Addicted

That’s Mr. Motts being silly. My favorite picture from his site.

I just discovered Opacity. It’s a site on “urban exploration”. Mr. Motts and friends go into abandoned buildings and take pictures. He does not leave behind graffiti or otherwise deface the properties, and he takes nothing. He gives a little history on the buildings and sites that he photographes.

I find the whole thing fascinating. The pictures are marvelous. That one to the left is my favorite, but most of them aren’t silliness. A lot of the viewers find the images haunting, especially the ones of the old insane asylums; I don’t. I find them sad for 2 reasons: the beautiful properties have, by and large, been left to rot and, in the case of the old hospitals, the lives of the people who were there must have been very bleak, not to mention difficult. The properties are beautiful. Some were built at the end of the romantic period, and the architecture reflects the attitudes of the day.

I don’t know why the pictures aren’t loading. Both are clickable, so if you click on them, you will be taken to Opacity.

Clouds

For your viewing pleasure:

Rainbow or iridescent clouds or are these part of a circumhorizon arc?

Dia de Los Muertos at the Oakland Museum

Making Kites

I took Chunguita and Los Abuelos to the Oakland Museum for the Dia de los Muertos festival. It was fun. Chunguita was afraid of some of the costumes; the skulls seemed to really freak her out. But she liked the Ensambles Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco a lot. There was a flower curtain with Our Lady of Guadalupe that intrigued her.

She must not have noticed the boy with the face paint next to her while making the kites. I wanted to get my face painted, but she wouldn’t let me.

Mr Pumpkin Head

Mr. Pumpkin Head

I bought some Halloween Mr. Potato Head sets at Target. The kids loved them, but I needed to use one of the carving knives to get the pieces in.

Flower Fairy Costume

Detail of flowers on dress

The dress is done, and Chunguita wore it to Livermore’s downtown event on Thursday. She promptly ripped it. She seems to like it. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

I modified the overskirt slightly. Instead of cutting out a front and 2 back halves, I cut the 72 inch tulle at the proper height and used one piece to make the skirt. I converted the tie-on, gathered waist to an elastic waistband.

Flower detail on overskirt

Overskirt

Pumpkins

Fabric Pumpkins

These are the easiest things to make. Take a rectangle (mine was 9 inches by 18 inches) and sew the short ends together making a squat cylinder. Gather the top and bottom. Sew bottom shut. Stuff, and wind with twine.

Halloween Cat

She doesn’t like wearing it.