Monthly Archives: March 2010

March 31, 2010 · 10:05 am

VLV13: Prepare to Launch

If you know me, you know that my year pretty much centers around the annual Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekender in April. Well, it’s that time of year again, and so off I go. My flight leaves in about 12 hours, and I am mostly packed. Ish. My planned wardrobe includes four vintage dresses, one vintage swimsuit, and one pair of vintage capris (which still need a tiny bit of mending, it will be a busy day!). Also, one dress that I made with the aid of a vintage sewing pattern. None of my shoes are vintage, because my feet are not an era-appropriate size. I do my best with modern shoes inspired by vintage looks (but I can’t afford the Rocket Originals or ReMix shoes that get all the details right). So let’s see, what’s on the to-do list before I boogie out of here? In no particular order:

– polish nails
– rip Elvis movie to iPhone (in-flight entertainment)
– mend capris
– pack/ship two shop orders
– eat something
– finish packing
– make like a tree and vamoose!

If you’re also heading to VLV and want to find me, today’s travel outfit is (at the moment) cuffed jeans and a red-and-black t-shirt. I hope to be sipping whiskey in the Crawfish Bar by midnight!

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Filed under fashion, music, vacation, vintage, Viva Las Vegas

March 20, 2010 · 8:59 am

VMTEAM “Getaway” Sale

NOTICE: March 20-28 is VMTEAM sale time! Search for vacation-themed items with the ‘vmteamgetaway’ tag by clicking here.

Each participating VMTEAM store has their own special offer for this sale. Please be sure to visit a shop’s main page for that store’s specific details. Here at Tiddleywink, any item tagged ‘vmteamgetaway’ is 20% off the listed price through March 28, 2010.

Bunco!

click for more photos

Bunco is my very first foster puppy from PupSavers (where he is listed as Tripp, but that sounds too soap-operaish to me). He is 2-3 months old, and an Aussie cattle dog/probably blue heeler terrier mix. He wants to say “hi” to EVERYONE! He’s teething right now, so doesn’t do much more than chew his toys (and nap), but he does like to play chase in the yard for full minutes at a time before conking out.

THE FULL STORY: On Tuesday night I picked up two pups to foster, but that quickly turned out to be beyond my first-time puppy caring skills (and mere two hands plus lackluster ability to only be in one place at a time). Lucky for me, my fostering friends who turned me on to PupSavers in the first place hustled right on over to soothe my nerves, assure me that I could do this, and take the zanier of the two pups off my hands. They immediately dubbed her Houdini for her wily escape skills. No barrier is strong enough to keep her from snuggling with you!

Some of you know that my household comes complete with cats, and although I was near tears a couple of times at the start, I assure you this is hardest on them. The Siamese started venturing out last night, and is now fairly comfortable wandering around, cautiously, in areas that he knows the puppy can’t reach. The tabby has come downstairs a couple of times to sniff things out, but runs off when Bunco tries to sniff back. Neither cat seems to be settled enough to eat, but they do lap at a bowl of water I brought upstairs for them.

NOTE: Bunco is so named because I think the one spot on his back makes him look like a die. Bunco, a game of luck played in teams with three dice, was imported to San Francisco as a gambling activity in the 1850s, where it gave its name to gambling parlors, or Bunco parlors, and more generally to any swindle. After the Civil War, the game evolved to a popular parlor game. During Prohibition, Bunco was re-popularized as a gambling game and often associated with speakeasies. Law-enforcement groups raiding these parlors came to be known as “Bunco squads.”

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Filed under cute and fuzzy bunny, pets

March 2, 2010 · 1:34 pm

Vogue 9996: Completion

On Thursday, I started to work on Vogue 9996, view A. I realized that I was missing 6 of the pattern pieces (the entire top and 1 leg facing), and set about redrafting them from a scan of the pattern layout.

On Saturday, I had just sewn the very last piece.

Backwards.

Although I had already clipped the seam before realizing my error, I was able to remove the stitching and sew it back on properly without issue. In fact, I finished up in time to attend a party to say good-bye to a friend of mine who is moving to California (and positively glowing about it), and was ready to bring it to a shoot I had set up for Sunday, where the photogs and I would be shooting my stash of vintage swimsuits for the shop. But things happen, and plans go awry, and we’ll be shooting all of the swimsuits next weekend instead.

However, I didn’t want you to think that it was taking me a week to get back in the saddle on this one, so below is the least-unflattering self-portrait-with-my-pocket-cam that I managed to take. I think the project turned out pretty well, actually, and I encourage praise.