Years ago, when i started my “artful journey”, i swooned over the work of Rice Freeman-Zachery. Her journal skirts, wearable art… her funky hoodoo-voodoo style….so bright and lively and inspiring. She’s amazing.

I could not be more honored and astonished to sit here, holding a piece of her beautiful work in my hands.

She dyed recycled tee-shirts, and turned them into a bag so bright and glowing that it lights u p the room. It’s all hand stitched, hand beaded, reverse-applique magic.

Thank you so much, Rice…it has brightened my day so much more than you can possibly imagine. I am so inspired by it, i want to try out that appliqué technique asap! I am retiring my poor worn out old canvas skull tote that i use to haul my bellydance stuff to classes and rehearsal, and using this fantastic bag from now on. And i’ll be carrying it with pride! Thank you thank you thank you, Rice!

Little Theda loved movies ever so much.Totally enchanted by the flickering wonderful black white images on the screen she just couldn’t look away!

Louise Brooks, Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton …she loved them all. To death.

Every single day, she would go to the theater and watch…and watch and watch……….soon, her eyes could not adjust to the world outside of her Hollywood dreams, flickering on the screen.

Every single day, she would go to the theater and watch…and watch and watch…..she grew thinner and paler, and soon, she never left the theater again. Poor thing.

Still she sits in the old, old theater which has long since closed, propped up in the seat, staring at the screen…yet the only images she sees now are her memories of black and white silent beauties, and the spiders keep her company as they spin dream-webs around her.

Poor Thing.

You should see me dance the Polka,
You should see me cover the ground,
You should see my petticoats flying,
As I jump my partner round;

When the band commences playing,
My feet begin to go,
For a rollicking romping Polka
Is the jolliest fun I know.

Too much gin and Polka Dancing and time spent with VERY bad company…what more can be said?

Polly had many inspirations. First of all was the fabric, of course. Wild crazy polkadots! I had to use it! While i was working on her, i had “You Should See Me Dance The Polka” from Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde playing creepily in my head non-stop. I loved Ingrid Bergman and Spencer Tracy in that film. Old Spencer scares the hell out me with that slimy leering portrayal of Hyde. I recently re-watched it and it really stuck with me this time. Love it! Miss Polka Polly is ready for adoption and you can find her here!
In other non-craft news….last night my mister made himself some torches.

Fire-eating is HOT!

Looks like the circus is a permanent part of the buttonbox household. I love that my family is enjoying this so much and finding new ways to be creative. It’s wonderful!
Hoping that you are all having a lovely Wednesday!

xoxoxo

I’m playing with scraps, bits and pieces, odds and ends in the bottom of my sewing basket….trying to make pretty things out of the leftovers…..

A “ruined”  old secondhand black velvet dress wanted  to be something more…..

Some bits of lace, old buttons, and some patient hand stitching……it transforms into something soft and pretty.

Leftover lace “roses” from my many slip embellishment projects….stacked up and stitched together….A funny old button in the center….

Recently, my Sister-in-law brought me an old wine bottle full of old buttons. It’s  a treasure trove. I’ve never seen a button like this one…a metal ball “cage” contains a shiny rhinestone inside. I wonder over it’s history…what kind of garment it once adorned….

And after putting it all together, sewing on a felt with a pin-back, it becomes a “corsage” and makes my plain dress into something new and lovely.

Leftovers are wonderful.

xoxoxo

Victim of an unfortunate darkroom catastrophe…one should never play with chemicals while drunk. She’s learned her lesson and is staying away from the hooch from now on.

I’d had the idea of doing a “black and white” version of a little dead ragdoll for a long time…i finally gave it a shot. I think she looks weird and cute. I’ve started making them really small again too. Oddly enough, the little dolls take longer to make than the big ones. Strange indeed.  It’s alot more “fiddly” and annoying to turn and stuff those skinny, tiny little limbs!

Hoping you are all having a marvelous Friday!

xoxoxo

Hello, long lost lovies!

I am sure by now my long stretches of silence are what you’ve come to expect. Tiresome, i know. Hopefully some of you are still out there reading this on the occasions i DO finally manage to get something new up here and forgiving me for my constant truancy!

I am finally starting to adjust to my new routine….the beastie has officially begun kindergarten. It was rough at first….we are just not used to that much structure here in the buttonbox! I am happy to say that we have started to get into the swing of it tho’, and while we are still perpetually exhausted, it’s not as harrowing as it was at first. I am still getting used to having these long days of no-kid, and missing him alot, but now that i am adjusting to waking up early, i am become more productive again and i’ve been making lots of things and doing groovy stuff like scrubbing the bathrooms and folding laundry. Wow! It’s astonishing what you can accomplish with you are not wrangling a little monster all day!

I am also still very involved with bellydancing (i have really immersed myself in American Tribal Style, as well as Fusion) as well as working with the Columbia Alternacirque. I love it so much, and the cast is a flock of the most outrageously creative and awesome people who i am really enjoying getting to know and spend time with. It’s been great, espcially since my mister has gotten so into it all too….seeing him on stilts was scary at first, but now it’s just a normal day in the buttonbox…he’s learning fire tricks now….poi and fire eating and such. Madness!!!! Our August “Dreams” set was amazing, in spite of the Very Bad Weather we had to work around. We are repeating “We’re All Mad” and “Dreams” for the rest of the season, tho’, and i expect it will evolve and get more magical as we rework and continue to rehearse and re-imagine. If you want to see a little teaser, check it out here.

The crazy costumes and stilts and fire and dancing and bubbles and glitter were incredible…if a bit uncomfortable. The “bird people” all wore huge black cloaks and insane masks that we made…we constructed big beaks and attached them to a mask-form, covered the whole thing in shards of broken mirror and grouted it. It’s heavy and hot and really challenging to wear, but the effect onstage is creepy and beautiful!

Highly dangerous should i ever decide to peck anyone tho’! teehee!!!

I’ve been working on so many things and i want to write about it all…but i thought that perhaps if i just blog about one project at a time then it will encourge me to start writing everyday again. So the project for today is the “Poisoner’s Cami”….

This is cut down from an old slip…the bottom half was not in great shape, but the top was fine, so i hacked it off and went crazy on it. Dyed with Earl Grey as usual, and completely handstitched. I trimmed all the edges with black lace….

Ahh….the ubiquitous “arsenic” embroidery! I can’t help myself. I feel Halloween reaching out to me in the distance and feel myself shifting into creepy-mode. I embroidered my poison of choice onto a piece of black cotton and ripped it so the edges would be rough and frayed, and layered it with a scrap of black lace from an old dress. Then i made up a bunch of lace “roses” and added them, as well as some pretty, ladylike pearls to distract from the danger.

Because of course, there is danger lurking…

But i suppose it’s only fair to give one a LITTLE warning, so i sewed on a skull and crossbones charm. I am nothing if not SUBTLE, yes? (giggle)

More lace and pearls for the back so that one can look just as lovely leaving as coming. And since someone complained to me about my making everything so small all the time, this cami is NOT for tiny waifs. Poisoners have CURVES, right?

I am really pleased with this piece, and really really enjoyed making it. I’ve been all about handsewing lately, and there is something that is really pleasing to me in all those imperfect little stitches. Meditative.

So there we have it. All is well here, just learning how to live with all this change and excitement….i really want to get back to regular blogging and catch up with you all. Renata…Kim…..Bethany…..Carolina……Vanessa…..Angelina…..Gypsy…and so many more of you that i have missed so much. i hope you are all well and wonderful, and that you know i think of you all so often. Let’s play catch-up!

Have a a magical day, lovies!!!!

xoxoxo