Du Buh Du Designs

Doll Giveaway!

Last month was the Two Year Anniversary of my Blog and Etsy shop and in keeping with last year's anniversary I am having another giveaway~my way of thanking you for your support!

The winner will get to choose one doll from my next shop update (before they go on sale) . I have new dolls I'm working on that will be included along with the five from my Dia de Bloglania post below.

The rules are are easy~just leave me a comment; preferably something that has inspired you lately (a piece of art, movie, place, etc.), a fear that you have overcome, or one of the best gifts you have ever received that wasn't a physical object. Whatever is on your mind or a simple hello and where you're from is fine too. The drawing is open to all* (except family) and one entry per person please. I will pick a winner using the random generator on November 27th!

As you know my shop updates have been far and few between this year so predicting a date is not easy. I'm aiming to have the next doll update by month's end as I still have an ornament update to do before Christmas. Somewhere inbetween the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and family birthdays they'll get done :) Back to work..

* You do not need to have a blog to enter.

Fly me to the Moon..

Astronaut Andres

Halloween this year meant that my son (a few weeks shy of four) finally had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to be . Being that he's a bit obsessed with rockets and space it was sort of a no brainer that he would be an astronaut. And leave it it to Dad to send him off trick or treating in his own Saturn V made of cardboard and foam..he's a lucky boy to have such a creative Dad don't you think?!

 

 

Halloween past and present

Top L: Astronaut (2009) ,Top R: Painting guru Bob Ross (2008)
Btm L: WW2 Pilot (2007), Btm R: "Kid Vicious" punk rocker (2006)

~ Dia de Bloglandia ~ In honor of el Dia de los Muertos

(click images to enlarge)

Welcome to my Day of the Dead post for the Dia de Bloglandia online celebration! Every November 1st (Día de los Angelitos) and 2nd (El Dia de los Muertos) families in Mexico (and other Latin American countries) honor their deceased relatives and friends by welcoming their spirits  back and bestowing gifts , food and other offerings to them as a symbol of their love. Last year I chose to honor my son's relatives from both sides of our family and this year I have chosen to create a visual tribute to all of those who have lost a mother or sister. The dolls I made are that of three living sisters who are preparing for and anticipating the arrival of the spirits of their mother and that of their recently deceased eldest sister (the bride) to their home ..a long awaited reunion with those they love and miss ~

 

 

 

 

 

   

Special Thanks to my husband Mark for, yet again building ,another last minute structure for me, in this case a Casa for my dolls. Now if I can just get him to build one life size for us.. :)

Be sure to visit the hosts of Dia de Bloglandia, Stephanie and Suzanne for a list of those who are participating :)  As you know the shrine auction benefitting the Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots Organization has been extended and it will take place the first week in March 2010. Some participating in today's Day of the Dead online celebration have already included their cigar box shrines. For more information see Rebecca's blog ~I will be posting my contribution sometime eary next year.

Thank you for stopping by!

~Christine~

Muerte (Death)

"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is  putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”~Tagore

Vida (Life)

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have."~Horace

~Two Years~

above video by René Castillo

Today is the second anniversary of my Etsy shop~I was so busy that I forgot that last week was the second anniversary of my blog too! Thank you so much for all of your wonderful support~I am a lucky person to be able to get to do what I enjoy :) I'm working on my Dia de Blogandia post for this weekend~I'm a bit behind and we still have Halloween related things to take of around here, so I won't be posting again until Sunday. If you are interested in taking part of the Day of the Dead events this weekend, see Stephanie for details. The shrine auction that was to be in conjunction with this event has been extended until next year, so if you'd like to be a part of that as well see Rebecca for information. Have a great week (and Halloween)!

"Viva Calvaca" by director Ritxi Ostáriz, music by Voltaire

"Calavera Catrina" Ornaments

These five ornaments that will be available in my shop Saturday. Three of the "Calavera Catrina" (Catrina Skulls) are widows about to be reunited with their beloved~Doña Frances, Doña Luisa and Doña Celia. The other two ladies are stars of the cinema from a bygone era. (I named them Dolores and Lupe, after actresses Dolores del Río and Lupe Vélez).

The ornaments are approx. 3.5-4" x 2" and hang from coffee stained ribbons inscribed with their names  along with the words En honor a El Dia de los Muertos  2009 (In honor of the Day of the Dead 2009). Each piece is made of polymer clay and faces have been painted with acrylics, detailed in ink and coated in a shiny varnish.  Lace, ribbon, hand sewn decorative trim  have been used to adorn the ornaments along jewelry made from glass and swarovski beads and rhinestones. The widows wear ivory clay roses coated with ultra fine crystal glitter and all of the eyes have been coated with ultra fine black glitter.

These will be the only "Day of the Dead" ornaments this year and will be available in my shop at 10am Pacific time/ 1pm Eastern , Saturday the 17th  Have a wonderful weekend!

(please note:You'll have to excuse the slightly greenish cast to the photos~the lighting was a bit off today.)

above: "Señorita Lupe Veronique Covarrubias"

above: "Señorita Dolores Mariana Navarette"

 

above : "Doña Celia Belén Cervantes y Sepúlveda"

 

above: "Doña Frances Catalina León y Castillo"

 

above: "Doña Luisa Iñez Malagón y Viquiera"