The Masque

For some reason, I felt compelled to make myself a costume for Halloween this year. Never mind that I haven’t dressed for the day in more than a decade  – this year it was a must-do. Due to the fact that free time is a bit thin on the ground around here right now, I knew it would have to be something quick and easy, while still satisfying that powerful urge to MAKE SOMETHING that was kicking me in the ass. A mask seemed just the thing …

mask back

Originally, the idea was to use only materials I already had on hand. I had some white plastic mask forms left over from a Mardi Gras project I did a couple of years ago, which I covered with a scrap of some luscious black silk velvet I had hanging around. I mod-podged the fabric down, let it dry overnight, then trimmed it and cut out the eyeholes.

I knew I wanted to use feathers somehow, but my stash was pretty low, so I took a trip to Michaels, where I vowed that I would buy a peacock feather and nothing more.

supplies

I came home with the feather, turquoise sequins, bronze glitter glue, blue satin ribbon, and plastic gems worthy of any three-year-old’s princess crown. I had no idea where I was going with any of it.
mask

A day or two later, this is what I had. So far, so good. This, however, is where the project started getting a bit more elaborate. It needed … more … stuff …

mask

The beaded trim was a nice touch, but I still wasn’t satisfied. “MORE!”

Ah, NOW we’re getting somewhere! But … no, it’s still not enough …

Then, on an entirely unrelated trip to one of those Halloween flash stores that mushroom every October, I found these …

I got weak in the knees.

eyelashes

mask

Just one last little touch and I was done …

mask finished

I think a simple black dress, some bright blue lipstick, and I’m good. Whaddya think?

Happy Halloween!

Extreme creepiness

We all know how terrifying dolls are, right? Well, these might be the creepiest things I’ve ever seen.

Doll face candles

I found them (and a fantastic project tutorial) at Just Crafty Enough. Truly the (awesome!) stuff of nightmares …

haute chocolate

I discovered salted caramel hot chocolate last winter (courtesy of Starbucks) and have been searching for the perfect recipe ever since. Now, I think I may have found it …

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, concocted by Elsie Larson over at A Beautiful Mess and Emma from Food Coma. This utter decadence would also be wonderful with a shot of coffee or chocolate liqueur – just the thing to warm even the frostiest toes!

October

  1. October – October/U2 (duh)
  2. All This Time – The Soul Cages/Sting
  3. A Foggy Day – The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books/Ella Fitzgerald
  4. Solarized – Solarized/Ian Brown
  5. Houses of the Holy – Physical Graffiti/Led Zeppelin
  6. Perfect Day – Transformer/Lou Reed
  7. I Feel You – Songs of Love and Devotion/Depeche Mode
  8. Only Human – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things./Jason Mraz
  9. Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday Sings/Billie Holiday
  10. Weeping Willow – Urban Hymns/The Verve
  11. (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville – Reckoning/R.E.M.
  12. L’apres-midi d’un faune – Claude Debussy
  13. The Vanishing Breed – Music for the Native Americans/Robbie Robertson
  14. I Am Stretched on Your Grave – I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got/Sinead O’Connor

El dia de los muertos

One of my favorite things about October, aside from cooling weather, fuzzy socks and hearty homemade soups, is putting up my Day of the Dead altar.

While it’s not part of my heritage, it is a tradition that makes a lot of sense to both my head and my heart. My first experience of a DOTD altar was when I was in art school – one of the professors did a huge one in the school’s gallery every year. I fell in love with the bright colors, and giddy skulls and skeletons that covered nearly every inch. The idea of celebrating Death, of laughing, not at but with it, was entirely new to me and the fact that it was done on such a personal level, paying homage to your own loved ones, appealed deeply to me, coming as I was from a dour New England-Yankee-fied perspective on such things. It both adds to and alleviates some of the mystery surrounding death. It’s also an excellent excuse for one helluva party.

My own altar has evolved over the years – early on I was young (and lucky) enough not to have many close relatives and friends who had passed away. In fact, my maternal grandfather, who died when I was six, was the lonely inhabitant for quite a few years. Since then, the rest of my grandparents have joined him, as well as a succession of much-loved pets, and most recently, my wonderful stepfather Rick, who succumbed to cancer just over a year ago.

At the time, I found that assembling the altar a mere two weeks after his death and hunting for just the right picture of him to include was profoundly comforting to me. It confirmed for me all the best reasons for doing this, and I know it’s a tradition I will always follow, and hopefully instill in Jamie as well. Last night, as I put the finishing touches on the altar, he asked me if he could be the one to put ‘Grampy’s’ picture on it. Amid sudden tears, I watched as he carefully placed the photo right at the front.

of critters and corn mazes

Fall is upon us in all its abundant glory!

This past weekend, Jamie and I visited my sister and her husband. They live in the beautiful agricultural belt of northeastern Connecticut, and we love going there to explore the windswept open hillsides and little hidden hamlets. The agenda this weekend included apple-picking and a ginormous corn maze (actually, we wimped out on the big one, opting for the 1/2 hour long ‘mini-maze’ experience instead – for Jamie’s sake, of course (ahem).

The weather wasn’t great on Saturday, but we weren’t going to be forced indoors, especially when offered the opportunity to see a herd of bison (well, really only one bison, but there were rumored to be more somewhere close by).

The beast in question turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as he (she?) was napping when we arrived and didn’t deign to say hello. There were compensations however, in the form of several rather magnificent peacocks …

a few end-of-summer blooms,

a very sleepy bee

and one sweet little pony who was more than happy to receive a gentle scratch on the nose.

Jamie also found a feather and a teeny mushroom

and had a grand time playing on the old stone wall.

What can one do when rebuffed by a buffalo? In our case, we decided apple-picking was in order …

I was also tempted by pears …

and plums …

and some particularly lumpy gourds.

My sister and her husband are animal-lovers par excellence. They live with Luke and Roscoe, two of the loveliest dogs you’ll ever meet. And turtles and tortoises – lots of tortoises. My brother-in-law is an amateur herpetologist and raises them. Here’s one of the adult tortoises – isn’t he gorgeous?

And these two …

This guy was fascinated with the camera and seemed to be trying to climb right out of his tank to check it out.

On Sunday we went to the corn maze. This was one of the least crowded and best organized mazes I’ve done – as I said earlier, we did the mini-maze, which was perfect – not too long, but not too short, and with enough challenge to keep a six year old happily involved. Afterward, there was ice cream. Really yummy ice cream. Plus an awesome bluegrass band from Boston called Chasing Blue.

I found this climbing ivy on an old concrete wall.

And this tiny dragon!

Here’s to chilly winds and hot apple cider!

© a simple strand of purls, 2011-2012.

Hello world!

WordPress told me to start with a new headline, but I kinda like ‘Hello world!’ so it stays.

I’m Jenny – mama/daughter/sister/aunt, vegetarian, book designer, attention-deficient maker, and closet anarchist. Among other stuff, I like to read, poke around flea markets, make things into other things, and watch my 6 year old son Jamie make new discoveries. I’m drawn to the ironic side of domesticity, am often sarcastic, and have trouble finishing projects. And yes, I really do struggle with adult ADD. I’ve started this blog in the hope that having an audience will shame me into finishing what I start and keeping my house tidier 😉

I also have a political side that leans perilously close to radical left-winger at times, so on occasion I’ll have a rant about something that’s stuck in my craw. Rest assured, I always attempt to be respectful (grin) … my personal agenda has mostly to do with fairness, honesty, and making the world a better place for everyone to live in.

Stuff I like to do includes knitting and felting, sewing, re- and upcycled crafting, papercrafts, beading, gardening, cooking and of course, graphic design. I also love exploring woods and beaches, streams, mountains, and cities. I like my contradictions. I haven’t traveled as much as I’d like, but I have limitless curiosity about other places and people in this world. I love creatures of all types (except spiders, though I recognize their value even as I shudder in horror, lol), and my family more than anything. Most of all, I try to be a good person, and teach my son to be good and happy.

Cheers everyone, and welcome to my world …

© a simple strand of purls, 2011-2012.