Flora, not Fauna

This Christmas, I decided to make practically every gift for the people on my list. Mediums include paper, fiber, music, bathing accoutrement, PowerPoint, and alcohol. Today's post, will cover the paper flowers I've been making.

Last Christmas (eh, or the one before), the B's gave me a lovely kit from their trip to Japan - a little sleeve with tissue paper & instructions on how to make paper roses. I finally felt the urge to make some as I'm looking for holiday gifts to make. I have a drawer filled with old buttons. Some belonged to my Grandma, while others are vintage glass from the Czech Republic. And, due to my famous scavenging, I had a baggie of stamens too!

So, tra la la, I started making poppies. And lovely they are! A vase of these on your desk and *poof*, "Happiness in a glass!" I also decided to make Mock Orange flowers. These were even easier - white tissue & yellow stamens. No buttons required.

So, how does one make these Poppies? Quite simple, really.

Materials
- Floral wire ( I liked the brown papery stuff, because it gave me a thicker base to work with)
- Floral tape
- Vintage buttons (best if they have a shank, but not required)
- Stamens of choice (preferable black)
- Tissue paper (for realistic, choose, red, orange, blue, or pink)

You'll also need:
- Scissors

Instructions

Before beginning, find a poppy image you like and look at the petal shape. Use this petal as your template. You can get away with only 1 petal shape when making poppies.

Center and Stem
1. Cut two 4" - 6: lengths of floral wire
2. Using center of one length of wire, take a small bunch of stamens and wire together in center (across bundle as though you're saving them to store). Twist wire to secure and leave ends for future use.
3. Fold stamens at the wired point so that each side pokes up
4. Using center of second wire, run second wire through button hole (do not twist)
5. Lay button over top of stamen wiring and twist to secure button to stamens.
--- at this point you'll have stamens sticking out either side of the buttons, not yet in a circle round the button ---
6. Place floral wire (flower's stem) under button/stamens and twist both button and stamen wires round the floral wire to secure center of flower. Once secured, you can begin adding petals.

Petals
7. Take a sheet of tissue and fold until you end up with a 3"x3" or 2"x2" square. Folding arrangements are of no particular interest. This just helps you cut once rather than many times.
8. Using your petal shape, trace the image on the folded tissue. Make sure to leave a tail at the base of the petal to allow for attaching the petal to the stem.
9. Use either scissors, a rotary cutter, or an exacto knife to cut out the shape. The thicker the paper, the more likely your petals will turn out different.
10. Tear off a piece of floral tape about 6" - 8" long
11. Take 3-5 petals at a time and place in a circle around the stem. Make sure you do not cover the stamens. It helps for securing (step 11) if you fold the petals up as though the flower hasn't bloomed.
11. Using the floral tape, carefully wrap it around the petals to secure them to the stem. Wrap diagonally down about 1" - 2" and back up again. Make this tight and overlap the tape significantly. I prefer to wrap the entire stem as it gives the impression of continuity and a green stem.

12. If need be, take a second length of floral tape and secure petals by going over top the first floral tape.
13. Carefully peel the petals out and place to give the impression of real poppies. As you research poppies, you'll see that some petals curl around the flower, while others practically fold back toward the stem.

I hope you enjoy!

My Own Personal Snowstorm

Hello fun! I've been tracking the fun craft projects over at Craft Stylish and discovered the SnowStorm. Jeffrey Ruddell's designs are amazing and inspiring!

I'm on a "cheap and easy" kick for holiday crafting and presents. And, wonder of wonders, circular labels, dental floss, and dowels are cheap and easy!

So, I've posted my wondering creation to Craft Stylish. What do you think?

And here's the REAL snowstorm we had last night!

Dread.Full FuFu wow's the crowd at MedFest

*Update* In order to comply with copyright, I've removed the video from the blog.

Credit to Topsy Turvy Design for my rockin Madd Hatter hat!
I designed and made my belt and tossed the rest together like salad. :)

None of this dance was choreographed. I played around the entire time I was up there. Now, I did know my music like the back of my hand. So, that allowed me a lot of improvisational flexibility. My favorite way to perform - you never know what's going to be next!

Music Credit: GO BUY IT!
Rama Lama (Bang Bang), Roisin Murphy (buy through iTunes)
Wade Robson (click on dance beats - buy through iTunes)

QP Dolls @ MedFest

*UPDATE* in order to comply with copyright, I've removed the video from my blog. I will be taking stills of the video and posting them later.

Nika & FuFu co-choreographed this performance. Truly - this is what we're like in "real" life! Silly, funny, and love to catch our time (and our friend's time) in the spotlight if it makes our "audience" laugh with and at us!

What's funny about the bra/belt sets of our costumes is that we each bought them at completely different times. Mine was purchased at a Turkish Market by a friend. Whereas Nika's was purchased from the lovely and talented Saqra 3-4 years later.

Music Credit: GO BUY IT!!!
L'Ombelico Del Mondo, Jovanotti

You'll love all of Jovanotti's stuff!!!

Dr. Roger. Quite.

I love me some BBC and I love me some British Accents. ;)
This guy cracks me up!

All that aside, I'm a huge Twilight fan who has incidentally not seen the Flick.

How Doth the Little Fire Beast Mesmerize my Soul

I was invited to check out SeaComp (a mini Seattle Burning Man) with some very fun new friends. I went in costume - much like everyone else and actually felt my costume PALED in comparison to the rest of the crowd. Those of you who know me, know this is rarely if EVER the case. I am crazy. I am wild. I love costumes. And I looked plain at SeaComp. That was an experience.

It was really interesting to see how they set up the event - drinks, odd tents, dancing rooms w/ Trance type music. I was there once before for a Truth event which had a live band and was very cool too.

But, I felt out of place. Not because of costume, not because of age. Heck - there were so many men and women there in their 50's, 60's, 70's! I was shocked! No, I felt out of place because I didn't enjoy anything but hanging out w/ my friends and watching the fire. I think I've out grown the "club scene". It all seems so tired and boring. I don't care to meet people at a club and find myself un-interested in flirting. What's the point? Ho hum.

So, I hung out by the fire, watched it and took some photos. D kept throwing copper sulfate on the fire to get it to glow green or blue. It was wicked! And tossing the wood into the mouth of the beast takes LOTS of arm strength. It's definitely not like shooting hoops. The target range is much tighter and your wood bounces back at you if you hit the wrong spot. I got to experience M&D's very cool school bus and ate some yummy stew on the bus. All in all, it was a wonderful time and a great experience. Now I want a fire beast of my own!

You Spin me Right Round, Baby, Right Round!

I learned to spin yarn a couple weeks ago. This is also known as whirling. It's quite fun and relaxing. I truly don't need another hobby, but couldn't resist. I use a "drop spindle" and spin it all by hand. That's right folks, no wheel.

I was searching for some batting/roving to play with and mentioned that to mom. She said, come on by, I've got plenty! And so, I went shopping in Peg's Wildhair Studio. Well, not really in her business store, but her personal stash. And thus, I came out with... the gorgeous aqua, lime, and grape batting. I had to separate it all out, then draft (to make the final product a finer yarn). So I spent all that evening separating and drafting. I ended up with a small gift bag overflowing with roving! yay!

Over the last week and a half, I've been spinning that into yarn. And now, I'm done! The picture I captured is the day before I finished. I wanted to show the before / after of the roving to spun yarn look. I still have more to spin, a silk merino. But, it's a bit messy - makes my black pants fuzzy like I've had a kitty rubbing up against my legs. Ha!

My Teacher told me I'm a Loose Woman! (a loose knitter that is)

Look out, Loose Woman!

So, I'm taking this "Toe Up Sock" class at my LYS. We were to make a swatch simulating "in the round" by carrying the yarn round rather than turning and knitting or turning and purling. So, I got my 40" #2 (3MM) and knit my swatch before arriving to class.

Well, Mom has been telling me, "Oh that's ok, you're a tight knitter anyway!" when we talk about our sock class (we're taking it together). And I keep thinking, "Huh?!" Must be how I knit when I was learning how to knit from her. I've lived far from home until recently. So, we haven't had many chances to knit together.

Well, we get to class and the lovely teacher says, "Oh my, this is quite loose - we'll have to go down at least a needle size." I'm thinking, "Wha?" A 2 is already small - can you fathom holding something that's 3mm in diameter? Well, imagine being told you must go to a smaller diameter. They put me on a #0! That's 2MM. It's like holding twigs! Smaller even!

And - even at that small of a needle size with a DK yarn (Sock Duet DeKay) my gauge is still larger than Mom's and the other ladies in class! They're thinking I shouldn't work with fingering weight for socks as it probably won't be tight enough for comfortable wear. Wow! Little did I know, I'm a Loose Woman! Shall I start a "Loose Women" group on Ravelry now? Hee hee!

Upcoming Performance // --> Puyallup Fair <--

Attention!

Who: Raks Sehr al Shamal, Alahad Shamal, and Nika + FuFu
What: Belly Dance Perfomance
When: Friday September 19th @ 7:30 PM
Where: Puyallup Fair, Education Building

Definite entertainment!
And something different than all that Fair phoey! ;) Well, except the exciting corn dogs. Yum!

Rose Tomato Explosion

My Garden is just growing like madd! It's very very happy. I've had green tomatoes for the last several weeks. Now my heirloom beauties are bursting with color.

My lettuce has gone to seed and I'm attempting to save seeds for next year. All 7 kinds made for a delicious crop.

Somewhere buried are the bullseye beets. I've not had those before. I'll let you know how they taste.



The Roses (all 12) have bloomed 6 times this summer thanks to my repeated pruning. They're very happy, but all have the spotty rotty thing going on - the leaves turn yellow with black spots then drop off. It's sad. I'll see what I can do to catch it next year - I've been trying to keep the leaves out of the beds - that's supposed to help.

Dawgs Dragin Tail

I was invited to the UW vs. BYU game last Saturday. Mostly, the game was fun. My coworker and I had fun chatting, I crocheted a bit on my Cecilia Chemise, but dawg gone if the Husky receivers were not holding up their end of the bargain in this game.

There were moments when the team had it together. And Jake Locker has quite the arm on him. Honestly, he made it look easy. But the receivers, Ugh! Either they just had butter fingers most of the game or the BYU offensive line was just THAT good. It hurt to watch them after going through my era of Huskie football with names like Huard, Looker, and the older Tui. Yeah, Looker may not have been as famous as the other two, but they make my hometown famous, so I gotta give them props.

We decided to wander back up through campus before driving home. So, I showed my coworker the vista designed around Mt. Rainier. (look at the photos) And we were surrounded by BYU fans the entire walk back. Who knew so many would be there? Do they reside in WA? Or did most of them travel for the game?

Being back on campus brought back such nostalgic feelings. I miss school. I miss the city. Keep your fingers crossed for me... I've applied to go back nights.

Kayak through the lilly pads....

M & I went out Kayaking yesterday morning. We waited in quite a line, say 20 min or so.
We spent 2 hours on the water. We kayaked from Portage Bay, through the Montlake Cut, and all through the Arboretum. It was really lovely, some spots of the waterways were quite shallow.

Now here's the bit of beauty. I ROCKED this trip - I've got serious power on the water in a sea kayak.

I've not been terribly active as I was through college (in those days I did overnight kayak camping on Blake Island and the like). When I moved to Detroit in 2001, my extensive outdoor activities came to a screaching hault. UGH - the weather there was nasty both summer and winter. I was totally out of my element. When I moved to the 'ham, my activity picked up a bit - regular hikes, cycling, but no kayaking. Recently I've been swimming once or twice a week plus a bit of walking. Nothing strenuous.

Now M on the other hand is quite the avid swimmer. She races and has been on several teams. In my opinion, she's in significantly better shape than I am.

Guess what!? I kicked her butt! I wasn't even pulling hard and I had to constantly stop and wait to make sure she didn't get left behind or slapped up against the walls of the cut (I'm very protective of my friends). Don't get me wrong, this girl can definitely hold her own - 1/4 Iron Man, Danskin Tri, and Marathons. But, for me, little ol me, to be able to do something athletic (non-dance) so easily and effectively was thrilling and amazing to me! I've got to do more kayaking. I think I'll start checking out more rental places and maybe some day trips to finish out the season.

I'm feeling like a million bucks now!

Geek Band - BBQ 2008

"And the band played, songs that we had never heard, but we danced anyway..." - Deana Carter

The ITD band performed on Thursday for our annual barbecue. We enjoyed ourselves and made a few goofs, but all in all, everyone enjoyed the performance. In case you didn't know, I'm the lead singer. We just added 2 new members between our U. Way performances and the BBQ. We now have the most ROCKIN drummer and an amazing keyboard/pianist. We tackled some very challenging songs - heavy guitar parts, leading bass, blues, country, folk - we tried to reach a little slice of everyone's musical tastes.

Sadly though, our recording is less than stellar. We had fantastic equipment, but the recording was last minute. So, please forgive us for the low quality. But, we hope you enjoy.

Set List:

Set 1---
1. Keep Your Hands To Yourself (not recorded)
2. Little Green Bag (not recorded)
3. How Sweet It Is (not recorded)
4. Stuck In The Middle (not recorded)
5. Safety In Numbers
6. House Is Rockin
And here's the video for Set 1:


Set 2 --
1. Brown Eyed Girl


2. Closer To Fine


3. Crusin


4. Poison Ivy


5. Hound Dog


6. East Bound and Down

Millions of Peaches... and Nectarines

Cooking - yes, more. But the YUMMY kind.

So, over the past several years, I've stated many times that I do not enjoy cooking for myself. Well, I'm now eating my words - and my delightful kitchen experiments. Something in me has changed. I've finally relaxed enough to enjoy my own company. I still don't enjoy cleaning or doing the dishes. I had been avoiding the kitchen, keeping it messy on purpose. I'd have no reason to cook for myself if it was a mess cause I wouldn't want to go in there. Well, it's still a little bit of a mess.

On to the Peaches (and Nectarines). A couple weeks ago I discovered all the Nectarines I brought back from east of the mountains were NOT ripening. And, on top of that, I had LOTS of them. So, I cut them up, pan fried them with some juice or jam or something. I wrote down the recipe, but don't have it handy. Well- that was the beginning of my love affair with grilled Nectarines.

Tonight, after grilling my chicken and fresh green beans, I decided to grill a peach and a nectarine. Below is the experiment and ingredients. While I used it as a dessert, you could also use this as a Sunday morning brunch idea. It would definitely add to the Stonewall Kitchens Gingerbread Pancake mix - not sweet but super yum!

Double Vanilla Maple Pear grilled Peaches

1 Nectarine*
1 Peach*
2 Tbsp Ikea Vanilla Sauce (ja!, Ikea)
2 Tbsp Stonewall Kitchen Maple Vanilla Pear Butter (use this on your pancakes and you won't go back to maple syrup!)
1 Pinch Cinnamon
1 Smidge Cardamom (use sparingly)
1 Dash Freshly Grated Nutmeg (get the grater that looks like a UFO - it's the BEST!)
1 Pinch ground cloves

Cut fruit in half. Place on grill (if done after cooking meat it will often take on the flavor of the meat - I like this!)
Grill for say 5 min or so. Keep an eye on it - the more ripe the fruit, the lower the cooking time. (I put mine on tinfoil on the grill and they still stuck to the foil - a wee bit of butter would have done wonders)
Put the grilled fruit on a plate. Drizzle w/ Ikea Vanilla Sauce. Place a small dollop of the Maple Vanilla Pear Butter on each fruit half. Evenly disperse the spices over each fruit.
Serves 1 hungry person or 2 mostly full and sated, but dessert needing people. Enjoy!

Note: all measurements are approximations
* Fruit may be used at any ripeness point - grill longer if it's less ripe & be sure to test along the way

"And She Had Stars In Her Eyes...

... As She Bid Him Adieu!"

I had an "art date" with a fellow artist friend of mine. When I arrived, her husband, an amazing baker, made us dinner - burgers with mozz, tomatoes, and home-grown basil. Delish! Then, as I discovered, my friend is quite hooked on the Olympics and has been catching them at her neighbors place. So, we caught a few olympic swim races - Mens 1500 and Mens 400 IM Relay. Wow! Way to go boyz! Honestly, I'm super glad Tunisia won the 1500 and super psyched about the US winning the 400 IM relay. Phelps was AMAZING!

But, I digress from the art at hand. When we got down to the business of arting, I was introduced to her studio/her husband's gaming space. They have decided not to "paint" the room (new house to them and they're working wonders as the make improvements). As such, they've offered each of their honored guests an opportunity to draw or write on their wall. So, I snagged a pencil and was searching the walls for inspiration and the "right" location.



Turns out, I was inspired by her Shakspearian quote. I sketched this lady peaking out from the words bidding each person farewell as they depart the door of the room. And, as I was divinely inspired, I wrote about the stars I drew in her eyes. My friend gave the final word approval as Adieu doesn't translate from French to English with the same finality as Farewell. As such, the woman I drew is "giving a parting gift to the man she's so much in love with, yet knows she will merry meet him once again!"

PDA - Public Display of Art

I've taken to sketching in public. It's really fun to get "lost" in the crowd. Yesterday I was at "the Mall" getting some style back into my recently lifeless hair. And, I decided to go for food at N-Cafe. Always a good choice.

So, I've been working on the seductress look in my sketches lately. And my recent inspiration is slightly bored, letting her cig slowly burn down while she waits for you to make your move. *Sigh* I'm working on some really silky looking hair. And covering one eye is a MUST.

The waitress was a doll! She admired my sketches and promptly asked me to sketch her. I learned that she's talented in crochet while her sister makes amazing jewelry. While I don't feel ready to sketch someone in front of me, I'm happy to sketch for someone. As a parting gift, I drew on the "thanks" card given at the close of every sale. If you look at the smaller sketch in the image to the right, you'll see the hair style/face view mimicks the "Cigarette Seductress". I'm totally having fun with it!

Squash Blossoms from a *VERY* Happy Garden

Tonight I feasted on veg from my garden. I've 4 different types of tomatoes, volunteer pumpkins, lettuce, kale, and beets. The pumpkin plants began when I left a rotting pumpkin in the flowerbed and didn't get all the seeds. Cowabunga! My whole garden has gone BONKERS. Tomatoes are 7' tall AFTER pruning. The squash patch has completely covered my walkway and has grown to a 6' radius. I'm still getting lettuce - in August!


My striped tomatoes are the first to produce (seen in the photo). They are amazingly full of flavor and ever so slightly salty! Very satisfying. I bought all my tomato plants at Whole Foods as 6" starts. Heirloom variety. I'm saving these seeds!


So tonight I made up a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms:
1 pkg chopped Prosciutto
1/4 # blue cheese
A dash of maple yogurt (brown cow of course)
A bit of left over jam (mint, kumquat, and raisin)
1/4 cup of cream cheese
1 box of onion ring batter
Several Squash blossoms (preference)

Except the Squash Blossoms, Mix it all together in a bowl.
Put it in the fridge for an hour to "marinate".
Stuff the blossoms and place on a cookie sheet.
Follow the instructions on the onion ring batter and dip the stuffed blossoms into the batter.
Ever so lightly fry in a deep pan of olive oil. I prefer to keep the oil shallow.

*Note* I used 8 squash blossoms because that's all that was available on my vine. I had enough stuff left over to make 32 blossoms. I think next time I'd add shredded zucchini and carrots to the recipe. It was a wee bit salty - could also use a little more sweetness.

I'm the QUEEN of dash and bit - especially when it comes to filling in the gap in a recipe or tossing in the "last bit" of something from the fridge. Experiment. You may discover something amazing!

Hot Rod a Rama 2008

Clockwise, starting w/ top L: Larry's rig pre paints/ink, pin-up inspired by my hair-do & amazing car @ the show, T&A all at once pre-water/ink, Dave's gasser inspired by Dave's posing!

Hot-Rod-a-Rama was even better this year than last! I spent the entire week+ before the show making 5 shirts (2 for B(an)3 and 3 for me). It was rather cold on Friday and I just ended up wearing my cute.a.full psycho 60's skirt w/ Grandma's tatted lace. B(an)3 went nuts over her shirt and wore it Fri & Sat. It fit amazingly! Way to go Amy Butler - I'm now a convert to her patterns. Saturday I wore my cirque sweater, flowers & aminal print (yes, I know I wrote aminal), with my skulls and flames princess seamed tank beneath. Unfortunately I got so jazzed about photographing the cars for future inspiration that my camera battery puked before I got any photos of my outfits.

But, Saturday I picked up my pencil and A2's and went to town sketching. I ended up meeting some interesting guys - got to ride/drive some cool cars and had PLENTY of amazing inspiration. My hat's off to everyone who worked so hard to build/mod/create their cars for this show. I'm inspired. There is SO much creativity invested and these folks have such artistic eyes. WoW!

This weekend there are a couple fun things happening - Lifter's is putting on South Tacoma Alley Rally and also the Seattle Tattoo Expo. I may be attending both. I've never been to a tattoo convention and have recently been very inspired by tattoos. Yes, for the first time in my LIFE, I have considered getting many different tattoos. This, my friends, is a first. We'll see if I still want one a year from now. It'd be very cool to do some for dance - you know, undulations and all.

Then, in a couple more weeks the IT geek band will be performing for the annual BBQ. We've got a set of 12 covers - my fav being the Big Momma Thornton version of Hound Dog. So, now I must come up with a costume of a sort, being the lead singer and all. Plus, for our U.Way performance I dressed as a Bond Girl (yeah, I'd just transferred to the division and within a week was performing in the band - shy, me?). I'll be recording the performance w/ my camera and plan to see if anyone else has a good video recording equip.

Oh yes kids - it is a BUSY summer! Did I mention I'm also growing a veggie garden with 6-8' tall tomatoes and mass amounts of pumpkins for fall? Never dull, never dull.

Good Guys 2008

Inspired by the tail end of an Impala Wagon, I sketched this lovely backside while crusin' shotgun in a Chopped & Tubbed '71 Datsun w/ a 350. She's no one in particular - just a figment of my crazy imagination. One of the best experiences I've ever had at a car show ... Us 2 chicks, her driving & me ridin' (my friends hubby let us roll in his truck). Awesome!

Now I just need to figure out what kind of hot rod I want to buy. :) They're so ... there aren't even words. I found many that would be perfect for me... The only deal is that I see a car as an extension of my personality. And, since I'm so eclectic, how the heck to I pick a hot-rod?!

Flash Back to Cornucopia Days

Flash back with me to the weekend of July 11th and 12th. Kent annually holds Cornucopia days and Saqra's Studio performs 3 shows between Friday and Saturday evening. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Alahad Shamal troupe performances, the QP Dolls (Nika & FuFu) duet, and have 2 opportunities to solo. It was fabulous!

The crowds really got into the performances and joined in the fun clapping and learning how to Zaghareet. Above is a photo of my first Solo performance. I mixed 3 Wade Robson songs together - had to have "Power" for the exaggerated breathing moment.


We QP Dolls, Nika (in pink) & FuFu (in red) choreographed and performed our duet to "L'ombellico del Mondo" by Jovanotti, a most amazing Italian rapper! The song title translates into "The navel of the world". I mean, how totally appropriate for 2 Belly Dancers.

For those who haven't been entertained by the QP's, it's all about who can outshine the other! We are a slapstick comedy, maybe slapbelly ;) is a better term, routine while still executing amazing bellydance moves. As you can see from our photo on the left, Nika is showing how wonderful she is, while I look on with that, "Oh you!" expression. We very much enjoy performing and making our audience laugh!

And Shakira's Envy (our affectionate name for the number) was performed with any interested students from Saqra's studio as well as both of Saqra's troupes. It's a fun bellytechno number that really gets you pumped to dance. And Saqra's choreography is always fun - plenty of hip snaps into turns. Saqra is a wonderful teacher who entertains and explains the history of the moves/dance as she teaches you. I highly recommend taking classes or workshops from her! Check out her page at www.saqra.net

FuFu Love MedFest!

MedFest was a SUCCESS! Thanks to everyone who visited the Wildhair Studio booth. My table was filled with dreads, art, and fabulous fashion. If you're still dreaming about one of my creations, hop on over to my Etsy store and pick one up.

Update on Somethingdreadfull.etsy.com:
I've decided to pursue my artwork fully which means I won't be creating fashion to sell for a while. Dreads will be available by custom order only. Please see my store policies for further detail.

Performances at MedFest were absolutely amazing! I was inspired by so many men and women. I give thanks to the Gods for blessing us all with the ability to tell our story through our dance. Keep dreaming, dancing, and inspiring. Let us ebb and flow with one another and unify through dance.

I gave 3 performances at MedFest. First, as a QP Doll with Nika. Second as a member of Saqra's amazing school of dance, and finally as me self, Dread.Full FuFu. Nika & I kicked off the thrills and excitement of Medfest on Saturday morning with our slapstick routine of "who can outshine the other."

Later that afternoon, I was fortunate to be part of the Student performance of Shakira's Envy. Such talent and support. Troupies and Students alike. I am very lucky to dance next to any one of those women.

Finally, on Sunday I boldly, though a bit nervously, entertained the crowd with my rendition of Belly-robo-Hip-Hop. I changed my music Saturday Evening. Yes, I downloaded 3 brand new songs! I listened to the music about 10 times and danced around my house to the tunes with my hat on. Then, I played with mixing up a couple songs. See, to me, the music, costume, and my character all have to feel like they fit together.

I always have a back-up plan. For my solo, I had a 2nd CD with previously performed to music, just in case I had that knowing feeling, "this is not the right time" or "Dance to your known set". Always, always, always, trust yourself! I knew my new music was right on when I kept singing it all day. On top of that, I had beautiful visions of how my performance would be to the new song. "All systems, Go!"



I dressed in my Madd Hattress hat custom designed by Topsy Turvy and a wild array of bits and pieces from my costume closet. I caught the cat "mini-roar" right on time and caused the crowd to laugh! I know I'm doing my best when the audience is enthralled and engaged in my performance. I want to bring you up and shock the heck out of you!

In all my creative pursuits, I'm constantly looking for new ways to re-invent myself. I want to paint the world with my joy and bring something fresh and tantalizingly twisted. I find that following my joy, feeling my music, and dancing daily (even if only going crazy in front of the bathroom mirror) help me feel comfortable in my own skin and at peace with my soul.

Delinquent Darling!

Hello - it's been FOREVER!

Why you ask?

One of my cats was SO mad at me for not spending more time with her... (yes, cats have personalities and express their anger) that she pissed on my purse while it was on the counter. I did not discover this wonder of wonders until I had gotten in my car. While driving down the road, I reached for my cell phone and ... disgusting!

Result - I lost my purse, camera, nearly lost my iPod, and lucked out that both my personal and work cell weren't severly damaged. So, now I had the fun of being able to pick out a new camera. I'm trying the Nikon CoolPix, but the LCD is SO grainy! I'm not really happy with it. So, I'll be returning to the big C. I'm going back to Canon's. Photo quality is MUCH better. Plus, with trying to capture photos for ETSY and such, It's got to take better low light quality photos.

So, what's the haps?

Sewing:

Costumes for Alahad Shamal and my duet with Nika (6/7 @ the Moonraker).

Plus working on Bananan's T-cardi from a Lucky 13T.

Cleaning out the studio: getting rid of old fabrics and junk. Trying to get my cutting table set up (right height and shape)

Dancing: Alahad Shamal performed last Saturday at the Library and it was a HOOT!

6/7 = Nika & FuFu debut at the Moonraker

Mid July = Kent Cornucopia days

Late July = Med Fest.

Be sure to stop by at Med Fest - the Pirate Queens of Wild Hair Studio will be there again this year with some WONDERFUL new pieces (see the pic above) - jewels tribal and caberet, vintage pieces, dreads, and much more!

Drawing: Working on an Alice in Wonderland themed party invitation for my 30th. Been looking into places to scan and print my artwork so I can sell it on ETSY! Yahoo! Anyone know about copywriting your art?

Le Jardin: Tomatoes, 7 different kinds of Lettuce, Beets, Radish, Garlic, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas, Zucchini... the list goes on. Picked some of my irises and have thoroughly enjoyed hanging laundry out to dry. *sigh* It's so peaceful to enjoy the outdoors and watch my linens blow in the afternoon breezes!

Hope to have some photos soon! After the camera exchange.

Lucky Leprechaun Fascination

One of the many gifts I made to give as a Lucky Leprechaun (think Secret Santa) was a fascinator. I've never made any hats and just made this one up. I just love the way it turned out.

Then, to keep it secret and funny, I asked one of the guys I work with to deliver it for me! The photo of him below was caught just after he did the leprechaun click of the heels in the air! Twas quite entertaining. Monday (after a week of giving gifts) we reveal ourselves. Can't wait!

Riding the Bull Results in the Latest Gwen-ism

Hit up the Seattle Roadster show this weekend. The reason I like to go is, like "S" said, for the paint jobs. Most inspiring. But, I must admit, that hot rods are truly my favorites. Rough -around-the-edges, take-no-prisoners, The-F*ck-I-will, smell-my-burned-rubber, plug-your-damn-ears-cause- I-drive-a-RAT-ROD-and- I'm-cooler-than-you-and-all-the- money-you-just-dumped-in- your-fancy-dancy-stock-esque-car types.




Then, at the end of the show (after I ran into an old friend from High School) I rode the bull, which was set up in back on the top floor. After Bananan said she couldn't ride cause of a moving injury, and I asked her, "Do you want ME to ride the bull?" Her face lit up like 4th of July & I just couldn't turn her down. Pay attention for the latest "Gwen-ism" and note Bananan's entertaining narration.

A Rootin Tootin Halloween: Wild Wild West Style

So, the trio of us decided to do it up one more time. For 2007 Halloween, we dressed as a Wild West crew. Trog the Sheriff, Bananan the madam, and me the saloon girl (dance hall).

We each made our costumes, though T&B had help from the wonderful mothers. T's vest is a recycle from their wedding . B's dress was completely made from scratch. I recycled the corset from my pirate costume, but gussied it WAY up. Then, I added one of my sexy aprons of a matching fabric with (of course) FRINGE. Then, I made this fabulous Victorian butterfly bustle. I took a pair of girdle style shorts and added sassy bits of spider-web-like stretch lace from my favorite, Nancy's Sewing Basket. Top it off with a boa, a wool hat I turned Gibson-girl with ostrich feathers from Costume and display and voila!

As the Wheel Turns - Avon Knocks at your Door

I wanted to show the progress of one of my drawings. This one started merely as a gesture. Tilt of the head, hand on the hip. But, she's hiding something behind her back. So, being the saucy sassy that I am, it had to do something with lipstick. She's sporting an arsenal of lipstick, ready for pucker power at any moment. She's armed by Avon itself. Watch out, it may not be lipstick in the tube..................