Latest Happenings at Skull Mansion and Surrounding Metropolitan Areas

How is everyone doing this fine Halloween week?  We are doing pretty well here at Skull Mansion (for the record, there are a few skulls in our house, mostly belonging to Felix, and by mansion I obviously mean town house).  Aside from having a few events planned last week, I mostly didn't get dressed or leave the house.  What can I say?  It was just one of those weeks in which I chose to wear my pajamas and feel kind of sick and sorry for myself.  This week is way better!

Things have been transforming around here.  A couple weekends ago I transformed basic pantry goods into glorious sugar skull cookies!





I am super dooper proud of these, you guys.  Of course, I didn't just go for it and have these guys magically appear.  I may or may not have spent a couple days reading blogs of people who make fancy cookies and picking up tips like woah.  Tips like when making piping frosting, wrap your blob of frosting in plastic wrap, then put it in your piping bag.  When you're done, you just pull the plastic wrapped part out of the piping bag and have no piping bag mess to clean up.  Boom!  I didn't explain that well, but there are videos on the internets explaining this business.  Also, I spent a whole day making these.  I baked in the morning, spent at least an hour getting the frosting ready, and then it took probably 5 hours to decorate them.  Felix helped, and I think you can tell which ones are his.  Josh also helped with the last few, and he was a natural who did not spend days reading tips.  Of course.



Another tip was to store your piping bags in a mug with a wet paper towel at the bottom to keep them from crusting up when not in use.  It made for a pretty clean up!  Also all the food coloring makes for beautiful spit later when you brush your teeth, even if it's been several hours since you consumed a cookie.

We're having a Halloween party this Saturday, and that usually means our same group of friends come over and hang out only in costumes.  I've been pretty lame about decorating every year we've done it, but this year I wanted some spooky pizazz up in here.  I made a bunch of Martha Stewart bats, and they're hanging all over casting spooking shadows and driving my cats crazy.



Spooky!  I'll get pictures of the actual bats when I'm done cleaning up and spook pimping the place.



I'm also making good use of a package of spider webs.  Also note the mouse!  There are Martha Stewart mice scurrying all over.  Driving the cats crazy.







And this guy is hanging on the door again.



Felix transformed into a butt face, which we knew was bound to happen any day.



I transformed my dirty, dirty hair into this giant dirty hair mountain to go to a concert last Thursday.  I know I probably shouldn't make myself several inches taller when people need to see past me, but I have suffered so hard behind tall dudes at shows lately that I decided not to care if I was part of the problem.  All the tallest dudes are blocking views, and now so is my tall hair.  And lest you think I go to bed fabulous, this is what I looked like when I took it out later that night.



Not pictured is the 15 minutes I spent in the shower the next day combing knots out of my conditioner saturated fro.  Why do all the best hair do's later involve me crying in the shower?

Ok, that's enough transformations for the day.  Today's plan involves shipping wallets and further spookifying my residence.  What are you guys being for Halloween?  I'll be posting my reveal soon!

Pumpkin Patching

It's that time of year where we go to the pumpkin patch to pet goats again!



Before you ask, no, this goat is not possessed by the devil himself, but I did catch her at a very awkward moment.



My favorite thing about these goat shots is Chainsaw in the background.  He definitely suffers from Resting Bitch Face and usually looks like a grumpy Gus in pictures unless I tell him to smile OR ELSE.  But look how dang happy he is to be feasting his eyes upon this goat (and her kids!).  He did tell me that he would love to have a pet goat.  Awww.



I also petted some sheep!  Someone had their giant dog (I think it was a German Shepherd, if my memory serves), and it was having a great time sheep sniffing.  It was super cute, sticking its head in the fence, trying to get a good sniff.  I'm pretty sure it wanted to play with them so baaaaad (please read that in a sheep voice!).  And then some older guy was walking by with his family and said, "Baa ram ewe!"  So I had to complete it by saying, "to your fleece, your flock, be true!"  It was a beautiful moment, I tell you.



Gravity has been very hard on my boobies, ya'll.



And here is Jezebel Lincoln being spooky next to our beautiful little pumpkin from the patch.  I also bought a gigantor pumpkin from the grocery store because I can't afford to blow all my Halloween doubloons at the pumpkin patch.

I have not been feeling so good this week.  I slept until 11:15 the other morning after getting up at 6:30 and getting Felix off to school and then going back to bed.  Yesterday I took Felix to the doctor to get his gnarly cough checked out, Thursday we're going to a concert (after two nights out in the last week!), and Friday I have to take Jezebel back to the vet for more shots (so she's going to hate me again!).  And then next week is Halloween.  Also my oven broke again last night mid pizza baking and ruined my life.  I want to rent a cabin in the woods all by myself for a week where I can hide out and sew and draw pictures and take naps and baths.

Day of the Dead Bag for my Sister

I left a box of HB with my youngest sister, Alyssa, this summer after the Festival in the Park, and she proved herself to be a professional part time HB saleslady.  I offered to pay her for her work, but she requested a custom bag and wallet (and I think I gave her some other stuff at the time as well)!  She came to visit in August and requested a bag made with some Day of the Dead fabric I have.  I didn't have very much of it, and it's mostly off white.  Off white doesn't do too well in cotton bag land.  It gets wicked dirty.  So I bought some black suede cloth at JoAnn's to use as a base for the bag.



I appliquéd some dead people on it, and it turned out pretty darn awesome.







Pardon the blurriness of this inside shot, but I am so dang proud of that inset zipper pocket.  This is the prettiest one I've ever made.  Truth:  I've only made a few.  The one on my laptop bag is super ugly.  I wouldn't have even made one, but those pockets were specifically requested.



I wasn't sure how the suede cloth would hold up to wallet making.  It's not supposed to be ironed, which sucks when you want shit to look cleanly made.  I am technically a known follower of rules.  I don't like dealing with the consequences, but in this case the consequences would be that I ruined an 8 inch square of fabric that I bought on sale.  It was a risk I was willing to take.  So I ironed it on a fairly low heat setting with a piece of regular cotton on top for protection.  I think it shrunk a smidge, but it worked out so well I ended up making a couple more of these babies immediately afterwards.



I love that surprise lady inside!  Subsequent wallets made with this stuff did not have the inside lady so my sister can still feel special.

Now I just need to find the right packaging to get this mailed out before she goes crazy and shows up demanding her bag.

Shop Update!

Hello everybody!

I made a bunch of new small and long wallets over the weekend.  Some of them are for sale at Curating the Cool in downtown Lafayette, but these guys have been listed in my etsy shop.

Long Wallets:


Small Wallets:


Plus more that didn't fit in the collage or were a few odd man out phone wallets.  Check them out, and don't forget that Hot Butter makes an excellent holiday gift (if you're one of those people who are already Christmas shopping- Hi Mom!).

I'll be back soon with pictures of some fun projects I've been working on for gifts!



Celebratory dranks time!  I bought this Shaq soda this weekend and haven't gotten around to trying it.  I'm thinking today is the day, yo.

October Updates

I had a doctor's appointment this morning that I had to leave for not long after Felix leaves to catch his bus, which meant I had to get up 30 minutes earlier than usual to shower.  I don't know how you grownups do this stuff.  I swear my shower took longer than usual due to fuzzy brain, and I didn't even shave my legs or anything!  Oh well.  I'm home, clean, and the day has just begun.

This weekend Felix and I went to the fall Horseshoe Market to load up on soap and salted caramel.  You know, important stuff.  My favorite Clean Getaway soap is Sassafras, for the record.  And my favorite salted caramel is ALL OF IT.  In my mouth, yo!

We went to Bella Frida in Louisville for first Friday.  They were having a Day of the Dad celebration (a little early!) with students with painted faces and fancy hair, a beautiful spice cake, and both henna and face painting artists.  Felix and I got some awesome henna tattoos!



Felix got a day of the dead Darth Vader, and I got an adorable owl.



Felix had to wear a short sleeve shirt today so everyone could "be jealous" of him!  Ha!

We went to Pet Smart to pick up some new cat food to hopefully cure Jezebel Lincoln of her puking disease, and Felix begged me to buy him a parakeet.  I did not, but he was so cute singing songs to the one he wanted about how he wanted to take it home.







I also got obsessed with making fancy lighters for friends.



Personal Fire Device #1: A gift for a friend with a picture of her own adorable kitty, Freya.
Personal Fire Device #2: A half birthday gift for my friend Charlie (who shares my birthday and is my twin brother from another mother from another year).  Yes, that is my face pretend eating a giant pile of the reefers.  I haven't shared much about it, but I worked for three years at a medical marijuana dispensary as a "wellness specialist," and this picture was from my last day of work.
Personal Fire Device #3:  Another ME lighter.  I'm riding a jackalope.  This one goes to my main man Chainsaw.
Personal Fire Device #4:  Bailey's bunny!  Another birthday present.

I'm pretty obsessed.  People can expect pimped out lighters with or without my face for upcoming gifts this year.  I'm sensing that there might be glitter involved!

Also, in HB news, Hot Butter is cruising around Denver in the Denver Fashion Truck.  Check it out!

Fine Art by Fine People

We didn't end up doing a whole lot while our friends were in town.  Aside from feasting, we did a lot of that, and did a good job if I may say so myself.  Not everyone was in 100% physical condition immune system-wise.  Also Katie has a long term project in the works that requires her to abstain from certain adults only activities like drinking beers or margaritas.  It's a baby project and I'm really excited that she's half done.

Anyway, she suggested we work on some animal projects yesterday, so I brought up a stack of magazines and my favorite giant, sturdy watercolor paper.  Then we went to town on ripping out pictures for potential Fine Ass Art.

We'll start with Felix, who put the serious hurt on several Cat Fancy covers.  I only requested that he keep his paws and Fiskars off my dang centerfolds.  I have big evil plans for those.  In the end, he only used one with powerful effect.



Yes it says I kill mice, and something like mrrtrre, which is obviously how the word MURDERER should be spelled.  The skull on his shirt is a mouse skull, and the other one is just a badass cat skull.

Katie's might be my favorite.  I believe she raided a 1984 copy of National Geographic featuring manatees on the cover (sooo cute!) and a Cat Fancy.  That poodle is gold.  PURE GOLD.  I tell you what.



Oh man, I can't get enough.  I edited it a little and made it look like an old timey picture.  Katie approved.  And she left it here for me because she's awesome like that.

And for mine, I used an elk basking in fiery colored fall foliage and some model from a magazine.  Boom!



Also a little butterfly action for good measure.

Ok, this post was a total life diversion from what I promised myself I'd be doing, which is going down to the basement and starting work on a few new small wallets.  I'm doing a super business-y meetup in Denver tomorrow so HB can plaster itself on Denver just a little harder.  All business, no best friends gyro meat feasts.  That last part was a lie!  Super best friends month isn't ending in September!  Remember kids, friends that gyro together stay together.

Cat Business As Usual + A Tricked Out Fire Device

I've been on a blogging break because I haven't had anything to blog about except maybe cleaning my house, and I wasn't good enough to remember to take horrifying before pictures.  So my house is clean-ish.  I'm not done, but it's looking good!

My girl Katie and her husband Rob have been visiting since last Wednesday, and we've been having an awesome time petting kitties and feasting.



Jezebel has been super lovey dovey lately.





We have also had several visits from Big Bad Bertha, also known as Bowie's cousin, instigator of all cat drama at Skull Mansion this summer.



I didn't get any super clean pictures of her because she is nonstop on the move to pet herself all over everybody and anybody.



She is so cute.  A glorious beast for sure!

Let's see, what else?



Felix caught a beetle at Waneka Lake and gave it a ride halfway around the lake.  We pet some dogs and stuff.

Today we did some super boss collage crafts.  You know, animal heads on human bodies, a little watercolor and sharpie.  The usual.  I'll share pictures of those soon, but I'll leave you with my project pride and joy.  It only took a few minutes, which makes it the best kind of project if you ask me.  You're asking, right?



Behold!  I pimped my fire.  I pimped it so hard that it now owes me a debt of gratitude for how cool it is.  That subscription to Cat Fancy is paying off in ways I never thought possible.  You can have one too if you find a sweet cat picture and simply Mod Podge it onto a PFD (personal fire device).

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has a luxurious weekend planned.




Ain't no luxury like a boulder lounger, right?  I dragged my family out for a hike on Labor Day weekend.  I read that it wasn't that hard, but it turns out that it was pretty strenuous, with something like a 1400 foot elevation gain.  We did it slow and steady and encountered a mountain rescue after someone hurt their ankle.





Totally worth it!  Anywho, my plans for the weekend including cleaning (pretty much all I've been doing this week), the library book sale tomorrow, possibly the Pirate Con (haven't quite decided if I'm up to paarrrrty), and probably more cleaning.

Today I'm meeting Laura at the airport.  It turns out our awesome friend Liz from high school is also having a Denver airport layover this afternoon, so this airport business is turning into a glorious reunion!

Sasquatch Hunting 2013 Part 3

I think this shall be my final installment of the Sasquatch series.  While it pains me to say that we did not in fact meet up with Sasquatch, we were lucky enough to encounter a variety of other creatures.  I already told you about the spawning salmon, and I'd now like to introduce you to our friendly neighborhood porch bat, Batthra.  Pronounce Bat-thra.



One afternoon we discovered that the porch had become a resting place for our nighttime bug-eating ally.  Luckily enough, Laura has two porches and two doors, so we simply started using the other one in case Batthra had rabies or some shit.  The morning after we discovered her, I checked, and she was still there.  Then sometime IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY, she left.  Whatchyoo flying in the day for, Batthra?  Probably gots the rabies.  Or else she moved to the barn in the neighbor's yard, which is what we had been telling her to do.

For my very last day in Washington, I requested a trip to the old growth forrest to see some BIG ASS trees.  The old growth forrest is just that, old and growy.  We only hiked in for a few minutes before we encountered a skronked up wasps' nest in the middle of the trail.  Laura suffered her first ever bee sting this summer, and apparently there is a such thing as ground hornets or whatever that be stinging the shit out of people who go off trail.  We decided to stop there and make do with whatever big ass trees that were in our immediate vicinity.



Here is a big ass tree.



Here's me by the big ass tree for reference.



Here are some dead big ass trees.  They call these nurse trees because there all kinds of baby trees growing out of them.



Then Laura remembered that I had pointed out some BIG ASS trees on our way home from hiking the day before, and took me to a "secret" place with giant cedars.  She works at the visitor center, and said they don't mention this place much to outsiders.  She'd never actually been there herself.  It indeed had the big ass cedars, as well as a little trail to the river.  The river here looked glorious, straight out of a fairy tale or some shit.  It was also conveniently located above Nooksack falls, the end of the road for the salmon on account of they can't make it up a waterfall that size.  So no dead bodies or salmon infestation.  We took our shoes off and did some wading in the freezing cold glacier run off river.



Oh look, it's me in the crotch of a stand of big ass cedars.  Please note my cool new look.  Leggings rolled up, boots on with giant man socks pooling out of the top.  I know how to work it forrest-style.

Then I decided we better stop at Nooksack falls because we had to drive by it on our way home anyway.





Here is a not good picture of us at the falls.

Then we hung out at home for a while before taking one last trip to the river to see if we could call forth our Bald Eagle amigos, using unsecured poodle bait.



Butter was running around while I shot this, and if you blow it up and look closely, he's in this picture several times!

Alas, no eagles answered our calls.  Then of course Laura said she saw three on her way home from dropping me off at the airport!  Blast!!

I have a few more random out of context pictures to share before I wrap this thing up for good.



Magical yawning Little Kitty.  Laura's friend got this cat a few years ago, and he happens to leave town every summer.  That's when Laura gets kitty custody.  I've happened to be lucky enough to coincide my visits with Little Kitty's presence that last couple times I've been there.  Apparently LK's other owner calls her by a different name, Shuksan, after this pretty mountain here.



She is a tree climbing beast and I love her.

One day at the river I set my camera up on a timer for a breast friends forever picture.  Just as I sat down, the timer went off as a bird crapped on Laura's head.  Then I had to wash it out before we could proceed to retakes.





Here's a good one I obviously edited heavily.  I'm addicted to phone apps, ok?

I think that ought to do it!  Laura just informed me that her trip home to South Dakota to visit her family this Friday includes a 5 hour layover at the Denver airport, so I'm crazy excited to go hang out with her and have airport fun times in a couple days!  Reunited so soon!

And Felix is back in school today, just in time before I went completely crazy.  Now I better try to do some more entertaining stuff so I can have crap to write about here.