Ching-Teoh

Ching is frankly awesome. Her paintings are amazing. I own three of them, including the one pictured here.

While she now lives in Australia, I first met her when she was still working in Malaysia, and obviously traditional motifs from that culture influence her work.

What most attracts me to her isn’t the vibrant use of color or beautiful designs – it’s the texture. My dad is an acrylic painter and I’ve always loved (and been completely unable to mimic) the way he would use the paint to make ripples or tufts of grass or weird bumps on weird stuff. I’ve just never really been a fan of flat art, and I love the way the light reflects of the varying surfaces of these paintings.

(posted 7/3/11 because I’m a bum and have to go fill in days I missed!)

Rotting Intestines Chic?

Holy crap, this thing is terrifying.

I’m a bit tempted to ask the creator which line it’s from: The Buffalo Bill collection maybe? Dahmer’s Edible Accessories?

This is so close to my childhood mental image of the lampshades made of human skin Ilse Koch supposedly had that I’m having trouble not vomiting. I mean this part seriously.

And it’s a shame because this chick actually makes some really nice things. And some horrific monstrosities that look like there’s a dying animal still on the ground watching her turn its body parts into fashionable wardrobe pieces.

Cupcake tutorial. :D

I’m pretty sure that a recipe is the best kind of how-to known to man/womankind.

I came across a link to these Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes in my Facebook feed and realized that I have to share.

Treasuries!

Two of my swimsuit cover-ups have made it into summer treasuries!

The orange tie-front jacket and one of my wrap around style mini sarongs.

“I’m bi-winning. I win here, and I win there.”

Charlie Sheen may be a fucking fruitloop, but the man knows how to make daily affirmations awesome.

I need to be bi-winning. I’ve been slacking lately and it’s not cool. I need to be putting more effort into getting the things done that will benefit me.

It would not be hard to do a lot of what I’ve planned. I just need to organize my supplies and my time better.

I’m being too lazy!

I’ve updated the What’s Next? page, but there wasn’t nearly enough stuff to update.

If I’m really going to save up money for all the things I need to do this summer, I need to get my shit together and actually DO SOMETHING.

I need more monies!

There are so many things that I want to be able to do this summer, like going out to visit my parents. We’re going to rent a boat on Trinity Lake in northern California just like the boring-ass fishing trips of my childhood. But this time they can’t force me into one of the nasty, dirty life vests that come with the boat for I am a grown-ass woman. And this time nobody is going to get me to skewer a cricket onto a hook. Fuck that action.

I want to be able to pay for a plane ticket for my son to come home.

And then there’s the other thing. My grandfather just found out that he has lymphoma. I don’t know much about what’s going on (I tend to get left out of the loop since moving out to AZ) but Grampa Gene is in his 80s, he has cancer, and I already had to miss my Grandpa Dave’s funeral because I was too broke to go and that’s a shitty feeling.

Ugh, overly personal stuff twice in one week.

I’m also going to be taking a trip to NYC to visit my bff, and while he’s offered to pay for everything for me when I go out there I’m not sure if I’ll be letting him do that. And even if I do, the plane ticket is almost $400. Maybe I won’t be going to New York. Maybe M. and I will be going to Disney World instead. I know that the plane ticket, half the hotel, and half the rental car will come out to about the same as flying into NYC.

So I need to get more done. I’m chronically disorganized (watching Hoarders is like seeing the future sometimes) but I have the ability to get all my shit together if I just DO IT already and I think it’s time for that to happen. I work better and faster in an uncluttered environment, so that’s my goal right now.

Why do I give links to my competition?

I suppose that if you want to get technical, NickiChicki is really not competing with me. She makes trendy and fashionable knits, while I crochet anime geekery. (Don’t let her good looks and ability to dress herself like a real person fool you, I met her on a Sailormoon fansite.) While she doesn’t have anything in her shop at the moment (she seems to be enjoying her summer too much to think about the winter she’s going to have there in MN) you should really mark her as a favorite. Her stuff goes really fast ones it hits the shop and it’s all amazing.

THIS IS NOT STEAMPUNK!

I hate things made with this stupid octopus. Especially as the octopus is pretty cool. I just really don’t want to wear the exact same thing that everyone else has. And I hate that it is not steampunk but everyone seems to think it is.

Jules Verne wrote about a squid. Thus a squid is more steampunk than an octopus. An octopus makes me think of the devilfish.

Walking on sunshine?

Since it’s the Summer Solstice I bring you instructions on how to make a sundial.