She's Crafty

I made this last week. Nice isn't it?




Hard to photograph, though. A glass bell jar has reflections facing the camera no matter how you light it. The picture was actually taken in full daylight. The skeleton is a one-third size prop from a halloween shop and the drops of blood are little plastic 'gemstones' from a craft shop. The decoration is a wreath of fake dead roses.

The craft store nearest me is closing down. I'll check them again this weekend to see what's on final markdown. I have some other things I want to work on now.

I didn't used to do any arts or crafts but it seems to be inevitable in older females. Something to do with progesterone, or 17-hydroxy-pregnenolone. Or one of those guys.

I went to the LA antiquarian book fair a few months ago and met my first 'altered book'. (Actually, I'd had Tom Phillips' A Humument for years, but for some reason assumed it was a one-off. It never occurred to me that other people were doing it too.) Although the one demonstrated to me at the fair was nowhere near as gorgeous as some of those I've since seen on the web, it just felt right. A few days later I was altering a book on forensic science into a book illustrating Dead Weather lyrics. Having had to buy truckloads of glue, trinkets, punches, paper and other supplies before I actually found out how anything worked, I went from not having any craft supplies to having an overabundance in just a few weeks. (For instance, one type of spray glue requires you to glue both surfaces and let dry to make a strong bond. Another type makes a removable tack-only bond if you coat both surfaces and dry it. I found out the hard way that half of my pages were removable and had to redo.)

I was going to photograph a page of the book, but now I come to find it, it's inside this tent.



Yes, my bedroom is a microbial hazard. And the hepa filter inside that tent is loud, man.