Lucia Debrazi is Sleeping with the Fishes, Pt 1

Good lord that was a long time coming! And it's just been sitting on my computer too. Well, I had to face the fact that I wasn't going to finish this project unless I had some incentive, so I thought I'd better post Part 1 to get the ball rolling.

As every artist knows, the biggest ideas can start with the smallest nudges. Back in July 2011, I posted lucia debrazi is sleeping with the fishes . . . It was just a title I threw out after meeting one of my little sister's craft challenges: "Create something that starts with the letter B." So sue me, I went a little off-track (in character). Lucia's story took hold and wouldn't let go of me for a number of weeks . . . months . . . and I created Part 1 and  "a word from our sponsors," cookie chang's commercial.

Then I got busy creating little hapas : world fusion street food & takeaway art, and Lucia went back to sleep with the fishes for a good, long nap.  Hey, I'm not complaining. I'm up for anything that keeps my creativity machine well-oiled – even if I had to trade my paint brushes in for wooden spoons and baking trays for a little while. cookie chang kept kicking me in the shins, begging to get back to art, animation and goofiness, so we gave her a little hapas commercial to work on to keep her busy.

Happy 2013. Here's to more art, more food creations, more animation and more cookie chang & little hapas collaborations!

All images, animation, characters, props, art, photography, sound and story ©Ramey Holsman (aka cookie chang). All rights reserved • cookiechang.com

Voice of Decima (and Decima's art) ©Kate Cooper (aka kpie88) • kpie88.etsy.com

teaming up with little hapas – video ad!

Well that was fun! We're already planning of our next project depicting little hapas takeaway art. Of course it will be posted here.

All images, dolls, props, animation, sound (including voices) and photography ©Ramey Holsman (aka cookie chang) & little hapas. The wonderful background watercolour townscape was created by ©Kate Cooper (aka kpie88).

little hapas : creativity takes many forms

Oy vey have I been busy! So busy I nearly forgot about cookie chang.

"How could you do this!?" you may ask.

Truth is, I didn't really forget about cookie. How could I? She's been my left-hand gal, whispering ideas in my ear for our latest creation, little hapas : world fusion street food & takeaway art.

In addition to developing little hapas ethos (plus designing and illustrating everything around it), and hapa-izing our adorable new Aixam Megavan . . . we've been busy experimenting in the kitchen for the better part of the year! We've mixed and matched flavours from around the world – from Korean burritos to Mex-Italian quesadillas to kungPOW! hapacorn.

We're in the process of getting our online shop up and running too, so you'll be able to make your own world fusion street food with our hapasauce no matter how far you are from Sussex!

Did I mention that little hapas also "serves" takeaway art!?  Our tiny cab windows make the perfect place for the loco hoco mini gallery, featuring art by cookiechang (ramey holsman) & kpie88 (kate cooper) -- prints, original iron-on art patches, badges, etc.

Give little hapas some love on facebook and tune in to our tweets. And PLEASE don't forget about cookie chang! She may have traded paint for soy sauce at the moment, but that doesn't mean she's stopped creating.

Mushrooms + Lunar Boy Gallery = LOVE

On a recent trip back to my beautiful, green, wonderful Pacific Northwest, my mate Jessica (aka eekasan) and I ducked into Lunar Boy Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. I had a handful of my latest miniature works -- hand-carved wooden mushrooms in situ (with "moss' and "trees" and original illustration backdrops) -- framed with jenga pieces!

Our timing couldn't have been better. They had an opening scheduled for that Saturday and promptly put all five of my pieces up for the event.

If you're in the Astoria area, stop by Lunar Boy (240 11th Street, Astoria, OR 97103) and have a gander. I'll be sending more creations their way soon. You can also view and/or purchase online --> HERE!

Visit cookiechang.etsy.com and give cookie some love on facebook!

Lucia Debrazi is Sleeping with the Fishes TRAILER

A little teaser as I work on my latest project.

Full length movie coming in 2012! All props (carved wooden mushrooms, etc.), characters, sets created by Ramey Holsman (aka cookie chang).
Contact me for commissions!
SHOP http://cookiechang.etsy.com/
VISIT http://cookiechang.com/
BLOG http://cookiechang.blogspot.com/
all images and sound copyright ©2011 Ramey Holsman

cookie chang commercial

Here's my latest project! A stop motion animation promoting my artwork. I'll write more  about creating all the props, characters, sets (including carved wooden mushrooms) later.

Music: "cookie chang kicks it like an art machine" written and recorded by Ramey Holsman

Contact me for commissions! And visit cookiechang.etsy.com

Kpie voice and easel paintings by Kate Cooper kpie88.etsy.com.

all images and sound copyright ©2011 Ramey Holsman

Dad's Daughter, Part 1: Shed and Shed Byproducts

I was busy busy last week! Monday started with ordering a basic overlap 7' x 5' wooden shed at ilikesheds.com to replace the 20+ year old one we inherited when we bought this house. It was, as they say in this neck of the woods, "knackered." I'd replaced the roof two years ago, which gave its demise a little reprieve (and another 5,000 spiders a place to call home), but we'd squeezed as much life out of it as we were going to and it was time to replace it.

What I wasn't expecting was ilikesheds.com to give me a delivery date of Saturday. They advertised an 8-10 day delivery time, so I had to beat cheeks and get a whole bunch 'o stuff done if I was going to be ready for its speedy arrival. But what really scared me was not knowing if I could actually pull off putting one of these puppies together properly. (I'm trying not to show too much of the wonky fencing I put up prior to the shed roof two years ago.)

I learned early on from my father that if you're not sure how to do something, you can do as much research as you want, but there's nothing like just jumping in and getting your hands on something to really understand what you're working with. My way to do that was to see how it was put up by, well, tearing it down! So, here's how it went . . .

old shed after replacing the roof two years ago

Monday Afternoon:

1.) Pulled everything out of the shed and drove a carload of recyclable items to the tip (dump).

2.) Ripped off felting (tar paper) and removed all but two screws from each roof board (8' x 3.25'), then asked Kpie for help to ease them down. These were still in perfect condition after two years, so I set them aside and imagined ways to use them while disassembling the rest of the shed panels.

Tuesday:

1.) Finished breaking up the old shed panels – setting aside the door and any usable support beams that still had life in them – then tied all the boards into manageable bundles and fit them ALL in my tiny Vauxhall Corsa.

2.) Tearing the floor apart was a little more difficult than I'd anticipated. Waterlogged corners ripped apart easily, but water resistant MDF is one tough cookie and I had to rely on my little sledge hammer and crow bar to break the rest of it down into small enough chunks to fit into the spaces left in the car. Then it was off to the tip in Crawley.

3.) After a little lunch and a game of "kick the ball 'til I goes crazy" with Poppy, I began prying all the concrete slabs up to see what I had to work with for the foundation. The ground was incredibly sloped and uneven and it was easy to see why the shed had become so distorted in the end. I managed to level four slabs and decided to call it a day.

Wednesday & Thursday:

I love dreams. I woke up Wednesday morning knowing exactly what I was going to do with those roof boards. They were destined to become a new bike shed on the patio! A little sketch and some simple mathematics later and I had my jigsaw and drill out for the next two days. I'm pleased to say that every last bit of material (wood, old shed door, screws, hinges, felting, wood glue and paint), I'd either salvaged from the shed or tucked away from our recent loft conversion. I didn't have to go to the store for any bit of this!

weathershield undercoat – final colors to be decided

lid up and top half removable for easy access

The finished bike shed is large enough to fit two bikes diagonally, along with a few other bikey bits and bobs. The top half slides off for easy access and the hinged stand has a hook and chain just in case a gust of wind blows the lid back. (After getting smashed on the shoulder when a shed panel blew over on Monday, I thought a little safety paranoia wasn't such a bad idea.)  The handle is a piece of curved birch branch from the Ashdown. I'll take it off and varnish it while the final coat of paint goes on. We'll decide on colors in the next day or two -- update to follow.

new shed floor on concrete slabs

Friday:

Back to filling and leveling the ground for those concrete blocks . . . BACKBREAKING WORK! But I gotter done and after a well-deserved cold one, home delivery tandoori king prawn jalfrezzi from our favorite takeaway, Ruchi, and a sound sleep . . .

Saturday:

Bright and early 6:55am delivery of our new flat-pack shed! These guys had started in Nottinghamshire at 2am and already made three deliveries by the time they got to us. They even helped me carry the roof board and floor panel down to the end of the garden. Nice.

corner pieces added after this photo was taken

I decided to give the neighbors a break and started assembling everything a couple hours later.  By the time Kpie returned at 3:30pm I had four walls up and we both put the roofing on together! All done by 6pm . . . and I don't need to explain that I couldn't move on Sunday. But hey, we've got a new shed/clubhouse. Stay tuned for paint and further clubhouse embellishments – including a cozy campfire spot.

And Dad, thanks for teaching me how to hit a nail when I was just knee high to a cricket ;-). A hammer for every grrl!!!

Check out my art and art byproducts at cookiechang.etsy.com.

grouchy pink grrl does it again . . .

. . . only this time she's been BURIED IN BETSY'S CLOSET! Marianna, the terribly hip creator of Betsy's Closet contacted me through cookiechang.etsy.com and asked if she could feature my sweatbands in her latest entry, Hiding in the Gym. How could I possibly say no?

So thanks to Marianna for giving cookie chang a shout out! If you're interested in purchasing said sweatbands, check 'em out here:
black sweatband with art patch GROUCHY PINK GRRL
and
very pink sweatband with kissy kiss art patch

And while we're on the subject of cookie chang . . . I recently listed some great new products -- 1" magnets on collector art cards. They sound unassuming, but just you wait 'til you have one of your very own! There are 24 to choose from -- all images of my original mixed media paintings from 2000 to present. Choices choices.

May I suggest a starter of "marvin"? My take on Bjork. Her cheeky grin will assure you that any tiptoed midnight fridge fests will be kept strictly between the two of you!

grouchy pink grrl makes an etsy treasury!

Uh-oh, uh-oh, Punky Brewster, we'll always be the best of frie-ends...

Hey, I haven't thought about Punky in . . . forever! But Britt (brittg.etsy.com) has and she's put together an adorable etsy treasury of items she thinks "could be for a modernized Punky Brewster," including my very own grouchy pink grrl sweatband (which you can purchase here)!

Thanks Britt! =(V)

cookiechang.etsy.com makes a top five!

Cheers Melissa Carter (CASEmethod.etsy.com)! She listed cookiechang.etsy.com as her top five etsy shops! Have a look HERE.

mert hoody doll on etsy treasury with banksy!

Hey, just a quick THANK YOU to Isabelle (ptitebaloue.etsy.com) for including my mert hoody doll with crumfiti action pack in her fabulous treasury! You can only view it HERE 'til Monday, 12 January 2009. But if you don't make it by then, at least have a look at this screen shot -- note I'm on the same page as banksy. Whoop whoop! =(V)

NEW ITEMS on etsy!

Yo yo. After a wonderful visit with my famdamily in the Portland area, and Christmas, Boxing Day and the New Year back in Jolly Old England, I'm back in the proverbial cookie chang saddle and ready to rock 'n roll!

When I returned, just before Christmas, I came back to a huge button (badge) order from purple-heart.com. Seems Claudia has a penchant for selling the "holy cow" out of cookie chang 1 inch badges, so orders are coming in fast and furious!

The biggest sellers, by far, have been my KEEP BRIGHTON WEIRD line -- including the Brighton PAVILION and WEST PIER designs. Now I'm not sure why I waited so long to put them up in my etsy shop, but they're there now, so order away! (Mix and match 3 for $2.50 + shipping.) You can also contact me if you're interested in wholesale pricing to carry them in your store.

The other great sellers have been my illustrated high top badges. What a bargain -- 4 buttons for $3.30 + shipping! And, as ever, my fond fare thee well to RESIDENT Bush have been selling off the shelves. Get yours today so you're proudly wearing one when he finally vacates the White House and OBAMA strides in! (3 for $2.50 + shipping)

And finally . . . last, but not least, I send a shout out to my main mama -- FRIDA KAHLO!!! the lil' frida LIMITED EDITION DOLL is now available! She comes complete with a full-color, handmade takeaway box, lil' frida doll 1" badge and collector card -- all for $22.00 + shipping.

All my dolls are ON SALE right now in my etsy shop. Have a little gander!

Happy New Year! =(V)

mamey beergarden opens in brighton

kissmekwik! the mamey beergarden doll cloned herself overnight and a whole gaggle of them hopped off the stage and are now roaming the streets of brighton's kemptown! OK, maybe not the streets, but they're definitely wreaking havoc in one uber hip gift shop known as kissmekwik.


Perched amongst quirky, kitschy, queeny cards, badges, notebooks, mugs and a plethora of brilliant gifts, mamey and her beehive are in their element and ready to jump off the shelf and into your christmas stocking.

Each doll is made by hand, signed, numbered (limited edition 300) and packaged in a full-colour "takeaway" art box with a collector card and 1" mamey button (badge).

If you're not able to make it to brighton, pick one up from my etsy shop.

And if you can make it to brighton, kissmekwik is located at:
4 george street • brighton • bn2 1rh
phone: 01273 571 757
www.kissmekwik.co.uk
they're open mon-fri and saturdays when they feel like it!

cookie chang in brighton & lewes

cookie chang is now in 5 shops -- 3 in Brighton and 2 in Lewes! In BRIGHTON the crumz, "keep brighton weird" and various other original designer 1" badges (buttons) are in red mutha and purple-heart.com in the North Laines. Both are open 7 days a week, so you can get your cookie chang on whenever you're in town.

kolkata, brighton's fair trade gift shop, features cookie badges Sundays from 12-4pm during their Lazy Sunday Market.

And now the crumz are running around LEWES, getting all excited for the 5th of November -- bonfire night! may's general stores and the lewes tourist information centre are both carrying the brand new bonfire crumz badge pack, which includes a full-colour postcard, 7 full-colour bonfire crumz badges, a crumzine and free magnet -- retailing for £4.50. Whatta bargain!

These are the only two retail shops in the world where you can buy this product! But never fear, if you can't get to Lewes, East Sussex, UK and can't live without the bonfire crumz, you can purchase them at my etsy shop. Get them while they last!

=(V) <-- click the fortune cookie to buy yours today! BRIGHTON:
red mutha • 92 trafalgar street (north laines) BN1 2ER
01273 603 976 • redmutha.com
purple-heart.com • 22 gardener street (north laines) BN1 1UP
01273 696 935 • purple-heart.com
kolkata • 8 grantham road (5 ways) BN1 6EE
01273 565 105 • kolkatafairtrade.co.uk

LEWES:
may's general stores • 49 cliffe high street • BN7 2AN
01273 473 787 • maysgeneralstores.co.uk
lewes tourist information centre • 187 high street • BN7 2DE
01273 483 448 • lewes.gov.uk/leisure/1497.asp

FARE THEE WELL DIPSH*T!

Oops. I didn't want to, I HAD to. This is my latest listing in my etsy shop -- 1" metal button/badges telling you how I really feel. If you REALLY feel the same way, why not get some of your very own? You get 3 for $2.50 (US Dollars) + $2.40 shipping to the US or $1.00 shipping to the UK. I know that sounds like a lot, but with the exchange rate, it actually costs a little more than that to send them. To make the deal a little sweeter, if you order 2 sets (a total of 6), I won't charge for the extra postage!

Come on, you know you've been looking for a button ("badge" as they're called in the UK) that says this very thing. Wear one and share the rest with your friends. They even come on individual 4-color cards . . . and they're selling like hotcakes in Brighton! If you're in the Brighton area, visit RED MUTHA on Trafalgar in the North Laines, or KOLKATA at 8 Grantham Road (BN1 6EE) on Sundays from 12-4pm. I might even be there chatting with Mariana or Maria or Siobhan!

=(V) <-- click the fortune cookie to view this item in my etsy shop!

cookie in kolkata!

There's a wonderful gift store nestled in a cute little neighborhood a few streets north of the London Road Railway Station in Brighton. Located at 8 Grantham Road, BN1 6EE, Kolkata features handmade, fair-trade products including: clothing, jewelry, embroidered cards and tiny key chain bags, hats, toys and paintings from Kolkata India.

And now, on Sundays from 12-4pm, Kolkata is welcoming a handful of artists and craftspeople from the surrounding Brighton area (many from etsy) to sell their handmade wares in the Lazy Sunday Market – and that, mes amis, will include cookie chang!

At the moment I'll be displaying my 1" crumz and "keep brighton weird" badges (pin back buttons), as well as my zine, meet the crumz – a B&W, 16 page story of cookie chang, featuring each crumz' profile. But soon I hope to include a few more items – postcards, aceos, crumz bottlecap clips and dolls!

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say, "Hey!" to owner Siobhan and the ever-charming Mariana and Maria. And If you can't make it to Brighton, visit my etsy shop and check out the goods for yourself!
=(V)

boletus not into temptation

I know I seem to be bouncing between cookie news and fungal reports from the Ashdown Forest a lot lately. And I realize there isn't an obvious connection between the two -- except for, well, me. But don't I at least get a few points for consistent inconsistency?

Either way, we had a fantastic day of picking yesterday! Our friend Paul joined us for his first foray into the vegetarian version of hunting . . . and he showed us both up by finding the first porcini (boletus edulis) of the season -- fabulous!

I got a nice little handful of hedgehogs (hydnum repandum), a smaller handful still of chanterelle buttons (cantharellus cibarius) I'd hidden under leaves to mature from my last harvest a few days ago, and a bagful of bay boletes (xerocomus badius)!

In fact, after lunch at a nearby pub (mushroomer's code of secrecy prohibits me from disclosing this location), we said goodbye to Paul, who had to get back to London, and I drove kpie and poppy home, then headed back out to pick for another four hours.

Needless to say, we had a wild mushroom risotto FEAST last night! OH YAH! =(V)

cookie chang and red mutha

YOO HOO!!! cookie has her first retail outlet! That's right, folks, if you've got a hankering for some cookie chang badges ("buttons" to my stateside peeps) and you're any where near 92 Trafalgar Street in Brighton, then git yer bum into RED MUTHA and scream, "I NEED COOKIE!!!!" You might even get lucky and meet Red herself. She's da bomb – and the shop is as chock full of gorgeous "one-off, customised, recycled garments for those who dare to wear them!" Plus loads of other great stuff . . . now including cookie chang badges! Likewise, check out red mutha's myspace page . . . hey, while you're at it, check out cookie's myspace too!

Priced at just 60p for one or 2 for £1, you can kit out your bags, shirts, hats, coats, ties, knickers, shoes and anything else that takes your fancy with these little 1" babies.

If you're a little too far from Brighton to visit RED MUTHA and gotta get your cookie on, visit my etsy shop to buy them online! I'll be listing them all in the next couple of days . . . cookiechang.etsy.com.

Here's a peek at just a few of the designs . . .

(Shout out to Mariana for contacting Red Mutha in the first place!)

cookie at brighton's west pier market

I haven't made any new posts lately because I've been very busy for the past two months getting cookie ready to launch down at Brighton's West Pier Market. After a very blustery weekend and a failed attempt last Saturday, I checked the Met Office for Brighton's weather forecast, packed the car up and headed down bright and early yesterday morning. With just a light breeze off the sea and the sun poking through the mist, I set up my stand with the beautiful, eerie skeleton of Brighton's West Pier as a backdrop.

OK, so I didn't make a fortune (cookie) -- which may have been a little anticlimactic -- but what made up for it were the amazing PEOPLE I met. And to me, that was everything. My neighbor stall owners were helpful, encouraging, friendly and very welcoming.

Though the weather was stunning, there weren't a lot of people down on the pier, and everyone agreed it was a particularly slow day but that I shouldn't let it discourage me from coming back. Who knows, maybe it had something to do with it being a Wednesday, or maybe people were just shocked that we finally had a summer's day in England and it took them a while to remember where the beach was.

Either way, I'm not judging anything from just one day. I'll be back down on Saturday! (Let's be realistic, if everyone had an office space like this, that wouldn't be a very difficult decision to make, would it?)

Lady Day

Just did this today -- oil stick and pencil on board. I'm not sure why I keep painting Billie Holiday, but every few years she just pops up.

I guess I can think of worse things to do with my time...


(image ©2008 ramey n. holsman)