Catalina Calderon - a florid artisan

Creative Business Solutions Branding and Creating your own art style

 

 

 

 His and Her Art Styles

I can't wait until till tomorrow to show you the awesomeness we have been working on.

As you may already know my husband Richard and I
will be joining forces and creating a new "his and her" brand.

Merging our art styles has been a true act of love!
We both new that collaboration was the key word.
Being flexible has become our new mantra.

Richard has a really unique illustration style. He uses various thickness in his line art to achieve a detailed but clean look to his work.

I (Catalina) love to spend my days sewing all kinds of creepy & cute creatures.
I love muted color palettes,
& enjoy incorporating my stuffed fabric creations into functional art pieces.
My button eyes are how i sign my work.

Developing a brand from scratch has been tough.
A lot of hard work, time and money went into creating the look we wanted to have.

I thought the process would have evolved more organically
but truly it has been quite methodical.
We knew the vibe we wanted to share with our audience.
Suburbanites going cool, sublime and edgy.
(that is in fact who we are. well, we are really not that cool.
We actually are a bit nerdy too).

 

 A quick rundown of our process:


#1 Decide on what product you want to sell.
(ex: prints & art dolls etc.)

#2 Experiment on your production process.
(keeping production streamlined will aid in brand recognition).

#3 Define what kind of vibe your brand
will give to customers and fans.
(portray a particular style -bohemian, preppy, low brow or emotion.)

#4 Determine what will distinguish your brand
from similar niche brands.
(color, price point, packaging, customer community engagement)

#5 Do what you love.
(the best advice i can give anyone, do only what you love. Don't worry about scouring the web to find out what trends are current. Just be passionate about what style suits you and get married to it. You will find joy and bliss in creating something that is a true expression of you.)



Working as a couple can be hard
and putting 2 artist together can be some what of a cat fight.
But with a solid foundation and a concrete actionable plan
In theory we should be happy as birds enjoying our new venture.
only time will tell.

as for today, i am back to my studio space for a little cleaning up.

have a great day!

 

image source: IEEE Spectrum's robotics blog

love birds in vegas a low brow art collection of his and her black and white illustrations, and contemporary art dolls.

 

 

Catalina and Richard Calderon present:
a new blog documenting a DIY suburban family lifestyle.

He Draws She Sews

 

 

love birds in vegas,

a low brow art collection of his and her black and white illustrations, 
and stuffed fabric, contemporary art dolls.

 

coming soon - February 1


---------------------------------------------------------- 
 im at home with the kids today,
Richy is at work.

It is hard to find balance on days like this
because i would love to be submerged into painting and sewing,
but really i have to do it in between making lunch and changing diapers
(we had a poop explosion this morning already).


When we chose this new theme of
chicks in vegas, going to the chapel.

I thought the idea is fun!
Your so madly in love you decide "what the heck!"
"Let's run away and get married!"

Richard and I have always talked about going to Las Vegas,
his sister in law's family lives near by. 

I'm thinking.
Just a thought now,

I'm thinking this new line of artwork may inspire us to
take a little road trip
for a weekend of hot gambling fun.

you never know.
Maybe even a
midnight race to the wedding chapel for a love renewal!


For now I'm off to do the dishes.
But as they say;

"What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas"

the begining of a beautiful working relationship We are not your average Barbie and Ken

 

 

 

Welcome, Welcome to

He Draws She Sews.

Who are we?
We are a husband and wife creative team.
better known as Richard and Catalina Calderon.
Just a married couple taking a leap of faith.
You know,
Putting all our eggs in one basket.
Like all couples, we have good days and bad days.
 We are ridiculous crazy multitaskers, balancing our relationship, family life and our business partnership.
Please don't get the wrong impression. We are by no means perfect.
This will not be one of those Mary Poppins mommy blogs that make believe everything is practically perfect in every way.
We are real.
We struggle daily to incorporate our artistic dreams into everyday practical life with kids in suburbia.

I get a little chocolate anxiety just thinking about it all.
Luckily, we are super excited about this new venture!

So here we are.
We plan to write / blog  twice a week to document our DIY lifestyle.

Wish us luck!

How to write a love letter - DIY Crafty Valentines Love Notes Workshop

Love is in the air!

With Valentines Day right around the corner,
I thought what could be better than a delightful
free writing workshop!

Whether you have a long time hero in your life,
or are a couple of new honey bunnies
you should enjoy this crafty tutorial.

It is a sweet and simple guide to sending just the "write" message.

Writing Workshops for Winners series:

the guide to writing a modern day
love note

Begins Febuary 1 - 14th

 

 

Someone special caught your eye?
It's time to let them know just how you feel.

A little office romance perhaps?
Send your secret admirer a little naughty love note.

 

With lots of love,
Richard & Catalina Calderon present:

the guide to writing a modern day
love note

February 1 - February 14

 

 

being in love, getting married, how to spice up your love life, finding true love, flirty fun, free love advice,

Chronicles of Boho Love - DIY Bohemian Belted Boots Tutorial

Why Oh Why Re-invent the Wheel?

basically I love this video.

I love this tutorial for easy DIY Bohemian Belted Boots!
At first I thought ... i could mix it up maybe put my own funky spin on it.

But then basically I realized it is just perfect I love this video so much, I needed to share it with you.

 

 love, love, love, blah, blah, blah...

These boots are the greatest thing right now to me!
Greater than cheese!
(as my youngest son Santiago would say).
it is pretty darn funny when he says it.

  


Im thinking these are going to be great with my new Boho Love bags that are in the making.

Today I stopped at one of my favorite thrift stores here in Houston, and found a pair of raggedy cowgirl boots that caught my eye, now I know exactly what to do with them.
Ha! Just in time for the rodeo too.

I think baby valentina needs a matching pair... what do you think?

You can find the entire DIY boho belted tutorial here!
Courtesy of Mr. Kate


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Circus Sideshow Freaks - DIY Easy Carnival Inspired Costume Ideas - Sugar Land Town Center New Years Eve Celebration!

 

The Calderon family loves
dressing up in costumes!

Every New Years we pick a fun theme and go all out.
This year our theme was circus + side show + carnival inspired.

I try to pick a theme that is loads of wacky fun, but simple enough to make cheaply and quickly.
I made all the 5 costumes
(Santiago was a party pooper and refused to dress up!).
It took me about 3 hours to put everything together -
speed gorilla crafting style.

I had everything at home already so I didn't even have to buy anything. Yay free!

Of course as usual, I was sewing Richy's shirt 2 minutes before we were out the door (literally).
But, if you have more time I am sure you could do a much better job than what i did.

 Richard and Valentina as a Strong Man & the Bearded Woman.
The Strong Man costume consisted of a giant felt mustache, a fitted striped tank, and a faux 500lb. barbell.

I quickly drew out the mustache pattern & cut it out from a standard piece of black felt. However since it was so big i glued a piece of card stock to the back to give it more stability. Then we attached with double sided tape.
The Barbell was a thick wooden dowel rod that I had laying around. I attached a toilet paper roll to each end and covered them with aluminum foil, a little hot glue & voila!
Don't forget to draw with a sharpie the 500 lb. I think that's what really did the trick!

Baby Valentina got a quick make up job with black eyeliner and black eye shadow to make her stache & beard! I brought the eyeliner pencil with me to the party for easy quick touch ups, through out the night.

 

 Madeline chose to be a fairy because she had a set of wings that she had bought previously at the Renaissance festival, I only had to add a little more bling to her wings. Then i made her an elaborate head piece with a white feather boa and flowers. The hair piece was tied to her pony tail with a pretty ribbon.
A little face painting magic and she was done!


I decided to do my favorite go - to -costume!
I was a Day of the Dead... um person.
I wore a peasant Mexican style blouse, a long floral hippie skirt and lots of beaded religious themed jewelery. I made an easy head band using a long scrap piece of fabric and left over tissue paper from Christmas for the flowers.
I received lots of compliments and even posed for a few pics!

 Diego, was a fortune teller.
I made him a portable booth with an old cardboard box, card stock paper, foil and tape.
His Magic Ball was made from various plastic bags all bunched up and I even put colored glow sticks in the center so it would look extra spooky!

He charged 25 cents for each fortune!
He was sad in this picture because he had only made a $1.25

We practiced his fortune telling all day, but when it came time to do it he would freeze.
how sad.
I don't think fortune telling is going to be in his future.

 We ate great food that night at the Fish City Grill Restaurant in the Town Center here in Sugar Land. Shout out to our waiter!
Who brought us 8 margaritas to go for the whole family!

 

 

and then we can't forget the amazing fireworks + light show! I was so impressed with the quality of the show. We danced and danced the night away with all our family and a few friends. My cousin Lina, was visiting here from college and after the party she was singing the Colombian National Anthem at the top of her lungs, we then piled up in the van, stopped for a certain someone to vomit (not me) and then headed over to IHOP for pancakes and bacon ... YUM!
I think it was around 4 am, i was exhausted but the baby was still dancing!

We had such a great time!
Thank goodness for my Richy who was our designated driver for the night.

Have a good weekend!

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