A-Kon Fun

We're home from A-Kon, but I had to get back to work on my swap stuff for the Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat, so haven't had a chance to update.  My daughter had a great time at A-Kon 21.  I enjoyed seeing the creativity and skill the attendees applied to their costumes and outfits.  It was amazing, and often startling!  The adorable mushroom couple above based their awesome outfits on the dancing mushrooms in the classic Disney film, "Fantasia."  I used Photoshop to trim away the clutter of the registration area and placed the image on a backround of a 1954 Japanese yearbook, courtesy of the Flickr Textures for Layers Group.

My daughter wore her first "Steampunk" outfit, put together with some lucky thrift store finds and a newsboy hat from Elements.  Her goggles were her major purchase at A-Kon, and are handmade with real leather strap, brass hinges, authentic lenses and padded eye-cups.  Her "gun" was converted from a Nerf gun--she sanded it down, painted it with primer and rubbing compound, then I added Jacquard Lumiere paints and Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powders to give it an aged look.

I think the gun turned out as nice as the ones we saw for sale in the Artisan's Alley--all we need to add are some gears or other bits to make it look totally steam!  According to the site, "The Steampunk Workshop," Steampunk "fashion runs the gamut from the purely Victorian to the raggedy post-apocalyptic. Steampunk fashion draws inspiration from many modes, it is usually (but not exclusively) constructed on a 19th Century base and weaves in cultural threads from around the world and throughout time."  Those who make Steampunk gear incorporate recycled, salvaged or re-purposed items, along with Victorian (1850s to early 1900s) objects and materials.

I needed a break from the frenzy of 8,000 anime fans, so I went to "Curiosities," located in Southeast Dallas, to spend a couple hours selecting trinkets from the amazing trove of artifacts and oddities stocked in this amazing shop. Curiosities stocks antiques and folk art of all sorts--record albums, linens, prints and maps, outsider art,  toys, dolls.  There is so much to look at!

I bought some Victorian scrap, some trade cards, two Viewmaster reel sets (both about the Apollo space missions) and a box containing a nearly complete United States puzzle.

I love puzzle maps, and own several versions.  Enjoy these vintage images of Texas, California, and Lousiana!

Off to A-Kon

I am heading out this morning with my 16-year-old daughter to A-Kon, one of the longest-running anime-based convention in North America. Celebrating it’s 21st year in 2010, A-Kon is held at the Dallas, TX, Sheraton and will offer a weekend filled with non-stop gaming, anime-films, cosplay, meet-ups, shopping and other pursuits designed to send anime fans into a nerdy tizzy.

My daughter has three different outfits planned--an elegant Steampunk affair (think Victorian style without the bustles, and with grungy gears and lots of black), a cosplay (costuming as a character, in this case, as Kiki, the good little witch from "Kiki's Delivery Service) and as a Sweet Lolita (which has nothing to do with with Nabokov's book other than the fact that the dresses look like the frilly concoctions you once yearned to put on your three-year-old).

I'm the adult-in-charge.  I'll be there to watch out for her, hand out money, make sure she eats, and in the mean-time, I'll be chatting up the unique folks who attend these cons (as they are called) and taking photos.  We're staying nearby, so I'll get a break from the frenzy.  And it will be frenetic.  I was a proto-nerd as a child, but we didn't have the Interwebs, so I ouldn't find all those other kids who were weird like I was.

Get Your Own Cowgirl

The 2010 Paper Cowgirl Retreat is drawing near!  I am chomping at the bit!

I'm working on my various swap items.  I'm cutting out horses and planning my ATC design.  My daughter helped me hem the sides of my Cowgirl Sash.  I have my blossoms made, my trim containers selected, and my trims set aside but not cut. I'm forgoing local thrift-store jaunts and am setting the money aside so I can buy goodies at the Retreat and in Waxahachie.  I may order some more MOO mini-cards.  I am pondering which tee-shirt to order from Sea Dreams Studio's Cafe Press site.

And I just placed my order for this beautiful limited edition pendant on a 22-inch ball chain, hand-made by the ever-so-talented Dale McLain.  She has designed the Official Paper Cowgirl Logo since its beginning three years ago.  I think this year's logo is awesome.  I decided to get the limited edition pendant (instead of the canvas tote bag on the Cafe Press site--not that it was easy to pass that up) from Dale's Etsy shop.  Get yours before she sells out.  I can't wait for mine to arrive.

Best. Horse. Ever.

 A digital scrapbook of Trigger images.

The black-and-white television show, "Roy Rogers" was already in re-runs by the time I was a pre-schooler, but that is where my love affair with Roy Roger's horse, Trigger, began.  I wanted to be Roy Rogers--not Dale--because Roy got to ride Trigger.  I never owned any Trigger toys or books, but all my life Trigger has held the position of  First Horse in my Equine Pantheon.  The marvel of the Interwebs and the capabilities of my scanner and Photoshop have enabled me to corral a virtual museum of Trigger images, a few of which I share with you today.

Detail from the back cover of a vintage Whitman hardback book.  From my personal collection.  Over the past few  years, I've collected a few Trigger items, including a lunchbox, some show brochures, postcards and books.

Trigger, Victorville, CA.  Circa 1985, in front of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum.  I visited the Museum several times and even had the honor of meeting Roy and Dale at the Museum.  This statue also once stood in Branson, MO, where the Museum relocated in 2003.  The Branson site closed in January 2010.  Some Internet reports indicate that the statue has been purchased and that there are plans to return it to Victorville.

Digital artwork based on a scan of a cover of Trigger Comic #4 by Dell Publishing; 1952.  I'm not sure who the cover artist was for that issue--Sam Savitt created many of Dell's Trigger covers, as well as covers for Gene Autry's Champion, Fury the Black Stallion, and other famous equine characters.  Comic Book image cover courtesy of eBay.

Digital artwork I created in Photoshop, then tweaked in Picnik, using the artwork from the Whitman Book cover shown above.  I love the rainbow effect.

Cute Happy Fun Time

I love my scanner.  With a few clicks of the mouse, ephemera bits take on a new life.  I love kawaii  (cute) Japanese graphics, and so I save the packaging from Japanese products, including snacks, household goods and craft supplies.

This happy kitty was cropped from a scan of the logo for a packet of origami papers.  I made the mosaic in Picnik, an online photo editing program.  I love Picnik--I have the "premium" package ($25 a year) so I can keep photos I like to use again in my history.  I doctored the colors on the kitty in Photoshop, then bumped the picture into Picnik.

We love Pokenmon in our household.  This is a header from a packet of origami paper that features the popular "pocket monsters" in a variety of designs.  Pikachu is my favorite.

This eye-catching girl in her kimono is another graphic from a packet of origami paper.  Not only is her kimono made with the prints featured in the assortment, she is styled like a kokeshi doll, the popular, collectible, small wooden dolls made by craftspeople in Northern Japan.

This sweet fawn was scanned from the lid to a Bento box that my daughter's best friend purchased at FIT, the Japanese "Dollar" store in Bellaire, below the I-10 in Houston. Deer are very popular kawaii subjects, in part because the deer is considered by Japanese who practice Shinto, a spiritual faith indigenous to Japan.

We'll end with a scan featuring Japan's most famous kitty, Sanrio's, "Hello Kitty," shown here sipping tea in honor of the biscuits in the box.  Although the biscuits are shaped like Hello Kitty and her family, she doesn't seem to mind.  And she looks as young as ever, even though last year she celebrated her 35th birthday!  What a kitty.

Band Fun

 I love the braided trim detail on her jacket!

A few months ago, I bought six vintage trophy tops from Margo, at Junkin' Journal. She had found a treasure trove of drum majorette trophy figures, and I selected three gold metal and three silver ones, along with two diminutive trophy cups.  None of the pieces came on marble bases.

 Three merry drum majorettes.

The trophy cups stand fine without a base, but the drum majorettes had the screw-in bottoms and so needed bases.  I took my gals to a local trophy shop, and for a $1.50 per piece, had them mounted on plain white marble bases.  I can now add ribbon sashes or add "engraved" messages with scrap-booking items.

 Photoshop piece I made using a photo of my daughter with her mellophone.

My daughter plays French Horn and Mellophone in the TWHS Band, so I can use these merry majorettes as awards during her senior year or as table decorations.

 My favorite shot of my daughter and her French Horn, taken after Chamber Music prelims in 2009.

Planetary Musings

"Into Space" Digital artwork by C. Bruhn

I've been thinking about outer space lately.  Outer Space makes me feel hopeful, like the dreamy family above, which I put together with the aid of Photoshop.

From a vintage children's reader.

Cardboard header from a child's toy.

Images keep appearing in my ephemera collections--I gather some of these on my Flickr photostream.  I am drawn to depictions of the Earth, star maps, and quirky depictions of the space age.

Detail from "The Story of the Globe".

 

A rocket bank from my childhood.

I remember the first Moonwalk, the Challenger explosion, and the Columbia disaster.  I have stayed up to scout for comets--Halley's, Kohutek, and Hale-Bopp. I've been to Edwards Air Force Base to watch the Shuttle land.  I've sat through dozens of planetarium shows.

 

Rocket House in South Houston.

I'm no astronomer, and I'm not even that well-versed about the cosmos, but still, I'm intrigued.  Maybe it's because of "Star Wars" or "Space Odyssey 2001".

Detail  from a Goode's Atlas, back in the days when Pluto was a planet.

And when I need a lift, nothing makes me smile like the Monty Python "Galaxy Song".