Tag: entertainment

Magnetic Poetry 365:305

The reasons this scenario makes me laugh:

1. That is Marika’s beloved Malibu PJ doll from her childhood. She sent it to become part of The Compound Barbie Collection, knowing I would take good care of her little PJ.
2. I redressed PJ in my own design, a Cheshire Cat dress, because Marika loves the Cheshire Cat.
3. Marika sent me a set of magnetic words that she designed to indulge my whimsical enjoyment of all things Twilight.
4. I used the term “pretty in pink” knowing Marika doesn’t like John Hughes’s movies.
5. Marika’s words and my dolls have now brought poor PJ into GRAVE DANGER from the vampire Victoria.

We live in tragic times.

I have to get back to watching The Vampire Diaries on Netflix now.

Thanks to Tim for the backdrop. Don’t know what I’ll do when he takes his paintings away.

Runway Monday Finale, Part 2 (PR 9:14)

Draw near, the Tenth Muse is arriving to introduce my final collection for Lifetime’s Project Runway ninth season finale.

She’s Summer, the Muse of Fashion, and she’s here to welcome us to the court of the Fairy Queen.

As the minutes tick toward dusk and the magic of the forest night, she sees the Three Pixies approaching.

A few minutes later, the Two Sprites hurry toward the gathering place.

They await the arrival of the queen of their fairy ring.

Once they’ve all assembled, they begin to reveal the shimmering dresses designed for each of them especially for this night. All dress fabric except Laura Lee’s Dupioni silk and Summer’s synthetic blend is printed metallic georgette silk. The capes are velour and crushed velvet. Enjoy this magical night of fashion with Fairy Queen Marcella and her royal court.

The Pixie Thomasina:

The Pixie Laura Lee:

The Pixie Noelle:

The Sprite Dallas:

The Sprite Cari:

The Muse Summer:

The Fairy Queen Marcella:

Romancing the Stone:

Dancing in the Trees:

My final collection is inspired by pixie dust, Halloween, and a belief that magic is wherever we look for it. Thanks for sharing this season of Runway Monday with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Fabric for Summer’s dress is a gift from Lynne. All shoes are Mattel. Cari’s and Dallas’s necklaces designed by me. Crystals in Cari’s necklace a gift from Kathy S. Marcella’s crown modified by me from a Mattel crown. Photos were shot at Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery, most of them at the grave of my friend Tim R, who was an early champion of my creative energy, relished listening to tales of witches and vampires on tape by candlelight in his wonderful cottage, and would be delighted at providing me a quiet place to have some fun with dolls and fashion.

Previously this season:
9:13 Finale, Part 1
9:12 The Final Challenge
9:11 This Is For the Birds
9:10 Sew 70s
9:9 Image Is Everything
9:8 What Women Want
9:7 Can’t We All Just Get Along?
9:6 The Art of the Matter
9:5 Off to the Track
9:4 All About Nina
9:3 Go Big Or Go Home
9:2 My Pet Project
9:1 Come As You Are

Runway Monday: The Final Challenge (PR 9:12)

Oh, Project Runway, you couldn’t cut me some slack on the last regular episode? No. You had the designers create a mini collection. They were sent to Governors Island in NYC to get inspiration from the landscape, architecture, and the sculpture installation by Mark di Suvero. Then they had to create a range of designs for three models to walk the runway. (And not to be a total bitch, but Josh, the word is “artillery,” not “artillirary.” Just sayin’.)

The show failed to send a G6 to take me to Governors Island, so I went to the Houston studio space of Texas artist David Adickes to get another look at his tree sculptures. Here are some of the photos I shot there.

I then selected my models. In the order you’ll see them, I designed for Rusty, Maia, and Sharon, with casual, daytime formal, and evening formal looks. The solid fabrics for all three designs are of Dupioni silk, with a high-quality cotton fabric evocative of Adickes’ trees used for Rusty’s halter top, Maia’s belt, and Sharon’s bodice. Rusty’s beaded belt and Maia’s jewelry are my designs. Shoes are by Mattel. Enjoy!


Rusty, Sharon, and Maia in tangerine, strawberry, and coconut concoctions inspired by David Adickes.


I’m not sure if I’ll have another post before my final collection, but at some point soon, I’ll see you on the runway!

Previously this season:
9:11 This Is For the Birds
9:10 Sew 70s
9:9 Image Is Everything
9:8 What Women Want
9:7 Can’t We All Just Get Along?
9:6 The Art of the Matter
9:5 Off to the Track
9:4 All About Nina
9:3 Go Big Or Go Home
9:2 My Pet Project
9:1 Come As You Are

Button Sunday


It’s funny how trying to figure out the way a button came into my collection leads me to all kinds of information on the Internet. Virtual detecting!

I’m sure I just liked what this one said: “I’ve been to REALITY,” so I grabbed it, probably from a desk or office I inherited in the distant past. Research has led me to believe it’s a promotional button for a business simulation software based on Mark H. McCormack’s 1987 book What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School. I researched McCormack and learned that he was the first to realize the large sums of money athletes could make from endorsements; he founded International Management Group (now IMG). From Wikipedia:

In 1960, after realizing the potential of sports in the television age, McCormack…signed golfer Arnold Palmer as IMG’s first client. Palmer, who had become golf’s dominant superstar, was soon followed to IMG by rising stars Jack Nicklaus and then Gary Player. McCormack aggressively promoted the so-called Big Three of golf during the 1960s, raising their incomes dramatically, while building IMG’s business.

Some of McCormack’s later clients included Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras, Michael Schumacher, Derek Jeter, Charles Barkley, Kate Moss, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, and Tiger Woods. By the time McCormack died in 2003, IMG had branched not only into other areas of celebrity management, but into venues, events, and media. You can read a fascinating account of how a little boy with an injury that kept him out of contact sports became a Forbes-listed millionaire, prolific author, and sports/entertainment industry titan here.

Damn. McCormack, IMG, and client Tyra Banks made a ton of money, and all I got was this lousy button.