World Cup Mural - The 32 Teams

When I got out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York I saw this phenomenal 32-part mural on the outside wall in honour of FOOTBALL WORLD CUP.

There's a frame for each participating country with a painting illustrating the heroes, power & secret weapon behind each country's team and it's all told with anachronistic game history, myth and legend. Good stories - here are some of my favourites - you can see all of them at: The 32 Teams

Renegade Craft Fair and What I Saw and What I Bought

Keep your cool, love thy neighbour, and never underestimate the power of a man who knows how to secure a tent - all's I can say is it would have been a very different scene this weekend without the help of Mr. Man at my booth, keeping the entire tent on the ground, literally! After standing alongside the artists that attended the fair in Brooklyn this weekend I respect all of them even more than I already did before if that's even possible. I used my break time to go around part of the track to visit some of the other makers.

  Meow Meow Tweet
Meow Meow Tweet. I came around to this side of the track very late, long after I'd spent my allotted pocket money. So their soaps are now on my wish list - especially the Grapefruit Mint with the adorable packaging. He was undefeated on Sunday even when he had to do away with his tent because of the gale winds. He's also a lovely person.




Ferdinand Home Store
Ferdinand Home Store - another shop on my wish list. The tee-shirt I'm in love with has a squirrel playing drums. (I don't know why I like it so much.) There's also a stag with dragonfly wings and they both come as onesies too.

Orangy Porangy
Orangy Porangy. They were across from my booth and must have caught me looking covetously at the pretty skirts that they make and sell.

Buttafly Unlimited
Buttafly Unlimited. I hope you can see the tee-shirts that the artist is displaying on the table in this shot. They say I HEART MY HAIR. I heart her for making them. They are available in a few different designs too and on very high quality, soft material. I have my eye on the scoop neck jersey 
EDIT: Kissa just sent me a gorgeous photo of the shirt - you can see it on the left and on her site too Buttafly Unlimited

Cherry Box Studio

Cherry Box Studio. We talked about doing a trade sometime later in the day, but the weather kind of flummoxed that plan. Maybe she's still up for it? Her shop is a carnival of fun by the way and worth taking a look at - you'll laugh, you'll cry! She is valiantly holding her tent down during a particularly exciting moment of Sunday's weather and smiling all the way through.

Tam Aura
Tam Aura. The maker of wicked silver and concrete jewellery. The combination is surprisingly elegant and light weight.

    

Artikal Millinery Artikal Millinery. A seriously down-to-earth artist. She's based in New York and we talked a little bit about her bridal line of hair pieces and fascinators  and I hope we talk some more about it soon

Molly Gee Designs
Molly Gee Designs. My booth mate! She also has a terrific bridal line of veils and hair pieces.

Olaria Studio
Olaria Studio. She was right across from Me and Molly and we kept meaning to check out each other's work - but we waited too long and the wind storm overtook us before that could happen. It's one of those things, like arriving late to school when you live next door!

Melody's Addiction
Melody's Addiction. She is actually based in Brooklyn with a lot dates set up for some upcoming markets, so you can still check out her work if you live there too - or visit her online shop if you don't.

Girls Can Tell
Girls Can Tell. It was pretty cool to see her at the fair since I started following her blog just a couple of weeks ago. There's always something interesting happening there too.

Raw Toast Design
Raw Toast Design. He was our next door neighbour for two days at the fair. As soon as I got a good look at his prints I knew I would be leaving with at least one of them. It took me a while to decide, but I ended up getting two - one as a gift for Mr.Man and one that is on my room wall right now.

Derrick Velasquez
Derrick Velasquez. He makes very beautiful hand bound and eco-conscious journals. It was hard to choose just one, but I took home a teal-blue squirrel appointed blank book. I'm not sure what it is, I've got squirrels on the brain lately.

Clockwork Fantastica
Clockwork Fantastica. I always forget to take photos of myself at these things - but the Mister took this one of me talking with Don Caine and his friend both of whom I was thrilled to see. All three of us are obsessed with music boxes so it was a very friendly meeting of minds and extremely encouraging for me. 


And this is what my booth looked like

A handy map and a coupon

(I most likely won't be blogging again until after the Renegade Craft Fair in June. Our regularly scheduled programming - stories about musical mechanica, misfits and I think an upcoming giveaway - will keep until until the ecstatic return of Tuned Teeth & Clockwork Fantastica to Canada.)

Hello Brooklyn! This is approximately where our booth with be in the track area of McCarren Park - Close to Lorimer Street. I'll be selling music box pendants, my DIY music box kits, and I might even be holding a contest for a handmade miniature ballerina music box, depending on how quickly the elves in my studio can work this week (might have to up the bribes from lollipops to bourbon...we'll see)

So, you want to visit the Renegade Craft Fair

  

Blah blah blah it's all I ever talk about these days, I know! The Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair, if you missed my half dozen other posts about it, is one of the hugest independent craft fairs in the land, where 300 makers of stylish, splendid hand created wares flog the hell out of them to thousands of visitors for two days in June.

Thinking of coming by? Here are some things you should consider bringing:

Coming up for Air, and A Story

In case some of you were wondering why I haven't been posting lately, it's because I'm in full swing preparing for Renegade Craft Brooklyn in early June:

I'm busily preparing little pendants, little boxes and little kits that play music. I'm also busy getting my transportation sorted out, getting things printed etc. The fair is a HUUUUGE fiesta and you'll find me in the track and field park at booth #195

So anyhow, there's a story that's been on my mind for the past few days called Who Owns the Land?

Dance for me! Pictures of a Thorens Movement/Rotational System

I was restoring an old Swiss musical manicure kit and I wanted to share pictures of this one.

She's very beautiful, but she wouldn't spin.

Before I exposed the movement I had never seen a rotation system quite like hers. I'll share some of the pictures I took for my records although it is probably a very common Thorens system. However you don't come across a great Thorens movement very often anymore.

Happy ending: she works now and when her lid opens she dances to the tune The Happy Wanderer

Friday Confessional

My confession today is that housecleaning is 40% more fun when I can annoy my obnoxious neighbour in the process.

He has this THING where he starts banging our shared wall manically whenever he hears people talking, my cat walking, or papers rustling in my apartment. Whenever he feels justified by the sound of a closet door opening in the still of the morning, he likes to turn up his radios so loudly that people walking by on the street look up. He also likes to stomp up and down his corridor, banging intermittently like a poltergiest when he's feeling oppressed by the masculine footfall of my roommate or the Mister, or when I need to sweep the hallway (barefoot and on tip toes so as not to arouse his terrible displeasure).

What can I say, Life is sweeter since I stopped worrying and learned to roll with the tantrums. My confession is that if I can toss mats across the hallway instead of placing them gently, or drag the recycling and rubbish bins instead of lifting, or clatter the cutlery against the plates on the dishrack - if it makes Mr. Bang Bang apoplectic it make me happy and I'll be supressing a smirk. I'm not sorry.

Do you have a confession to make this week?
or if you prefer to stay remain angelic
Have you ever had an annoying neighbour? How did you cope?

12 dancing princesses

These little dolls are getting their finishing touches before being used for my latest project. Can you guess what they're being prepared for?

The two on the far right look like they're going off somewhere to giggle and share secrets.

Clockwork Fantastica will be at Brooklyn Renegade

By the way, it's official - Clockwork Fantastica will be participating in the awesome Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, NY on June 5th & 6th

Yaaaay!

This will be my first time at a Renegade show and I will be flogging my wares to you with Molly Gee.

I'll share more info about this a little closer to the date, but I will tell you now that I'm working on some exclusive and wonderful items that will only be available from me in person at this fair. Wheeeee!