don't know what to get mom? ask a stranger!

so, I was out today finishing up some last-minute mother's day shopping. I needed to get a few things from the neighboorhood superstore, like photo paper and t-shirt transfers. I was walking past the lotions & cosmetics toward the register, when I heard a kid's voice say, "Excuse me, ma'am?" I looked - knowing that MA'AM simply COULD NOT mean me. But, it did.

There was a kid of about 10 or so standing there, in front of the Vaseline Intensive Care with a gigantic red gift bag. I said, "Yes?" and he said, "I'm sorry but do you think you could help me pick out something for my mom to make her smell good like, you know, when she gets outta the shower?" It took me a few seconds to go AWWWWW in my head, I said, "Sure, let's go down here with all the fancier smelly stuff and I'll help you find something." His being totally lost was really cute. I asked him if he knew any particular smells that his mom liked and he said, "I dunno....flowers?" So, I gave him some advice. I found the vanilla scented stuff, and told him, "Remember, if you're not sure what kind of smell a girl likes, just go with vanilla. Almost every girl likes the smell of vanilla!" Then I showed him how to pick out a set of the same smell, like shower gel, lotion and body spray. Then, I told him good luck after he thanked me, and walked off grinning.

the sky split open and cried.

Today is our anniversary. Three years ago, I met my love, my support, my best friend, my partner-in-crime, my hairbrained-scheme companion at the Greyhound bus station that was two blocks down the street from my tiny, roach-infested apartment.

He was wearing knee-high black boots, long black shorts, a white button up shirt and a black tie, and he looked amazing. The first time I touched him, hugged him close like I'd wanted to do so badly for three years, he presented me with a single rose that he'd dragged on the bus with him for 8+ hours. It was a little wilted and soft, but he had held it close to him the whole time, protecting it. Rain was pouring down all around us as we held each other for the first time under the bus station shelter, surrounded by some lone gawkers and all his material possesions in a few boxes & suitcases. The only other time I've ever seen it rain that hard was after I had my son. When both my men came to me, the sky split open and cried.

Thinking back on that rose, that rain, that moment....I realize now that it was a pivotal moment in my life in so many ways. Sure, there are the obvious turning points - meeting the man whose son I'd have, for one - but there are so many things that I'm just beginning to see.

The man I love has a way of protecting me that is not unlike the way he protected that rose - he carries me a lot, and shields me from things that might be damaging. Sometimes I have been too stubborn to realize this, but it's always been true. When I'm fragile, I don't have to feel scared anymore. For someone who has been plagued by low self-esteem, the banishment of fear is something that often seems so far off. But it's so close now. And it's because of him.

In some ways, the rain has never seemed to stop. Our relationship has been anything but perfect. Even when we fight, we still love each other - and we say it, too. But the rain isn't arguments....the rain has been hardship, poverty, depression, failure. We've had to re-define ourselves as individuals, as parents, and as a couple, too. And through it all, "I love you" has always been there.

I am so thankful that by some chance, this man walked into my life. Things have never been the same since he arrived. I wouldn't have it any other way.

One of the reasons that I love him so much is because he always seems to remember small things about me that really mean so much. He accepts my quirkiness (which everyone else simply calls "tacky") and even facilitates it at times! When I've found some crazy thing in a thrift store, I go running to him saying "Look at this elephant-shaped hairbrush/lotion dispenser combination!" and he will smile. Sometimes he admits it, sometimes he doesn't....but I always know he saw it first. He purposely keeps quiet and lets me discover it on my own.

I don't remember if that was the case with the owl mug. I got it a long time ago, at a local Goodwill. I paid fifty cents for it. I bought it the same day that I bought his favorite mug, too - a brown, slanted-side pottery one, with abstract purple and green leaves on it. The owl mug was not my favorite at first, but I grew to appreciate the fact that it held almost the exact amount of coffee I wanted to drink. I am so strange, because I don't like thick-walled mugs or cups...it makes me feel like I'm drinking with a big fat lip. The owl mug was the perfect thickness, but it kept my coffee so perfectly warm, because it was vintage Glasbake.

One day, there was a fight. The owl mug was broken before the fight, but I discovered it right smack in the middle of the fight. I don't like admitting this....but I got very upset over it. Normally, I would have said, "It's okay, I know it was an accident." But on that day, I got very upset. I still feel bad about it.

After it broke, I looked around for a replacement, but it was always to no avail. I checked eBay a lot for one like it, and while I could never find one, my searching did show me a world of wacky mugs I'm just waiting to collect.

Yesterday evening, after we got home from our huge shopping trip, he said he'd make us tea. When he brought it to me - to my surprise - the tea was in not one, but TWO owl mugs.



The other looks similar, but he's a bit more goofy looking. I love them both, but I'm definitely biased. He said he found them the very first time he searched on eBay.....and I had searched so many times! I told him they must have been waiting for him to come along.

After it broke, he promised to replace it. And he did.

Forest Party!

Big News in Spooky Land!

Spooky Daddy has been toiling away at the machine to bring you kids some really, REALLY special plush goodies for his upcoming show, called Forest Party. The party/show has been organized by the wonderful Heidi Kenney ( of my paper crane fame) and will also feature the wacky work of plush master Jenny Harada.

Festivities kick off
this Saturday night (Feb. 9) at 7:00pm at Emmaus
on 49 York Street in Gettysburg, PA.

This show is going to be especially unique in that ALL THREE artists are going to be there on opening night! So, if you'd like the opportunity to meet three great plush artists, your Saturday night is already planned!

As an added bonus, Heidi and I will be making some tasty forest-themed goodies (mine will be vegan!) for you to stuff your face with as you "ooh" and "ahh" over the crazy creatures at the show!

If you'd like to see Spooky Daddy's sneaky peek photos of his show pieces, just visit his Flickr photo set!

So, come one, come all...men, women, children & monsters, to the Forest Party!

i totally suck at blogging

I really said I was going to be better about this. Things have just be SO hectic!

I guess the biggest news around right now is that we now have an Etsy shop!

A lot of skull bunnies have been sold on Etsy already! There are a few brooches on there that I've made, with two eyeball necklaces to be added soon, so watch out for them. Here are two small pics of them:



I've been making so many trips to the post office lately, and I'm getting more familiar with filling out customs forms. I also know now that if you send something Priority Mail to Canada, it costs $16.00! Crazy, considering I was able to send something First Class to Germany for only $7. The postal service is so confusing sometimes! Is there a better way to send international stuff??

Since the last time I wrote was before Halloween, I guess I should at least post some photos of our costumes. So, here they are!




Jack was candy corn, if you can't tell. I just went as your generic witch, and daddy was a skeleton-man. We had lots of fun! (even if we didn't get much candy!)

Geez, I just realized how bad I am for writing about Halloween in January!

In other news, Spooky Daddy has pieces that will be appearing a show called Plushed! at Purdue University.


PLUSHED::art gone soft::
Plush Art Exhibition
Purdue University (West Gallery), West Lafayette, IN
Jan 21-Feb 1, 2008

If you live nearby, you should check it out! The Spooky Daddy pieces will also be for sale, and at a very reasonable price for an art show, I might add.

Look for more news soon!

I found this cute little animation on Yahoo this evening while I was checking my email. Actually I watched it three times and I still laugh because it reminds me SO much of our cat Jones. He is over to the left in one of the photos, curled up in a basket. I think anyone who has ever lived in a house with a cat can appreciate this...



I am working tonight on getting a whole lot of new things put up in the Spooky Daddy store under the jewelry section. We also have to get our halloween costumes together. ...! We pretty much have them all planned out, we've just got to go out and get supplies all at once this weekend. I think Brad's costume is probably going to require the most work, and mine probably the least.

Crafty Bastards plush documentary!

So, while we were at Crafty Bastards, the dudes from Damaged Films interviewd Brad for a plush documentary they were doing. Well, it's done! It also features My Paper Crane, Cotton Monster, Friend or Foe & Missing Monsters.

It's on the Current TV web site, and if it gets enough votes, it will actually be shown on the television channel! So take a minute and please vote for it! Here's a screen cap + link to the video on the Current TV web site....



Take me to the documentary!

Crafty Bastards recap - late, I know!

So, a long time ago I said I was going to update this thing. Since then though, I've been pretty terrible at it. As you can see, this is my second post. BUT.....I'm going to really try to make a change!

Jack and I have been up & busy this morning. I've been doing things, and he's mostly been popping his popcorn popper, eating, and watching Sesame Street. Right now, Mr. Noodle is eating noodles on Elmo's World....which is really funny if you know anything about the Street. If you don't, I guess it's a lot less hilarious.

This is so late in coming, but I'm still going to write a bit about Crafty Bastards in Washington, D.C. We left the night before, partly because driving at night is a lot easier, and partly because our fridge decided to die a few days before. Our landlord got a new one from Lowe's, and it was delivered right before we left on Saturday. The poor delivery guys not only had to drag the new fridge all the way up to our 3rd floor apartment, but they also had to drag the older, much heavier fridge down the stairs. As nice as it is to have a brand new fridge (a FIRST for me!) I still miss my old harvest gold one. It matched my retro dinette perfectly!

So anyways, we drove at night, and finally I pooped out and couldn't drive anymore, so we stayed in Hagerstown, MD at a little Motel 6. I had read terrible reviews for the motel on Travelocity, Orbitz and Yahoo. But, I decided to take a chance since they had the cheapest rates by far. To our surprise, the rooms were clean, comfortable and very recently remodeled. The pool was skanky, but that doesn't matter much to people like us who can't swim and are exhausted. Granted, there were a few shady dudes hanging around outside their rooms, but hey, shady dudes gotta sleep too. There were lots of people staying there, and I felt totally safe. Definitely not like some of the reviews, which said things like "BRING A GUN!" and "Wouldn't stay here again if they paid me." Sometimes I think the people who write those things expect four star quality at one star price.

So, we got up super early to arrive at Adams Morgan at a little after 7:30, and started unloading. From that moment on, the day turned into a big, people-filled break-dancing haze. At 10:00, when shoppers started arriving, it was just like someone had opened a floodgate, and here are all of these people, crammed literally elbow to elbow.


I took this photo a bit later after people had thinned out a LOT!

We had 3 tables set up in our booth in a U shape, so that people could walk in under our tent and browse.


She's carrying a muslin Crafty Bastards bag that was given to everyone at the entrance. These eliminated the need for plastic/paper bags! hooray!

The only problem that this really posed was that we had very little space to sit. Brad, Uncle Loomis and I all had to sit to the side of our shortest table. Brad chose to sit in the sunny seat, and ended up getting sunburned on his neck & head. Oh, the things he does for me!


Sewing up a Skull Bunny underneath the sign.

One of the best parts of the fair was the stage that was right across and down in a pit from us. They had bands, a freak show and a B-boy contest, so something was almsot constantly going on. My favorite part of all that was a band called The Cassettes They are absolutely awesome! The whole time they performed, I was just dancing around and HAPPY! You can pretty much guarantee that I'll love any band which boasts an accordian player and members who wear derbies. They have a truly unique folksy-burlesque-edgy sound. It's hard to describe. Like Modest Mouse, only better. Way better. Check their site out - www.thecassettes.com!


I love their song "Small and Tired."
Here, you can kind of see the accordian action. Not sure what song this was, though.

There were also giant puppets walking around. GIAAAAAAAANT PUUUUUUUUPPETS!


Need I say more???!

To see more photos of Crafty Bastards, you can visit Spooky Daddy's Crafty Bastards Flickr Set

After the B-boy battle was over, the people started leaving. They left hesitantly, though...the fair was scheduled to end at 5 but we didn't start tearing down till almost 6. We hadn't eaten anything all day really except for a mini bag of Utz potato chips and some sugar free Red Bulls that Brad got from a guy with a shopping cart full of snacks from the fair. So, we headed down the street and found a falafel shop that was AWESOME. I don't know if it was because I was so hungry, or if the food really was that good....but it was seriously the best food I'd had in a long time.

After that, we stumbled onto a little Tibetan shop that was run by a real Tibetan! He was very kind, and we got a few things that caught our eye in the store. While we were looking at the singing bowls, he asked us if we knew what they were for. When we said yes, he said, "Good.....some people think they are for mashing garlic, or herbs and spices!"

We also got to make a lot of crafty friends....but that will be for another post.

In the meantime, here's a small snapshot of what I've been working on for our Halloween update....




Coming to Spookydaddy.com soon!