TWISTED BEAUTY

New Design- Ghost Story Dolls

2011-10-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

Finding lovely cotton fabric with writing and pressed flowers printed on it got me thinking about making some new ghostly dolls. I added some sheers and some tiny printed toile to the mix to add some different fabric textures.

Shimmering cat's eye beads should make interesting eyes. I've had a bag of these beads forever and have never found just the right doll to use them on. I'm really pleased with how she turned out. I've never made anything so gruesome.

Now I have to come up with the reasons why that even with a cut throat and 2 missing hands my ghost is still smiling in such a beguiling way..... My guess is she's plotting to scare the person who did this to her to death.

In my mind this Lavinia is going to be even more proactive in avenging the crime against her. I remember reading Titus Andronicus years ago and thinking it was too bad she didn't get to kill
Demetrius and Chiron herself.

New Cat Design- The Winged Halloween Moon Cat

2011-10-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

I found this cute skull fabric and some fabric with little stars....it's obvious that they were just screaming to be made into this sweet little flying cat. Add a little vinyl and velour for the wings and ears ..... and Laszlo was born.
With bright green as the accent to the black and white patterned fabrics I made little Tasha.

I really enjoyed really limiting my color palette in this series. I'm working on 2 other black and white patterned with accents of fushia and orange. I'll add pictures soon.
Or check out my etsy shop for new listings starting Sunday.

UPDATE... Here's Lula! I love the fushia with the black and white print fabrics!

If you moved a little closer....

2010-12-29T23:53:00.000-08:00

I make dolls, jewelry...etc and I work from home....so I don't get out much. I worked for years as a teacher and then in retail .....or I directed the workings of hell on earth if your prefer.

I'm used to being alone now.... so shopping or being in large groups of unruly people tends to get on my nerves. I was feeling a bit, well ....random when MJ and I were at Sam's Club a few days before Christmas.

I guess I forgot that I was wearing one of my eye pendants and as I was perusing the choices in the candy section because this older chick kept looming at me. She swooped in for the 3rd time and I noted..."You know if you came a little closer I could lick your eyelid." She took off rather quickly. She barreled past MJ...."What was wrong with her? he grumbled. "Probably having a hot flash or something." I replied.

We were picking out a bag of oranges, when some SC chick announced that everyone present was going to receive a free Christmas gift from "Sam"..... a paring knife.

"What a fucking brilliant thing to hand out to grumpy stressed out holiday shoppers! A sharp knife!" I exclaimed. MJ busted out laughing and just had to get in line for his free holiday pig sticker....which now lives in his lunch box.

I think maybe I need to get out more.....

SpaghettiOs and Turkey Noodle Soup- Thanksgiving Out Behind the Local Thrift Store

2010-11-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

I worked as a store manager for a local thrift store for 8 yrs. Around this time of year I always worried about the homeless guys and the few women that hung around out back. Most of them did the shelter thing or got help from the VA, so they were relatively looked after.

But there were 2, Eddie and Liz, who hated to be indoors. Both were older folks....Liz got tossed from a hospital in the 80's(thank you for the monetary savings, Mr. Reagan) and Edie had head injuries from his last tour in Nam. Their various advocates ie the VA tried to get them to give up their outdoors only existence, but they'd continue to sneak off . If anything really bad happened I had their advocate's phone numbers.

They tended to be targets of the local teens who thought it was funny to beat them up, burn their sleeping bags and steal what cooking/food supplies they had.

I used to keep a change jar in my office and they became my own personal charity. I'd buy the occasional pot or pan or sleeping bag and stash it in my office. Every few weeks, Eddie or Liz would wobble in all black and blue and I'd go raid my stash.

One November afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving, they both showed up and I went to my office to drag out the pots, sleeping bags and a coat I had just bought. I slipped out the loading dock door and bought them a can each of Spaghettios and Turkey noodle soup with the last of my change.

"Oh look, Eddie!, Liz yelled as she inspected the bag. "We're going to have turkey and Italian for Thanksgiving tomorrow!"

They hugged me and toddled off back to their camp.....happy with their holiday feast.

We should all be so grateful.

Happy Halloween- Happy Anniversary

2010-10-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

I got married on Halloween in 1987. So today I wanted to share a wedding picture....yes I wore black.

When we lived in Ohio we had a fabulous bunch of friends that we had great Halloween parties with every year. The USS Lagrange...a local star trek club was filled with great people with fun and crazy ideas.

Mike and I and Lynn Miller...The Skipper, Casper and Joan "no wire hangers Crawford...

We were Mortitia and Gomez one year and Steve Stein, (the guy with Mike when he went as The Skipper )was probably an astronaut.

Oh and one of the shots for us for our infamous "We're the staff of LagrangeCon! How May we help You" photo shoot.

Our anniversary will be pretty quiet this year. Just a dinner out.

Season of the Ghost- A White Ball of Fluff

2010-10-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

In one of my Earlier stories I told you about Great Grandpa Albert. He wasn't the only ghost in MJ's Grandmother's house.

His Grandmother kept several cats and I'd see their ghosts on occasion. A cat ghost is just a delicate wisp and just flutters by you like a cool breeze.

One little wisp used to hang around with me when I was sharing MJ's studio in one of the upstairs bedrooms. She was a quick little ball of fluff and my impression of her was that she had been a little white cat with dark patches. I'd often catch a glimpse of her zipping ahead of me on the stairs as I headed for the studio.

Quite often I'd feel a cool patch next to my paint palette. She liked sitting on the work table next to me and watching me work.

I only saw little Fluff completely motionless once. I entered the studio and there she was sitting on the table waiting for me. The house was converted into offices when it was sold and I often wonder if anyone there has a little wisp of a companion who sits beside them and watches them work.

This photo is one MJ took of one of our rescues, Kirby. Unfortunately Kirby became ill and couldn't be saved. I haven't seen him around the house yet, but who knows? :)

Season of the Ghost- Ghosts of Infinite Sweetness

2010-10-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

The gentlest ghosts I've ever run into have to be the animal spirits I've dealt with over the years.

The woods behind the house I lived in as a little girl was magical. In the summer it was densely green with moss, fat old leafy trees, may flowers and lush patches of purple violets. I used to go and pick bunches of violets almost every day.

On these little forays, I would often see these tiny little white wisps of something. When they'd zip past me barely touching my skin, I'd think of running up a tree and the roughness of bark; digging in the earth or curling up with a bunch of other tiny warm bodies and going to sleep. Sometimes I'd be a hunter stalking my food and eating it. Those violent images scared me at first, but I did know not everything could live by just eating berries and I came to understand the hunter spirits.

When I was around 7, I felt I was going to be so much braver than last summer start going further into the woods than the area just behind our house. Well, I picked my usual bunch of violets and started back in the direction I thought would take me back home. I was so wrong.

The trees and plants got more tangled and dense and the sun was barely visible through the canopy of trees. I panicked and started to cry. Suddenly I felt a light touch on my arm. I turned and saw one of my little wisps. It was one of my hunter sprits. I followed it over a fallen tree trunk, through a dense area of tall grass and May flowers. The trees started to thin and I could see the sun again. Looking carefully I could see a few wisps floating near an opening that lead to the edge of the wood. I had come out on the opposite side of the woods near my friend Vicky's house. I just had to go up the street in front of her house, cut through the high school's football practice field and I was just a short ways from a road that would take me to my street.

I ran all the way thanking my little wispy friends as I headed home.

The photos are ones MJ took of 2 of my rescue cats. Spats is the black cat and the other is Max Perkins.

Season of the Ghost- The Man in the Window

2010-10-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

When I started dating MJ way back in 1983, he was living in his Grandma's house. She had died recently, so he and his brother were acting as caretakers.

This was an interesting old place. Albert, MJ's Great Grandfather, had built this house and the one next to it. It was 2 stories and huge. It had a big kitchen that opened up to a room with a fire place and from there, that room led to a short breezeway with small paned windows that looked
out onto the front yard. At the end of this breezeway was a shop where MJ's Grandfather had had his saw saw sharpening business.

One late afternoon MJ and I arrived at the house and parked in front of the breezeway windows. As we got out I looked up and saw an elderly man peering out at me. Since I knew MJ and his brother were the only ones living there, I was a bit startled for a second. I paused and MJ asked me what was wrong. I replied that I was fine...we'd only been dating a week or 2 and wasn't ready to have the I see ghosts regularly talk yet.

Well, I kept my eyes open, got closer to MJ and as we were getting more serious I told him about some of my ghostly encounters. I decided to wait on discussing the elderly ghost until I had done a little more investigating. In the old saw shop area, all kinds of family papers and pictures had been stored. There was a beautiful old velvet covered photo album with a lovely photo of MJ's Paternal Great Grandma and a bunch of pictures no one in the family could identify. So, my quiet search for the id of the man in the window continued.

One night we parked in our usual spot and the elderly man appeared in his window. He started like fog and solidified. I casually asked MJ if there was a white haired man that worked with his Grandfather in the saw shop. MJ replied that his Granddad worked alone. "Well then who is the old white haired guy peering out the middle window?" Before I could tell him that I was just seeing a ghost, MJ rushed in through the breezeway door and found no one.

We had a long talk and I described the ghost's white hair, large nose and red and brown plaid flannel shirt. MJ went upstairs and rummaged around forever. Finally he came down with a small stretched canvas. "I painted this when I was a kid, " he said and turned the canvas so I could see it.... a Jr high art style portrait of a white haired man with a large nose wearing a brown and red plaid flannel shirt. "He was my Great Grandfather Albert. He's the guy who built this house. When he was alive, what is now the old saw shop was his apartment."

MJ never saw Grandpa Albert, but felt cold spots in the shop when I would see him looking out of the window. He never responded to me when I tried to speak to him and no one else ever saw him. Even after Mike's Dad sold the house, sometimes I'd see Albert looking out his window when we'd drive by the house. To this day, I wonder if he's still watching and who he's waiting for.

Here's another spooky MJ illustration to dress up my post.:)

Season of the Ghost- Dead Babies in a Burning Car

2010-10-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know weird, nasty title. The phrase is one I learned from an old boyfriend who was a photojournalist. He had a professor who felt this was one of the ultimate photo ops for a photojournalist. I use the phrase when I see something really horrific happen. And sometimes I can just be a w/bitch.

Well, today I have a sad little story. And yes, this one deals with another Ouija board. MJ and I were at a friend's house for pizza and a video. Maggie, Bob and their roommate, Alex were all telling gruesome stories. Bob always seemed to like to try to upset me or gross me out the point of nausea. Maggie seemed to like to pick at me and make feel less than human. But I put up with the crap cause MJ was friends with Alex and Bob. The negativity of the house's energy didn't help either. Negative people seem to collect negative spirits.

We got talking about ghosts, psychics etc and I related the Flaming Gary story. Maggie insisted on us trying out her Ouija board. I was in no mood, but I was annoyed enough with the whole miserable evening to agree....the environment had some bad vibes and the idea of scaring Bob and Maggie was appealing. .....Hey, I'm human, okay?

So the board came out and we started off. It wouldn't work unless I had a fingertip on the planchette. We had a few spirits that answered a few yes or no questions, but one kept showing up and it had a message for Shelly.

Maggie wanted to stop then, but the ghost or whatever was determined. It wanted to talk to Bob...well Bob was not happy and Maggie was pissed. Apparently Bob had had a relationship with this chick, Shelly, before he met Maggie and fathered a kid. Supposedly this ghost was the baby. Bob and Maggie were the only 2 people present who knew bout the abortion. Needless to say I got what I wanted.... Neither of them picked at me for quite sometime.

As to the entity being an aborted baby, I don't believe it, but entities/energies already in the house playing with 2 nasty people....yes. I think one of them took pity on me or I just finally used my own psychic abilities to protect myself.

Yep, this is another of MJ's illustrations. After this incident, Witchy Woman was my nickname. :)

]

The Season of the Ghost- The Ouija Board and Flaming Gary

2010-10-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

When I was around 11, one of the neighbor kids, Susan, showed up with a Ouija board instead of the Monopoly game she said she was getting. She explained how we all needed to put a finger on the planchette and ask questions.

Well, you could tell Sue was moving the planchette. So we weren't impressed. Everybody took a turn and the planchette never moved a millimeter.

Now, I had been seeing ghosts since my Grandma Bartlett died when I was 7, so this doodad board wasn't impressing me too much. It couldn't compare with getting a last hug from Grandma or the little white floating spirits I saw in the woods behind our house.

I took my turn and wouldn't you know that planchette zipped around like it was electrified. The man who wanted to talk to me was named Gary and he was really excited to talk to me and wanted me to do him a favor. I was supposed to go get some matches and bring them out to the yard where we were all sitting.

He explained that he and his brother were killed in a house fire in a house that once stood near we were playing .....

Suddenly the planchette jumped and slid violently off the board. We all freaked and got up off the blanket we'd been sitting on. Everybody dared me to try the board again. I figured a ghost couldn't really hurt me and I did get dared.... so I plopped back down.

The planchette started moving again and this time I was talking to Ian. According to him, Gary started the fire that killed just him. I got this uneasy feeling that someone was behind me and jumped up. After that I lost interest in the ouija board, but Gary still seemed to be following me around. I thought I saw him a few times in the woods behind our house. I had a couple of dreams where I saw a man running from a burning house and through the windows.....saw a man fall into the fire.

From that experience, I learned not all spirits were good and that needed to not listen to the bad ones. Also, being dead doesn't always give the ghost any more knowledge than when he or she was alive.

As an adult I've thought about when this fire could have taken place, what were Gary's motives in wanting me to get matches and if he affected any other kids? I probably still wonder about this ghost because during that year a couple of kids I knew died in house fires.

The house had tiny little paned windows and seemed to be in wooded area. The men seemed to be in old fashioned shirts and suspenders with knee high boots.
My guess is that the fire took place during the 19th century because the area seemed so undeveloped and the style of house and the tiny panes of glass reminded me of windows I'd seen in the historic homes at Hale Farm and Village. I've always thought about contacting the Tallmadge Historical Society to see if there were any records that might tell me about those 2 brothers.

Here's Andy Corn to make you laugh after my creepy story.:)

These illustrations are also done by my husband, MJBivouac

The Season of the Ghost- Ghost Manager Walking

2010-10-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

My oddest ghost story is from when I worked as the store manager of the Simi Valley Salvation Army thrift store.

The store was made up of 2 sections. One was the main floor with a back room and loading dock. The main floor connected with a small room we used for the used books, records and vintage clothing. This room originally had 3 steps down from the main floor.

Just before I took over the floor of this little specialty room was raised to match the level of the main floor. It was interesting that the new floor had an odd bounce to it.

Anyway, one night after closing I was doing a walk through on the main floor. I was making a to do list for the next day and as I approached the middle of the main floor I could hear hangers being slid in the specialty room.
I thought...oops a record guy or a retro chick didn't hear me call closing. I called out,"Excuse me, but we're closed." As I watched,a woman in a floral dress with her dark hair pulled back in a bun started walking towards me through the doorway.

The only thing was...she was walking knee deep in the floor. As she got closer to me she faded away. Obviously she only knew the original floor with the 3 steps down in that back room.

Now, I've seen ghosts since I was little so I wasn't scared, but I was curious to find out who this lady was.

My asst. manager at the time was a long time Simi resident and was a regular shopper at the thrift store even before she got hired to work in the store. So I went to Betty the next day and asked her.

I found out the ghost was probably a previous manager named Juanita who worked there 10-12 yrs before I became manager. I described her right down to the flowered dresses she always wore.

After that first meeting, I never saw her again, but if I heard hangers moving around on the racks when I was alone in the store, I just called out a greeting to Juanita and the noise would stop.

The beautiful Halloween illustrations were created by my husband MJ Bivouac. Thanks, Mike.:)

Halloween is coming...

2010-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year we're adding a line of custom aceos to our shop . Whether you want a cute little alien or maybe a sexy bride of Frankenstein or a mummy or even old Franky himself.... just stop on by Le Chat Noir and order a card and MJ will create a wonderful little work of Halloween art just for you.

WEEKEND SALE!

2010-05-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Everything is 20% off this weekend at Le Chat Noir Studios! Jewelry, Art Dolls, Pin-up art, Illustrations......Please stop by and take a peek. http://www.etsy.com/shop/chatnoirstudios

Cat Women Elementals Pendants

2010-05-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I started these

pendants ages ago and had a horrible time trying to decide how to paint them.

I'm happy with the effect of dry brushing colors over the black. Now that the Earth and Water cat women are turning out the way I want, I need to get molds on the Air and Fire cats.

OOOH! I love that masked man! My Fixation with Masked, or Disfigured Men

2010-03-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, all the little boys wanted to be Speed Racer. Me.... I wanted to marry Racer X.

I mean really... a brave man who saves the day...is tall and mysterious...what could be better?

My fascination with the idea of the masked or disfigured man was continued when I started reading the comic strip Brenda Starr. Basil St. John always showed at the right time to save Brenda.

As Vincent Parry in Dark Passage Bogart spends a good part of the movie with his face covered in bandages. He has his face altered so he can find who really killed his wife.

Henri de toulouse lautrec... well, he was talented, disabled and successful. What could be better?
I know from experience that being physically different makes me stronger and more unique. I can ....with effort survive just about anything. I like my fantasy and real men to be strong, brave survivors.
I guess I grew up to see the different and the mysterious to be the spice of life.

Fear and Loathing of Clowns Revisited

2010-03-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here's another little gem proving the innate evilness of clowns. This nice little 2 minute French film called Happy Meal is quite horror fest. For me anyway....I'm a baby. See my post about my watching Dead Silence for 4.5 minutes.

It has a better end than the miniseries It anyway....ooh it's a big telepathic spider. That's scarier than Pennywise?

Limited Edition Water Dragon Works in Progress Part 1

2010-03-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

In my soft sculpture Pet Shop of the Old Ones magic animals line, I have a water dragon named Siku.

I've been thinking that making hybrid soft and hard sculpt figures in limited editions could lower the cost of some of my pieces. I'm hoping that this will make them more appealing to more customers.

I haven't done much clay sculpture in the past few years so this piece has been a challenge. The head, wings and torso will be cast in resin and hand painted. I plan on inserting an armature in the bottom of the torso and using batting and fabric embellished with beads to create the tail.

I'm looking forward to combining paint, fabric and beads to create these new pieces.

I'm working with an oil based clay called Chevant. It's used in the special effects industry, car and industrial design. It comes in several hardnesses and holds textures and details beautifully. It also smells and feels unpleasant if you love real clay or wax like I do. But I'm getting used to it... I think it might grow on me eventually.

I'm thinking of doing these animals in small editions of 12 to 25 at the most. I was also thinking it might be a fun kit sort of project too.

The Skipsy Doodle of Death

2010-02-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

My brother David got a red skipsy doodle for Christmas one year.

It was used inside as a teeter totter and a stand-y thing until the snow melted. For about a week it was an outdoor teeter totter. But David who could tear apart a Tonka Toy Jeep with his bare hands, had other plans.

We lived in one of those 60's neighborhoods on a culdesac (I like that word). As the street moved away from our house it sloped down into a pretty decent hill. David and his friends rode various bikes, wagons, big wheels and scooter-type things down this hill a literally breakneck speeds.

I knew something was up one sunny afternoon when David came in in wearing a football helmet, an old bath towel superman cape and wanted to borrow my long pink jump rope. I went out front and there was David tying one end of the rope to the back of Bobby Trauger's purple Spyder bike . He then secured the other end to the handle of "old red".

He threw himself on "old red" face down, grabbed the handhold on and yelled let 'er go! Bobby peeled out of our driveway and "old red" popped over the curb about a foot in the air, smacked the street and scraped away with David holding on for dear life. You could hear the scraping sound all the way down the street and David yelling "Go Go Go!" Amazingly, Dave and his friends never got hurt on the "old red" street runs until they started using him on their bike rides through the woods behind our houses. I think it was Jeff who got catapulted into a tree and got scratched up. But, his real problems started because he landed landed in a poison ivy bush .

Poor "old red" went to the great teeter totter playground in the sky when I was going off to college one year. My Dad was cleaning out the basement and put a bunch of stuff out by the trash cans. Scraped and battered "Old Red" was leaning upright against one of the cans. I was upstairs packing and looked out my bedroom window when I heard an old heap pull into our drive way. David and a few of his friends piled out. They all stood looking at "old red" who was scraped, scarred and still had a length of pink rope tied to one of his handholds. For a few minutes, they each took turns laying on "old red" and dragging each other around in street in front of our house. Eventually , they stopped and were laughing and telling stories looking at "old red" who was resting at their feet.

Dave propped "old red" back up against the can and they all started to walk back up the drive to our house. Everyone of them looked back at least once at that battered old piece of red plastic.

The Buddhist Business Owner- Using The Eight-Fold Path to Guide Your Business- Right Meditation

2010-01-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

Right Meditation

Right Meditation means using mental exercises, like learning to concentrate on your breathing or on your walking, so as to calm your mind down. A calmer, clearer mind can help you to respond more thoughtfully in everyday situations. Through making you more awake to what is happening all the time, it can help you practice all parts of Noble Eightfold Path.

A calmer, clearer mind leads on to another stage in Buddhist meditation when you simply watch what your mind does. This helps you to understand your mind better and notice how your mind sometimes make things up, which you then risk believing are true. This is part of waking up to the true nature of reality.

Concentration exercises on your breathing are the starting point for Buddhist meditation but not the whole thing. Buddha warned against spending too long doing concentration exercises. The latter can make your mind totally still, so that you do not feel bothered by anything. But this is not true Buddhist peacefulness, which comes from using a calm mind to understand things better.

The first example is a meditation method for increasing feelings of kindness and goodwill towards other people. The second meditation method is for increasing wisdom and your understanding of the mind.

Buddhism teaches that you need both these types of meditation. The emblem often found on top of Buddhist stupas, which are monuments to Buddhist teachers. The crescent moon shape stands for loving kindness. The sun stands for wisdom and understanding. It means that if you put these together, you get the little jewel on top of the sun shape, which stands for Enlightenment.

Meditation for increasing goodwill towards other people

This is a short, 10 minute meditation for doing at the start of each day.

You could do this sitting in a quiet place. You could also do this sitting on a bus, if you can be on your own.

For 5 minutes, you go through in your mind the various things which you and other people want in life – for instance to be happy, to be loved, to be praised for good things you do, to have friends and company from other people, to have things to look forward to. You think about how, in general, we all want the same sort of things. You think about how you and other people affect each other and affect how each can get what they seek.
Then for 5 minutes, as you breathe in, each time you wish kindly to yourself that you be happy. Each time you breathe out, you wish the same for various people whom you know - you wish that they have the good things which they seek. You try to extend this to as many people as possible. If you can, try to include some people whom you do not like so much.
Afterwards, try to keep this feeling in mind all day towards everyone whom you meet, whether they’re someone you know well or not. Try to keep this feeling in mind, whatever anyone does to you.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has urged that as many people as possible practice this simple meditation. It could make the world a better place, he says. The Dalai Lama is the religious leader of Buddhists from Tibet and nearby parts of Asia.
(For more about the Dalai Lama see: http://www.dalailama.com)

You do not need to be a Buddhist to do this meditation or to value its results.

Meditation for increasing peacefulness and understanding of how the mind works

You need to do this sitting comfortably in a quiet place. For a beginner, 20 minutes is long enough. With practice, 30 minutes would be suitable.

Start by wishing that any benefits from the meditation will affect not only yourself but other people with whom you come into contact.

Then relax for some minutes.

Then sit a little straighter and put your mind on your breathing at the tip of your nose. Count up to ten your out-breaths at the tip of your nose – if you lose count, start again.

After two or three complete sets of ten breaths, just sit calmly watching your mind and let any thoughts and feelings come and go.

If restlessness or worrying thoughts come, just let them come and go. Do not either follow or try to stop them. If moments of calm come, just let these also come and go. The idea is to remain peaceful whatever goes on in your mind. Just sit back and watch what the mind does.

If you get lost in thought and distracted from this, for a little while go back to watching your out-breaths at the tip of your nose.

You need only moderate effort in concentrating on your breathing. Buddhist teachers compare calming the mind to letting muddy water settle in a glass. The water goes clear in its own time and there’s nothing you can do to hurry it up. In fact if you try to hurry it, you’ll only stir up the mud. In meditation, it’s enough just to keep sitting there and watch your mind – without trying to change anything.

Benefits of This Type of Meditation

During meditation, a taste of a way of being which is peaceful and different from the irritations and worries of everyday life.
After meditation, ability to handle everyday situations in a more thoughtful and generous way and to break free from following your habits.
Both during and after meditation, noticing and understanding how your mind works.

The Dalai Lama has compared meditation to recharging your batteries for everyday life.

The Dalai Lama has also described meditation like this:

“We tend to be controlled by our mind, following it along its self-centred path. Meditation is the process whereby we gain control over the mind and guide it in a more virtuous direction. Meditation may be thought of as a technique by which we diminish the force of old thought habits and develop new ones.”

Other Methods of Meditation

Detailed examples have been given of two common types of Buddhist meditation. There are many other methods:

‘Walking Meditation’ is very common. This means practicing keeping your mind on every footstep you take. It trains you to keep your mind calm and concentrated while you are walking around and doing everyday things.

There are meditation methods for thinking deeply about important Buddhist teachings, like that everything is changing and nothing lasts forever.

There are meditation methods for helping you forgive people whom you feel have wronged you.

Buddhist meditation and Buddhist codes for conduct go hand in hand

For meditation to give most benefit, you need also to follow the Buddhist guidance for conduct in the Noble Eightfold Path – like not telling untruths and not speaking hurtfully to people. These rules also eventually bring peacefulness to your life. For instance, not telling untruths will save you from the strain of living up to a false image and not speaking hurtfully will mean you make fewer enemies. To practice meditation but ignore such guidance is a bit like your left hand undoing what your right hand is doing.

In the Buddhist Wheel symbol, the link between meditation and everyday conduct is likened to the need for a wheel to have both a hub and a rim. It needs both parts to work.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

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You are what you think you are and you need to learn to guide your thoughts in positive ways. I try to start each day with thoughts on how I want to be happy and how I wish other people will find their happiness.

If I am troubled by someone or an incident during my working day, I stop and close my eyes for a moment and breathe in and out a few times and clear my head of any angry or selfish thoughts before I try to come up with a solution to the problem or answer a difficult question. Sometimes the first idea you give is just that the first idea... not a well thought out idea, a fair idea or even a good idea.
I like the walking meditation technique when I'm especially upset or concerned over a problem. It takes time and effort to learn to control your thoughts and emotions and use them in positive ways. Keep working each day and don't be discouraged.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.
Buddha

May all these different articles I've shared with you help you on your journey through life and with your business. I'd love to hear your experiences.
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You can find this beautiful book in Petitbijou's shop on etsy . http://www.etsy.com/shop/Petitbijouartshop

The Buddhist Business Owner-Using the Eight-Fold Path to Guide Your Business-Right Mindfulness

2010-01-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

Right Mindfulness

This means remembering to apply Buddhist teachings in everyday life all day long – keeping Buddhism in mind all the time.

For instance, it means remembering to treat each person you speak to in a kind and pleasant fashion. It means remembering to be truthful.

It also means remembering to apply Buddhist teachings to any difficult situations. In difficult situations, sometimes Buddhists ask themselves, ‘What might Buddha do in this situation?’ so as to help themselves to decide what to do.

Some Buddhists spend some time each day when they think back about how well they have followed Buddhist teachings so far that day. They can praise themselves for things they have done well. Concerning anything they regret doing, they can think through what went wrong and work out how to do better in the future.

Right mindfulness also means training yourself to keep your mind on whatever you are doing and not drifting into daydreams. One such Buddhist training method is ‘Walking Meditation’, when you practicing keeping your mind on each step you take when walking. Buddhism teaches that, when we are daydreaming, we can build up beliefs and feelings, which then can create difficulties for us. This will happen less if our mind is occupied instead with whatever we are doing.

Also, if we are fully paying attention, we will notice more, understand more and be able to handle situations better.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

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My most important comment about this path is that you have to pay attention to your business. I know that seems obvious, but if you're not watching the types of materials you're buying, treating your vendors and customers with respect, you're not going to be in business for very long.

I'm an obsessive list maker. Not only do I make up daily lists about what supplies I need or what dolls I need to finish, I also try to add personal goals. Like today I want to work on improving my mastery of embroidery stitches because improving my skills makes me more confident as an artist. When you feel good about yourself, it's easier for you to treat others better.

If you did something you regret, like reprimand an employee in front of customers, now is the time to be honest about it and try to come up with a better way to resolve a problem. Remember berating yourself isn't going to solve the problem. Recognize your error, forgive yourself and resolve to do better. And apologize to that employee.

What will you do today to improve yourself and your business?

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You can find this beautiful photo in the etsy shop linnphotography.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/linnphotography

Mermaids

2009-12-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

While I'm terrified of water, I do really love to watch documentaries about undersea life. Sea horses, sea dragons and octopi are my favorite sea creatures.

I like to design my mermaids to be more sea horse women than fish women. Sea horses are more dainty. Most of my mermaids are more animal than human. I find this type of figure more of challenge.

I did create one amphibian female once. But the mermaid like creature that amused me the most was the fish demon from the South Seas that attacks fishermen by flinging fish at them.

My love of old monster movies crops up in my work too. A giant starfish monster capturing a mermaid is one of my favorite pieces.

Adding new things

2009-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been busy creating armatures so in the next few days you're going to see some cthulhu
babies, some hex cats, a couple of Chihuahuas and a crawling eye or 2.

If you want a special custom item, you'd better hit my shop this week or I'll never get it done and shipped for the holiday.

I'm really pleased with Bitsy thulu. I like her little silk flowers. I'm working on a baby Nyarlathotep too. Stop on by to see the new magic animals and cthulhu monsters I'll be adding. See you on the "Dark" Side... :)

Happy Solstice! Christmas....etc ! Be happy!

Adding More New Items

2009-11-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

MJ and I designed illustrations to for my Pet shop of the old ones stories last yr.

This yr I'm using the illustrations to create cross stitch patterns. The first offering will be the illustration of the little fluttercat Cinnamon.

I will be adding these patterns soon.

Saturday the 14th

2009-11-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday the 14th... After my post yesterday about ventriloquist dummies and clowns, I thought I'd be a big brave girl and watch this killer ventriloquist dummy movie Mike brought home called Dead Silence.

I made it through the credits... I met the 2 main characters. The dummy got delivered by an unknown person... The girl plays with it and mentions the evil doll maker. She puts the dummy down and it's mouth drops open on it's own.

I get up and put on a Hogan's Heroes Dvd. I lasted all of 4 and a half minutes.

Friday the 13th is Scary?

2009-11-13T09:06:00.001-08:00

Okay, it's another Friday the 13th...

Sorry, this is not something that scares me. The number 13 has always boded well for me.

The things that always scared me were people and things that seemed false or pretended to be human like clowns or ventriloquist dummies or even mannequins.

Take clowns for example... did you know that during the middle ages traveling acting troupes used performers in white face and motley clothing as the devil figure in the religious cycle plays? The characters pretended to be sweet and kind but had an evil agenda.

Fear of the pseudo human like a ventriloquist dummy... hmmm maybe that can be traced to stories of wizards giving life to dolls and such that will do their masters' evil bidding. I remember movies like the Devil Doll really scaring the daylights out of me. In that movie, an evil magician trapped his victim's consciousness in a ventriloquist dummy.

Movies and shows that portray clowns and dummies as the frightful things I believe them to be don't bother me too much. I think that's because the clowns and dummies aren't pretending to be nice. Check out Killer Clowns From Outer Space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dns3RKkgko
or the Canadian tv series Puppets Who Kill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaWltRP8s8c I always knew clowns could suck the essence out of you with crazy straws and that puppets had homicidal issues.

The number 13 will never be something I fear when there are clowns and pseudo human dolls with evil agendas just waiting to do something terrible....

BOOO!

Pre-Holiday Sale

2009-11-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show some of the fun things in my shop that will be on sale until the 18th. Everything in the shop is 30% off.

I have cthulhu monsters, beaded jewelry, plush cats, wrist cuffs....all kinds of fun things.

Oh, and if you want a custom piece, best contact me now so I can get it finished in time for the holidays.

The Buddhist Business Owner-Using the Eight-fold Path to Guide your Business -Right Effort

2009-11-02T13:00:00.001-08:00

To put Buddhist teachings into practice, a special type of gradual effort is needed.
It is much too difficult to put all Buddhist principles into practice perfectly at once. People who try to do this will probably give up in days.
Instead, you need to make small improvements, one at a time. Then, once an improvement has become a habit, adding another improvement till you are living more and more of the Buddhist life by habit.

For instance, an improvement might be to remember to do a kind deed every day. To keep this up till it becomes a habit is enough to keep anyone busy.

So right effort is about making improvements gradually but then keeping them up forever. It is about making improvements at a pace which is easy enough for you to keep up. It is like a long-distance runner, who deliberately runs at a slow pace which it is possible to keep up for miles. It is the opposite of a sprinter, who can run very fast during a short race but cannot keep this up for longer.

Right effort also means paying equal attention both to doing more good, kind things and to doing fewer harmful things.

Right effort can also involve praising yourself and rewarding yourself for progress in following Buddhist teachings.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

Make yourself a list of things you want to improve about your business. Here are a few things you might be thinking about as you grow your business.

Are you concerned about the origin of your supplies? Are your customer service skills up to snuff? Do you manage your time well enough so that your family doesn't feel neglected? Do you want to be a "green" business?

Set realistic goals for yourself. Take your time and change your business plan gradually. If you're worried about the supplies you're using, research more cost effective suppliers whose business practices are in line with your personal beliefs.

If the family is feeling neglected, set up special family times or if they want to, involve them in simple tasks that will help you with your business or household tasks.

Make gradual changes in what you do and you will find it much easier to run a more people and environmentally friendly business.

The lovely piece A Sense of Zen can be found in the Etsy shop Hey Harriet http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeyHarriet

Binding Your Demons-- Bound Fantasies Part 2

2009-10-29T16:06:00.001-07:00

Hummm.... What to say about this beauty? In my previous posting about Red Roses and the Ram Goddess, I wrote about finding tying or chaining up figures very freeing.

It was like the more they were bound the better I felt. Well, My Golden Demon here seems to have served the same purpose.

I'm very pleased with how she turned out. I like the contrasts of the different textures of cloth I used. But using silk for her skin, even though it looks good, was a huge time consuming nuisance. The delicate fabric didn't like being cut and sewn on the bias.

I never thought I'd get the pieces of fabric to lay flat enough to be sewn down properly.

After the silk torso fiasco, sandwiching red sheer between 2 pieces of netting and sewing the pieces to the wire wing frames seemed so much simpler than it usually does.

I think my favorite parts of this piece were picking out the fabrics for her dress, sorting the floss for her hair, and choosing the chains. Arranging the chains just so was almost like putting jewelry on her....which is odd in a way.

I love these pieces when I'm done with them and don't really try to analyze them too much. I think that ought to be up the viewer.

Marvelous Wearable Monsters

2009-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

I love old monster movies. One of my favorites is The Crawling Eye. When my husband came home from his special effects shop with a bag of random resin eyes, I just had to start creating Crawling eye figures.

I went from the dolls to making wearable pieces. I mean really... who wouldn't want a beaded representation of alien monsters who pop the heads off unsuspecting
humans?

I have dolls, barrettes and pendants in stock at the moment as well as resin eyes if you'd like to make a monster of your own.

Bound Fantasies Part 1

2009-10-21T18:22:00.001-07:00

One of my on-line groups had this challenge yrs ago. It was about sexual and emotional fears and fantasies. Everyone made a different shrine and we swapped them.

I got the word bound in my swap letter. I was very unsure about trying something like bondage... but, hey try anything new if you think it might create challenging art.

Red Roses for a Blue Lady was one of the pieces I made. Considering the female is bound by roses the symbology is rather obvious. It was an interesting piece to make. I started to find creating bound figures very freeing.

I then went to trying bound figures in 3 dimensions. My Ram Goddess was a piece I was especially proud of 5 yrs ago. I like to think my sculpting skills and my photography skills have improved. Geez...

For some reason binding up these little figures opened me up to creating more interesting work. I now enjoy trying to create all kinds of unusual figures.

Well, I was in the mood to try another bound piece and thought I'd try out the figure of bound female demon that's been sitting in my head for ages.

Oh, no pictures? Well, Part 2 is tomorrow.

So, What do you think?

2009-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I usually make these very elaborate beaded eye jewelry pieces that are large collars or cuffs. Which of course makes them pretty expensive.

What do you think of these smaller pendant versions? They take less time, but have the heavy beading I like.

Any comments would be welcome.... Thanks

Reintroducing Products....Resin Eyes

2009-10-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

I was going through my stash the other day and found several single eyes that I want to offer for sale.

I know you might be thinking...."What can I do with a single eye?" Well a focal piece for a necklace, collar, cuff or a cyclops type figure might all be good choices. It's what I do with them.

I listed one of the 2 types of orange eyes I have this afternoon. I have a grey green and a peach eye as well that I plan to list. Stop by my etsy shop and try out a new and unusual supply.

The Buddhist Business Owner- Using the Eight-Fold Path to Guide your Business- Right Livelihood

2009-09-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Right Livelihood

This means a way of earning money and a lifestyle which does not harm other beings and, preferably, benefits them.

Buddhism teaches that the following ways of earning money are wrong.

Anything to do with making

weapons and warfare.
Any business which exploits its workers or controls them like slaves.
Any business which produces poisons or pollutes the environment.
Trade in meat, fish or the killing of living creatures.
Trade in alcohol or addictive drugs.
Any job which involves telling lies or deceiving customers or misleading advertising or high-pressure salesmanship.

Buddhism teaches that you should do what you can to reduce the harm you do to the environment and the natural world.

Buddhism also teaches that you shouldn’t seek lots of expensive things which you don’t really need. The latter can lead to you wasting your life working for these possessions or looking after them or running up debts which then mess up your life.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

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There's not much I can say to augment this section....

Greed, lying and carelessness are not Buddhist virtues and should not be part of a good Buddhist business plan.

This sweet felted Buddha comes from the Etsy shop The Drying Rack.
http://thedryingrack.etsy.com

The Buddhist Business Owner- Using the Eight Fold Path to Guide Your Business- Right Action

2009-09-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Right Action

Buddhism teaches to try hard to avoid killing any living creatures, including insects. While you cannot always succeed in this, you should show consideration for living creatures whenever possible. You should let wasps out of windows, for instance, rather than killing them. If you see a line of ants across a path, you should take the trouble to step over them. Buddhism is against all killing for sport, like hunting.
You should not take from anyone else anything which they do not want to give you. This means much more than not stealing. It also means that you don’t pressure or trick people to give you things or do you favors which you know they don’t really want to give.
Buddhism teaches that when men and women have close relationships, like marriage, this should be with only one partner at a time. Only if they have ended a relationship, should a person seek another partner - not at the same time.
Another Buddhist teaching is not to get drunk on alcohol or other drugs. One reason is that, once drunk, people much more easily get angry or speak hurtfully to other people or do other harmful or destructive things.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

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How you conduct your business will effect how successful you are.

Now I realize many people run a business and don't care how they make their profits. These business owners do make a lovely profit even though they treat people and the environment badly. But I'm hoping if your reading this you want to be an ethical business owner and that you realize that you eventually pay for the harm you do in this life.

1. Be honest about what supplies you're actually using, and how much you are actually spending on them. Perhaps using recycled, cruelty free supplies should be an ultimate goal for you as a Buddhist. But, each of you need to use your own judgement as to what you feel is right.

2. Treat your customers fairly. Make sure you cover your costs of supplies, time etc, but don't overcharge or delay in shipping something out. If you dislike doing custom orders, just say so, don't lead the client on and waste your time and theirs. Don't renege on your stated shop policies.

3. Advertise your wares honestly. Do not downgrade others work to boost your own sales. You end up looking petty and dishonest.

4. Run your business honestly. Cheating or abusing your suppliers, customers and employees may make you extra profits or make you feel powerful, but eventually you will pay for the harm you cause.

What other ideas do YOU have about running a business in an ethical fashion?
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This stunning digital collage can be found in Ancientartizen's etsy shop.

http://www.ancientartizen.etsy.com

The Buddhist Business Owner-Using the Eight-Fold Path to Guide Your Business- Right Speech

2009-09-13T01:40:00.000-07:00

Right Speech

Buddhism teaches you to train yourself to be truthful.
Likewise to train yourself not to speak to anyone in a wounding, hurtful way. Sometimes people can be hurt very deeply by things which other people say to them – sometimes more than by physical blows. Whilst you should always speak the truth, Buddhism teaches that you should think up ways of doing this which are not hurtful.
Also, it’s important never say things to people in order to stir up anger or suspicion against someone else or to break up someone else’s friendship.
When you’ve nothing to say, it’s fine to be silent. It is not helpful to fill up other people’s minds with pointless chatter.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top
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The first principle of ethical conduct - What you say and how you say it is going to effect your business....period.

1. Who are you selling to? The answer to this question will give you the idea about the vocabulary is appropriate. Gear your speech to the situation.

2.Learn to critique an employee or customer situation in a positive way. For every fault or problem you need to correct find one positive trait that can be complimented. Never correct employees in a public setting or in a demeaning manner.

3.Refrain from gossiping about other workers or customers.

4. Do not disparage the work or skills of other sellers. You will only look ill mannered for hurling insults.

A true follower of Buddha speaks truthfully, but in a warm and gentle fashion....and only when really necessary.

This bold black and white photo can be found in the Etsy Shop Bomobob.
http://www.bomobob.etsy.com

The Buddhist Business Owner- Using the Eight-Fold Path to Guide your Business- Right Motivation

2009-09-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Right Motivation

Naturally many people first get interested in Buddhism because they are seeking peace and happiness for themselves.

But Buddhism teaches that, to obtain long-lasting peace and happiness for yourself, you need to help the people around you to obtain peace and happiness too. One reason is that we all affect each other so much. Other people’s troubles can soon become your troubles.

If you are to truly follow Buddhism, your motivation needs gradually to change. You need to become less interested in how Buddhism can make you happier and more interested in to how Buddhism can enable you to make other people happier.

It takes time to develop this more unselfish motivation and it’s only natural that many people don’t have it at the beginning. Buddhism teaches methods for encouraging yourself to want to benefit other people.

http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

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DO You Have the WILL to Change?

1. Free yourself from those traits that you know are wrong or not ethical. You should be free from ill will and harmless in your intent.

2. What is your intention when you plan to do something in your life or create something for your business.
What kind of materials do you use in your work? Are they recyclables or made yourself or bought from local businesses, or supplies made by the gross in over seas sweat shops? Trying to be aware of what kind of products you're using as supplies in your work shows your motivation.

3. How do you deal with your customers and other sellers can also show your motivation.
Are your prices covering your expenses and supplies etc fairly? Do you create custom pieces and do you ship in a timely manner? Are you concerned with your own work and doing your best or are you bad mouthing or underselling your competition to gain sales?

Commit yourself to the path of good will and harmlessness to others and you will be on you way to being a good business owner.

How do you show right motivation in your business?

The Beautiful Blue Eyed Buddha photo is from the Etsy shop A World Named Alex.

http://www.AWorldNamedAlex.etsy.com

The Buddhist Business Owner-Using the Eight-Fold Path to Guide Your Business: The Right Understanding

2009-09-08T14:51:00.001-07:00

Right Understanding

I was looking for some basic info on Buddhism to explain my way of thinking to an on-line friend of mine. While this statement below that I found explains the first path - right understanding to me, I'd like to add some concrete ideas and maybe some anecdotes from my own or your experience.

Please feel free to use the comments section or if you'd like to write a post on any of these 8 topics, let me know.
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http://www.reep.org/gardens/buddhism/eightfold-path.php#top

Right Understanding

This means finding out about all the basic Buddhist teachings and then checking with your own experience to see whether each teaching makes sense. Buddhism says that for real understanding you need to see for yourself that Buddhist teachings are true.

So one part of Right Understanding is finding out about all the basic ideas in Buddhism.

The other part is testing them in your everyday life to see for yourself if they make sense. You should not just try to believe what you are told.

Elsewhere in the Noble Eightfold Path, in Right Speech and Right Action, you will see guidelines for behavior like avoiding telling lies and avoiding killing insects. This is not to please any god, since there are no gods in Buddhism. Right Understanding means that you try out following these guidelines and see how they affect you and other people. Only then can you truly understand why they matter.

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I see this as going to source material and learning about how Buddha defined suffering and how to deal with it positively.

A Buddhist sees suffering as life in general really....being born, growing old, being unhappy, grieving, being in any kind of pain or despair. It can also mean not succeeding in getting what you want in life.

Want creates suffering and the ending of want ends a person's suffering.

Things to consider that will help you in right understanding .....

1. Karma-- Every action, whether it be wholesome or unwholesome will have a positive or negative effect on your world.

2. Your time in this body is temporary...everything comes to an end eventually.

Wrong understanding rises from ignorance, wrong intentions, speech, actions, employment, effort, mindfulness and wrong concentration.

Right understanding rises from a mind that is not rigid, but one that is creative and open to new ideas.

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Now what does this little post have to do with running a business? Well, you tell me.

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Note: This photo of this beautiful Buddha is from the Etsy shop Buddhabuilder.

http://thebuddhabuilder.etsy.com

Cthulhu HP Lovecraft and Traveling

2009-08-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

The atmosphere of Lovecraft's stories always managed to scare me as much as the monsters themselves. When I was looking for information on the areas of New England he was writing about I found this site Cthulhu Files http://cthulhufiles.com/ the most information on the stories, the characters and the areas in the stories.

There's a site that shows you a map of a walking tour of College Hill with all pertinent Lovecraftian places of interest. http://www.hplovecraft.com/creation/sites/walktour.asp

Donovan Loucks travelogue is very interesting.
http://www.getnet.com/~dloucks/personal/neo/

Joseph Morales travelogue is my fave.
http://www.baharna.com/cmythos/newengl.htm

When I started this series of figures, I found this site to be a very valuable source of information. In fact if you search through the different articles, you could even plan a nice tour of Innsmouth or many of the other towns mentioned in the stories.
I definitely need to design a new monster....I'm thinking Shub-Niggurath or a Shantak Bird and maybe a vacation back East.

Life 101 from the Dali Lama

2009-08-01T01:57:00.000-07:00

I always feel so happy and serene looking at the beautiful art depicting Buddha.

I did create a thanka depicting the Green Tara, but I really need to create a sculpture or a thanka depicting Buddha.

The Dali Lama never fails to inspire me.

Instructions for Life from the Dali Lama.

1.Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2.When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3.Follow the three R’s:
- Respect for self,
- Respect for others and
- Responsibility for all your actions.

4.Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5.Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6.Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7.When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8.Spend some time alone every day.

9.Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10.Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11.Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12.A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13.In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14.Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15.Be gentle with the earth.

16.Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17.Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18.Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19.If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

20.If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Creating Art based on your Fears-Big Dolls And Ventriloquist Dummies

2009-07-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have this thing about big dolls.... That kissy doll is around 2 feet tall and when you pull her arms together with the palms touching she blows a kiss.

Now if the fact that old kissy was as big I was at age 3, the hissy popping sound of the kiss, surely scared me. I thought she had a snake inside her that I woke up when I moved her arms together.

The other doll- like creations I still get the creeps over are ventriloquist dummies.

My Mom used to make me watch scary movies with her when I was little. One that has always stayed with me was the 1964 Devil Doll.

This evil magician found a way to trap a victim's consciousness inside his ventriloquist dummy. He kept the poor dummy in a cage each night. So, we have the origins of my claustrophobia, the fear of being controlled by someone else, and the hatred of humanoid doll like things pretending to be something they're not....what a cornucopia of fears....

Now at age 49, I make art dolls for a living....go figure. I make Cthulhu monsters, ghosts, anthropomorphic figures, and all kinds of strange creatures.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really overcoming my fears by making these sculptures or just feeding them.

But, I do think it is much more challenging to create something that you're not completely comfortable viewing when you're finished with it.

Beat Poetry- Or I though Howl was my Favorite Poem

2009-07-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

I watched a film yrs ago where Allen Ginsberg and his boyfriend performed Howl....I just loved it. I adore beat poetry........ This is a good audio version of Howl....http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15308

Now being a super Sci fi geek I love me some William Shatner ....who by the way is a totally sweet man who adores his grandbabies....

I'm a feminist who was offended by Palin's ignorance..... The tonight show gave me such a present...........

WILLIAM SHATNER -reads Palin's farewell speech as a piece of beat poetry....
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/07/william_shatner_gets_all_groov.html

Thank you , Mr. Shatner!!!!!!

Bug is Complete! Works in Progress Part 3

2009-07-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

I finished the wings on Bug last night. I've now given her the name Moira in honor of
the Dancer who inspired me as I
worked on this piece.
I'm happy with how she turned
out, but I really need to find another way to
do wings, using a buttonhole stitch took forever.

Bug and the Tales of Hoffman -Works in Progress Part 2

2009-07-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Bug's been coming along nicely over the past few days.
Her arms and hands were stubborn, but I finally got them into an attractive pose.

Actually, The film the Tales of Hoffman with it's lovely sets and ballet sequences and vivid use of colors, really helped me figure out a gesture that didn't look clunky.

You can see the Doll's story sequence here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9oK24SFzHw&feature=related And the Dragon fly ballet here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnHKm9fn2yo&feature=related

Shearer was such a great dancer.

So, Bug is nearly complete. She just needs her wings . If you think she 's lacking anything, please feel free to give me your input. I was going to bead her, but metallic fabric is so much more bug like and I like her smooth lines.

Works in Progress- BUG

2009-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

While she may not have an original name at the moment, Bug is the first in a new series of insect women sculptures I've been working on over the past few weeks.

She started out as another half doll for the doll making book I'm writing.

But when my husband saw her finished head, he thought the face was very insect- like and
suggested I follow through on the idea.

The biggest problem was that
the doll's torso armature was
covered with yarn, batting
and fabric.
Adding legs meant that I would either have to tear apart what I had completed or build a separate leg armature that could support the torso in an upright position.

Since I felt that the doll up to that point was successful, I opted to construct a combined set of 4 legs with a center opening that the doll could be inserted into and secured in place at the waist. I used 14 gauge wire on this armature section instead of the lighter 16 and 22 gauge I used on the torso because I wanted the legs to be able to hold the weight of the torso and the embellishments I intended to use when the skinning of this figure was complete.

At this point, the arms and hands need to be completed, the wings need to be made and secured to Bug's back. I'm thinking that beading done on her torso and head would be the best final touches. My favorite final thing to do on a doll is it's hair, but in this case I probably should let Bug stay bald.....maybe a turban or some other head piece might work?

Naming Baby Cat....

2009-06-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, here's the new edition to my house of way too many kitties. She's 5-6 week old with seal point markings.

She's sleeping with her favorite towel. She's living in the pen right now cause my other cats need to get used to her. Also, she's so tiny I'm concerned she'll get into some spot in the house and I'll never find her again.

She has organized out of pen playtimes, so don't think she's in the pen 24/7.

If you have any ideas on names, I'd love to hear them.

YART SALE--All sorts of lovely things marked down

2009-06-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm part of etsy's Yart Sale this week. I have several art dolls and pieces of jewelry marked 25% off.

MJ has several of his paintings and prints marked down too. His magnets and keychains are offered in a buy one get one free sale.

Please feel free to stop by and look around. If you have any questions, convo me or ask them here.

Cat Elementals- Air and Fire- Works in Progress

2009-06-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

These 2 pieces have been problematic. First, I like to do winged figures that incorporate the wings into the arms. Making this apparent in so small a sculpt has been challenging.

So far, I've succeeded with wings on the Fire cat, but her tiny horns are going to have to be built up in the back so they can be molded more easily. I also need to incorporate the fingers into the edge of the wing.

The Air cat's feather wings need more work to delineate them from the background and fingers too. Both pieces need some serious smoothing.

I'm a bit concerned about the "good"- "evil" connotations some buyers might see in these 2 pieces, but trying to sculpt a 2 inch cat made of flames or a tiny cloud cat and make the flames and clouds identifiable seems ridiculous to me.

I know what I'm sculpting and why, so I'll just have to let it go. I can't be responsible for what ideas other people bring with them when they view my work.

I'm excited because I'm going to shop for paint this weekend. I'm anxious to see these pieces painted.

Cat Elementals - Works in Progress Step 2

2009-06-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the first Elemental cat Earth pulled from her mold. She needs a little finishing before I paint her. You can see she's quite a bit more finished than the first pictures you saw of her.

You can see the biggest difference in the Water Elemental. She's much more finished.

I'm finishing off the Air and Fire Elementals now.

I'm thinking of using a color scheme like the one in this one below for the series.
I'll show you what I've come up with for the new Elementals and how the color scheme is working in the next few days.

And-Now For Something Completely Different- Works in Progress

2009-06-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've been sculpting with fabric for yrs now, but my initial training was sculpting with traditional materials like clay and wax.

I had an odd dream the other night about these elemental cat women. You know Earth, Air, Water and Fire....I got up and did some sketches.

I had been reading this fabu book on the sculptures of women during the time of Akhenaten and decided sculpting them as tiny bas-relief sculptures. The pieces are around 2 inches in diameter.

I'm going to make molds on the sculptures and produce them in limited editions. They should make nice pendants.

I was thinking of faux finishing them so they look like things like yellow jasper or faince (turquoise colored) beads.

I need to smooth the surface of earth cat a bit more before I have a mold put on it and the water cat is still rough, but I think they're going to be quite nice when they're finished.

Southern California KItty Moms! Come to the Rescue!

2009-05-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

See these cute babies and their Moms?! They just took up residence on my back porch. There are 2 black and whites, 3 blacks and 2 siamesey types.

If you live anywhere close to Lancaster, Ca and want a wild little kitten to tame and raise as your own, contact me here or at one of these e-mail addresses.

phuzzyvelour@earthlink.net or fuzzyvelour@yahoo.com

I have 1 siamesey one spoken for already. I'm contacting local rescue groups, but they don't have space for any more kittens at present.

If you are local, want a companion ......you will have to tame a kitten like this down.... it takes me 2-3 weeks to get a feral kitten box trained and comfortable in an indoor setting... contact me.

I'll add more pictures as I can to this ongoing rescue attempt. I'm trying not to scare this family off. I want to try and capture the kittens asap....they are beginning to eat and go potty on their own. Soon capture will be more problematic.

I have a local feral cat spay and neuter group coming for the Moms soon 2-3 weeks and I want to get the babies adopted ASAP!

Let me know if you can help!

On being a kitty Mom- Ode to my cat babies

2009-05-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

I love my cats.....I really do, but sometimes they do drive me a bit nuts.

I know they're just playing and don't realize they're being destructive.

and other times they're just too cute for words and I love them all over again.

Even with all the mess they make, my rescued kitties are a great joy to me.

Works in Progress- It's Always Something.....

2009-04-03T23:36:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm bopping along on my doll-making book. The pictures look pretty good....I think.

But, now I'm worried about the dark ground I'm using. I like it because the colors stand out to me. Some people see the black as too stark.

I'm going to just go with what I've got because I really hate stark white grounds and I really don't want to make 3 more dolls. I also have to stop 2nd guessing myself if I want to get this book done.

Titania- Fairy Queen

2009-03-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

The headless winged figure I wrote about a few weeks ago finally decided who she is.

I was trying to decide what to do for a Shakespearean Challenge that one of
my doll groups is hosting.

I was going to do a new version of Ophelia or maybe Livia from Titus Andronicus, but I watched a version of A Midsummer's Night Dream the other afternoon.

Now the frilly tiny sweet Victorian fairies are just adorable, but to me real fairies seem more earthy and temperamental..... if not down right nasty if their desires are thwarted.

My Titania is regal and pretty, but more sinister and more animal than human. I realize she has no arms, but I was thinking fairies would be able to transform themselves to fit the situation.

If Oberon could give Puck a donkey head, I don't see how transforming wings into arms when necessary would be difficult.

Titania is in many ways an experiment for me. She's my first freestanding figure built over a hidden base. The interior of her wings are appliqued and beaded pieces of lace. Both experiments were successful and I intend to create more freestanding figures.

Works in Progress--Photos for Book in progress

2009-03-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

I started a book sometime ago on how to create a half doll like my blue and green creation Nerina.

Well, I've gotten the sections on how to make a metal armature for a half doll done.

Yesterday I worked on photos on how to cover the armature with yarn and batting. I am getting the hang of photographing as I go. I found it kind of frustrating at first. Today I'm working on pictures of sewing the first layer of fabric to the batted armature.

Yes, all these are random photos....I'm not giving away this process for free ......:)

Eventually these steps will give you a doll that looks something like Nerina. I 'm enjoying this writing exercise, but I am still nervous my written directions will be difficult to follow.

But I'll never know if I can do this if I don't try. If everything goes well, I should be done soon.:)

Works in Progress Dragon Woman Part One

2009-01-16T15:54:00.001-08:00

I've been playing around with designing a freestanding figure. The skirt has a metal frame and a covered wooden base inside the bottom of the skirt to add stability.

The interior of the wings have sections of lace covering them and the exteriors are covered in velvet.

I'm working on the head now. She's going to have yellow lizard eyes. I'm debating on whether to her sculpted fabric or beaded hair.

After the head I want to add some more draped fabric and beading to the skirt.

Fear and Loathing of the CPSIA in the High Desert

2009-01-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Most doll artists don't realize the horrible thing that is going to happen to them on Feb. 10th. I know some of you are realizing your dolls may be in jeopardy when this new law becomes effective on Feb 10th.

Now, I know this is difficult to understand with all the legalese, but here is the law as it stands . http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf

To put it plainly, as I understand it....ANYTHING from toys to clothing to books intended for a person 12 or under will need to pass 3rd party testing for lead and the listed chemicals.

Even fabrics etc that have been certified by their manufacturers lead free will have to be retested after you make said fabric into a doll or dress or whatever.

You may say you'd test willingly but there are only 14 certified labs in the US. , the item
is destroyed during testing and each component will have to be retested when you buy new supplies and each test for each component can be 500.00 or more.

So if you make 1 doll style with 3 types of fabric , 3 colors of thread, 4 colors of embroidery floss, 1 type of interfacing and 3 buttons.... and all this makes 12 dolls every time you buy a new bolt or length of fabric etc it will need to be tested.

At 500.00 a test that's 6500.00 for every dozen dolls you make. So each doll would need to cost 554.00 each just to cover the testing. If you were originally only selling 100 of this design a yr for 40.00 a piece wholesale, you will have to stop making dolls. Goodbye to your dreams of running a business.

You might want to contact your state reps and go vote at change.com. Oh and this includes items at thrift stores etc so forget buying used clothes etc for your kids to help stretch your family budget or buying antique or vintage childrens books etc as special gifts.

I guess all we'll have to choose from when we're buying for kids are " supposedly" tested imports that will cost a fortune
This site Change.com is going to present the top 10 ideas to Obama's staff on Jan. 20th. We are in 9th place now in the running. Here is the link.

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

Please go sign up and vote NOW and post this everywhere. Don't forget to write your state reps too.

35% off Sale will continue!

2008-12-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well, I said I'd let you know if I decided to continue my sale..... my sale will run until midnight on January 2nd.

Pieces like Valentina here will no longer be made.

Revised Plush Sale

2008-12-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am discontinuing my plush animal sculptures.

I've started designing a new series of sculptures with a more adult/edgier feel

SO! If you've really wanted a plush Hexcat or a crazy monkey now is your chance to get 1 at 35% off. The items in my 25% off section in my shop will have an extra 10% off discount.

Oh and the rest of the items in my shop are 25% off. I'm continuing this sale until midnight on the 20th. If I decide to run this sale longer, I'll write another update and let you know. :)

Revamping my shop...Special Sale!!!!!!

2008-12-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at my plush pieces and while they are cute...I'm finding that I want to get away from them.

I've been inundated with ideas for goth women, ghosts, sorceresses, disabled people....even vampires. Not to mention the eye jewelry I used to create regularly.

So if you want a plush hexcat or a monkey, now is the time to stop by my etsy shop. I set up a 25% off section. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=11088&section_id=5800372
There are a few older dolls listed there too.

Beezus had Ramona...Germanicus had Caligula

2008-12-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

So, it seems reasonable that Cthulhu Should have an even more evil younger relative. This little menace's name is Lulu.

She is soft and a pretty shade of lavender, and that's as far as the nice goes. Lulu has the smallest cult of human followers of all the Elder Gods. Mostly because she has the biggest appetite for blood and she's easily bored.

These figures have been fun to make. Juxtaposing the viciousness of the characters with soft plush and big sweet eyes really amuses me. Now I just have to see if anyone else finds them funny too.

Pet Shop of the Old Ones- Coloring Portfolio

2008-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

I love making my animals for my Etsy shop Chatnoirstudios. I was really surprised when people asked for coloring pages and more story than I was putting in the shop descriptions.

I was happy to oblige. So this holiday season I'm reissuing the first set of coloring pages. My husband, MJ did the illustrations and I wrote the story.

I find it fun to see illustrated versions of my animals. I love the drawing of Winter Sky almost as much as the sculpture.

I have 1 portfolio listed at the moment, but you can order more than one and I can have them printed and shipped out in time for the holidays if you order before the 15th.

Going Back to the Garden

2008-12-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

When I was little, my Grandma Bartlett taught me about many things. She told me stories about her life on a farm in West Virginia; taught me how to make perfect fried chicken and cherry pie; but mostly she taught me to be a strong woman.

One of my favorite lessons was about Eve. She was brave according to my Grandma. Life would have been nice in that garden, but people would have always been children.

It is always better to face the world and learn everything. Eve just wanted to grow up and find her place in the world with Adam. Because Eve grew up willingly, women since her have matured more quickly and men are often a step behind.

This little 10" by 5.5" or 25.4cm x 13.97 cm icon shows Adam and Eve embracing each other after their fall. They are what we are now... Left with each other to cope with the world, but with God listening. Grandma always said that the God was listening part is the most important thing to remember.

The fabrics I used in this piece were patterned cotton and rayon. Each applique is secured in place with spray adhesive and edged in a buttonhole stitch. Cotton floss was used for the embroidery stitches. The beads used as a final embellishment are glass and are sewn in place with spyderwire.

The finished piece is stretched over a wooden form padded with quilt batting and hand stitched in place with hand quilting thread.
The back of the icon is finished off with a panel of black velourand is ready to hang.

The finished piece is stretched over a wooden form padded with quilt batting and hand stitched in place with hand quilting thread. The back of the icon is covered with black velour.

Tara and The White Cat

2008-12-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

The Tara's love was so great for us that when she achieved Enlightenment,
She took a Bodhisattva vow, choosing to continue reincarnating until all "sentient beings" are enlightened.

In a story I read as a child, a white cat named Sinh who was the guardian/companion of an elderly artist asked Tara for help. His artist was working on perhaps his last painting for the Temple. It was of Buddha and the animals that answered his
summons.

The artist was grateful to Sinh for all the years of affection and companionship they had shared and wanted to add a portrait of Sinh to the painting.
Since according to legend the cat did not come at Buddha's call, everyone objected.

Sinh watched his unhappy, feeble friend and feared he would die before his masterpiece was complete. The night that the weeping artist finished the painting without the portrait, Sinh meditated asking Tara- She who saves- to bring peace to the old man.

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SVHA was the mantra Sinh repeated. In his mind, he came upon the green Tara and with a gentle touch of his paw told her of his love and sadness. All was lit with a golden light and Sinh was reassured that "You can rely on me, you need seek no other refuge"

On the morning the monks came for the painting they found that the artist had died in his sleep and lay in bed with a peaceful smile on his face. Looking around, they stood in awe of the beautiful painting before them. All the animals glowed with a heavenly radiance and the artist was there too... praying. But most amazing of all, the faithful and loving Sinh was sleeping in Buddha's arms.

This is probably my favorite cat story. It just seemed that my first attempt at an appliquéd and embroidered piece should be about the brave and loving cat, Sinh. This is piece is called a Thanka. It is an embroidered piece that tells a Buddhist/religious story.

To create this piece, I secured the dark dreen tie dyed fabric with a piece of batting behind it to a scroll embroidery frame. I marked off the shape of the thanka and the width of the border with dressmakers chalk.

The figures were drawn on cotton fabric secured in a round embroidery hoop and stitched. I used a variety outline stitches, short and long stitches and satin stitches. I got the glowing effect on the cat by combining 2 strands of white floss with a single strand of golden yellow floss. When they were finished, the figures were cut out and satin stitched to the background. I deliberately varied the length of the satin stitches to add to the impression that the figures are glowing.

Finding the cotton fabric print that reminded me of Dharma wheels was such a lucky break. It was perfect for the border of this piece. I cut small groupings of the circles and carefully arranged them in an attractive sequence around the 2 figures. I used a satin stitch to secure these pieces to the background like I did with the figures.

The final steps were to embroider the tiny spirals in the back ground and the rays emanating off the Tara, quilt around the figures and the sections of the background and border I wanted to stand out. I then used Spider Wire to do the beading on the entire piece.

I cut piece of wood the shape of the thanka and covered it with batting. I stretched the finished piece over the wood and whip stitched it into place. I cut a strip of cloth to cover the edge of the wood and give smooth edge to the image side of the thanka. I whip stitched this into place. I used a piece of the background fabric to cover the back of the thanka. Sewing beads around the edge of the thanka finished this piece off beautifully.

Cthulhu Awakens!!! New Cthulhu Figures

2008-12-02T12:59:00.001-08:00

H. P. Lovecraft's stories always scared me because of that feeling of oppressive fear and dread that he was so good at creating. My favorite novel is The Mountains of Madness.

I admit his characters often left a great deal to be desired, but the unnerving atmosphere....well it got me every time.

I've been wanting to come up with a new design idea for a monster that is both cute and creepy at the same time. By using huge eyes and soft plush, I think I've made a cute version of Cthulhu, but he's still a little creepy.

I as much as I like my first Cthulhu Playtime figure Nyarlthotep, I'm going to use resin eyes on the rest of the figures. The big 3D eyes are more expressive than the embroidered eye.

I'm playing round with designing Cthulhu's little sister LuLu and a blind albino penguin. My Cthulhu needs some more friends besides Nyarlthotep.

Bringing Back an Original Design for the Holidays

2008-11-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

I know I disappointed some people when I changed my HexCat design. So I decided to bring back the original little fuzzy cats that
started my business.
Shadow and her
friends will start
showing up in my etsy shop this week.

I'm working on a pair little kid cthulhu monsters for this week too. I'm hoping to keep adding more unusual creatures for you to give as gifts or to buy for yourself.

If you want something custom designed....you'd best contact me now. I sew everything by hand and need time to finish and mail the creature!

PlayTime Cthulhu Figures

2008-11-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Cthulhu and the other elder-gods like Yuggoth from the H.P. Lovecraft stories are pretty darn creepy. Lovecraft creates an atmosphere of impending doom in his stories that unnerve me every time I read them.
I also use the idea of battling a similar gods in my own stories that involve the Pet Shop of the Old Ones characters- Chat Noir and the Cadre of Conjurers, who trying to stop the evil sorcerers from the Calamitious Black Arts Guild.

I 'm playing around with designing my versions of the elder-gods that would be creepy cute. I'm thinking my character and the Guild would use them as play therapy tools to help injured Conjurers and Mundanes deal with magickal battle trauma.

As a designer, trying to make these monsters cute is an amusing exercise. Giving them child-like proportions, plush skins and huge eyes, should make them quite appealing. My first try was Nyarlthotep- The Stalker among the Stars. To Yuggoth he was the Bringer of Strange Joy. To me, he looks good in velour and purple plush. I tried out an embroidered eye on this first version.

My next monsters will be Cthulhu Junior and Cthulhu Lulu.

SPECIAL UPDATE!

I just finished the first Cthulhu Jr design. I think he turned out great and I'm really pleased with how the combination of plush and vinyl looks. I just got a beautiful turquoise plush that I want to try out on the next cthulhu figure.

Sleek is the word for my Hex Cat Redesign

2008-11-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

I am trying a new combination of textures to create my original essence of catness... HexCats. I like the contrast of the 2 textures and I'm not missing the yarn ruff.

I'm going to have fun playing with this new design, but I will make a few of the originals.

I'm seeing velour and plush, satiny print and faux fur, maybe even vinyl and velour or any combination of these fabrics.

Yes, this will work. As to the ruffs, I really am so over specialty yarn. Faux fur and plush... yes. I think I've made these cats more interesting to work on.

If you have any fiber suggestions for me to try.... please feel free to suggest them. I just might try a vinyl and chains sort of kitty.

The Cat That Wouldn't Die!

2008-11-16T20:27:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had a design come back to haunt you? When I first started making HexCats, they were little blobby figures like the cats shown here. I was trying to create the essence of catness....an eye, ears and fangs.

These cats are cute and the handmade eyes and the poses do give them personality, but my goodness .... they' re not very challenging to make.

This is why I designed the Boogaloo Hexcats. They have faces and
bodies which are more difficult to get right. The personality quotient is higher too.

I mean aren't these more charming?
I think little Lightening here is a real sweetie. Lyla has a great deal of charm and WinterSky looks ready to play.

But, I've had people ask about the first design and I like to keep my customers happy.... so of course I'm going to make more of the original HexCat design . I just have to come up with some little fabric and plush changes to make them unique and interesting. I'm trying out combining plush and velour on the same cat and giving them eyelids.

It's that Time of Year!

2008-11-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

Since it's November and people are starting to holiday shop in earnest.....I just wanted to help this along by offering free shipping until the 20th of this month in my shop.

From rogue crawling eyes who have snuck off the mother ship and run to the North Pole and become decorators, to

Flaming Chihuahuas, Hex Cats and even ghosts.

I have many unusual items in my shop for the most hard to shop for person on your list.

If you're interested in an unusual piece of jewelry or maybe a wrist cuff, I have a few pieces listed and I am adding more over the next few days.

Orchid came back

2008-09-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Last summer a young feral cat, who was at least part siamese, came by regularly for food. He or she ran with a wild group of cats in our area. I got to know her better and called her Orchid. She had lovely lavender eyes and a funny tuft of fur on her head that seemed to go the wrong way. She was always sickly and I wanted to tame her down and take her in with the rest of my rescues.

I always looked forward to my morning visits with her. After breakfast on the porch, she'd play with her felt mouse and chatter to me. When I finally felt she was tame enough to be boxed, I made a vet appointment and waited for the next morning to come. Orchid never showed up.

Living here in the Mojave Desert, I know that feral cats are food for many predators, but I had hoped she'd be round 1 more day. I felt so guilty.

About 4 weeks later, I heard a familiar meow out on the porch. Grabbing a food bowl, I rushed out to see Orchid pacing around the porch. I put the food bowl down and reached out to pet her......

And put my hand right through her.

I've seen ghosts since I was a little girl, so seeing Orchid just made me sad. She's visited me periodically since late last summer. The last time I saw her 4 months ago, I asked her to let go and come back to me as a live cat. She cocked her tiny head at me and squeezed her lavender eyes shut. I 've always thought of this as a cat smile.

About 3 months ago a black feral cat gave birth to 5 black kittens and one siamese kitten with lavender eyes and a funny tuft on the top of his head on my back porch. I'm still looking for homes for 4 of the black ones if any one is interested.

But since I promised her, Orchid/ Rorschach or Rory lives with me.

Collaborations

2008-08-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

I usually make my FlutterCats out of plush, but I got a commission recently for a fabric one. I'm so glad, because it has been fun to alter this design so that it will work with fabric.

The things I learned making this new cat from cloth will make all my cat designs better. I'm not sure how many cats besides the HexCats I'll make out of plush any more. I may find I miss the soft fur. It makes the cats more cuddly. I probably will keep using both materials.

Decisions I need to Make... Proposed Series UNIQUES

2008-07-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

I started out wanting to do dolls with disabilities like the microchephalics that appeared in Freaks or maybe more common disabilities like cerebral palsy. No, not for the shock value.

I have cerebral palsy... not a severe case though. But I've my problems with "normal" people and their preconceived notions of what is beautiful. I guess I find microchephalics interesting and in their own way beautiful. I chickened out when I got such horrified responses when I shared my first sketches for my proposed series of UNIQUES.
I got a lot of " You're making fun of them", or "No one would want to own something that looked like one of "those" people! "

So since I want to make my living as an artist, I came up with a compromise. I created a series of magical animals and mythological creatures. The Hex Cat and the Flaming Chihuahuas of the Apocalypse pictured here are recognizable as domestic pets and the magical aspect of their back stories takes the curse off the physical differences they have. At least for most people. I still run into the occasional person who gets upset by my sculpts.

I'm bringing this up now because the urge to create the original series of figures overwhelmed me the other day. As much as I love the fantasy figures I make now.....I want to do more personal pieces too. It's like my muse is tapping me on the shoulder and reminding me that it's time to start adding some more serious work to my repertoire.

Taking The Time To Pick the Perfect Name For Your Business

2008-07-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

I love cats especially black ones like Spats and Monte here.

Many of my dolls are fantasy or magick related and black cats go along with this idea.

To me naming my shop after a special animal like a black cat was a perfect choice. I used French because I felt it added to the exotic feel of my shop.

Little did I realize that for some people Le Chat Noir Studios was too difficult. I had quite a laugh when I got this in the mail yesterday.

I went with a different company of course. I might have been more understanding if I hadn't talked to the agent and spelled Le Chat Noir Studios out not once, but 3 times to her.

Telling Ghost Stories

2008-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

Wading by the lake-shore was how I spent my summers....
Watching my lover casting far and wide for golden
fishes and complimenting his skill.

Casting his greedy line further he found a catch more
golden than I would ever be....

Water, water, everywhere....What grave for me.

Floating in the water is how I'll spend this summer....
I'll again be the elusive prize he can never catch
and only he'll see.

I love ghost stories...the Gothic ones full of sadness and passion. No obvious gore for me thank you. The idea of an implied horror can be creepier than actually seeing the bloody victim or monster. The Medieval Silver Dagger Ballads and Edward Gorey's inspired my series Spectres of Unfortunate Romances.

So it was easy to come up with the idea of doing a series of ghost dolls, but the poem aspect really threw me at first. I am essentially creating stories and dolls about murder victims, but at the same time I want the ghosts to be giving their murderers hell too.

With the character, Nerina, she my have spent hours with her lover watching him fish and was killed and replaced by her rival, but with her ghost lurking in his favorite fishing spot....I don't think he'll enjoy himself any more.

I'm betting that Nerina's visits will get him to confess or give himself away. Since he's the only one that can see her, the problems the murderer will face trying to hide his fear will eventually break him down.

I really want to stay with the period motif of these dolls because the long skirts lend themselves to creating the floating feeling of a ghost. The victims in all the Silver Dagger Ballads I've seen were women, but some of the victims in Gorey's stories were male, so I have some choices to make as I continue this series.

Since this isn't the 14th century and women aren't quite the chattel we once were, I suppose I should consider doing a few male victims of love too. It is easy to portray only women as victims of choosing poorly when falling in love, but failed romances happen to everyone .

These dolls tend to be cathartic for me . I fill their stories with sad memories and let them go. Everyone can relate to a bad romance and the relief when it's over.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

2008-07-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so depressed! Not only is our fight for a proper category on Etsy going slowly.....There were not enough people signed up for the ad in FiberArts magazine. So, no ad for Le Chat Noir Studios.

My lovely picture will just have to wait.

Who the HECK are YOU?

2008-06-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was making a monkey figure or in my terms a "minkey" last night. I know I was. But low and behold this little guy appeared. HE wanted a tail...but not a fuzzy one and no external ears. But he was adamant that the tail have a vinyl tip and that he needed vinyl stripes on his face too. A lizard monkey? Well, I guess that's what I've made.

I thought he might like wings... wasn't interested. I didn't make this doll by myself. He just seemed to take control of the process and I followed along for the ride. So here is my newest addition to my Pet Shop of the Old Ones.... A lizard ape.

Man, I need to come up with a better name. Winter Lizard, Scaly Ape, Wooly Dragon, do any of these sound good to you?

I love Lalo, my light tent!

2008-06-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

I used to have a horrible time taking pictures. At first, I didn't understand how to use the camera and MJ's idea of teaching me was pointing at some teeny button and bellowing. "Push that now!!!No No! That! " I never could figure out what "THAT" was.

Now when I teach somebody to do a thing, I say, " If you want to cut
the wire, use the wire-cutters on the table." not "Use those with that." Maybe it's just a guy thing? I don't know.

Anyway, I read the camera manual and learned the names of the buttons and what they were supposed to do. I even bought my new friend, Lalo, the Light Tent.

Lalo has been very good to me. This pre-Lalo picture of Bubbles Latour is okay, but I think the pictures of Lyla (the cat) and Elvis (the monkey) are not thoroughly embarrassing and show my sculptures off pretty well.

With Lalo, the problems I had with lighting my pieces are fewer and make this venture into photography much easier for me.

New Chihuahua Poco Diablo

2008-06-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy making these little patchwork dogs. Diablo is my newest piece in this series. He's also the
first chi I've done with an open mouth.

I re-did the head a couple of times to tone
down the facial distortions. The mouth was more time consuming than I thought it would be. The fact that this dog design needs 2 eyes of different sizes made things more difficult.

Monkey Business

2008-05-14T15:12:00.001-07:00

I've been watching that old tv show Lancelot link and I was inspired to make my own monkeys for my Pet Shop of the Old Ones line. of the Old Ones line.

I had fun designing these monkeys or Mojo Minkeys as I 'm calling them. Minkey is the word I'm using cause I love Inspector Clouseau and he called monkeys "minkeys". I like the way the 2 words sound together.

I made one minkey in the style of my Hex Cats with only one eye, but I'm undecided about whether I like her or not.

I find animals dressed in human clothes creepy, but I liked the variation of famous names
that the Lancelot Link show used for the characters. I gave each minkey a famous name. Elvis,
Albert, and Bette are some of the names I'm choosing.

I found that working with the curly soft plush was messy and difficult, but it looks great when the figure is complete.

First Half Doll Design For My Book

2008-05-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my first dollmaking book and I just finished the first example of what you could do with a basic half doll design.

I like to use a half doll to make ghosts, fairies, angels, or demons. Actually, anything that floats, flies or is in the process of appearing or
disappearing.

This first piece is a poor unfortunate ghost who loved not too wisely, but too well. She's in her watery grave, but I'm going to write a dark amusing poem about her ruining "His" fishing trips every season. I've always been an Edward Gorey fan and I had a blast writing the last 2 story poems for Poor Sad Mary and Autumn Leaves.

I like the names Maud, Rachel or Edith for this figure. If you'd like to suggest a name feel free.

Little Poot

2008-04-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

I love all my cats, but Sniffles holds a special place in my heart. She and her siblings were so sick when I rescued them I was scared they would die.

She was the one who got my attention that spring afternoon. Her eyes were still shut, but she was wandering about sounding like an ambulance siren.

After their respitory infections started clear up, the kittens eyes opened and Sniffles eyes were amazingly huge and lovely. She became this wild little streak playing so hard that she would just fall asleep in the middle of a run.

She was the first to learn to use the litter-box, but she plays so hard that she runs to the box and jumps in already in squat position. She's such a smart little thing she learned how to snap the oven light on and off yesterday. I thought a kitchen light was going because of the flickering light I saw from the living room. But no, there was the Wild One standing on the stove, popping the switch on and off.

Her only flaw are her killer farts. She gets all sweet...pet my head and you pick her up and WHAM! I swear her farts are worse than ... I don't know what!

Aw man!!! She just jumped in my lap and got me again.

Writing a How To Book

2008-04-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

In my quest to expand my Chat Noir lines, I'm now venturing into writing. I was an Art Teacher for 5 yrs, so writing and planning lessons was second nature to me.

I'm working on directions for a half doll like "Autumn Leaves", but on a smaller scale. I'm also going to show 3 or 4 variations like sculpted, beaded, or embroidery floss hair or maybe even a headdress.

I hope to be sending out trial booklets to my testers soon.
I only have one problem though, every time I finish a section, I find I need to start a new section to expand on new ideas.

I'm worried I may overwhelm my intended students....that's why I asked for people to test the finished lessons. I'm looking forward to hearing their ideas.

Tiny Cat Faces

2008-03-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've always loved making my sculpted HexCats, but this year I swore I'd also add some more affordable items to my etsy shop.

Since I've always loved beaded pendants, I thought I'd design a little hexcat that could be worn.

The pendants are relatively easy to make and fun to wear. I'm sure they'll seem a bit creepy, to some people, but they really do have goofy and sweet expressions.

We all need a bit of fun in our lives.

Depicting Suffering in Art

2008-03-07T21:25:00.001-08:00

The Medieval, Rennaissance and Mannerist painters always fascinated me. Death, pain, and suffering was so much a part of their lives and art. Since most people would be lucky to live to be 30, death was probably very present in most people's minds.

Mantegna's painting of St. Sebastian has always stayed in my mind ever since art school. It's both beautiful and disturbing.

Hieronymus Bosch painted amazing and horrifically beautiful paintings depicting Heaven,Earth and Hell.

Parmigianino foreshadows Jesus' death while creating a painting of him in his Mother's arms.

It surprises me sometimes how people who say they like art that depicts reality are fearful of art that shows the darker side of being alive. I too wish life was all sunshine and roses, but unfortunately it's not.

I had such a negative response from other artists when I wanted to create dolls depicting things like physical disabilities. Even finding out that I was disabled didn't take the curse off of it for some people.

I've gotten around this phobia for the most part by creating mythological or magical creatures. Sometimes I feel like I sold out. But at the same time, many of my creatures and figures are now considered beautiful. So maybe I am making a tiny dent into the rigid ideas some people have about what is beautiful.

My most recent foray into pushing the beauty boundary came about when I read an article about a brave little Terrier named George.

The story reminded me of the art I mention above and I decided to portray George in his last moments. I feel such great bravery and love should be commemorated.

I've been pleased that most of the responses to George have been very positive. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/05/feisty_jack_rus.html

I'm feeling much braver about creating darker sculptures. Portraying all aspects of being alive like death, fear and pain can be very liberating.

Romantic Movies

2008-02-12T10:33:00.002-08:00

I'm not usually into romantic movies, but I found a few on sale for Valentine's Day and decided ... why not!

An Affair to Remember was a lovely movie. The commentary track was brilliant. I love Cary Grant and Debra Carr is so pretty. Grant has this great charm in this film, but I think I like him in Hitchcock films best. Hitchcock seems to bring out this underlying viciousness in Grant that I find intriguing. I think Notorious is my Favorite Cary Grant movie.

Dirty Dancing is just a fun movie. I love to watch people dance and the movie does pretty good job of evoking an early 60's feel. Jerry Orbach is a great Dad. Patrick, well he's just too cute and Jennifer Grey's adorable too.

Ghost- I like this movie because the story is told from the point of view of the ghost. I like all of the characters in this movie a lot.

Funny Girl was amusing and I enjoyed it. Omar is gorgeous and I enjoyed Barbara's amusing performance. The color palate of the late 60's is so evident in the costuming and everything. But I like 60's colors, so I didn't find it a drawback.

Now I've never actually seen Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I love Audrey and Truman Capote. So I'm sure I'll probably enjoy myself. I'll probably dig out Sabrina too and have a little double feature.

I'll be gearing up for Thursday. I'm even going to make a heart shaped pizza. We'll probably watch a movie while eating... SciFi or horror something . Nothing says romance like The Crawling Eye or The Head.

Sunday Morning Sleep in

2008-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, Pink Monkey ! It's time to get up! We NEEED to eat Noooow!
I rarely sleep in. The cats are traditionalists and hate Any change in their schedule. Also MJ seems to think that if I'm asleep getting candid shots of me is a great idea.

Pixie's glare wasn't enough to get me moving this Sunday morning. Max's leap from the window sill onto my head was.

I really do love my cats, but it would be nice to sleep in once in a while.

A Day of Mourning

2008-01-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

This morning one of my older black cats had to be put to sleep.

Roswell was an unusual cat. He looked like a tiny spider when my husband, MJ, found him in a shopping cart at Walmart and brought him home.When he was 4 months old he survived a black widow bite, but he was never quite same afterward. Ros was a loner and made nice on his terms.

He was loved by one of my black and white females named Pixie. He had no clue what she wanted, but seemed to like to sit with her. Poor Pixie, she's searching the house for him now. I wish I could tell her what happened. He never liked to get his picture taken so I can't share how handsome he was with you.

Ros said "Hello" to me one morning and was able to steal the lids off full 2 liter bottles of soda with out using his teeth or spilling a drop of soda. He had mastered the house vortex and seemed to appear and disappear at will.

I will miss you Roswell and I'll do my best to comfort Pixie.

All my love.

My new toy

2008-01-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

I just bought a light tent on ebay and it showed up this morning. Now I need to get some tiny lights to clip to it.

I want to take better pictures of my sculpts. I hope this helps. I always liked using dark backgrounds for my sculpts but a lot of people seem to be turned off by them . I look forward to trying this tent out on the 3 new pieces I just finished.

I did shoot Lobo on a white ground and I do like the result, but I also like how Rosa looks on black. Decisions, decisions.

Well, I'm off to experiment and see how things look.

The Holidays and beyond

2007-12-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely holiday. Just being together, no rushing to 3 different houses, no neurotic relatives, presents that we both wanted.

It was great to spend the day together. We talked, watched old movies and cooked a great dinner.

Now it's time to start the new projects for my etsy shop.

1. The introductory story for my pet shop series needs to be completed.
2. Learn to use my embroidery machine.
3. Sculpt those little dragons
4. Add little mermaids to my line.
5. make more items to my shop in the $20-$40 range.

I need to work smaller and I want to make a few more different items. I'm playing around with embroidery designs for purses that I knitted. I'm not sure how monster purses will go over, but I think they're cute.

Preparing for my Scrooge-a-thon

2007-12-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Every year I read A Christmas Carol and watch a few of the different movie versions that have been made over the years.

I think the Alastair Sim version is my favorite, but the George C. Scott version runs a close second.

But then again, I love the part in the Albert Finney Scrooge where he's relegated to the coldest office in Hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCJ69RycJkA

And the scene where Scrooge's poor victims are dancing on the old bugger's coffin is hysterical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiNMz_745vQ the reprise of Father Christmas always makes me so happy.

Of course there are several really bad versions out there, like the one with Henry Winkler or the 50's live tv version with Fredrick March. But I'll even peek at them sometimes.

I think I love the story of Scrooge because no matter how bad life seems; how selfish and rotten I feel sometimes; I watch Scrooge see all the good that could have happened in his life if he had been braver and more caring and realize I can improve myself too. Aspiring to be more than you are, is the only real change you can make in your life that really benefits you and the others around you.

I hope all of you have a Happy Holiday and aspire to be a better soul in the new year.

Son of Bun

2007-12-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

Remember this nasty little guy? Remember how I said he was the most terrible candy experience ever? Well, I have a new story for you.

My husband thinks the Killer Bun Story is hilarious. So I think he has been looking for Buns locally to surprise me. Why he thinks I'd like to relive such an experience is beyond me, but I think he thought it would be funny to look at them and laugh over old Killer.

One night he came home from work with a Charlie Brown's Farms bag and seemed so pleased with himself.

Yep.

One of our local farmers markets had started carrying BUNS. Well, vanilla and caramel ones anyway. I was almost disappointed that he couldn't find a Killer Bun. I am curious now to see if it was as bad as I remember.

The caramel one was old. It had been smashed, heated and then left to re-solidify. I don't know what possessed me, but I just had to try it. I should have thrown it out. The peanuts were stale and the caramel was brittle in some places and gummy in others. The chocolate had more in common with a candle than a piece of chocolate.

But as always... the Vanilla would do in a pinch.

I really should stop eating candy. Or maybe I should just send all future buns to my brother David and see if he'll eat them now.

Sewing Free Form Figures CAPTURED

2007-12-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

The way I work can seem very involved. In this tutorial, I wanted

to share how I
made one of my favorite pieces, CAPTURED .

I've always loved the colors of the Egyptian Funerary Art and the textures and spiraling shapes in Gustave Klimt's work.

I've always done
sketches to
help me
plan my
sculptures,
but I have never let the drawings get too involved though. The fabrics and the sewing itself often dictated changes in the finished piece.

After I collected up different shades and textures of fabrics in the the Egyptian inspired colors , I chose the wires I wanted to use for the armatures.

I wanted the starfish to act as a base and it needed to hold the mermaid securely. Even though it was only 8 inches in diameter, I chose 14g galvanized steel wire for the basic framework because it was stiff enough to hold the shape I wanted. After making the basic shape, I wrapped the 14g with 22g wire.

This texturing of the armature made it easier to cover the wires with acrylic yarn. I used a buttonhole stitch for this step. The yarn covering made it easier to attach the strips of batting used to plump up the starfish's shape.

The mermaid may have been a smaller piece, but her construction was much more involved. The process was basically the same as the starfish, but I worked in layers on this figure. After setting up the armature, I covered her with batting and started sewing fabric on the tail.

Once I had a stable fabric base I used more pieces of batting to create breasts and the facial structure . More fabric was then whip stitched over top. On the head, the eyes were sewn on and the forehead, nose and chin were then shaped and sewn down.

On the torso, the breasts were formed by sewing batting around a marble and sewing it in place. Once they were covered with fabric, I continued the spiraling fabric shapes I started on the tail up the torso and over the breasts.

The final steps on the starfish were to secure the resin eye in
place, sew on an eyelid and embellish the entire surface with beads.

The mermaid's finishing touches were beading the hair and embellishing the torso with seed beads. Elastic trim was used to bind the mermaid in place.

This has always been one of my favorite pieces.

The Dreaded Candy Flavor

2007-12-08T18:39:00.002-08:00

When you're a kid darn near anything sweet is a wonderful thing. But the worst candy eating experience of my life had to have been getting one of these little dudes to my left. Mom ran in to Bumpas Drug to get cigarettes or something and brought me one as a treat.

No no! Not the vanilla...that wasn't that bad really. The caramel was better of course, but the vanilla would do in a pinch. Apparently Mom didn't notice, that in her rush to get a handle on her nicotine craving, she picked up a MAPLE Bun!

I was hopeful as I opened it...I'd never had the maple before. I had the fleeting thought that pancake candy was a weird idea, but heck I'd try anything once. OMG! It was horrifically sweet and gritty like sand. And gummy... let's not forget gummy. I kept taking little bites. I guess I thought for some strange reason it had to get better. The motion of the car started to make me nauseous, my head started to hurt and I thought I was going to die. Mom would have never tried to poison me on purpose...would she?

Our green Galaxy 500 had a big deep back-seat. So I wrapped that sucker back up and wedged it in the crack between the backrest and the seat. I then tried to put the experience out of my mind.

That Christmas I got The VERMONT MAPLE COUPLE in my stocking.
I conned my little brother David into eating mine. It was easy. He used to eat Play-Doh.

A few yrs later my Dad was cleaning out the car in preparation for trading it in. He found the petrified remains of my Maple nightmare. I 'd forgotten old killer Bun and I just kinda chuckled to myself. That wild sugar poisoning from my past has put me off Maple for life.

The Pet Shop of the Old Ones Coloring Portfolio

2007-12-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

It's finally finished!! The folio has been listed in my
shop and I'm hoping for a good response to it.

People have been asking for something with my magicked animals that was less expensive than the actual dolls. I've always enjoyed writing the descriptions of the animals and decided writing a story might be the way to go.

Here it is! 22 beautiful drawings by my husband, MJ and a story by me, in a nice string tie portfolio. I hope this folio is popular. I enjoyed writing the story and deciding on what illustrations to use.

I already have ideas for a second folio.

My Ode to Cats- In My Life and in Art

2007-12-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

I love you my darling cats. Jackie, even when you jump off the
plant shelf and land with a huge bang on MJ's drawing table.... I may jump 10 feet, but I still love you.

Or when you have a wild game of "run and tumble" with your siblings at 2 am, I'm usually up sewing anyway.

Even little Kirby's turning into a vampire that one night wasn't that bad. He was abandoned at such a young age I guess the suckling thing is to be expected.

But sometimes I like my cats to be artwork. It's nice to look at a painting or sculpture of a cat. No biting or scratching or craziness. Just beautiful cats.

Cellic http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5412690
the etsy shop run by Cheryl Ellicott shows cats in all their regal beauty. I am so in love with Devon Rex Prince M. I love to look at this beautiful
painting.

But sometimes the joy of having
a cat is witnessing it's occasional zaniness. Papermoongallery's cats are so charming. I love the giant eyes and teeny legs these sculpts have. Sophisticated Kitty Cat is quite the charmer. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021458

Yes, I'm a crazy cat lady and I do love my cats.

New Cat Preview

2007-12-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is the first Cat Woman in MJ's beautiful new series of ACEOs. The image is drawn in graphite and colored digitally.
It's funny how different artists see things.When I suggested doing a Cat
Woman Series to MJ, I was thinking along the lines of Cat Women like My Mystic Cat Dancers. More cat than human was the way I approached this idea.

As I look at MJ's Lady Blue, I want to try a new series more like her, but I suppose that the way I work I would end up with another figure similar to my Calliope.

Making Resin Eyes Tutorial

2007-12-03T16:10:00.001-08:00

My husband makes a lot of the eyes I use in my dolls and jewelry.

He wrote this
tutorial to add to my blog .

First you'll need a silicone mold of a sphere the size you want your
eye to
be. It needs to be a one piece mold thats open at the back.

Get some Devcon Clear Two Component Epoxy from your hardware store. Also
get some dry tempera paints.

First, mix up a small amount of epoxy and use the black tempra paint to
make it black. VERY CAREFULLY, using a toothpick or some similar tool,
collect a
blob of the black epoxy on the end of the toothpick and carry it to the
mold.Let a pupil sized drop fall right into the middle of the spherical
mold. Don't let it hit the side of the inside of the mold and run down to the very
bottom, you must hit the center/bottom of the mold on the first try. You are
creating the pupil of the eye, and it must be perfectly round!

As this sets up, mix a larger batch of epoxy and tint it the color that
you wish the iris of your eye to be. Using the toothpick again, or better
yet a cheap disposable paintbrush, collect a dollop of the iris colored epoxy
and drop it into the mold right on top of the black pupil that you have just
created.
Of course, the iris color should flow beyond the area of the pupil.
Again, hit the center/bottom of the spherical mold the first time! to get a perfectly
round iris.

While this epoxy is setting up, mix a larger again batch of epoxy and
tint it a cream or white color. This will be the white of your eye. Mix
enough to pretty much fill the rest of the mold. Pour it into the mold and it's
best to let the whole thing set overnight. The following day, demold the eye
and see how it looks. If you are happy with it, and since most dolls, figures have
TWO eyes, you now get to make a second eye just exactly like the first! Good
Luck! Once you have your TWO eyes, I would lightly sand them both to get rid of
any textures that may have formed on the surface of the eyes. Once they
have been sanded evenly, coat them both with an untinted coat of epoxy to give
them a wet look. Sometimes a second or even third coat of clear epoxy is needed to
get a uniform coating.

This is a really down and dirty way to make fake eyes.Your biggest
hurdle will be to get some molding silicone to create your spherical mold.
You'll also need a sphere to mold. A Ping Pong ball, large marble, etc.

Locate Burman Industries on the internet to purchase silicone molding materials, and
information on working with it.

Good luck! Be forewarned -This takes a great deal of practice, silicone for the molds is expensive and expect a high failure rate while you are learning.

Adding More New Items

2007-12-03T09:00:00.002-08:00

MJ is adding a new line of Limited Edition Art Cards to our shop.

The Bleak Girls are the first set.

His next series will be Cat Women.

The Pet Shop of the Old Ones Coloring pages will be listed this week.

I'm finishing off a new Futhark Feline and a little cat soon to be either a Moonlight Cat or a short haired HexCat. I'm still undecided. It depends on how the body turns out. I've only made one short-haired Hexie so the idea is appealing. Micah was one of my first HexCats. I was looking in my files for a picture and came across this one of him and it got me to thinking about getting out the velour for a Hexie.

I'm starting a couple of new pieces too. This sad story made me want to do a memorial to poor George. Since I want to call it St. George, I'm going to do it in accordance with traditional portraits of Saints. He's going to be all battered from his fight. But I don't believe all angels are pretty.... Especially when they're being brave. http://tinyurl.com/38mnv5

I'm also staring a medium sized longhaired Hexie. I just got the most beautiful black,white and purple faux fur and MJ made me some beautiful deep purple eyes. I love fabric sales.

New Items, New Groups... New Everything It Seems

2007-11-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

I got tired of making the first edition Hexcats or the Blob cats as I now call them. But I always enjoyed making their little ruffs. I've seen how popular cuffs seem to be so I decided to try out putting HexCat faces on them. I think they're cute and have the added attraction of being wearable.

I also joined a new Etsy group called the Freethinkers Team. We have our own blog/gift guide here at Blogger too. http://etsyfreethinkers.blogspot.com/
It seems like so many people were trying to segregate themselves in to groups of similars...which is fine. I like and make Dark Art so I joined the Spirit of Dark Art group too. I think that when certain groups gather up , like conservative Religious or Political groups it just makes more open minded people feel uncomfortable. I like this Freethinkers group because anyone who is willing to be tolerant is welcome. We also have a Flickr group called the Unherded Cats of Etsy http://www.flickr.com/groups/569592@N23/
Please feel free to visit us on etsy forums in our chat thread in the street teams section http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5338998
or either of these 2 other places.

I'm going to start featuring artists from both groups here in my blog . I just have to come up with a fun questionnaire for the featured person to fill out. If you have any fun ideas for questions or want to be featured let me know.

Ultraman Ultra Strange

2007-11-28T01:37:00.001-08:00

As a kid, I used to watch Ultraman regularly. My husband did too. Recently we got the DVDs of the show. I never realized how many strange things went on in that show.

What was up with those tiny shorts that all the little boys wore?
Why did the Science Patrol sleep in their cheesy orange uniforms?
Why didn't the Beta Capsule that turned Hiata into Ultraman, come with a clip so he could attach it to his belt? He was forever losing that damn thing.

And where the heck did Ultraman put the beta capsule when he was trouncing the poor alien of the week? Did it become the Ultra butt plug? I mean look at his Ultra suit in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD4q7KFEp6k
Can you see a pocket?

The Aliens and Monsters - I always felt bad for these guys. Ultraman tore them to bits most of the time. I liked the Toho(movie studio that did the Godzilla etc films) solution to monsters... they got captured and put on a nice island. They even had their own medical staff to look after them.

I watched one episode this weekend where the Science Patrol had a memorial service for all the defeated monsters... it was nice, but a far cry from a private island. As an adult, Ultraman makes me sad now, but I still like all the old Toho movies. They seemed to have more respect for their monsters.