Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Knitted Homes of Crime

A very interesting little exhibition... go HERE to see the whole thing... these knit houses were created by Jean Arkell and are made to look like the places where these female killers went mad.

It's gruesome... yes, but I'm very attracted to the combination of medium and concept here... especially considering the time period when knitting and such was still practiced for purpose rather than just pleasure.

Here's a little sample:

Christiana - 20 hours
16 Gloucester Place , Brighton, East Sussex - 1871
Mrs. Beard - 21 1/2 hours
64 Grand Parade, Brighton, East Sussex - 1871

Christiana Edmunds was a 43 year old spinster who lived with her widowed mother. She had become infatuated with a married man, Dr. Beard. In September 1870 she brought a box of chocolates to the Beard's house and insisted that Mrs. Beard eat some over a pot of tea. Christiana had filled these chocolate creams with strychnine. Immediately after eating one Mrs. Beard became severely ill. As a result Dr. Beard accused her of trying to poison his wife. Christiana denied the charge and set about trying to prove that there was a poisoner at large in Brighton. She would pay children to buy chocolate creams from the same sweet shop that she purchased the box of chocolates for Mrs. Beard from. She would inject these with strychnine, then re-wrap them and pay another child to return them. The innocent shop-keeper sold on these poisoned sweets. On 12 June 1871 this activity resulted in the death of 4-year-old Sidney Barker. Christiana even sent poisoned cakes and fruit through the mail, addressing some to herself, to try to emphasise her innocence. She was eventually caught and sentenced to death but when it transpired that she was mentally ill her sentence was commuted and she was sent to Broadmoor. She died there in 1907 aged 79. It later transpired that no less than four members of her immediate family had died as a result of mental illness

Friday, August 27, 2010

New Halloween Header

If you look at the top of my blog, you'll see my new Halloween header XD I illustrated the bear head myself :) (all that swirly junk behind it are free vectors from online, same with the skulls)... but the bear is all me... woo hoo!

Sorry if it's scarier than you're used to seeing on my blog... but... it's Halloween!!!!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Two Dumb Cats...

Yes, yes, it's that time again, time for little furry faces to make an appearance. What can I say, they were ready for their closeup.

William the Bloody has always been a fan of running water. He hops in the bathtub and sticks his head under the faucet... he watches the toilet flush, he has his own personal kitty drinking fountain for a water bowl... but his latest joy... what thrills him to his little kitty bones... is sitting in the sink and waiting for me to turn it on. Then he watches as he get soaked... then he gets out and plays in the water some more. It's all fine and dandy, until you're stumbling out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and try to brush your teeth... and find this:

The Salacious Crumb has finally decided my boyfriend is ok, and that snuggling with me (even if he's around) can resume. This leads to Crumb getting *very* comfy and then laying in that place for hours on end... and when he does this... well... he's just so cute that people tend to oblige and not move. This ends in a lot of sleeping limbs and muscle cramps for the humans... but somehow, I just don't think he cares.

Monday, August 23, 2010

2nd Star to the Right

Sorry for my lateness... faeries are pesky things and I'm quite sure one gave me the flu this weekend on purpose! (Or at least spoilt my milk)

It was a fantastic week for a trip to Faerie though... there were shimmering stars:

And walls built from twining vines and bulging pumpkins:


There were delicious Moon Cakes to be eaten under the milky glow of a full moon:


And one disgruntled Faerie Queen, who was not keen on visitors at all...

As we were about to leave though, one mysterious little faerie, veiled in shadows, gave us a token to show how much they loved having us. (Of course we didn't take it... we know better than to receive gifts from Faeries)


Friday, August 20, 2010

Featured in an Etsy Treasury!

This is actually a pretty cute treasury! Click on the picture to go to it!


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Paper Cut Mermaids

I have designed a paper silhouette mermaid... a little bear is soon to follow... she's not perfect yet, this is just a rough... her arm moves too... so far I really like her :)


Monday, August 16, 2010

EGADS NOOOOO!!!

Zombies... Zombies NOOOOOOO!!!!!