The Process. And Also a Corgi.

 

She kept planting her furry little butt on my skirt. We drew lines of compromise here.

 

She sure makes me more cheerful when I inevitably fuck up a simple seam, though. Lookatthatface!

 

The desert at 90mph.

 

This part of the lawn is VERY IMPORTANT.

 

Sometimes, I'm tempted to put fake eyelashes on my wighead.

 

The 300" skirt and the front tapestry panel.

 

There’s a story behind that tapestry–
Friend Amanda, who is making my bodice
(and regularly whips out costumes for dozens of folks
every year at Faire, ‘coz she’s a genius),
came over to my place last weekend for a shopping trip in the fabric district.

It was amazing to go down there with another veteran–
the districts in LA–fabric, fashion, jewelry, furniture, toys, floral–can be seriously intimidating if you don’t go there often.
It’s crowded, kinda dusty,
parking is a pain in the ass,
and there are so. many. things. whipping past your vision,
it’s easy to get headachey and grumpled.

We both had this moment, about ninety minutes into our trip,
where we were checking to see if the other person was okay,
because that’s uuuuusually the limit we have when we go with other folks,
and we both had to laugh, we were so fine with trucking on
for another three hours.

Plus, girl has a seriously good eye for fabrics.

This tapestry was a simultaneous spotting at Levine’s upholstery shop;
we gasped, I squeaked,
“Oh my God, can I use that?!?!”
Amanda looked at the price, and said,
“No. No, you can’t.”

…It was $24 per yard.

I normally never pay more than $5 per yard when I’m in the fabric district.

There was a great deal of hemming and hawing,
I got a swatch and carried it around for the rest of the afternoon,
and finally just had to come back and get it,
because it was SO PERFECT.

And I only needed one yard.

Shutup.

It’s totally justifiable.

 

And Amanda said I could!

 

Here’s a brief glimpse of my finished top skirt–
I also finished the bottom last night.

 

It's this amazing tweedy mustard color--It feels like I pulled it out of a Vermeer painting.

 

There will be more photos–
still have to attach my waistband,
hem the panel,
attach the panel to my hoop
(oh yes, I am wearing a hoop LIKE A BOSS),
and then the fun begins with chopine construction!

It’s going to be a busy month,
but my brain and heart feel so much better
for having something creative to hold.

 

Eventually:

 

I will learn to not listen to sad, quiet music
when I’m home alone, sick, and sewing.

 

That said,
I’m going to have such a pretty costume for Faire this year:

 

These are the trims for my Faire skirt this year. Pretty, oui?

 

Room with a View. Forster would be so proud.

This is Halloween:

 

Paraphrased Conversation with Boyo:

 

Me:
“I just wish I could find that severed nose.”

Him:

silence

Me:
“Oh, I’m missing a kidney and an eyeball, too! Damn!”

Him:
“You know, I think you just use Halloween as an excuse to be gross.”

 
Me:
“That’s not true! The heart I picked up today is really cute!”

 

Him:
“I hate October.”

I am Bad at This:

 

Craft Night was a lovely success yesterday–
nine people came over to my place,
food and crafty things in hand…

 

And I didn’t take a single photo.

*sheepish*

But I made my leaf garland!

And LauraJane began a repurposed paint-by-numbers piece of art!

And Jessie looked at Pinterest!

 

I just forget to take my camera out when my hands are busy.

Photos of finished projects soon, I pinky-swear!

Exhaustion:

 

Which means that this is going to be disjointed.
Sorry.

 

I feel like I’ve been walking through peanut butter.
Like I could sleep for 48 hours and still need more rest.

Went to Denver for a business trip on Monday
(my first! I’m all growed up!),
had to be up by 3:30am, to LAX by 5am,
and ready to roll into a full day of work by 10.
Wore Full Business Drag (hose, heels, pencil skirt, fancy blouse, lipstick)–
which is awfully uncomfortable,
but looks damn good on me.

It was a good trip–
the best part being the Schwanky Hotel Room.

Sometimes, ya just need to sleep on a king size bed all by yourself,
starfish style.

Friend Mary (NinjaMom!) came to see me–
we went walking through the city,
spent hours talking (not enough time),
made me dearly miss our Girl Days just after she had Jake,
and I was unemployed,
when we walked and talked all over Sierra Madre.

I miss you, friend.

 

Yesterday,
I went to the flower market to pick out pretties for my old student and friend’s senior vocal recital.
I am so proud of her–
when I first knew her, at 15,
she introduced me to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.
We talked about TS Eliot,
boys,
literature.

…We still talk about those things.

Lauren became the woman I knew she would be–
funny, kind, lovely, gracious, mature.

I can’t wait to see you conquer the world, ‘Lo.

 

Roses and berries

 

I’ll have to get a better shot of these roses–
they’re called “Cool Water”, and I love their delicate color.

 

"Mad Men" is *very* important to the arranging process.

 

My Nitty Gritty City

 

That sky?
It’s the one thing that makes getting up at the buttfuck of dawn worth it.
I saw the sunrise over Los Angeles yesterday,
and it was beautiful.

 

I miss watching the sunrise.

Because We Have Forgotten How to Play:

 

Cute, non?

 

See that sweet little thing?
I’ve been wanting to make it since I saw it on Pinterest about,
oh,
two months ago.

I’ve had plenty of time to swing by a store for supplies.
Plenty of time to sit at home and cut out leaves and stitch them together.

But I haven’t.

Because?

Here’s my great big theory:

Adults aren’t “supposed” to play.
We have other things that are “important” to do.

And this makes me so, so sad.

I don’t want to turn fifty and realize that I haven’t made anything in years.
I don’t want to lose the dexterity of my fingers or my mind.
I don’t want to lose my creativity, my ability to say, “Hey, I could make that!”
and actually do it.

Consequently,
I’m starting a Third Thursday Craft Night.

For whatever–
sewing, painting, needlefelt, needlepoint,
making shoe clips, hair flowers, leatherwork;
hell,
if I had a forge,
ironwork.

We all need a time to be creative.

Sometimes,
we have to make appointments with ourselves in order to make that happen.

 

Consider your own bad self invited.

Come make things.

 

(and? if you email me pictures of what you made, and a little blurb about it,
I’ll post them all here!)

I Made a Pretty:

 

“…Freedom tasted like seawater and oranges.”
-Tana French, ‘The Likeness’

That quote ran through my head the entire time I was painting this:

I’m particularly fond of the shading I got on her jawline.

Man, I need a better camera.

 
I painted a great deal of this while talking to close friends on the phone…
which is rather unusual for me.

Normally,
I hole up in my room and shut everything else out and off when I paint.

It was kind of a welcome change,
but not something I’m likely to do on a more complex
(or frustrating)
painting.

This one treated me pretty well,
for which I am grateful.

 

©Rebecca S Rea, 2011

Watercolor on cold-press paper

Not Something Beautiful:

 

But kinda FAHBULOUS anyhow.

LauraJane shows us how it’s DONE.

The Couch was basking in the shared glory of maribou feathers from the Dollar Store.

As was the Coffee Table. And the bag of Conversation Hearts. That got eaten.

The Tacky is almost complete! BWAHAHAHA!

Abracahotgluedabra: Tacky Wreath!

This all came about when I was looking at the talented
Heather España McGeehon’s website,
saw a pretty little wreath that she made for Valentine’s Day,
but since I am half-magpie, and unable to resist the shiny,
I suggested buying a bunch of Valentine’s Day crap
and gluing it all over a wreath to LauraJane.

I love a friend who will hot-glue glitterfluffyfeathery things with me.

 

And?

I totally managed to have a sense of proportion.

 

No!
Really!

Look at how small the wreath is!

So I Promised these Pictures in October:

And…um…here they are?

This was my crazy project of hot glue and leaves and the staying up all night:

Baba Yaga‘s Hut

I made a 2D model of Baba Yaga and placed it so you could see her silhouette through this window. Creepy.

Do you know how hard it is to find branches that bend the same way???

The roof lifts up so I can replace the battery-powered flickering lights inside.

See the Chicken Feet?

 

There’s a funny story behind those Chicken Feet.

First,
they’re real.

Cooked for six hours in the oven and coated in decoupage,
but very real.

I walked into an Asian Market and asked if they carried chicken feet.
(you know, like you do)
The gentlemen looked at me, and said, “Shikahn Fee? Wha ah Shikahn Fee?”

I kinda made motions with my hands to indicate scratching,
“Um. They’re. You know. Chicken? Feet?”
*scratch scratch*

“You draw for me.”

“OH! You mean Shikahn PAW!”

And apparently I did, because they sent me home with a dozen of them.

ps (for a sense of scale, Baba’s Hut is about two feet high by three feet wide.)

pps (In my head, it was only a couple of inches tall.)

ppps (I have no sense of proportion, people.)

My Day So Far:

It is 11:30 in the morning.

Becca has not gone to sleep yet,
on account of the fact that she,
once again,
had an AWESOMERAD idea for Halloween decor
that HAD to be executed in neverasmuchtimeassheneeds.

Additionally,
I have cleaned up two passive-agressive shits from DammitDog,
one “I didn’t want to poop outside, so I’magonna poop in the corner instead” from The Corgi,
one disgusting ALBINOSPIDERFUUUUCKWHYDOYOUEXIST,
fifty gazillion seeds from maple pods in my hair, down my bra, in my shorts,
two hot glue burns (tho’ not even close to the Emissary of Satan Burn),
tuned out the rantings of one creepy neighbor,
and have watched two movies.

I have not started on my costume yet,
and my party is tonight.

Next year?

I start working on Halloween decor in AUGUST.

And bright ideas that come around in the beginning of October?

I’ll write you down and tuck you away for NEXT YEAR.

ps (yes, pictures are forthcoming of the Project that Would Not Sleep)