I can't stop watching this...

enchanting work of choreography and song! Enjoy! xo

miss ruby sue

I can't get over how fantastic the accessories by miss ruby sue are in the latest small magazine! And I just read that she and Flora Bond are BFF! Their influence on one another really shows...and I think I might need to incorporate some of those fabric flowers in my wreaths! Xo

Hope for Spring

Giddy Up Girl

Weathering Heights

Juliette Petite

Countess Daphne

Dana Carlson

Head over heels this morning for these incredible paintings by Dana Carlson. I only wish I could see them in person to take in all the different materials she's used. In her statement she alludes to her mark-making process as running a "on a continuum from painterly 'fine-art' marks to dorkus majoris marks." I think that is the best thing I've read all year. {website}. This kitty-rific post is for you, Cuyler! xo

Corsage
42" × 38" 2008
mixed media on canvas

Brocade Vacation
32" × 34" 2007
embroidery, applique, beadwork and paint on brocade

Maroon Grazing
25" × 24" 2008
embroidery, applique, beadwork and paint

Cat with Checkered Bouquet
22" × 18" 2007
embroidery, beadwork, applique and paint on brocade

The Cat Who Dreamed of Being a Horse
34" × 30" 2007
mixed media on canvas

Far Out
39" × 45" 2008
embroidery, applique, beadwork and paint

Laissez les bons temps rouler...

Happy Fat Tuesday! I found these fantastic candid photos of Mardi Gras from 33-RPM on Flickr. The collection was taken by her mother on her Brownie camera when she lived in New Orleans in 1957. View the entire set here. Now which of my vices will it be this Lenten season? xo

Dana Milton...(ob)literati

I am drawn to so many qualities of the beautifully odd and painstakingly crafted works of art by Dana Milton. Her series- (ob)literati- found and manipulated sculptures focus on her thoughts about the nature of obsessiveness... The repetitive nature of obsessiveness obliterates meaning and intention. The object of obsession becomes the beloved - be it a word, a person, a place, a drug, a thought...
...The pathways of obsession lead into tighter and tighter circles until the self disappears and only the art remains. I am most interested in transforming the ordinary into the beautiful through obsessive acts in which I strive to understand the fine line and inherent fragility between the beholden and the beloved. -Dana Milton (read the entire statement here)
Many are mounted on Victorian era terrarium boxes...or my favorite, C-in which every page of Edgar Allen Poe's, The Gold Bug has been removed and dipped in beeswax.
{Etsy shop} {Poppytalk} {Etsy shop-her other talent...copper pendants}

Specimen H

Specimen F

Specimen D

Specimen J

Confessions of Rousseau

Specimen C

The Powder Room

Here's my latest assemblage...made with all vintage items: fabric, dollhouse furniture, doll, toy swan, and frame. It measures 17.5" square and is about 4" deep. Her towel is currently monogrammed with a 'G' but I can personalize it for you upon purchase! Available in my Etsy shop! xo *2/24-I added some more color-accurate photos- see below!

Have a great weekend! xo

Feather Your Nest

I've mentioned before that my favorite place to visit in Arkansas is the charming and artistic town of Eureka Springs! The town has preserved much of its historic Victorian architecture and is packed with art galleries, artful shops and great restaurants. Enter Feather Your Nest, the vintage and retro-inspired home and gift boutique run by the super sweet and talented, Gina Drennon! Gina keeps her most popular items available online for those of us who aren't lucky enough to visit Eureka anytime soon. (I'm hoping to make it sometime around Easter!) Enjoy her shop vignette's below- and visit her shop and blog for more! xo

Bountiful supplies of Savon de Marseille's luxurious soap...

Vintage Inspired Easter chickadees and rabbits...

Pretty paper and office supplies by PAPAYA!

Happy retro-inspired kitchen linens...

more kitchen goodies...

Gina also carries many independent artist's work like these vintage
spool-people by artist, Erica Daley.

Feather Your Nest
512 Village Circle
Eureka Springs, AR 72632

Amy Kligman

The fancy new spring edition of small magazine is online today! That is where I found Kansas City artist, Amy Kligman and her magical paintings...she keeps a doozie of an art blog here too. xo

The Secret 2007

Surrounded 2007

Princess 2007

Imaginary Friends 2007

Look. Listen. 2007

Home Base 2008

Bedtime Stories 2008

Flora Bond

I keep noticing the pretty and ultra girlie-good handmade jewelry by Flora Bond popping up around Etsy. I'd love to see her made-to-order Romantic Silver Screen Star Necklace on a spring bride!

Romantic Silver Screen Star Necklace

Brass Bow Earrings

Romantic Silver Screen Star Necklace

Let's Fly Away Earrings

Be you and wear big and pretty Earrings

Sparkling Steel, Enamel Bloom and Worn Fabric Necklace

You look Ravishing Cuff Bracelet

Victorian Hair Art

I've been doing a little online research about the practice of Victorian Hair art. I found good articles here and here explaining how human hair was once a popular medium used in women's handiwork to create jewelry, watchbands, mourning wreaths...
Appealing to the tendency among Victorian women to incorporate the importance of friends and family into their work, hair served as a tangible remembrance of someone. Often, close companions exchanged hair as tokens of friendship. Hair was also sometimes taken after a person’s death as a means of honor and remembrance. -Helen Louise Allen Textile Museum

There is a huge collection of this delicate art form in Leila's Hair Museum located in Independence, MO. Read about it here. A must-stop next time I'm near KC!

I especially love this example of a woman's portrait 'wearing' a brooch of her own hair. One of the three hundred examples of Victorian Hair Art available at Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, MO. Photo by Richard Gwin {via}

This shadow box with a picture of a girl in mourning is lined with material usually reserved for a coffin. The wreath apparently is made with hair from the girl and the girl's mother, who had died. Photo by Richard Gwin {via}

Braided hair from family members surrounds the detailed history of the marriages and births within their family. Photo by Richard Gwin {via}

Detail from a Victorian Hair Wreath available here.

Detail of a hair wreath that incorporates
beads, baubles, and colorful thread...

I especially love the added elements in these... and I'm reminded that my creations today come by a rich tradition of women's handiwork. This example is available here.

Antique Victorian Hair Wreath offered
from Neat Curios

detail of hair work- hair was looped around a knitting needle and twisted with fine wire to create the loops.

Detail of hair work-Horse hair was often
substituted for human hair.