The Drunken Hat Attack

Aaaand, following on from my last post and the picture of my plain old white fisherman's hat,

Here it is in all its new glory -

Now, don't be distracted by the wine, which I'm grasping tightly as if my life depended on it. On Thanksgiving weekend I went to a few wineries with my mother, sister and nieces. It was very cold, but of course we had a great time!

It's funny how just taking sips at a wine tasting can leave you feeling tipsy and laughing uncontrollably.

Or maybe I had the bottle opened so I could taste it more easily.

Here are a couple more shots of the hat, something with a little decorum to link up with Hat Attack over at the Style Crone.

I just loosely sewed pieces of that beautiful fabric over the hat, using a slightly gathered piece to go around it, and then some more pieces to fashion a little flower/bow. Because I left the edges frayed and did the whole thing sort of ragged, it wasn't difficult.

Come check out the other hats and fascinators at Style Crone!

Val

Dec. 6 - Did someone say brandy and roasted almonds? I'm heading over to Patti's for Visible Monday!

Red and Pink and Orange

My favorite colors on the color wheel are the reds. They sing to me in a way that blue and yellow never do. I always pick the red playing piece when I play a board game, and my favorite flavors come in red, too - cherry, strawberry, merlot.

I bought a new, red handbag, which I'll show you properly one day. Here I am carrying it and surrounded by red before going out to dinner for my birthday.

Guess how old I am - it's scary! Or maybe I got the math wrong.

Laughing away the years!

I've always loved pink and orange, too - red's kissing cousins. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I just had my mammo-cram the other day, I got some small pink gifts at the imaging clinic. Whheeeeee! Who doesn't want a pink plastic coin purse and a pink whistle and a pink emery board?

Now that summer's over, my bowling ball - the Pinkster - is seeing some action.

My scores are looking pretty good, too. And my favorite snack at the bowling alley is Cheetos, which brings me to orange.

October IS orange, don't you think? The leaves, the pumpkins, the O at the beginning of both words. Look at your calendar - I bet they used orange for October.

I created a Halloween brooch that has orange in it, along with black and purple. The sticky-out beads remind me of spider legs, and the twisted wires are like cobwebs - although the description I used on Etsy was a little more gruesome.

No matter the month or the color, Visible Monday is on every week, so I'll be heading over to link the pink, and the red, and the orange.

Val

I like big buttons and I cannot lie

It seems like I keep making references back to previous posts. It's a sneaky way to get more clicks, for whatever it's worth. Anyway, remember a couple posts ago I mentioned I was making buttons for this purple velvet jacket?

I did it! Buttons completed and sewn on!

Ta da!

I won't say they were altogether successful, and I'll show you why. If you're not into Mod Podge or resin or shanks, you're excused - go on to the next blog or watch Dr. Who or have a cup of tea or something.

Back to the buttons - I decided to use cutouts from pictures in an old Sotheby's catalog that I got at the thrift store, and cover them in resin. So first I had to seal them with Mod Podge.

 
Then I glued some bits of chain around the edge to help hold in the resin when I poured it. It worked on most of them.

To pour resin on the backs, I wrapped masking tape around them after the first pour had set (a little more than 24 hours). The tape also only worked moderately well at holding the resin in, but I just trimmed off the  excess.

While the resin on the back was still sticky I added shanks from self-cover buttons, which set in the resin.

I did a second pour on the top, which made them rather thick. Maybe too thick, and also blunt on the edges, so they don't slide in and out of the buttonholes easily. That's why this is called an e-x-p-e-r-i-m-e-n-t.

The other thing is that shank buttons tend to droop a lot when they're big and heavy. Lesson two - large buttons should have holes through the middle, and maybe even four holes, so they won't droop under their own weight.

So, not completely successful, and neither were the photos! It was impossible not to get reflections. But these buttons will do until I get around to experimenting with polymer clay instead.

Linking up my velvety Prince-like jacket with Visible Monday!

Val

Brooches and Buttons

Hello, all!

The lovely Kezzie has been sharing some of her funtabulous brooches on her blog, and in a comment on my blog she sort of demanded that I do the same. I do have a few really nice brooches, which I haven't been wearing much lately. Summer clothes can't hold up anything that weighs more than a piece of lint. But now that lapel season is on its way, let me show you some of my pretties.

Before I do, though, I HAVE to mention that I just reopened my Etsy shop - click on the link and bring your credit card! Of course, my "chaos" brooches are listed. Please have a look and give me feedback.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes, brooches. I have posted pics of these before, and I'm probably better off using old pictures than the newer ones. This is what I accomplished taking a selfie today:

The brooch is a beautiful blue butterfly I bought from Bella at Citizen Rosebud. Here's a usable photo with a smug smile.

The butterfly was also seen here. Lovely, n'est-ce pas?

--- edited on Sept. 29, which happens to be TARDIS Tuesday, and I'm wearing blue so I shall link up with My Closet Catalogue.

This is one I made for myself using a sticker of an Edward Hopper painting and putting resin over it.

I've grouped it with some buttonflowers from Megan Gann (who used to have a blog but she seems to have quit the blogging life). The little yellow curves in the buttonflowers match the hat in the picture.

Here's a photo from 2012 with me wearing a brooch I got at a charity shop in England.

This is when Mr. S did some photography for me, before we started bickering each time (Me: Hurry up! You're taking too long! Him: You keep making silly faces!). Ah, memories . . .

And here's a micro-mosaic set that belonged to my grandmother's cousin Naomi, who had no children of her own so my mother got them. And now I have them.

 
I know I mentioned buttons in the title, and I was going to tell you about the buttons I made - yes, made - for this purple velvet jacket, which was a hand-me-over from my niece. But maybe that will wait for another post.

Linking up with the longest running link-up on the webz - Visible Monday at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Are you going? I'm bringing a cheese ball (his name is Guido - haha!).

PS - when I added my link, it wanted to shorten the title to Brooches and Butt. 

Val

South of 45

This last weekend we had our final day's shoot for the music documentary Mr. S and I have been working on. The photo below was taken by one of the musicians when we recorded at his house. I'm not really an audio technician, but I can fake it when necessary.

The program is called South of 45 (Like us on Facebook!), and we got our posse together for a final gig at the now-closed Dexter Lake Club (which I wrote about here).

The shoot was dope, as in really good! As Production Assistant, I was in charge of catering, supplying Coke (with a capital C), and generally running around and finding the gaffer tape. My fabulous niece Lisa took photos (she shoots her husband Kenji's blog, which is one of the best men's blogs I've seen).

Here are the bands we worked with.

Hyding Jekyll - funk metal grunge

REFA - upbeat, complex, really really tight

Alexander DiGrazia - poetic lyrics and gentle guitar

So, that was a rocking long day on Saturday, and Sunday we had a Wrap Party at our house.

Then Monday I started working full time again. It's gainful employment and a total shock to the system. I've got a temporary job, about 4 or 5 months, but at least it's steady money. I'll be editing, proofreading and blah, blah, blah. I wasn't getting much traction as a freelancer but, of course, I'm getting inquiries now. Typical. I may soon be really busy working days and evenings, and Mr. S has also got some paying work coming up. We may have a few bucks yet for retirement someday.

The new job is near the university, and there are some nice walks for my break times.

And the weather here is ridiculously mild - look at this:

If you live in the northeast of North America, you might want to consider moving to western Oregon!

Val

Je suis Charlie, Je suis Ahmed

Aujourd'hui, je suis Parisienne. Je suis d'accord avec le peuple de Paris, in solidarité contre la violence, la haine et l'intolérance.

Today, I am Parisian. I stand with the people of Paris, in solidarity against violence, hatred and intolerance.

I wish I could write my whole post in French, but my language skills are too-long dormant for a serious post. (I used freetranslation.com to help me here.) To join with the people of Paris, and indeed, reasonable people everywhere, I'm wearing scarf that a friend of mine brought me from Paris several years ago.

scarf from Paris - Pantone color 2013 - Emerald

It's impossible to make sense of what happened in Paris - violence, fear and chaos were the aims of the extremists, so there is no sense. To a generation that grew up in a golden age of progress and enlightenment, this kind of barbarism seems to signal the end of the world. I can't even begin to analyze the various implications of these attacks - and others - to freedom, religion, racism, society, nationalism, multiculturalism, women...

current work-in-progress - a Parisian cafe

Then the stories of the unity of people in Paris, and world leaders setting aside their differences, give me some hope that tolerance will override intolerance and divisiveness.

Source

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Linking up and spreading the love at SpyGirl: 52 Pick-me-up, and Not Dead Yet Style: Visible Monday.

Val

High Tea

Hello, again! And no, my title isn't a play on my last post about the mini opium den.

On Saturday I volunteered to help serve tea at a local historic house, the Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson House (their website seems to be down, but here's a picture of the outside from Wiki Commons).

source

They do high tea there during the holidays and for some other events as well, and I volunteered to help for a couple of them. Here I am just before our clientele came in.

See the little teacups on the tree? Squee!

Each table setting has a unique, beautiful teacup (I had about three, no four, no five favorites), and no two teapots are alike. We served three courses on tiered trays - first, savory bites and sandwiches, then scones with Devonshire cream and jam, and then dessert with mini cupcakes and cheesecake and truffles, with a different tea for each course. It's a lot of work being a serving wench, but it was fun, and they make extras of everything so we could stuff ourselves in the kitchen.

It's shocking that my ankles are visible, so I'm linking up with Visible Monday before I apply for a job at Downton Abbey.

Val

And they lived happily ever after

I want to tell you a story about a dear friend of mine in Seattle. She's just over 50, and she joined an online dating site geared toward specific interests (Geek to Geek, or something like that), stipulating that she wanted to meet someone who lived within 25 miles. She started emailing one guy who sparked her interest, and they kept emailing and getting more interested in each other. They were very compatible, so they decided to meet.

She suggested a place in Seattle, and he replied asking where that was. She was kind of surprised he hadn't heard of it, so she asked him where he was. He replied Glasgow! So much for the 25-mile criterion!

By now they were already friends – good friends – and they kept emailing and also started Skyping and messaging each other. This went on for several months, and the relationship continued to grow. They wanted to meet in person, so they decided they would meet on the east coast of the US.

After she flew out, all her friends on Facebook waited with bated breath. Of course, the meeting would be filled with anxiety and trepidation. Would it be everything she hoped for and deserved? Would she be hurt? What if the magic didn't exist in real life? What would they do for five days if it just doesn't work?

It took a few days, but finally she posted a picture - of their hands entwined. That said it all.

Sniff, sniff.

So... they just got married!!! I'm tearing up anew as I write this! They married in a beautiful, Victorian town on the Puget Sound, Port Townsend, Washington. Of course we went.

This was the view from our motel in Bremerton, the Flagship Inn.

It's an old motel, but they've cleaned it up and added all the amenities, and the view was to die for.

Mr. S sacrificed part of his muffin - how could you resist that face?

In the morning we had beggars down below the balcony.

I didn't get any pictures of all the lovely old Victorian houses in Port Townsend, but you'll see plenty if you Google it. A lot of the bigger houses are bed-and-breakfast places now.

I won't post personal wedding photos, except this one to show you the beautiful park where my friends got married.

The bride was stunning in a lacy, soft white ballerina length dress with a light turquoise ribbon-belt, and a petticoat to match. The groom wore a shiny satin vest and Victorian tie. They're both madly into Doctor Who (they wore Converse sneakers, as did most of the guests), so I made this for them with an Altoid tin.

I put the bride and groom on the inside - where it was much bigger than it looks from the outside. Well, sort of bigger.

I forgot to have Mr. S take any full-length pictures of me, but here are some cropped close-ups that show my hair growing out in a silver sweep.

And it's not too late to link up with Visible Monday, so I'm going over to check out Patti's new kitchen!

Val