Halloween Shopping Round 1

So I finally caved in and bought some stuff for Halloween. Like many people I am on a budget so I am really trying to get some bang for my buck.

The List:
Black paper plates square and round
'Bone Appetit' Napkins
3 'Poison' Bottles to add labels to and add to the the bathroom
black and orange candy melts (bought molds online- will post when they arrive)
black and orange food coloring (you have no idea how much i am going to bake!)
mini led lights- they will be used somehow...
'Caution' tape- this is going to go across an open door looking into my room which I am going to make into a creepy Halloween scene
'Hocus Pocus'- Best Halloween movie EVER! Had to buy a copy since my old 'taped off of tv on vhs' version stayed at my mom's house

Maybe I spent a little bit more than I planned to for this trip but it is all worth it. Target had some really cute stuff but I just wasn't sure what I would do with some of it.

Julie and Julia and A Perfect Getaway

Julia Child Embroidered Portrait
Originally uploaded by run amok

Sunday was an excellent day of getting together with friends and going to the movies. In the afternoon I went to see "Julie and Julia" and it was an enjoyable movie. Like a lot of other people I enjoyed the 'Julia' half more than the 'Julie' part but overall it was a cute little movie. I was wondering whether or not the film would perhaps influence people to start a blog (or to post to their own more regularly...). I wonder how many people were sitting in the theater dreaming up something as crazy as 524 recipes in 365 days. Then I was wondering if I needed something like that. Do I need some sort of goal? Some project that will magically give me purpose and direction in my life? Well it seems like a great idea but for now I feel more comfortable going along my way and just posting when it 'feels right'. I dont want to tell myself that as a 'blogger' or a 'crafter' or whatever that I HAVE to do things a certain way- isnt that what I am trying to get away from in other parts of my life? I feel as soon as I tell myself that I will 'post something everyday' or 'make so many projects a week' that I will just post pointless crap (which you may think I already do) but at least when I post something now it is something I do want to share or talk about. So until I find a project with some goals that feel right to me I think I will just keep puttering away as I try to figure things out.

Oh yeah- Later on Sunday I went to see 'A Perfect Getaway'. I have a love hate relationship with horror/scary/thriller movies. I lean more towards the 'thriller' movies that have smart plot lines and not a lot of gore. When I first heard about 'A Perfect Getaway' I completely dismissed it. Not interested. No thank you. But then the second trailer came out and I was sure for a second that I had seen Timothy Olyphant. Now I was interested. Then I started hearing that it was good- not handing out Oscars good but campy/B-movie good. Sold. After an afternoon of French cooking with Julie and Julia I headed back to the theater for a dessert of cheap thrills with a side of eye candy. I LOVED THIS MOVIE. For me it was in the perfect place at the perfect time. It was quick, fun, and surprisingly smart. Honeymooners Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are in Hawaii to soak up some sun but as they start their trip they hear that some tourists have been murdered. They hook up on a trail they are hiking with Nick (Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez). The story keeps you guessing long enough about who the killers are before divulging in an extensive black and white flashback and then returning to the matter at hand to wrap things up in a burst of adrenaline. I enjoyed not being able to figure things out right away and that the movie really did have a B-movie feel. It did have some gore but not so much that I wanted to throw up or leave the theater (I only had to cover my eyes once). And besides a nude scene (where you dont see anything besides the backside of Nick-tee hee) there was not the usual scary movie sex scene. Actually I think there was more making out in Julie and Julia than this movie. Overall it was a FUN film that had enough cleverness to make me want to see it again now that I have it all figured out. And seriously I will see it again for Mr. Olyphant.

Public Enemies

Yes. This is an embroidery inspired by the new movie Public Enemies. It is a combination of some of my favorite things- old school gangsters, Johnny Depp, and embroidery(what can I say? I am complicated). Well anyway I didn't love the movie as much as I thought I would but I will have to see it again before I make up my mind. The embroidery is a slightly simplified version of the actual 'wanted' poster for John Dillinger. I took off a lot of the small text but I did add just a little to explain the rewards a bit.


I just finished this piece so I still have to wash it to get rid of the last few signs of my tracing and then I will iron it to get rid of a few more of the wrinkles- but I was just so excited about it I wanted to put it up asap! The small portraits of Dillinger did not come out quite as true to life as I wanted but it was close enough. The small print reads: "$10,000.00 for the capture of John Herbert Dillinger or a reward of $5,000.00 for information leading to the arrest of John Herbert Dillinger."

Dr. Manhattan Embroidery

Dr. Manhattan Embroidery
Originally uploaded by spes.craft

I posted awhile ago on kittyzilla and her amazing embroidery patterns featuring the characters of 'Watchmen' and this is my first attempt at one of the patterns. I don't consider myself a great embroiderer. I don't know lots of stitches and someone (maybe my grandmother?) once told me that you could tell good embroidery because of the clean and neat BACK as well as front. Well I won't shame myself with a picture of the back of this piece but lets just say it is not clean and neat!

I like embroidery because it is fairly mobile. I did 'Dr. Manhattan' at work and now I am working on Rorschach. I work overnights and sometimes it is busy and sometimes it isn't so it is nice to have something to keep the hands busy while trying to stay awake.

I don't know what I am going to do with these once they are done. I was thinking they would look nice on the wall in simple frames. My mom suggested a small quilt. Hmm.

Can you say AMAZING?!

Dr. Manhattan
Originally uploaded by Kittyzilla

Kittyzilla has the most awesome embroidery patterns ever! I found out about her through the always inspiring Craft blog. She has a whole series of 'Watchmen' patterns on her blog and flickr accounts that I am just dying to try!

'Watchmen' or more importantly my vintage hair crush

I was excited for 'Watchmen'. I am not a die hard fan of the book (though I did read most of it) but I am a fan of director Zack Snyder and it had an amazing cast. Many people have already commented on the movie itself, how it fits into the new 'darker' superhero genre, how it is visually stunning, etc. But I am most interested in talking about ONE aspect of the movie and that is Sally Jupiter, a.k.a. Silk Spectre, played by Carla Gugino. Now in my limited contact with the source material the movie is very true to the book (some say too true) but one area that they improved upon GREATLY was Sally Jupiter's style. Not only is she upgraded to super-retro-awesomeness in her fashion but her hair at the beginning of the film was to die for.

Ever since I saw this promo picture for the film I have had a mad crush on this hair. The faux bangs, the side rolls, even the color is so 50's pin-up! And even though her 'costume' was perhaps not the most practical for a long night super-heroing it was super cute and I am guessing will pop up as a popular Halloween costume later this year.

To make things even better James Jean(see more of his great work here) created this Vargas-esque painting of Silk Spectre for the film!

Hot. I love it. After seeing the film and talking about it with friends I went home and attempted to do some faux bangs- it did not work out. If I were going to do this for a Halloween party or something I would probably get a red wig and style it that way...hmmm.

One hair style I was NOT in love with? Matthew Goode's blondness. Dear Matthew, you are super hot and you are an amazing actor but this look is not for you. I understand it was part of the character (and you did rock it) but you need to go back to dark hair.

love,
me

Mickey Rourke and Etsy.

The Oscars last Sunday were pretty epic. My friends and I had a little party with too many sweets (see the Oscar Cupcake post) and silly costumes (High School Musical 3 anyone?) But all fun aside I became very upset when Mickey Rourke lost Best Actor to Sean Penn. Now I loved the movie 'Milk' and I also thought that Sean Penn was amazing but not AS AMAZING as Rourke. I also thought that 'The Wrestler' was one of the best movies I saw this past year and was sad that it was not nominated for best picture.

Maybe it was latent anxiety over the awards show but I had this pretty crazy dream last night about zombies taking over the world so all the humans left were evacuating the major cities. As I went to get on one of the buses that were supposed to take us somewhere safe I see Mickey Rourke walking towards the same van. It was weird because it seemed like me and Mr. Rourke were good pals just about to embark on a road trip. Everyone was scared but it was sort of comforting to have him on our side. When I woke up I pondered this feeling and concluded that at the time it may have been comforting but in real life I don't know how much help he would be in an actual zombie situation.

To get to my actual point of all this though is the awesomeness that is Etsy and the fact that Mr. Rourke's sad but sweet necklace with his dog Loki on it was made by an etsy seller. You can read the article here for yourself. I just really feel like that proves how awesome both Mickey Rourke and Etsy are!

Oscar treats- brainstorming

So I am trying to find a treat/snack to go with each of the 5 nominees for Best picture. I am still in idea stage but here is what I am thinking so far:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Has to be candies made from the adorable Vintage Button Candy mold that I just got in the mail from Bake It Pretty! (http://www.bakeitpretty.com/)

Frost/Nixon: I am thinking Frosting/Nixon- cupcakes with tons of yummy frosting with Nixon's pic on toothpicks like Emily from 'inside a black apple' http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/food_and_drink/page/2/

Milk: This one might be too obvious. I am going to try to think of something more creative than a glass of milk. Maybe cookies frosted like Harvey Milk's campaign signs? Hmm....

Slumdog Millionaire: Maybe mini hot dogs to get away from the sweets theme. (My little sis suggested using relish to draw dollar signs on them)

The Reader: No idea. Havent seen it yet either. (should be going this week).