Halloween Special at the Meat Market

Looks like a good time to stock up on evil vampire stakes ~ only 66 cents!

Happy Halloween ~ Have a Devilish Day!

{German devil found here}

{vintage style spun cotton devil found here}

{German Krampus found here}

{Vintage embossed paper devil with paper inserts from ?}

{the real thing from here}

Happy Birthday Dad!

I just had to post about these great Halloween portraits ~ I gave these to my Dad for his birthday October 28th ~ he has always loved Halloween and I thought he would have fun creeping out the grandchildren with them. I mentioned these in an earlier post, but then I hadn't found the frames then ~ I was so happy with the results, I had to share again!

{haunted vintage photos for extra creepy Halloween decor}

Upcoming Events ~ Kyrie Foundation Benefit

{Poster design/illustration by Tuesday Schmidt}

Make sure to mark Thursday nite, November 6th on your calendar! Metamorphosis 2008 is a silent art + gift auction to benefit the Kyrie Foundation ~ a new & nonprofit raising research funds to fight pediatric brain cancer. It sounds like it will be a great time ~ great food & drink, a silent art + gift auction, and a live band along with an opportunity to contribute to this cause. Read all about it and buy your tickets here. My friend Megan Thome is the force behind this event and the Kyrie Foundation ~ read her story here. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming Events ~ Crafty Chicks Show

If you are in the Kansas City area on November 1st, make sure to drop by and shop the Crafty Chicks Show ~ a great place to start your holiday shopping as there will be a wonderful variety of unique handmade gifts to choose from. You can find out more about the show and its participants here. For a preview of some of what I will be selling, visit my etsy shop here. Make sure to stop by my table and say hi!

Back Home!

{image found here}

Wish I could say I have been away on vacation to the New Jersey shore ~ but no ~ I have been away on a meeting filled business trip to New Jersey instead! Only a couple of days away, but I feel kind of wiped out ~ all day meetings and air travel do that to me.

We did manage to sneak in a nice meal in NYC ~ wonderful food in a cozy atmosphere at The Mermaid Inn ~ try it out if you are in the East Village.

Ferry Staverman ~ Paper Artist

Wow ~ aren't these works beautiful?! Dutch artist Ferry Staverman's work has been popping up on many different blogs ~ I can't remember where I saw it first. I love the combination of symmetry, use of color, and simple materials. The resulting object is so elegant ~ whether alone or in a group. Reminds me a little of some of Karl Blossfeld's work.

{all images via ferry staverman}

Lovely Stores ~ Tombees du Camion

{store front and interior}

After visiting the Tombees du Camion website, I feel a desperate need to visit the brick and mortar shop ~ guess I better start planning a trip to France! For now, I will have to console myself with a peek here and there ~ it does look like one could order via email ~ the shop photos lead me to believe there is much more there than on the website ~ maybe they will continue to add more as time goes on ~ I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Look at this great stuff ~ a store of my dreams! I wonder how they can bear to part with it?! I love the way they have displayed the items ~ whether in a type tray or in the wonderful vignettes above. Looks like there is something for everyone! On their site, if you hover over the different objects, a close up appears, along with pricing and information about the object ~ I've shown a few closeups below.

{all images via Tombees du Camion}

As I do not speak or read French, I looked up what Tombees du Camion means ~ all I could come up with was "tombees of the truck" ~ anyone know what "tombees" means?

Paint the Town Red!

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday and the election. Almost the weekend ~ enjoy it!

{political illustration from 1885 via vintagraph}

Fixer Upper?

Love the dilapidated worn look of this wonderful huge birdhouse! Looks like a great place to raise a family ~ although winter might get kind of nippy! Spied this at the fall Antiques on the Common ~ I saw many things I admired, but have no room for, so a photo will have to do.

Household Necessity?!

Doesn't everyone need one of these? This must have been a very important tool since it appears as if it would take hours to make one! I saw this handmade harrow at Antiques on the Common ~ quite a unique piece ~ I was drawn to the subtle colors and textures ~ just beautiful in its simplicity.

Wouldn't it make a great wallcovering?! Or maybe a giant back scratcher?!

{Interesting info ~ I would never have known what this was for without this sign!}

{side and closeup views}

Beautiful Quilts

It is taking me a while to catch up with all the photos I have taken at recent antique shows ~ too many things on my plate right now! Below are some quilts I admired at the autumn Antiques on the Common show in Greenwood, Missouri several weekends ago. My photos don't do the quilts justice ~ for some reason the color never seems to match what I see.

{lovely crazy quilt}

{colorful log cabin quilt}

{my favorite ~ beautiful subtle colors in log cabin pattern}

{contemporary flower quilt}

Crafty Chicks Show ~ November 1st

Next up on my long list of things to do is work for the upcoming Crafty Chicks show! Read all about it and get a preview of the artist's wares here. Below is a shot of some brooches from my display last year ~ I hope to have new brooches, bracelets, scarves, and jewelry this year in addition to new Dandy Dog Accessories! For those of you in the Kansas City area, please stop by ~ otherwise, please visit my etsy store instead ~ I will be adding to it in the near future. Time to get to work!

Sneak Peek ~ Crocheted Rug

Much of my stress is self imposed ~ I tend to take on way too much! I just finished up a project for Crochet Today magazine ~ the rug below. Their editor had seen the rug I did for a DIY contest on designsponge ~ you can see it here.

In this case, Crochet Today selected and supplied me with the yarn ~ I worked out several options and the one below was chosen to complete. I am pleased with the end result even though it took me much longer than I anticipated ~ the crochet part wasn't that time consuming ~ it was sewing it together and stitching in the ends! I wish I would have had time to get some better photos ~ but these were all I managed before I had to ship it off ~ hopefully the magazine will do a better job! The rug along with the pattern will be featured in the January/February 09 issue ~ a good project for the winter months!

{the finished project}

{Sprocket wasted no time testing it out}

Feeling Stressed?

{photo via Kent Vogel}

I don't know about you, but lately I have been feeling pretty stressed out ~ work, the economy, my pathetic 401K withering away. Thursday night I was doing my usual ~ catching up on email, trolling the internet, working on a crochet project ~ while watching/listening to tv. PBS had a program on stress that seemed like it might be interesting, so I turned from my usual mindless choices and tuned in. Glad I did ~ it was quite enlightening.

I have always thought that the higher up the corporate ladder, the higher the stress level(because of the responsibility) ~ thus the higher salary. Turns out, that isn't necessarily true ~ it has more to do with dominance and submissiveness. When it comes to stress, apparently baboons are very similar to humans ~ read all about it here. Especially interesting to see what happened to the Keekerok troop ~ I wonder how that could possibly be translated to humans?!

Some help for the stressed: 10 Best Stress Busters. Guess I better get started!

Ghastly masks

When I was looking for some mask inspiration I came upon this photo ~ really creepy! Unfortunately there was no information with the photo, so all I can surmise is that it was taken during wartime ~ looks like a large group of children wearing gas masks ~ maybe a youth group of sorts? Notice that everyone is dressed in what looks to be a school uniform ~ except the troop leaders. Odd and disturbing, but mesmerizing.... almost looks like a parade ~ but why would they be celebrating?

{photo found here}