(Inside A Black Apple)

Paper Dolls!

Hooray, Hooray! I finally finished putting together the "starter playset" of the Black Apple Paper Dolls!
There are 3 Dolls (Charlotte, Gretchen, and Stella) 3 Dresses, 2 Play outfits, 1 Pirate outfit (obviously), 1 Kitty Hat (again, obviously), 2 Pairs of Boots (Cowboy & Combat), and 1 striped scarf! Whew! These were quite an undertaking...more than they seem to be, I'm sure. They'll be available into the shop this afternoon.
I'm about to go put them into the shop...oh, but I must say a word about something totally unrelated, which is icing.  Sarah mentioned the buttercream recipe used to ice her birthday cupcakes, so last night when I decided to bake some "cheering-up-the-evening" cupcakes, I tracked down that recipe. And holy smokes it is incredible. The icing itself is so good that it made me put too much on the indivicual cupcakes, and sent me at least into an almost coma. And it's very very simple...you will never have to rely on the wierd, waxy canned stuff again. And neither will I! Here is the where the oh so simple genius recipe is found.
Happy Friday!

Dunces + Flying 500 miles away

I just ordered a bunch of new stuff for the store, and I am really excited about all of it. There will be 3 new postcard sets (2 with single images, and 1 with 2 images included) I decided on Curious Birdplane , A Good Egg is Hard to Find , and Snail Rider Pinup + Red Fawn Rider as a set.
Aaaand, I'm even more exited about the totebags I just sent off an order for! Your hint is this lovely little dunce to the left. I drew her way back in October, when I was New Yorking it with Sarah for the month, and I knew she was destined for greatness. She's being printed on sturdy canvas totes, which I think I'll line myself with lots of different cotton prints! Ooooh I'm excited! I wanted to go with a really minimal (for me) design, partially because I've become so in love with my Antler Girl Tote  from I'm Smitten....it's so simple, yet has this wierd elegance to it. My mom is in love, too...she's getting one for Mother's day!

I had a series of panicked dreams last night about my move to Broolyn in June (if you didn't already know about my relocation, I'm sorry you're discovering it in such a roundabout way!). They were nonsensical and disoriented, as all dreams are, but I woke up feeling for the first time scared and strange about it. Then, as the fates would have it, my dear friend Elizabeth emailed to tell me that she has procured an internship in New York for the summer! Such blissful news. Our talk of a commune (mine/hers/sarah's) will become reality for at least a few wonderful months! So that helped ease most of my wierd unnamed worries. Thanks, Liz. Thanks, Dunce Cap Girl. Also, thanks to all of the sweet crafty ladies who have been linking me and my baby-blog here! This community is both so addictive, but so supportive and self-sustaining. Amazing.

Rainy Day

            
         

It's a really gross day outside today...I mean so gross that when I woke up, it didn't register to me that it could possibly be the daytime! I hate the days where the sun doesn't every come out, it makes me feel like the day isn't actually happening. It's a non-day.
On a happier note, I made these three cheerful little reconstructs and added them to the Little Moth store, and I really like them a whole lot. I'm totally jealous, however, of Small Object Sarah's INCREDIBLE shirt here.  I need that shirt in my life! I need more silhouettes in my life, at the very least. Blouses are super intmidating to make to me for some reason...that's why I stick with the stretchy, forgiving knits :)

      
I drew these two little cuties last night...the Milk
dress girl already sold, but the yellow one ("The Acorn that Got Away") is still available. And I have prints of the Milk dress girl available here.
Happy drizzle, everybody!         

People that I want to Marry, Vol. 1: Clive Owen

Okay, when I decided that I really needed to make a space where I could wax on and on about famous (and sometimes not-so-famous) people that I want to marry, it's no suprise that Clive came to mind. I love that he's a bit of a return to the 40's + 50's version of the leading man, in that he's incredibly handsome, but also a bit of a rake and more than a little rough around the edges.  "Closer" has become a movie that I really love, and I think that he and Natalie Portman are both superstars in it. I think that his Dwight in "Sin City" is what actually made me buy the red converse sneakers that I just ordered. The new Clive Owen Joint (I mean Spike Lee joint) The Inside Man  is great, too...I keep trying to sell my parents on it! Go see it, you will like it. The only drawback is how much screentime is spent with Clive's face covered by a robber-mask.  He's also good in Gosford Park  &  Croupier (both good movies!)

He's British and he's got the best voice since Alan Rickman...Let's here it for Clive, also known as my husband.

Art Forgers & Wolfbabies

This little one is who I was working on the last few nights, a Wolfbaby, which were invented by me and my friend Brittney in HS Economics class. The Wolfbabies became a rather elaborate club...or maybe it was more of a gang...
Anyway, we were pretty ferocious. And I'm sure that I still am, considering all of the trouble I get into.

While painting, I watched this incredible documentary that was actually suplementary material to the Criterion release of Orson Welles' "F for Fake"  about the famous/infamous art forger, Elmyr De Hory. It's totally fascintating, and while I of course thought "what a jerk this art forger is", in a way, I was a little bit dazzled and thought it was secretly a little cool. I know I'm a bad person. I always want the bad guy to win. Or at least not be killed or reduced to a pathetic state by the end of the movie ("Training Day", this means you).

I have a little bit of a bone to pick, though, which I thought I'd share with you crafty and sassy and sweet people that might be reading, which is: Why is it that there is all of this beautiful, quirky, incredible DIY clothing that is cropping up everywhere (Supayana , AntiFactory , etc.) but it seems that it is some kind of unspoken rule to only make Smalls and then maybe Small/Mediums.  I know that the Supayana super-girl has a note on her site that bigger sizes are coming soon, so that is great news (I am completely smitten) but why does this seem to be total norm all across the board? I am not a big person, persay, but I wear about a 12 dress, and usually a medium top and I feel totally wierd and alienated by this whole size issue...I can only imagine what a fully plus-sized girl would feel: totally left out. Any ideas about this? Am I overlooking something?

In other Black Apple news, I just posted the second (and last) Sampler  of this week to the shop...I'm so happy that everyone seems to really dig the whole element of suprise! Hooray :)

Strange Pets

These little gals were posted to the shop last night...The little Goat girl already sold, but hedgehog friend is up for grabs still! I'm also experimenting with some kinda minimal wall-hanging style collage pieces, so one of those has also been added to the store.
I hope everyone had a nice Sunday/Easter. Mine was very relaxing and fun and I took a very tiring walk up and down the small mountain with my mom and ate some of the adorable coconut cake that she makes with a lamb mold.
How cute are hedgehogs? The answer is VERY! It's such tragic irony that if you had one as a pet, you would be unable to, ahem, pet it. Well, maybe your love would just have to involve some heavy duty gloves.

I'm in the midst of trying to select some images to be the new postcard sets for the shop...it is not fun. Seriously, it's so hard for me to be objective about my little gals! I took a vote on the Etsy forums, so I'm pretty sure that A Good Egg is Hard to Find  is going to be one, but I'm at a loss as to the others!
Ok, off for a walk in the nice breezy spring.

For Easter: Bunnies + Ill-fated lady writers

Happy Easter, everyone!
In celebration, I bring you the incredible polka-dot-eared bunny that was spoken of a few days ago, created by the amazing Stephanie .

The detail on this creature is just incredible...sorry that the photo
looks as if he is being ejected from the bottom of a spaceship!
I'm so happy because today I get to go up to the mountains and see my family. They're not "mountain people"...well...my stepfather is, but not the kind that eats cousins. But they are some of my very favorite people. Especially mi mama, who is recieving a pretty great Easter present from yours truly (which will be revealed soon, maybe, possibly) It's a lovely mama duck with 4 little chick babies. Anyway, so I'm really happy about seeing those guys and dying eggs and whatnot.

And that brings us to the doomed writer portion of our post, which is not very Easterish at all, but I really like this painting (done on a vintage book cover that was sent to me by the sweet Nico of It's Your Life  just this afternoon!)
As promised, we follow up little Anais with Virgina Woolf, another from the lady writer series...and she is really important to me. Really. I'd like to dedicate her to my darling platonic soulmate, Sarah, because she sat in the theater and cried with me for 10 minutes after The Hours ended. So here she is...it's kind of a black-apple-ification of that very famous photo of her. The book cover is mounted to a stretched canvas, which is painted a very becoming ochre.

But! No watery deaths today! Only hysterically funny microwave deaths for all the marshmallow Peeps I'm about to recieve!

Little Felt Cartoons

This little guy was in Clint's easter basket today... (early, I know, I have premature present-ulation issues).
He's a little felty, 8" tall version of Clint's ahem "self-portrait" that features prominently in his weekly comic,  The Flickskinny.
He's a little silly, I know, and I also didn't make a felty version of his cohort, Jeremy (your birthday is coming, buster!), but Clint & I both love the wierd little guy.
PS: Clint is much cuter in real life. And taller. I promise!

Mushroom Twins

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This is who I spent the better part of last evening with, just hanging out and watching "The Hudsucker Proxy" (a movie which I, and they, had never seen before). I liked it quite  a bit, but had a hard time dealing with Jennifer Jason Leigh's wierd Katherine Hepburn impression. Today a lovely package from Stephanie of Little Birds  containing one of her beautiful linen bunnies (still un-named) and another cutie pie thing that I will show to you tomorrow!

Also this is really my last night at the Vis, so if you wanna come down and get the friend discount, this may be your last night to do it !

John Rice observed "Hey, you'll never have to appologize to a (dumb) stranger again"...but I have a feeling that will be happening forever, somehow.
Happy Friday, Folks! Adios, Video Store!

B.I.B. + Plumheads

Today somebody made pancakes for me...that's right: Breakfast in Bed! Since that is the first time that has happened in my 23 years, I'd like to christen this day "B.I.B." day.
The other eventful thing to announce is the lovely Penelope Plumhead, who was created this afternoon. I was really careful with her, and I think I've finally solved the problem that Clint refers to as "floppy head", which has been plaguing all of my dollmaking thus far.

I'm pretty in love.
She's very plump, and I am so happy that her rosy cheeks worked out (I never know if that's too sweetie-sweet, you know?)
Also, her shoes are a triumph. They even have little button closures on the sides!

Now Penelope's all ready for the shop! Happy Thursday, my dears!

I was obsessing over all of Hillary's Wee Wonderful  archives on Flickr all morning...She's the queen of soft things!