:07:00.000-06:00

Celebrating Lucy's 21st Birthday!

I'm awful with party pictures, so these were the best that I could manage.

Birthday Girl!

Kelly is a badass. But we all knew that anyway.

Aw. They look so sweet, but they'll rip you apart if you stare too long.

Tasty, tasty murdered cheesecake.

Various other shots:

Gogol Bordello @ Emos!

2007-10-23T12:08:00.001-05:00

Rocked my face off with the Gypsy Punks at Emos last night. I managed to get a lot of good shots, being that I was in front and just barely center. I broke my own rule of no flash, because I just couldn't bear to have all blurred shots. The show was amazing, and although I was pretty much squished against the stage, I got a few sweet dance moves in :) . Even though I'm suffering from some serious tinnitus now, it was well worth it.

Flowers and Creatures of Summer.

2007-06-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

The creek is filled with thousands of these little flowers.

Mysterious Kitty was nice enough to let me take some pictures of him, in exchange for some head rubbin'.

These lilies are the epitome of summer.

I shot this on a 1600 ISO by mistake, but thanks to the magic of Lightroom, I fixed it!!

Another beautiful orange burst.

The most patient dragonfly I've ever met. He was perfectly still for me (only after I chased him for about 2 minutes).

If the clouds here ever go away, I'll go out and shoot more. I know I said something about concert pictures, but I'm somewhat sick of them, so I'll wait a little longer.

Assortment of Random Photos.

2007-06-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

The Flowers in the creek were beautiful this past week.

I just liked this. Simplicity.

This is Verne. He appeared in my yard last weekend.

An homage to a few of my favorite photographers.

I've got concert photos to post, but it'll be awhile before I make my way through all of them. Soon, soon, I promise! <3

Holga Simulated.

2007-04-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

Simulated in Photoshop. I actually bought a Holga, but I have yet to get any film developed from it. So this is just to tide myself over until then.

2007-04-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

"It's about having the relationship you want, no matter what the relationship is actually like."

I think I've been feeling like I'm suspended in the air, time is passing me, but I've stopped caring. I feel heavy with emotions, and I can't get it out. I want the sun to come back out. I wish I could stop wasting time on useless things. I've become who I never really wanted to be.

Old and New.

2007-04-12T11:14:00.001-05:00

Black and White photos today. Some are old negative scans, some are relatively new digital photos. This is all to tide me over until my Holga arrives. Supposedly it's getting here on Monday, so I'll have some film next weekend, hopefully.

Jumpy!

2007-03-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Some test shots done with my spiffy little remote for my camera. Lack of updates here recently, due to being sick/lazy/cloudy/etc. I'll do better next time, I promise :)

METAL!!

2007-02-23T23:53:00.001-06:00

It's metal time at Emos! Where are you?

Work Yay.

2007-02-16T13:20:00.000-06:00

Sitting at work on friday afternoons is killer. Posting photos via cellphone is AWESOME.

Three.

2007-02-11T17:41:00.000-06:00

Some nature shots to make up for not posting as often as I'd like to. Hopefully something will come up soon. I've got a lot of recent photos sitting in my folders, but nothing seems good enough.

Polaroids in New Mexico.

2007-01-20T15:23:00.000-06:00

So I took a little trip to New Mexico with my beloved and happened to take every camera that I happen to own. I took a lot of polaroids, but here are the best of the lot.

More photos of other things to come soon. I promise. Ish.

Faces

2006-12-17T21:02:00.000-06:00

I haven't done too much lately except some night photography. And that always leaves much to be desired. Thankfully, my partner in photography crime is coming home from college for break, and rest assured, I will be back in full swing, kiddos.

Until then, here are some new(ish) and old photographs of faces that haven't really seen any light.

An Adventure at Walgreens.

2006-12-11T19:19:00.000-06:00

I had a photography project due at the end of the semester for my Fundamentals Photography class. It had to be a story, and shot on slide film so we could show it to the whole class (6 girls) at the end of the year. I put it off until the week before it was due and this is what I got.

A big thanks to Melody and Marlee for being good sports and subjects for this project.

Polaroids.

2006-11-11T14:23:00.000-06:00

I love my polaroid cameras. Even if they are difficult from time to time.

Partay.

2006-11-05T13:29:00.000-06:00

A few photos from last Friday night, AKA the best party EVER.

Most of those photos were pretty silly, so I just put the rest of them up on facebook. Which most of you probably don't have. Pfah.

I've got some new photos from class, I just have to scan them. Maybe I'll post them later on.

Film II

2006-10-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

I did a few new prints in class this week, I just thought I'd throw them up here.

That's all I've got for now, I'm in a slump right now. Hopefully I can pick myself up out of it. I don't really know what to do anymore. I know I need to get out of the house and meet more people, but it seems really hard for me to do. I don't know.

Blocks.

2006-09-26T01:25:00.000-05:00

Just some small blocks of unused junk.

Nature : Nurture

2006-09-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Anytime that I have to spend outside
I'll spend it taking photos.

It's been so beautiful outside lately.

Today felt wonderful.

I <3 Film!

2006-08-20T11:37:00.000-05:00

Got those developed last night, there were a lot more, but those are probably the best. I got my papparazi shots too, but they definetly aren't worth posting. Better luck next time.

The LIGHTS!

2006-08-18T13:09:00.000-05:00

Went out with Mason last night to the Beastie Boys Rap-a-long. So I got to take some downtown long exposures.

The night before last I went to the Alamo, and I got to meet the ever fabulous Rosario Dawson and Traci Thoms (of RENT fame) and got a good glimpse of Quentin Tarantino. I took some less than appealing papparazzo shots with my Nikon. I'll be getting those developed soonish. Hopefully they turn out alright.

I know I posted that on dA, but I really really like it. SO there.

I'll have more photos later today.

My Sharon-a.

2006-08-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

She's gonna kill me for that title.

I haven't been photographing very much lately....No. That's a lie. I have, I just haven't produced much worth posting. I'm finishing up with my classes, so I'll have a week pretty soon, to just shoot. And I'm starting my photography fundamentals class sooonish, so I can actually learn something useful. YAY.

Not much else today. Just relaxing, and being blatantly lazy.

Of Tights and Kayla.

2006-07-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Today I had the chance to take some informal photos of my little Kayla. Thankfully she didn't throw too much of a fit over me snapping away.

I also wore some pretty rad tights today. I thought you might like to see.

An original idea...

2006-07-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a brilliant idea...why don't I post my photos in a blog type format for everyone to see, and no one to read? I don't think anyone has ever come up with that idea before...

I'm unoriginal, so sue me.

So I'll be posting photos here. Photos that aren't so worthy of dA, but worth looking at. We'll see how it goes.