Poor neglected blog!!! oh, i do miss you!

But, i must admit, things have been getting progressively calmer and and better behind the scenes of my “buttonbox”. Still working my way thru the big burnout i’ve experienced from the hardcore crafting i’d been doing. I’ve really needed to stop and think about my creativity and what i do with it. While preparing for the Halloween open house, and for Mutation, i was incredibly focused, and working constantly on the “business” end of my crafting. Which is NOT my favorite end. When i started making things, i never imagned it as a biz! I made things for the sheer love of creation, with no thought of selling. Then it kind of grew into a blog, and then into craft fairs and etsy shop. And i am grateful and happy that it did! I love blogging and the craft community. And i almost cry with the wonder and joy that overcomes me anytime anyone loves what i’ve made enough to purchase it. But, The “BUSINESS” side does not come easily to me. I find myself judging the worth of my creativity based on some monetary value rather than the happiness i felt while i was MAKING, feeling as if i ‘d somehow failed for each piece that doesn’t sell. That is a crappy feeling and it’s not “ME”. I am an “artist” NOT a factory!!!!!

So after the smoke cleared from Mutation, i saw what a disaster the REST of my life had become! My house, a mess. There was so much laundry piled up to mountainous heights that i could not even see the top….Halloween decorations lingered until after Thanksgiving. My family had probably forgotten what i even LOOKED like since i spent so much time upstairs in the craft room doing my thing. I was exhausted. I really really needed to just STOP for a while. And that’s where we are at this point. i am taking more time for my life outside of craft room…for things like this……

….and i am starting to feel more at peace, calmer, better rested….less frantic and nervous and overwhelmed. I am slowly getting my household back under control, all those little things that build up to massive proportions when you neglect them can be alittle scary when you look at the big picture! I have alot more cleaning and de-cluttering to accomplish, but it feels good to be in the process. Things like snuggling with my beastie while reading Peter Pan, spontaneously baking a loaf of banana bread just because, playing with the puppy, Stopping to take notice of how lovely the fall leaves look and smell, watching silly TV with Raven and big daddy…..i’d really really missed all that! And i am savoring it like never before. And in quiet moments i am still creating….A dolly for Miss Christa over on GypsyJunk, my poor neglected tree skirt embroidery. Taking it slow, enjoying each stitch as it comes.

The most remarkable thing of all is that for the first time in who-knows-how-long i feel the first stirring of Holiday Spirit. Some of you may already know that i am not the most holly-jolly holiday kinda gal, and once Halloween passes, i am pretty much in Grinch mode as i hunker down, waiting for spring to come and perk me up again. Amazingly, i am finding myself anticipating the holidays, dreaming of cookie-baking and trying to find imaginative NON-mass produced gifts for the kids in our family. I really want to put the tree up, but we will wait til Raven is home again before we start decorating. In the mean time, i am have been inspired to make Beastie’s first-ever advent calender, thanks to a seed planted by Calamity Kim. I’d already been mulling it over, but yesterday i stumbled over this cuteness and i knew i just had to make it. I like the simplicity of it, it’s TOTALLY do-able in a no-stress kind of way for me. Hopefully i will start on it this afternoon, and i am really looking forward to it!!! I don’t know what kindled this holiday happiness in me, but i have a sneaky suspicion that i caught it off all you guys like a case of cooties!!! What did ya’ll DO to me??

Ahhh well, even Halloweentown can do Christmas sometimes, right?

Anyway, i hear my life calling…… i have laundry to fold, books to read, and a puppy who really really wants to play fetch! Better get to it!

Wishing you all a wonderful Monday!!!

xoxoxo

Well, my blog is still in a state. I am very un-thrilled with it right now, and did not wanna post again til it looked like something, BUT, with my 9th wedding anniversary this week as well as Thanksgiving, who knows when it’ll be done. I just can’t stay away any longer, tho’! Please please bear with me..i promise it won’t be this ugly and messy for much longer!!!

Mutation was a great success…i had a fantastic weekend from which i am STILL recovering! I can’t handle that much fun, it seems! We arrived in Savannah on friday afternoon and relaxed at the Darlings house for a bit, then we went out for a truly decadent Moroccan dinner at The Casbah….it’s like being inside a big tent in the desert!

It was too dark to get good photos, alas, but it was so beautiful in there! You sit at low tables on big piles of gorgeous opulent cushions. We chose to eat our food traditionally, which means no utensils other than your own ten fingers! The server comes around with a beautiful silver basin and pours warm water over your hands, and rosewater at the end of the meal. All the while, there are lovely bellydancers swirling around, pulling people up to dance. Both Eric and Charlie took a turn, and i would have, too, had i been a little drunker and not wearing huge stompy Doc Martens. Sobriety and boots are not really conducive to bellydancing in public, you know!

With bellies full, we returned to the Darling’s house to relax around the fire and do the last minute stuff i did not manage to get finished before we left SC. Pricing, ugh. My least favorite thing!

Charlie took tons of AMAZING photos of my goods with his awesome camera, and i hope i get copies soon. Much wine was consumed in my attempt to wind down…i was so nervous and excited for the show that i just could not settle down enough for bedtime! As usual, i laughed until i was literally crying thanks to Charlie’s antics, and horrible Brenda Dickson youtube parodies. I warn you…DO NOT click that link unless you are prepared for some truly low-brow humor…it’s not for everyone! Suffice to say, Brenda became our mascot for the weekend (hangs head in shame)

Finally i forced myself to go to bed, and it seemed like i had only JUST closed my eyes before Eric was waking us up with pancakes and bacon and, thank god, coffee!!!! We got ready and off we went to DAY ONE of Mutation!

Setting up was a breeze with so much wonderful help from my mama and my wonderful Sweat Shoppe Faerie Design Team!

Here is Eric, Display and Support Division…

And Charlie….Photography and Mama Tour Guide Division…a truly CLASS ACT!

Once we got my table all put together, i though it looked great! My photos are dark because of being under the tent, but here we go…

So that my mom got a chance ot have some fun and not just be stuck chained to the table all day, Charlie took her sight-seeing all over Savannah. They had a great time while Eric and i managed the Buttonbox. Lots of people came by and i got so much wonderful positive response to my work that i was glowing like a firefly. the vibe was great and the other vendors were amazing. There was great music, plenty of good coffee and wonderful little cupcakes from Back In the Day Bakery….

All too soon, 5 o’clock rolled around and it was time to break it all down. By this time i was utterly exhausted. Back to the darlings for yummy dinner and a short rest. We’d planned to see Beowulf that night, and truth be told, i was WAY too worn out for any further excitement…but i did not wanna be a killjoy, so off we went. Unfortunately the next 3-d showing was at 10:15…i knew i’d never make it. I think i got through the first 30 minutes before i faded away. How embarrassing to fall asleep during a movie. I suppose i am getting old! Needless to say, i pretty promptly went to bed once we got home!

The next morn, we went out for breakfast then back for day two of the fair. There were much fewer people vending, but the vibe was still great and we had another wonderful day!

The table was a good bit emptier, but we managed i won’t make ya’ll suffer through any more , so here is a link to the whole set if you want to see more. By the end of the day, i was beyond beat…

…but totally happy! I really love doing craft fairs, in spite of the exhaustion and stress! Once i am THERE and doing it, i am so happy to be there. I really need to think about applying to more than just one a year…but no matter what, my heart will always belong to Mutation!

The day ended way to soon and we had to leave Savannah, which always makes me so sad. I miss my bffs so much! Thank you SO MUCH, Darlings, for being amazing and helping me do this. There are no word for my love for ya’ll!!!!!!

Anyway, once i got home i was useless. All the late nights prepping and the debauchery once i got there have really caught up with me and i am still feeling alittle frazzled and beat. I need to get back to craftin’, as i have some obligations that i DESPERATELY need to fulfill. Hopefully i will be back up to speed after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, i am trying to catch up on all the blogs i’ve missed and get the rest of my inventory listed in the Etsy Shop. I got a handful of stuff up, and plan to get the rest up tonight if you’d like to take a peek

I hope you are ALL having a fabulous week, and that your Thanksgiving is wonderful. Please know that i am incredibly thankful for all of YOU who read my boring babbling and bellyaching and support my creativity. The craft community is so amazing and i am beyond happy to be part of it! What a wonderful world it is! CHEERS to you all, peep gang!

xoxoxoxoxox

Please bear with me while le blog gets a re-do….hopefully we will be back to normal VERY soon, meanwhile, please forgive the mess….

xoxoxo

I’m off! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend…i’ll be back on Monday, hopefully with lots of adventures to tell you about!

XOXOXOX!

So, i honestly should not have took the time to work on any projects for ME while i am in in the the thick of the last-minute prep for this weekend…BUT, i NEEDED to do something fun and totally ALL ABOUT ME to remind myself that crafting is a source of JOY rather than stress! Which lead me to rescuing my poor ruined dress.

This is my favorite dress, i wear it all the time. The other day i got some dishwasher detergent on it…now, i had NO idea that stuff was so bloody caustic! It bleached out a big patch and several little spots near the hem line…i was SO upset! I decided to try to rescue my poor favorite frock before it got tossed into the scrap pile. I cut out several skulls from the Alexander Henry Astral Skull print that i adore, and appliquéd them stratgeically around the bottom to cover up the bleached part, then i decided to sew on a bit of lacey fun, so i added eyelet to the hem. Viola!

There are still some spots, but the polkadot print camouflages them pretty well. I am SO happy with this, i feel like i got  new dress, even! I will be rockin’ this at Mutation for sure! My grandma would be so proud that i “made do” instead of scrapping the whole thing! And I am glad that i took a little time out ot do something nice for ME, even tho’ time is a-wastin’ and i need to be getting all my loose ends tied up for Mutation. Which i HAVE been doing….i have finished up a ton of new stuff!

Palm Mystery bag all done!  It has some issues…the lining was HORRIBLE to work with and it shifted alittle…but i still think it’s pretty and has a kind of shabby gypsy kind of wonky charm….i so wish i could get my camera to take proper macro photos so you could see the Medusa button that i sewed on…i love it!

There is a brand new batch of soap to go along with my ubiquitous Naughty Faerie stuff…

Victorian Rose and Somali Rose oils, clover honey and ground up rose petals. This stuff is rose-heaven.

And…two more little dead ragdollies all done!

Miss Madeline Usher….suffered from both a terribly unstable family-life and catalepsy…she was interred alive by her brother in the family crypt during an episode of  this death-like malady ….she escaped, but the poor girl left her sanity in the tomb, and died while attacking her equally mad brother, ending the family line of VERY bad seeds! (Obviously i was HEAVILY inspired by Poe, and the wonderful interpretation of “The House of Usher” filmed by Roger Corman and starring my beloved Vincent Price)

And here we have this very annoyed looking young lady…..this doll was a big lesson in “SEEING” my work. Normally, when i make dollies, they tell me their names and stories while i am working on them. By the time i am done, i know all about “who” this little dead dollie is. But not this time. She was done, and i still knew NOTHING about  her other than that she looked REALLY angry about something. I was stuck! Fortunately,  lovely Kim came along and helped me see this girl with fresh eyes. I never noticed that the embroidery on her face resembled a bee! So, per the marvelous imgination of calamity kim….

“Angry Amber…. The Tupelo Terror… The embroidery looks like a bee with honey to me… She was stung by bees while gathering honey for her afternoon cup of oolong souchong.”

Thanks, dear heart, you saved me from having an aneurysm over this doll!!!
Aaaaaaaanyway, here i am making a mile-long blog post when i need to be WORKING! So off i go….this is the last big push before we take off for the garden of good and Evil……no rest for THIS wicked girl until the morrow. I hope you are all having a grand and magical day!

xoxoxo

Well, i am becoming a hunchbacked, squinty-eyed over-tired crabby old lady as i stitch my way toward Mutation this weekend….i have been SUPER busy and have been trying very hard to stay focused…no easy feat for the girl with no attention span or self discipline! I am pretty amazed at how focused i am, actually. I want to have a super-awesome time like last year….tho’ i am alittle stressed since my inventory is a bit different this time, and i am nervous about how it will be received. But, as long as i feel i am doing my very best, it’s ok!

I think my favorite creation so far is the “la Luna” linen jacket.

I found this jacket in a thrift store, and fell in love with it…it was so odd-looking with the cut-out flower pattern, and it had some seriously ugly gold buttons….but i knew it had potential to become something lovely. Many hours of handstitching later, it has become “La Luna”, and i am very proud of it!

i took the big hideous gold buttons off and replaced them with reproduction vintage deco buttons…

i took eyelet lace off thrifted pillow sham and hand stitched it with some black lace to “frill up” the cuffs….

i came across the cotton lace collar in a big box of fabric scraps i got at a thrift store, the tag says “Peking Handicrafts” It was the perfect size to add to the jacket, so i hand stitched it on and put a button hole in in…..

i removed the original tag and replaced it with the La Luna” lotteria card, just for fun. Notice the tiny tag with the big “S” on it…sadly, this jacket is sized for smaller ladies than me. I tried to make it fit, but the dang thing just won’t button over my chest. Hopefully some much smaller girl will love it as much as i do and make it her own. I am SO pleased with it…it’s unusal for me to perfectly bring into reality what i imagine in my head, but i was able to do it with La Luna, and i am quite sure it must be full of some kind of magical powers, a little charm in every stitch!

i decided to try to use up some of the embroidered pieces i’ve had hanging around here forever, like these little vines…

i sewed them onto the last two “Vera” cloth napkins i’d thrifted so long ago, and made the whole thing into a big soft and floppy tote bag….

Another embroidery that has lingered too long with no purpose….the autumn tree…

becomes a simple comfy skirt….

And i am still kind of hung up on lace and beads and ribbons for cuffs…

there is TONS more happening in the buttonbox, but i must get back to work! I still have a new batch of soap to wrap and tag, bath salts to bottle, dollies to dress and and and and and….will i be ready for the fair this weekend? Who knows! But it won’t be for lack of hard work! I have been doing a ridiculous amount of hand stitching lately, and it’s making blind and arthritic…the things we do for love, no?
I hope everyone is well and wonderful… i am missing you guys terribly and can’t wait to get my Mutating behind me so i can catch up with you all! Meanwhile, LOVE LOVE LOVE to all!

xoxoxoxox

Oh, how little Limon loved to dance! Latin was her special favorite, and she loved to salsa…but what she loved the most was…the MERENGUE! She’d drink and dance the night away, until the day came when she went just a little too far. Too many sips of Limoncello and too many turns around the dance floor….but, she did die happy, drunk on joy and in love to boot!

Limon is ready for her trip to Savannah, and is impatiently waiting for me to finish her sisters so that she won’t be lonely while we wait for the Mutation Fair. She dearly hopes to meet some of YOU there too! Would you care to dance?

the torsos are the easy part…it’s stuffing the limbs that kills me! A slooooooow process! I can’t think of how long doll-making takes, because it’s a little overwhelming how many hours of my life i have spent stitching little dead girlies! But, one MUST do what one’s Muse demands, no?

And here is yet ANOTHER WIP for today. I’d vowed to myself that i would use up all the random embroideries i’ve done that are just hanging around with no purpose. This palmistry chart is well on it’s way to being turned into a purse.

I wish i could say that these are my only works in progress, but no. No, they are not. There are many others that i just can’t bring myself to look at in a public forum right now! In fact, i have no business even blogging or being anywhere NEAR the computer until AFTER the show, i have waaaay too much to do and very little time left to do it. So i’m off, to see how many of these lingering projects i can complete today! Wish me luck!

xoxox

To begin, i want to say THANK YOU to all, for the sweet Halloween comments! I haven’t had much time to properly respond as i’d like, as we’ve had a dear friend come to visit for a few days, as well as frenzied Mutation prep in every spare moment…and best of all, we had the opportunity to attend the Carolina Renaissance Fair for our very first time. What a magical day!!!! We were utterly overwhelmed with the whole thing…as soon as we went in the Gates of Fairhaven, i was serenaded by a lovely courtesan (who i mourn over not getting a picture of…she had the most amazing platform shoes i have ever seen, and was very alluring in all her corseted gorgeousness), and our little Elfin Knight met Twig the Faerie, who gifted him with a pretty magical stone and a spritely tune played for him upon her flute…

There were so many wonders to behold that i was far too enchanted to remember what a camera even WAS, much less to take all the photos i should have! Thank goodness Darin and Beau managed to capture some great moments here and there….

Ascending the biggest horse in the land…

Beastie and i rode the GIANT rocking horse!!!

I was blown away by the beautiful Bellydancers, and dream of becoming that good at the dance some day….practice practice practice!!!

A wonderful butterfly carousel! Oooh, if only i were small enough to fly with my beastie upon the wings of the butterflies!
And of course Jousting! Huzzah! I was totally caught up in the moment and cheered for our knight, booed the nasty rivals and acted like a sugar-high child! Huzzah!!!!!! Here is the lovely Herald for our oh-so-handsome Knight, Sir Matthew….

Isn’t he wonderful?

The knights did get into a bit of a battle, and a final Joust to the death was planned to settle the matter later in the day, alas, we were not able to attend to find out if our Sir Matthew was the victor.

We met a Green Man along the path… and found a little mushroom grove…

There were so many things i wish i had gotten to see, and i regret not getting more photos of the AMAZING wandering cast members (Bastista, you are the fairest in the Land! :)…..but as you can probably tell, i was swept away by the magic of it all and has lost my wits entirely! Next year, i will be much more prepared and plan it out much better so that i don’t miss a thing! There are still a few weekends left of the Fair, and if you are able to attend, i STRONGLY recommend it. It was a MUCH needed departure from mundane reality and the stress of the upcoming Mutation show. But now it is back to the grind, and i have SOOOOOOOOOO much to do to get ready. I will do my best to keep up with the blog as the big weekend zooms ever closer and my usual pre-fair panic takes hold, but forgive me if i am away for a bit! I miss you all so much, how can i stay away for long?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

xoxoxo