piles of bones

Marc Jacobs store window

 Mario Sorrenti for Vogue Nippon 

catacombs

standing on a pile of bones

bone jewelry

bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones

Delfina Delettrez's hand bone jewelry—quite exquisite, I must say—definite statement pieces but not something one would wear everyday.

More casual and for daily wear, the anatomy collection by Lady Grey is unpretentious yet "strike up conversation" worthy indeed. 

For bones with a tad more bling, Turkish jewelry designer Alp Sagnak created a bone bracelet bedazzled with rubies and diamonds. Loving the broken bone clasp.

Not willing to invest in the bone jewelry fad quite yet?—craft up this clay bone and eyeball necklace yourself! I'm sure you will get the same amount of attention wearing this as you would one in precious metal... plus you could say you made it!

bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones bones

Maker Faire NYC

This past weekend was Maker Faire here in New York and Saturday I volunteered my crafting services as part of the Martha Stewart team. I didn't know what to expect but I was surely pleased to be surrounded by many different types of makers and people that were just interested in how things are made. Inspiring!

The crafters from Martha gathered together to demo a few Halloween ideas from the October issue of Living. I was designated to work on one of my favorite pieces from the story which was the ginormous bone! It's really not complicated to make and although the size makes it seem unmanageable, it is lightweight and uses few supplies.

 The armature of the structure is completely made of newspaper and masking tape. A few pieces of newspaper are rolled together on a slight diagonal to create a long tube, which will be the bone's length, the Diaphysis or shaft of the bone. Crinkled and twisted pieces of newspaper are then taped around the roll to  make it thicker. Newspaper balls are taped to both ends to resemble the Epiphysis, the bone's bulbous ends. 

Once the skeleton of the bone is made, Rigid Wrap is used to stabilize it and make it hard. Rigid Wrap is a cast material that used to be used to set broken bones. It is a gauze-like fabric with plaster powder embedded in it, that, when dipped in water can be molded. If you remember, I used it last Halloween to make my parrot headpiece.

For the big bones, we wet small strips of the Rigid Wrap and wrapped them around the newspaper structure. The Rigid Wrap is smoothed out by rubbing the plaster more into the fabric when it's wet. To make the bone sturdy and firm, about two layers are needed. It hardens fairly quickly, particularly fast in the heat of the day!

 With the many eager young makers willing to get their hands dirty—the weekend ended was a pile of bones! We plan to use all the bones made at Maker Faire on Martha's TV set for the days leading up to Halloween, so be sure to keep an eye out for them.

 
 Thank you to everyone who participated in helping set our bones!

turquoise ends summer

Thanks Tish & Spooky

for the Manic Panic summer–

Hello Autumn

Organic peppers from Martha's garden. 

Ashley turns 30!

On Friday night, we threw a surprise party for Ashley's Birthday. It was an utter surprise success! Yay!

And what's a party without something handmade?! Of course! I crafted something special for the big day—a chalkboard paint banner that read "Happy 30th Ashley". It hung across the bar's brick wall and can be reused for next party we throw. 

Learn how I made it on thecraftsdept blog here.

Okay, enough about crafting... Happy Birthday Ashley! The BIG 30!!

Ashley has thousands of photos, both film and digital, that he has shot over the past 15 years. So many good self portraits, too many amazing ones...

but I favor the silly ones...

and the jumping ones of course...

and the ones that are more than a decade old now...

I recently found these black and white photos I took of Ashley when he was 17—that makes me either 14 or 15 years old. Crazy how time flies and how I was tickled back then to be in his presence (and in his bedroom) and how I still am today, almost 15 years later.

I love you Ashley pants. ox

bedside box

After using chalkboard paint for a couple different projects, I decided I liked the medium not just for its initial purpose but for just as a matte black paint. I went home after work one day and looked for something to revamp and black out. On my bedside table, I keep an old metal bread box to throw knick knacks in and I never liked the horrible blue color it was. This was the most perfect item to paint black and affix a skull and crossbones!

Park Slope Parrot

Ashley emailed me these photos the other morning of one of the locals eating the fruit from the tree in his backyard. For those of you who didn't know, Brooklyn has a large flock of wild parrots. Occasionally, they drop by the slope and forage for what few fresh treats they can find. It's pretty amazing to be able to watch parrots eat, play, fly and squawk right here in the boroughs. It's extraordinary that they have been able to build a community in such a harsh environment and have been able to reproduce and survive for so long.

There is a whole website dedicated to these Brooklyn parrots, properly named Brooklyn Parrots.com! Here's a little video they put together about NYC's green feathered friends...

tree printing

Bryan Nash Gill creates the most marvelous tree cross-section prints. 

Each print is produced in a traditional block printing method. 

The slab of wood is rolled evenly with ink.

With a handcrafted piece of washi paper placed over the inked wood, Bryan uses his fingers to hand burnish and transfer the ink onto the paper.

Each growth ring and section of the wood is imprinted to the paper arduously and Bryan's skilled fingertips don't miss a mark.

The crisp quality, exquisite detail and the uniqueness of each individual print captures the life of the tree, it's patterned cycles and beautiful texture.

I wish I could stare into these is person everyday—the combination of art and nature is overwhelmingly nailed in every one of his prints and I just love them.

Perfect organic elegance.

prints available at ashes & milk

2 ships. 2 anchors.

My newly treasured piece of jewelry by Flotsam and Jetsam designer, Rebekah Harris, reminds me of The Goonies everyday . 

While combing through Ashley's neckties this weekend, we came across some abandon ships—a vintage tie Ashley forgot he had.

I hadn't been to Red Hook in a while to notice the awesomely anchored trash receptacles.

Please wrap me this SeaBlanket immediately—weigh me down so I never have to get out of bed—I love it!

Ships need anchors!