What a wild month October has been. There has been heartbreak and drama and big life-changing stuff, liberally mixed in with joy, success, and even some good quality frolicking. I can honestly say that this has been one of the most difficult, yet most AMAZING times of my entire life.

I never dreamed in a million years that this blog would cause so many wonderful things to manifest in my life….i have met some truly phenomenal people, for which i am so grateful…all the kind words of encouragement and support mean more to me than i even know how to express. The inspiration that i get every day is so amazing, i NEVER take it for granted, not even for a moment!

And my head is still spinning at how sucessful i have been with my art/craft this month….making things was never realy anything i expected to manifest prosperity in my life. But, it’s happening. Mutation was grand sucess, and since then, my work is *still* finding homes. I can’t believe the orginal nine ragdolls are gone. It’s amazing that folks are connecting with my work, and loving it enough to make it their own! It boggles my mind…the scared little woman who doesn’t beleive she’ll EVER be good enough in me is slowly be relpaced with a new creature…more confident in her own ability, able to leap family dramas with a single bound and always always always involved with MAKING. That is my source of “power”…the thing that keeps me sane and happy. My purpose.

I am so filled with gratitude that my heart is bursting. I just don’t have the words to thank everyone who has offered me support and love, everyone who has purchased my work, everyone who has helped me while i stumbled over the rough spots along the path…but THANK YOU is all i feel i can say, because you have all been a huge blessing to me.

I am sad that October is drawing to a close, i will miss this most wonderful month. I have much frolicking with my little one and my nieces planned for today…i know it will be grand. I hope you all have an AWESOME Halloween too….and i can’t wait to see what the new month has in store for us all!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If i could, i’d have you ALL over for my infamous tea and cookies….
xoxoxo

A marvelous day spent at the most magical shoppe in town! More photos of this wonderful whimsical place here.

Today, i am going to be getting dressed in my finery (yes, i am being brave and wearing THE OUTFIT…take *THAT*, all who think i look old and fat!!!)) and will be hanging out and diplaying some work at the wonderful new store “Belladonna’s” Halloween Gala. My friend Jen, has dreamed of having her own shop for as long as i have known her (and for a long time before that, too!) It’s such an incredible thing, to see her dreams come alive and blossom, and i am excited to be invited to be a part of it today! Any Columbia-area readers, please do drop by and say hello! The shop is on the ground floor of the Cornell Arms building, at 1230 Pendleton Street. Meet Absinthia and Mourldering Mildred in person, and the two latest additions to my dead dolly family, Isabella and Postmortem Posie!

Isabella is another shameless girl, wearing only her violet lace see-thru slip and bloomers! She likes to be comfortable when she’s out dancing with elves. Postmortem Posie is much more ladylike….until she’s dusting your sugar cookies with arsenic, that is. I hope someone adopts her quickly, because i don’t much care for the way she looks at me….NO, Miss Posie, i DO NOT want a cookie, thank you VERY much.
So i suppose i ought to go have a hearty breakfast (a’la Scarlet O’Hara prepping for the BBQ at Twelve Oaks) since i shall be lacing into my corset later and there will be NO room for food once i have squshed my plump pudding of a body into it’s hourgalss grip of slow, breathless death. Happy Saturday to all !!!! xoxoxo

I used to have a very funky sense of style (back when i was all young and thin and
spooky….ahhhhhhh…..the bad old days!) i LOVED to dress up as outlandishly as i could manage on my thriftstore budget. I wore HUGE platform shoes, or stompy boots with wacky tights just as “daily” ware! I was utterly shameless and cared not one whit if anyone stared or snickered at me.

Then i got pregnant with my second kid, quit smoking and prompty gained about 3 tons. I became a very frumpy stay-at-home mom….and i quickly realized that one cannot carry a baby safely while stomping around in Frankenhooker shoes, and with all the extra poundage (and let’s face it, the AGING) i lost all that confidence and hubris that one NEEDS to successfully pull off wacky fashion.

As halloween approaches, i find myself longing for that freedom to glam it up…to wear something wonderfully odd, like i used to. So i started playing dress up with Miss Scarlett, and have fallen in love with this awful and utterly inappropriate outfit!

A very frumpy blouse that i thrifted ages ago and have NEVER worn, with my corset and a thrifted black taffeta skirt….mesh tights and black patent 6-inch platform maryjanes… I just love it! But, i am not going anywhere this halloween season where i could wear this outfit, and i am thinking it most likely would not look so good on my round old bod anyway, so i will just have to let Miss Scarlett have all my fun. I’ll even let her wear my hoodoo hat….

Well, last night i spent my “me” time doing some Etsy listings of dollies and stuff (and the lace banner already sold so fast!!! i can’t believe it! Yay me!!!! That rosy glow you may be seeing on the horizon is probably me glowing Sewing limbs onto skelliedolls, and “reclaiming” my “Studio” space. A very good night indeed…just me in my room with Siouxsie and Banshees on the ipod, and a couple glasses of vino…ahhhhhhhh, relaxation at last!
The spare bedroom is finally cleared out so my sister can fully move into it, so the craft room is mine all mine once again. It’s still a big cluttered mess, but i can work up there again and it makes me immensely happy. And spending some time in there after being away from it made me look at my lovely collection of art and odds and ends with al new eyes and renewed apreciation of all the beautiful handmade wonderfulness that surrounds me.

So, since i don’t have new craftiness to share, i will give ya’ll a snapshot of of what my upstairs workspace is like (avoiding the very very messy areas where i actually WORK!)…..

In this photo is the very first artdoll i made for a round robin. Snapdragon is her name, and she has a lovely diary full of wonderful collages and drawings and tales that chronicle her adventures as she travelled all over America to spend time with several other artists. I think she is lovely and she’s very sentimental to me, since she was my first piece that i “shared” with the world…and i gained two of my FAVORITE artlady pals, Bambi and Cheryl because of that round robin! Magic!

This crazy lady in a handmade coffin is Mad Mama Manda, the first Voodoo dolly i ever made…she is alittle messy….but so is the REAL mad mama manda! LOL!

The upstairs bathroom houses artdolls created by my mom and other bits and bobs that make me happy. The room reminds me of being under the sea…i love that shade of deep blue so much!

Another amazing doll made by one of my best gays….Charlie! She even has a bow and arrows slung over her shoulder and is DEFINITELY my faerie protectress!

Shadowbox full of tiny treasures…alot of things i’ve had since i was a wee girlie, as well as other sentimental goodies and ookie  stuff liek asnake rattle and a beautiful praying mantis. On either side of it are a.) a knitted piece i made from torn strips of silk sari and b.) a fabulous collage piece that my eldest son made in third grade.

More magical odds and ends, and an early version of the sugar skull ragdoll.

So there you have it…a few peeks into the “real” world of the buttonbox! Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Things are definitely feeling Halloween-y ’round the buttonbox! MY eldest is home for the weekend and we have had a grand time taking in some halloween approriate movies. Watched “Lost Skeleton of Cadavra” for the 1000000th time…it’s a classic family favorite that we never ever tire of! Also watched a VERY corny kid movie for the sake of the the toddler… “Caspers’ Scare School” It was pretty cheese-tastic but it had these super cute little sugar skull girlies that i, of course, adored. To round out the too-much-tv watching weekend, the hub and i FINALLY got to see “FEAST”. It was totally gross and funny (if you have a sick and twisted sense of humor, that is) Loads of over-the-top gore and ickiness, YAY!

I was also productive in the crafty department…i made alot of progress on THREE new dolls, and i finished up a Muertos Banner that i’d been working on.

I picked up a couple yards of cream-colored lace a few weeks ago to use for doll dresses, and some the shapes in the patern of the lace had a definite ’skulliness” about them, and i wanted to try to make a banner from it. So i embroidered a skeleton on it. (Nothing is safe from my embroidery needle and unstoppable urge to stitch skellies) I embellished it with buttons for eyes and various ribbons, and added a twig for hanging. I like it, but i will NEVER embroider over lace like EVER again. It was a nightmare dealing with all those irregular little holes in the fabric.

I will be listing this piece on Etsy this evening after we take Raven back to Charlotte, along with the Mouldering Mildred and Shy Little Violet dolls, should anyone feel the urge to shop!

Well, i am off to hang out with the elder child and do some more Halloween decorating while we still have alittle time. I hate having to return him after we have happy weekends. I miss him already…..

........I just have to know

how to be in

the process

of creating things in a better way

And it hurts but it's a lie

that I can't handle it

I still have a world of me-ness to fulfill

I still have a life, and it's a rich one

even with mourning

Even with grief and sadness

I still care about

this planet, I am still connected to nature

and to my dreams for myself

I have my friends

My family

I have myself

I still have me

I have my friends

My family

I have myself

I still have me.........

~cocteau twins

Mouldering Mildred is all dolled up for her photoshoot. She’s working for Victoria’s Sepluchre, modeling the newest styles of fancy pearl embellished bloomers for fashionable undead ladies….

Mildred was a doll i had started last month, as an entry for the Craftster October challenge. I began by tea-dying (with chai tea! Yum!) some white fabric to give her a kind of rotted colouring…then i splatter-painted the fabric with various shades of green paints for a moldy, decaying effect. Then the usual embroidered face, then sewn and stuffed.

Then……. my life BLEW UP! BANG! CHAOS! ARMAGEDDON!

And poor bald, naked Mildred sat, unfinished, for weeks. I missed the challenge deadline, alas. I’d look at her and make half-hearted efforts at coming up with an appropriate dress for her, but nothing was “speaking” to me. Until…the epiphany hit! Inspired by two of my favorite bloggers, Bittter Betty’s anatomy fueled MeatyMuse-ness and Right Sides Facing fantastically gory zombie walkin’ fun, it hit me like a ton of frozen cadavers! She doesn’t WANT to be dressed in a gown! She wants very frilly pearl-encrusted bloomers! And a very fancily done corset-esque autopsy incision stuffed with spanish moss for added ookiness! ( i let my CSI obessed sister cut the incision…and i am alittle afraid of how much she enjoyed it! LOL!) And little velvet lace-up slippers! And VIOLA! She’s ready for her close up, Mr. Demented! I am EXTREMELY pleased with how it all came out, and INCREDIBLY grateful for my wonderful blog-friends who inspire me and fuel my admittedly sometimes rather twisted creative urge. Kisses to Renata and Bethany!!!!! Poor Mouldering Mildred would probably never ever have found her true calling of lingerie modelling without ya’ll! xoxoxo

The buttonbox is getting spookier by the day as i slowly get the halloween decorations up…

The Baba Yaga doll is the centerpiece of the Samhain altar this year, and i have a fleet of Witches guarding my kitchen!

Aside from decking the halls for my most FAVORITE holiday, we have been very busy with living our crazy life around here…getting the house re-arranged to accomodate my sister and trying to conquer the clutter of useless crap that clogs every corner and closet….i just can’t seem to get the mess under ANY sort of control.

I still have not gotten over to Etsy to update the shop, and i have not had all the time i’d like to be creative, but i WAS able to complete one project this weekend….an altered compostion notebook for a swap over on the Anti-Bitch Odd Arts yahoo group….

I am not 100% happy with it, but it’s already overdue and i have to stop futzing about with it and just let it go! I hope my swap partner digs it. I really enjoyed making it…it was a little creative oasis that i could stop and visit in the midst of all the pressure and mess that comes with a big life-change. i still have a pile of projects just waiting to be attended to, and more decorations to put out…a busy week ahead. Still remembering to breathe……

Today i will begin the long and aggravating task of adding left over Mutation goodies to the Etsy store. I love Etsy, but i hate mucking about with all the uploading and all. Gah. So i am officially anouncing to my blog friends that, if there  have been any of my pieces that you liked and wanted for your very own, let me know and i will set them aside (one less etsy listing ! HUZZAH! LOL!)

I am organizing and trying to bring order back into my chaotic life. My sister is temporarily staying with me, and for the moment is having to live in my craft room, so i am trying to downsize and organize and fit all the pieces together somehow so that i can continue to work on my art stuff. I gotta get RID of the old inventory to make way for the new! I am trying very hard to stay potive and retain the wonderful momentum from Mutation. It ain’t easy. Just taking everything one breath at a time……