For starters, there is this excellent retro sash belt. Then, there are five new bags constructed from scraps: a cellphone holder/coin purse made from the end of a necktie and my Four Seasons bag collection, constructed from discarded decorator fabric samples.

I'm happy with the pieces, though I think I may redo most of the photos when I get a chance. Let me know what you think!

Yesterday I stopped in at CREATE StudioLounge in Sun Prairie, which is co-located with The Fabric Fairy. I'd been wanting to visit for several months now, but had been unable to make it in during their open hours, which are 2 PM-3 PM Monday through Friday and12 PM-5 PM Saturday.

The store is at 5353 Maly Rd. in Sun Prairie, which is actually a rather undeveloped area (take a look at the Google Street View) and might have put me off if I hadn't double-checked the address and directions first. Its neighbors are industrial warehouses and trees, rather than retail. I imagine this helps keep the rent overhead low, but it may also be an obstacle for customer traffic. (I don't know, but I could imagine so.)

The space itself is very cheerful and open. It invites you to sit right down and get to work at a sewing machine or table, or on one of the comfy couches. Natural light streams through the plentiful, wide windows around the room.

When I arrived, the woman working was the only other person there. This made it really easy to get good photos of the place, but I hope that it is not usually like that. They do offer quite a few classes, so I can see those being a draw. The space is so lovely and the layout is excellent, it would be a shame to see it not being used. I love the idea of it regularly being filled with crafters, working on their own projects, but doing so in the company of other like-minded folk, rather than in isolation. (That was the best thing about art school, for me, and also the highlight of my time in as a member of the Evolution Arts Collective.)

As I mentioned at the start, I can see the hours and location being obstacles that need to be overcome, but I really want to see CREATE StudioLounge success. I like the idea, I like the space.

"The Fabric Fairy's CREATE StudioLounge is a drop-in lounge, designed to nurture the creative spirit, provide a space for sewers and crafters to work in a social and inviting atmosphere, and be a community center for the diy and handmaking artists in the Madison area."

Check it out if you get a chance.

But after that, there will be bloggity blogging about new items at The Floating Market and a review of my visit to CREATE Studio Lounge in Sun Prairie.

Sleeeeeeeep!

I was digging through a box of fabric and lo and behold, I found where I'd put those bags I'd been working on. It turns out that I had attached the handles, and just hadn't realized it. I also think that they actually don't need a button or a snap at the top. So they really are finished!

I need to get some photos taken this weekend and the pricing figured out, but look for them soon!

In my inbox, passing along to you Madison-area folk:

Hello All-
One of our very talented members, Taya Kuklina, is offering up her expertise to you. Beginning this Friday, she will be offering the following classes. There is no cost for the classes, but a suggested donation of $5.00 to help the collective keep going and the ability to offer these classes in the future. Interested parties should e-mail us right away as they will fill up very quickly. Here are the days and times of the classes:

Thanks again, and happy art making!
Kurt Rossbach
Evolution Arts Collective

Koppa's has a website! And a fan page, too, it seems.

This was totally my place, back in my actual Irving Place days. Right across the street, which made it perfect for transforming pocket change into candy. I specifically remember these wonderful pink (strawberry) taffy lollipops that they had at the register for a while. $0.05 each, and totally wonderful. I have never found anything just like them since, so they have become legendary in my memory. (Along with the veggie sub from the long-defunct, Mad Town Subs.)

They were also the perfect place for that gallon of milk when we ran out right before dinner, and for the Sunday Journal. I also remember them having really excellent elephant ears in the bakery case.

Speaking of the old hood, one of these days I need to get over there and stop at Comet Cafe, which used to be a Chinese restaurant (Edie's? Eddie's? something like that) when I knew it. (Right next to the Constant Reader Bookshop, whose painted sign I once thought said "Out of Paint" and which I found puzzling, until I became a better reader and could distinguish print from paint.)

I may as well finish my tour down memory lane with a mental stop at Abu's Jerusalem of the Gold, at which I first tasted tahini.

I should get over there some time this summer.

I just read Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld's newest book, and it is definitely going to be one that I nominate for a Hugo this year. It was a great read and the illustrations were gorgeous. I was both disappointed and excited when I realized that it was just the first part of a larger story. On the one hand, I have to wait to find out what happens next. On the other hand, more story!

Also on my list for novels are Lev Grossman's The Magicians and China Miéville's The City & the City

A very cool Flickr set: Passport Photos - Famous Artists

Today I got the heads up that I've been accepted to participate in the art show for this year's WisCon. Yay!

I found this series of post apocalyptic 80's toys by Tom Kyzivat/Murderous Automaton to be quite nifty. Kind of along the same lines as Eric Poulton's Steampunk Star Wars.

Middlebury Hills is the farm from which I get my CSA share. Their lovely farmhouse has now been featured on Apartment Therapy's re-nest.com.

It is a nice article with good photos. This is totally the kind of place that I would want to live if I weren't a city girl who wants to be able to walk and bike to everything. They did a great job with the place, and it is truly a gem.

A treasury from Wisconsin Etsians, till Wednesday, at 8:15 PM CST.

Take a look while it is still around!

I was at the Dig and Saves today and brought home a bunch of new things. However, as new things come in to my life, I need to make room. I have a collection of wonderful vintage gloves, which I cannot resist buying when I find them...only none of them has a mate. Some of these made great costume pieces for a LARP, but while I would love to find a project in which to put them to use, I have not yet. So, I offer them up to the world. Someone else might have an idea for them.

Can be found from Heather Tomlinson over on Tor.com.

Sometimes cover art can cause controversy,as was the case with Bloomsbury's Australian release of Justine Larbalestier's Liar. Often, the authors have no say in the matter, though in this case Bloomsbury was smart enough to change the art to something more suitable.

I have to say, sometimes it is really fascinating to see the behind-the-scenes angle on this stuff.

For my work-work-job (the one that lets me pay my bills and gives me insurance), I work with URLs a lot. Some of them are normal and some are completely off the chain, like this:

http://www.exampleurl.com/BC3/dirmod.asp?sid=5A1714C7275342D19D6D1B4015944C55&nm=categorys&type=subcategory&mod=Subscribe&tier=1&id=E51F5E447D7B44C0B91253A8CA15CED1

And then there are services like TinyURL to shorten things like that.

http://irvingplace.net then becomes http://tinyurl.com/ycntk8o

But you all knew that, right? How about kicking it up a notch? For that, let's start with ShadyURL, which will take a regular URL and make it long and suspicious.

http://irvingplace.net then becomes http://5z8.info/-?php-deactivate_phishing_filter-48-_e0t3j_refugee-murder

Looooovely. Who wouldn't click on that? Scary not your thing? Maybe SoCuteURL is more your speed. It takes a regular URL and makes it a bit more kawaii, like so:

http://irvingplace.net then becomes http://www.socuteurl.com/pixiedust

Ta-da! Have fun, but be responsible kids.

Elise Matthesen has new shinies up for sale.

The hairsticks are particularly nifty.

Victorian/Edwardian Nursing Corset - c. 1900-1910

The photos and descriptions are pretty good. Go take a look, and maybe bid on it while it lasts, if corsetry and/or costuming are your thing.

This is what my nephew said when asked what he wanted for a birthday cake this year. (He turned 3 in January.) My sister and I were very amused at this. At the last minute, he changed his mind and wanted a happy snowman. It was excellent, just the same.

Cake making/frosting is a skill I am still learning, but it is fun to practice.

Step one: trim the cakes.

I had two round chocolates and a round of lemon (which turned out very thin, hence the stacking.) Trimming cakes = yummy snack time!

Another view of the trimmed cakes.

Step two: apply crumb coat.

The cakes were just from store-bought mixes, but the frosting was homemade. I must admit, frosting is so easy to make that I doubt I'll buy it again. So much tastier, too. Plus, I'll take butter over partially hydrogenated whatever oil any day, thanks.

Step three: spread the rest of the frosting in a nice, thick layer, joining the edges of the cake together.

Another nice thing about homemade frosting: I had just the right amount for the cake, without running out *or* having gobs and gobs of extra.

Step four: give snowman chocolate chip face, chocolate-covered peanut buttons, and pretzel arms. He is a happy snowman, indeed.

When the birthday boy saw the cake, his first comment was "Snowmen don't have pretzels for arms," since he is will aware that their arms are made of sticks. He is quite the connoisseur of "Frosties." I assured him that it was ok, since these were pretend sticks for a pretend snowman. He seemed mollified at that.

Step five: light candles, sing "Happy Birthday" and let the child blow them out.

He did an excellent job of getting them all out, and without spitting on the cakes. Then my brother introduced him to the joy of licking the frosting off the ends of the candles.

It was a delicious cake, and I was very happy with how it turned out. Nothing fancy, but exactly what the occasion required.

Ok, I really need to get these finished, as they have been left at this state for well over 9 months now. I really don't have a great reason for that, other than they got put away and forgotten about for a while.

These bags are made from some of the many, many pieces of scrap decorator samples that I have acquired. They are a nice, heavy-duty cotton. The inside and the outsides of the bags don't quite match, being from two different sample sets, but they do go together quite nicely.

I still need to sew the handles on, and perhaps give them a snap or button of some sort to close them. I might put them up in the Market when I'm all finished. We'll see.

I'm a little tempted to put the "This Item Made the Front Page of Etsy" icon on this one, except it wasn't exactly this item that made the front page but one very, very similar to it. Might be close enough, but there is still some difference.

I have a special fondness for this pair, since the original set was my first ever Etsy frontpage.

This was another shot from the Verona Hometown USA carnival, same day as the "Flight" photo. The name of this particular ride is the Zipper, and I have ridden it once. By myself. And that was quite enough. (That ride was next to the music tent, which gave me insight in to the length of the ride: the band was doing the last chorus or so of one song when the ride started. Then they played "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick, and I sang along at the top of my lungs. Then they started up a 3rd song before the ride ended. It was a long, long ride.)

Both the ride and this photo make me think of the Tower card in a tarot deck, hence the name.

Someday, I'd love to have enough appropriate photos to build an entire tarot deck, though so far, I've only got two of the Major Arcana.

So it should come as no surprise that I love Picture Book Report. Illustrators getting together (on the internet) and making pictures for the stories they love. I'm charmed.

Check out this online kaleidoscope. Is fun!

Yesterday afternoon, I dropped in to the High Noon Saloon to check out the The Valentine's Day Craftacular. It was the earliest in the day I have ever been there, that is for sure. From the moment I walked in, I looked around and thought, "This is pretty neat." The layout and the bustle of activity put me in mind of the actual Floating Market in the BBC version of Neverwhere (from which my shop draws it's name and inspiration).

I counted about nineteen vendors. Five of them were upstairs, which is where I started.

First up was Prettifications by Cynthia a store I'd actually stumbled across in the fall while looking for something to wear to a wedding with my little black dress. I didn't buy anything at the time, but it did add a piece of hers to my favorites list. (I still covet it...may buy it yet if no one snaps it up before me.)

Next was Haley Studio, who had some gorgeous handspun yarn and some truly lovely fabric pocketbook-type bags.

Gub Factory's cellphone holders and coffee cup cozies were neat, but the stuffed creatures were the highlight of their table.

At this point, the upstairs was getting crowded, so I went downstairs to look around for a little while.

Space Oddities had a set-up on the pool table. Very hip, very fun.

Picture Day, who also has some great shots of the day, was looking stylin' by the soundbooth.

Lulu's Stabby's Critters may be stabby, but they are also cute as hell.

Antique Basket Lady's bags were totally charming. I loved the bold fabric prints.

Mindy Kuen had little baby t-shirts with neckties. I am nothing if not all about the necktie fashions.

Glitter Workshop was the organizer of the whole shebang. Two words: button bracelets. Scrumptious! Two more words: crochet cupcakes.

The Bare Tree Apparel had a wide variety of belts, hoodies, and shirts, including these screen printed boneshakers.

Lula and Deedee's display table reminded me of a fireworks display, with funky beaded earrings bursting out in every direction.

Kim's Crafty Apple 'n The Apple was an explosion of bright fabrics and beads, plus tasty-looking jars of preserves.

Dainty Daisies, of Oshkosh had a rack of colorful fabric totes and a table overflowing with cheerful jewelry and hair accessories.

Fat Cat Beads' brick and mortar store is tucked away on Thierer Rd, but the Craftacular display was right at the corner of the bar. Tell me, do you not want one of these earring trees? Yeah, I thought so. Me, too.

orangyporangy was tucked in at the edge of stage right, just by the stairs. So, I am not allowed to buy myself any new skirts until spring, but my resolve wavered a bit at the sight of what have to be the happiest skirts in the world.

Stage left was Christina Ward Creatures and more rockin' plushies. Plush chupacabra? Check. No, seriously: hard rockin'. How about a plushGolem of Prague.

Bernie's Girl had skirts in the deconstructed/reconstructed/recycled style that I dig (but usually can only get away with wearing while LARPing), along with candylike "Word Drop" rings.

The last vendor I checked out before heading back upstairs was Whimsy House: "goodness fashioned from vintage buttons & felted wool." Picture a rainy afternoon spent rummaging around in your grandmother's attic and making crafts. (Well, someone's grandmother, at least.) Now picture those crafts done with exquisite taste and skill. Yup, it's kind of like that.

Back up to the balcony, where I was able to get a better look at Little Dandelion Studios' table. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do with pretty, handpainted clothespins, and yet I find myself wanting them.

Last, but certainly not least, was Sommer with an O who had beautiful photos, an interesting presentation, and great boots.

While I wasn't able to buy anything, it was great to see so many local crafters having a good day. The general consensus was that it was a fantastic turn out for a February, and that sales had been very good. I was happy to be there, and maybe someday will return as a vendor myself. For now, though, I've just stocked up my mental wish list.

How about some snow-bowling or pig stacking to celebrate the day?

I can! I haz!

Both The Floating Market and Irving Place Photography have fan pages. Of course, right now they only have two fans, and one of them is me! Go on and keep us from getting lonely by ourselves.

I'm pretty happy to see it, though of course I find myself wondering if I should have worded some things differently. But I'm always going to nitpick my own words.

Go read it!

This is delightful!

The Unicorn Evils by Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear. Hurray!

A beautiful and moving seat-belt PSA commercial that goes for uplift, rather than shock.

This wood-burned button pair is ever so simple. And sometimes, simple is all you need.

This is another shot from the Troll series. It reminded me of a woodblock print. There was actually a specific image that I remember from years ago, but I haven't been able to find it, even after much searching. I wonder if it may have been an ad? It was a standard-looking samurai/kabuki actor portrait, only the figure in the portrait was looking angrily (and possibly cross-eyed) at a fly. I don't think I'm imagining it, but it may well have been a modern parody.

I love the intensity of the stare.

Get the templates sorted out for the comment and archives page, which are currently kind of fugly.

Tragic Ladies: Unlucky in Love, a new treasury on Esty. Expires Tuesday, February 9 at 6:46 PM CST, so look while you can.

"That's what she said."

But seriously, who *doesn't* want to be good all over Wilkinsburg?

I am really drawn to cheesy local festivals and carnival rides.The slightly bored carnies, the clusters of giggling teens, the wafting smell of cotton candy and funnel cakes, and the sound of the Cheap Trick cover band in the beer tent...

Besides the thrill of the ride itself, there is something about the thought "gee, I hope they put it together right" while flying through the air at great speed that gets the heart pumping. This photo captures that for me.

(Shot at Verona Hometown U.S.A. Fest, 1999.)

This is possibly the weirdest thing I've seen all day, but in an awesome way.

(many thanks to Nathan for the link)

Excellent news! Holly Black and Bordertown anthology.

The Bordertown setting is, along with Newford and London Below, one of the major influences on my work. So this is very, very squeeful for me.

This landed in my inbox today:

Hello All-

Hope to see you there!
Kurt Edwin Rossbach
Evolution Arts Collective
evolutionartscollective(at)gmail(dot)com

Evolution Arts Collective is a really cool group, and you will probably get a lot out of attending this. I'd go, except that I will be out celebrating my birthday that evening. I'm hoping to make it to the next one.