little red fox

tuxedo kitties articulated dolls

Finallyfinallyfinally these fellows are up and in the shop! I've been slowly and steadily working on these two and all their many iterations over the last few months. I'm pretty much in love with them.

One of the best parts was getting back into watercolors. I hadn't messed around with them in forever but they were just what I needed. I zoned out--or IN, rather--for hours and could virtually feel parts of my brain healing up and getting shiny while I painted. 

I also really enjoyed the logistical part about figuring out how to make these actually happen...from a printed page of art...

...to finding and adding the perfect tiny vintagey-looking mini-brads...

...(so tiny!)...to actual dancing Tuxedo Kitties!

I know just how they feel :)

I fell in love with the characters (based oh-so-loosely on our own two deadpan tuxedo kitties) and from them flowed a fount of handmade ideas: storybooks, some olde-timey-inspired art dolls...

...who even have a rear view...

...(still working on the tails)...to some still smaller versions of the guys...

...who will reside inside a tiny wooden storybook box. 

All of this to come and more! I left my Little Red Fox Shop empty for a while as I was awaiting new inspiration and to somehow magically cobble together the time to do what I wanted. 

I'll be adding to it (and the other two shops) over the next few weeks but for now we have company coming in over the weekend and I have to get to work on creamy polenta and braised short ribs. I'll be taking pictures of it for the blog--this is one of my favorite all-time meals. I don't eat a lot of meat but I can't really resist short ribs. This is the only recipe I've ever really used but if you have one you recommend I'd love to see it. Always on the look-out. 

Thank you, as alwaysalwaysalways, for stopping by here. As someone who is prone to copious amounts of solitary time, it's always in the back of my head and heart that I have this, and you all, to commune with. Happy spring! I think this is going to be just gorgeous...

 

what mimi wore--my vintage shop--now open for business! (finally)

At long last! My vintage shop What Mimi Wore is up and running! This is something I've wanted to do for a very long time and finally got around to it. Whew. This is a very large item to cross off my to-do list. 

It will be a highly curated mix of both ladies clothes...

...and shoes...

 ...of varying eras...

...and also some fun home goods-type stuff... 

...all inspired by my gorgeous, fashion-plate grandmother, Mimi.

(This is Mimi with my mom, Betty, the tiny Cupie doll in a bow tie.)

She understood thrift better than anybody I've ever known. She was a child of the depression, and strangely--a generation removed--her varied thrifty ways have affected me profoundly. She was college-educated which was incredibly rare for that time period and that part of the country, but she was also an incredible homemaker: a seriously wonderful cook and gardener, an incredibly organized and detail-oriented person in terms of housekeeping (she ironed her sheets). That house was managed like she got a major paycheck for it--she was like Martha Stewart because she could do it all and do it all well. She was an intelligent and capable woman who learned how to make do--but she always had a real sense of personal style and pride in her appearance. All this in spite of being a Mississippi farmer's daugher and certainly never in her life a wealthy woman. She always looked absolutely fantastic and always did it on a very modest budget.

I know there's no shortage of vintage-type shops, especially on Etsy, but this was something I really wanted to do and when it hit me how much of it was actually about Mimi...it seemed even better :)  

I'll be continuing to list more items over the next few days and after that, my goal will be to list new items at the end of every week, depending on what I find. 

I'm also slightly over the moon to have an official excuse to hit up my favorite local thrift and antique shops :)

 

new totes in the shop!

Part of my busy-bee-ness getting ready for the Grand Opening of the Co-op was hand-painting these new tote bags and I'm super-duper thrilled with how they turned out! Crazytownsuperduper thrilled. I was not supposed to, but I kept one of each :)

And I really loved doing them. Lovedlovedloved. And I loved finally getting to use my fun little homemade tags :)

Satisfaction :)

The cream-colored ones are a heavier-weight canvas-type of cotton, while the black ones are a lighter-weight cotton. I couldn't decide which so I did both ;)

Aaaaand you can find them here!

Also! I made another Little Forest Story for the shop, remember it?

With its little carrying case?

Well it's in the shop here! It's sold--thank you so much!

More to come! Thanks for all your sweetie-pie comments about Marceline! I just knew she'd be up all our alleys :)

 

marceline; the little mushroom hunter

I am so happy to finally introduce Marceline, the little mushroom hunter I hinted at a few posts ago (here and here). Getting ready to open the Co-op (which happens this Saturday!), I spent a whole lot of time getting all the groups of characters and their corresponding little items ready all at once. In  my mind, it was a very simple venture but in reality--all the tiny little details almost did me in! Down to creating all the individual items' tags--it was quite an undertaking. But it all got done and, I have to say, it is incredibly satisfying to see all these creations I made all together on shelves in a real live store. I'll have pictures after Saturday, but for now--meet Marceline :)

A pretty little nerdy scientist, there isn't a mushroom she doesn't know or hasn't gathered...

...in her tiny little mushroom-hunting basket, of course!

She comes with three different mushrooms--one in her tiny apron pocket and two in her basket. The mushrooms are made from my original drawings of actual mushrooms...

...and are backed with red polka-dot cotton matching the apron...

Her hand attaches at the shoulder button with a loop of elastic on her hand which you can see in this picture...one of the many details it took me a bit to figure out...

She's about 20" long and 5" wide and she's made from organic and "upcycled" cottons, vintage lace and buttons, and felt. And her face is handpainted. 

And she's here in my shop.

And that's not all!

There's actually a little handmade book that will be coming along shortly detailing the beginning of Marceline's adventures, but it turns out that making a book from scratch takes longer than I thought! Indeed. But some characters in the story you can find here in this set of 10 canvas stickers. Again--from my original drawings...

It's a limited edition series and each has an official seal with your series' number and a list of the "ingredients." 

The set comes in a 5.5" by 7.5" kraft top-sealing envelope with my handmade label. And you can find it here!

I have a couple more Marceline-related goodies to share which I'll get to in the next few days. 

Lots to do! Also we're getting snow tonight. I could shrivel up and die. 

p.s. Hope you like the blog's little "facelift!" I felt like a change...

the art of the mushroom (and a thank you)

Things have been busy, busy, busy over in this part of the woods! For starters--I finally got around to making these sweet little Thank You, or "Merci!" cards for the shop. Very excited to have them out in the world and out of my head. It was getting crowded in there. 

They are 4.25" by 5.5" and are printed onto pretty, lightly speckled ivory cards (with rounded corners). They're flat, so the back is blank for your charming message to the recipient. You can find the set of six cards here, and the individual cards here!

(As a side note: I poked around online a while back trying to find the origin of the paper moon photographs--and there are TONS of them--check out my flickr favorites for a bunch--but no one seems to know why it stuck like it did. It appears to have been a song first? Anyway--my research was far from exhaustive so if anybody out there knows anything about them, I'd love to know more!)

I really don't know why these took me so long--I've been in semi-desparate need of thank you cards for months and months and of course I wouldn't buy any because I knew I wanted to make these.

Anyway--here they are! Whew.

I also finally made some tags for my original homemade items--and their bottoms...

This picture makes me laugh :)

I've discovered this 'canvas paper' which has caused my brain to explode a little bit. I love this stuff. It's given me 89,000 new ideas. Like this, for one...

It's a little mushroom sticker using the canvas. The great thing about the canvas is that you can also sew with it, so something like this little sticker (about 3" by 3") can also be sewn on like a decorative patch onto bags or backpacks or quilts or whatever (and you can find them here!)...and I do have other uses in mind which I can't show you until I'm done with them as I'd like for them all to have their debut at once...but...here's a little sneak-peek :)

There's a little character I'm working with in my head that is about to see the light of day and a closer look at the picture above will tell you a lot about her.

But I must mention that strangely--the joy and sheer pleasure I've gotten out of drawing mushrooms (and I've been drawing a LOT of them) has been so deep and wonderful. Who knows why but not only do I find them incredibly beautiful in the strangest of ways to look at, and don't even get me started on how fun it is to find them out in the woods, but the act of drawing them is also incredibly (and surprisingly) satisfying. I can't wait to show more of this series of things...!!

A lot of my recent activity flurry has been because not only is pilot season quieting down audition-wise, but also I'm just over-the-moon excited about a new creative venture that I will describe in detail in a later post. For now I'll just say it has to do with these two words: women and co-op.

Guesses?? 

 

 

 

 

a fairy tale on the go

Just popping in! I wanted to show you this little thing I've been working on for the last few weeks. A bit of this and that...you know--tiny felt ears here, a tiny felt tail there...

Starring four little miniature friends: a little girl (1.5"); a tiny fox with felt ears and tail (1.5"); a magic mushroom (1"); and a black bear (2.5"). All hand-painted with non-toxic paints and sealed and all in their very own little enclosed green felt play-ground, decoupaged forest (from a drawing of mine) all in a little carrying case...

The box is 3.5" by 5" and is stained (again, non-toxic) and decoupaged with a handmade seal saying "a little forest story" for your very own fairy tale. This is an original and at this point there is only one and it's here!  It's been sold and is on its way to its new home overseas! Thank you so much to the sweet buyer!

In other news--we are off to the city for a big city weekend! I have some auditions today, then we are doing yoga and having dinner with friends and all that good stuff. It's good. We're up here in the country not seeing anybody for days so some interaction here and there is a good thing for us :)

I wish you a very happy weekend whatever you are doing! 

kinda my first curry

I mentioned a post or two ago that I was going to make this quick chickpea curry and I did and it was great! Really, really great and like the recipe promises, also quick. I'd say 30 minutes, tops. We both said it would be the perfect new weeknight go-to, and for us--since there's only 2 of us--it was a big dinner, and then a yummy lunch for the train the next day. The recipe calls for two cans of chickpeas, making it the perfect cook-out-of-your-pantry meal. Though of course you over-acheivers could always make your own from dried beans. 

I have no idea if this is a legitimate "curry" or not--I'm completely inexperienced when it comes to Indian food. I love it--but never cook it and know very little about it. So the authenticity of this recipe--totally debatable. But the taste and ease? Perfect. I make a few batches of brown rice a week so its always in the fridge, and we just layered it: brown rice, topped with fresh spinach, topped with the chickpea curry, topped with a lot of chopped fresh parsley (and generous amounts of sriracha sauce for those who like a little pain with their food). Delicious. My next thing is to use this recipe for a vegetable curry which I'm very excited about.

(A trick: I just learned the way to make the most perfect brown rice in the world:  1 cup brown rice, 2 3/4 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to simmer and its ready in 35 minutes. It has yet to fail me.) 

I also made these for the shop! The packs of the little bow-tie stickers seem to be a customer favorite but I have been wanting to make some big boys, too. These are about 6 inches long and 3 inches high. And one happens to have already made it to the cover of my new sketch book... :)

They're sold in packs of two and they're here! 

a storm of the brain variety.

 Just a few more goodies for the shop...like many people I get giddy over new journals (and really all paper-type new things). I think its the physical manifestation of possiblity that does it for me...

I couldn't decide on just one size so I did three...the biggest one (8x10") is lined and made using 85% recycled materials. While the other two (8x5" and 5.5x3.5") are both moleskines with a little pocket on the inside back cover.

I was having so much fun I made matching bookmarks to go with them...they just didn't feel complete without an accessory!

Two little peas in a pod :)

The large ones are here, the medium ones here, and the perfect-for-your-purse-or-pocket-sized ones are here!

I am off to make what is--I'm not even kidding--the best chocolate cake I've ever had for our fancy dinner tonight. I hope I remember to take pictures, but if I don't, let's pretend it looks a little something like this, k?

more little dandies!

I've been meaning to get some more of these velvet ribbon barrettes made for a while now, plus I had some other ideas, so I spent allll day yesterday in hair accessories heaven :) I can't show you the other stuff just yet, but suffice it to say I have spring on the brain and that means oodles of cute stuff for Little Red Fox/Dandy Fox...

I have lots of sewing and packaging to do and I really can't wait to show and tell but for now the velvet ribbon barrettes are in the shop (here and here) waiting on their new homes!

Be back soon! Today is a gorgeous, bright, bluebird day--it's helping to fend off seasonal depression from the most severe winter weather in my life (and most of our lives here in the states, I'm sure). I can almost remember what it was like to see green grass and feel warm...almost. Spring, you can't come soon enough.

how i'm spending my superbowl (who's playing again?)...

I got down to work today on one of my very favorite bits of Little Red Fox business: the packaging. I like to do it all myself, and though my computer skills have greatly improved, it still takes me quite a bit of time. But it's fun for me, so no skin off my nose.

So if you ordered one--here's what you're getting :) 

I'm also gearing up for my very first Flea Market (more on that soon) AND a women's art co-op nearby here upstate. More on all of this soon but of course I'm so looking forward to it all. I've been wanting to do this for a couple of years but haven't been able to because of all the acting stuff. Now that I'm taking a break from it (of sorts), it seems time. 

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On a dumb note: why-oh-why has it never occurred to me to do some type of links "round up" on this blog?? I'm shocked at myself. I get to read so many wonderful blogs and get to see so many wonderful ideas by inspiring, creative people, so it only makes sense to point out some extra-special-delightful posts. Why it took me 17 years to think of it...well, I'm a dummy. 

So here you go--spreading the blog wealth, as it were...

 

• Heart-breakingly adorable (handmade!) little-girl dress giveaway on An Art Nest.
• Lovely, lovely song/and crafty video over at My Pure Harte.
• Cute little DIY for some spiced-up jeans over at petit pas.
• Casey found what looks to be a delicious recipe combining lots of my food loves in one dish! Definitely going to make this in the next few days.
• Amazing--truly--illustrations/designs/art over at Hawk and Fallow.
• Elsa has started a new blog about miniature artists' books. I'm utterly obsessed.
• Burda Style's Alison Dahl has the best idea ever to spruce up some old shoes. Look for my version here very soon...I'm extremely over-excited about this one. 

That's it for me! I'm going to go express some fake interest in the Super Bowl. It's sad for Mr. Wood to watch the whole thing alone.

Have a wonderful night, wherever you are!