A Nightime Lantern Parade

 

Last weekend we attended a fun and quite unique event with the kids we would love to share with you. We visited Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, for their 32nd Annual Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade. 

You create a lantern and at sunset walk around the pond.... better yet this is what the description on the website says:  

The ritual of the Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade began in 1984 when people gathered to make a journey with their candle-lit lanterns around Jamaica Pond. Each year approximately 4,000 people arrive at Jamaica Pond on each of two evenings at sunset with their lanterns; many children arriving in full Halloween costume as well. The parade proceeds around the pond, bringing a trail of bouncing lights into the darkness that can be seen from all directions. This beautiful autumn evening ceremony has become an annual tradition in our community. The Lantern Parade has its cultural roots in Dutch tradition. It reflects our dedication to building community by exploring old and creating new cultural traditions.

 

Here are the lanterns we created with the kids for the event. Making these were so fun and easy. I love that it is a creative project to do with the kids but I can also decorate my house with them.

You'll need a plastic 2 liter bottle, cut the top off and glue color tissue paper around the outside. We used Mod Podge to glue down the tissue. Punch two holes, attach a string and insert a few battery operated tea light candle inside and that's it. Let your creativity run wild when it comes to using the tissue paper. We had loads of fun cutting and gluing!

 

 

They look so magical at night.

 

This was another design we did last minute. The picture is showing the front and back of the lantern.

It was a fun time and we can see ourselves making more lanterns for other occasions to hang in the studio windows.  Hope you all have a Glowing Autumn Season!

xo Lianne & Paul 

(and our little photo bomber son Gryffin)

Road Trip: The Science Behind PIXAR

 When Lianne and I were in art school, many moons ago by the way, we took lots of traditional art and drawing courses in addition to some computer graphic classes since that was a fairly new concept in the art and design world at the time. Now married with children we are a true card-carrying Disney/Pixar fan, so when we heard that a Pixar exhibit was going to be at the Boston Museum of Science we couldn’t be more excited to learn more!

Sure we loved the old school animation classics, but as artists and designers we looked forward to learning more about the magic behind Pixar and how the breathtaking films come to life.

So we thought we would take you along with us on a little road trip inside this magical exhibit

 The Science Behind PIXAR:

It starts with a funny and clever short intro film before you are ushered into the Pixar world 

through the glowing "purple doors", that really set a mood.

Upon entering you are immediately transplanted into the Pixar world. Human-sized statues of a few of the beloved characters greet you throughout the exhibit, like Buzz, Dory, Mike and Sulley.
It was great to see them that big and getting to take a selfie or two with them.

Then onto the different stations. This is really the meat of the exhibit; showing you how each film is made up of specific parts that all come together. The kids really found the interactive components in each section very and engaging.

There is so much in this exhibit, you really should see if for yourself! Not only is the art wonderful, the science and technology is really engaging. Each station is a part of Pixar’s production pipeline: modeling (creating virtual 3D models), rigging (making movement possible), surfaces (applying properties of light to control surface appearances), sets and cameras (using virtual cameras to create 3D scenes), animation, simulation (creating automated motion), lighting (manipulating light to enhance a scene’s mood or believability), and rendering.

 Above, Chloe was playing with lighting a scene from the movie UP.

Lianne and I found these clay sculptures extra striking! The detail on them was so impressive and 

we loved seeing the characters we know and love as clay figures.

WALL-E

The newly released  Inside/Out movie is also represented in this exhibit.

  Not only did each section have something interactive going on, but what we especially enjoyed the video profiles with different Pixar staff members(working at Pixar). 

We loved hearing about how these creatives think and work and what their roles are.

If you get a chance, we would highly recommend visiting The Science Behind Pixar at the Museum of Science in Boston. The exhibit is there until the January 2016.

Holiday How-to Halloween: Happy Haunting Door Wreath

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY.

We are EEKcited to share with you our new ghoulish Halloween how-to project we created for Sculpey. You can find the project here and we will share more images in our next post.

Swirly SALE!

Autumn is here and which means Halloween is just around the corner. To celebrate the fall season we created these limited Swirly Designs Halloween & Autumn ornament gift sets for you.

If you see something(s) you love,  Be the first person to email us your choice(s) (Halloween or Autumn) along with your *Paypal email and zip code at sales@swirlydesigns.com  and we'll let you know if they're still available. First come first served!
(*If you don't have Paypal let us know and we can work out another payment option) 

Swirly Scarecrow

AUTUMN Gift Set includes FIVE ornaments:

• Swirly Scarecrow, a mini Owl, Pumpkin, Corn husk and Acorn.

$36 (plus S&H)

ONLY ONE SET LEFT!

 

Swirly Ghoulish Witch

HALLOWEEN Gift Set includes FOUR ornaments:

• Swirly Witch, Moon, Bat and Ghost 

$38 (plus S&H)

SOLD OUT!!

 GHOUL LUCK!

 If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at info@swirlydesigns.cominfo@swirlydesigns.com

Swirly Summer SALE!

Today is the Day!

We have a very limited number of these new summer ornament designs titled the Swirly Sea Sisters.
Visit our Swirly Designs facebook page at 10am est.
To pick up one of these summer beauties.

Our Swirly Crush

If you know anything about Swirly is that we love, love, love, our magazines. See here, here & here. We especially love the Holiday themed issues. With fewer magazines being produced we feel the need to spread the word when we find ones that shine.

Fresh Style simple ideas for creative living….. does just that! It shines brightly in our book! 

The courtship....

We first came across this back in 2012 when we gathered all the Holiday issues we can find at our local bookseller etc. We prefer magazines that have a heavier focus on creative projects, holiday décor ideas and projects versus cooking and recipes.  With a quick glance through the pages, and seeing the inspiring creative projects, the beautiful photography, and artist profiles, we knew this was one for the Swirly library.  

We’re dating….

Then the 2013 Holiday issue came out and we knew this was something special. The lovely smooth quality of the cover paper stock alone is worth picking us up an issue. It feels like “buttah”.

We are In Love….

Now we are in 2014, and we found that we were picking up every issue, not just Holiday based…that’s big. The most recent issue is chock-full of design eye candy with simple ideas, creative living ideas and inspiring spaces. We highly recommend that you check out this magazine (for anyone who still misses and craves the Mary Engelbriet Home Companion content, we think this will fill that void). We, for one, are excited to see where Fresh Style magazine goes from here. 

 

Fyi

We are not affiliated or have been paid by the editors of Fresh Style to promote this magazine.  Would we love to see a marriage (story) between Swirly Designs & Fresh Style in a future holiday issue of the magazine? YES!! Of course:)  But honestly we really just want to share with you all things that we like about it and maybe you will enjoy it as well.

Share your thoughts… We would love to hear if you are crushing on this magazine too.

The Swirly Easter Bunny is coming tomorrow....

Swirly 2014 Valentine's Collection

Happy Tuesday! Our very limited 2014 Valentine's handmade ornament collection is live today at 9am EST.  We hope you get a chance to check out these Lovely Swirly Designs:)
xoxo Lianne & Paul

Here comes something new Swirly Clowns!

A few weeks ago we were contacted by one of our Swirly collectors requested us to create a Swirly Clown for him. Hmmmm..that made us think. We never really considered  doing a Swirly Clown/Circus collection before. Mainly because we are so busy with designing for the Holidays we usually can't find the time to explore other subjects.... until now.

Of course we created more then we were asked to do...  but we were having so much fun creating them. So that is good news for you guys! We're so happy to be able to share these Silly Swirly Clowns designs with you...

These are all we have and they are all one-of-a-kind originals...  these will be offered on a first come, first serve basis! So make your selections quickly and email us which one/s you would like. Please include your name and shipping address to sales@swirlydesigns.com We'll let you know if you are one of the lucky ones to have one of our first Swirly Clown designs.  GOOD LUCK!!!

We'll send PayPal invoices via email unless you specify that you'd rather pay by check. Email us if you have questions.

The details:

CLOWNS:  A, B & F:  $28 and C, D & E :$26   TENTS: $21    shipping will be $5.

Summer is coming.....