The Suspense is Killing Me

I love a good thriller. Not Michael Jackson-although that was a great video. I'm talking about a good old fashion suspense thriller. Give me an old suspenseful movie any day of the week. There is something about watching an old movie in the fall when it's raining and you have a fire going that really captures the moment, so to speak.

One movie that I just recently saw over the weekend is Gaslight. It stars Ingrid Bergman (she won an Oscar for her role) and it was nominated for the best picture. It did win a Golden Globe in best picture. The story is of a detective trying find out why a paranoid schizophrenic is trying to drive his wife mad. The movie is based on a famous London play. I highly recommend this movie. Ingrid Bergman is beyond belief amazing

Everyone knows that Alfred Hitchcock is the king of psychological thriller. His plot twist and camera angles set him above most directors. Dial M for Murder is on of his best. The story centers around a man who finds out that his wife had an affair a year ago and now he wants to murder her. He doesn't want to commit the murder himself so he hires someone to do it for him. This is where the plot twist-I don't want to give away too much but it is an excellent thriller with the beautiful Grace Kelly playing the lead.

The final movie is on my top 10 list. Night of the Hunter starring Robert Mitchum is a classic cat and mouse game with thrills and turns but done in such a subtle way that you don't realize you are being taken for the suspenseful ride of your life. Mitchum plays an escape convict trying to track down $10,000.00 that his cellmate hid. Robert's character marries the man's widow, weasels his way into their lives and then hunts for the cash. The story of Cain and Able that the preacher tells (Love and Hate on his hands) sets an eerie undertone for the movie . It is shot beautifully. Unfortunately it did not do well at the box office and was the amazingly talented director, Charles Laughton's last movie. It was only till after Laughton's death that the movie was recognized for the cinematic genius it was and still is.

So these movies will make you a little leery about your neighbor, significant other or in my case my pups (I never trust a shifty eyed dog), don't let that keep you from curling up under a cozy blanket, put another log on the fire and enjoy an good suspenseful thrill. I bet you can solve the case before that pesky detective can. Until next time!

Scrappy Dog Sunday!

Today is Dia de los Muertos -it is a holiday to honor and celebrate those who have passed on. Although we are so happy to have a new little man in our lives (he is the funniest little guy ever) we still have a place in our heart for the original little man, our chunk, Kato. It has been some time since he has passed away but I swear sometimes I can hear the pitter patter of his little feet walking around downstairs. So today's Scrappy Dog Sunday is Kato. We miss you little man.

Kato was a tough old man! He lived to be almost 18!

Can you see why we called him chunk?

No matter what age he was, he loved to sleep in front of the heater during winter.

Oh, he looks like he's thinking about life and reflecting. He's really just scheming a way to get food from us.

This head was in his stomach. His second surgery. The first being a piece of a Kong toy.

He went through 3 surgeries, fathered 2 children and had to put up with me dressing him up-no wonder he was grouchy.

Kato, I miss you so much. The way you and OMP fought for bed space every night. Your barking when the wind blew. Eating everything that wasn't nailed down. You were a man's man. You took no crap and lived your life the way you wanted to. You were the Marlon Brando of the doggy world. I hope you are in doggy heaven, laying in the sun and eating as many doggy biscuits as your heart desires. Good night sweet prince. You will forever have a place in my heart and soul.

Feel Good Friday!

Thank you Bronwen for the picture. I'm not sure who's this little boy belongs to but the picture cracks me up. 

Another week in the can! I am ready for some Halloween fun. Yahoo! Let's get the festiviites started. Scary but cute costume-CHECK! Candy that only I will like incase we don't get any trick or treaters-CHECK! Scary places to go-CHECK!

If you are in the Portland Area and want some history mixed up with your haunting. Check out The Lone Fir Cemetery tours. For only a $5.00 donation you can take a brisk 45 minute walk and learn about the unsavory characters that make up Portland's history. I went last year and it was awesome!



So let's say that you have decided to stay home and want to make some last minute decorations. Look no farther my friends than Craftster's new videos. You can find them in several places around the internet and if you look real close, you can see a familiar face.

I LOVE this little monster by melissastanley727. Her stitching is crazy!

Allsorts  has the cutest blog . I can spend hours over there looking at some many different ideas, stitching, and pictures. It's just all around greatness. I think I might want to be her when I grow up. If you want some truly awesome Halloween ideas, check out her Halloween Blog

Hopefully these things will keep you out of trouble for the next week. If I know you guys like I think I do, I should be expecting phone calls from the police or other mothers around town telling me to come pick you up.Troublemakers!

Happy Halloween!

Dias de los Muertos

So the final October Halloween collection really has to do with October 31st through November 2nd. For those of you unfamiliar with Dias de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It is a Mexican celebration and holiday honoring those who have passed on. We celebrate it at our house every year, leaving food and drink and presents for our loved ones who have passed . We light candles and have sugar skulls to decorate alters for our dearly departed.

We have a huge collection of Dias de los Muertos icons. These are just a few pieces that are our favorites or that are unusual.

I'm not sure where these came from or what they are actually called. If someone out there knows the history,
I would love to find out more. They each have little coffins that pop up and have people in them. The yellow one represents a chupacabra, the middle one is a wedding and the orange is a Halloween scene. If you look very closely, you can see witches in the trees.

These are also pop ups. The purple car is actually a space ship with little aliens.

One more set of pop ups. They are both caskets with people that pop up.

We also collect Day of the Dead skulls. Since OMP is a drummer, this is perfect for him and the three dogs represent our three puppers.

I love these guys hanging out in a tree getting drunk with the puppy barking at them.

Another skull music scene with the Lady of Guadalupe behind them.

Don't forget your special loved ones this weekend. Pour yourself a drink and bake up some  Pan de Muerto to celebrate their visit and the memories that you shared with them. Here's wishing you a happy Halloween and a joyous Dias de los Muertos.

Alexz and the land of misfits

When I first saw Alexz's work I was totally blown away and then when I got to know her better I realized that she is a sassy, sweet and just down right adorable young lady(I can say that cause I'm old). First off, she loves Tim Burton, so you know she has taste but when I found out she also loves Meatloaf, well I just about died! How awesome is that? Let's find out more about her obsessions with misfits, Tim and Meatloaf.

Tell me a little bit about yourself
Hmm...Do you remember that part in Beetlejuice where Lydia says "live people ignore the strange and unusual. I, myself, am strange and unusual." That pretty much sums me up. Okay, so I am not nearly as depressed and dark as Lydia but I am really kind of strange! Simply put, I am a 23-year-old girl who grew up in Ontario, Oregon and I am just stepping foot into the real world. I grew up in this tiny town as somewhat of a misfit. Listening to Meat Loaf records and watching old re-runs of The Munsters and The Addams Family were how I spent my days as a child; thus the personality shaping began! I became a little goth girl with a love for all things cute and creepy! I think the wholesome values of those 50s/60s shows rubbed off on me though, because I am such a goody-goody, yet I love Halloween and all creepy stuff. I guess I am a walking contradiction! Anyways, I just recently finished up a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at Western Oregon University and I am about 3/4's of they way through an art degree. Right now I am living back in Ontario with my parents -yup- I am a boomerang child! There seems to be a lot of those kids these days! But my plans are to save up some money this year by working and then move back over to the Portland area and pursue a career in stop-motion animation.

You do such amazing work-what's your favorite piece and why
Wow, thank you! It is hard for me to pick a favorite, because it seems like I go through phases of working on certain types of mediums and projects and that moment, I LOVE them! I made a little steampunk skeleton a couple of nights ago, and I am really loving it lately. I have been getting requests for him left and right and commissioned work is always a huge excitement for me since I am broke and college loan payments are arriving in the mail. He is made completely of junk! I save everything I own that is salvageable, because I know I will be able to use it eventually. This piece is particularly special to me because I rarely make 3-dimensional work and he turned out so well for just being constructed from things I have found lying around the house or in the streets. Not to mention, he combines all my favorite things: goth, steampunk, Halloween and skeletons! So I guess for the moment, he is my favorite piece!

 Who/What inspires you
I come from a family of black sheep who are all extremely creative. My dad is an incredible artist! Our tastes are completely different but his work and talents never cease to amaze me. My mother reads more than anybody I have ever known and she is so incredibly smart. Both my parents inspire me everyday and I owe all my success to them. They encouraged me to be whoever and whatever I wanted to be. My brother is the same way and also very smart and creative, and he supports everything I do. I really look up to him. My family is huge to me and are one of the biggest pieces for my creative inspiration. I also have a boyfriend who has introduced me to so many new things and he encourages me in every way he can. I can't thank him enough for all the ways he inspires me and how much he embraces my quirkiness.

I obviously have GREAT influence from Tim Burton. The first Burton Film I ever saw was Edward Scissorhands and it had a profound effect on me; I fell in love with Edward and his vulnerability. I also grew up on Disney and developed an almost-obsessive fascination with Walt Disney. His drive and willingness to try anything astounds me and I think he is probably one of the most incredible people to ever live. And then I can't leave out Meat Loaf. I know that sounds so weird, but I grew up on his music and I just love the guy to death. He is so intense and passionate that he inspires me to pursue my own dreams with the same vigor he has.

Any advice for fellow crafters?
Well, I am still so young and making tons of mistakes myself but I can tell you that I have already experienced tons of rejection and I have been knocked down plenty of times in my artistic endeavors. But you have to just get back up and keep pursuing your dreams. I spent my first three years of college working towards my art degree and while Western has a good art program and some amazing students and art teachers alike, it is definitely a more traditional curriculum there. My skeletons and zombies were not appreciated and I ended up crying almost everyday because of a comment made by my teachers. But you just have to keep going at it and not succumb to what other people want you to do or be- and that goes for everything in art and life in general. I live in such a small conservative town, I spent a lot my years being what everybody else wanted me to be. But now that I fully embrace the strange, little weirdo I have always been, I have never been happier! You just have to be who you want and let that inspire your creativity.

What does the future hold for you?
I really have no idea where I will go, or who I will become, and that feels awesome! I will admit, I have been experiencing a lot of anxiety over my future since graduating college but at the same time, it is strangely exhilarting. I feel like I can go anywhere or be anything. My dream would be to become the next Tim Burton- or marry him. Either way my future would be set. Ha! Just kidding. In all seriousness, I really love stop-motion film and would love to end up in a career with that. But when it comes down to it, my main goal in life is just to make sure I end up in a creative career where I can reach people with my art- even if it just a small handful of people. I want others to know that is okay to be odd and a misfit. Tim Burton and Meat Loaf taught me that and I want to do the same for others like me who feel like they don't fit in anywhere.

Bonus Questions:
If you could be one Tim Burton character-who would it be?
Oh gosh, that is a tough question! Tim Burton's movies seem to always have a theme where the main characters are all completely misunderstood and do not fit into their surroundings. Jack Skellington, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Bloom, etc. They are all so misconstrued and unappreciated. And I think that is because they are all emulating Tim Burton himself as he feels, and that is essentially why I relate to and admire him so much. So I feel like all of them! But I guess if I had to choose just one character it would be Edward Scissorhands. He is so shy and sensitive which is my personality to a tee. That is kind of strange to think about though, because I have a huge crush on him!


You can check out more of Alexz's work on her flickr account and watch out for her etsy to open up soon. I really hope that she remembers this little interview when she's famous and I hope that when she wins her first oscar for her stop motion animation that I'm mentioned in the thank you's. What? A girl can wish can't she?

Tie One On Tuesday!

Well we are a few days away from the night of tricks and treats, and what better way to spend it then getting blind stinking drunk. Obligatory safety warning – Please drink responsibly. Do not drink and drive! Don't drink and bike! Just stay at home and have a cocktail!

Now, with that said – here are a few items you can try out during the festivities.

A bloody eyeball Martini - this one has been around for a while ( I think I saw Martha do it) but I love the look of it.

Basically you are going to take a red radish and a vegetable peeler and strip off some of the red outer peel, exposing the white meat underneath – thus making red veins into the surface of the radish.  You also want to cut the front off of the radish and carve out a hole big enough to insert a green olive w/Pimento into. Once completed you have a scary looking eyeball garnish for your party. You could also put these in an ice tray and freeze them for cubes put in other drinks. Be careful though – when they thaw they may be a little messy.

Now for the drink to put them into: Your basic Martini:

2 oz Vodka (I prefer a Gin Martini but what have you)

1/2 oz. Vermouth (dry not sweet!)

If you want a real dry Martini – try this. Swirl the Vermouth in the martini glass and then discard what is left after coating the glass. Add Vodka and your eyeball – ENJOY!!!

Next up – the Headless Horseman with a twist thanks to our friends over at drinkoftheweek.com!!

2 oz BLACK Vodka

3 dashes Angostura bitters

Ginger Ale

Slice of Blood Orange

Take 2 oz. Of Black Vodka (basically filtered with charcoal – perfectly safe mind you) put it into a Collins glass. Add 3 dashes of bitters and top off with ginger Ale. Garnish with a slice of Blood Orange. Creepy looking as all get out!

Last but not least on the Halloween chopping block is the good old fashion Bloody Mary. It just isn’t for breakfast anymore!!!

1 oz. Vodka

3 oz. Tomato juice

2 dashes hot sauce

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

slice of lemon

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients into shaker (squeeze the lemon of course) and mix until blended. Pout into a pint glass and garnish with one of your eyeball radishes on a stick (or pike as it were)!! A little extra special secret – BEST Bloody Mary I ever had, the bartender added a splash of green olive brine to the mix – Yummy!!

Have yourselves a safe and Happy Halloween my little dinklets! Here’s to your glasses in the air and your feet on the ground – and god forbid it is the not the other way around!

Scrappy Dog Sunday!

Another Sunday, another Scrappy Dog Sunday-but wait a second-what's a CAT doing on Scrappy Dog Sunday? Well, it's simple, I chose to put him up here. HA! Felix is a very silly little man that has all the qualities of scrap and although he's not a dog in the physical sense, he is in spirit (plus, he smells really really good!)Take it away Mr. Felix! 


Felix, you are a very scrappy cat. What's your deal?
Well, when my human mom and dad lived in Miami, they took my cat mom in off the street. Since my cat mom was basically feral, they took it slow and didn’t force her to stay in the house, they would just sit with the door open and let her come in a snuggle as she pleased, and leave if she felt uncomfortable.  Well, my cat mom had her first heat before they were able to leave her in the house by herself.  She met up with another feral cat that my human parents named Demon. They say it’s because he was evil. After my cat mom was pregnant, they made her stay inside.  They decided that they would keep one of her kittens and find loving homes for the rest. Well, they didn’t know it but I was the only one in there! No brothers or sisters.  I’m too important for siblings. I’m so important that my human mom even helped my cat mom have me. She even cut my cord.  She was at my service before my eyes were even open.  Buahahaha!
 

What's your favorite thing to do during the day?
Sit on my mom’s lap as she’s typing (like right now).  Get up into the window in her office and munch on the catnip plant. Mom tells me I need to wait until she takes a piece off for me but that’s ridiculous. It’s right there! I should be able to monch on it as I please. Oh, and I like playing king of the mountain, even if it means getting somewhere I can’t jump down from.  Hey, my human parents have hands! They can get me down.

Are you really a Foofie?
I’m the foofinest foofinator that ever foofed.

If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?
100% of the attention at all times. Even though my mom stays home all day now instead of leaving the house she still works and that is unacceptable.  She should be following me around and watching me be awesome and then petting me whenever I want!

Bonus question!
My favorite place to hide is......
I don’t really hide. I want to be right out in the open, because, as I mentioned earlier, I need to be the center of attention AT ALL TIMES.

Mr. Felix! You get the Lola 100% Scrappy Seal of Approval! I can't wait to see you again and shower you with kisses. You are the scrappiest little foofie I have ever met!



*Now for all you readers out there-if you want your pet to be a part of Scrappy Dog Sunday, hit me up. I love scrappy dogs, cats, goats, llamas, rats,chickens.