Saga of the Peppermint Beasties

The beasties of Big Rock Candy Mountain lived simply.  They spent their days harvesting candy canes from the peppermint trees, trading with the beasties of neighboring Gumdrop Hill, drinking cocoa, and swimming in Fructose Lake.  Aside from occasional encounters with the pTerrible Peppermint Panther that roamed the woods, the peppermint beasties were content.

Until the dentists arrived.

It was later learned that the pTerrible Peppermint Panther—annoyed at being driven away from the peppermint orchard by fierce warriors armed with sugarcane spears—had sent a letter to a dentist he had met many moons ago.  The dentist had left his business card in gratitude for not being eaten (panthers never eat dentists, as they numb the mouth like Novocain) when he had wandered into the panther’s lair while lost in the forest.  To this day, no one is quite sure how the panther wrote the letter, as even pTerrible panthers lack opposable thumbs.

Upon receiving the letter, the dentist called an emergency meeting of the Committee to Poke People in the Gums.  “I have recently learned,” he said, “that there is a way to drastically lower the price of the peppermint we need to flavor toothpaste and mouthwash.”  He told them of the peppermint orchard, and of the beasties that controlled it.  The C.P.P.G. agreed that the only thing to be done was to conquer Big Rock Candy Mountain and claim the trees for themselves.  

They invaded on a starless night, counting on catching the peppermint beasties unawares. The entire village would have been captured if it hadn’t been for the warning shouted by an elderly beastie rocking her grandchild to sleep on her peppermint patio.  As it was, the primitive spears were no match for the enemy’s dental drills.  Less than half of the beasties escaped.  

Someday the peppermint beasties will take back their ancestral mountain.  They plot and prepare for the coming battle.  Planning for that day gives them purpose, but the refugees need a safe place to stay while their schemes are perfected.  They have heard of strange beings called “humans,” and are undertaking the long journey to human lands in the hope of finding sanctuary in their homes. 

If you wish to offer shelter to three peppermint beasties, please visit our Etsy shop, TiMae Creations, and place an order for the Bag O' Peppermint Beasties.  Each beastie is a unique plush toy made using an original design.

Art d'Junque 2014

The Brownsville Art Center will be hosting the Art d'Junque show during July and August!  In addition to a couple of my block necklaces, I hope to be showing some bracelets that I made from the cuffs of old shirts.  (Thanks, Uncle Dave!) I decorated them with scraps of lace and whatnot, a lot of which is taken from more old clothing.

All photos are by Tim Counts.

The centers of the flowers are vintage boy scout buttons.

I salvaged this lace appliqué from a piece of what may have been an old wedding dress.  The fabric it was originally sewn to was white, anyway.  It was in a bag of bits of fancy trim from a garage sale.  

This bracelet features one of my very first attempts at bead weaving.
That band of pink and black seed beads was made with a square stitch.

Any cuffs that don't sell at the show will be added to our Etsy site, so keep an eye on the shop if you can't make it to Brownsville.  Also keep in mind that I am happy to do custom work.  If you want something similar to what you see here, just contact us.

Mae

Playtime Collection

The first batch of necklaces made from vintage wooden blocks is now on Etsy!  We're really excited about this jewelry.

I used a lot of different materials and styles for the cords, but my favorites are definitely the braided cassette tape ribbons.  (I got the idea from a really awesome book, Jewelry Upcycled! by Sherri and Michelle Haab.)

Pay no attention to the fly.  The fly is not on the payroll.

There are currently nine of these beauties for sale, and I've got lots more blocks to saw up.  I am also happy to take custom orders, so email timaecreations(AT)gmail(DOT)com or open a conversation with our Etsy store if you would like a specific letter or style.

Go check it out at www.etsy.com/shop/timaecreations.  

-Mae

Poor Old Oscar

A few months ago I went crazy in a junk store and bought a bunch of stuff that I had no immediate plans for.  Among those items was somebody's entire stamp collection, which filled a large box until I took the stamps out of the hundreds of tiny envelopes and dumped them in three jars.  Still, that's a LOT of old stamps.

What I know about stamp collecting can be written on the head of a pin.  I guess some stamps are hard to find and therefore worth big bucks (at least to other stamp collectors)?  It's unlikely that a rare stamp is somewhere in these jars, but there is still a tiny chance that there is something valuable. I now have a fantasy:

I am holding court at a party in a trendy gallery.  My stunning dress shimmers as I converse wittily with my many admirers.  (In my fantasy this is totally plausible.  Also, I'm a size 5.)  On the wall behind me is a series of my brilliant collages that incorporate the aforementioned stamps.

One of the guests idly peruses the art.  He is a short man in an ill-fitting tweed suit and a bad toupee.  His wife dragged him to this party against his will, and he's hoping he can leave before someone tries to engage him in conversation.  Let's call him Oscar.

Oscar glances at one of my pieces and is about to move on when he does a double-take.  Surely it couldn't....no...wait....it IS!

"Noooo!" he wails.  "It's the rare ten-cent three-headed red eagle stamp!  Generations of stamp collectors in my family have searched for it in vain!  It's worth three hundred dollars!  And she's glued it to a canvas!  There's PAINT on it!"  He breaks down into sobs.  "How could you do that?  Did you know? Did you?"

All eyes are now on me.  "Of course I knew.  What you don't realize, my dear man, is that art is more precious than mere money," I say.

Spontaneous applause erupts.  Oscar is led away by kind people as I calmly sip a cocktail made of his tasty, tasty tears.

When no one is looking, I whip out a pen and write a new, hugely increased number on the price tag.

Chain Gang Pouch

Let's get this blog started for reals, shall we?  I abandoned it for far too long while I was learning more about how to make stuff.

My fabric painting skills are developing nicely, and I'm branching out into upcycled jewelry.  Unfortunately, my sewing is still a bit shaky.  For example, today I whipped up a zippered pouch out of some painted canvas.

I'm mostly happy with the way it turned out, but the zipper ended up a bit sloppy.  Curse you, zippers!  Why U No E-Z?  Whenever I'm attempting to sew one, I think, "Would it really be so bad if everything fell out of this bag?  Maybe people LIKE picking up their stuff every thirty seconds..."  Then the voice of reason smacks me upside the head.

I'll try to focus on the positive, like how much the unexpected touches of houndstooth makes me happy.  I was going to go with an orange zipper and ribbon, but I'm glad I decided to take the risk.  I also like the beaded wrist strap.

I probably won't put this clutch on Etsy because of the sloppiness.  However, I will soon have some awesome jewelry for sale!  I'm working on some pieces made from vintage wooden blocks and cassette tape ribbon.  I will post on this blog when they are ready.