Spring Kinda Sprung?

We're supposed to have snow tonight in the city, but prior to this blast, it was starting to actually look like spring.  The weekend before last, I got my garden cleaned and flipped by beds; and this last weekend, I planted one side (with winter tolerant things like kale, lettuces, radishes...), and worked on lowering the pH of the bed where I will later plant tomatoes and peppers.

Also, there will have to be new herbs.  Both my rosemary plants died in the cold, and my oregano, nearly 7 years old, seems to have not made it through.  My regular thyme may have also passed, though the lemon thyme seems fine; as is the sage.  This kind of puts a severe damper on the herbal components in my Magic Vial Pendants when my garden is reduced to thyme, lavender, and sage.  With this cold snap, it will still be a few weeks before I can get bedding plants.

That said, after the time-change, I have noticed an up-tick in energy and creativity, which is a good sign.  The other weekend, after gardening, I put some work in on a long neglected drawing of a dragon, and started a new watercolor painting of a unicorn.  Most likely, neither of these will end up on etsy, but it's a good sign for productivity.

Speaking of, obviously trying to be a bit better about blogging over here, though most of my blogging energies are still going to keeping up the 3-times-a-week updates over at South Eats North, my foodie blog.  Having a chronic addiction to eating everyday means there's normally something to blog about most weeks, whether it's recipes or restaurant reviews or whathaveyou.

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I've also been poking around on pinterest more, in need of aesthetic inspiration.  It may officially be spring, but it still looks cold and grey up here, and that's not very inspiring or motivating.

It was actually through pinterest that I found out about hair chalking and this etsy seller:  Sexy Hair Chalk.

I haven't yet played with hair chalk, so I can't really say anything much on it, except it looks cool, and I look forward to playing with it this summer.  Here is a WIKIHOW about how it works.  There's lots of how-to's on google, and on youtube.  I admit, I'm surprised it will work on non-blondes, and am trying to figure out what colors might work with my red hair?

The above is her wheel of available colors, and she has lots of listings whether you want to just buy one stick for $1.49 (some colors on sale), or buy a big set of $48 for $39.99.  I'm personally trying to think about maybe just 2 or 4.  It's just a matter of deciding on which colors; but what a fun way to play with color without worrying about weird looks at the office!  

Merry Christmas - Happy Yule - and Glad Tidings All Around!

'Tis the season . . . to not have enough time to go around.  Am I right? (heh)

I just wanted to post a little notice that Izile's Oddities will be closing its doors for the holidays starting late tomorrow (12/17), as I prepare to go home for the holidays.  Purchases made today or tomorrow will go out Wednesday, and then I'm gone-baby-gone!  It's been a very busy fall/winter, and I'm looking forward to some Southern sun in my winter.

I also wanted to say I just celebrated my 500th sale on etsy, the lucky customer got the cost of the item totally refunded, so all she paid was S&H!  Thanks to everyone who's been with me and Izile's Oddities through all the crazy ups and downs this hobby of mine has had!

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Completely unrelated, except for the fact that I'm still trying to plug a new artist every time I actually get around to posting, I thought I'd share something that just popped up on my etsy feeds this week:

Sunny Skies Studio was featured in a Frozen Fantasy treasury on etsy, and the piece at left caught my eye.  I always love ear jewelry that doesn't require any piercings (as I have none), and this one is delicate and perfect for the season.

Of course, I then went on to browse the other 9 pages of pieces featured on this etsy shop, and was quite happy to see some very original and different takes on the ear-cuff theme.  And while I normally prefer sterling silver, or which there are many pieces, I admit this other brass piece has a lovely style that I think would be great for the Ren-Faire season.

And before I forget to mention, yes, there, are some regular earrings, ear pins, and even some rings and a couple of necklaces.  Definitely worth the time to browse and see.

Red and White

That time of year and I always just love the way strong reds look against clean whites.  Maybe it's that strange Snow-White fixation that's so common with love of contrasts; the look of blood upon the snow.  Ah, and snow - we finally got a little of it this weekend here in NYC.  Not a lot, and it didn't last long, but my garden was tiny drifts of white for a couple of days.  I'm now left torn between wanting at least one more snow, a good one, with real deep pillowy dunes; and spring with budding little flowers breaking through thin frost and fleet feathery flurries.

Well, since my rubies finally came in for Valentines Day projects, I've made a couple of red and white themed vials.  Every year I make a couple of Lil Love mini vials pendants with rubies and pearls.  I love the symbolic mix of the passion and joy of the rough rubies with the purity and loyalty of the smooth pearls.  Topped off with some flecks of red rose petals and sterling silver wire.  It's one of my favorites to make.

And of course, a variant for the full-sized bulb-bottom vials is always a fan-favorite.  For this one, I have had a surplus of creamy opals, which with their little flecks of fire and versatility combined beautifully with the deep red rubies and a whole red rosebud and the classic silver swirl of wire.

Blood and snow, flowers and frost, it's still a little early yet, but I guess that's where my thoughts are turning.

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Along those lines, I found a new etsy shop that I'm loving - oddly off pinterest this time, and not through my regular grueling searching through page after page on etsy.

Gardens of Whimsy is right in there with my thoughts turning towards early flowers; and it doesn't hurt she's also a redheaded crafty Brooklyn-girl, too ;-)

The majority of her shop focuses around floral hair accessories, whether crowns, clips or pins.  While there is a definite nod to bridal customers, there are many pieces that would look more in place with cosplay or a ren faire than a wedding aisle.  The elfling in me also appreciates an entire section dedicated to more fae creations.  (I am also totally envious of her ability to style her hair so great - and take such awesome pics herself! I have a LOT of hair and I'm doing good when I can get it into a fishtail braid!)

She has a huge history of sales (this is definitely a "new to me" entry) so if nothing catches your eye immediately, you might want to give it a peek.  She does do custom orders, though I'd read her policies page first.

Me.  I think I need to go back on pinterest and see if I can find more step-by-step instructions on how to put my hair up in swanky ways while I try and make up my mind.

Vintage and Etsy - a Warning / Lecture

I normally stay pretty benign on my posts; but once in a while I get a hair in a bad place and have to say something.

Winter is creeping on, and I'm a big fan of vintage clothes, especially coats.  Plus, my Mom just brought me a box and a garbage bag full of old small vintage pieces some for crafting, some for resale.  I've been pouring over ebay for a bit, with a good deal of frustration, and hitting flea markets and vintage shops (I miss the thrift stores of the South - they were gold mines), and then I turned to etsy.

Holy retro metaphor in place of an expletive, Batman!  Vintage sellers on Etsy are more loony-toons than the people who run the Vintage Consignment Shops in Manhattan!!

Now, I'm not just saying this from the point of view of a buyer.  One of those life-times ago, before NYC, I dealt and studied in some great detail various bits of Vintage accessories.  My Mom was an avid and studied collector as I was growing up of certain vintage goods (mostly costume jewelry, glass, silver and china; about which I learned some).  So, really, as a warning to buyers, and as a heads-up to sellers (and just to get it off my chest so I know it's out there somewhere), let me go over a couple of points about how to tell if you are price gouging or being price gouged when it comes to vintage goods.

1.  When it comes to vintage fashion accessories, be it jewelry, coats or other, CONDITION IS EVERYTHING.  I'm sorry, your 1940's rhinestone pin that is missing a lot of stones and has a broken back is NOT worth even $20.  Likewise, your 1950's swing coat with bell sleeves and mink trim with a giant tear in the fur is NOT worth hundreds of dollars; it's not worth $50.

If a man came up to you and said, "Hey! A long time ago, I bought this diamond ring, and it was really pretty, but the stone fell out.  BUT, I paid a lot of money for it a long time ago, and that should mean something, right?" Wrong.  Would you pay it?  No! You shouldn't! And he's a fool for asking!

2.  STUDY.  Just because something is vintage doesn't mean it's automatically worth a lot of money.  There are rhinestone pieces from the 40's, that are in fine condition, but they're really not worth more than $10-$20.  They're fine pieces, great for beginners, probably small, simple, colorless, not signed.  Just because it's vintage doesn't mean you should pay $50+ for ANY item, even in good condition.  Now, if you see a red rhinestone, large, perfect condition vintage pin and you flip it over and see the name "Eisenberg" and they're asking $50, grab it! Odds are you're getting a real steal, there!  How do you know the difference?  Get a book, search the internet, the information is out there, and it's best to be an informed buyer.  You can't really expect most sellers to be scrupulous and well educated and fair (I know, I expect to much of my fellow sellers), but at least if you educate yourself in the stuff you like, you can know when to walk away.

Here's just a few random vintage points to consider:

* Vintage jewelry with missing stones, or dead stones, especially if there is no name on the piece, should be greatly discounted.

* Broken jewelry is broken jewelry.  It doesn't matter when it was from, if you can't fix it, it's not worth it.

* Torn clothes are the same way.  Most people, in regular clothes, can tell the difference between a split seam that can be repaired and disintegrating fabric that will only keep decaying into nothing.  However, for some odd reason, when it comes to vintage fur pieces, people lose their minds and don't realize that most of the time with vintage pieces, a ripped pelt = irreparable trash.  If you're lucky, you'll find a crafter who just wants to cut it up and make teddy bears out of it, anyway, but, you've got a big piece of junk, and it should be priced accordingly.

* Nothing made out of rabbit that isn't brand new should ever cost more than $50.  Rabbit skins are thin, they shed when new, and they dry out, crack, split and decay really quickly.  Never waste your money on anything rabbit skin unless it's really cheap, or you don't mind that it's most likely going to start falling apart within a year or two, tops.  The older the rabbit item is, the more likely it would be better off in a compost bin.  If you just want a little throw-away piece that you don't care if it lasts more than a season or two, and you see it for $20 or under, go ahead, grab it.  But people asking hundreds of dollars for old rabbit coats are trying to rip you off.

3.  Speaking of furs, just because it's fur doesn't mean it's worth a lot of money; or any money for that matter.  Furs are like cars, they depreciate hugely just for leaving the show room.  Within 2 years of age, furs lose 80% of their value.   You wouldn't try and sell your 10 year old car (assume 20K retail) after a couple of minor fender benders for $10,000 - no one would buy it, nor should they.  And retail does vary type to type, like with cars.  You have a better job of reselling your 10 year old Corvette for a better percentage than you do your 10 year old Hyundai Accent.    This kind of goes back to research.  A mink coat in great condition (NO tears! NO drying, NO cracking, NO shedding, NO bald spots, NO "stiff" feel when you squeeze it between your hands, No split seams or loose seams!) that originally retailed for $5-10K, will resell for $4-600.  yes, HUNDRED, NOT thousand.  However, fox? Sorry, fox decays almost as badly as rabbit, and it's so fluffy it's hard to examine unless you know furrier methods.  A little, blue fox short jacket (like you see ALL OVER ebay and etsy, too) with the ribbing that used to retail for $600-ish brand new back in the 70's/80's, you really shouldn't pay more than $50-$75 for one of those unless it's in absolute great condition and the person can guarantee that.  I can see if it's in pristine condition, the seller can guarantee it's been kept in cold storage (which slows the decay/rot process) and has it cleaned and glazed, AND it's a little different than the standard (maybe color, or the leather ribs between pelts are really tiny and infrequent, or a really nice big collar. . . something) then MAYBE it could be worth as much as $125; but it would have to be an exceptional example to be worth that much.  People asking several hundred dollars? Rip off.  They're trying to get you to buy their dented 2000 Hyundai Accent for only 20% off the original MSRP.  You wouldn't buy the car, don't buy the coat.

4. Ask questions!  Sometimes it's that the seller doesn't know and hasn't bothered to educate themselves, sometimes they just forgot to put something down.  Exact measurements are crucial in ALL kinds of vintage accessories because not only was sizing different back then (not that women's sizing makes a lick of sense currently), but people were smaller.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ONE SIZE FITS ALL.  Learn your measurements (including those of your hands and your head if you want to look at hats and gloves, they're both notoriously a couple of inches smaller than the average person today can wear) - and always ask for the proper measurements for any item.  Even check those vintage rhinestone pieces!  Many of those 30's-40's non-choker necklaces still only have 12-14" on them; and bracelets can frequently be under 6 or even 5 inches long.

Well, I guess that's enough of that for now.  I just get frustrated seeing so many people, either through ignorance or through malice trying to rip off other people.  It takes so little effort to just read and do a little study, especially with google, today, to see if you're over-pricing your stuff, or if someone's trying to sell you something that just plain isn't worth it.

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I'm not really sure how to tie a plug into this little rant. . .

I have a seller I really want to plug right now, but I'm actually going to give her her own whole post, no babbling from me, because it's one of those rare etsy sellers where I've actually seen their stuff in person, and bought her products and can vouch that everything she does is *AMAZING*

All I can think of for this post is to show you an example of a GOOD seller who is selling things at a completely sane and un-gouge-y manner.  (For a reference, I've already gone through 200 pages of vintage stuff and have yet to find a good example yet. - I mean, really, the inflated hipster flea market in Williamsburg is half the price of most these items! And those items are already well over what you *SHOULD* pay)

Well, it's a bit hit-and-miss out there, but no one's going to agree all the time.  Dancing Brushes, who normally makes painted mailboxes, does have a small vintage section which seems to be right on point for price.  She even has one of those little short blue-fox jackets with the strips of leather right at $55.

Hey Darlin is another that's got a lot of very fair priced vintage pieces, but a few that seem just a bit on the high side - not crazy high, just a little, and they seem to be in the minority.  Her entire store is dedicated to vintage, so there's lot of variety.  There is one secret treasure on her shop that she seems completely unaware of, that the savvy shopper who's done their research will find quite a deal! But I'm not spoiling the secret ;-)

I'm also giving a nod to Yesterday's Resurrection for having some fun different stuff (see her "Random Awesomeness" section), and for recognizing a 90% great item with the 10% wrong kind of damage should = HUGE discount.  She has a really lovely mink coat for $35, because it has a tear in one of the pelts.  Not a split seam, a tear in a skin (normally denotes "cancer" - as in, patch it and it'll just split again on the other side of the patch, and again, and again. . .)  However, for $35, if you're good with a leather needle, you could cut it up, find the parts that haven't gotten the "cancer" yet and make some awesome recycle artsy/craftsy things! Or add it to your Renaissance Festival costume! Or any other cosplay!  I even heard of a woman who used a torn old fur coat to line a pet bed for her puppy.  The recycling options are plentiful!

And after 400 pages of entries, I think I'm calling it a night.

Good luck!

Home again, Home again

The trip to Atlanta for DragonCon was good! (Well, Dragoncon was good, the drive was a little wedge of hell).  And this weekend has been about rest and recuperation.  I did update my etsy shop last night with a few new little pieces.  There's a new Magic Vial Pendant, Hope, a pair of sterling silver rose bud stud earrings with garnets set in the center of their petals, and this new finished necklace:

This piece is a three stone drop pendant on an embellished 20 inch sterling silver chain (including hook and eye clasp).  The pendant part, including bail, is 1 1/8th inch long, and consists of a 4 mm round Peridot, a 5 mm round White Topaz, and a 6 mm round Blue Topaz.  It's a great piece for those who like plunging V necklines and showing off décolletage.  And since it has an extra long 20" chain, it also works well with those who have thicker necks, or are more muscular/athletic at and above the shoulders.

The gems are gorgeous, have a good degree of color saturation with lots of clarity and LOTS of sparkle!  And again, these are real gemstones, not labs, synths or crystals; and all hand prong-set in a real heavy sterling silver setting, no snap-tite forms.

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Saw some great vendors and artists at DragonCon.  The first couple of years I went, I never went into the Artists' Gallery - I expected it to be just professional comic book artists.  There is an area for that, but then one year, I went in and it was amazing.  It's now one of my favorite things to see at the Con, and I kinda feel bad for the people who keep skipping it, having no idea what's in there.  Of course, no photography is allowed inside, so it's hard to explain to them the awesome they're missing.

My sith companion for the weekend purchased a set of leather bracers from Serendipity Leathers, who, sadly, only have a facebook page, not an etsy shop.  So, while I'm linking to them, they don't really count towards my plugging etsy artists count.

Likewise, I am enamored of the sculptures of The Foundation of Arcane Enquiries; however, they don't have any kind of internet shop at all.  More's the pity, her faux taxidermy is amazing!

There was an amazing young lady who had a booth of masks, and she is in the process of building an etsy shop.  Her items were amazing, and I bought one myself, so I'm saving her until she gets all her things together and writing a raving/glowing review of her stuff once her etsy shop is ready.

BUT, one of my favorite artists in the genre of paintings and prints from D*Con DOES have an etsy shop! *SQUEE*  Her stuff is somewhere between Waterhouse and Froud, I think.  It's lovely and it seems to absolutely glow in person.

Annie Stegg Illustrations her 8 x 10 prints are only $15 and she offers smaller sizes as well.  And while it was her tiny unicorn foal that got my attention and dragged me across the crowded aisle into the nook her paintings were hanging in (shown here), her fairies, nymphs, and mermaids dropped my jaw.  Each one is amazingly detailed, intricately wrought and flooringly beautiful.

Picking one to feature is very difficult, but I decided to go with "Pearl Ryukin."  We can only hope that the galleries and art auctions were kind to her, and that maybe in the future, we can hope to see bigger sized prints, or maybe even some originals in her etsy gallery.  

Leaving Tonight!

Mostly all packed up and ready to go once the work day lets out!  Will be back next week! (Shut down Izile's Oddities for the weekend, just in case).

Not for sale, but I made another mask for the Mechanical Masquerade at DragonCon this year.  The request was that it have clocks on it somewhere.  That, and it would have to be modified so it could be worn with a hat.

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Now, if you want to buy a steampunk mask for your own party . . .

I'd suggest checking out BSD Studios.  Most of their items are laser engraved leather pieces, which allows for a lot of intricate designs.  There are corsets and masks and jewelry, but actually, once I started looking through all their pieces, the on I want to focus on is a little bit more out of the standard stock - a see through eye patch.  A bit of sheer fabric (in your choice of color) obscures the eye from behind the leather design while still allowing you to see out.  

It's also an economical solution, at only $24, and could be a nice finishing accessory for your airship pirate.

New Addition to Etsy

If you saw my last post you know I had just started making prong set Sterling Silver and gemstone jewelry.  Well, I've made a couple of more steps!  First, I tried a set of "snap-tite" style sterling silver settings.  You see these all over etsy (though not all sellers actually tell you outright they're using them, but they're pretty distinctive looking, so they're easy to spot once you do a little research).  So, here are my sterling silver and peridot snap tite stud earrings:

They literally took less than one minute to put together, so easy!  And while they are nice, and the stones are gorgeous, I just thought that this wasn't the way I want to go.  I'm doing this to learn and progress.  It was a step in my education I wanted to try for myself; but having used them once, I don't really think I want to keep using them.  However, I posted them on FB, and a friend of mine bought them off me in a heartbeat! ($10 in case you were curious, slight friend's discount.  But really, the snap-tite settings are so inexpensive, there's no reason to charge a lot for them, unless you've got seriously expensive stones in them.)  

So, then I made a second pair of stud earrings, this time with traditional cast sterling silver prongs:

These took a lot more time and effort to get right, but I think in the end, this way is worth it!  And these are the first pair to be put up on my etsy shop!  I have a lot more pictures, too, including a louped photo so you can see the garnets better.  You can see the full set of pictures, description and details HERE.  They're good sized studs, sterling silver, and genuine, nice, clean, deep garnets; but I am still learning, so I'm only asking $30 for this set.  (They will also be repolished/buffed before shipping)

Next, I am working on a very special necklace for my Mom.  The sterling chain and jump rings should be in any day now, as is the special magnetic clasp (she has pretty bad arthritis in her fingers, so I thought that's a nice touch, to not have to worry and try and fidget with tiny lobster claw clasps that can even give *me* fits, and my fingers are still 100% nimble!)

After that, I'm going to try and make a ring, and a necklace to put on etsy.  I'm also going to be learning about setting other gem shapes.  (I'm excited to set the big 10 mm trillion! And I have some gorgeous london blue topaz emerald cut stones that I think will also become studs - I know, I don't even have any piercings, but they seem like a good starting point!) 

Also on my etsy shop, I did make one of my Magic Vial Pendants using cut/polished gemstones.  I said I was going to, and I did have some gems that had chips or deep scratches on their table or crown, so I couldn't set them; but I don't think I'll be doing another one.  It takes so many gemstones to fill up even the smallest vial I have; it makes them much more expensive than the raw gem ones I normally make.  But, it's a nice creativity vial, with garnet and citrine and lots of opal, in 14K gold-filled wire!  Next time, I might stick mostly to raw gemstones, but include a single cut gemstone as an interest.  Like, I'm not much on heart jewelry, but I have a few gemstone hearts.  So maybe throw in a nice small cut/faceted gemstone heart in the mix - might be especially nice for a Love themed vial!

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Since it's started to get hot, and I'm thinking of beaches in my future; and since I'm going to DragonCon again this year and am thinking of costumes . . . and I cannot remember, honestly, if I ever plugged them before or not:  Utopia Armoury!

I bought this from them!  As a nerd/geek/gamer girl, I have always wanted a chainmail bikini.  But, they also terrify me, as a girl who does not have a very secure ego.  However, all doubt was put aside when I tried theirs on.  For one, they are made of anodized aluminum and latex-free EPDM rubber, which means that not only are they waterproof, but it's light with just enough stretch in their to be supportive and uplifting.  I have a hate-hate relationship with most bra's as I've never been able to squeak up to a real 34B in my life.  However, these are custom made, their straps are adjustable (tie) and secure, and with the combination of materials, you end up with a happy little elfin girl who looked down and went: "Ow! Lookie! I have cleavage! *squee*!"

They also come in a wide variety of color combinations for you to mix and match.  I went with the green, black rubber and silver trim.  When I first got it, it was still cold out, and I didn't want to take it off!

Someone's in the Kitchen

That's where I spent a lot of time today. Made 2lbs of wings and a great batch of homemade butterscotch pudding. I always liked the cook and serve Jell-O butterscotch pudding until I used Gale Gand's recipe from her Butter Sugar Flour Eggs book. She's right, real butterscotch tastes almost nothing like the artificially flavored stuff you buy in a box; and ever since I tried her homemade version, I need the real thing. The smokey character, the way the flavor almost seems to morph in your mouth from first bite to last bite. For those of you who cook, try it sometime, you'll be a convert!

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Well, I love to cook, and I do actually own a very snazzy apron I love to wear when cooking that I plugged here and bought from Dianne Designer Aprons; but I have a rule about plugging new people in ever post, and I just found this new shop that also does aprons, but with a bit of a twist.

Haute Mess Threads showed up on my Facebook wall just the other day, due to my nerdy friendship with several Star Wars obsessives enthusiasts. Yes, that design looks a little familiar, doesn't it? And yes, there's a more golden companion piece in her shop, too. And a darth black apron in the same theme. Now, if you're not so much into Sci-Fi, there's also Wonder Woman, Alice in Wonderland, and even a Harry Potter Gryffindor uniform inspired apron. If you're less geek in your chic, there are plenty of playful and retro designs as well.

Adorable!!

Another Week

and things are slowly getting back into a familiar rhythm.

I really don't have much to say, but I want to try and get back to updating my blog on a regular basis, even if I do nothing more than just plug various other etsy shops.

So, that's what I'm doing tonight.

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Today, I thought I'd plug a fellow FAE (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) member. Remember, whenever you want to get a touch of fantasy in your etsy browsing, search, "faeteam."

And Red Robin Masks just stole my attention almost immediately with the most unique looking pair of goggles I have ever seen - and I go to Steampunk stuff sometimes!

These goggles are hand sculpted with resin, glass, metal and feathers; definitely a one of a kind piece! Also, as it states on the front of her shop - where she sells other amazing OOAK hand sculpted resin masks, "Have an old pair of prescription lenses? I can turn them into steampunk goggles! Just drop me a line either through the Contact link to the left."

Well, excuse me readers, but I have some myopic steampunk friends who need to hear about this ASAP!

FAE Exhibit

So, the FAE team of etsy (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) - links below on right - has set up yet another great seasonal exhibit! This one themed with Fairies and Elves and Pixies, oh my!

You can see a great selection of pieces from my fellow FAE-ers, as well as a couple of pieces from my own "From Faerie" bath line.

Just click the banner to follow the magic!

Zombies

Ahh, so life can now begin to get back into its rhythm. My family that was visiting left, and I had a lot of fun with some new friends at ZombieCon last night. Once I get the ol' bedroom cleaned up, I can start thinking about artsy stuff again.

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in the meantime, as there's still time before Halloween, some zombies from etsy.

I'm going to preface this by saying there are some amazing and very graphic zombie creations on etsy that I will not be featuring because I'm just not in the mood to try and handle that level of graphic rot and gore. If you like that, I recommend the zombie taxidermy heads. However, it's too early in the morning and my stomach is still unhappy from the zombie chicken wings at the Bawl last night.

It would seem like a crime to not feature Undead Ed and his shop on this theme. His pieces are still graphic and gory and very bloody. . . but they're toys. I was always a My Little Pony girl, so that's what I'm showing here. Other favorites in his 6 page shop of horrors include zombified

Care Bears, ninjas, baby dolls and rubber duckies.

And for those who prefer their zombies a little on the cute and cleaner side, Licorice Wits would be my recommendation. This

store displays impossibly cute hand painted wooden kokeshi dolls with a heavy leaning towards zombies and mummies. I liked the zombie nerd boy, pictured left.

And last for my feature, when one is joining a zombie horde, the question always is, "What to Wear?"! While I'm still wondering how much red tempera paint will wash out of blue jeans, you could buy designated zombie wear from Morose Melonhead . Her shop has pages of clothes that are cute, fun, pretty and even sometimes a little punky, creepy and of course, zombie. My favorite of her zombie inspired pieces is pictured here, but the style of her shop is eclectic enough that I think you really need to browse yourself to see.

DragonCon

Yeah! Back, and I know, I was technically back on Wednesday, but it's been kind of weird/strange slow-ish week, and at least one day of hell.

So, first, I have yet to locate any *good* pictures of us from D*Con, have been scouring flickr and google and other as much as I can and so far, nada. So, if you see us, let me know. Might even throw in a thank you goodie of some kind.

So, a revamped of last year's Mad Scientists costume:

Goggles by: Darkly Sewn of Etsy

Both Lab Coat/Lab Coat Dress customs by: Aughra Moon (

roommate and pro seamstress)

Arm band Test Tube holder by: Lost Realm of Etsy

Thigh holster by: BoMoLuTra of Etsy

Raygun by: Agent of Chaos of Etsy

Boot spats by: Faitavec of Etsy

(and those are fiber optic hair clips I got off ebay, and the

pink stuff in the test tubes is X-rated, lovely neon pink vodka liqueur flavored with blood orange, mango and passion fruit. Nummy! And a nice way to spike a Sprite in the hotel lobby!)

And then there was our Steampunk costumes. This is our first year with them, and we'll both need a LOT of accessories before next year to up the steampunk factor.

Now, this is the ONLY picture I have of us in these costumes together, so this one is a HUGE - PLEASE - if you see a picture of us in these costumes, let me know! I don't know what happened, between my camera, Bentley's Iphone (which is one of the new ones with the actually decent camera) and our other friend, Mel's camera (this one was from hers).

Goggles by: Darkly Sewn of Etsy

Necklace, obviously by me, Izile's Oddities

Shirt by Lip Service Corset by: Timeless Trends

Skirt by: Aughra Moon (roommate and professional seamstress)

and Bentley's leather doublet and shirt are by: Ravens Wood Leather (he also wanted me to note that he did actual have pirate boots that he did end up wearing, they were just in the car and he hadn't gone and gotten them yet)

So, those were the costumes of this year, and those are all the etsy sellers who helped me put together these looks. And you know I'll be looking for more for next year!!

Also, one last thing. They aren't etsy sellers, but I love it so much I have to brag. DragonCon weekend always falls on Labor Day weekend, which is always my Birthday weekend (9/4), so while the whole trip is kind of a birthday present, this was my actual tangible birthday present from Bentley, from Brute Force Leather