(Inside A Black Apple)

Blackstock's Collections

I'm here...catching up with everyone and everything Internets-related after a brief little break. I've got a wonderful book for day one of my picture-book-blogging plan, called Blackstock's Collections (the link will take you to the Amazon listing). I picked it up at my favorite little comics place downtown, Bizarro Wuxtry. There are some great comics shops in Brooklyn and NYC proper, but this is still by far my favorite...mostly because everytime I walk through the door, I'm immediately bombarded by the newest, coolest "things that Devlin thinks I might like". He's about 95% accurate (I can't seem to convince him that I don't care for the art of Robert Williams), and this book was one of those thrust-into-my-hands things a few weeks ago...

Aren't these great? Gregory Blackstock, this archiver of bees and saws and airplanes and crows, is a savant who obsessively catalogues the sheer number of versions-of-things that exist. And when would you say these were made? I mean, if you couldn't read the dates beneath them...
Isn't it crazy? They are all dated from the 90's to the 2000's! I would've guessed that they were drawn in the 30's or 40's... The colors and just general sensibility is so antiqued.

Anyway, happy Wednesday, darlins! Back tomorrow with another picture book...

Weirdo...

So, my little partner-in-crime Ashley informed me that I should share 6 weird things about myself. As with everyone else that has completed this task, there are scores of oddities lurking in my everyday ways, but here are six that happen to apply today:

1. I have an irrational love for UPS men. It isn't a fetishy thing, I just tend to find whichever UPS man is mine at the time very endearing...Very. You might remember my one from my old Athens house, who bore more than a passing resemblance to John Doe. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it...the reason I love them so much is probably as simple as the fact that they bring me nice things. Things that I have ordered, usually, but still. They bring me things.
2. Broccoli has been one of my top 5 favorite foods since I was a baby. It isn't that weird, except for the degree to which I love broccoli. The legend goes that when I was 3, my mom told me that I could have any food I wanted for my birthday party...apparently all that I wanted was broccoli. Just broccoli. I mean, I'm assuming their was cake, but I don't really know. And then I wonder why I wasn't a more popular child...
3. At the moment, I really don't want to listen to any music made after 1940. Except for X's Under The Big Black Sun. And Liz McGrath's band, Miss Derringer. And that is Ms. McGrath's weirdo-guy pictured at the top of this post.
4. I would rather have beautiful clothes than anything else material in the world. I know that's not a shock, but really...more than a nice car (as evidenced by the one that I drive). It is definitely an obsession, as I recently had to get a chest of drawers specifically to house/organize all of my knee socks and stockings. I comfort myself by thinking about Howard Hughes, and what a long way I've got to go til' I officially check into Level 5 Eccentric-ville.
5. I have always entertained a fantasy of being an auto-mechanic. No, Really. I would have the sassiest little jumpsuits, too...
6. I am inexplicably saddened by the situation between Dita Von Teese & her former husband. I'm sure she's better off, but still...I always really want the marriages of two eccentrics to work.

Okay, I'm going to join the land of the outside world after packing and shipping over 100 orders in the last 2 days, so you might not hear from me for a day or two. When I return, however, I've got some great picture books to share. I think next week should be book week, yes? Yes.

See you then + Happy Weekend, chickadees!

In which Bribery is the best motivator

So, thanks to a sweet bunch of little 'applets, I've got loads, LOADS of mail-room work to do today and tomorrow and as far as I can see. As you might remember, I'm a big fan of bribing myself in order to do things that I don't want to do...things such as a.) cleaning or b.) packing + shipping.

The bribery today involves making chocolate and peanut butter brownies, listening to more of the audiobook of Fragile Things, the newer Neil Gaiman story anthology (his reading voice is so lovely and comforting and wonderful), and then dinner with my friend James. And then more packing up of things.

Some good mail just arrived...Risa sent some adorable tea party favors for the ladies who attended the make-believe tea party:

Also, this beautiful package from Krista of Papered Together, the hedgie cards I mentioned the other day, and other things inside...

And goodness gracious, do you SEE those surprise personalized hedgie cards she made for me? I am so spoiled, Krista! Thank you!

Okay, back to the mail-room I go.
Happily, too...actually, let's just say contentedly.

PS: I love the new painting on Mark Ryden's homepage from his new show...go visit it. It is beautiful!

Jumpin' Jackrabbits!

The shop was successfully updated with all sorts of things, and almost as soon as they appeared, they started to vanish. At the time of my post, there are still a few cuties to be gotten, though...so hop over to see. Thank you, thank you, my dears! I'm very pleased with everything that went up today, the paintings, cards, all of it. I hope you like it, too...

Ooooh, and I've got to freak out a little bit about Jennifer Murphy's new line of decorations that she designed. I have often yearned for one of her originals, but A.) They go SO quickly, like almost immediately after being posted for sale, and B.) They are a little on the pricey side (but worth it, as Amy knows). SO, I went a little crazy and bought a ton of the new, much-less-pricey stuff.
Just look at these sweeties:


Ack! They KILL me. Her things just kill me.
In the best possible way. The lady's a genius.

Whew. Well, I need to take a breather and unplug myself for a little bit, so I'm off! Happy Wednesday, my loves!

Whew!

There is going to be loads of stuff! When I really took stock of all the little critters, girls, hearts, polka dots, etc. last night it was a little crazy.  *Happy Sigh*...now for some kickboxing, and for some finishing/stitching up of dolls.

Happy Tuesday!

Wierdo Aside: A few people have emailed about my haircut, and now I cannot find your emails to let you know that I cut my own hair. I'm too particular about it + I have really wierd hair, so I've been cutting it myself since I was 16. I am also usually the resident hair-cutter for whoever I am around at the time...roomates, friends, boyfriends, little brothers.

Just Good Things...

I always love simple little "This is what I like today" posts, like Amy's from today...so here is one for you! I'm knee deep in lots of making for the shop update, and these are a few things that I love today:

*Seonna Hong's newer work from the most recent issue of Juxtapoz. I had seen a few of the other pieces before, but this bear one just killed me. It reminds me a bit of my own Little Bear girl...

*The newly spic+span Hillary's New Years card...tacked up with a hodgepodge of other things I like to look at...

* Extra pretty and extra tasty cupcakes made with Ms. Sara this afternoon after investing in some frosting tips...why the heck I didn't have some already is a mystery to me!

*  The best little hedgie cards, ordered recently from a super stationary shop, PaperedTogether.

What a nice laundry-list.  I'm so excited about all the stuff I'm getting ready for the shop update, and I think it will be happening on Wednesday, circa the afternoon (3:00 EST) instead of tomorrow. I'm sorry I've got to put if off just a bit, but I promise it will be worth the wait. Some of the things in store (another mini-list):
- Originals! (of course)
- Dolls + creatures
- Valentines, both semi-conventional and otherwise (tricky, tricky)
- Jewelry/trinket boxes (!!! I am so excited about these)
- And maybe...maybe...the return of the Isobels

Happy Monday!
(a good week is ahead)

El Laberinto del Fauno, Finally!

It is always a queer thing when I look forward to a movie for months and months. As a few of you may remember, I have been anxiously...well...rather crazily looking forward to Pan's Labyrinth since I first saw the trailer over 4 months ago, while I was still living in Brooklyn. And I know I've been whining about it taking almost a month for the wide release to happen.

It finally came! Yesterday! It came to Athens! Can you believe it? I suppose I was underestimating the "wide release" potential...I guess it's the new Amelie (crossover sensation). So. It came. To the little town that I live in.

And, let me be the billionth person to declare it simply wonderful. It has already won a slew of awards, I believe, and received enormous heaps of critical praise, but it deserves it all. It is by turns terrifying, enchanting, sad (muy, muy triste!) but always riveting and very beautiful to watch. My only disclaimer is if you are terribly squeamish, and can't avert your eyes (as I did several times) you might want to avoid it...there are moments of gory realism that are pretty upsetting. The film is split relatively evenly between the backdrop of the war/"real world" and Ofelia's Labyrinth world. Speaking of beautiful...the name Ofelia? With that wonderful spelling? Possibly a new name for my imaginary future little girls.

I have a big date next weekend to see it again, and I can scarcely wait. Really.

As for yesterday's overwhelmingly kind and supportive responses, thank you so much...just for taking a moment to poke your head out and say hello + we like you. I kept being reminded of two (equally silly) things...Mr. Billy Joel's song, of course ( "I love you just the way you are") which has a special place in my strange little heart because my mom used to sing it to me when I was very small. And also the moment in Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who", in which all of the tinies cry out "We are here! We are here! We are HERE!".

Ooh! Also. I'm planning a shop update for early next week...probably Tuesday. Paintings, dolls, some Valentine-y things (I'm not that huge of a Valentine's Day fan, but I do adore the aesthetics of it...well, not the cheesy foil balloons and wierd bears-clutching chocolate, but you know what I mean). So, that's what I'm working on this weekend...making, painting, etc.

Hoping all weekends are progressing nicely!

*****(EDIT) Thank you to the sweet Carmen for the spelling help...Those two years of Spanish don't amount to much!

Happy Friday + A little note about me

...And that's all that I can be.

I'm sad and surprised that someone would leave a comment (see comments from my last post) critiquing my personality. This blog is my personal (read, non-objective) place to show-and-tell about art, craft, clothes, food, films, design, etc.  In person & on here, I'm by turns snarky, self-effacing, enchanted and enthused...and I have zero desire to edit that here. In "real-life" I am a stalwartly honest person, and so my blog life is extremely forthright as well. If someone finds me "snobby" or "self-righteous" or (worst of all, wink wink) a "hipster", I hope that they just won't bother with the blog. And, in all honesty, I really don't think I'm all that bad.

Every day I feel so grateful and overwhelmed with all of the friends, kindred spirits, and like-minded gals I meet through this silly blog. I don't have that many friends in my regular-life who are interested in things like buttons, illustrative artwork, vintage everything, domestic doo-dads, etc. so it is really a wonderful thing for me to be able to share those things with you guys, and also have a place to discuss my personal work/shop.
The world can be so isolating, and it amazing to have a little pocket of space where it feels anything but lonely.

xoxo, big time

Nice new things for the little apartment

When I went to upload my photos for this post, I felt rather like a sheep, following the shepherd of Design Sponge wherever it may lead. But, that's not really true. The vast majority of the things posted over there are very beautiful, but a bit too modern for my taste. I like a bit of modernity mixed in with my anachronistic aesthetic, though, which is why I was smitten with and subsequently had to order this adorable (and inexpensive!) cuckoo-less cuckoo clock from Urban Outfitters:

I'm sorry that the photos aren't A+, it is very grey and dim today (legitimately wintry weather in Georgia!).
Also recommended by D.S., Resist Today, which has this Punk/Victorian aesthetic that results in some really interesting/lovely designs. I had to have this mustard, "Octo-Tophat-Men" pillow for my living room-forest:

On a decidedly less...high-brow(?) note, Target currently has these very true-to-life melamine lunch trays which I am kind of...embarrassingly excited about. They are just like the real thing...and I had to buy a couple.  Obviously, since I acquired some very faithfully reproduced lunch-trays, just like the one I used in 4th grade, it was important for me to make a suitable "school lunch"-themed dinner last night for me and the equally-excited (how did I get so lucky?) Josiah. I was going to make some "classy" chicken nuggets, ala Nigella, but then I decided...well...that just wouldn't be right. So we went to the grocery store and picked up some eerily uniform chicken nuggets, tater tots (!) and fake-y macaroni + cheese. As we were checking out, I kept exclaiming "I can't believe we're buying all of this crappy food"... The results:

I know. Kinda gross, but kinda, well, awesome. And a faithful tribute to the fourth grade.
I was really hoping to find some mini-milk cartons, but alas, we had to settle for regular ol' glasses. It was so fun, though, and I highly recommend if you have little people, or are a dork like me, getting yourself to Target and snapping up some cafeteria trays.

But maybe go with a few more veggies, and a few less 'tots.

xoxo

Buttons are my favorite

I really love buttons...when I was a really tiny person, I "collected" them, meaning that my mom would let me choose 10 loose buttons from this big bin at the store. Digging my fingers into the huge sea of little candy-ish plastic and glass discs, Amelie-style, was one of the most satisfying and wonderful sensations.

I found this sweet Japanese book via the wonderful Molly Chicken blog, and it is available for order here. What a beautiful little volume it is...and it  makes me want to just hoard all of my special vintage buttons in glass cases and shadow-boxes!

Don't those little animal shapes just kill you? Who am I kidding, they ALL kill me.

The cherry pie from yesterday was really tasty. Thanks for all the cute comments about that apron! My best friend Sarah gave it to me before she moved away to Brooklyn a few years ago. It is the perfect apron for protecting from flour and the like, while still being adorable. I love baking so much these days...though today I think I'm going to make a big pot of chicken soup with rice, ala Maurice Sendak. It is one of my favorite winter-foods.

A few links:

• This hilarious and wonderful series of short animations, Making Fiends, which was found via BoingBoing. It is really clever and adorable. I read on the site that it is being picked up by Nickelodeon soon! It reminded me of what it felt like to discover Teen Girl Squad way back when.
• Revamp Vintage, which is vintage reproduction clothing. So cute! I'm thinking of having them make a few simple 1940's style day dresses for me. Between them and Remix, I feel very happy. Very happy indeed.