Saturday morning Java Jive

As long as I'm on my old timey music kick: 

More Django et Stephane.

LOVE THIS!!!!! http://popup.lala.com/popup/937030201816471128

And so it begins....

Now I've got to wait for this section to dry before shifting to the next.....

EDIT: For those not up to speed, the design was inspired by an early 17th century tsuba. I think I'm going to skip the cherry blossoms. Not that they're not lovely, but they connote a specific season. If I leave them off, this garment will be seasonless and I can wear it when I like.

The back of the kosode is stencilled and I will finish tomorrow. The light up here in the garret is pretty much gone for the day and it's hard to see the metallic paint against the shimmery silk (this photo does NOT do it justice) under my work light.

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Thanks to danabren  for the special surprises I found in my mailbox today.
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Random Christmas memories of some of those must have toys of my childhood, 'cause those Chinese hamster things are just kind of creepy.

Anybody here old enough to have played with Ideal's Petite Princess doll house? The house itself was cardboard sheathed in vinyl, but the furniture was pretty amazing. Pink satin bedroom suite, including a chaise longue, White piano and grandfather clock, red "velvet" flocked dining room  pieces. 

My younger sister collected trolls. I seem to recall they had some sort of house too.

Fun Flowers and Creepy Crawlers?  I'm kind of surprised we never managed to burn ourselves or the rest of the house down.

We went through all the classic board games too. Candyland. Sorry, Parcheesi, Life. Monopoly. And of course Moustrap. What was not to love about Mousetrap! 

Good shopping karma

The other day vittoriosa had discovered J. Peterman and found a bargain on their last pre-Christmas sale day, which was over by the time I saw her post. I first became aware of them through mermaid_lady awhile back. Now, the fact is my workplace generally require a wardrobe that can go from the front desk to dumpster diving for packing materials to giving someone a lift to the airport or ferrying a service van to the repair shop. My social life being what it is, I rarely have a need or opportunity to dress things up. Lastly, budget being what it is and Peterman's prices being what they are, I can't rationalize spending a lot of money on things I can't wear often, and their clearance selection generally are not in sizes that would fit me. That does not mean that I would not occasionally like to look like a movie star, 'kay? I'm also in the market for a better sleeping bag for this year's Estrella and I'm currently researching brands and prices on the internet. And I ended up on eBay. And I thought, what the heck, let's search on "Peterman" just for grins.  I found an eBay seller called Closeout Clothier and they had Peterman's "Italian Starlet Dress." In my size. In a color that will look good on me. For 1/3 of what it originally retailed for.     It is now mine. And I have a few months to figure out where I'm going to wear it.