red riding hood: selected scenes

once i loved a spider

spidersannwood_smI love that poem  - ” she took me all apart”…….     I have added the spiders to the shop.

dark things

darkthings_annwood
Please join my mailing list if you would like to be notified when new things are available and check back here for previews of the dark things collection ( available on October 31st).

new in the shop

I’ve just added some new bats, perching owls and songbirds to the shop.

ivory perching owl

brown songbird

posterior

bats

boat work and a bat

plumbat5

I finally turned out another bat ( I’ve just added it to the shop).  It’s made from beautiful plum kimono silk (courtesy of Stephen Szczepanek). Some of the patching and mending is mine and other stitches are from other hands a long time ago.

plum bat

I’m  also working on new boats  (with merry wobbler passengers)  and  lots of other stuff too.  I’m adding new things to the shop every day this week.

wobblers and boats

mostly creepy shop update

spider vase(click for larger image)

There are spiders and lots of new things in the shop.

estella

Estella (bride of pip) is made from the edwardian ball gown.  And Melchior has fancy lining in his feathers.

melchior

Happy Halloween!

a beast and a ballerina

beast

silver ballerina

She is silvery. I feel like there should be a rule that if I get a little fabric bird to balance on her glittery toes I should be able to take the rest of the day off. But it doesn’t work that way. Today will be long and I’m making a big mess ( you can see a bit of it here) getting things finished and photographed for the shop.  You can join the mailing list or check back here if you’d like to know when new things are available.

infestation!

infestation

They are mostly harmless though and just curious about you.

timid spider 3

This girl is quite timid and you mustn’t startle her.

timid spider 2

Or she’ll run off and disappear into a dark corner.  That’s when you have to worry, when you can’t see them……..

spider momentum

spider legs

There has been huge  improvement lately in the spider making process  and I’m making a lot of them. They are still pretty labor intensive but not nearly as much as before.

spider bodies

The friendly  spiders ( most of them are friendly) will be in the shop next week with a lot of other things  I’m working on now,  if you are on my mailing list I will let you know when  the new things are available.

curly horns

horns in curlers

Some owls in progress with their horns in curlers; I’ll finish and name them over the weekend.  And a havisham spider, the first thing made from the  ghostly ballgown .

havisham spider 2

Have a lovely weekend and if you are in NYC checkout  Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield – it’s wonderful and this is the last weekend.

ghostly ballgown

ballgown

This edwardian ballgown arrived recently – it’s incredibly fragile and delicate – much of it disintegrates when I touch it but there is still tons of usable and inspiring stuff.  I spent the better part of a day photographing and examining it and then  taking it apart. I found a label in the sleeve that says  B. Altman & Co. NEW YORK; it is one of my  all time favorite garments and reminds me of the very first antique gown, or really pieces of a gown, that inspired my very first birds. I didn’t photograph the gown, I so wish I had, but I still have two of the birds and I’ll show them to you soon.

ballgown3 ballgown 4 ballgown 2 ballgown 5

I’m making a havisham spider from it today, if I finish it before the light goes I’ll post another picture.

havisham spider

toothpicks

toothpicks

I picked up  a piece of an old fountain glass on dead horse beach earlier this summer ( I have lots of other treasures to show you soon) , it’s edges are  soft and the surface is  frosted – all seaglassed out. I think the shape is interesting, it’s lovely  in general and  makes an ideal toothpick dispenser – I use a ton of tooth picks for various tiny paint and glue situations.

The little tornado we had last week knocked out my internet and I’m using my neighbor’s wifi ( I asked). The signal comes and goes, everything interweb related is taking me forever but  it is a perfect opportunity to sew bats ( which also takes forever)  while I wait for shipping labels and other stuff  to load, it (almost) completely eliminates the frustration.

bats

new owls in the shop

ezichiel

And birds and spiders too.

scouts

bustled

*This week will be the last opportunity to order sweethearts for a while – I won’t be able to take new orders for the next few weeks (I will still be adding ready made sweethearts occasionally).  I will stop taking sweetheart orders on August  20th.

barnabas – shop update

barnabas

I’ve just put Barnabas in the shop and there are also some new  spiders -

pink bustled spider

and new pirates, campers and corsage girls.

polka dot bird

miss bird says hello

spider work and a suggestion for your evening

spider work

spider heads

I think the headless bodies are kind of  creepy – a band of mindless marauders.

** And also-  this is so up my alley – maybe yours too- tonight on PBS: “Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World”

“A fantastic sea adventure, a cautionary economic and environmental tale, and a mythic saga of man and nature, INTO THE DEEP: AMERICA, WHALING & THE WORLD will premiere on the PBS series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 9PM.”

dark things

spiderhand

Thanks to everyone who turned up at last weeks shop update ( part 2 later this week) -things went quickly and if you were disappointed there will be more very soon, I’m already working on several new owls and spiders  and bats including another bad owl.

badowl3

He’s made from the backing of an antique crazy quilt I’ll show you later on and bits of several garments.
blackbodice5

I’ve gotten several  really old black garments lately.

blackbodice6

I think the lace  cuffs  are going to  be spiders.

creatures in prospect park

prospect spider

The  weekend was beautiful,  the park is blooming and it’s spectacular.

orlando3

The spider and owl (orlando) will both be in the shop  later this week  along with lots  of other new things. I’ll continue to post previews here  as I get the new stuff photographed.  I’ve been in extreme busyness for weeks, not in a miserable way, but definitely too much and I’m  looking forward to slowing down  a little and having time to work  on some new things and ideas and I have some interesting garments and flea market things to show you too.

melancholy jaques

melancholyjacques2

“all the world’s a stage”