Pop-up Jewelry Show in August!

Small adornments.

The jewelry show was a charming success; thank you to old friends and new for the encouragement, and for making purchases.  A few pieces are left, but many found new homes, which is always a delight.
Next up, Biting the Apple, Friday April 13, at IAO.
My submissions are in but whether you'll see them at the show depends upon the discretion of the jurors.  Good thing you can see them here.

 "Sucker's Dream"

"Two-Piece Dream"

Getting ready for Christmas (which doesn't seem at all only two weeks away!).  A little making, a little vintage shopping.

Some Reading, and A Dress

Finished This:

Now working on this:

Springy days mean I finally got the opportunity to wear this lovely, 1930s (possibly early 40s, I'm no expert) dress purchased early in the year from a fellow member of Fedora Lounge.  The cotton is heavy duty, the print is bright and festive, and the sleeves and pocket tops are adorned with colorful buttons.  Unfortunately, early in the wearing, the metal zipper slide gave out and disappeared, so dress will have to go back into the closet until I find a suitable replacement zipper. 

A hint of spring

It's been a long, gray, cold, wet, dreary winter. Typical for some places, but hardly acceptable conditions for the sunny plains. If the birds know what they're about (and I suspect they do, at least as much as the weathermen and most likely tons more), spring is about to properly descend upon us. There has been endless twittering and trilling and scolding and all manner of frisky avian activity in the trees. Beneath the sheltering straw, I've spotted seedlings of fennel and anise hyssop looking for the sun, and tulips are pushing through the soil.
Still, most days are more suited to, oh, a little reading perhaps? Good thing the annual library book sale just happened, and good thing I (as usual) gave in to that visceral reaction I have to books.
Take a look at my haul!








Of course, grrl does not live by books alone, so I have just treated myself to my very first steel-boned corset. If I don't break it (or myself) whilst learning how to properly wear and care for it, I look forward to a spring and fall of tailored fashions. Summer? Oh I don't think so. Far too hot for any extra layers at all.

Here Comes Autumn

The sun is still warm on bright days, but as evening air cools and thins, I know it'll soon be time to dust off the cozy layers, and the stockings, and maybe even hats and armwarmers, in preparation for the season of Scorpiofest. I can't help but be happy.
Of course, I'd be a smidge more happy to acquire an old canoe, like this. We were treated to a glimpse of the Red Cup employees and friends Labor Day bash this weekend, in the wild woods outside of Stroud. A beautiful, peaceful place, with a little pond I could drift on for hours. Or better yet, take photographs, sketch, lounge, and sip a drink while Tony does all the work. ;)



A visit to the antiques market was a fun diversion Saturday afternoon. Several old patterns (both sewing and knitting/crochet), magazines, 2 photos, 2 tiny tins, a pair of battered old fedoras, and a mannequin head all found their way home with me.

This was a lazy day (after a 7:30 am client for me, and an early hours run for Tony). We cooked an egg, onion, cheese scrambled, sipped some French pressed Columbian coffee, lounged a bit, then eventually took a drive out and about, ending up at the book shop for a coffee and shared pretzel. (B&N wasn't our choice, but seemed to be the only coffee joint opened today.)
As the sun lowered behind the magnolia, leaving the front step in cool shade, we cooked a couple garden burgers on the mini charcoal grill. And a foil packet containing broccoli and sliced red onions. Mmmm. Maybe I'll come back and edit in the photos once I retrieve them from the camera. Or maybe I'll just incorporate them into the next post.

New Text Pendants

The Past

I mean the way past. While going through an old college yearbook, looking for an original photo for Helga's ArtChix challenge of making an Twinchie using only black and white, I began noticing things. This wasn't my college yearbook, mind, but one from 1926. In 1926, people were much smaller, and they were much less blonde. And much whiter. At least at Oklahoma City University. The girls all had short hair, and (at least on picture day, but I'm betting most other times too) managed that Marcel wave beautifully. The boys all looked about 40.

Here's the Twinchie I created with Miss Vivian Wright, who was the arts editor on the university newspaper. Maybe she'd appreciate being used this way decades later.



The clock gear rotates, and those skinny white things are cat whiskers.

I made a couple other, more uban/edgy pieces as well:



But what also happened, is I became somewhat capitvated by another photo in that yearbook. One fellow didn't look 40, or goofy, or quite cast from the same mold as the others. He looks a lot like a character in a story I've been working on, sporadically, about a woman who meets the ghost of young man from the late 20's.
Yes, this mysterious man is my character:

Vintage photo canvas collage

"Mac Girls" on top, "To A Good End" below.

To see clear, vivid detail, click on each photo.