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Archive for the ‘ephemera’ Category

Hooray it’s October!

Posted in costume, ephemera, faerie, inspiration, Uncategorized, tagged , , on October 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

That means it’s time to start thinking about Halloween. As in candy, decorations and the biggie — what is your costume going to be??

Today is all about halloween inspiration.

003scaryhalloween

Like these totally creepy kids.

006scaryhalloween

Or this couple. I think they’re kinda sweet, creepy but sweet.

darthfairy

If I thought I could pull it off I would wear this. Hey, I could be Darth Fairy! Check out the green Death Star on her wand.

halloween moon w owls

Also there is so much Halloween goodness when it comes to decorations. I made a special pinterest board just for Holiday Decor. Lots and lots of ideas, vintage and otherwise. Mostly it’s Halloween and Christmas with a few bunnies thrown in.

So get into think mode and Go Halloween!

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Happy Holidays

Posted in ephemera, faerie, illustration, inspiration, tagged , , , on December 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

No, I’m not a Grinch or anything like that. It’s just that I’ve been crazy busy and sick with the flu on top of everything.

So here I am, better late than never, wishing all of you the happiest of holiday seasons and the best of all things in the New Year.

stillwell-delineator-1917

I chose this picture for this year because of it combines the sophisticated faerie with her art nouveu/deco feel with the sweet innocence of the pretty children. And bonus, it has a wonderful tree covered in old-timey decorations.

Last word: Just remember not to eat anything bigger than your head.

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Happy Halloween!

Posted in costume, doll, ephemera, tool, Uncategorized, tagged , , on October 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »

halloween-vintage-postcard-woman-w-goblins

Love those little goblins peaking out from behind the big pumpkin moon.

And a silly spooky Blythe dress:

blythe-dress-halloween-2016

Yes, that is my handy dandy headless Blythe body which I got so I could fit patterns on it without risking scratching a great big Blythe noggin.

About a week or so ago I was doing some recreational browsing, which is kinda like retail therapy except you don’t generally buy anything. When I spotted this cool small scale skull fabric and thought I have got to make something out of that, at the counter I noticed that it had a tag on the bolt that said “Glow-in-the-Dark”. So I bought some and went home, dug thru my pattern stash and decided to make this yoked dress. Then I did a little google search to see if anyone made glow-in-the-dark thread and found out that DMC does. Wow! Back to the fabric store to get some and also pick up some lace for the bottom of the dress. A few, well several, hours later — ta da, Spooky Blythe Halloween dress.

Which I posted off to Arlene, who got the package, opened it, picked up the phone and Sqwee! She really liked it. Photo of her doll wearing the dress properly accessorized to come later.

A note about that DMC floss: it’s from their Light Effects collection and it’s number E940. It looks white in daylight but it Glows-in-the-Dark. Hooray! Also it’s made of polyester not cotton which means it’s fiddley to work with so for what it’s worth here are my tips for use. Use shorter lengths than you would for cotton floss, this stuff likes to unwind and tangle. Also try to only touch the needle not the floss as this stuff snags on everything, my hands aren’t the smoothest but they aren’t that rough and the floss kept catching on my fingers. Polyester floss is a booger to stitch with until you get the hang of it, but the final effect is worth it.

 

UPDATE:     Here are Arlene’s Blythe dolls all dressed up for Halloween.

arlene-blythe-halloween

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Still in Fairy Tale Land

Posted in altered art, ephemera, inspiration, vintage toy, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

This week I’m visiting with Little Red Riding Hood courtesy of Agence Eureka. If you are not familiar with that totally awesome blog you should click the link and check it out. It is emphera heaven!

chaperon2.0

chaperon1.0

This particular entry is a Toy Theatre. How cool is that?

chaperon3.0

And here is a diagram showing how to put it together. You’ll need some cardboard to make the box that serves as a surround, cereal or cracker boxes will work. Use a wire or a bamboo skewer as a handle for the figures. Or pipe cleaners or whatever else you have handy. Remember the important thing is to Have Some Fun!

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Spending some time with Hansel and Gretel

Posted in altered art, book, doll house, ephemera, illustration, puppet, vintage toy, tagged , , , , on July 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been thinking about fairy tales a lot lately. No real reason, just something about the hot weather I guess.

Maybe it’s the heat that makes me long for cool breezes off the lake, in the shade of big, big trees. Which leads me to Hansel and Gretel. I mean, who hasn’t wanted a secret little get-away cottage in the deep dark forest? Especially one made of food.

Hansel and Gretel House

So this one is also a paper model. With an oven. Which you could use to make s’mores or a roast turkey or some cookies to make a matching wishing well. Bonus, it has a weirdo looking paper doll Gretel with some spare clothes.

Hansel and Gretel outside the Witch's House

This house has a gingerbread rooster roof ornament, pretzels trim and almond cookie quoins on the corner of the house. Plus a twisty tree and that not quite a fence of pretzels and almond cookies.

Hansel Gretel - Voodoo gingerbread house

Similar to the last one this house has voodoo face cookies, people cookies, a bunny cookie and check out the snake in the lower right left. As in your other right.

hansel-and-gretel - anton pieck

I love the curvy organic-ness of this house by Anton Pieck, I really like his illustration style — you should do a google image search of him.

Hansel and Gretel puppet book

This puppet book with a house of real cookies and candy is kinda jokey but I still like it.

vegetable house

And lastly, this is not a Hansel and Gretel house but maybe you could think of it as a green healthy alternative.

 

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Happy Halloween Everybody!

Posted in ephemera, holiday, illustration, tagged , on October 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Yes, things have been crazy busy here. I am squeaking in with a short but sweet halloween greeting to everyone out on the inter webs.

HalloweenTime

Love all those goolies appearing in the upper right!

Wishing lots of good things to eat and drink but not so much that you get sick. Ever the pragmatist, that’s me.

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A Lovely Piece of Paper Engineering

Posted in ephemera, illustration, tagged , on December 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Did anyone else get this card? Because J did. Not me, just J.

WHpopup

Here’s what I really like about this card:

First, it’s a popup and I like popups. Second, whoever designed this made some particularly smart decisions that elevated it from being just an elegant iconic piece of architecture to being something a bit more, well, friendly. These are the elements that made that happen: the dogs and the windows. The windows are stamped in gold foil which makes them catch and reflect light; warm golden light which feels nice. The dogs are . . . dogs, and dogs are inherently a friendly sort of symbol.

Overall this card said to me: “Hey, we got another dog (oh yeah and we live in the White House), Merry Christmas!

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Mod Missy Paperdoll

Posted in ephemera, illustration, inspiration, tagged , , on November 28, 2012| 2 Comments »

Thought I would continue the mod theme with this little gem.

Mod Missy by Whitman circa 1969. She’s quite the hipster. The box for my set is less than great; some of the paper is peeled off on the lid and the bottom of the box is dented in. However this doesn’t matter terribly much to me as the contents are mint. Uncut costumes and a perfect thick cardboard doll.

Incidently, Whitman must have really wanted to avoid any possible confusion about this being a Mod doll; they stuck the word mod every place they could wedge it in. As if one glance at the doll or her clothes could have left any doubt. Ha!

Even her posture is a bit hip. Adore that face and those perfect 60s shoes.

The costumes are fab; she plays the guitar. In addition to wonderfully evocative outfits she has great wigs, dig the Carnaby ensemble complete with boots and wig/hat.

Just in case you missed the point, the publisher even stuck yet another mention of mod in the title of the magazine — love that Beatles suit and wig! Make sure to click on the picture to check out the details of the pink dress in the lower left; nehru collar and ruffled cuffs are soooo precious.

Hope that the Friends of Blythe and other fashionistas have enjoyed this wardrobe inspiration post.

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New Hermes Printable Bags

Posted in accessory, altered art, ephemera, tagged , on June 6, 2012| 2 Comments »

For those of you who missed out on the Hermes Kelly bag printables (no longer available); take heart. Hermes has issued a new collection of printables.

Hermes clutch bag printables

Really adorable! Five fun designs and a blank for you to decorate yourself. I wanted to wait until I had printed out a few and played with them but a nasty headache has intervened.

So go here and download your own copies — now! Past history indicates that these won’t be available for very long so go download the files today even if you know you won’t be able to play with them for a while. Hint: click on “I want it” to get a window with the pdf file then save it to your computer; repeat for each bag design you like.

If you really want a Kelly bag; try this blog post. Coquette has kindly put a blank template with assembly instructions of the Kelly on her blog.

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Holiday Paper Doll From Black Apple

Posted in book, ephemera, holiday, illustration, tagged , , on December 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

You may remember that I wrote a post last year about the Black Apple Paper Doll Primer.

Now Emily Martin (aka Black Apple) has very generously made a new holiday paper doll and is giving it away for FREE! Personal use only please.

Is she great or what? If you haven’t already; go buy her book NOW!

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Victorian Cat Family Paper Dolls

Posted in ephemera, illustration, tagged , , , on October 26, 2011| 12 Comments »

Evelyn Gathings Rocks!

I’m extremely fond of her particular approach to the art of the paper doll. She seems to specialize in animals which just makes me like them even more.

But the real reason I’m blogging about this paper doll set now is that the little baby sister doll reminds me so very, very much of the fire-setting cat in my last post (yes, the baked apple cat). Seriously, check out that little face. That little “I’m mayhem, go ahead turn your back on me” face. This is a face I’d love to see on a Connie Smith doll.

The costumes in this set are very fine; though they look more Edwardian than Victorian to my eye. Yeah, I’m one of those historical detail people to whom the distinction Victorian/Edwardian makes a difference. Overall the colors and details throughout the set are fantastic as are the plethora of accessories.

I especially love the commentary on the costume pages. It’s borderline snarky while retaining a warm sweet surface layer. Click to enlarge the images, read it for yourself. Enjoy!

 

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Missy Go Along Mod Fashion Paper Doll

Posted in ephemera, tagged , on August 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

More fashion inspiration for Blythe fans and people who just like paper dolls. Missy Go Along is a fun, funky paper doll from 1970. There seem to be several variations on this set, with different hair styles/colors and a variety of different costumes but all with dolls in the same poses. I actually had a similar set of these dolls as a child — having this set in my collection is a real nostalgia trip.

Love that green coat worn with bright pink tights and grey boots. Quite Fab!

The dress pattern I used for the Blythe Birthday outfit would be perfect for the (white-pink-yellow) pseudo mondrian check dress. The fabric could be made fairly easily with applique or paint with ribbon or ric-rac borders. Now I just have to keep my eyes open for some jewelry components for use for the belt.

Even if you don’t have a Blythe (or other doll) who demands new clothes on a regular basis, it’s fun to look at the funky possibilities and know that once upon a time, not so very long ago, actual people were wearing clothes that looked like this.

This is why I love paper dolls. They can be a quite accurate record of what people were wearing. Fashion and costume history books are great for historic (long, long ago) clothes but for the twentieth century — not so much. I’m also very much into the whole packaging, graphic design element of the look of them. Which shouldn’t be a huge surprise as I’m an ex-graphic designer myself.

Plus they’re intensely fun, fun, fun and they don’t take up a whole lot of room which means they qualify as practical too (well . . sort of).

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