It's Bug Art, man!

2 sides of the same misogynist coin

2009-12-10T15:23:13Z

In the past 15 minutes I have read about the "Burka Barbie" and about "tweens" getting damn bikini waxes. Yeah, girls who have maybe 3-4 pubic hairs are having them removed.

*********************EDIT 2009-12-11********************

I figured photobucket would remove the picture but I HAVE MY OWN domain where I can (and will) upload it!!! VIVA LE CORPS! ¡VIVA EL CUERPO!

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THERE IS NOTHING DIRTY OR HARMFUL ABOUT THE NATURAL FEMALE BODY. Our bodies are not nasty or evil and I am fucking SICK of people claiming they are in order to promote their religious and/or political ideologies.

I am not picking on any particular religion here: my grandmother had Christian neighbors who had an in-ground swimming pool in their backyard. Only the sons were allowed to swim in it though, not the daughters. The 2 youngest girls were 4 and 6 years old in 1983 (when I spent the summer with Grandmama and Granddaddy) and already been indoctrinated that showing their bodies in a bathing suit was evil and would cause them to burn in Hell.

Note! If you are a muslim woman and you choose to wear a burka, I respect that choice. I do not agree with it but I respect it.

Doll show. . .

2009-12-09T17:58:50Z

I'd waited an entire week for an answer to my email about booking the museum's exhibit hall (such as it is) and finally called today to see if CL at the kommun had read my email. The answer was that yes, she had read it, and no, she didn't have an answer on whether or not I could book the hall during the middle of April. She didn't have a reason why, just a lot of stammering about uh, I'm SURE it's not available but um, I'll get back to you by the end of next week.

This is a simple damn question and it has a simple damn answer. I am 99% sure that they just don't want me to book the hall and haven't figured-out a good-sounding excuse for why not. I'm not even especially interested in this hall except for the fact that it is rent-free and well-lit and heated. Since April in Sweden is still pretty chilly, this is no small matter!

I have an idea about renting part of the old stables for 2 weeks but I'll have to drum up some grant money to pay for it. This year, I am going directly to Sparbanken to ask for money since they like to support innovative art projects.

Home spa day today

2009-12-07T10:40:04Z

My feet are all rough and my hair-colour needs help and the dry indoor air is sucking the life out of my skin. . .you get the picture. Think this is an excellent day for soaking in the tub, etc.

Scarf and Wall hanging on Artfire.com

2009-12-03T16:56:58Z

Spider Mandala by ~ItsBugArt on deviantART

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=50715&op=new&body=1

If you are interested in the scarf but don't care for the colours, I can crochet one in just about any colour combo you like although I don't know if I can get more of that particular yarn.

Better links to my bags

2009-11-02T21:45:59Z

I don't know why the links didn't work properly in my earlier post but I only noticed today when I added 2 more bags to my Artfire shop:

Violet Bag:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=734347

Mangrove Bag:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=734289
This was the first one I made so it only has a few beads.

Ocean Spirit Bag:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=640417
These later ones (Ocean and Earth) have lots of beads.

Earth Spirit Bag:
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=686632

AH HA!!!

2009-11-01T17:05:33Z

Yes, Virginia, I do indeed have 9 mm snaps in my sewing supply drawer!!! (insert evil laugh here)

And, yes, I am very easily made happy!

Artfire.com

2009-10-30T22:50:47Z

I have 2 crocheted and felted bags listed there:
http://www.artfire.com/users/It's%20Bug%20Art!

arkivarie @ 2009-10-30T23:32:00

2009-10-30T22:42:57Z

Note to self: NEVER, ever again buy the 6 mm snaps for sewing onto doll-clothing when 9 mm will work just as well and not make me crazy!!! And I had to make a new front pattern piece for the pinafore since I apparently tossed-out the old one. Otherwise, things are rolling along!

arkivarie @ 2009-10-12T22:34:00

2009-10-12T20:37:27Z

Sewing the finishing touches on the renaissance inspired grown; I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow. I haven't processed any of the zillions of photos I've taken lately and some of them came-out pretty cool. I'm not so sure an outdoor photoshoot will work so well, so I have (as usual) Plan B in the works. Off to bed now since I am freezing and want to pile quilts on myself, not to mention that a 50 pound collie dog will probably join me!

arkivarie @ 2009-10-06T22:53:00

2009-10-06T21:01:27Z

I worked on 2 doll chemises this evening; the first was a basic mock-up and the second one that I'll use in a photo. Doll clothes are hard to sew btw, since they are small scale and even a relatively small error is large in proportion to the item.

The Last Doll

2009-10-01T20:39:07Z

This doll was the last one given to me by my grandmother; I think she was a Christmas gift in 1980 or so. My doll had a blue, cotton "victorian" style dress and my cousin's doll had the same in red.

I've made different dresses for her over the years, pretty much all of them neo-pseudo-victorian. Recently, I noticed that her wig was disintegrating; the blond acrylic fibers were literally crumbling to dust! This hasn't happened with my other other dolls, some of which are older than her by 2 decades. My first thought was to make a new wig and I just happened to have an auburn hairpiece that I could modify to fit her head. All I needed was to borrow Harri's contact cement!

But then I started thinking about her baldness and what it represented. People who are prisoners in concentration camps have their heads shaved, ostensibly for reasons of hygiene. This act is a ritual desecration of their humanity as well, though; the camp guards forcibly remove the person's hair no matter how clean and well-kept it is.

Chemotherapy patients are another group who often become bald. Unlike the concentration camp inmates, they have a choice whether or not to undergo chemo. But, since the alternative is often death, it's a rigged choice. I lost about 35-40% of my hair when my thyroid became hyperactive, although this was the result of the illness and not of the treatment (radioactive iodine).

arkivarie @ 2009-09-30T17:55:00

2009-09-30T16:07:03Z

This afternoon on the way home from various activities in the center of town (more about them later), I scouted and discarded several possibilities for photo ops for my dolls. The large park near to where I live, Ekhagen, is totally boring and empty. There's hardly any play equipment even and I remembered why I so seldom go there! I didn't expect to find so many possibilities but had hoped for more than just an old, rust water-fountain.

Flu update

2009-09-22T20:22:04Z

I've been without a fever for 2 weeks now after 2 weeks of the flu and I still feel really weak and tired. Ggggrrrr! I did cut out and start sewing the rust-coloured chemise for my doll. The only thing left to do with the overdress is to sew some type of fasteners on the back of the bodice.

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On the festival front: still haven't heard or read anything from the evaluation meeting so I don't even know if 7H will be in Ulricehamn next summer or if it will move to Borås. I think I will do Dragonfly next year if I can get Susanne or Lola to help me sell my bags. And I've already emailed the people putting on the Ulricamässa that I definitely will do that again in 2010. Can't beat a craft-show that's literally a block away from my apartment! Plus, even though there was a snowstorm during last year's show (which was only 1 day), we still had a lot of visitors. Starting in 2010, the show will be 3 days. :-)

Doll Chronicles continued. . .

2009-09-18T21:27:45Z

I FINALLY sewed the skirt section to the "brocade" bodice; I'd declared that I wouldn't go to bed tonight until I did! I need to buy some metallic sewing machine threads. I took some pics of my china doll as well but haven't uploaded them from my camera yet.

arkivarie @ 2009-09-18T11:27:00

2009-09-18T09:32:08Z

1) Go to: Urban Dictionary
2) Search your first name only - though try a nickname if everyone calls you that instead
3) Post it to your journal with at least 5 choice results
4) Tag two people to do this meme.

******These made my day but I'm laughing too hard to copy and paste 5*******

1. Erin is a female who has the body of a goddess and the brain of a genius. Men are drawn to her good looks and her awsome sense of humour. Out of all the females in the world its the Erins who rule.

2. The absolute most perfect girl in the world, and even her flaws are more beautiful than any other girl's perfections. She's the cutest thing on this earth =]

3. She's perfect, she has to be an Erin.

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Doll Chronicles

2009-09-15T18:01:46Z

Approximately 41 years ago, when I was 4 and my little brother about 2, he accidently decapitated one of my dolls and came perilously close to being decapitated himself! Fortunately there were adults nearby who not only rescued him from my vengeance but also fixed my poor doll. She was made of plastic and her head just snapped back onto her neck. Easy-peasy for a grown-up!

Yesterday on Facebook. . .

2009-09-13T12:21:23Z

. . .fluffy center of the universe that it is, I posted the following as my status:
Erin Winslow wished more people understood that statements such as "I feel sick/tired/stressed-out" mean JUST THAT and are NOT invitations for people to start up with emotional black-mail or guilt trips. :-(

Yes, I was supposed to go to a 2 day long conference in Borås. Yes, I was looking forward to the entire day. No, I didn't go because I felt like crap and just wasn't up to it. When I emailed the person with whom I was supposed to carpool, I received a rather tacky answer that she hoped I realized just how much the conference cost and how important it was and showed-up anyway. :-(

The conference fee (a couple hundred dollars in US money btw) was paid-for by local govt and I am truly sorry I didn't feel well enough to attend. But it's not like I haven't been sick enough to spend most of my day in bed for the past 2 weeks and have been very weak and easily tired this past week. What is it with people?!!!

***Edit: oops! I left out the word "conference" in the 2nd paragraph! The sentence should make more sense now ***

And you thought life in Sweden was boring. . .

2009-09-08T13:40:46Z

Our Trip To Innsmouth by ~slipgunk on deviant ART

Feeling much better now!

2009-09-03T21:46:50Z

I'm still tired and weak-feeling, but am over the wretched influensa at last!

More doll notes

2009-09-01T19:22:14Z

Ok, while walking Mr. Scotty yesterday (a very short walk due to my flu), I came-up with a better translation of "förfallenhet." Think decay, not in a slimy, cadavery sense but more in a classic Gothic, Miss Havershamish sense.

I probably have Swine flu

2009-08-31T14:37:22Z

at least according to the nurse I spoke to on the phone this morning. I've been sick for a week and am over the worst but I have ginormous guilt feelings about taking Scotty to the vet last week (before I knew I had more than just a head cold) and breathing germs on the vet, etc. Plus, I've had some really funky dreams lately, probably due to the fever. I Mostly just feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest along with some of his buddies stampeding through my head though.

Notes about dolls and more. . .

2009-08-30T15:30:53Z

I have started sewing doll clothing for a series of photos I intend to do this fall. There is a collection of old buildings, mostly from the mid-to-late 1800s, in a park that was originally a sort of open-air museum but they have been allowed to decay during the past few years. :-( Now the kommun (local government) is finally taking responsibility for maintaining them and repairing the insect and moisture damage.

Once the repair work is finished I want to use the buildings as a backdrop to my photoshoot(s). The doll clothing I am sewing isn't historically authentic and isn't meant to recreate an era. It is meant to suggest "förfallenhet" (deterioration).

The romanticized, "oh, it's SO CUTE!" view of the 19th century baffles me. Sweden had become a very poor country and there were literally people living in root-cellars and the like. There were also huge class differences; the haves had a great deal more and a much higher standard of living. That's why so many Swedes immigrated to North America in the mid-to-late 1800s; they literally could NOT make a living here in Sweden.

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth

2009-08-17T20:43:42Z

It just seems like it! Several people at the festival told me that they loved my food last year and were sorry that I wasn't in charge of the kitchen this year. Ha!!! No one accused me of killing them with condiments. Ha!

Subversiv syslöjd (subversive sewing) was mentioned very favorably in an article in STT (local newsweekly) and there was a very good photo of my two helpers, Heidi and Bianca, together with their grandmother, Monica. IF 7H is held in Ulricehamn again next year (and doesn't end-up in Borås, etc), I will definitely stick with doing the 3, day-long workshops. Don't know how interested I am in being stuck in Borås all day, 3 days in a row, though.

Charm quilt (for ME!)

2009-07-20T22:16:35Z

The top to my charm quilt is machine-pieced but the batting I had in my stache turned out to be too small and I'll have to buy more. I added some purple to the grey-burgundy-rose colour scheme.

arkivarie @ 2009-07-18T22:51:00

2009-07-18T20:57:01Z

I cut-out and sewed more charms for my new snuggle quilt while watching Return of the Jedi this afternoon. I need to get out the iron and ironingboard and press them now but this is one of my delivery days and pre- and post-Star Wars I was running up and down apartment building stairs so I am totally pooped. I cut-out some pink-flowered fabric charms to go with the burgundy and grey shades so the quilt would have some variation in it.