Halloweeny

 Happy Halloween! Today's sky was beautiful, see:

 

Gold and blue. October skies are some of the best.

 I also "spotted" another cat:

 

 A black cat on Halloween, how very fitting.

I went to a party yesterday, (I'm working tonight) and got dressed up too. No real character, just masquerade style for fun. I didn't have time to take good pictures though, in fact I was in a real rush because I hadn't realized how late it had gotten while finishing off a "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" marathon I had started while I was sick.

So here's a crappy  MySpacey picture of me:

Is this Myspacey or what?

I'm veeery disappointed- I lost my mask! I think it got misplaced after someone asked to try it on, I was wearing it for most of the night. At that point it was very late and very dark. I had a good time otherwise, *shrugs* still sad though.

The mask is from Tom Banwell There are some really beautiful pieces in his Etsy shop. And, I will say that while it was fun to wear, it felt a little stiffer and more raw around the edges than I imagined it would. Also, I think I should have gotten an ear to ear piece to hide the elastic band better (for illusion and maybe comfort).

I made the dress in my junior year of high school. It was a little different though, not as poofy, longer and the top portion didn't fit the same and was higher and less shaped. I made some alterations to it (the tweaking I mentioned before) and I think now, almost 8 years later, it looks more as I had intended except a little shorter than I would have worn it before. It was the first piece of clothing I had ever made.

Well, off to work for me but I hope the rest of you get a lot of candy ;)

*poof* disappears into the night Muhahaha

A Spot Cat, A Sad Bear And An In Progress Shot

I've been sick but also trying to get better for the Halloween festivities (saturday parties) which means overdosing on oj, sleeping and tweaking something I already had in my closet so I wouldn't have to go out/ spend money. I'm feeling a lot better but haven't been able to get halloweened out this week which is kind of disappointing.

I do have a few things to show though:

Progress on my doll-(I like the hand on the mouth- maybe I *won't* put the beak on), done mostly just before I got sick,


I found another "sad bear"...um actually well, he looks happy (and maybe dressed for the holiday) but he IS a found-bear,


And I "spotted" another cat,


It's like three posts for the price of one! I had some shots of the beautiful skies that have been around but I'll save that and my Halloween post for later.

Dedicated Post: "Spot Cats"

My boyfriend, Will is a photographer and avid dog lover. He is obsessed with both and runs, Spot Dogs NYC. It's what he calls his "pet project".
Essentially he takes excellent photographs of dogs he encounters on the street.
(Be sure to check out his blog if you like dogs, because there are some amazingly cute ones on there.)

I like dogs too but I am a cat person at heart plus it's a lot harder to "spot" cats here so I end up taking a lot of pictures of my own cat, Byron:



He's beautiful, no? I purposely avoid posting pictures of him here for fear it will turn into a solely Byron based blog. Sometimes though, I run into street cats and Will has "inspired" me to shoot them so, this post is dedicated to Spot Dogs NYC but in true Crystal-fashion: cats!



I "spotted" these cats:


In Greenpoint: cute and dirty


A cat in Greenpoint: moo?


A cat in Greenpoint: cat in a classy suit


This one was a feral cat that wandered into the Sheraton in the Bahamas

Toxicity of the City

I just rebought a pro Flickr. I've had a flickr account for years and there weren't nearly this many organizational tools when I last had a pro account so now I'm masochistically going through the whole thing.
I'm finding I like making sets based on place but that I haven't uploaded much in the past year so I think I'll back catalog some of it.

Here though are some photos from just a few weeks ago:



In the distance, you can see the cranes working on the pier. There's supposed to be a ferry that will go from Manhattan to Greenpoint once construction is complete.





Too bad they never bothered to clean up the waste and oil from a few decades ago.






It's still kind of pretty in it's industrial decay and flux

Bone Box and "Plague" In Progress

This weekend was more about going out in the light of day than making anything (or finishing for that matter) but I did manage a few things, a lot of little hands were made and some organizing.

A box of some little pieces:


And progress on the "Plague", still pinning, still not done but with some black now:


I also went to a "Snorters" meet up (for snorting dogs) and saw a crazymazing sunset. It was so crazy and amazing, I had to make up that word.



This was at the tail end of it.

"Pimp My Lawn"

I can't spend every day sewing and taking photos. Some days I "have to" spend my time photoshopping fake Wikipedia pages for my boyfriend's sister's dog and continue inside photo jokes about watermarking but I saved these pictures (I took them a couple weeks ago) just for days like this:



"So freakin hawt"

Yay My Mink Teeth (and bones) Came

I ordered some tiny bones and a bottle of mink teeth last week and they arrived yesterday.

I took an "appreciation photo" with my slow progress skeleton:



And one for fun:



I am absolutely disgusted by rodents (all of them) so I'm glad someone is out there going through owl pellets and salvaging bones for me. (And just because it always comes up- bugs don't bother me as much- though I don't want them around either)



Bones & teeth purchased from PULPmiscellania on Etsy.

Work In Progress- Korean Doll (in mourning maybe?)

I came across another half-made doll body in my things (neck to toes, no hands and probably the last one) so I felt compelled to make it a head. It wasn't my intent to make this one Asian but the eyes and coloring lent themselves to it.


Then when I started pinning, other clothes just really weren't working- this one was made to wear hanbok (traditional Korean dress).
So far she's only wearing undergarments.



I like the striking contrast of white and am considering making her "in mourning".
White cotton hanbok is traditionally for mourners but I'd want it in silk and I don't think I want to make straw shoes (also traditional mourning attire).



I like the idea overall but there are some issues between accuracy and my aesthetics...

This Is A Skull And This Is A Mattress

This is a skull I made:


It's the beginning of another project I've wanted to work on but this is a big one and is under wraps for now. It'll probably take a long, long time and I don't have it all figured out yet but hopefully I can improve on the skull design a little because I'll need to make more than a few. (Btw, unrelated to Halloween.)

And this is a mattress:

The broken glass almost looks like a pile of jewels on that floral print.
That chair isn't looking nearly as good.

I Keep Finding Sad Bears

This is a fellow I found in the neighborhood last week...


which reminded me of this one I spotted in the Bahamas a couple months ago.


It must be a hard time for bears.




This is pretty awesome though and will probably cheer you up:

In Progress- Unpinned & Unmasked Plague

So, yesterday I posted pictures of the pinned Plague doll (probably not the best name but easier to say) and today I took out pins and began a little work on it.


I wanted to show the striking difference between an all white/ivory version from the black of yesterday. I'm kind of in love with this version too which means decisions... or two dolls.


The headpiece is a random piece I started for a separate idea- it looks kind of like a turban right now. It probably won't end up in the final version.

In Progress- Mermaid And "Plague Doctor"

I was going through some of my drawers of materials when I happened across a few started-never-finished doll bodies. There was the head and torso of an old woman, a Siamese twin torso and one random body that was too androgynous.

Out of the three, I felt inclined to give the manly one some "plastic surgery". I liked the outcome quite a bit and started on an idea I've been dying to work on for quite some time,

Love Affair with the Plague Doctor (or something like that):


As of now, only the eyes are stitched in (still need color). The mask is mostly made but everything else in pinned on. I'm still playing around with the style of hair and whether I want a big dramatic Plague Doctor hat or if it'd be too overpowering.



I've always been in love with the imagery of the plague doctor, birds, skeletons and masquerade. The cute stuff is definitely fun to make and come up with but I'm very pleased to be making a piece that's more dream-like. (Uh, like my dreams I guess. What do you want from me? I had a dream last night I was at a mall and there was a sniper there.)



And also, I put in some work on the mermaid (I know, about time!) She still needs arms (hands are a bitch to make btw).


I put small beads on the tail to sort of mimic pretty ocean debris. The back is stitching that I was going to cover but grew on me over time. I'm debating pigmenting the skin a little.

This Post Is For The Birds

I've barely had any time these days- but why exactly, I don't know. In part it might the the research/organizing I've been trying to do but we'll have to see how that pays off.
It's put a big dent in my making but I've been trying to take smaller projects along with me when I can. That means no frills and thrills but a few little cotton birds.

"Je t'aime" Word Bird:
I think she came out very pretty. There are very few dolls I will say that about easily. Made from a vintage handkerchief and embroidered.


I've never claimed to be very good at embroidery but I think I'm getting better and I'm trying to incorporate it more into my work.


I'm still a little torn between my typical bead eyes and my more recent embroidered eyes. But I like the control (of bulge) it provides for the smaller pieces.
Etsy Listing



The "Fuck It" Naughty Word Bird:
I got the idea to do a few "naughty" words along with other word birds. This one was a prototype because I made the wings differently and an expressive face (with eyebrows). It looks so angry (and is red in the face) but for it's strong words, it's pretty comical.

Etsy Listing





The Bad Ass Bird (no words, just badassery):
Complete with sutures, eye patch and "blood". It's also made from a vintage handkerchief but is some sort of pirate-spy-zombie apocalypse survivor. A little gorier than my other recent work but my "Etsy career" started out with this Gory Girl Doll and my first commission was another so this is actually very tame.


Etsy Listing





AND a little one in progress, "Alphabet" or "Initial" birds. Not only could this be cute singular but I could imagine a flock of these spelling out things, or even an entire alphabet for a nursery.


"E", I randomly chose "e" to start with, don't ask why- there isn't a reason.
E exhibits my improved embroidery skills (hehe).
It actually started with the "Fuck It" bird, then the "Je t'aime" and now this so you can actually see the improvement.




And also, my Mario & Princess Peach plush/topper was featured in an Etsy Treasury:
"For The Love of The Game" by ten23designs


Ok, time to get sick off of the oatmeal cookies I just baked.
And yes, they are delicious- I almost didn't make it to the cookie stage because the raw dough was like some kind of delicious crack. It took a lot of willpower to not stand there and eat the whole thing raw. The cookies themselves measure up as pretty great but I usually like to see where I can improve upon recipes once I try them so we'll see.