Lydia Deetz in the Graveyard

Today I finally made my way down to the cemetery. It was +10 and really warm, and I was dressed vaguely Lydia Deetz-like. At least an outfit inspired by Lydia and Beetlejuice in general. Outfit consisted of... A big floppy hat (with a chin strap!!), stripped dress (which I pinned up to make bustle-y), a huge belt, black jeans, cardigan, and my platform-heel ankle boots (so comfortable and I love them). Recently I've been going through a Beetlejuice-Black Belles-Tim Burton-hipster goth thing where I only really want to wear black. That or I dress Old West inspired. I've also been loving hats. Particularly wide-brimmed floppy hats (sun! Hssssssssss). 

It was so nice out! I just wanted to stay there all day. It was weird, though. Today is Good Friday, and apparently it was the day where people were going to the cemetery. What makes it weird, though, is the fact that it was people treating the cemetery like a public park going to the cemetery. A bunch of people walking dogs, some people having picnics, laying around and reading. One guy was playing music and later had his shirt off. I'm fine with people hanging out at the cemetery (I'd be such a hypocrite if I wasn't), but I think it's a place where you should probably wear a shirt. Cemeteries are hallowed ground, that call for respect. Yes, they're nice and quiet, and beautiful places to be on a sunny day, but don't treat it like any other park.

Still, I had a lovely time! I saw a jack rabbit. It was moulting its fur so it was starting to turn from white to brown. I always like to imagine that I'm following a white rabbit (though jack rabbits are technically hares), so I pretended that I was. Then I realized that it is a hare. And then I realized that it's the 29th of March. It's a MARCH HARE. My inner Alice went wild. I followed until the creature stopped, and starting cleaning itself. I wandered off, and then noticed that just ahead from the jack rabbit, the tombstone had the name Alice. I went wild and got terribly excited. How magical! I followed a white March hare to the tombstone of Alice. My existence is whimsical macabre and thus I live a fairy tale. 

 

Such a beautiful day. I did a little bit of a vlog while I was there, and you can find it on my YouTube channel (Grimm Fabrications). If you're at all interested, that is!

YouTube

I strike myself as a really awkward person. But despite that... I'm making YouTube vlogs and videos now! Mostly because it feels like a concise way of collecting and combining all aspects of my creating life, while being maybe expanding my horizons. Could be interesting. I dunno. The worst thing that will happen is I'll give up and quit. Best case scenario, I will make animated shorts for Knicker Misadventures and do crazy mini-videos themed around Grimm Fabrications hoods and such. I'm such an odd person...

Social Media and Updates

Good news, everyone! Grimm Fabrications is now on Twitter. I decided that it would be a good choice (for some reason), so now there I am. One who is interested can find me (and all things Grimm Fabrications) @GrimmWoods. Actual link or something.... GrimmWoods on Twitter. 

In other news... For those of you in Calgary and gearing up to check out the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, be sure to check out a panel with SC Entertainment. On Friday April 26th at 5:30 pm, they will be in the Rotary House doing a discussion panel about themselves and how they have been able to make so many amazing things over the last 30 years. Specifically, making amazing things without money or support whatsoever from the outside world... and how you might be able to do the same thing (I pretty much just paraphrased what SC Entertainment posted). Now, on top of that pure awesomeness... I will be on that panel as well! I will be on the panel both as someone who has been an actor on SC Entertainment and someone who also makes art with little money and support. It should be an absolute delight, and I'm quite excited. So, if you're there and able to make it to the panel on Friday evening, be sure to! Who knows what you'll learn! In the mean time, go and check out SC Entertainment!

Medical Corset

I FOUND ONE!!

Okay, exciting day at Value Village. Greatest find of my life (very possibly. I've found a lot of great things... but this is something that I've been wanting for ages). This is a detail of one of the greatest things ever... A medical corset! They were used for posture and back problems, and I've always loved the asylum-esque look of them. The fan lacing, the snaps, the elastic, the clinical whiteness.... Glory be to the medical aesthetic and strange beauty of these things. I've come so close to buying one off of Etsy. They pop up every now and then, but they vary from $30 to $190. Affordable? Sometimes yes... but these corsets seldom come in small size. The smaller sizes are usually the most expensive, and are often not technically medical corsets. They have the fan lacing, but it's not quite the same. They are also often not white, which is the part I like. I'm not against the idea of bringing it in and making it smaller (especially since I've started making my own corsets and know how they should fit). But... I've never been a fan of the idea of altering something if it costs me a lot of money. However... When I find that something for $8 at a thrift store... All hands on board! I will alter that puppy! That's actually how I got my first few corsets. They were plastic-boned and too big. I altered them, and that was at a time when I wasn't good at sewing. I think that I should be able to do this! Here's what it looks like on, though...

 

It needs to be much, much, smaller... but I can't wait to do an asylum-themed photo shoot at some point. Gah it's MINE and it was such a steal! Win.

Chocolate Covered

Well, I can cross this off of my bucket list. I ate... Chocolate covered insects! I've wanted to try eating insects for a while, and hey... Not too bad. They actually tasted pretty good, with just a bit of crunch. Just a mild after taste of dirt. It was kind of disturbing to eat the larva one (it was long and skinny and definitely looked like what a larvae would), but still not bad. The box consisted of cricket and larva covered in chocolate, and man. Worth it. Later I also had reticulum tripe (beef tripe) at a Chinese Restaurant. We kind of ordered it by accident, but I kind of liked it. I couldn't eat loads of it, but man... I think we gained a certain amount of credibility when the waitress asked "...Are you sure?" And at that point I accepted it as "You know what... I will never order tripe. The time is now".

Also, there's this Dim Sum/Chinese restaurant in Kensington. SUCH GOOD STEAMED PORK BUNS! And such good rice crepes... Yum yum yum!

So that happened

Today...

Fiance'ed.

So that's new.

Any ways, I'm mostly posting this so that my loved ones who are not friends on Facebook or don't have Facebook can see the ring which has been bestowed upon me.

It's foxy.

That is all!

Treasures

I went to the thrift store today (Village de Value) with the intention of finding things for an installation project, and that I would be able to incorporate into my curiosity shelf. Man... Did I score some beauties! Let me list the ways...

1. Test tube spice rack. I know, right?? I'm not really planning on using it for spices, but for storage of things like beads and trinkets, or even actual specimens... I can even hang it on a wall! The test tubes are glass with cork stoppers, and this beauty was $2.00. Oh, the benefits of wandering in circles around a thrift store for over an hour...

2. Brass candlesticks. I bought three candlesticks. Two of them are a set, and I absolutely adore them. They have handle type things, with turn keys and the candle holder part can swivel. I think you can hang them on a wall and use part as a hook. I'm not sure... but whatever the case... So pretty! Though I need to clean wax off, but it's okay. I can deal with it.

3. Coin purse. I bought this because I figured that if I add a chain, I'll add a chain and use it on my White Rabbit steampunk costume. I think it'll work really well to have it as my money holder during the Comic Expo. It has a life old look to. Not real leather, but the brass and everything is quite nice. 

4. Black Oxford-style Pumps. Not shown, because I think a smoker owned them. They're currently de-stinking with essential oils in a plastic bag. However, they fit wonderfully and I bought them with the intention of glittering them up to make Ruby Slippers (I'm in the process of making a steampunk Dorothy costume). However... I like them too much. I might end up making spats to go over top, and I might try making glitter nylons. It's going to be such a whimsical costume. 

5. Bell Jar. Another bell jar! Also, even better, I think it will fit my gopher skull perfectly. Or maybe something of my beautiful little possessions. I have to clean it first (stupid sticky tags), but hurrah! One can never have enough bell jars!

6. Glass. I bought a simple glass to go with my Ouija board project. I think a few people thought I was odd, because I was sitting in the aisle sliding upside glasses around. That's normal, right?

7. Vintage locket with little ceramic heart. Whenever I'm at a thrift shop or a flea market, I snap up any and all lockets that I find. I like using vintage lockets for my solid perfumes, because they're old lockets, that no one else has. I think it's cool because even after the perfume runs out, you have a unique necklace that no one else has. Neat!

8.  Engraved Medallion. This may very well be my favourite piece that I picked up today. It's an old medallion (I think it might be silver), with a simple engraving, which reads 'Faye'. I have this weird thing with collecting personal items that have been abandoned. I think it's why I like having old photographs around. They carry such stories and mysteries. Such enigmas! 

I was framed! And slightly more organized.

Ah, kicking back to some Parov Stelar and organizing parts of my space. Primarily framing things and putting up art that I like. I decided to take this opportunity to show off some of my favourite things in my room, and parts of my bulletin board. Well, more like inspiration board. Today's photos are in...sepia! Mostly because it seemed fitting. Somehow. Ish. 

I have a great deal of neat things on my bulletin board, all things being interesting images, inspirational items and ideas, notes, even things I've made. You'd think that with my room, where there are inspiring things everywhere, the everything else would be enough. Still, having a place to just tack things up is quite nice. It collects all these small things into one place. Especially those small things that mean a lot, but are too small and I want them up now, but I can't put them up anywhere else.

Small part of my curiosities/oddities shelf. At some point I really want to document everything and give a full description about the contents. This is one of my favourite parts of my shelf, with things that mean something to me, or that I just like. This collection of items includes a Civil War Minie bullet, a tintype photograph, a jar (long story), a triple strand of pearls (I like pearls... they're so pretty and simple), a Crystal fox face, antlers, a pottery vase from Montana, and in the distance, some framed items!

 

I framed some Old West postcards, and shelved my large reference books (Oh, I adore surrounding myself with books. The bigger or the older the better).

I even framed my signed Elvira photo! Finally. Now I just need to get a frame for my Doug Bradley (Pinhead). In general, I'm planning to start hoarding and painting frames so that when I'm in a place where I can put holes in the walls, I can hang loads of frames with cool art. Salon style!