Just got done sewing on the last of the little skulls beads and pearls on this “bag of bones” while listening to episodes of “The Price Of Fear”, excellent creepy radio drama by the Master of Creeptacular-ness, Mr. Vincent Price! Click the link to hear some for yourself, you won’t be disappointed! It’s a great soundtrack to listen to while creating spooky crafts.

What will go into this trinket bag, i wonder….a tarot deck? lipstick, compact, keys and cash? Stray bones?

Anyway, the week thus far has been pretty good. Things are looking brighter. I have two new skirts cut out and ready to be sewn. Took a trip OUT OF THE HOUSE BY MYSELF WITH THE BEASTIE (Oh my god, can you believe i left my cave?) to the fabric store to get some more fabric and stuff to make even MORE skirts and goodies. More skulls and other fun fabrics that i can’t wait to work with And the best thing of all of all about this week so far…. i got some fantastic mail!

I was a lucky, lucky girl and won a copy of this really wonderful book from Rice Freeman-Zachery

Signed even! I can’t tell you how special i feel! IT brought a HUGE ray of light to my week. I have started reading the book, and it is so so so good. All creative folks need a copy. It is so inspirational, you won’t be disappointed! I can’t help but think that it was no accident that i won a copy of this…being so down and uninspired lately, this book was like a tonic for my muse, and a reminder that you never know when good things can happen even when everything seems awful. Silver linings and allathat, right?

As part of my self-help “spoilage’ program, i purchased this gruesomely awesome coloring book as a present to myself. It’s a HOOT…i don’t even know if it is possible for me to be more amused. You know how i love zombies and all things zombie-related. So of course i could not resist. (And oh yeah, i will SO be embroidering some of these gooey guys!) As if the coloring book itself was not cool enough, it also came with treats!!!

HORROR PUFFY STICKERS! (insert girlie squeals of joy here) They are just too cool for words. If you are into the creepy side of things and like your monsters with a freaky edge, waste no time in checking out Marc’s site and etsy shop for ghoulish goodies and poison eye candy! I am holding my breath in anticipation of getting a copy of his CTHULHU COLORING BOOK as soon as it become available again. Love me some Eldritch Elder Gods, you know!

“If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings… It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence…” (“The Call of Cthulhu”)

And on that ookie and icky note, i wish you all a wonderful evening and hope that the spooky spirit of the Halloween season is happily haunting you in best possible ways!

xoxoxo

I think my Muse is very confused about the seasons… here i am, making spring-y skirts just as Autumn starts making herself felt here the Buttonbox. Following where my creativity leads me, even if i am off by a few seasonal changes.

The truth is, i deliberately wanted to work with bright, sunny, happy fabrics and colors in an effort to “reset” my brain, to use eyecandy to soothe and cajole the “sad me” to come back into the light! It’s been working pretty well so far, i think, and i am really really pleased with the paperdoll skirt. i really love the sweet girliness of the print, it looks so vintage and has an “old time” feel to it, even tho’ it’s actually a newer fabric. The yellow gingham is cut from a soft vintage sheet…and the rickrack and eyelet just seemed like a natural addition. It just wants a pretty yellow cashmere twinset with a sparkly vintage brooch to finish the outfit off, don’t you think? i am still bemused by my recent love of yellow, but i am going with it! Whatever makes me feel “right” is the “right” way to go right now.

I did finally give up on getting my meds. All of the confusion and drama with the insurance company was causing me to become almost frantic and even MORE anxious and depressed than i already was, which just sent it all over the top. It got to a point where i just couldn’t do it anymore. i’ve just let it go, and stiffened my upper lip, determined to make it through this “dark patch” on my own. I know i can do it, i just have to work on it, really really hard. I have to force myself to do things even when i don’t feel like it, and do little things to take care of myself….more bubblebaths, more bright colors, a bit of wine and chocolate, skating with my oldest son, practicing my bellydancing in front of my cutting table as i work late at night, listening to all the beautiful “shoegaze” music i can stuff my ipod with. Lots of deep breath, letting go, opening up and closing my eyes for a moment til the scary bits pass by.

And it’s true, i am slowly starting to feel my creative urge clamoring for release again, which is more healing than anything. Getting things done, thinking up new projects and planning for Mutation and for Halloween. And not least of all, trying to work my way through the backlog of things that need doing!

Dear Isabel has waited so long for a “gypsy pockets” apron to call her own!

This time it is much harder than the first one i made…i want the wonderful person who commissioned it to love it as much as the first version, but i can’t make a carbon copy. It’s been a real challenge to come up with something “the same” but entirely different! Also, metallic embroidery floss is from the devil., but i do like how it turned out as an accent in the stitching.

I am allowing myself to get lost in the details, making the most of what i have to work with. Forgiving myself for my slowness.

Anyway.

I really want to thank everyone with putting up with my recent mopiness. The support and encouragement makes my heart feel strong….you are all wonderful. Here’s to hoping i will be building nests and chasing faeries again soon. Wishing you all a wonderful Friday!
xoxox

Pulling my head out of the oven long enough to finally do an Etsy Shop update today!

(just kidding about the head in the oven thing by the way… ours is electric, so i can’t go out in proper Plath style anyway! Ok, that’s not really funny, but i DO have a morbid sense of humor, you know. Laughing so i don’t cry as i continue to fight with the insurance company. I wonder if they make it this hard so you’ll eventually give up.)
Can you believe i am so lame that i NEVER played with flickr toys, and had no idea of how to make a mosaic until this morning?  Yay, the old dog can learn new tricks! I am so hopeless when it comes to this tech stuff and get excited whenever i figure out the simplest little dumb things.
Hope everyone is having a lovely day!

xooxoxo

Sally does so love her sweets, but too much of a good thing can be lethal.

When all you dine upon is candy and cake, it’s sure to disagree with you sooner or later!

I think it’s safe to say that my annual skull-ish obsession has set in. I’ve also made up another skirt with the “Astral Skull” fabric. I love it so much i am trying to find ways to use up every single scrap!

Still loving these simple, comfy, funky little skirts and i plan to make up a nice little rack of them to take to Mutation this November. I got my acceptance email and i am so excited to vend at this fantastic fun even again this fall! With that, of course, comes the traditional freaking out about making up enough stuff, but i am just going to do my best to go with the flow. Flowing does not come easily to me lately, however!
Which brings me to the non-crafty, often whiny emotional part of this post. I have been doing an awful lot of navelgazing and melting down lately. I never know how much of myself to “put out there” on this blog…i have HUGE admiration for bloggers like Angelina, bravely speaking her mind about any subject, even the uncomfortable ones like depression and mental health issues. The not-so-perfect stuff, you know. Blogs like this are my favorites, because when i read those truths, i don’t feel so alone in my own crazy head….i feel connected to the other mad housewives in the world, which is a marvelous thing. Then i saw This post over on Bitter Betty, and there seem to be so many of us who are not living a magical life of creativity and perfection, comparing ourselves to other’s and finding ourselves “less than”, which is bullshit! We SHOULD NEVER feel that way!!!!
The thing about blogging is that you can CONTROL what you put out there. You can leave out the messy parts of your life and your emotions. Everything looks merry and bright if you want it to. Which is wonderful! And yet, i do find myself compelled to talk about the yucky things sometimes, to vent, to scream or mope or pout or whatever, right along side the happy, silly stuff. It’s a part of my “real” life, and sometimes it feels really cathartic to talk about it. Like drawing out poison! I want my blog to be REAL, not some made-up version of a perfect life that i don’t really lead. But then there’s the worry of sounding like a drama queen, a big whiny complaining misery-monger! But why should we apologize for the content of our blogs? Who are we really writing for?

I am having the hardest time articulating my feelings about it all….all i know is that i have been deeply and profoundly unhappy for a while now. Not even sure why. It’s affected my entire life, not least of which my blog! I am not able to keep up with my email correspondences anymore the way i once did….my blog sits and sits while i try to think of SOMETHING positive to talk about….depression really really really sucks the life out of everything. It’s been sucking the life out of ME. I am not sure if this is just a delayed ass-kicking from my hysterectomy….i was feeling REALLY great for a while there, which made it twenty times suckier when i “crashed”. So i have finally gotten to a point where i am doing something about it…went to the doc who promptly put me on anti-depressants. If those don’t do the trick, then we will test my hormones to see if that’s the problem. Of course there has to be drama, the insurance company does not want to kick in the co-pay for my meds and i have been on the phone with the pharmacy, the insurance company and the doctor’s office nonstop, just trying to get some relief. How ironic that my quest to get medication to help pull me out of my “dark place” has caused me even more upset and stress than i ALREADY felt. I am on the verge of just waving the white flag and accepting that i might have to fight my way out of this hole on my own steam.
So, anyway, when i drop off the earth and no one really hears from me, it’s not because i don’t value the friendships and connections i have made through blogging. It’s just because i’m a mess sometimes and i am not always brave enough to let the world see just HOW MUCH of a mess. Inside my head can be a really scary place. It can be a wonderful, magical place in there sometimes, too…and i love to share that part of me. Sometimes you just have to go with me along the shadow-y parts of my journey to get to the good parts. It’s all “amanda”. Sometimes it’s sweet sugar skulls and silly faerie tales. Sometimes it’s agoraphobia and anxiety and a whole lot of tears.

xoxoxox

Into a swan

I have to begin this with an advance apology…yes, it is a TERRIBLE pun. I just can’t help it. It’s bad, and i am owning it, and hope ya’ll can forgive me for subjecting you to groan-inducing cheesiness today I am ready to duck and dodge all the rotten tomatoes i know i have got coming to me!

I like the yin-yang mixed up colorway idea of the Fiesta de Los Muertos skirt so much, i had to attempt another take on it. This time with Alexander Henry “Astral Skull” print fabric. The whole time i was making this “Half-Astral” was going through my mind, so i had no choice but to dub this one the “Half Astral Skirt”. Same design, with rick rack and bias tape, and again i used a simple elastic waist. I really like the multiple size option aspect of elastic, and who am i kidding, i also like just sitting down and doing some simple no-stress sewing rather than having battle royales with zippers and darts. I need my creating to be FUN right now, so i am keeping it simple and therapeutic.

This print totally amuses me…i love the skulls floating around with all the weird looking bubbles….it looks a whole lot like the interior of my extremely addled brain as of late. Loony-tunes!

But, i am finding my footing again, bad puns, wacky skull-bubbles and all! I plan to do a mini-update in the Etsy shop either later today or early tomorrow, if i can get my act together, so stay tuned I hope everyone is having a lovely week!

xoxox

Little Charmaine, alas, has had too much Chartreuse liqueur  to drink again. Tho’ it was supposed to be an “elixir of long life”, sadly this was not so for the unfortunate Mademoiselle Charmaine.

The poor drunken girl stumbled into the Mississippi River, and it carried her straight to the bottom…She will never leave her beloved New Orleans.

A more scaled down version of the ginormous tree i’ve been procrastinating about finishing. This one was much quicker, needless to say! It’s worked onto yet another thrift store skirt find that is a cotton-poly blend…much more forgiving to work on than denim, therefore much more forgiving to my wonky CRAPal tunnel paw. I used four stands of floss with a split stitch, so it’s very “dimensional” and has a nifty raised texture. Alas, this is size 8, and of course i am NO size 8….so off to the shop it will go when i update next time.

I really love the slivery gray floss against the black of the skirt…it looks spooky and ghostly to me. Creepy, in that GOOD way that i enjoy! Appropriately, I finished it up this morning while watching “Dracula’s Daughter” from 1936….what a fun flick! The costumes and sets are to DIE for!

So one more project complete, which makes me feel even better. Mojo creeping it’s way back into my system as the Halloween season gets nearer by the day, inspiring me to get to work! SO many dollies crying to be born!
I hope you are all feeling spooky and creative too!

xoxoxo

Under the thick layer of dust, i discovered my long-neglected sewing machine, rather like an archaeological find….an artifact of my ever-so productive and perky spring. (Ahhh, those wonderful days when the Muse had moved in for a nice long stay and i was a never-ending fount of creativity. Bliss.) I am happy to say that my sewing machine does not seem to be holding any grudges against me for leaving it alone and unloved for so long, and graciously allowed me to whip up my new favorite garment….the Fiesta de los Muertos skirt.

I think that this is my all-time favorite fabric….Alexander Henry’s “Folklorico” line really makes my heart flutter….but ESPECIALLY this “Fiesta de los Muertos” print. I have had this fabric for so long…i just couldn’t bear to do anything with it just in case a screwed it up! And there wasn’t really enough of either colorway to make an entire skirt. But, to my amazement, epiphanies DO still come to me, even after such a long dry spell, and i realized if i mixed it up, i did indeed have enough to make myself a skirt after all! Add some rickrack and bias tape for contrast and VIOLA! For this skirt, i also decided to give it an elastic waist rather than screw around putting in dreaded darts and a zipper. This makes it more “free-sized”, which i like, as my weight seems to yo-yo, oh no! This way i can wear the skirt no matter how much Dulce De Leche i eat.

Mmmmmmm…Dulce de Leche…this brings me to the public service announcement section of this post….DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, be tempted to try this recipe if you are in any way concerned with your weight, or the amount of sweet sugary goodness you consume. This stuff is pure evil, addictive and soooooooooo sinfully luscious. I’d love to show you a picture, but i ate it all. (Hangs head in shame)

Really, all it REALLY is a can of sweetened condensed milk, poured into a glass pie plate, covered with foil, and set into a larger pan of water. Pop the whole thing into a 450 degree oven and let it cook for an hour or so til it is all thick and brown and caramelized. Let it cool and whisk it til it’s smooth and then devour however you like. On ice cream, spread on toast, or straight up with a spoon in the middle of the night….ooooooooh so good. It is my new favorite thing, and i dare not make another batch any time soon, because i am ashamed of the lack of self-control i have with this goo from heaven in my home.

Speaking of sweets….

I am pleased to introduce the newest member of the Buttonbox household…Pocky! Half pug, Half beagle, 100% puppy love.

She’s sweet as she can be…now if only she’d get it through her head that poop and pee goes OUTSIDE, she’d be perfect. I am not even kidding when i say it’s been like having another kid since she joined out family. But we are loving her, and she seems to love us back even though we are all insane and moody. She is always good for a snuggle when i feel sad.

Hoping you all are getting the snuggles you need too!

xoxoxo