I Heart Creepy Dolls

I want to start out with a HUGE thank you to Casey and Sloane Simmons, owners of Stuff in Brookside. Some time ago, they invited me to be one of their "Artists in Action" for the Brookside Art Fair. I had the pleasure of hanging out in the gorgeous weather, doing mosaics and talking it up with some awesome people. Here are Lori Buntin, super cute chick and artist extrodinairre (yes, Lori is with Hoop Dog Studios and the one who does the terrific dog chairs at Stuff), and The One and Only Casey Simmons. To say I had a blast at this event is an understatement!! I really really really (please) hope that Casey and Sloane allow me to join them next year! We received many requests for mosaic classes and have picked some dates, so check the Stuff website for more information coming soon.

And I actually got some things finished while on the sidewalk hanging out! Some of it was snatched off the table and bought just as I was finishing it. Thanks so much to everyone who came by to say hello!!!!

Now, for the title of the blog. The cottage has been for sale for about a month now and it's so difficult to live with everything stripped down and depersonalized! Gone are the rusty bird cages, the dress forms, the armless chalk cupie doll, and (most of) the tarnished silver. I haven't been junking because I really want to know what new space we're in so I can picture where everything will go. I feel like my life is on hold!

But today, I could stand it no longer! After spending some time with Sweet Repose I felt inspired and cruised on over to the Mission Road Antique Mall for just a few precious moments. I found this wonderful doll . . . (it was music to my ears to hear Jason dryly say: Great. Another creepy doll).

A funky, rusty bucket . . . (the rustier, the better) . . .

And this holy water dispenser. If you were raised Catholic, you may remember these by the entrance of the church. I thought it would look so cool on the wall in a cluster of antique photos and empty frames. I can hardly wait to decorate that new space, no matter which one it will be. This week I'm going to ask some blog owners if I can post some of their photos to show you where I'm drawing some of my inspiration. I feel like I want to go truly funky French country with at least some of the rooms in my new house. I don't know how some of these people featured in magazines with children do it with cream, light gray and white decor. Come on?? My children eat corndogs (not the vegetarian child), chocolate chip cookies, and fruit roll ups. What planet are these people from where their perfect children make nary a mark on all of that light furniture? The Stepfords, we are not.

Custom Lub, etc.

I guess I should explain the title of this post. My toddler pronounces his v's like b's, so he says lub instead of love. He also does not recognize the shape below as a heart, he recognizes it as "a lub". Not sure if anyone would have been able to guess that one.

I've been working on lots of custom lub lately, including this blue heart featuring an antique tin toy watch. This one is for Jane's husband. Jane is a classical musician and a customer at Stuff and she is giving this gift to her husband as a paperweight. I wanted to give it kind of a masculine feel. The blue jewel piece came from a cool bag of stuff I purchased last weekend from the Mission Road Antique Mall.

This heart says Je T'aime, or I love you in French. I know this because I had to ask Brendan's French teacher to be sure I got it right. I have never been to France, but when I picture it, I don't think of bright, glossy pink; I think tarnished, antiqued, chipped, cracked, rusty, been-around-forever. I think of Henri Toulouse Lautrec hanging out at the Moulin Rouge with the cool people; the underbelly of society. Needless to say, I had a great time making this heart for a work friend's son's girlfriend. I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Big, chunky porcelain heart.

This Frenchie-esque earring came from the same cool bag of stuff as the blue jewel on the first custom lub.

And of course I had to get my chalk board fix. I am crazy about this chalkholder!!!

He's a chalk alligator I found while on my adventures with Dawn at the Jessie James Antique Mall in St. Joe, MO. Dawn and I are headed on more antique mall adventures in a couple of weeks. Yeah!!!!!

And while I'm on a French kick, this chalkboard contains some of the same dusty pink and cream antiqued elements as the French heart. The vase is made of tiny shells and looks kind of broken and banged up -- ahhhhhh . . . perfect.

A close-up of the funky vase.

That is a super cool button on the top left -- yep, part of that Jessie James stash. I am in love with buttons. I finished gluing another custom lub last night and will post it along with some others when my husband, Jason Aaron, Wizard Magazine's top comic book writer of 2008, returns from his trip to the New York comic convention. Jason, PLEASE leave your laptop!

Please excuse the look of my blog. It is under construction and my husband, the blog expert, is currently at the comic book store and is unavailable for consult. I became inspired to do this blog because of all the great ones I'm addicted to reading just about every day. They provide inspiration and energy that fuel my own creativity. (Please check out my favorite links). I'm a little overwhelmed at where to begin. I love the great pictures I see on others' blogs, so I'd like to start out with a few of my own as examples of what I've been working on of late and also of some of the great finds I've tripped upon recently.

Sometimes I like to make birdhouses out of canisters and other non-traditional birdhouse shapes, but I got back to basics on this one. The shape is about the only basic, however. With all that's going on here, I fear if this were outdoor worthy, it would make most birds dizzy. But I really had fun with it! (SOLD)

I found this great Koi fish salt and pepper shaker set on a shopping spree this last weekend with my friend, Lisa. I had a blast incorporating the frowny fishes into this magnetized chalkboard for the fridge. (SOLD) Lisa and I also hit Raised in Cotton (I don't know how to hot link yet, so check out the link in my faves) on our trip around town, where I found my marvelous mini dress form! Thanks, Carol!

Before too much time passes, I'd like to show off my fabulous find from the First Annual Curious Sofa estate sale (pictured below). I admit that this was not my only purchase! Okay, and I admit that the table they're displayed on came from the Curious Sofa, too, about seven years ago!

I'm so excited about this blog thing that I could literally post dozens of pics, but I want to work on building my readership, not putting people to sleep, so I'll slip in this last few of a corkboard I did recently. It includes a fab butter pat I found at the Mission Road Antique Mall and a cool art deco finial I got from my friend Erin who has a booth at the River Market Antique Mall (second floor, straight ahead!).