Happy New Year

"Never the old year passes
Never the New Year begins
When someone thinks of someone
Good times, great times
Old friends........."

Happy 2009 everyone! Think pink!










May peace, joy, and prosperity be yours throughout this coming new year.

Prince Poppycock

As we prepare for our upcoming parties, it is important to celebrate them in style. Whether it is the Masque Ball you are attending, an affair at the French Manoir, or Orchid's wedding on the Gold Coast remember that we like this randy dandy very much: http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnQuale . Find a short article on this beguiling fellow here: http://coilhouse.net/2008/01/18/the-dirty-rococo-of-prince-poppycock/
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If you find you like him, too, and you just can't get enough ostentatious silliness in your life then feel free to crash our perpetual parties. Visit: http://catcara.livejournal.com/ to hear us chat about what pretty panniers to wear and what pouffy poodles to drag along.

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Even Orchid doesn't know that I plan to bring my pink poodle to her wedding. Want to bring yours?

Caesar

When it came time for the nostalgic super charged race car to be painted, I had one word: Ceasar. "Get Ceasar to do it," I said.
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Ceasar is my favorite air brush artist. I fell in love the instant I saw an image which too strongly resembled Orchid on the mammoth hood of a tractor trailer. "Who did that?" I wailed in awe. "Who around here can fucking paint like that?"
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"Ceasar." My husband told me. "Only Ceasar."
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Watch Ceasar and his co-workers in action here: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2292265 . When you lust for your ride to be painted, contact them here: http://www.cycledelics.com/ .

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The image shown here is a retro French postcard; Ceasar Santos could do that in a heartbeat.

Sunset in the Keys

Last year at this time, this was our view.

Victorian Street Scene

Think of this as a Christmas gift to all of you from one of my friends on the journal.
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Step back in time to Victorian London and enjoy watching the bird hats, horsehair skirts, and clip-clopping horses in action.

Cramp Us

This is a joke. I wanted to tell you, "Don't Krampus style" . Meaning: we like what we do. An aside to all our fans: I'm glad you do, too.

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I've been working on getting Doug ready for the Masque Ball; he still needs horns.

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I'm sorry, this is a doll world joke, but everyone always asks me what I'm working on. Follow the fun a little bit closer by listening in at the livejournal: http://catcara.livejournal.com/ .

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When you've found another graphic that looks like this one, you've found the recent additions to my stash of music that you can listen to.

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Krampus is Santa's helper. I've been telling you to be very good, haven't I? See more vintage European Krampus postcards set to music here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_uUr7r1iyY

Bird Hat

We were discussing hats. Good hats, bad hats, bird hats.
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We agreed that this is a very good bird hat.

Idiots

I didn't call them that. They call themselves that.

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If you can find it in your heart to forgive and are able to tolerate beautiful recycled taxidermy visit: http://www.idiots.nl/

Vamp with Santa

Ho, ho, ho !

Veils Unveiled

Thank you dear friend for passing this to me. Yes, you were right, I completely loved it.

http://stylefrizz.com/200801/swarovskis-unbridaled-the-marriage-of-tradition-and-avant-garde/

Masque Ball Masks

I didn't make these, although, I suppose I could have. The Masque Ball approaches, and all of us need to decide what we would like to wear to the Ball.

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If your grandmother can't tell you, perhaps your friends have some advice.

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Which one suits Orchid best?

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Follow our Masque Ball preparations here:

http://catcara.livejournal.com .

Merry Christmas!

May this season be merry and bright. And, may all your Christmases be white.

Tiny Reindeer

American icon and Pulitzer prize winning author John Updike has put together a concise holiday volume entitled, "The Twelve Terrors of Christmas".
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Amongst the Twelve Terrors, he lists 'tiny reindeer'.
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The tiniest reindeer in the world exist on Deer Key on the outermost southern edge of America in the wilds of the Conch Republic. The remotely located Conch Republic does not consider itself part of America, and, it therefore not only makes up its own rules, the independent barrier reef of Conch Republic has no rules.
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Which is one of the reasons we love it so much.
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As one travels through the Republic by automobile, one is, however, admonished, "Do not run over one of the fucking miniature deer. You do not EVER want to do that here. Just remember: while you are here, it is better to kill a person than one of the fucking deer. Slow down to a crawl when on Deer Key. Remember that, and you'll be fine."
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As I read Updike's book today, I thought, "Ohmygod. And THIS is why we crept along at five miles an hour ?"
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In addition to their razor sharp toenails, tiny deer have "Fur possibly laden with disease bearing ticks."

Kittie of theGoddess

We loves kitties.

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TheGoddess has some very magnificent ones.

Puck

The time of the eagerly awaited Masque Ball approaches. Our talk has turned to party crashing Satyrs and evenings of revelry.

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As Orchid wends her way through the Masque Ball trailing clouds of silk faille, this horny fellow must have caught sight of Precious nestled against Orchid's chest.

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Appropriately, he is named: "Puck".

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Yes, that does rhyme, doesn't it?

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When you look at him, you feel your own lust for tiny jeweled dragons rise. You look around and realize that tiny jeweled dragons abound. You wonder: how come you don't have one?

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Before your lust and your jealousy become uncontained, visit theDragonQueen's lair at: http://www.cforiginals.com/ to perhaps acquire your very own.

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Find your way to the Masque Ball here: http://catcara.livejournal.com/ . Make the right friends there, and you will surely be invited.

Chocolate Kama Sutra

It's past midnight and while visions of sugar plums dance in most people's heads, this is what's filling mine.

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Wow. Chocolate. Now, that's some good eatin'.

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If I find out from my LiveJournal friends who actually made this piece of chocolate, I will let you know. I believe that Doug's mother, who is on LiveJournal, received it for her birthday.

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I am posting it here to invite you to share the LiveJournal experience with us.

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Where, as you can see, friends, family and fans are all very intimately linked. Visit: http://catcara.livejournal.com/ and join us for a very good time.

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Postscript: My LiveJournal friends have decided that my good friends should not go hungry. They found this to satisfy your appetite: http://www.chocolate.org/misc/chocolate-kamasutra.html

Spiderbear

We live in the woods. Dense thorney thickets and tall imposing oak trees surround us. We joke in our neighborhood: be nice, or be eaten.
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Spiderbears don't scare me because, in our dark and forbidding neighborhood, we are all too used to such things. High on our hill, we hear them scrunching through the woods all the time. We feed them.
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MyHusband and I love this creature; I am hoping that A.D., the great and grand bear master, will decide to breed them.
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http://surbrook.devermore.net/superpics/beasts/spiderbear.html

Dog Cake

As curious sculptors, more than one of us have tried different sculpting mediums at one time or another. One day, it might be a different variety of clay which has caught our attention. On another occasion it might be wood. When I was a child, I would sculpt soap or potatoes if clay wasn't available.
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A number of us who sculpt and who like to cook (this leaves me out), have tried cake.

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Elisa is one of my idols; she has taken a passion for cooking, imbued it with her talent in art, with the result being "Confetti Cakes": scrumptious looking designer cake which Manhattanites beg to buy.
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Only on our island's darkly decadent north shore would one find a life size candied dog's head proudly enshrined in the dining room china cabinet of a manor house. For a moment, I thought I was visiting Stephen in DarkHouseQuarter. You can find Stephen's house here: http://www.darkhousequarter.com . When I saw Joey's head, I knew I had to share the experience with you.
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View the creation of Joey's body, here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOyibd6tDvo and wish for a dog cake of your own; for a price, one can be arranged. Elisa can be found at http://www.confetticakes.com/ .

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Party hardy this holiday season; enjoy.

Let the Right One In

Now out in movie version.
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If you loved Twilight, this is the film you really should see. Yes, think Twilight, only think: much better.
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Now, how good is that?

Sunrise Sunset

Sunset, in case you couldn't tell. Completely unaltered and unretouched: a photograph of our back yard.

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You can see where I get my love of midnight black silhouettes from.

Southhampton Press Coverage

Ohmygod! Here's Orchid in the Southhampton Press: http://www.27east.com/calendar.cfm?eventid=5544 .
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Mark your calendars for when she will appear once again at the UFDC show for 2009 on Sunday, January 11th. Details and location are in the article.
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If you look on the blog here, under "March 2008, Thank You Jericho", you will see one of the photographs of Orchid which I had rather the Southhampton Press used for the internet.

Simon Yotsuya

"If you taught me how to sculpt, then who taught you?" someone asked me one day.

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I said with a shrug, "My mother? I started at four years old with PlayDoh. Perhaps, no one taught me."

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Certainly, I grew up with no great love of dolls. I never even knew that the figures I'd made for my whole life were dolls. I made them because I could. I made them move because Barbie couldn't.

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Thinking of that, I decided to follow up on the name which was given as Akagi Shigure's inspiration: doll master, Simon Yotsuya.

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You can find Simon's work here: http://www.simon-yotsuya.net/oeuvre/galerie0.htm Be sure to click on the little square Japanese worded boxes along the bottom of the page; there is quite alot to see.

Akagi Shigure

A Japanese doll artist with a decidedly modern bent. For those who always ask, "How tall?" The answer in this case is: lifesize.

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Enjoy this article on him here: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.otaku2.com/images/article_pic/content/1216824227-AkagiDoll2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.otaku2.com/articleView.php%3Fitem%3D103&usg=___U7cYPg2kkCGi3g-SZmrrRyRv14=&h=394&w=580&sz=138&hl=en&start=98&tbnid=ZlXoiykckOI2IM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dball%2Bjointed%2Bdoll%2Bblog%26start%3D90%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ACAW_enUS298US299%26sa%3DN

Prima Donna

The conversation went something like this:
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"Did we decide who she's marrying yet? We said, 'Doug', right?"
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I said, "Well, that's the way that we're leaning. We effectively have two gorgeous guys and two gorgeous tuxedos."
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My friend said, "Awwwww, errrr. I don't know....."
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I said, "What's the problem?"

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She said, "How well would the marriage work?" I said, "What do you mean? You pick a gorgeous guy and the marriage works fine. We had issues with Alabaster and wanted her to have a choice. So, she has a choice. What's the problem?"
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My friend said, "Well, I've seen the pictures of him. The problem is this: what would a marriage between prima donnas be like? I mean: he's a bigger prima donna than she is."
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To continue the conversation and add your own comments, visit the LiveJournal at: http://catcara.livejournal.com .

A Gothic Romance

Dim the lights, sip red wine, and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb7Pyi9cNAw&feature=related

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Victoria´s Secret Fashion Show 2008 - The Best Of!!! - The funniest videos are a click away

For those of us who like wings and fashion, this is an enjoyable treat each holiday season. Straight men and gay lesbians seem to like it, too. Go figure.

This short slide presentation is even better than the longer television variety. Brew up some hot cider, leave the sound on, and enjoy.

Calendar

January 2008
UFDC Doll Fanciers Show
wewon wewon wewon wewon ohmygod wewon the triple! AGAIN!!!!

February 2008
Magum Opus, downtown New York
Yes, we would have done the show this year. Last year's show was very lovely. However, Magnum Opus was cancelled for this year by the show promoters.

March 2008
'Gallery 4222' , Port Jeff
Exhibition of 'Bebe' photographs by Richard Gardner. 'Bebe' is the photographic exhibiton of my work and my collaborative work with A.D. . The photographs by Richard Gardner are stunning. You are all invited to attend the opening reception at the gallery on March 15th. To preview the work, visit http://www.richardgardnerphotography.com/ .

April 2008
Jericho Public Library Jericho, New York
I was asked to be the three-dimensional artist for National Library Month. So far, we're planning on doing "The Lore of the Unicorn", "The Little Mermaid", "The Book in the Attic", and "Alice in Wonderland". Things change, as things will, but it should be a very lovely show and I hope that everyone will really try to get over there to see it. The show will begin on April 1st and run for the entire month of April. It's easy access on the main floor with no stairs or elevators, and you may view it any time the library is open.

Friday evening, April 10th 2008
Meet us in the city at theDragonQueen's book signing.
1-800-9-SCULPT for more information.

Sunday, April 13th 2008
Doll Study Club Show
on Merrick Avenue, just south of Hempstead Tpke.
I plan to attend, but will not be "showing"; Orchid is busy at Jericho.

Friday, April 26th 2008
Foto Foto Gallery
Artist's Reception for Richard Gardner
5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

July 2008
July 12th 2008
LICG members' picnic http://www.licg.org/

August 2008
Cradle of Aviation Car Show
Weekend of Aug 23rd, 24th, 25th
http://www.cradleofaviation.org/

September 2008
BJD Convention
Austin, Texas
http://bjdctexas.com/main.html
If you're in Austin, Texas around September 18th, maybe you want to hit this dollie convention which parties on for several days. I've cleaned out Orchid's closet and sent some Little Cow Harbor goodies to Val Zeitler just in time for an early Halloween. Be sure to visit Val's Rag Patch at the convention.

October 2008
Harborfields
"The Frog Prince"
Orchid and Alabaster will be on display for the entire month of October.
Actually, the frog will be on display for the first half of the month and Alabaster will be there the second half of the month. The frog changes to the prince, and the entire display changes with it. Meaning: You will need to go twice to see the transformation and entire exhibit.
Harborfields, Greenlawn, New York
http://www.harborfieldslibrary.org/

December 2008
"Azul"
FotoFoto Gallery
Running through December 21st at http://www.fotofotogallery.com/ . Visit Richard Gardner here: http://www.richardgardnerphotography/ for a preview of the show and read more about it on this blog in the November 2008 entry entitled "Azul".

January 2009
"The Little Mermaid"
"Alice in Wonderland" (?)
UFDC Doll Fanciers Show
http://www.ufdc.org/

September 2009
"Orchid Goes Oriental"
This time, see her in a kimono. Orchid and Azul, the blue haired Asian girl, will be on display for the entire month of September.
Plainview-Old Bethpage, Plainview, New York
http://www.poblib.org/

January 2010
"Orchid's Wedding"
Save the date! :)
UFDC Doll Fanciers Show
http://www.ufdc.org/