Petula was a woeful girl, listlessly wandering in her bleak garret, pondering over her many musty volumes of poetry, scribbling out sad rhymes of her own at her cluttered dusty desk. She dreamed of grey days and black Ravens, her imagination full of terrible sad tales and broken , lonely hearts.

She’d sit in her window, sighing and gazing mournfully out over the town, never bold enough to venture out into the sunlight…Petula would only dare leave her tiny bleak apartments on the cold and wet days to try to sell her poems to the nearby publishing house (who more often than not would scoff at her works and send her away in tears), buy a meager basket of wine and bread, and whatever new books by her favorite poets she could scavenge from the corner bookseller.

Petula’s parents did not understand, nor did they approve of her writing or her dreams of becoming a published poet, and finally they sent her a rather scathing letter informing her that this life was NO life for a well-bred young lady…That unless she returned home to settle down, find a proper husband and take her proper place in polite society, her monthly allowance would immediately be cut off.

Petula could not imagine such a life for herself, and stubbornly refused, ignoring her parents threats and carrying sadly on as always. As always, forever writing poem after poem, all of which were rejected, leaving her penniless. And winter came….the few sticks she would burn for warmth, and the few crumbs she could find to eat could not sustain her. Sitting at her window, Petula sighed her final sigh and met her end at last, unpublished, but steadfast in her choice to write, no matter the cost, be it death itself.

Little Electra Marie loved her daddy ever so much..she wanted to be just like him when she grew up, and was so delighted when he gifted her with “Junior Mad Scientist Kit”…..just like Papa’s work, only smaller for a small inquisitive girl.

The only problem was that her kit could never seem to generate enough electrical current to make her experiments come to life. One day, she crept into her papa’s lab to use his tools…

…..ZAP!!!!!!!!!! Too much electricity flowing into her small experiment was just too much was her undoing…..perhaps her Papa can use the correct voltage to bring her back one day…..

This morning, i saw a flash of wings….

She turned to look back at me, smiling so sweetly….

She sat down to rest for a moment…

She seemed so content in the morning sun, and i could not help but admire her loveliness…

But she soon explained that she must return to her work, gathering sprigs of rosemary, for remembrance, and disappeared with a rustle of wings among the branches.

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She sat down to rest for a moment…

Bella was found on the doorstep of an orphanage in a tiny coffin shrouded with black lace….what a surprise for the nuns when they found the strange baby inside! The handwritten parchment note said simply “Bella Bara” in blood red ink.

Bella grew to be a odd girl, flapping around like a bat, avoiding the sun at all cost and insisting on watching Dracula at the cinema over and over, staring at the other children in a an oddly menacing Bela Lugosi-ish way that frightened them nearly to death. Bella was over the moon with joy when they showed old silent films of Theda Bara. She told all of her little friends she was a “Vamp”….they all just shook their heads and avoided poor Bella.

But somehow, Bella just knew she was the daughter of Bela Lugosi and Theda Bara…surely it must be true! Again, other orphans laughed and the nuns scolded Bella for such sinful imaginings.

Finally Bella could bear it no longer….she put on her nicest black velvet frock and climbed out of the window and down the old rose bush, and ran off into the night to find her real parents. She walked in the lovely cool moonlight, so excited to find her fortune at last….but soon, the moon dropped low in the sky and the sun began to rise. There was nowhere for Bella to hide.  Her mystery may never be solved, and the nuns have forbidden the other children to speak of Bella ever again….but the all know the truth of the tale, the poor orphaned half-vampire girl knew just who her parents were after all.

It’s been a mad week….friday night i have an Alternacirque performance and we’ve been rehearsing our bums off….i am totally feeling the Cirque spirit! I’ve been sewing and creating and workinglike a happy bee in preparation to set up my vending table at a wonderful Bellydance/Sideshow arts workshop on saturday to boot! The days are flying by, but i had to stop for a moment to say hello and let you know what i’ve been up to!

I made this fun scrap fabric cuff , “The Ringmistress”…..

i love the vintage buttons so much!

Also, my immersion in cirque has inspired the creation of a new dollie…..

Meet Elle and Nannette, Belles of the Side Show!

Their parents were ever so protective of their special girls,  never wanting them to be seen in public, and kept them safely locked up away from prying eyes. But Elle and Nannette knew they were special in a way that they wanted to share with everyone, and longed to travel the world and live a life of wonderment. Putting their heads together, they devised a plan..to run away and join the Circus!

The girls had a marvelous time,  meeting all kinds of people and seeing the world. They were such sweethearts, everyone loved them and they enjoyed themselves immensely, never taking a single magical moment for granted. Unfortunately, while making it’s way across the the French countryside, the Circus train derailed and all were lost in the terrible crash, but rumor has it that the young ladies were joyful drinking champagne and laughing with the clowns and fire eaters right up to the very end.

Hoping you are all having a marvelous day!

xoxox

Cynthia was so excited when she found out she’d be getting her photo made! She tended to be a vain girl, always flirting with other girl’s beaux and flaunting her pretty lace dresses. A photograph would forever capture her beauty and charm, and the photographer was such a handsome man even if he WAS married and ever so much older than she…she made up her mind to steal him from his odd frumpy wife.

Of course her wily ways worked like a  charm, and the photographer fell head over heels for the beautiful frisky young “lady”…. forgetting all his vows and promises to his poor little wife. Off they ran, to Paris, leaving wife, photography shop and old life behind….

What they did not know was that the photographer’s wife was a witch, and hell hath no fury like a scorned witch! She gathered all the photos of Cynthia and chanted a dreadful curse over them, that Cynthia’s soul would slowly be drawn into the sepia likenesses, that she would fade and age just as the photos did. The witch-wife left the box of photos in the darkest, dampest part corner of the abandoned shop and very soon, the rain and the rats and the dark beasties that live in shadowy corners of places abandoned by love took their toll on both the photos and poor little Cynthia. Her skin took on a faded tone, her gowns all became brownish and musty, and before long,  the photographer felt no passion for this pale listless creature. Very soon, she wasted away entirely. Before the very end, she felt very very sorry for her bad behavior, alas, it was too late.

Always remember to be good, little girls!

xoxoxo

They say you never forget how to ride a bike once you learn…maybe that is true. The same CANNOT be said of blogging, however! I was reading back over past post and marveling at how once upon a time i had so much to write about each and every day!  After my blog-break, i just never could get back into the swing of it…and that makes me sad! I know i always say i will do better this time, but THIS time, i really mean it!

It’s not as tho’ i don’t have plenty of things going on…i am still making stuff and having a fantastic time working with the Columbia Alternacirque…still bellydancing and  having wonderful little adventures like attending TribalCon and taking a fabulous workshop with Zoe Jakes, still having the occasional catastrophe (Buying our house! Termites! Shingles! Life-Changes Galore! Wheeee!) I guess i just closed myself up in my little bubble and stopped communicating. Will try harder.  I swear! So here we go…today is the first post of the rest of my life. Har.

First of all, the Alternacirque opening performance was awesome and we persevered in spite of bad weather, a nasty case of Shingles and Scarlet Fever. I so wish i had photos to share, but i went alone,  so i did not have anyone to be my photography bitch for the evening. Next show i promise to have photos, because the costumes are amazing and it’s SUCH a cool act. We went with a steampunk theme, very creepy and amazing. I play a dollmaker that teams up with a mad scientist to create life-sized living, dancing dolls. So fun! My character has to carry around a basket of dollies that i am trying, constantly and with NO success, to sell to my castmates. So, i had to make some little dead girls for the show, of course!

This is Miss Scarlette Fever….so named when we discovered that our director did indeed have a case of scarlet fever, and i just had to do it.  My sick sense of humor remains intact. Everyone keeps asking me if i’ll make one to commemorate my super-awesome bout with shingles, but frankly i’d like to forget all about that unpleasant experience, thankyouverymuch!

And here is little Molly Malaria…so many mosquitoes  tend to bite a girl when one hangs around in the swamp too long, and you certainly can be sucked nearly completely dry……  and eventually Molly succumbed to the terrible fever and massive bloodloss. RIP, Molly!

There are a few others, but i am saving them another post

I am also still in love with slips….

Fun with freezer paper stencils again, using that wonderful bird woman image! It is killing me that i am not sure who the original artist of the papercut is…i thought it came from Ulla, but it turns out that it’s not…. I want to credit the proper person but my attempts to find out who it is have been unsuccessful. I do so love it, tho’!

I sewed on tons of extra lace trims and embellished it with an antique skeleton key and a  faux pearl from a vintage necklace…fancy!

Of course, i am still crankin’ out the old standards, too….soaps and candles make me happy!

So there you have it…..my first wobbling attempt to get back on the old bike, ummm, i mean BLOG.  I did miss it, and i hope everyone in blog-land is well and wonderful, as always!

xoxoxo

I’m packing up for a marvelous adventure,

A place full of beautiful exotic creatures,

They will be dressed in all sorts of lovely costumes, adorned with sparking, jingling gems and baubles, with flowers in their hair…

I will shimmy and undulate with them, laugh with them, spin and learn and play…

I am leaving for TribalCon today! Hooray!

(The “Little Dead Bellydancer” graciously posing for this post is  a portrait dolly that my wonderful instructor Natalie Brown commissioned. More on HER adventures later….for now, i must finish packing up my goodies and get to Atlanta! Wheeeeee!)

xoxoxo

Oooh, my! It’s true! I am rattling my undead bones here on the keyboards after a long dark nasty time on my couch. Stricken down by a hideous virulent flu-ishness, i’d been wondering if i was ever going to feel well again. Missing out on all the fun of the Fanciful Twist Halloween Party and feeling mighty bitter about it. But, i am feeling much better now…i promise not to share any nasty zombie-flu cooties. I *will* share my cookies, tho’…..

Yummy. Watch out for the small bones tho’, they do tend to get stuck in your throat. Wash them down with some spider cider?

Speaking of spiders….the only positive thing about being a couch-lump is that one does not have the energy to do much of anything beyond watch wonderful old movies, and do lots and lots of stitching. Thus, a new little dead dollie is born…

Meet Miss Sabrina Spiderbite. This little girl was never a cowardly little shrieker like Little Miss Muffet….in fact, she adored spiders so much that she embarked upon a lifelong (however short) of the study of arachnids…

She kept jars and jars of ever kind of weaver she could catch, she spied on them with her magnifying glass in hopes they might teach her to knit and spin. She even carried some in her pockets and let them crawl over her skirts.

One day she discovered a lovely eight legged lady that she had never seen before….all glossy and black with the most beautiful red hourglass marking on her tummy. Sabrina was enchanted and went to gently catch her her up in her hands….OUCH! Sabrina, alas, did not know that one should never ever touch a black widow spider. By the time she’d learned her lesson, it was too late.

Apparently being ill doens nothing to quell my morbid muse!

I also finished up a new vintage slip project…..handstitching lace and feeling the Tim Burton spirit.

Black and white dead all over…..

Halloween is creeping closer and i am as busy as a bee trying to makes the best out of what’s left of this October. there are tons of great old horror movies on the TIVO to be watched (Oh my gosh, has anyone else noticed how much awesomeness they’ve had going on over on Turner Classic Movies???Wowza!), gross and ghoulie treats to create. I hope everyone is having a great spooky time too! What’s new??

LOVELOVELOVE!

xoxox

Penny was the naughtiest little girl you ever saw. She tied her sister’s hair in knots and put dirt in the sugar bowl at tea time. She told lies and cheated at hopscotch. She cut holes in her mother’s prettiest gowns and put spiders in her father’s shoes.

She drew mustaches on the old family portraits. She tracked mud onto the Oriental rugs.

She even tied old tin cans to the poor dogs tail!

She never ever listened to the rules and warnings that he grown-ups told her for her own good.

Like, “Penny don’t take sweets from strangers”

or:

“Penny, don’t play near the old well”

SO it’s no surprise at all that one day, Penny simply vanished. Her sisters say they have no idea what happened when she wandered of in search of some mischief that day….

But the Governess swears she heard a faint splashing sound coming from the side of the house where the old well is now all covered over with boards. So that he children won’t fall in, you see.