i had a wonderful day out yesterday, spent with friends i rarely get to hang out with. After a delicious mimosa (which i could enjoy GUILT FREE because lovely Kelly did all the driving so i would not be freaked out about having to navigate around the city) , we dropped off our art for the AIDS foundation auction, had the most hideous Mexican food EVER for lunch, and did a bit of shopping at Belladonna’s and some local thrift/junk stores. I found some great books, and other odds and ends…but the most exciting discovery of the day was this beautiful tattered doll.

In the very back of the odd little shop called “Let’s Just Plunder”, in the farthermost corner, i spied a glimmer of something….a shimmery pile of fabric that i HAD to investigate. I picked it up, and found this lovely puppet huddled there, with most of her strings cut, and a bit tattered, but still so beautful. A true treasure hidden away in that lonely corner. Was she waiting for me?

I wonder how she came to find herself there, and where she has been before. Did she cut herself loose from her puppet strings and run away from her previous home? Did she have wild gypsy adventures that caused her to become just a little tired and tattered, lost in the back corner of cluttered junk shop? Maybe one day she will tell me her tales….until then i will wait patiently and give her a place of honor in my home, because she is beautiful. And i can’t help but feel somehow connected to her with her cut puppet-strings….a kind of symbol of freedom, and finding independence, even in small things like days out with friends.

So it looks like i am am really going to make the deadline! Big Valentina is almost all done (she just needs her knickers!

I am THRILLED with her. I so hope that someone loves her enough to bid on her….i am happy to be contributing to her to such a great cause, and would love it if she made some money for them!

I think i WILL enter her in the softies competition as well, if i can get a better photo of her standing. I think the up-close shot is fine, but not so thrilled with the other. I don’t know if she has a chance in hell, and i can’t figure out what category best suits her,but what the hell…it’s can’t hurt to give it a go, right?

And while i am all blissed out on embroidery, i must show off my wonderful new little Chinese maryjanes!

I wish i could embroider that beautifully! I don’t know which i love more, the phoenix or the flowers! But one thing is certain, my feet are very very pleased to be so gorgeously adorned, especially after the dreaded toe incident! Hahahahaha!

i still have so much to do today…soaps to wrap and tag, a few tarot bags and faerie chimes to take to Belladonna’s…..i don’t know if i will get it all done in time! BUt, i had to stop and take a minute to blog about my JOY at Valentina’s progress. i owe about a million emails, and i promise to catch up as soon as i get more work done! I hope everyone is having a lovely lovely friday…now if OFF the computer with me and back to the grind…got knickers to sew, after all…Valentina is getting a very healthy breeze! teehee!

Working away….miles and miles of thread passing through my hands…yet so little actual PROGRESS! Still, i am very much enjoying the process.

Because one HUGE embroidery project is just not enough! I had to go ahead and have a little something pink on the side! Loco!

And here is my pile! I have very nearly completed the dress for BIG Valentina, she needs shoes and bloomers and hair. I am turning her in this Saturday for the local AIDS auction, so i gotta get busy and get her done! I think i might enter her in the big softies competition going on all over blog-land, too. I am feeling brave, and i am quite proud of how well she is turning out so far. I am sure i will chicken out at the last minute tho’…i have never entered anything, ever. It’s kinda scary.
So it’s back to being as busy as i can! Soaps to wrap, trees to stitch, dolls to dress…….so much work, and it feels wonderful.

Then look no further!

This is going to be the biggest embroidery piece i have ever attempted. I must be mad to even consider doing such a large design…..i know it will take more hours to finish it, and i may be a gibbering madwoman by that time I drew it onto a plain black skirt that i already had on hand, and now i am pondering what color of embroidery floss i should use. It better be a color i like, as i imagine i will be using no fewer than a hundred miles of the stuff to complete this. Yet somehow i find myself really looking forward to all that stitching…. simple embroidery is always very soothing to me, so i truly hope this will be my tree of great peace……

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day….i won’t go into it about mine…i have whined FAR too much these days, and from now on, is it nothing but happiness and cute puppies with rainbows shooting from their bums! But i did get some sweet loveliness…

Roses from Big Daddy….

The BEST spooky valentine card from NessieNoodle!!! I absolutely adore it and it is so perfect for me!

The flower faerie book was my present to myself…..it was so pretty, i just couldn’t resist. Naughty to give your own self a valentine, but i felt i deserved it, dammit!

Today i have been trying to keep busy…i made a new mix cd, and worked on a new dolly…

Began my journey into perfume making….

And made some new soap….

(yes, this is a shamefully bad photo….i think i hate my new camera. Anyway!)

It’s honeysuckle, heliotrope and violet with olive oil and orangeblossom honey…. very very sweetscented. I like it alot….others may not, for it is surely a scent for floral-lovers only!

So another day fades to twilight and i am going to be naughty again and have a glass of contraband vino and watch Ugly Betty. Then i am going to snuggle in bed early to begin re-reading “Little Big” ….i think it will be good for my soul! Love you you all for being so sweet, and blessings on your dreams…may they be sweet and filled with faeries.

xoxoxo

Doesn’t it seem like every other day or so that i am on here writing about some new huge drama in my life? It must be so tiresome for you all!!! But, I swear i am not a tragic person….mostly i am pretty happy go lucky. But the universe is choosing to slam me with weird illnesses and big life changes (and a very sad pet loss thrown in for good measure) so often these days that i don’t even know which end is up anymore! I know there must be some reason for it all that i cannot discern at this time, but i am getting a wee bit exhausted, truth be told. I have developed that crazed hysterical giggling-thing that tells me i am in for a big bout of crying soon. And that is ok. I am storing up pain and sadness like a camel storing water, waiting to deal with it at a more opportune time.

What is amazing to me is that when i am at my lowest, i will get a beautiful email or comment, or the postman will arrive with a package….a box full of wonder and kindness from some incredible person who i have never even met in real life, yet i can still count as a dear friend. This is what blogging has given me….support and love and friendship with some of the most talented people on earth! And i am so thankful for that gift that typing out these words seems so paltry a way to express my feelings. Yesterday was one of those days…..as i am reeling from the loss of my beloved cat, and adjusting to my Father-in-law’s move into our upstairs space and all the drama revolving around my life right now….i hear that loud BANG that tells me that my lovely postman has hurled something onto my porch. (And i wince…one day something will be broken, and then i shall have no choice but to deliver a good old fashioned “Southern Cracker cussin’ out” to that guy) Thankfully, i found nothing broken as i opened the parcel from Bitter Betty

And i then proceeded to succumb to the vapors as i pulled out the contents…

This collaged wooden box is so lovely and the quote is wonderful…..but it did not stop there….

lovely little lavender sachet made from the GREATEST fabric and a sweet soap shaped like a dressform…genius!!!!

New music!!! Hurrah!

I did not think i could be more blown away…but…..

Bethany’s Joan of Arc art is what caught my attention when i first stumbled across her blog. Saint Joan has long been one of heroines. I thought the Joan pieces she was making were incredible…and now i have one of my own. I can’t believe it….i don’t even feel worthy in any way shape or form. It’s so beautiful, and it arrived at the perfect moment. I keep repeating to myself….”i am not afraid….i am not afraid….” and knowing in my heart that all these things too shall pass…i have so much love and support to hold my hand when it gets dark…..

The Valentine edition of my Little Dead Ragdoll family…..

“give us a kiss for Undying love,” says Lola L’Amour, “And i shall Love you forevermore….”

Lovely Lola in her Queen of Hearts gown, trimmed with rick rack and lace ruffles….ever in search of her true love, even from beyond the grave………

Lola has been what’s keeping me busy while i undergo on of the most bizarre illness i have ever had smite me down. The only advice i can give you all is to drink lots of water….lots and lots. And ease off the vino. and pay attention to what you eat. OR else odd, antiquated maladies can strike when you least expect it. Believe me…i have now officially learned this the hard way. Now, that is all i have to say about THAT! This post is *supposed* to be about the valentine spirit that has obviously manifested within me this year. It
started with the love charms soaps i posted about earlier, the apron for the incomparable Calamity Kim, and then it evolved into a Love Charm valentine brooch……

A fat felt heart, buttons, lace, velvet and satin ribbons, glass pearls, beads and crystals, and a pinback sewn on…wear your heart on your blouse for all the world to see!

I must say…for a avowed hater of this holiday, i have certainly been inspired by it for the first time ever! I guess i just want to put more LOVE out into the world, maybe. I will be hopefully spreading the love out into the wide world by adding this stuff to my Etsy shop here in a few minutes, along with a faerie chime. Please feel free to go browse should you feel compelled by the spirit of Valentines!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!!!!

xoxoxo

Someone who i love dearly love has a birthday ONE DAY before Valentine’s day…i wanted to make something silly and heart-covered for her….and decided on a frilly frou-frou completely over the top reversible apron.

(apologies for the dreary photos…it’s gray and miserably lit here today!)

As you have no doubt come to expect from Amanda-style sewing, there was no pattern involved in this process…just me and my epic battle with trying to make something pretty without slipping too far into the wonky-zone. (And yes, i did enter the wonky zone.) But, i still have that ever-so pleased with myself feeling for COMPLETING a project! I have been having a problem with that these days….finishing what i start. I hope this trend continues! And i hope my funny Valentine likes her wonky apron, stitched with love!

Just discovered this amazing song and video by Halou….i swear, it look just like the interior of my brain…even the lyrics sound like the inner dialogs i have with myself constantly! It’s wonderful….check it out!

Everything is OK 

Everything Is OK

Break it all down into simplest terms.
There, was that so bad?
Now, is that so bad?
You doubt yourself so much you don’t even
Know what you really want, or how you really feel.

And I’m so tired
Of you constantly over-thinking.
I know why, because everything’s going OK.
Just your style, to break it all into pieces,
I know why, because everything’s going OK.

Disregard your inner monologue
Don’t try to drown it out, ’cause it’ll only wear you out.
Sometimes things are just beyond control
That has to be OK, you don’t have a choice

And I’m so tired
Of you constantly over-thinking.
I know why, because everything’s going OK.
Just your style, to break it all into pieces,
Just one time, I’ve had just about all I can take

Everything is unacceptable
If you overanalyze,
And that is just your style.

It only lasted a little while, and it melted away so quickly…but for a few moments, we had a snow day at the buttonbox!