at 3 a.m. on one clear autumn night, when i finally finished putting the finishing touches on my “baking bookcase”,  i felt very accomplished and only a little insane…

my dark chocolate bat girl cupcakes with blackberry filling and buttercream frosting, 10.31.09

this weekend i found this ceramic apothecary jar for $1.99 at the salvation army. it is unmarked so i have no idea how old it may be (possibly, not very) but still perhaps one of my favorite $1.99 ever spent. pix carbonis (also called coal tar) is a brown or black liquid of high viscosity (wikipedia) and a by-product of carbonized coal and wood. coal tar has been used medicinally in the treatment of skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis and often given internally in the form of pills or syrup. a similar tar has also been used in ancient egyptian mummification and to pave the first streets to be paved in 8th century a.d.

coal tar is also an active ingredient in black salve, a corrosive and often dangerous herbal paste initially created by native americans and believed for centuries to “draw out” infections such as rashes and cancers from the body. my mom says she always remembers black salve being one of the only things consistently in the medicine cabinet when she was a kid and the distinct feel and smell never left her memory. in the medicine cabinet of my childhood it was vick’s vapor rub, peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and orange flavored st. joseph’s chewable baby aspirin. mmm. the end.

adventures in jewelry making…

necklace with old key, chandelier crystal, and badger toe bone (bone from necromance)

necklace made with 19th century “gem” tintype photograph (thank you samantha!)

(not real) tooth brooch

saturday (somewhere between cupcake fest and dee j’s western corral) i picked up this neckace at a local shop. i bought a ring once from this etsy seller was surpsied that she lived locally. i love so many of her things!  see more of  schmutzerland’s amazingness here!

from dreammeaning.org:
“adornments like octopus medallions were worn by sailors to ward off evil.  seamen understood the eerie magic of the octopus.  it’s black ink-jet expulsions and other-worldly appearance struck awe in the observer. ”

for a dinner party for the season premiere of true blood last night, i baked up some truly bloody cupcakes. truly bloody cupcakes are red velvet cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and raspberry preserve filling and finished off with a sprinkling of red sugar and a splattering of corn syrup blood. oh yes and a frightening amount of red food dye which turns ones mouth and teeth a lovely vampiric red upon eating.  also, i found out that red dye is even more of a culprit to wash out of a sink and keep contained then even black hair dye. the kitchen looked quite the crime scene!

finally! my first experiment with liquid light. quite a while ago and for no decided purpose,  i bought a medium format black and white negative of a (50s/60s?) marilyn monroe-esque nude from ebay. she is blonde, a bit nervous and awkward looking and sitting in front of what looks like a very amateur makeshift living room photo studio – leopard print blanket and all!

this weekend, with liquid light emulsion in the darkroom, i printed this image onto an organic cotton canvas bag, which seemed like a very easy material to work with. the final product has some imperfections (which i rather like) and i still need to seal the image  more permanently but here she is in all her naked glory! i can’t wait to use this bag and get funny looks.

the bag.

detail.

yesterday afternoon, i took engagement photos for my recently engaged friends, rebecca and andy. they are one of my most favorite couples and belong together, hands down. i’m pretty happy with how the photographs came out. there is a definite “johnny and june” feel to them and i am very obsessed with that vintage world’s fair dress! some more photos after the jump.

vintage dress bought at a stoop sale last saturday. $3.  happiness.