Tag: dolls

Button Sunday


They’re baaaaack.

Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum (yes, pregnant again), Michael Kors, overlooked by Nina Garcia,
are back in New York and back on Lifetime for Project Runway Season 7.

You’ll be seeing a design from me sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning. I have only one small part to finish of my first look for this spring’s LJ Runway Monday.

I LOVE my new sewing machine, but completing this challenge was not without its drama. My wonderful little rotary cutter that I got for Christmas has disappeared. I found a tiny piece of the blade, but I can’t find the rest of it. The blade is very, VERY sharp, so it seems that if Miss Pixie (the likeliest culprit) had been chewing on it, there’d have been some canine medical drama. I’ve looked under sofa cushions, under all the furniture, and inside and around the dog crates. I’ve swept all the rooms trying to find more pieces, but nada. The only thing I haven’t done is take the flashlight into the bedroom and look under the bed in Fort Emo–mainly because I don’t want to know what Margot’s been hiding under there, but also because it would probably wake up Tom.

I suppose I could break down crying like that very emotional chick on the season premiere of Project Runway.

Or not. See you on the runway!

Hump Day Happy–Wooden Heart Edition

In a unique homage to Gone With The Wind–movie version–Little Wooden Man poses with the love of his life, 2008 Holiday Barbie, in front of one of Lindsey’s paintings. Whatever works. If you give them a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, they’ll consult this book for something you can be happy about as we say goodbye to the Aughts and look forward to 2010. (Which I’m expressing as “twenty-ten,” not “two-thousand-ten.” You?)

The Christmas Coasters


I first talked about the Christmas coasters in 2005. Part two of that year was here.

In 2006, it happened like this.

The drama continued in 2008. By Christmas’s end, Lynne had the coasters, and I had much to fear when Tom and I went to Green Acres this year on Christmas afternoon. Among other gifts, I got my traditional ugly pig ornament from Jess and Laura. I got all kinds of other good stuff. By the time we finished exchanging presents, what I did NOT get was the coasters. FREE FOR ANOTHER YEAR. Or at least until my birthday in March.

Then I heard those dreaded words from Lynne: “There’s another package next to the TV.”

I KNEW it. With much anxiety, I took the package. But it was light–way too light to have coasters in it. And so was my heart, until I opened the package and…

Damn. It was the little wooden coaster holder, with the first clue of a treasure hunt taped to it.

“If I don’t follow the clues, I don’t end up with the coasters,” I said, feeling all smug.

“If you don’t follow the clues, you don’t get your big present,” Lynne said.

But I’d ALREADY gotten a bunch of presents, including what I thought was my big present, a rotary cutting mat and cutter to help me with next year’s Project Runway challenges. Because if there’s anything Lynne, like many of my talented friends, will do, it’s encourage my creativity.

Coasters…another present…coasters…another present…

I followed clues that took me–picking up a coaster at each stop–from the freezer to Lynne’s recipe book, to the garden shed, to the garage, to the mailbox, to the cake pan closet, and finally to Lynne’s bedroom, to her mother’s old jewelry box (which Lynne accidentally shot with her shotgun, but that’s another story). So I’m looking in this poor, battered jewelry box for something small, while Tom, Lynne, Jess, Laura, and even Lila and the dogs are rolling their eyes behind me. Because the present that I was totally missing was MUCH LARGER–it couldn’t even fit in a breadbox, much less a jewelry box.

What was it?!?

Holidayish

Now that most of my holiday cards have been mailed out and I’m receiving them (oh, I’m receiving such GOOD ones, too; I know a few little card elves who need e-mail), and now that almost all my shipping is done (NIGHTMARE! IN THE RAIN! TWO POST OFFICES!), I’ve been sort of indifferent about decorating.

When Tom got home from work Wednesday, he decided it was a good night to put up the tree and string the lights, a sort of pre-decorating activity. No definite plans yet for when we’ll hang ornaments, but whenever my Two Jew Crew, their mistress, Miss Sugar, and Lynne with Santa’s helpers, Sparky and Minute, want to give it a whirl–Thursday night? Friday night?–I’m game. There will be snacks. And probably Starbucks.

Wait; what? Your Jewish friends don’t help you decorate your Christmas tree? Maybe you should ask them! It’s a Compound holiday tradition, along with some others. Like digging Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus out of storage and setting up their workshop (photo to come).

And the annual photo of the new sleigh bell:

And, of course, a big party with notable guests such as:


The 1993 Holiday Barbie and her escort, a slightly modified Beverly Hills 90210 Brandon Walsh.

It feels like my heart may be growing three sizes.

Hump Day Happy–Early Edition

I was sitting on the front porch Tuesday afternoon after I dropped all the rose petals into the flower bed. I was thinking about John Lennon and Riley and their eternal connection in my heart while I sang to the dogs. The dogs LOVE it when I do this; in their excitement, they run to distant corners of The Compound, probably hoping I’ll sing even more loudly so the world can share in the thrill of it all.

I wasn’t singing a John Lennon or even a Beatles song, but one of my favorite Neil Young songs, “Birds.” I was sad, and it occurred to me how one of Riley’s gifts was that no matter how crazy awful our lives were (and 1980 delivered a ton of crazy awful), he could always make me laugh. As I sang, I remembered Riley telling me a story about a day he was sitting on his front porch, singing and playing his guitar. He was working on a song of his called “I Saw the Light” about the rotten luck of his alter ego, the Mysterious Vagabond Poet. Each time the MVP thought his life was taking a turn for the better, another awful thing would happen. And as Riley sang, he suddenly realized that across the street, his neighbors were sitting on their front porch and laughing their butts off. That’s when he knew he’d accomplished what he wanted to with the lyrics: He’d taken all the crazy awful and made it funny. He came to my house a couple of days later to make sure the song would get the same reaction from me. Remembering how I laughed back then gave me a much welcomed lift.

And then came magic.

LJ Runway Monday: Final Collection at last


Were you starting to wonder if I’d ever really post this? Admit it. You thought I took all the cash and prizes for being the only person to actually do all the challenges of Project Runway’s sixth season and hightailed it to Barbados. Well, that’s JUST CRAZY. I’ve received no cash. No prizes. And I don’t fly if I don’t have to.

But I have been sewing. The theme of my final collection is “Leather and Lace.” You’re thinking I’ve done a bunch of Stevie Nicks stage costumes, aren’t you? Again, CRAZY. I actually designed for her singing partner on that song, Don Henley. Nothing but jeans, black shirts, and Wayfarers.

Kidding.

My “Leather and Lace” is meant to showcase two things about women: Though we sometimes seem as delicate as lace, we have the supple strength of leather. From Flapper to Unflappable, Femme Fatale to Futurista, Dainty to Diva, Playful to Elegant–fashion is but a means we have of expressing ourselves. We are tough, we are feminine, and we have lots of shoes.

Do I have the designs and photos to prove it? Please click here and see.

Windows, No. 6

That’s a photo I shot in Chelsea when I was in NYC in 2007. It’s one of my favorite window photos.

As you might surmise, I haven’t been posting or commenting much because I’m sewing. But I AM reading you, so don’t try to slip anything by me. I’m like Santa that way. Or a mother. Or a Compound dog when someone’s in the kitchen. Or the Talamasca. (Hi, MGH.)

Enough with the similes. Right now, one of my models is posed in front of me wearing a design I just finished and she’s SO FREAKING ADORABLE. I’m having a lot of fun with this collection because I’m making myself take on new challenges. I know that some of my readers are not into the doll stuff and the fashion; others of you will see it, evaluate and comment on it, then move on and forget it. For me, however, there has to be a reason to do this beyond just making doll clothes. I have to learn something from it or take something from it that I can use in the future.

To wit:

I begin with raw materials. The doll comes first. Then I choose fabrics after much consideration of color and texture. Once I’ve settled on those, I begin to create a context that includes structure and story. I create new patterns or modify old ones to cut my design pieces. Then I start putting the pieces together. Very often, this involves a lot of frustration. I make false starts. I do things wrong and have to rip them out and redo them. Sometimes I throw everything away and start fresh. Eventually, I have a look. Then I choose how to accessorize it, enhance it. Sometimes it all requires research. Sometimes I need another pair of eyes for praise, criticism, or input. Sometimes I need help doing something I haven’t tried before.

Finally, where there was nothing, there’s suddenly something!

For those of you who create in the visual or performing arts, I don’t know how much of this is relevant to you. But for those who have asked what my writing process is, go back and read that paragraph.

I always begin with a character. Like each doll I work with, my character becomes my muse. Everything I’m going to develop in terms of plot, setting, point of view, or theme, for example, is structured based on who that character is. Conflicts, career, relationships–these are how I accessorize and enhance my character. And writing has all the same frustrations: starting and restarting, deleting, talking through some snag with someone who understands my writing style. For each new work of fiction, I have to try new things, meet new challenges, to keep the process from feeling stale.

Finally, where there was nothing, there’s suddenly something!

It’s possible that I’ve begun to forgive myself for my year of not writing. It’s possible that all this sewing and painting and photographing things were ways of refilling my creative well. It’s been kind of crazy to have a fully-formed character in my head for several months now, to wake up thinking about her and figuring out more things about her life, to even talk about her and her story to other writers, and STILL not be writing. I guess she’s just not posed right in front of me yet, looking SO FREAKING ADORABLE that I can’t resist her.

Thanks to everyone who commented and e-mailed about my runway post from Monday. I do need to clear up something. I didn’t make a lot of those clothes. They are vintage and new Mattel (or Mattel knock-offs). I’m going to put some thumbnails behind the cut of exactly what I did make. Because I’d never take credit for anyone else’s work. Except maybe, you know, Tim’s. 😉

Click here to see what I did sew if you’re interested.

LJRunway Monday: Final Collection, Part 1

Tonight, Runway Monday has put together a runway show at an undisclosed location to feature this season’s final collection by Becks. You’ve been checking out her looks for the past few months. Now she’s accepted the final season-six challenge of Lifetime’s Project Runway to create thirteen looks in a cohesive collection.

I’m your pre-show host, Heidi Gunn. It looks like we’ll have a full house tonight.

And a post full of photos behind this cut. Click here if you want to see more.