Holidays and Halloween - Costumes and Cards

Holiday cards are progressing. I'm trying something I've never tried before with a product that probably hasn't been made for 20+ years, but that I still had on hand. Today's segment will include the use of a rolling pin. I hope DH didn't have intentions of baking anything that would require it, since it's heading to the shop to spend the day with me - LOL. 

I'm going through some Halloween costumes for the 
ages, with five photos to share today. Here are some 
witches decked out for the holiday from approx 1910. 

Here's a really excellent mummy 
costume from the 1930's. Money was 
tight, jobs were hard to find, and 
people had to make-do. But they 
still celebrated Halloween. 

I love using things that have been in my craft materials for ages. The material I'm using for the cards this year is a foil that used to be used to transfer text and images onto fabric through the use of heat. I checked a few sources to see if I could get any more if I didn't have enough, but it's been out of production for a very long time. Fortunately, I think I'll have enough on hand, and I'll get a chance to eliminate one more piece of crafting material from my overcrowded studio. A win-win in all respects. Now to progress onward to finish Stage 1 and begin Stage 2. 

Here's a group of kids from the 1950's going 
door-to-door for candy treats. The masks 
are the thing for this era, the clothing ... not 
so much. 

In the 1970's, "Star Wars" hit the 
theatres and a generation was caught 
up in the story and characters. Here 
we have an early C3PO and Darth 
Vadar from a 1970's Halloween. 

It seems ridiculous to be running late when it's only 5:40 am, but that's where I'm at. So, I'm going to make this post short and sweet. 

By the 1980's, all that was needed for a costume was a 
pull-on printed costume from a box at the local discount 
store. It's pretty obviously cold in the area where these 
kids are going door-to-door. Maybe the mummy on 
the right has the right idea - bundle up easily under 
those bandages. 

Have a Wonderful Halloween and a Safe All Saints Day on Sunday. If you're in the USA with an area that was under Daylight Savings Time, don't forget to set your clocks back by an hour before you go to sleep tonight. (I'll have to remember to change the wall clock at the shop before I leave tonight. I rarely check it, but DH relies on it.) Please, be kind and stay safe, and please, please, PLEASE wear your mask. I'll be back on Monday. 

Labor Day at Ren Fest - Sharon's Final Photo Blog

For Sharon's final full day of this year's visit we all attended the Renaissance Festival. This annual event takes place in the late summer/early fall every year for eight or nine weekends. DH and I are season ticket holders, and on Labor Day each year we are joined by Chickie and Sharon for a walk through the Realm. We were afraid things would be muddy since Sunday had started out with so much rain at the State Fair, but the ground was hard and even though there were a few puddles, we weren't slipping and sliding. Mud at Fest really sucks - we ended up last year's season in muck that fought to pull our footwear into the abyss. This is my final photo blog for this year's visit with Sharon, so settle back and enjoy. I'll be back to my normal this and that beginning on Monday. 

Before the gates open, a variety of actors assemble on the walkway
above. Here you see (l-r) the King, the Queen, the Crown
Prince, a Lady in Waiting and the Spare Heir. 

It was a cloudy day, but no rain, and the clouds just made
it more comfortable. Chickie and Sharon found some
reasonably priced parasols (they love the Japanese steampunk
parasol that I usually carry). The decisions were
whether the black (pictured here) or a light purple
would be best. The final decision ... Chickie
chose purple, and Sharon purchased the black.
It was short enough to fit into her suitcase for the
trip back home the next day. Here, Chickie is
striking a pose. 

It was Christmas in the Realm weekend, with lots of
smaller vendors set up in Shepard's Green under tents,
selling their goods. I really loved the embroidery of
this wolf on a small pouch, but resisted purchase. This
vendor will be back again in another week or so and
I can take another look then, but I suspect I'll pass
since I really don't need another pouch. 

The petting zoo is always extremely popular with both kids and
adults. Yes, these are Lemurs, and aren't they cute? 

If you would like to feed the Lemurs, you can for only $7 per
person. The small white letters at the bottom right of the lowest
panel do state that you MUST be older than seven years to
feed the Lemurs. That seems totally logical to me. 

Those of you sharing Facebook with me might have already seen
this photo. These are two of three baby kangaroos who were in
the petting zoo. Just seconds after I snapped this photo, the
'roo on the left fell on top of the right-hand one and snuggled
in for a nap atop his brother. Silly boys! 

Many people wear costume for cosplay while attending
our Fest, although costume is never required. This
black angel was very nicely done, from the leather
corset through the horns on her head and those
sweeping black wings, she was stunning. 

I suspect all four of us were feeling rather like this
tired pooch. We had spent days walking the State Fair,
and now were walking the uneven grounds of Fest. Still,
we were having a wonderful time. We started out with
baked apple dumplings with ice cream for our breakfast,
and the coffee offered by Ratcatcher and Maid Marion's
is always stellar. Can't go too wrong! This pooch was up
and running around happily less than 30 minutes later
when we crossed paths again. 

It was cool enough for our ice walker to wander
the grounds. All of that frozen ice is extremely
heavy and not the easiest to keep balanced on
his head. I always add some cash to his hand. I've
seen him through the years, sometimes managing
to get the tower quite melted before it collapsed,
other times caught by an odd gust of wind that
destroyed it fairly quickly. 

One of the newer entertainers this year are our resident
gargoyles. They appear in various places throughout
the Festival grounds. Here they are perched
(appropriately) atop a wall. They do move, but
usually very slowly, and they will freeze into
position if they feel someone is looking at them.
Haven't you ever wondered what the gargoyles
atop your own buildings do at night? 

And that's it. Four days of festivities, food, music, celebration and catching up with friends. All in all, it was a fabulous Labor Day weekend and having Sharon come up once more to share it all with us made it even more special. We didn't see everything - I don't know if that's actually possible - but we saw a lot, we experienced a lot, we chatted, we listened, and we shared. The weight gained is already halfway gone and life is good. Thanks for sharing my days with me in my photo blogs, I'll be ready to focus on daily life again beginning next week. 

Today is my final day in the outdoor pool, it closes for the season on Sunday night. It's been pretty cold walking out and back - the morning temps have been in the mid-50's (12.7 C), but the water itself has been wonderful. I've been swimming in total darkness (except for the pool lights, of course) for the week, but today, since the pool doesn't open until 6:00 am instead of my usual 5:00 am, I'll get to swim during sunrise; a magical and wonderful thing. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. This week's Fest theme is Irish Weekend, so we'll have a good time, my hubby and I. I'll return on Monday. Be happy, be safe, spread love. 

Project Runway All Stars Episode 2 Spoilers Below

Did you happen to watch this week's episode? Did you catch Isaac Mizrahi's poodle ensemble? OMG - men past their gay teens should NEVER be caught wearing a suit with a poodle applique at the pocket and a matching poodle bow tie. The next time Mr Mizrahi complains about an outfit being too much like a costume, I'm going to remember this suit. I understand that he's made a name for himself with poodle designs and also has some real life poodles, but really? Now ... on to fashion. 

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the theme this week was each challenger designing an outfit his woman would wear walking a runway in a post-apocalyptic world. Each designer had to design an outfit and also come up with a backstory for why their model would be wearing that specific item. So here we go . the best of the best and worst of the worst in no specific order.  

I liked Ari's dress - quite a lot. Her dark to
light to dark ombre was stunning and the
accompanying jacket complemented the
gown well. 

First we start with Ari. She really pushed every last minute out of the one-day challenge, making both a wonderful blow-torched-lace gown as well as an accompanying jacket. The gown was in fiery red indicating flames, the jacket in black to indicate that the flames had been suppressed. She started out with white fabric and dyed and painted all of the gown, so I was impressed with her ombre effect. Very nice. 

Merline actually did a great job with the construction
of her Basic Black Dress, but it didn't really click
as a total winner. Still, she ended up in the top
three and her construction details were sound. 

Merline placed her model in year 2180 with the dress actually being a map to "the key". What key? I haven't the vaguest idea, and I don't think the judges figured that one out either. It was remarked that Merline did a much better job of her seaming this week, obviously taking last week's judges' comments into consideration when constructing this little black dress. It was almost too simple, though. A basic little black dress brought forward in time with some interesting angles and folds. 

Stanley's color choice was called "swamp" by
Isaac Mizrahi. The other judges weren't quite as
harsh, but to me it looked as if that flame
she had gone through was too selective. 

Stanley made a multi-tiered dress in a god-awful olive/khaki color. Usually I'm all over this color palette, but this particular fabric left me cold. His 'opera caught on fire' backstory was innovative, but the judges did point out that the fire seemed to have been quite selective so they found the story a bit hard to accept. 

The letters on the back of the jacket looked like
a five-year-old had drawn them and cut them
out. If this girl was truly a fire fighter for Detroit,
I'd expect the lettering to look professional. 

Char wanted to make a futuristic fire fighter from Detroit, even going so far as to put "DET FIRE DEPT" on the back of the jacket. Unfortunately, she didn't distress enough and the jacket seemed quite "costume" (see my opening paragraph regarding Isaac Mizrahi and costumes). Although Isaac liked her pants with a train concept, Alyssa said the pants looked as if they had met a lawn mower. I suspect she didn't mean that in a good way. Georgina didn't like the design at all, so this was a miss on all counts for Char. 

I really like Kelly, but this was a miss. The top
at least had a bit of visual interest, but the bottom
was a tangled mess as it walked the runway.
The headphones helped her backstory, but
did nothing for the actual outfit. This was a miss. 

Kelly made her own bodice fabric (which I thought rather atrocious, although Isaac said it was the one redeeming part of her design). Her girl had started the apocalypse by dancing so hard that she set the world on fire. Hmmm. Remember what I said yesterday about the Devil being in the details? Here Kelly went overboard with the headphones. It was a firm "NO" from all of the judges, who felt that her time would have been better spent making a more cohesive design and outfit. 

Normally this oversized print would have been
cause for serious criticism by the judges, but Anthony
balanced that large print with the darker bodice and
his flame and smudges throughout. It was the classiest
fire-damaged gown I could have thought of. 

Anthony wanted an African look and backstory, so his model was a princess from Gambia. (Does Gambia even have princesses outside of Disney over-do? I have no idea.) His princess was attending the MET Gala when the world ended, resulting in her dress catching fire. I thought his placement of burn marks and ashes was quite strategic, and I loved the interplay of the bold print and the black tulle. Isaac called the look "distressed and fresh as a daisy". OK - whatever you say, Mr. Mizrahi. 

Who walked away from the apocalypse in style? That would be Anthony with the well deserved win for his lovely Gambian princess gown. The loser? Well, that was Kelly. I guess the headphones which received negative comments from each judge, married with a shredded look that really didn't walk down the runway effectively, sent her packing. 

There you have it. It's -9 F right now, so really effin' cold. I'm going to get bundled up and head to the pool for my swim. I suspect my reward coffee later will be extra appreciated today! Enjoy your weekend, and Go Vikings (sorry - it's the playoffs on Sunday and I have to support my hometown team). 

Good Samhain to All

It's Halloween! Late last night while watching Project Runway All Stars, I decided I would dress up for work today. So I'm sitting here wearing my old Minnesota North Stars jersey and I'll grab my hockey hat that has pins from all of the old pro teams as well as lots of minor league teams. I'll be a hockey fan for the day. It's an easy costume for me to wear and one that I wore for every home game for years and years. My heart was broken when the North Stars were moved to Texas in 1993. *sigh*

My jersey is exactly like this one. I also have a dark sweater that I wear
on occasion. I miss my team. They left in 1993 and the Wild, although
I enjoy watching them, just aren't the same. 

I'll have trick-or-treaters coming by tonight, I always do. Usually I just get college kids from the nearby Christian university, but we have had some younger families move into the area over the past year and many of them have young kids who may also be going door to door. I suspect I won't get a lot of beading done tonight, but I have to try, deadlines wait for no holiday. But at 9:00 pm my lights will be turned off and the door will be shut to the masses.

Here's a great bunch of trick-or-treaters. I love seeing the kids. Today's cold,
though, so coats will be worn and my number of treaters will be down. 

Of course, Samhain also reminds me that NaNo begins tomorrow and I'll be hip deep in writing once again. My laptop will get a workout and, hopefully, will survive the process. I'll be posting my blog, but it will be a more hurried affair. I'll try to keep up with friend's LJ posts via my smartphone app because I miss reading all of your posts. It's a bit harder for me to comment that way, but I'll try.

I read on my phone all the time. It's my main e-reader these days. But
responding to LJ posts with it does take a bit more time than sitting
at a keyboard. Still, carrying all of this in a single hand-held device
is the closest thing to heaven I can think of. My entire library of e-books,
more than 650 of them, at my fingertips, literally. HAPPY! 

I'll just have to remind myself that the sooner I get my 50,000 words down, the sooner my life can return to 'normal'. Of course 'normal' is a relative term. I'm not sure I've truly hit that definition from day one of my life, but I never stop trying to fit in. Square hole, round peg - that's me.

A square peg in a round hole - that's me. I never quite fit in, but
I'm always willing to try. Then I give up and walk my own road
once more. That's my life...LOL. 

So as you celebrate Samhain in your own way, share goodies with kids and varied adults, and watch carefully for ghosts and ghouls, I wish you a Blessed Day and Night and a safe passage through the next 24 hours and year of your lives.

Have a Blessed Samhain as the year continues its cycle. 

Blessed Samhain and Happy Halloween to all!

Steampunk? Why Not?

While catching up on my emails this morning I happened across the cute critter I'm featuring below. He's the inspiration for today's romp through creative speculation. This wonderful guinea pig is dressed in a custom-made steampunk harness with wings. The perfect accent for his trip to the nearest guinea pig con and get-together. I had to laugh, and then I had to follow the thread to see where it might lead me. So here we go on a journey through steampunk.

Is he not adorable? The artist does custom orders because each
one needs to fit your fuzzy little critter exactly. Too cute! 

Steampunk is a mix of Victorian English-styled clothing blended with industrial overtones and mechanisms based on steam power instead of other power sources such as gasoline or solar. The style has been around for quite a few years now and has planted some deep roots. I feel like wandering through the possibilities for new costumes with all of you today.

Steampunk fashion is based on leatherwork with gears and
brass accents. My friends and I fell in love with belt-carried
tea sets, a new item at one leather purveyor at Renaissance
Fest this year. Each delicate china cup and saucer was accompanied
by a lace serviette and hung from the belt so as to be easily
accessible for 4:00 o'clock tea time.  

Many outfits feature goggles. Goggles, made from leather and brass
 (or sometimes plastic - not a good material choice) are worn on the head,
around the hat, or even actually over the eyes. Why wear goggles? All I
can think of is protection from industrial waste and air pollution. The
more important question is "What can you see through them?" To
paraphrase Howard Carter, "I can see wonderful things."  

The gears and enhancements to the lenses of each unique set of goggles allow the user to see in different ways - through dimensions, into the molecular level, beneath the surface, telescoped or microscoped. A good set of goggles can be key to an effective steampunk presentation.

Steampunk bandolier pouches are often worn across the chest or
as belts. They often have tools attached - tweezers, sewing thread,
flares, or medicine bottles, and they feature a variety of pouches.
Essentially, the steampunk bandolier is the Victorian equivalent
of Batman's utility belt. 

Here is an especially nice leather corset with the
bottom rings acting as a type of bandolier for the
pouch and bottle that are hanging loose. 

Of course, steampunk is a grand opportunity to work with leather and make something really customized and unique. Take a look at these examples of some amazing and beautiful leatherwork.

This really fabulous pouch carries the clockwork gears motif
into the leather. The back has a strap where a belt can be passed
through and the top fastens with a back snap, allowing the front
design to be unsullied. Very nice! 

I love the embellished interleaved gears stamped into this leather
top hat. The decorative lacing at the top is a nice addition as well. 

Are you a reporter in the world of steampunk? This pouch may be
for you. This is a journalist's pouch with paper and pencil along with
a lower pouch featuring a plasma disc. This is made to hang down
from a belt. 

Here's a small steampunk belt box featuring a turn
latch (I sell these and love them) and a wonderful
octopus (or Cthulu) below. Yeah! I want! 

And finally, because I'm getting closer to making myself a set of grieves, here's a steampunk take on a pair with brass, leather, and a wonderful pocket watch.

This grieve, or bracer, features a brass top, some embellished
tubing, a leather body and a chained and pouched pocket watch. A very
nice design. 

So there you have it. New outfit ideas and some wonderful examples to build from. Have a wonderful Tuesday and dream on!