Floating gowns

Last year, the New York City  Opera allowed artist E.V. Day(one of my favorite artists) to scrounge through their collection and transform some of their most amazing gowns into sculptural displays in the Lincoln Center lobby. I love the way the dresses are suspended in mid air. The outfits give off such an eerie feeling that I believe reminds the viewer of how theater is a sort of means of raising the dead.

Fun facts: 

-The artist ended up using 22 miles of fishing line to hang up her installation.
-E.V. Day's "Mummified Barbie" series helped put her on the map in the artworld. She is mostly known for her integration and use of deconstructed textiles and suspension in her sculptural pieces.


You can read the past NYTimes article HERE and check out a full slideshow of the installation HERE.

Absolutely LOVE these turbans with hair extensions!

Halloween Decorations

My former co-worker and friend loves Halloween just as much as I do. So when it came to decorating the office we went all out. Lucky for us, our efforts were rewarded since the college we work for holds an annual Halloween decoration competition. The first year we one first place, last year we won second.

Believe it or not, it really doesn't take too much to make great decorations. All you really need is some cardboard, paint, plastic trash bags, and voila! You can transform your stifling office into a scary office dungeon or even the devil's bakery!

 The first year we went for an office"dungeon" theme.

 

The black walls were made with large garbage bags that we stretched.

We copied our hands and used them to create macabre sconces.

 We used basic office tools, like hole punchers and made them into torture devices.

 The second year we created a Devil's Bakery, which gave us an excuse to make tons of fun Halloween treats. The outside of the office looked like a nice pink bakery . . .

 But the inside was filled with flames! A giant cauldron painted onto cardboard was used to block off a doorway.

 We also have an old defunct fireplace in our office and we covered it with black vinyl shelf liner and made it into an oven.

 I made some shrunken head cider

And some little vampire cookies from oreos.

Free Halloween Pattern!

Can you believe that Halloween is less than 9 days away?!? Are you busy finishing your costume? Will you be carving pumpkins this weekend? Well, just in case you don't have any spooky crafts planned here is a simple free embroidery pattern for you to trace and stitch away while watching your favorite scary movie.

You can choose from the basic embroidery pattern or try printing out the greeting card embroidery pattern and send a creepy card to your friend! Enjoy!

Mustache Bags

I did a little applique fun for the mustache festival I participated in a few weeks ago.
Now these new bags are slowly trickling into the Shop.
Who knew mustaches could look so good in calico print?!?
More to come soon . . . .

Maniacal Minatures

Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths has been on my bookworm wish list for quite some time now. So naturally, I was quite delighted to discover that a documentary about Frances Glessner Lee's famous miniatures was being made. And who better to narrate this exploration of odd forensic masterpieces than Mr. John Waters.

It's astonishing to think that this woman's work is still having an impact on not only the forensic world today but Hollywood as well. Her miniatures were the inspiration behind the Miniature Killer from the classic crime show, CSI. A short trailer for the film is below.

Trendspotting

I discovered through the lovely blogging universe that collars are the new HOT accessory.  I literally came across several collars on various blogs in a matter of minutes this morning.  Each one is so original and unique. I can't think of a better project than this to help me dwindle down my gigantic stack of  print fabric.  It may be time to put the bow tie necklaces aside and take up collar making!

Simple adorable cotton collar by ulala

 Katie over at Sew Lovely Embroidery was inspired by the sharp miu miu collars which caught on like wildfire when the young fashionista than you think!

Louise over at Super Duper has also caught on to the craze and I love her upcycled interpretation of the collar!!

My favorite collar I discovered over a year ago at a little (work)shop run by M.O.M.
Love the ruffles and giant ribbon!

Musik

Just got home from the Treasure Island Music Festival. It was my very first outdoor festival and despite the fact that the weather was icky and very cold, I had a pretty good time.

I actually didn't care too much about the bands that were playing today but it did remind me of who I would be seeing very soon . . . . Grinderman! aka Nick Cave's new band.

I saw Nick Cave about a year ago and it was AMAZING! I will never forget that show. So I am absolutely thrilled to be seeing him again. His music really wretches at my heart, makes me shake my head in a frenzy, and move my feet in a way that feels good. I guess you can say I almost feel possessed, or a sense of immense passion. If you have a second, listen to the song below. It's beautiful and it might even make you cry.  Someone on youtube commented how this song gently kills you.

To blog or not to blog?

For the past couple weeks I have been questioning the relevance/purpose of my blog. I have found that once you have a good following, you just want more followers and more comments! Which in turn produces what my friend Polly calls Blog Envy. Yes, blog envy. As in when you are looking at all of the other blogs you are following and you start to despise them. You know, it's that feeling of envy you might get when looking at someone's latest post and you are thinking to yourself, "Why don't I have time to do that? Why can't I be that clever?"

Does this all sound childish? Of course it does! But I think it's true and for the past month I have been thinking a lot about what my blog is about and what sort of purpose it actually serves in my (creative) life? Do I do it for fun? For myself? Do I blog for business? Are my typed words some way of socializing with people online? I think the answer is yes to all of these, but I still feel like my blog is just not good enough! For the most part I think these feelings are generated from this sort of unspoken mold or format that exists in the blogging universe that we may feel we need to abide by. There are no specific rules on how to create a successful blog, but I tend to notice a pretty standardized format out there in the blog universe and in my head, I'm thinking, "That's what I should be doing! My blog needs to look like that!" But is this right? Doesn't this envy, this desire to have a weekly blogging format destroy the concept of originality and maybe even the very idea of blogging itself (i.e. Is this blog for me or for you?)

I don't really know the answers to some of these questions I'm having but I do know that I feel a strong urge to suddenly share these thoughts publicly. Which in turn makes me think maybe it's time that I get a little more personal on this blog. Maybe, I shouldn't worry so much about creating a flattering blog or a post that will draw millions of readers to my site. Maybe it's time to break the mold and just hope for the best with this blog.

So yeah, there you go. There's my rant for the week. Whew.

How about you guys? How do you feel about your blog? Are you insecure about it at all or do you just say, "Whatevs! This is just for fun!" I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts and feelings about blogging as well as why they think they actually blog. Hope some of you will share.

Creepy Crawlies

One of my favorite things about September and October is the spiders and the webs which seem to "bloom" among the trees and bushes. I love walking to work and seeing webs glistening with morning dew. I do not love walking my dog and realizing I just walked into a big invisible web. That still freaks me out.

So I can't imagine running into this newly discovered 85 ft long web created by the Darwin bark spider in Madagascar. It's something straight out of that funny yet super creepy movie, Arachnophobia.

But I do love this Cure music video and all it's spidery phantasm.

'Staches & Stuff

 I had the pleasure of spending this Saturday in a small town called Petaluma. The weather turned out to be perfect for an outdoor craft fair in the city's little park. The Crafterino was organized by the Petaluma Downtown Craft Mart and coincided with the Whiskerino festival that happened that same day. So to say the least there was lots of mustache themed items, and facial hair. Here are a few photos of the day for you to peruse.

First the Crafterino

 I made some new appliqued mustache tote bags. Can't wait to stock them in the store!

 

Now for the facial hair!

This guy has won for the past two years and rightfully so!

Activities!

So many wonderful things have been happening lately!

On Tuesday, my shop was featured in Etsy Finds. My new Halloween paper lanterns were included in the Fall Decor theme. Very exciting and a great boost in sales! A lady all the way from Ireland ordered a lantern from me!

Tomorrow is the Petaluma Whiskerino Crafterino Festival. I am so excited to be doing this little craft fair. I have a feeling it is going to be pretty laid back and lots of fun. Plus, I can't wait to see all the amazing facial hair! If you are in the 'hood, you should take a drive to this pretty town and check it out. The craft fair is from 11am-5pm. The whiskerino competition starts around 3pm.

A couple of days ago, plans to have me teach a DIY activity at the Treasure Island Music Festival got finalized. I will be showing people how to embroider pirate themed designs onto cards next Sunday while She & Him play happy tunes in the background. I'll admit I'm not too interested in the bands that are playing the day that I will be going, but I'm always down for teaching people how to embroider, even if they may be a little tipsy.

So yeah, October sort of turned into a busy month. Hopefully next week I will have some time to start on my costume and better yet, share some wonderful DIY Halloween activities with you all.
Happy Weekend everyone!

Baba Yaga - The creepiest witch of them all!

Baba Yaga, a witch from Slavic/ Russian folklore, has to be the witchiest witch of them all! What sets her apart from the typical witch is her mode of transportation. Instead of hopping onto a broom with her black cat in tow, Baba uses a giant mortar to fly around. Oh, and her house evades witch hunters by escaping through the woods on its giant chicken feet.

I didn't think it was possible but I actually found BabaYaga and her spooky house on Etsy!
This witch evokes such great imagery!

How amazing is this Baba Yaga shadow puppet from Isabellas Art?

I know it might be a little odd, but I would love to have one of these little felt houses on a shelf in my house! Brought to life Melissa Sue.

Here is another great illustration of Baba's disturbing house. Created by Babayagada.

And finally, a bizarre clip of Baba Yaga (played by a man?) flying on her mortar in this old Russian film.

ATTACK OF THE KILLER CUPCAKES!

The key to a great Halloween cupcake is accessories. Whether it be candy or icing, you can take your cupcakes to the next level with a bag of licorice, or black frosting.

Here are a few of my favorite cupcake designs, which you may even want to give a try.

The perfect treat for that Night of the Living Dead party you have been planning for the past couple months. These brain cupcakes are clever and creepy! You can take it to the next ghoulish level by adding a little strawberry jam to the inside.

If I were making these, I would turn them into rotten brains by making the frosting green and dying the white cake mix grey, and adding blackberry jam instead of strawberry.
Recipes for these gruesome cupcakes can be found HERE and  HERE.

I told you candy was the key to decorating! If you are having a Halloween get together for the kids in your 'hood, make a cupcake station and have the kids gather around and bring their nightmares to life. Be sure stock up on marshmallows, licorice, and other assorted candy that you can manipulate. Keep a couple of bags of icing on the side and use them to help the kids accessorize their scary cakes further. Then have a contest for best scary cupcake!

Recipe tips can be found HERE

Are throwing a Twilight party? Well, it wouldn't be complete without a plate of werewolf and vampire cupcakes. I recommend keeping them on separate platters though since these supernatural beings don't take too kindly to each other.  No special recipes needed here. Just pick a few special icing tips, food dye, and have at it!