SlipperySlopeBloomer

I found this wonderful seller on etsy. her name is Jess and she's the creator of SlipperySlopeBloomer. i chatted with her briefly today about her beautifully colored pictures (done with Sharpies!) that she draws on vintage lingerie (she likes to call them "dainties"). She also makes high waisted bikinis (vintage style) which are very fun and flirty.


I'd wear this corset with a tank underneath and a pair of jeans (if my wallet allowed, that is....)

and i could also see myself wearing this!

What really impressed me about Jess was her attitude about recyling/upcycling using vintage items, found objects or junk. read more:

"There has been a growing trend in the crafting community these past few years to work in a medium made up exclusively of found objects and junk, and I am so very happy about and proud of this trend. It is made up of a small but growing faction of folks who have chosen to pay their bills by producing items to be consumed but have managed to do so with out adding to the pile of mass made-for-consumption THINGS our culture insists in churning out at a progressively disconcerting rate year after year.
They are people who have some how developed the strength of character and responsibility in the face of this terribly seductive but devastatingly wasteful culture we've got here to ask the question, "Hey! Is this really trash yet? Come on!"
And what's more, when these thrifty crafters ask their customers with playful incredulity if the trash is in fact trash, their customers find themselves replying in awe, "why no... NO IT'S NOT!" and a new world of recycled wonder appears before their eyes.
In the etsy land there are a very great deal of customers. With each new creative use of heretofore trash that is displayed, there are countless more of us out here realizing that spending might not actually be better than mending. We buy the brilliantly repurposed crafts we find, but we also are inspired to build our own brilliantly repurposed goodies. And slowly but surely, the world is changing. And things built to last but none the less abandoned are getting sparkly new lives and contributing once again to joy instead of clutter."

So there you have it. She does not have a blog (as of yet, i'm trying to talk her into it!) She's a wonderful writer and story teller, so maybe when she's ready, she'll start one! in the meantime, stop by her shoppe to look a peek at her work.

Steampunk World's Fair

wow, what a fun event! I drove north about an hour to Piscataway to attend the The Steampunk World's Fair. i really didn't know what to expect, since i've never gone to one of these before. I figured if anything, there'd be some awesome picture opportunities. I was not disappointed. I started taking pictures the moment i got there until the moment i was walking out the door. everyone was so accommodating for photos (and i think they are quite used to it!) it was a beautiful day and there was a courtyard where they had music, food, tents and more. it was a lovely area to just sit and lounge in the sun and watch all the people. i really enjoyed the music by a band called Emperor Norton's Stationary Band. After walking around the lobby, i went to check out the vendor event. for some reason, they didn't have it all in one area, but in a few rooms around the lobby and then you had to walk around the 1st floor guest room area and go into each room and see what they had for sale in there. it was kind of fun that way. people were milling in the hallways. it reminded me of my old college days with parties in the dorm hallways. the marching band came down the hallway too and i got some fun video of them. from there i went outside for more picture taking and lunch. the hotel had set up a yummy buffet (and for hotel food, it was REALLY good). i ate lunch with a mother and daughter from Delaware (Pat and Jackie, if i remembered that correctly - and please let me know if you read this!) we were discussing how nice people were. it seemed to be a place where you could be who you wanted to for the moment and no one was there to judge or criticize you. one of the staff members, David Isecke (operations), joined us for a little bit to see how we were enjoying ourselves. we were talking about how these types of events are so fun to attend because it does give you an opportunity to step outside your normal life and experience new things. David said something i really liked, "some people are too quick to throw the magic out of their lives". so true!

another thing that i really enjoyed was seeing the men dressed up. I see women dressed up all the time. they like to dress up; do their hair, makeup and wear pretty things. men, not so much. they tend to put on ball cap, wear some really boring polo type shirt and jeans or some sort of khaki/beige colored pants. there isn't a lot of variety in the way a man can dress. now a days, dressed up for a man is a suit and tie and although a suit can look nice; again not much variety or a way for a man to stand out as an individual. At this event, there were so many varieties of how the men were dressed. maybe it was because it was fresh to my eyes, but i was digging it!

here are a couple of my favorite pictures from yesterday :

You can also view all the photos here on flickr.