Sunday, October 30, 2011

Refitting memorabilia and sentimental artifacts

Halloween,my favorite time of year and yet one I haven't gone too all out for because I am either sick or working these days.Because of that cramp in my lifestyle, I allowed it to kneecap my creativity for costuming for the event. Not this year,irregardless of whether I can get to a party or not I will make my killer Halloween costume; this one demonstrated by the action figure.

I have always wanted to make this but put it off because of the amount of wool it would take to make the riding coat, in addition to the cost of the pattern itself. I battle with my budget,my paycheck balances,and my student loans and I go through enough Chap Stick being on the phone putting off the inevitable that I get burned out and won' t want to anything for another day--until,that is,fall comes around and my favorite time of year kicks off. Then I get resentful that I can't do anything for whatever reason that comes up.But with that,comes inspiration.

Once upon a time I liked to go to the occasional festival or renaissance faire,and one of the first purchases I make was a wool cloak with a capelet.When I got this, it was around Beltane or May 1st thereabouts, and it was my workhorse in the travel wardrobe; the heavy black coating felt with the red lining kept me warm and comfortable under the stars and in tents. The cloak make it out to a number of festivals before I hung it up pretty much for good a few years ago. I would always look at it and relive the fond memories that were created when I had it with me. An opportunity last year for a pirate Easter weekend brought it out again, here it is:

The cloak reaches the floor,the felt hat had it's band removed that weekend so I could wear it in relative comfort (too bad the band couldn't be saved)and it held up even when it snowed outside Easter morning.A great event,then back in the box it went until now.

I think I have reached a point that I am no longer afraid of gutting my faire garb for stuff like a Halloween costume,my attachments to my clothes now seem ridiculous in hindsight since I had my fun and there is no reason to keep a souvenir if the item's going to be burdensome.That is a liberating feeling, and that frees me up to take advantage what I have on hand without second-guessing my decisions. If I do,oops in small letters and not the insane font size and characters.

Right now the lining is off of the cloak and the capelet, the hood is now off, and I put together a multi-layered capelet to fluff up the neck a bit

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

When I least expect it, change

Lately, I have been doing a ginormous clearout of stuff left behind and my own assessment of what is crap or not; I was slightly shocked at how I can now trash things I thought were precious artifacts,including pictures of past crushes that I kept around as ideals of what I wanted to look for.Apparently, my capacity for "fuck it" got large recently, and I've been unceremoniously cramming as much as I can into the bags to be ready for tomorrow's pickup. I have a distinct feeling I won't be missing anything I pitched, but it's still weird to me how my values changed without my realizing that they had. Starting tomorrow, I return to the land of Orange kitty loving for a month and I can use the downtime while I'm there to figure out where I am going next especially regarding fabrication and building structures.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Getting focused, again

I have started underway with The Body Eclectic and so far so good; I figure posting on Sundays will be giving me a week to put together a doc and pictures. Looking forward to the one for next week, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth *grins*

I am beginning to enjoy the pursuit of happiness, rather than the give thanks when I happen to step in it. For too long I've ignored myself and my inner needs because,well I can't afford to stop what I'm doing and find that life is too temporary for me to hold on or establish anything long-term. Funny, as a kid and pushing through my teens all I wanted was a happily-ever-after; I miss her and her Gunne Sax daydreams.

Right now I am enjoying barbecue from earlier today and smiling at the single dollar I found on my way to the bus; if there is a ritual that I can use this to give me better money mojo I would be glad to hear it!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Land of Odd getting a reuse

A recent moment of epiphany has inspired me to refit the Land of Odd for any and all projects and inquiries I meander onto.These days I am doing a lot more reusing of resources I have on hand to make things I would end up buying and never using.

After rediscovering Your Money Or Your Life ( ), I am pretty confident that I can keep track of my progress in a manner that will be sustaining through either matter of habit or input from others. Because of this last part, I will take this outside and share on Facebook so,with luck, I can get outside information I might not otherwise find readily.

Primarily, this will be my in-progress "report" on stuff I find neat and want to share, including cool fabric uses customers at my job hip me to.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

2011,finally

I subscribe to blogs but rarely write, so much happens that is fluid-like that the thoughts and emotions go away like volatiles from snow roses. When I am better organized, I hope to have an easier way to post rather than try to reassemble after the fact.Suffice to say, this year is off to a good start: the countdown towards a smaller household ends on the 19th,a trip to Seattle for the Steampunk Exhibition Ball and a run through the EMP,and with luck a trip to Toronto in May. In the meantime, a bunch of creating is keeping me in inspiration and going for better. Below is a fine example:





This was to initially be a collar for a dress, but the more I played with it the more things revealed as possibilities. A coworker pointed out that it would make a great fishtail trim on a skirt, an off-to-the-side cocktail hat, a beautiful rosette for a vase, and all from a gorgeous piece of feather trim I was given by my hero/ role model from work. This woman has helped me see my capability in making beautiful things, more than I could ever believe myself doing--maybe it is because I find the process of value I can't appreciate my final results ( that will change. By the time of the Ball, I will have more to post`and share.