On Fire For Handmade

A big thanks to the folks over at On Fire For Handmade for recognizing this blog for their blog award on February 18th.

Many-many thanks for this recognition!

Rummage A Rama, February 23rd 2013

I had such fun recording oddities and fascinations from my various market forays last summer, I decided to do it again for 2013. This was from my first real outing of the year yesterday (between being sick, the weather, and doing shows on the weekends, this was my first real opportunity.) These are from Rummage-A-Rama, a monthly market held in the Wisconsin Products Pavilion at Wisconsin State Fair Park in Milwaukee (West Allis).

It's not a big event, but the two times that I've attended with my lovely sidekick, it has taken us a couple of hours of leisurely perusing most of the booths to finish. There's a fair number of non-vintagey vendors (home party candle/cosmetic sales, boxes of dollar store flotsam, etc), but enough old stuff to justify the $2 (with non-perishable donation) admission price.

A friend of mine is a big Catwoman fan, so I had to get a couple of shots of a Mego Catwoman figure for her... 

 ...which then led to a shot of Mego Riddler figure for another friend (note the array of Mego shwag in this booth.)

My aforementioned partner is posing with his favorite from the bunch, a 1979 Mego Walking Twiki (want to see one in action?)

Ever wish you could emulate the sartorial stylings of Howard Wolowitz? Now you can! At 3 for 4 bucks! As Howard's mother (who obviously dresses him) would say, "Waht a Barhgain!"

(and yes, if you look carefully in the upper left corner of the shot, you can see Confederate Battle Flag bedsheets. No...really. Confederate. Battle. Flag. Bedsheets. Seriously.)

Antique creepy wall-mountable figurines of the clones emerging from their plant pods.

 
Before your brain goes right to the gutter, these were swank-looking mass-market doll house items. The sneaky photo (the vendor was glaring at me after the pod people shot, so I had to make it quick) that I tried to take of the actual furniture turned out very poorly, but about mid-way through this blog entry by Grimdeva, you can see several examples.

Hands down the oddest item of the day:

This is a 3-D sort of semi-taxidermy (that's real fur and leather) art assemblage portrait of a man who looks like he's died of exposure. I have no explanation for this whatsoever.

Frozen Charlotte

 It's been ages since I made a treasury, so it was high time that I did. What better subject for a cold winter's day but Frozen Charlotte?



Frozen Charlotte is a name used to describe a specific form of china doll made from c. 1850 to c. 1920. The name comes from the American folk ballad "Fair Charlotte", which tells of a young girl called Charlotte who refused to wrap up warmly to go on a sleigh ride and froze to death during the journey.



(More folk renderings may be found on Asmoen's YouTube channel)

Belatedly Windy

 I *finally* had a few spare moments to post on Etsy some of the pieces that I did for WindyCon 33 back in November. This year's theme was "Zombies!". While I had a lot of fun at the art show, things were a bit slower than usual due to Chicago having been the host city for World Con in August. For more information about the pieces shown, click on the photos for a link to their Etsy listings or visit my shop.

 

 

All items in my Etsy shop are on sale through Saturday, December 15th 

http://moiracoon.etsy.com/

Holy Hill Art Farm Market, October 20-21

Busily getting ready for the Holy Hill Art Farm Market on October 20th and 21st!

The site of the market was originally the Loosen Family Homestead, a 160 year old - 80 acre property  located in the heart of the Wisconsin Kettle Moraine. The farm has been transformed into a unique destination where creativity and inspiration flow within this beautiful country setting. In addition to the markets, the site is used for arts classes, weddings, and other events throughout the year.

 The Holy Hill Art Farm Market is just down the road from the Holy Hill Basilica. As you can see in this postcard, the region is utterly gorgeous in the autumn. (This is the same cathedral that had the flea market on it's grounds a few months ago)




This is the second year (and the October dates will be the 4th market weekend) for this unique marketplace The market will feature artists and farmers presenting their goods in a natural setting. Some of the art mediums include:

* Paintings
* Drawings
* Photography
* Sculptures
* Pottery
* Glass
* Wood
* Metal
* Garden
* Jewelry
* Fabric

Additionally, there will be antiques vendors, as well as regional farmers and food vendors presenting their wares.

I'm very excited about this show. Not only is it in a completely gorgeous setting, it's just a week and a half before Halloween (so, yes, I'll be bringing all of my morbid Victorian bits).

Look for me under the loft in the main art barn! (shown here in wedding reception mode)

Columbus Antique Mall 08/26/2012

On Sunday I trekked up to Columbus, Wisconsin for an expedition to the Columbus Antique Mall with the Milwaukee Steampunk Society (and various folks from other  steam-ish contingents). Great place, huge and kind of overwhelming. It’s the largest antiques mall in Wisconsin.

I needed to bow out early because my allergies were driving me crazy (Dust and mold are my Kyrptonite) and I was exhausted (late night and up at 6 a.m. to make the drive), but I probably would have lasted much longer with the help of Claritin and sleep. I only have a few shots from this trip due to my early departure. I only managed to make it through 4 1/2 rooms on one floor, so there was SO much more that I missed. I really wish that I could have soldiered on, since I didn't even check out the 1893 Columbian Exhibition items in the museum.

Bring on the weird highlights!

 Awesome mechanical pachinko machine that was marked down to $50. It was obviously in need of a great deal of repair, but it would have made a great project for those so inclined.

 That’s a bit more…er…graphic…than usual.

 Sometimes, I see things that need to come live in my cube at the office…if only for the purpose of confusing my coworkers. This Elvis shrine is a prime example.

 Little Emily was a danger to herself and others, so precautions has to be made.

 This is downright creepy and would make for an excellent art component. Not at $55, though.

Now that I’m firmly skidding into middle age, I suppose that my days of carrying a lunchbox as a handbag are behind me, eh? Pity.

While NIU will not publicly admit to the existence of these creatures, each year several freshmen are devoured by the Maize Minions when they’ve wandered into the fields surrounding DeKalb during the blood harvest….

Ginger is uncomfortable with the political incorrectness of the vintage action figure.

Nifty quarantine sign. I wonder if this would stop people from standing on my patio to yell conversations up to my neighbors on their balcony?

I really should have picked this up.  It’s a promo shot of the Addams Family cast in a Halloween setting. Framed for $9.75

 This actually DID come home with us. My partner is a bit of a Sid and Marty Krofft fan...

 Last…and definitely the oddest...item of the day:  A cast iron advertising bank for a laxative product, depicting a large “mammy” character on a toilet. Seriously. I have no words.