(Inside A Black Apple)

Strawberryhead

                  

Hey there, cutie.

Delia and the Dandelion Puffs

                     

( Hello. )

My first Quilty

Well, I think it's time you met the Quilt. After looking for the last few months for a quilt or comforter that I could take to Brooklyn with me, and being met with all plainness and ugliness (even from Anthropologie! Shocking!) I decided that possibly, maybe, I could make one all by myself.

I have no idea how one makes a quilt, or what a proper quilt is comprised of, so I just thought to myself...."Now, Emily. What does a quilt usually include? Pretty peices of fabric sewn together, with some mushy stuffing for the middle layer (the peanut butter and jelly, if you will, of the Quilt Sandwich) and then a big old backing peice of fabric. Oh! And something simple and sweet around the edges. And stitching all the way up and down. Oh yes....lots of stiching in rows and rows, to keep the whole Sandwich together."

So, with this unorthidox school of Quilting in my mind, I set to work. I made the squares very large (13"x13") to save time, and also keep a bit of simplicity throughout...don't want to be struck down with *gasp* the dreaded "over-done-itis"! So, here she is, less than a week later.

Using the wonderful Blair's technique (well, her inherited technique from the bloggy collective wisdom) I backed the quilt with a nice, chocolate brown full flat sheet with the faintest suggestion of a scroll pattern.

This is also the fabric our pillow cases are made of (thanks, Issac Mizrahi via Target!). It's so nice and substantial...it softens nicely with a few washes, too...we're only on wash #2 at this point.

Yikes, looking at this pixelated nonsense to our left, I have to make a distinct note to self: look into a better camera!

Here, I just wanted to show you my favorite "corners" of the quilt:

I love, LOVE that handwriting tablet fabric (thanks, Equilter! ) and I really must buy 5 yards before they cease carrying it like they did with my very favorite red dots on white tiny polka fabric (which can be seen in the smaller, token strip in lowe left of the picture below):

It's come to my attention recently that while it is very easy to find white dots on a red background, red dots on a white background (which I totally prefer) are suprisingly scarce! I'm so mad at myself for not buying up loads of that sweet fabric when I had the chance... If anyone has any suggestions/ideas/top secret tips for a source for red on white dotted fabric, I will love you. I will send you a wonderful present. (UPDATE: Thanks so much to the sweetie pie Carolyn & anyone who was hunting around on my behalf! The crafty-blog-lady world is such an ask-and-you-shall-recieve world, and I am so very lucky to have you guys as a resource. AND now I get to buy tons and tons of my favorite, favorite polkas @ at the lovely site Carolyn sent me, Handmades!)  I already combed through Equilter, Cia's Pallette, even the kinda gross Fabric.com.
The lesson of Saturday:
Red on white dotted fabric tips = Special Present...so please help!

Also, I am trusting you guys big time to not berate me for my silly, rogue-beginner quilt. I love it so much... It's mostly its big-ness that impresses me...everything I paint is little, and the things I sew (creatures, dolls, bags) are also small. Maybe all of those art  school professors were onto something when they advised: "I like it small, but I would love it big! Bigger, Bigger, Bigger!" I will always be a lover of tiny things, but there is a certain overwhelming power to be found in Big things. Maybe it's that they fill up your eyes? I dunno, but wow...what a ramble! :)
Happy Weekend!

An open love letter to Buttons + Payless makes me want to end my life

Dear Buttons,
I love you so very much. Like, indescribable, irrational-object love. I will never get tired of poring over a pile of you for hours, picking you up, admiring the variety, imagining what clothes you might have belonged to...

Hopelessly devoted, I remain
yours,
Emily

One of my earliest memories was of going to a fabric store with my mama where they had bins of buttons that you could buy for 5 or 10 cents apiece. My mom would let me pick out and fill up a little bag of buttons for my "collection"... I never did anything persay with them, but they have always been some of my favorite objects. They're lovely, whimsical coins from a fairy country. They are the ultimate detail as far as clothing goes...it makes me sad that not too many clothing designers seem to place too much important on buttons nowadays.

So, I told you yesterday about my great vintage button haul from eBay that came the same day as Shannon's amazing swap package, and I've picked out my favorites for you. The group at the top is one family of nine, and below is another!

This is the gigantic pile, all poured out in a crazy mess. Sifting through these gives me the best feeling...

Well, I'm sorry if all the button talk has bored any non-button fiends. Are there any such people?

Just to take a different direction for a bit,and stop obsessing, I need to know something. Today I went with my friend Jenny tearing around Athens, looking for some shoes for her to wear to her opening tomorrow night. It's too late for Zappos (I'm not sure if she would do that anyway) or any other ordering, so we were dealing with the very scarce offerings of our around-town shoe stores. So on our adventure, we spent a bit in a Payless Shoe store. Oh my god. Is there a place more depressing? What I need to know is if I am the only person who becomes deeply depressed by places like that: places filled with badly designed, gaudy oh my so gaudy and tacky shoes/clothing/whathave you? Am I alone?
I can't believe that I am, so deeply am I affected by this kind of place. It's also the fault of the current trends (so.much.metallic.sh*t.), that (way over) Boho thing, but it's also just that places like Payless, Walmart, even *sniff* Target seem to fall prey to what I like to call over-done-itis. They'll take an O.K. design, and then gussy it up with 1,000 sequins, beads, glitter, faux fur, whatever! Why does this happen? Why is it that I have to spend 4 or 5 times as much to get a simple shoe (Camper, Born, etc.). My inborn logic tells me that a more simple item should be less expensive than an elaborate (read: tacky) shoe. I have to buy multiples of shoes that I find that I like, because it is so rare, especially shoes that are affordable....
OK, end rant.
What have we learned?

Buttons are amazing and wonderful. Payless makes me suicidal.
Happy Friday, my darlings.

PS: You might notice my new "profile photo", which is actually a close up scan of that great pulp paperback that Shannon sent me...Jenny and Clint decided it looks eerily like me. And they're right...she's even got my chubby arms.

Grown up Pen Pals are the Best

Hello everbody! Wow, things have been busy, busy, busy. My Etsy store has been burning up the...charts (?)...well, it's burning up my old sales averages, anyway. I've also begun making a patchwork quilt (2 weeks before moving to Brooklyn!) which I have no idea how to do properly...totally flying by the seat of my...skirt.

I might offer up some photos of my hilarious progress, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for the ridicule that might ensue. I'm only joking, you all are insanely sweet and supportive and would lie to me, I know :)
SO, today was a completelely amazing mail day, thanks mainly to one Ms. Auntie Cookie (known also as Shannon).  I also got a huge haul of vintage buttons, the best of which I have picked out to show & tell with tomorrow...but for today, I've gotta share Shannon's package with you.

First, these lovely, hilarious and sweet original drawings/collages. The tag on the outside of the wrapping said "Apples for Emily"... so very sweet and thoughtful! I adore the two smaller drawings just as much...that little one down at the bottom with the moustache just kills me.

Next, the greatest little bundles of wonderfulness that a girl could ever hope to receive! I wanted so badly to un-bundle the paper stacks, but I had to resist until I could photograph them (for sharing purposes). I feel so lucky that Shannon decided to share a bit of her a-maz-ing thrift score here (the vintage wallpaper samples)... this was already so much goodness. But more stuff just kept tumbling out, as I pulled out one new treasure, 2 more would emerge from this (relatively little) box. It was a bit like watching Mary Poppins pull things out of her magic bag, I believe....Clint said "no, there can't be anything else in there...Dear God!"

But there was! Holey Moly! I have to say my number one favorite thing in this picture are the wooden alphabet blocks that spell out my initials (E.M.). Amazing. Also, a DJ Aunty Cookie cd mix, bits of lace and floss, a zine, cards, pretty silver paper stars, a victorian prayer book, a pulp novel (Shannon, you have insight into my soul...I adore these!), more lovely papers (gnomes! bunnies!), a wax/plastic vintage (bingo set??? i happen to love bingo), a flocked fawn, and the whole darn thing is laying on top of an adorable hawaiian apron! Whew!

Shannon, thank you so much. You made my day...really. It's a tumultuous time in Black Apple Ville, and you, my grown-up "pen pal" made all the difference.

Tea for Two

Hi, my name is "Tea for Two" and I am a painting that was just finished today! The lady that painted me has been most productive today and deserves some sort of muffins or cinnamon toast as a reward for her efforts.
I can be found here in her shop (sold this AM to a fellow GA gal!), where she spends far too much time. Especially considering that it is a make-believe shop in the first place.

The Isobel 9

                      coming soon to a Black Apple Shoppe near you!

PS: Don't forget Samplers go on sale around 5 pm EST

Goodness Gracious! All sold out of the week's Samplers in 5 minutes...You guys are quick on the draw!

New Paper Dolls & Silhouettes & Art School Confidential

I'm afraid you'll think I've crawled under a rock, or fallen off of a cliff, or some other disaster has befallen me. This is the first time since the Black Apple blog began that I've gone 2 whole days with crickets-chirping-silence! I'm sorry...I've just been a super-busy lady. As I told Joleen  today, I'm burning the midmorning-midday-midnight oil today, to try to finish all of the half-finished things I left for today, AND get all of the shipping packed up for tomorrow. We'll see if that all happens. It's entirely possible that my brain will just short-circuit, and nothing will get finished! Let's hope that's not what happens...

So, Clint and I went to see Art School Confidential yesterday, a film loosely based on a very short comic by Dan Clowes.

It was written by Clowes, and directed by Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb", "Ghost World"). I have been waiting for this movie for seriously the last two years. I love Dan Clowes (mostly) and I also love Terry Zwigoff...Ghost World is one of my favorite, favorite movies and Crumb isn't half-bad, either. I even liked "Bad Santa"...it was so bizarrely endearing.
SO, A.S.C. was supposed to be released last Septemberish, but then was pushed back for whatever reason. But it finally was released limited on the 6th, and wide on the 12thish and Athens actually got it! You have no idea how shocked and happy I was to discover that piece of information!
I read mixed reviews, it seems all of my favorite magazines were really split about it (Bust, Nylon, etc.). So I was also a little afraid...but it was GREAT! I mean, great to me...it's probably not for everyone, I understand. It was so convoluted and hilarious, and as a recent attendee of Art School, it was really right-on-the-money about SO much. Apparently Art School hasn't changed as much as a pair of socks since Dan Clowes attended 20 years ago. Those same cliched personalities are all there in real life...the "pretentious guy who makes bad conceptual art", "goth/beatnik girl", "lecherous professor", "Mom (55 year old lady who is getting in touch with her artistic side)". The critics who panned the movie because of the "juvenile stereotyping" seem to not know that these people really make up the stock classroom of drawing 1, I promise!
I'm pretty sure I was/am some such stereotype myself, but that's what makes for the hilarity of the Art School dynamic! There's nothing like it. Even if you haven't been, I think you'll get at least a few good chuckles out of this movie. Clint and I agreed, though, that a really weak link in the movie is "funny, wacky, fat-guy" the roomate who looks 35 and is always wacky and fat, but isn't actually funny. 

I finished up this page of "coloring book" style page of paper dolls for the aforementioned Joleen's zine, Portals. These alone are enough cuteness to rationalize buying the new issue when it's available.

I also finished up some new Bird's Nest Hair Silhouettes! A whole new batch of 5 are up in the shop. I'm so thrilled at how much people loved the last set...it inspired me to bite the bullet and endure the carpal-tunnel-like aftermath of all of the intricate cutting.

Hopefully, I will finish up all of the new Isobels today/tonight...I've had quite a few in the works, so (fingers crossed!) they'll be living in the store by tomorrow.  There will be Samplers in the shop, too, tomorrow (I think Tuesday has become the official Sampler day without meaning to) so be on the lookout in the p.m. (around 5ish? EST)

Happy Monday, my lovelies!

Lost Girls

Sometimes I forget about them...but they're always in the back of my mind somewhere. They're the 3 Black Apple paintings at MY MY Distro, that have been there, lonely, since November! Please, some good people find these little gals...it breaks my heart that they've been sitting there, gathering dust. They're so cute. Too cute to be unowned!

These little ones were created yesterday. I just love them. They're my perfect kids. They're also in danger of being un-listed, because I seriously adore them, and they should maybe just live with me. Maybe.

            

PS: Thank you so much to all of the sweet commentors from yesterday's post. It was so wonderful to tell you all about them/me, and know that you listened and cared and understand! Amazing. Thanks, also, to all of my wonderful Black Apple customers! Your warmth and genorosity doesn't go unnoticed. Not by a long shot.

Today was the Most Beautiful Day

When I say that, I mean that it was achingly and all-encompassingly beautiful outside. Tear-worthy, even. Maybe it was a reward of some kind for the muckiness of yesterday...whatever it was, I am grateful. It was in the low 70's and very breezy, the kind of day that instantly reminded me of that child-reflex that occurs when you peek outside the window, and you just cannot get your clothes on fast enough so that you can be with the swaying trees. You see, in Georgia there are actually two seasons, rather than 4...a brutal summer & a mild winter. Fall and Spring are something that I cherish fiercely because they are often short, or in the case of Spring, almost nonexistant. We go from zero to 60 (or 40 degrees to 90 degrees) in a few short weeks. This Spring we have been spoiled, in that it actually happened, and is still happening, and has been long and lovely.
I always say that I want to live somewhere in which the weather is like the illustrations in the calenders that I remember from childhood...the ones where children wear cardigans and play in the leaves for "September", instead of the tank-tops and sweltering that Georgia Septembers are all about.

To our Left is a fun picture of me out in the beautiful Thursday with my very own one of La Totes (it was a slightly imperfect one). After carrying one all the way to, around, and from town today, I can safely say that

1.) they will hold almost anything with ease and comfort, and

2.) they are adorable. and they would make for a great school or supply bag.

So, what I really intended to do today is to start telling the story of Emily, as promised (or threatened! ) yesterday.

So this is the Family Part:
Well, I was born February 13th, 1983. I have 2 brothers (Kristian, 14, and Stephen, 19) and one sister (Amelia, 19). She and Stephen are twins.

I had both a Mom and a Dad until I was 12, when my father died. Here we are, when I was just a tiny little puppins learning to swim:

He had dark red hair and a beard. And he was pretty much my favorite person in the world when I was a little girl. He had a brilliant mind, 3 or 4 degrees (in wildly different areas), and was terribly interesting. He would take me on the greatest dates to the Hello Kitty store, where I became infamous to the salesgirls for excruciating bouts of indecision (what do I spend my $10.00 on...how can I get the most cute for my dollars?)
Oh, no, I'm getting blurry-eyed already... alright, well, suffice it to say he was a terrible, terrible thing to lose. I am still in the mindset of a person always losing things & people, because of this single, formative event. A few weeks ago, sitting out on the front steps of the porch on a pretty night talking, I realized that it would not be long until more time had elapsed since his death than there was before he died.
How strange it is when you realize you've been without something longer than you had it in the first place. It's just as strange, I suppose to realize you've had something/someone longer than you were without them. I wish all the time that I could get his opinion on all sorts of things, chat with him about Faulkner, take those few that I really love so that he can meet them.

This is my mama as a little girl. Isn't that photo the greatest? I think it's so hilarious. And it really captures her loveliness better than any current picture of her could. We always had a wonderful time when I was a little one, especially until those troublesome twins came along and we could do everything alone! I'm only kidding. Well, mostly. My mother is incredible. I told her recently that sometimes I get an acute feeling of panic, thinking that there simply isn't enough time, or enough words to thank her for being so wonderful, or tell her & show her how much I love her. She raised 4 children, nursed a sick husband for 7 years, and has a successful private law practice to boot. Even though she rarely dabbled in "Art with a capital A", I attribute my creative spark and yearning to make things to her. She has a beautiful garden, has always sewn whenever she can, was a very fun mum full of good ideas and open-mindedness, and still enjoys learning new things. She has an uncanny wisdom, coupled with a child's enthusiasm and charm.
So, that's where I come from. Or who I come from, rather. Next time maybe I'll delve into my personality or interests, or maybe into the life I've built (or begun building) for myself. Thank you so much to anyone who reached the end of this post. It feels so good to write about this, and share them with you.