the crafty cameleon

Pretty Washi Tape

2012-01-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Design Blog mafia Cartel (no offense if you are not a cartel member), whereas your Hollywood friends, both high and low and everywhere in between, used a powerful lawyer, and the political process to take over and censor the internet to control its content, and eliminate competition, whereas even design bloggers such as designsponge embarked on a "copyright" campaign entitled "giving credit"....(remember that "giving credit" poster, produced by design bloggers, to intimidate competition from using content in a completely lawful way) well ,

despite all such efforts to police the web, the copyright cartel bloggers + Hollywood's appalling effort to shovel money into congress, in expectation that Barack Obama would cave to Hollywood's demands to censor and break the internet,..... well your fancy lawyer or what was it you called it on that poster "giving credit" did you say it was "a scary lawyer?"

So anyway maybe the design bloggers who are in with the Design Blog mafia (no offense if you are not a member) you lost. You lost really big. No doubt you will continue your silly award contests published on news blogs owned by Rupert Murdoch or publish books with publishers that wanted SOPA PIPA to become the law. Fine whatever but PIPA SOPA is not coming back anytime soon so maybe it's time to put down your glass of vodka for a minute and look at the next image. What story does this picture tell you, Dear Design Blog mafia Cartel? (no offense if you are not a blogging member)

{image: 1 bird by Abigail Brown. Sylist Selina Lake}
{image 2 image via reddit}
{image 3 photography by Polly Wreford}
{image 4 by decor8blog DIY "party decorating"}
{image 5 via s-e-a-tides.tumblr.com}
{image 6 via s-e-a-tides.tumblr.com}
{image 7 via s-e-a-tides.tumblr.com}
{music video YouTube mamaranhao }

Crochet anyone?

2012-01-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

tispsytessie.blogspot.com via my pinspire board

crochet by michele gallagher,
Liza Minelli throw pillow by Jonathan Adler.

I finished this crochet quilt in 2011. It has over 22,000 double crochets!

Recently I discovered Pinspire.de It has a really good user interface which I like better then pinterest.com. Pinterest is always buggy and prone to crashing. Pinspire runs much better. Visit my boards on this link.

crochet heart project from tispsytessie.blogspot.com

crochet garland via flickr.com via pinterest here.

quilt from tispsytessie.blogspot.com via my pinspire board

crochet tutorial by olavas.blogspot.com is on this page.

Welcome 2012!

2011-12-31T12:51:00.000-08:00

This was the year that my Google did what I always knew it would and it became a highly successful social network. A day on G+ is like a day at Stanford. Hanging out at Google Plus will actually make you smarter and thats #winning. Congrats dear Google.

This is the year I wanted to go to Laguna beach and didn't But 2012 is the year I certainly will :)

this was the year I made this bunny a major trend. goodbye adorable year of the bunny rabbit..

if you travel to Paris during a heat wave always remember to ask for air conditioning in advance before you make reservations or you may have a really messy sweaty time. Just a little tip I learned in blogland 2011 ;-)

this was the year I made sequins a trend. Come and see my pins on pinspire.de it works much better then pinterest. at least they do not have all the bugs in the interface like pinterest does.

anthropologie.com swim collection 2011

credits: Downton Abbey. PBS Masterpiece Season 2: Premiering on PBS January 8, 2012. The Prime Time Emmy ® Award winning series from Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park)

This is the best Masterpiece series on PBS ever! I really LOVE it. I've seen the entire Season 1 on my kindlefire and I'm absolutely spellbound by Downton Abbey. You have to see it. You must see it :)

{images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 }

Rasa Zukauskaite Paintings

2011-12-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

I'm painting this one in January 2012

I painted "Rasa in Dots" summer 2011

and also want to paint this.

I haven't been blogging much because I've been working on several art projects needed to get finished. After January rolls in I'm going to get back to regular posting and painting. More Karlie Kloss paintings on the agenda too.

my Karlie Kloss painting from last summer 2011 {it's not done yet:)} but looks great on the wall just like this!

{images: 1, 2, 3, 4 }

AbFab Christmas Sweetie

2011-12-09T15:04:00.001-08:00

My favorite Christmas show ....ahhhh...such happy memories.

Yes Christmas 2006 I flew on a plane (2 planes, one exchange in LAX, then on to San Francisco) to congratulate my son (my wonderful son, on his big promotion) and have Christmas.

What we did is go to FRYS, an electronics store, to buy a television screen to nail on the wall. It was quite an impressive arrangement of department of the homeland security directing traffic in a huge parking lot. There were helicopters circling overhead. One guard on a loudspeaker ordered me ""mam step away from the road and walk in the pedestrian lane" and then I said to Tom, "Am I in a wrong lane what lane am I supposed to be in?" "Be quiet Mom" Tom said.

As we walked single file on to FRYS BLACK FRIDAY sale, I told my son I'd love Absolutely Fabulous Complete Series 3, and he said "OK". Tom never says "No Mom", well hardly ever. So we got our coffee latte's and we went all around this gigantic store. We got our bit screen and then I said, "Tom can we find Absolutely Fabulous Complete Series 3, now?" He said "fine mom" (that means "yes".) I commandeered a salesman, smiled politely and said "please tell me you have Absolutely Fabulous Complete Series 3,".....and he said "well I can show you where it is if we have it." There was just one DVD left and he said "It's our last one" I was freaked out with joy. I said "Tom they have just one left!" It was mine.

We got home put up the TV screen and it was mass hysteria (for all of us that Christmas and every Christmas since because we LOVE AbFab) watching Absolutely Fabulous Complete Series 3. A few days later, I was home again back in boring Palm Springs. Sorry Palm Springs but you can be boring! That last day of December I went on myspace, made a profile put up a picture of me and my daughter,

and OMG all hell broke loose after that. I had no idea how the internet really worked. I didn't know what blogs really were, I was not an employee of Conde Naste, I was not married to Chief Technical Officer software programmer from Scotland Yard, I was not in partnership with a German editor and publisher of 5 magazines, I could not afford a camera and didn't know what Google analytics was, or what regular hackers in Denmark can do to a blacklisted "Design Blogger" like me. I didnt know that just playing with blogs and not even trying to set trends could possibly be the content that would be essentially become remixed and mashed-up (even the hedge funds were doing it) and send bloggers reeling to steal my brain!

Well, that's when I began to feel like Alice in Wonderland because had no idea where I was (online) or what I was doing (predicting massive trends) but I refused to leave my blog. The rest is history.

where was I ?

Yes so after the inspirational repeated viewing of Absolutely Fabulous Complete Series 3 a kind of vicarious internet (me) emerged almost without even trying. That started a complete blogger hysteria and then (jealousy). I started a blog December 2007 one year later. With blogger I was going to be queen of trends (i sort of imagined) and i was (but for the blacklist I was put on) except i was quickly blacklisted by rival bloggers aka "the homies" (all of them) it was horrific. Like piranha fish they were determined to make me invisible online. Now these piranhas spend all day on twitter bragging and PR-ing Books crafted largely from every fragment of content i ever blogged since 2007. If I declared a toilet brush a 2012 must have the blogger mafia would have that on the cover of the next Chronicle book best selling on Amazon.

Since my emrgence on the blogosphere I've gotten no follow backs or mentions and thats because the blog mafia has essentially cloned my trend visions so they can take the credit for it up there at the annual gathering of summiteers.

Well we don't care really. John Galiano and me WE DONT CARE! He gardens and I crochet and paint supermodels. So there, we dont care. We dont want an altitude summit - making a speech about blogging, we dont want that!We are free. We want, we want to create things.

The foregoing is copyrighted to michele gallagher 2011 all rights reserved.

SOURCE for the YouTube Video found on this page

and now my latest crochet work just styled today

"~~La Petite Crochet Heart~~" no wait wait , they are called "Katie Hearts" blogged here. It was kind of hard to fit a 4 ply yarn through a needle that small but it worked and i was inspired by this soundtrack which I have played all week. By the Way (I think and) this Paris Runway collection of DIOR is the masterpiece collection of the year 2011/2011 regardless what the Magazines and fashion Bloggers say.

SOURCE: YouTube: John Galiano for DIOR's Paris Runway collection 2012

Sewing Tin Instagram

2011-12-08T15:57:00.001-08:00

a new instagram on my crochet blog crochetgirlbythebay.

{photo credits: michele gallagher photographer and stylist}

Photo styling + Christmas windows in Milan

2011-12-05T16:21:00.001-08:00

I have a new little blog just for my crochet and photo styling work. it's called crochetgirlbythebay. i chose that name because ultimately i will probably live in San Francisco, keep taking pictures and doing this kind of work. Plus I'm sewing again. It's true. Never thought I would but it's really exciting to combine new stuff I've learned the past few years.

I love these images because every Christmas my mother would stuff big oranges, nuts and chocolates (good chocolate) in our stocking. So it was like Oh yeah oranges are totally cool. They never go out of style.

Gorgeous images of long stem roses (Baccara roses?) and tablecloth, gold leafed garlands at the Milan store.

Image credits: 1, 2 photographed by michele gallagher,
Image credits: 3, 4, 5, by Dolce and Gabanna Milan

Oh and one more thing:
Here's was my sound track while taking pictures today. (The Legend) Patsy Cline.

AbFab's Patsy Stone

2011-11-30T21:04:00.001-08:00

It's to bad so many of AbFabs video's are no longer available on YouTube. Good thing I have my own AbFab Season 3 on DVD :]

image found here

Hey Look at ShopBando

2011-11-30T18:13:00.001-08:00

I wanted to blog this because I thought it would inspire me to make stuff.......or something

{images: all images are by shopbando.com}

Some Pretty for the Beauty deprived

2011-11-17T16:23:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to announce I'm taking an entire week away from blogging :) No make that a week and a half :) I have a very important offline project to work on during this blog vacation. One of my projects will be sewing, another is painting, and third a lot of sketching out my next idea. This time the SV angels will not get to see it or have any access to it. In fact the only way any investor gets to even know a hint of my "idea" is after my lawyer says to him "how high can you jump?" followed by "sign here". So off I go now, to do amazing things and dream idea dreams. I'll tweet through the days of search for cranberries and sage to stuff our turkey with. And thank you Google for our organic turkey. Google gave us our own Turkey. How cute is that? I'm happy today, I will not let that SV Angel vampire steal my happy. For every idea the dude steals, I have ten more up my sleeve he will never touch. I must go. I have a very busy schedule :)

{ images: 1. 2, 3, 4 }

Glam Girls Will Be Glam Girls

2011-11-13T19:20:00.001-08:00

image source tumblr.com

image source: (dustjacket tumblr)

a video tutorial that shows how to apply glitter eye-shadow.

image source: tumblr

supermodel Karlie for Rodarte via elle.com photo: getty images

image source: JCrew.com

image source: google images

Supermodel Rasa for Prada

image source: here

image source: tumblr

Supermodel Karlie for Salvatore Ferragamo via elle.com photo: imaxtree

image source: tumblr

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In search of the black smoke eyes and OTHER kinds of eyes too! Any eye that is a Goddess Eye is what we are in search for. Google comes to the rescue. Google says "New Style Chicks how may I help you?" and we say with the utmost adventurism "Google can you find Black Smoke eyes and OTHER eyes?" Google says "Yes I think I can just wait a sec."

image source Google Images

We see the picture below and we find that it represents genuine Black Smoke Eyes? Google is it?
Google says, "We think those are probably Black Smoke Eyes."

image credit black smoke eyes found on Google Images

image source onedeepbreath

We search on and find some black eyeliner representative of retro 1970's and we like it! Thank you Google.

image source gorunway.com found on Google Images

Oh Look It's Karlie Kloss (the supermodel) and she has interesting eyeliner detail and we are now almost ready to search for goddess hair. In the world of beauty you are supposed to do your makeup first (don't forget that rule) and then do hair. So hair is coming up.

image credit: Source: Chanel Photo byLuca Cannonieri

these eyes have the smokey the black smoke look but it's shimmery and metallic so that's a good one to keep on our finds. And now its HAIR styles to go with gorgeous eyes.

image source onedeepbreath

First it's not essential, but having some long hair helps. Start growing it now if you must.

image source: The braided bun source: beautifulthingstoshare

We think the model looks fab with a bun + braids on the top of her head and we are still searching for that Tutorial.

image source: (fashionfilesmag.com) here photo by Imaxtree

We like the low bun with braids :)

image source: fashionhotspot.tumblr.com

We love this one because it looks easy to do.
The Messy Bun tutorial directions as found on (modelina.com)

1. Apply a styling cream like Moroccan Oil Styling Hydrating Cream to damp hair.
2. Blow hair dry with the nozzle pointed downwards and create waves by wrapping sections of hair around a round brush. If your dryer has a cold button, blast a bit of cool air on the brush-wrapped hair to set the curl.
3. Once dry, create and secure a ponytail at the center of the back of your head.
4. Wrap your hair in a loose bun, using bobby pins to secure it in place against your head. Leave the end section of your hair loose, only securing it up to one inch from the end. Tease the loose ends and spray the bun with holding spray. Try Phyto Pro finishing spray with myrrh extract.

photography by Daniel Gurton found on dust jacket attic tumblr

Thank you Google this is what we were looking for.

Oh yay, "the perfect ponytail" tutorial.

More teased hair How To. We do not know the original source but we think it's by Martha Stewart Weddings.

image source: Google Images

More Tutorials

image credit: thebeautydepartment.com

The side braid .

and more Tutorials

Crochet Party Flowers

2011-11-11T12:16:00.001-08:00

Meet four of my brand new "Party Flowers" to be made into garlands. No wait, meet "five", I almost forgot The Irish Queen, (the gold color yarn) and notice how the center has those spokes? Those are an essential part of the design I was looking for. Google and me found a pattern. The pattern I found was much bigger and had more petals so I made my own pattern to get the size and scale the way I wanted it :) It was hard work today. All day I made these flowers and wrote patterns.

I've come a long way since my first flowers in 2008. WARNING! Do not read on if you are easily bored. I suggest you leave now or else grab some coffee and a cookie and settle in. My writing coach says, I am never to bore you or waste your time so don't blame me if you decide to ignore the WARNING.

If you are still reading you must be in love with crochet :) I know I am. The image below is now the 6th crochet flower from a pattern I created today. The next step will be to crochet a second set of all six flowers to make any needed corrections in the pattern code. This is important because when I make a flower I'm mostly experimenting and just trying out what I think will work. If it works then the next step is to write a pattern and test the written pattern. If that works then I have a custom made pattern.

image credit: crochet and photography by Michele Gallagher

As I said, I've come a long way since my first flowers in 2008. These were my very first flowers.

Do any of you crafty ladies remember my first flowers? They were all over my old blog. I was so proud of teaching myself crochet (I remember). I really didn't know what I was doing when I made the "partyflowers" (I named them "party flowers"). Then a year or so later I started doing some free form crochet which means no pattern.

In 2010 I used some of my 2008 flowers to frame my Johnny Depp poster. The old camera was kinda of out of focus, the flowers slightly blurred. My Android camera takes better pictures.

free form crochet work by me in 2009

I feel like I've graduated from crochet for beginners. I'm writing my own patterns now. It seems so strange to do that. To write the code from beginning to end is like: oh wait I'm a brain surgeon now?, or I'm a crochet geek girl now. It's funny to see the digital camera time stamp on the old flowers in bright yellow "2008". Back in those days I remember I was so paranoid that somebody would steal my "party flowers" and turn them into money, like on Etsy or Molly Makes Magazine :) I knew my trusty time stamp would provide the clear and convincing evidence ( to show) who crafted the first party flowers. Consequently my work had to have a time stamp:) However, I never thought the reason I would need a time stamp was to show the crafty girls how my old "party flowers" would become my template for my new party flowers, plus a whole bunch more party flowers. I'm making eight new patterns before Christmas! :)

It was Irish roses that got me on this "party flower garland" project. And thats strange too because it was my Irish grandmother (well she was Brit, Scot and Irish but her father was pure Irish) is the one who taught me crochet and taught me my first Irish rose in a square. But I'd forgotten the stitches. After all this time my crochet DNA is finally working :)

to be continued.........

image credits: all crochet work and images are by Michele Gallagher

Goodbye Pinterest! Welcome All that Glitters

2011-11-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

image credit: found here

I don't konw what got into me last summer. That's when the glitter bug took a bite of me. I started to imagine glitter in the most GLAM kind of ways and it made me wonder, what can I find, but then wicked pinterest with all of it's stuck up ways about being elitist and cliquish kicked me off the site. (I had not done one thing wrong.) In truth I think my being on pinterest caused a war of sorts. The hedge funds guys objected because they need me to stay where I belong (on Google). I mean me being on pinterest was making wall street shake with panic. My tendency to know what is going to move markets is something you either are born with or not. Like that time me and my mom (Einstein) spent all day just to select fabric for my suit jacket and matching skirt. In the end I wanted the lavender with little hot pink roses. We sewed up the outfit. A month or so later A big department store had racks of clothes made in my fabric and that's when I knew ....you either have it or you don't. So with me wasting away the hours on pinterest (wicked pinterest) that just made the trend worlds have nightmares and they cried out: "Release her this minute from your bloody pinning hell! (one hedge fund guy was heard shouting into his speaker phone) Or I'll jump!!!" That was the last day and there was an abrupt end to what was once what will go into my book as the wasted weeks of the summer of 2011. It was wild. It was so wild it spilled over (the menacing wicked pinterest) onto twitter. Suddenly attempts were being made to Thwart my twitter tweets. "WARNING" it said "WARNING" this user may harm your computer. I'd had quite enough of that. I was tired of what I decided were "fake warnings". So one day I said to Twitter I said (In the voice of Ronald Regan where he said: Mr. Gorbachev... Tear Down This Wall.) I said "Twitter you stop sending me fake malware warnings Okay?" And just like that the warnings ceased to appear. Life after pinterest was an adjustment I'm not going to say it was easy. The bad things all went away (sort of). I had to learn how to use my intuition which pinterest was trying to kill :( So that's what I wanted to tell you, I just wanted to point out that it was a matter of leverage. Wall Street needed me back at my post predicting futures and making markets move. The money guys said "Now look here Mr. Ben or whatever your name is, you give us our crafty cameleon back by god (he shouted"). Ben almost cried but mustered his courage as he spoke into his Iphone4: "Hedge fun guys, first and foremost, we salute you, we hear your pain, we know it's real, after reflecting on this crisis we want to mitigate the downturn as quickly as is humanly possible. After coming up with a way to meet your demand we promise you the money guys we are releasing Michele AKA the crafty cameleon back into the water. Furthermore we are deeply sorry for any markets that may have plunged or suffered as a result of her captivity (hypnotized by pin boards) at pinterest." "Well you should be sorry by god.....She's been to Hollywood, She's been to Redwood, She's crossed the oceans for a heart of Gold, so don't ever (pause phone drops) "never ever do that again Mr. Ben!" (Ben promises (on his knees now) saying "No sir never ever again). The curse was over. And the hedge Fund guys all sang:

Okay so today its all about glittery things.

Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstView via VOGUE

image source Google images

Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstView via VOGUE

image source Google images

Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstView via VOGUE

imgae source weheartit.com

image source weheartit.com

image source tumblr here

image source lulus.com (sorry, the shoe is no longer available but it's soooo pretty) The shoe is named "Promise Titanic Blush and Gold Glitter".

Photography by Marcio Madeira/firstView via VOGUE

i'm going to paint this model but frst I have to finish painting Rasa and Karlie OMG is that Rasa?

My Crochet Irish Rose + Russian Dolls

2011-11-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

crochet by michele gallagher

This is a variation on a crochet Irish Rose. I didn't like the patterns I found online. I tried three. So (like always) I end up making my own pattern. It's a pretty big flower (about 5 inches wide). But after I was finished making it I found another pattern that will probably what it's supposed to. Attic24 writes good patterns. I'd like to try her "Blooming Flower Cushion" after New Years. I also love Attic24's Russian Dolls!:) I want to make them.

image source attic24 "Blooming Flower Cushion"

image source attic24

Irish Rose Crochet Tutorial

2011-11-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

The source for this image is unknown. It originally came from etsy.com (2007).

This pretty fashion accessory is a crocheted Irish Rose (one of my favorite flower patterns). Today I'm going to crochet this flower using 4 ply scrap yarn and a G hook. I don't have a pattern so I'll search around on Google for "Irish Crochet Roses." I found one.

Image credit: by anniedesgn

Anniedesign has been around as long as I have been blogging (four years). Her work is great for a lot of reasons. I like the bright yarn she uses and how neatly the petals are shaped. This Irish Rose is a great find. Yay.

Image credit: Google Images.

Here is another type of crochet flower. These flowers would make nice coasters because they lay flat. You could also use them in countless other ways or sew them on a thousand things. This will be a future project. Today its just Irish Rose day.

I'm using Google's new Blogger in Draft interface. It lets me pre-schedule the post for the next day. Oh, did I mention I deleted the old Crafty Cameleon Blog? I thought it was best to just start all over. So that's what I did. Like moving out of an old house and into a new one. But I have one criticism about blogger that can be super annoying. I have carefully read and checked each word in this draft. All are correctly spelled. No errors. Yet Blogger will change words. For example, I just found Blogger changed the word "sew" to "sewn". Blogger don't change my words around. okay?

Okay. I found a pattern ( by Carmen Heffernan published here ). I have to convert it from British to American Code. So here I go.

Row 1: ch 3
Round 2: 11 dc into 3rd ch from hook, join with sl st to top of beginning ch 3 (12 dc made)

Round 3: Join 2nd colour into top of any dc st from last round. *(ch 2, dc 1) into dc st, (dc 1, ch 2, sl st) into next dc st*. Rep from * to * 6 times. Fasten off.

Round 4: With 3rd colour and working behind row 2, work 1 sl st into stitch (Hook 2 loops to create a stable base to work from – see left) between petals, (ch 4, 1 sl st in stitch between next petal) 5 times. Ch 4, sl st to 1st sl st to close. (6 x 4 ch loop spaces made)

Round 5: sl st into 1st ch space. (2 ch, 3 dc, 2 ch ) over each 4 ch loop space. Cut yarn and fasten off.

Today I'll test the pattern to see if I end up with a nice Irish Rose. I'm optimistic :)