Recently in Other Collectibles Category

Only one of the above bits o' eyecandy have I purchased. Sigh. The internet is so soothing. Since the move last August I have a freshly sparked interest in pretty little things for the house. A girl can always shop, can't she?

Pottery Barn's Apothecary Bath Collection. Mrwowr.

usb turntable. that is all.

Take the Blastmilk Tour! Kinda fun, I could get lost in there.

I found DeeDee Ramone's guitar pick in my jewelry box the other day. It has made me... melancholic. I picked it up off the stage at Berkeley Square in '83 or '84. Perhaps the same concert as the ticket in my scrapbook.

Syd Barrett died.

And to make matters even more poignant, R.I.P. Cody's Books. Oh, how my formative years have slipped away...

I looked up a past acquaintance. He was the suave King of New Wave in Berkeley circa 1984, after being the Prince of Punk Rock a few years previous. Once I shocked him by appearing in public without make-up (at 16 I wore a lot, a la crazy new wave influences). Startled, he suavely blurted "Oh my god. You're ugly!" I wasn't and I'm not, but it is amazing how these things STICK in your head. I saw him again ten years later, it was laundry day and I was in these huge awful pants and my hair was unkempt (so what else is new?). He was in fucking birkenstocks and I still wanted to crawl in a pit of shame and die. In any case, it looks like he's written a book about his young Berkeley Punk Rock exploits, pdf on Lulu.com. Mr. Sunshine is all hearts and flowers now. Irony! Sigh. Oh, the assholery of youth. How thou doth scar.

I'm 37. Imagine the meandering mind at 86! Guh!

We had some of these as children. Probably from our Grandmother??? They're 1950's I believe but I remember the 3-D quality of the pictures as well as the "lace" edging ^_^ They're mini placemats, about 5x8", of pressed and coated cardboard. This is the kind of crap I'm bringing home all the time. They're magical. And completely sentimental.

The rest of them below...

Here, kitty-kitty!

Hot damn, I'm moving to Reno just avoid California sales tax on these things. OUCH.

And just to demonstrate that I'm not the only nutter in this household:

Spent the weekend in Tahoe with Todd & Ben. It was super fantastic. I miss them so much already, I DIE! Loverly weekend, very relaxing. Only lost about $40 at the penny slots (we're saying nothing of Mr. Kallisti's losses :p ).

Todd & Ben got the rockstar suite. So we got the best-friend-of-rockstar suite. OMG. The bathroom. AGH! And every time a hotel type person came to the door they handed us a fistful of Godiva chocolates.

Very nice.

Unfortunately FATBURGER now joins Krispy Kreme (don't even get me started) on the list of what-should-a-bebastion-of-yumminess-but-is-NOT. Give me In-N-Out Burger or give me death!

We of course decended the mountain Sunday morning to hit our favorite crap emporium in downtown Reno. They did not disappoint. I came out with a Fistful o' Dollies. Not least of all was this tall beauty:

Sorry for the crappy photo, but it still dark out and I am impatient! She's marked Kaysam 1961 (see pic of similar girl stolen from ebay below). She has ice blue hair, cat eyes and ultra tweezed brows! Weirdest of all, it is not a trick of the light, the whites of her eyes really are blue! Her hair at one point was in an elaborate up-do, but it is smashed. However, most of it is in silky smooth condition. Can the experts tell me the best way to clean and smooth her hair!?!?! She's so fabulous, I want to make her look uber glamourous. She's 24" tall and has the serious va-va-voom figure! Her outfit might be original. She needs shoes. She needs a little brightening on her makeup, one cat-eye eyeliner is rubbed off etc.

Um, isn't she FAB?

A Kaysam glamour bride from ebay:

Couple reference lines, from the internet: one and two
More later. Oh boy.

Did I tell you? Liz has shipped? I can still hardly believe it. She's left Florida. She's on her way. OMG.

Still don't have tales or photos of the weekend sorted out. Too tired and lazy. Drove 238473487 miles in three days, all over Oregon. To buy bacon.

We bought $70 worth of bacon and sausage o_0 My vegetarian friends can be horrified now. But DANG, this sheet is GOOD.

My li'l beetle was a trooper! Boy does she dig those windy Cascades.

But our favorite of the trip was a leetle town called Oakland, Oregon. There are about seven buildings downtown, all built about 1890, and all of them antique shops. Got some cheap loot, yo. Suzy Homemaker oven that lights up and bakes cakes, woot!

Also, I've been to the Pacific Northwest twice. Both times it was 95 degrees +. All that rain and fog they're always talkin' about? They're lying.

Weetzie girl posted about dolly salon, you can see some hot blastmilk action here (nice cleavage shot, woo! Erin, I'm stealing this peekture, mwah!)

Oh, ah! And I have a corset pattern/article in the October issue of Haute Doll. Should be here sooooooon, I hope. Haven't seen it yet though. Eeep! You can subscribe or pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble when it hits shelves, which should be... some time. Thank you to my friends for love and suggestions and proof reading. Kisses!!! Will post more when I've seen the derned thing.

Um, also... Re: Six Feet Under. Spoilers...

We weighed Pekoe yesterday. TWENTY-TWO POUNDS OF KITTY. He is one big cat. So fluffy though.

I wanted to finish the peekture projekt this weekend, but had the pms weekend of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. I couldn't get anything done. However, I did have a few left over that I hadn't posted from last weekend.

Babyjane had requested a close-up of my face-up supplies, and someone else of my work area. Lucky them it was all out as I was redoing Ondine all week.

So. A close-up of the work area mid-face-up. The only thing missing is the piece of paper I scribble chalks on to dab my brushes in for blushing. Here's what it looks like tidy. And then just for kicks a close-up of Oriettacat's Bad Fairy doll in her fairy cage. And a little miracle. My uncle got all excited recently when he was rummaging around in one of his kitchen drawer. He has my grandmother's house, and traditionally the bottom drawer closest to the floor was my toy drawer. Well, he found that little dirty 2" doll way in the back. Still in one of the earliest examples of Kallisti Kouture. Ah, treasures.

And Lyssa wanted to see my ginormous dvd collection. Here's the large chunk of it that is not in storage:

And, as always, there were a few requests of Biscuit. Just to put it in perspective, Biscuit (who is one year old now!) is about 7.5lbs. Pekoe is 22lbs. And Biscuit kicks his ass!

That last one with my favoritest thing in the planet, Mr. Kallisti in a rare appearance. Biscuit is quite the Papa's boy, they love eachother.

So. I'm probably down to dolly pix. A couple people asked for bedtime pix and the girls don't have a bed, and don't really have proper nighties. But I'll come up with something!

This is going to be the longest post in the world. And it is only the first half!

Spent yesterday running around with a camera. Sorry these are not quite in order. I'm too disorganized for that :/ Please click on thumbnails for nice big peektures.

We tried to see Hitchhikers last night in Emeryville with the effervescent and lovely Cola. We got to the theater early, got the best seats, but half way through the Star Wars preview the lights went on and the fire alarm started sounding. We were ordered out of the theater. When let in a few minutes later (a false alarm, duh) we of course had lost our seats. There was a long line of others who had lost their seats waiting to get refunds. So we left, went home and pouted.

I know I'm the last person on the planet to see it, but we watched Napoleon Dynamite instead. Seemed like a cross between Square Pegs, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Ghost World. Took a long time to figure out what decade they were in. Still not sure because of all the purposely anachronistic references. But refreshing, none the less.

SO. We woke up early this morning and headed to the city to attempt to see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy AGAIN. This time at the Sony Metreon. Where we could geek out on the rest of the surroundings before and after the movie. The film was good in its own right, but lacked the sparkle and verve of the BBC radio recordings, books & tv series. I loved Stephen Fry's narration, he sounds very close to the original (though this is not a prerequisite) and I enjoyed the Marvin/Arthur Dent cameos from the TV series.

After the movie, and a spin at the Portal One arcade, we didn't feel like going home yet so we headed to Japan Town for books & sashimi & soba.

Random cool flea market find o' the month! Found this leetle beauty at the Alameda Antique Faire a couple weeks ago. She's a fantastic 1960's doll, about 8" tall, and made of foam rubber. Definately a bratz prototype (:p) if the label image is anything to go by. We've done a bit of restoration on her box, and switched the evil wire holding her in for a ribbon. But other than that, she is as we found her and in perfect condition. She looks rather like Bridget Bardot. Meow, meow!

A little googling and we discovered this doll was made by a very popular French design team of two ladies. And guess what? They're currently big in Japan! *falls over*

Fab find of the day... a vintage wicker baby buggy with collapsible canvas top. In perfect working order! Perfect size for St. Trinian or, dare I say, a mini super dollfie! *wink* Also got two gorgeous miniature framed pieces of needlework. You can see one or two in the background of these photos. They are tiny cross stitch silhouettes of 18th century style couple at their writing desks writing. We didn't have a lot of money, and she wanted $50 for the pair. I offered $35, as it was all I had left and told her I knew it wasn't enough. She was very sweet but declined. I got a few stalls down and she came after me and said she could tell I really loved them, if I wanted them at $35 they were mine. I was so shocked, what a gorgeous woman! So sweet. They remind me so much of my grandmother and her things, and her needlework. I will get a better picture of them later.

Other new stuff. Bargain of the week. Got a crate of goods from Audrey's doll supply. In less than a week! They actually had everything in stock. I bought mostly mohair wigs, but this little acrylic one in sausage curls is quite sweet, though at a 6-7 is a bit big for Trinian. But, ta-dah! The Global "bleuette" outfits fit her! I took a stab at it and ordered a couple. This little brown wool suit is FAB. A bit on the wide side, but fits decently all the same. I'm going back and getting the communion outfit.

Trinian is also trying out her new masterpiece eyes. They are a little "bright" for me. I was hoping for something pale, but not so shiney? Dunno. I got the antique pink as well, and those are definately too shiney. Merp.

Ondine Alice loves pushing St. Trinian around. But she had a little accident with the buggy and got a smudge on her cheek. Trying to clean it off rubbed some of her blushing. Sigh... will need to redo her at some point now. If I could just save those eyebrows!

Trinian finds her true love.

I picked up Edgar in Reno last weekend for a pittance. His poor, and persistant skin condition notwithstanding, he's fantastic. The outfit has many layers, all delicately done, there are two or three petticoats plust bloomers, gown and bonnet. His eyes are painted glass and they still go to sleep when you tip him! Though they make an attractive squeaky noise.

Beastly baby! Yay!

Momo, my Peach Lady Momoko. Looks fantash in the Calendar Girl Rune Fashion outfit... I knew I was saving it for someone special. Eeeee!

I love her. She's had a slight hair relaxing and bang trim, all tamed beneath a strawberry patterned scarf.

I'm serious!

Ok. It has been a long time since we've gone to Target and bought a buncha crap we didn't need. But we definately needed to walk off the awesome 15 lb shawerma's we had here, and what better place to do that than at Target? Especially the giant two story Target they opened just blocks from our house. Not to mention Mr. Kallisti had spied my favorite sheet set line on clearance there earlier in the week.

Look what we found!?!? FURRYVILLE! The best set was definately the Pigbys. They're like mini Steif animals, velvet with their sewed on noses and jointed arms. The littlest piggie is less than 1.5 inches and its limbs are jointed as well! We're pretty enthusiastic when it comes to cookware. These were a no brainer. This new series by Mattel is vaguely reminiscent of the Sylvanian Familes. I still covet the Mole and Hedgehog families available in the UK. I have a birthday coming up in six months.

Li'l piggy cookies. Yum.

Um, *cough*, the new Barbie packaging is all very exciting and refreshing. Still not much I'd actually buy, but what fun to shop.

Now that I'm feeling better, we've had a whirlwind weekend. Started Friday evening with a trip to El Cerrito's little Japantown at the Jay Vee strip mall. Katana-ya is the most awesome ramen/sushi place in the area. If you go too late on ANY night it is packed beyond belief. We ordered Snow Crab Shabu Shabu to split and a mess o' sushi. We brought the camera in but realized halfway through the meal that we'd forgotten to snap. Oh well, so you get the mess we made. It was, to say the least, amazing. I love food you have to crack and pull apart and pick at to eat. So fun! I call it little Japantown because in the same wee strip mall (that has been here since I was a baby) there is a Japanese food market, where we got cleaning sponges like Volks sells, and Re-ment, and little chocolate burger crackers. And there is also a Japanese dollar store next door where we bought more crap. El Cerrito rocks.

Went to the farmer's market with my brother early Saturday, got lots of fancy meats and veggies and ate like true aging hippies last night with our dandelion greens and crepinettes. Mew!

The weather has been GORGEOUS so we headed out for Martinez since we had some pennies burning holes in our pockets. Mr. Kallisti picked up a beauty. A circa 1940's Diana-F plastic camera bought for a mere pittance. Very cool, mang.

I found a boudoir doll (1920's) that I am thinking on. GORGEOUS as well. Had to research before I dropped the dosh. I can't find anything like her online or in my books. She is smaller, probably under 20"? German made with very petite composition features, hands and legs all in peach silk that looks original. And mohair marcelle waves. I um, have to have her. So I will be emptying my coin jars and maybe selling some other stuff to assuage the guilt. She's not that expensive, honest... but I am spoiled and need to justify my purchases to myself.

On the way back to the car we stopped into a shop we'd been in last winter where we had coveted a petite uranium glass apothecary jar. The woman had just got it in but hadn't priced it yet. It had a chip in the lip so she knew it would be under value but even the ballpark was more than our comfort zone. Well. It was still there! The lady wasn't there, but the owner was. And the price was a under what her previous estimate had been and he knocked off an additional 10%. Pristine, this jar is worth a lot of money. I don't spend that kind of money on collectibles usually, so a lot of the stuff I have has tiny flaws. Which is fine by me. I love the loot for itself not its value really. And this piece is gorgeous.

Mid to late 19th century, hand painted label uranium glass Valerian apothecary jar. It of course glows under black light.

And last but not least, I got Aimee's outfit by Imai. I am so happy to own this! I love the outrageous take on traditional Japanese couture. I'll do a better photo shoot with all the girls in Japanese garb, but Demelza looked so fab, and she was already wearing the neosium zouk eyes too.

Sorry for the wrinkly backdrop. I'm lazy and I suck. And I'm late to go spend the rest of my glorious weekend moving my mother into a new apartment. Eeep!

click for auction.

I've had this outfit for two months, and have been waiting til the wintery holidays to put it on Kisara. Um. I had no idea the hood had little bear ears. This wins as the cutest Takara outfit ever. I don't understand why they can't come out with such cuteness for Blythe. And for 1800 yen too. The shoes are even better than usual.

Pardon the holiday clutter. All my toys come out of storage. Wee!

And then there's this! Wee lefton-like devil figgers. I picked these up for a pittance (as in: under $10, yo) on my last trip to Reno. They're missing their little pitch forks, so we'll have to rig something up for that. But they are SO TINY. The wee ones are about 1".

Wah! My Volks issue Haute Doll just flew through the mailbox. Woo! And my geektastic autographs arrived from Godzillafest.

I am replete.

Which hasn't always been the case. Like seafood, I was once allergic to Christmas. A lot of it was because I used to work retail. And people are just evil when shopping during the holidays. I would work twelve exhaustive evil hours on Christmas eve, and then hurl at the thought of "celebrating" something every angry young heathen opposes on principal anyway.

Some time in my late twenties I rediscovered the christmas tree. And bright sparkly ornaments. And creepy santas. And over the years I've reclaimed the holiday for myself. I love the smell of the tree, and roasting a turkey in my tiny apartment size stove. Last year Mr. Kallisti and I celebrated our first Christmas together and it was sublime.

So. We got up early and went and picked up our christmas tree. Yip! Last year we bought grab bags of olde ornaments at Thrift Town in The City for $3 a bag. Lots of crap but got a lot of gems too. So we actually have a bunch of ornaments already.

Also. Mr. Kallisti's mother sent three huge boxes full of presents. Some wrapped, some old heirlooms she wanted us to have. Like old victorian postcard and scap albums. And his grandparents kewpie cake topper. Eeeeeeeeeee! She knitted me a pink froofy scarf to match my new coat, and knitted one for Fifi too! Ah!

So, back to cleaning the house and setting up the glowing gnome and creepy santas.

The kimono is coming out FAB. I should be done in a day or two. So fun. I'm going to go start my "All Creatures Great and Small" marathon.

Just got back from another morning at Japantown in SF. Picked up... a ton of books at Kinokinuya *cringe*... I know, I know. I just got rid of FIVE CRATES. And now I bring home, erm... 7 more books.

Such is the life of an incurable collector.

But they are the awesome books. I'll spend the weekend in the tub flipping through them. Yum.

Oh yeah. So the octopus. Took Mr. Kallisti to Isobune. He'd never been to a sushi boat place. He's really been enjoying the plethora of sushi/fresh fish out here (he's recently from Michigan). So we did the sushi boat thing! I was very adventurous. And ate everything that looked pretty. Including teensy octopus that looked like it was in a red pepper sauce and wrapped in seaweed. Tiny suckers! I am very proud and triumphant (I've been terrified of seafood for most of my life. This is big stuff). I had all kinds of critters. But my favorite was a giant handroll of unagi, avocado and crab. OH MY GAWD. I almost ate two of them, but they were huge.

So yeah, I'm feelin' all replete. And stuff.

So. Before I go start on my kimono project (got the pattern resized! woo!) I grabbed a couple pictures of Fifi. She doesn't wear her default FCS wig too much, but it is soooo lovely. And I hadn't tried any dark eyes in her and thought she might look swell in Demelza's default cobalt. And day'um! Dark eyes make her look much more demure. I still love her so much. If anyone ever thinks these dolls aren't worth their price tag... oh man. They're like nothin' on earth.

And it is very cool a few other people are going to try the Kimono Project™ ! We should all post results. Here's the pattern, to refresh. Enlarge 121% to fit SD13.

Oh, and we bought seven sets of re-ment. Eeeee! Mr. Kallisti has the knack of picking the set we want. And I don't. So we went back and bought a bunch of the baby sets and I still didn't get the ones I wanted! *cry*

But we got some cooly cool ones. Woo.

Oh yeah, and *cough*... I'm currently in the market for 18mm nice glass eyes in pretty colors. My girls wear 20mm. And all I have are some red mac creatives that I *think* are 18mm.

And I don't know how to find nice Lusis eyes! 12mm! Heck!

Over and out... that is Saturday's report. It is cold. Brrrr!