ivan bilibin ~vassilissa the beautiful and the witch baba yaga

i love ivan bilibin’s art. the stark outlines and gentle colors are lovely.  “my white, bright day.” “the red sun” “that is my servant, the dark night.” baba yaga and yes, mike mignola has spent the last decade paying “homage” to bilibin. i’m not being catty, i like mignola’s art. so vassilissa takes this flaming…

fashion~ english country stroll

i’m already dreaming about cold weather fashion. we’re moving back up to northern california in february. what to make, what to make? burdastyle magazine 8/2009~ i have some beautiful fabric set to make this amazing cape, but time? hmmmm, not so much. i promised myself i’d sew something after my paper doll project was finished, but…

$5 helga

last week we picked up andrew wyeth’s “helga pictures” for $5 at the local friends of the library bookstore. i’ve been wanting it for a while but it’s expensive so finding it for so little was a dream come true. why am i fascinated with wyeth’s helga? how could i not be? she was his…

sewing~ rabbit skirt

i made this about 5 years ago from the “sew u” built by wendy book. i can’t say enough nice things about this book. the pattern is super simple, just 2 pieces with darts. i really wanted a long comfortable skirt in a neutral color that i could personalize. i actually made a few skirts…

charles addams’ mother goose part 1

charles addams’ macabre whimsy on display in his version of “mother goose,” from 1967. {click to enlarge} humpty dumpty 3 blind mice one misty, moisty morning {starring wednesday addams} i do not like thee dr. fell c. “the rat that ate the malt.” d. “the cat that killed the rat.”

edward gorey~ the deranged cousins

literary nonsense from the delightful mr. edward gorey. i don’t think i could pick a favorite story, but this one has been on my desk for a while 🙂 click to enlarge and study mr. gorey’s exquisite line work at your leisure. perpetual collegiate style.  i love how aimless yet self conscious they are. as though they…

patterns inspired by coco chanel

as i discussed earlier here– generally, i don’t read fashion magazines. sewing magazines, however, are the best. looking at pretty clothes is nice, but shopping for clothes is terrible. they never fit me correctly and the entire experience is demoralizing. thankfully, making and sewing clothes is awesome. sure i have to slash and alter every single…

stormy weather- arthur rackham’s tempest

it’s raining today. not quite as rare an occurrence in southern california as you might think. but it made me think of “the tempest.” neither a tragedy nor a comedy, it’s considered a romance, in the old way. weird and wonderful, it’s Shakespeare’s last complete play and considered by many, his farewell to theatre. i present arthur…

leaves of gold and silver

i love fall for the beautiful leaves. when i walk with karl we collect the prettiest leaves we can find. but forbidden fruit is always the sweetest. our neighbors have the loveliest tree in the loveliest setting. all gold and silver when i look out of my window. i sneaked a peak and felt a…

little golden book cinderella paper dolls by gordon laite

as i promised, here are the scans of gordon laite’s “cinderella” paper doll~ i’ve looked for this book for 15 years. finally, this year i ended up purchasing two books. one with the dolls and one with the uncut clothing. there really aren’t enough good things i can say about these dolls. to me, they…

anthropologie catalog, autumn 2001~

calling all yankie spirits~ i first discovered “anthropologie” in 2001. i was delighted that an entire company was dedicated to yankie secretary style. between the twin evils of expense and impossible fit {hello sewing}, i’ve never owned anything of theirs, but their catalogs still inspire my sartorial choices.step into the way-back machine and say hello…

kwaidan illustrated

if you love japanese ghost stories, you cannot live without Kwaidan {kaidan}.from the beautiful Yuki-onna, spirit of snow, to the bewitched Hoichi singing for a ghostly emperor and his court, these tales enchant as much today as they did over a century ago.the volume features stunningly dark  ukiyo-e set in gilded backgrounds these storeies inspired…

making of "fantastic mr. fox" part 2

rushmore academy has mr. fox faux fur ties for sale here, modeled by jason schwartzman.click pictures to enlarge~ badger concept art by felicie haymoz. cuss with bill murray at your own peril. i love agnes’ freckles!coach skip and agnes concept art by felicie haymoz and an explanation of “hot box!”“Basically, there’s three grabbers, three taggers, five twig runners, and…

the making of "fantastic mr. fox." part 1

Turkeys, apples, and psychotic farmers! It must be november! what better movie to usher in this lovely month than “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” with its richly designed autumn palette. initially, i was very excited to hear wes anderson was directing this. while i wasn’t fond of the “Darjeeling Limited,” his other films rank among my favorites. “Mr. Fox”…

super halloween!

halloween was wonderful this year. karl loves to wear dish towels as capes so we figured he’d get a kick out of being superman. while matching halloween costumes are not in our future, the all black garb of the evil kryptonians was an easy one for us. daddy, karl, and mommy as general zod, superman,…

cinderella~ autumn queen

Cinderella is an autumn tale. Don’t believe me? Pumpkins. Okay, occasionally it’s a winter tale and the ball is actually a yule ball. Cinderella comes in decked in flowers which makes the party-goers believe she’s a fairy bc it’s the dead of winter. i.e.- “rashin’ coatie” (“coat of rushes” a scottish cinderella variant). But usually, it’s…