A new addition has been added to my…skull wall. Which yes, sounds like a strange thing to have in a bedroom that has pink walls, and white furniture trimmed with gold.
But you know what? I’m pretty sure I pull this vibe off perfectly.
As I briefly mentioned in my recent post: I pinned my first butterfly.
This, of course, quickly turned into me pinning my second butterfly. And my third butterfly. And then I moved on to pinning plenty of moths and other interesting insects…but I’ll save that for another post (because my current collection deserves a whole post of its own).
And just in case y’all don’t know me already, I’ll start this post with a clear disclaimer: I only pin bugs that have already died naturally; I never kill bugs to pin, and I don’t approve of such strange activities ☝🏼🤓
Spicebush Swallowtail (left) and Red-Spotted Purple (right)
I’ve been in the process of cleaning my coyote skull since I posted this beautifully witchy photoshoot last autumn. And by “in the process,” I mean mainly letting mother nature do her reliable work, because I stay away from these things until they’re clean enough to not make me wanna gag while in close proximity to them (I’m just a girl with a weird hobby, I’m not a girl with a stomach of steel).
Well, the time finally came last month, after the long, cold winter began to thaw off, and I retrieved this perfect specimen from my…um…specimen bucket.
Yeah, okay, I hear it. And I know how it sounds.
But listen, this was a donation from mygrampawho found a dead coyote. So really, I’m just doing the respectable work of appreciating the good lawd’s creatures, even after their death.
It’s official, as of 5:45am on March 14th I’m out of my Caamp’s 26 year, and into my Passenger’s 27 year.
So although at 26 I did not get married just for kicks (and move out to Alaska way up there), at 27 I do know that I don’t know how to please everybody all of the time, ’cause everybody’s always fucking changing their minds.
(and if you haven’t heard either of these songs…I’m sorry, but it’s time you enlighten yourself)
I kinda wanted to buy some number candles for the occasion, but then I thought that I could just make something for free…so I did
Technically I started making this quilt when I started on the fam’s quilts…last spring.
I just finished it a couple weeks ago.
But to be fair, I have definitely not been steadily working on it. In fact the butterfly squares sat antennae-less in a drawer for many months completely untouched (but not forgotten), just waiting for me to pull them out again.
Last year I was given a pile of old gardening magazines; I didn’t have a plan for what I’d do with them, but I held onto them because I just had a feeling that they’d come in handy at some point.
It took a while, but I was right.
believe it or not, these millions of scraps of paper were somewhat organized
It finally happened: I painted my deer skull, and ‼spoiler alert‼ it came out better than I imagined it would.
I’ve been talking about this project for a hot minute, but it was just too much for me to seriously think about for a while. I was scared to jump into it prematurely and ruin it (it’s not like I have an unlimited amount of skulls here — all of mine are very special and meaningful to me).
the gold detailing really brought the project to life
I didn’t have the idea to make any Halloween items for my shop until super recently, so yes, it’s too late to actually have any of them for this year’s holiday. But I figured that the real Halloween stans wouldn’t care.
I keep my Christmas lights up ’til March, so I’m not here to judge other people’s favorite holidays, or how long you choose to celebrate them for ✌🏼
I haven’t made any pillows in a few months, ever since I listed the first ones in my shop, but I’m back in the zone and I have a million ideas (winter/Christmas ones are next, but I also want to do some more non-seasonal ones: dogs, cats, seashells, mushrooms, etc.).
The newest additions to my shop are extra festive — two Santa Claus sweaters have been added, and they’re super warm, heavy, and cozy for all the cold days heading our way!
Both of them are sewn from thrifted cotton blankets and they have a true classic Christmas™ vibe to them.
The first one is super vintage-y with this doll-like Santa, holly down the front, and gold/black/white fringe.
To say that my creativity has been flowing lately would be an understatement — I’ve been having so much fun making things for my own enjoyment (Christmas quilts for me and my family!), and for my shop.