Hey mr postman

 

In this age of twitter, email and Skype (to name a few) its rare that we get excited by going to our mail boxes as there only ever seems to be bills lurking there or a ton of junk mail.  However this week I was pleasantly surprised to see a package from Woodend waiting to greet me.  Inside this plain white package was a gift of joy from an artist who is very dear to me; Tom Dickins.  As a proud supporter of his music since I discovered him last year I was overjoyed to find to hard copies of his CD's signed and waiting for me in my mail box.  Not only were these copies signed but they had a personal message on them for me which made them ever more special.  It warms my heart to think that Tom took time out of his day to sign these for me and send them.  So needless to say these are now in pride of place on my Music wall and they are being listened to over and over again on all my playlists, which makes me even more excited about his current project which so many of us are helping to support.  

So please get out there and support your local music acts.  They need your love and support, coz you never know just how much a kind word or a cd/merch purchased can help them to achieve their dreams.  If you like what they do, show your support it all counts.

my new pride and joys

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

It was a quiet night in when my AppleTV suggested I watch a movie; yep a bit creepy that the little black box next to me TV knows what I like but hey it was right.  As I a am a fan of sci-fi, geeks, con's and documentries it suggested that I watch Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope.  Normally I'm a bit hessitant of doco's on us geeks at con's as they usually paint us in the "never left our parent's basement' light.  However when the doco is produced with people like Morgan Spurlock, Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith it was worth watching the trailer at least I thought....yep and I was right it was totally worth it.  

I am a proud geek gal who embraces being a bit left of centre and enjoys dressing up in Cosplay to go to a con, so to be able to watch a doco that is all about embracing what you love was brilliant.  I admit there were even a few times when I teared up at some of the stories they followed in it.  Trust me if you have ever been to a con, been called a geek for liking sci fi or comics then this is a movie for you.  It also features some great interviews with people like Seth Rogan, Seth Green and of course my favourites Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith.  Plus it features great quotes like ..... 

"The geeks shall inherit the earth. 

Firstly don't call me a geek and secondly how much do i get? 

Do I get Australia?" Joss Whedon

 "If I could go back in time and tell the 11yr old me that not only will you go to comic con but you'll go every year so much so like you'll be greeted by Stan lee when you show up.  And the 11 yr old me will be like how did we get so fat? " Kevin Smith

So yes now more than ever I am planning to save up, make costumes and somehow get myself to comic con at least once in my life.  This movie is worth the watch so jump on iTunes or your local web-streaming channel, I'm personally now going to try and find a hard copy so I can watch this whenever I'm feeling blue to cheer myself up.

Hopefully it will also inspire you all to follow your dreams and realize you are not alone.  Chances are if you like it there are others out there in the 'verse who also do.  So let you freak flag high and celebrate who you are!!!!!!

Strike a pose

There are many pinup artists that I admire, but today I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite pics from Gil Elvgren.  You may have seen Elvgren's works on lots of pinup sites, not to mention a lot of photographer's use his work as inspiration for their pinup shoots.  From the mid 1930's through 1972, Elvgren produced over five hundred paintings of beautiful girls and women. Almost all of these works are oilo on canvas, and fully developed finished works of art. Elvgren continually surpassed himself, always improving in ideas, composition, color, and technique. 

   

Its well known amongst my friends that I adore his work, so it was a great treat when Mikii last cam down and brought with him some beautiful posters with him for me.  These were now added to my growing collection, I just have to now find some beautiful frames to put them in.

time to break out the sparkle

Its that wonderful time of the year again, nope not just wonderful winter where the excuse to break out snuggly jumpers and truck loads of teas.  Ok so they are great things but its time to venture out into the cold dark night in search of sparkle and joy at the Melbourne Cabaret Festival.

If you haven't heard about this amazing festival before its time to embrace something new and enjoy some amazing artists.

I'm already in the planning stage of how I'm going to get to everything.  Step one is to make my short list however with over a 100 performers its a hard task, but I've manged to get it down to the folllowing.

Tom Dickins - well no surprise that Tom is on my must see list.  I can't wait to spend the night listening to these amazing songs from such a talented artist.

Dates: Wednesday 18 July

Time: 8pm

Price: $20 pre-sale / $25 on the door (+ transaction fee)

Venue: Chapel Off Chapel

The its off to the Bohemia Cabaret Club where they are hosting Steam Up II, an entertaining blend of Burlesque, Cabaret and the Steam Punk phenomenon.  Starring Oscar Sonnet, Madame ‘Mama’ Natalia, Jasper Jewell, Red Devochkin and Jack Lad as ‘Finickity Jack’.

Date: Saturday 14 July

Time: Doors open 5pm; show from 8pm
Price: $20 pre-booked; $25 at the door 

Venue: Bohemia Cabaret Club, 226-228 Coventry Street, South Melbourne

Well this is the starting point, now I just have to check the calender to see just how much I can fit in.  I do hope you jump on the website and see what you can find out there that sparks your interest.

Thinking beyond the flat pack

Alright some of you out there might cringe at the thought of shopping at big brand Ikea. Personally I like putting all the stuff together and also looking at what you can do with a blank canvas.  Thanks to a friend of mine I have found out that I'm not the only person who doesn't just accept what the instructions say.  This website is called Ikea Hackers; so if you ever thought there was more to be made from your purchase you will love seeing what others have come up with.  So with that said I thought I would show you a couple of great ideas.

Lack design Lamp From LorisPedrosa

Materials: Ikea Lack, LED
Description: Take a LACK side table (only the table without the legs), remove the insides. Make a drawing to decide where to place the LED holes in the table top. Place the strips of LEDs on all four sides of the table and connect to the transformer.

Or how about this

 A petal lampshade by Johanna, Finland 

Materials: lampshade (for example, Ikea JÄRA diameter 34cm), craft petals (I needed for my lampshade 300-400 pieces), hot glue and hot glue gun, scissors

Description: I found craft petals really yummy, so I started to wonder what could I do with those. A Lampshade! This project is super easy and fast. Suitable also for beginners. 

ok just one more

Floating tables by Bart, Netherlands

Materials: Lack table

Description: Saw the legs of the table on the desired length. Glue the legs on the underside of the table, off course it is best to glue the side with the biggest area. Note that there is a tradeoff between stability and appearance of floating. I have chosen to position the rear legs as far as possible to the rear but a little of the side. The front legs are mounted approximately 10 cm of the two sides.

so go and check out some of the inspiration

Tom Dickens a musical angel

Music means so much to me, and its no secret that I love artists that play from the heart.  If your music has a story to tell then let me hear it and especially if your an independent artist let me share in your passion.  This probably all stems from growing up around struggling musicians and artists but I believe we are all here to support the arts in all its forms.  

Thanks to the many independent artist I listen to and attend performances of I have been introduced to so many more amazing talents out there.  It was just over a year ago that one such artist introduced me to The Jane Austen Argument whom I adore.  Which of course has lead me to listen to the works of Tom Dickens on his solo projects.  

Tom Dickens describes himself on his website as "an independent musician, singer, songwriter, performer and director based in Melbourne. I am a solo artist, and also a founding member of The Jane Austen Argument"  Personally I see him as a musical angel who's music cuts you to the core then holds you while you give over to emotion.  Its hard for me to choose a favourite of his songs but if push came to shove I would have to say "the Unchartered" is my pick. There is just something on about this piece that draws me in and wants to fall asleep to it only in the hope that I dream of a world where everything is possible.

Which brings me to another ask of you all dear readers.  

As Tom says "it is such a exciting time to be a musician right now.  The rules have changed.  The relationship between the artist and the audience is just so much closer than it ever has been before" which means you can now really show your support.  Put your money and support right behind the artist; cement the connection that says "I love what you do and what you create".  So please watch the vid link below and pledge what you can to help this amazing melbourne dream creator make his dream come true.

Also if you want to hear this music in the flesh come join me and others at the Balaclava Hotel, Melbourne this friday night (june 8th) and cheer on this brilliant artist and his sings his songs for us.  You will be really glad you braved the cold melbourne weather to hear him.  Much love to you Mr Dickens from this little tikidoll

A call to arms - we are the media

This is not my normal "wow Amanda Palmer is amazing"; ok so in a way it is but its also about all of the people out there that make a difference.  This is a call to arms you could say.

Personally I am a big lover of the arts - music, movies, art, theatre you name it I will give it a chance.  I believe that the power of the arts especially music is more than I can express.  Music has changed my moods, locked in memories of people and places, not to mention inspired me. All day I had been checking my Twitter feed to see what was going on and Amanda's was in overdrive with thank yous but I couldn't see the reason why so much love was being shared over the world.  In fact it wasn't till I got home and jumped online to watch the GeekandSundry channel did my YouTube homepage explain it all to me.  Once opening the page I saw Amanda had uploaded the vid you see above and it all made sense.  It is a call to arms for her new record/artbook/tour all on Kickstarter.

 

Basically Amanda and the GTO need some help to fund their music.  The fundraiser lasts for 30 days with the aim to raise $100,000 for the album/tour/artbook.  Now that's a lot of money when the minimum pledge is $1, thats a lot of love from fans needed.  And thats exactly what Amanda and the GTO have recieved.  

On saturday night I put my money where my heart is and pledged to help this project and thanks to many others the stats look like this (as of monday when i checked.)

BACKERS : 10,382

GOAL: $100,000

PLEDGES RAISED: $571,299

DAYS TO GO:24

WOW!!!!!! is all I can say, and yes this does restore my faith in a world where digital priracy is everywhere.  This is people saying I will give YOU the ARTIST the money to SUPPORT YOU.  Every time I watch the clip I get teary as I reminds me of the days when artist were supported by individual people not just large corporations. 

I also thought I would share what amanda has said on this all about 15 hours ago on the kickstarter page.

"Update #1: welcome to the project! HOLY FUCK 

GOOD LORD.

we did it, dear comrades. we're doing it.  do you see what's happening for cry-eye?  i thought this would work, but i didn't know it would fucking EXPLODE!!!!!!

i have so much to say to you all, but let me point out the most important thing, really, truly:

YOU GUYS CREATED THE RAGING FIRESTORM that made this crazed success possible.

YOU YOU YOU.

from the moment we launched, i watched you all spreading the link, creating facebook groups to get the house parties, supporting at whatever level you could, telling people what you'd done…i watched the twittersphere and blogosphere going BERSERK with shared information: that was YOU, that was not me. 

 it's still happening. 

the word about the record and the kickstarter is spreading like madness....via the people who are supporting it. 

THAT'S HOW IT WORKS. so THANK YOU. we all did this together.

thank you not only for backing at whatever level you did: but for BEING THE MEDIA. 

no rolling stone, no spin, no TV, no radio...none of that. 

PEOPLE POWER. 

 

this is the new way, motherfuckers: we come first - the media follows. not the other way around.

we all went to work and we all did our part to spread the information.

and look what it did. the whole world is watching, and it's awesome. the SCALE of this means we're making history.

 

i've been doing this crazy job for a long, long time. and i've never felt stronger, braver, and more supported...i feel like i'm crowdsurfing on a sea of 10,000 loving arms.it's the best feeling in the world.

so.....

you're going to be getting lots of updates from me and the team, starting NOW...and i'm going to try my darndest to make you all thrilled and happy as hell that you chose to back this epic undertaking.

and seriously? WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR THE RECORD....you're going to flip your shit. 

i go into the NYC mastering studio with john & michael this thursday to finalize the sound and song order. i'll try to get some video for you.

i love you all so much.

i'm in a bit of a daze. things are about to GO MENTAL....thanks for being on this beautiful ride with me, the band, and my whole team.

yesterday we did a photoshoot in NYC with my friend kyle cassidy...and this one's for you guys:"

So from one fan here in melbourne i say "I LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU".  Yes we are the media, yes we are the ones who can hold the special ones in this world high, we CAN support each other.  LOVE YOU AMANDA FROM TIKIDOLL

What I'm listening to

Its that time again when I share amazing bands.  Today's feature is the Jane Austin Argument.  If your unsure of who I'm talking about the Jane Austen Argument are a musical duo featuring Tom Dickins and Jen Kingwell. This amazing team will make you want to listen to track after track after track with the beautiful songs.  Some of you may have seen them feature with Amanda Palmer (hence where the clip below is from) or if you have frequented the Butterfly Club in Melbourne.

So please click, listen and hunt down more of their tunes

one of the coolest gifts ever

For those who know me I adore the day of the dead festivals; so it was no surprise that I was super excited to receive one of the coolest cross-stitch's ever. My darling friend MsBel local artist and all round super gal surprised me with one her creations. Its a stunning, vibrant skull cross stitch!!!! Only problem is where do I hang it; so many choices and I want everyone to see it. So to start the sharing I figured I'd share it with you all here.

Outré Gallery

Its no secret that my all time gallery in melbourne is Outré Gallery in the CBD. So when I got invited to the launch of the new book Tattoo Parlour being published by Outré Gallery Press there was no question I was going. Ok so its not till next week but I am super excited about going as I hear that the lovely Angelique Houtkamp will be out from Amsterdam to add some excitement and sparkle to proceedings!

Tattoo Parlour is a showcase of artworks made by artisans who also make tattoos. These are tattoo artists in the broadest and best sense of the term. From skin to canvas to laser cut dollar bills these are artists who are at once immersed in tattoo culture but also their own creative practice. So if your interested in having a look or trying to get to one of the three city launches you need to keep the following dates free.

Three City Book Launch
Friday 11 November - Melbourne
Friday 18 November - Sydney
Friday 25 November - Perth

So watch this space to see how it all went.

Sunday Craft-a-noon

After a few hours of sorting out my craft room - formally known as the room of boxes - I decided it was time to reward myself with a bit of a craft-a-noon.

Last year at the Melbourne Craft Show I came across a few really cool pieces which were wooden cutouts in the shapes of dress makers models, cogs and corsets. I've been trying for ages to figure out which project I could use them for. Needless to say as I dug through boxes it all started coming together.....

I managed to lay my hands on some basic black craft paper, Kaiserkraft - dressprint cardstock, my wood cutouts and my basic black A4 frames I had left over from my Vintage Vogue project. This was another very easy project to do and really you could do any theme you like, you just need the bits LOL

All I did was cut out and A4 size backing with the black cardstock; then added a small rectangle of the dressprint cardstock. After that it was an easy task to simply glue in place the wood cutouts.

Then pop into the simple frames and its done. Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to hang the pieces. My first instinct is in the craft room, so that's were I'm sure they'll end up, it just depends on the wall space once I've finished my other projects for that room.

So watch this space for more updates on the craft room.

Birds outside my window

My favourite artwork

Now many months ago I came across this great piece of art in a store called TYPO, it suited my new room perfectly as it was a great blend of vintage fabric prints and I have a weakness for designs like this. So for many months it has adorned the wall above my bed and makes me smile everytime I look at it.

A few months later I was lucky enough to be given a mug by Kendiedoll that was the exact print. So I could sip my tea in bed with my matching artwork and mug, oh how decadent!!!! Personally I thought it was amazing that Kendiedoll had found a mug to match my art and showed real love and attention to my taste.

The Mug artwork!!!

So imagine my joyful surprise when I was presented with a notebook; and we all know my weakness for notebooks, by Twist. It was the exact pattern from my painting!!!! Turns out that he found it in the same store where I got the original painting last year. So now I can sit snuggled up in bed with my cup of tea and writing in my journal under my art and it all matches. Talk about a god start to the week!!!

The new notebook

Art on a budget

Ok so I woke up bitten by the art and craft bug this morning. So after a much needed planning session and a perfect excuse to have Bavarian Apple pancakes it was time to put on my 'arty' hat and create.

Now if your like me you have a lot of wall spaces and a limit on just how much you can spend at your local art gallery. So with this in mind it was time to get creative.

My answer to this......use what I've got. I like to collect patterns of vintage clothing so why not make this a cute feature in my home.

What you will need
- Photo frames.
- Patterns
- Glue
- White paper - used as a backing sheet
- Colour Photocopier - I went to my local Officeworks

First thing was to hunt around my craft room to find my box of patterns. For this project I've used ones I've collected over the years from Vogue when they have re-released their designs. The really cool things about these are the great images and they have a date of release on them.

I've gone for plain black certificate frames that I picked up at a stores closing down sale. In fact I managed to get a box of 2o frames for $5 so this really reduces the costs of this project. However you could use any frame that you desire which suits your home.

Then a quick trip to get color photocopies of each design, an even quicker bit of cut and paste and there you have it. Once all stuck down and in frames, simply hang and stand back to admire your work. Easy as!!!! The great thing is with this as the images are just photocopies you can change them with any new pattern you find or when ever the mood changes you.

For these designs I've hung them in age order starting with 1949 all the way up to 1957. Because of the cheap frames the total project cost me under $10 for all of the art work and materials!!!!! See you can have amazing art on a very small budget.

TOWARD A PATRONAGE SOCIETY

I come from a very odd family; half are professionals (lawyers, doctors, accountants) and the other half creatives (musicians, film makers, designers, artists and actors). Which is very interesting when as a young child your submersed in one specific side of the family, needless to say I was brought up by the creatives. However the divide there is always a strong element of support from both sides. The creatives use the professionals services and the professionals try and buy/watch/ talk about what we are all working on.


Now you may be wondering what on earth this has to do with a Patronage Society, and more to the point Amanda Palmer. Well its pretty easy I see the support within the family as a form of patronage. Not sure what I'm talking about...well the history of art patronage refers to the support that one 'richer' person provides to the 'artist'. In a sense it was the original form of sponsorship.

One artist that I stand behind and support with my small patronage is Amanda Palmer so it was interesting to hear her view on the subject. Hence here it is for you to have a look and listen at.

A quick trip to heaven!

Raven Black Feather Hair Piece

While on a random trip around South Yarra I stumbled into a stunning little store only to find Julie Fleming. Regarded as Melbourne's leading Milliner it was a joy to be able to walk around her own store on my afternoon off. If your looking for something to make you smile, finish off that wedding outfit or your just after something pretty then you need to get to her Malvern Road salon.

The Wonderful Julie

I admit I did have to walk away with a couple of things, not to mention a very big wish list for this race season. Oh well better start saving now. Not only can you walk into her store you can also read about what she's up too on her blog. Or why not just pop into her store located at 456 Malvern Road, Hawksburn between Williams Road and Chapel Street in what was once a Victorian house.

'Spring Day' Headpiece

My new treasures

The other day I headed off to the craft fair and have a look what I came home with. Firstly this badge simple saying Fabric Addict. So cute I just had to get it.

Ok so keys are my weakness, but these are going to become a necklace as well as being framed for my wall art. Now I just need to buy frames.

Sparkles, who can go past sparkles. I do have a plan for these...they are going to sparkle up my Ghost USB drive.

And these stunning woodern cutouts of lingerie/corsets and dressmakers busts. These will also become art for my walls. I was so surprised to see cutouts like this but I'm so happy I did! Art work here I come!