Behind the Curtain

Only a paper moon

Check out the photo set from Kathleenie, all of vintage paper moon photos.

Current Flickr Favs

image © Joeri, find more of her photos here.

Lena's pup & graphic couch
L'oignon Johnny
Dear dahlia, you are very pretty
Shallows
Canadian Wedding
RGB - Barcelona
Camping

Subtractive Graffiti

Rather than paint on a wall, Alexandre Orion scrapes away at black soot to reveal his graffiti. Apparently the pollution in Sao Paulo, Brazil works well for Orion's reductive art in the residue of pollution found on the walls of tunnels and overpasses. I'm amazed at the clarity he can get from the soot!

via Casa Sugar

Lady is a Vamp

Vogue has a wonderful editorial this month all on Flapper-esque style. Here are a few scans, but you can see all of them (from where I got these) here.

              

A little burlesque in the home

I'm going to preface this entire post with the warning that the links that follow are most probably Not Safe For Work. Also, if you are not keen on the idea of burlesque, striptease or basic camp and fun, I would read no further. With that tid-bit...onward!

I've been looking at burlesque a little closer than I usually do lately. Most of the costuming and props are quite expensive, which made me wonder how a lady can create her own burlesque show at home for not a lot of dough. With that, here are a few links and some info.

I know a lot of ladies, including myself, who just feel odd or weird doing striptease for an audience, even if the audience is one person. The most important thing you can put on is self-confidence. I've recently discovered Gala's advice on How to be Confident and found it very helpful. So, confidence in hand and sultry feelings in tow, you need to set the mood. Candles or draping a scarf over a lamp is quite helpful, though, everyone looks great in candlelight. Having a lot of layers to peel off is also a must. There is a treat at the end and you want to make your significant other wait for it.

Now, lets talk about what goes underneath all those layers. Pasties are oh so fun, but a bit expensive. Lucky for you Craftster has a tutorial on how to make your own pasties. Top and bottom should match, right? So go get some Sparkle Burlesque Tap Shorts (scroll down) for under $20. Seamed stocking aren't necessary if you are going on a budget, but they do add a bit of something something. With that, you can get some nice seamed stockings for only $8 from Sock Dreams or, if you want to splurge on one item in your strip tease kit I highly suggest WKD's fully fashioned stockings. They are an absolute dream to put on and once you get those, you can never go back! Hmm, how about props? A powder puff (of all sizes) is an interesting twist, but gloves, a feather boa or a long scarf are a little more classic.
 
Need some inspiration?
Here's Dita Von Teese at Miss Kitty's and another of her champagne glass set (this one shows a little more of what she does in the glass on another occasion).
AND
The lovely Miss Kitten Deville who can shake her derrie aire like no other. I also love how she uses feather fans (format is wrong, but you get the concept) as well as here (of poor quality, but still good to get ideas from).

Both of these ladies obviously have different styles, but there are definitely things you can draw from both to fit into your personal style. Now, I hope that these links and info will inspire you to give a show to your special someone tonight or at least walk home with a bit of a sway to your step!

Unfolding Petals

"Evening in Grenada" from "Debussy Soiree" (via Whimsy).

The dancer Loïe Fuller, whose hypnotizing choreography is re-enacted in this video, was quite popular in Paris during the late 1800s. Although, most people now-a-days discover her through the lithographs that Toulouse-Lautrec created of her performance.

Enjoy the video.

(Images of Loïe Fuller for your perusal.)

Of Curiosities & Dreams

photo © Lord Whimsy

A few days ago, Lord Whimsy made this post about the The Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia. What I found so interesting about this post (beside the awesome museum) is that just a few days prior I was searching for a slanted exhibit case. Unfortunately they are extremely expensive, so my odd treasured items will have to remain as they are currently displayed. Although, my mind wanders to building one myself...

Anyway, I have been fascinated with Cabinets of Curiosities ever since I read an article regarding the origin of museums. The author cited these types of private collections, which were open to other curiosity collectors and elite, as the seedling of the modern day museum. The romanticism of it is hard to resist, as well as the idea of creating one's own collection of curious articles in their own residence. Of course, the art history/librarian nerd in me befuddles this dream with images of mahogany and green lamped studies. If I had unlimited funds I would buy my slanted exhibit case, have my wall-to-wall bookcases littered with glass dome displays, of which I would reach with a sliding library ladder. Oh yes, and I can't forget the always lusted over card catalog and a wooden dictionary stand on my messy desk. Basically, it would look like a gussied up version of Indiana Jones' office. A girl can dream, can't she?

Between a Rock & a Hard Time

I promised to divulge my recent interest in the Great Depression and green living: Enter The Worst Hard Time (The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl). This book is composed of the experiences of several families and paints a picture of the reality of living in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. It spans from the late 1920s when the government was first enticing families to farm the prairie lands to the early 1940s when rain finally fell, ending the drought. The over-farming that occurred and the complete lack of environmental concern that led to mass slaughtering of animals and a 9 year drought...I can't help but be concerned of it all happening again. And what I really fear is that it will take another horrible catastrophe before people realize that they are harming our earth.

So with this I have made steps to lead a greener life. Personally, Donovan & I switched to printing 16 Sparrows items in soy ink on recycled paper last year - but I still would like to do more in that area. Some blogs I have been finding helpful in this avenue are Sew Green and Eco-Chick (please let me know of any others).

In terms of info on the dust bowl and the book itself...the book was a great read, albeit a little hard to read because of the emotion and human struggle behind it. I give it 4 out of 5. If you want to learn more about the dust bowl there is always wikipedia and PBS has a section for it on their website because of a show produced about it. But, if you are really interested in it, I highly recommend you pick up The Worst Hard Time.

Parisian Market

Parisian woman in the Place de la Concorde
by Jean Beraud, 1890

• Tongue & Cheek's guide of Things to do when visiting France.
• Helena Frith Powell's article Why do French Women Always Look so Chic? uncovers French women's beauty secrets.

Chai by numbers

This little idea from Malena Gagliesi is pretty damn cool. I found it on her flickr, which you should check out. I'll let her own words explain the project/gift:
"We have to make a special gift for a couple that have invited us to a dinner some weeks ago. And decided to make this pack with our chai tea recipe with it's ingredients and steps for them to prepare it."

images © by Malena Gagliesi.

Malena's project has inspired me to work on my own little make-it-yourself kind of gifts. I've been kicking around some ideas, but they have yet to move out of my sketchbook.