First, I’d accidentally left my garage door open without knowing that my big tortoise was in the garage. Of course he wandered away. And tortoises are not smart enough to come when you call them. Or at least mine is not smart enough!

So, I started checking the LA County Animal Shelter website because they post photos of animals in real time as they arrive at any shelter in the county. When I first went there, I saw a few turtles, even a Sulcata tortoise, but my guy wasn’t there.

I was kinda surprised, though. I didn’t really think the shelter would have turtles and tortoises, I was just out of options and figured I’d exhaust my resources before giving up.

A day or so later, one of my water turtles bit a tankmate and did enough damage that I had to put the poor little fellow down. RIP, Piggy.

A week later, my neighbors found Toad (my big tortoise) frolicking behind their house. Yay! But obviously, nothing can bring Piggy back.

Although the ordeal did give me an idea.

Obviously, there were troubles in the turtle tank that still needed to be resolved… My two girl turtles had always been aggressive. The Piggy incident was not the first time they’d bit another. Usually, no damage was done, but that was also back when they were smaller. Turtles will bite anything…dead, alive, tied down, floating…they’ll bite it. That’s why you can’t put plastic plants or anything non-edible or small in a turtle tank. They’ll eat ‘em anyway and likely hurt themselves because of it.

As it turned out, our boy turtles are all mellow, but those girls…those crazy girls who grow faster than boys have always been rambunctious. We’d even noticed in the last few months that the boys almost always kept their tails curled in–as though if they didn’t they’d get bit. The girls were so much bigger than they were and therefore stronger and tougher.

Well, how about the animal shelter? I kept an eye on the website, waiting for a boy turtle to show up. My two girls would be fine together, but they just didn’t play nice with the boys and they ate all the food before the boys could get two pieces down their necks. They’d be great for a family other than ours.

So when the first boy turtle showed up on the site, I made the phone call to show my interest in him. Within an hour later, I put the girl turtles in a bucket and headed to the shelter that had the boy.

I was the first incoming and outgoing turtles for a couple of the clerks there. I guess not many people know about the shelter for adopting turtles. They’re only $10! Incoming and outgoing, $10 each. Yeah, way cheap!

I went there with two in a bucket, I came home with one. He’s about the same size as the two girls combined, but mellllllllllllllow. I suppose that might have something to do with him being abused.

Someone painted him. A lot. I can’t tell for sure what kind of turtle he is because I can’t see what his shell looks like. By the rest of him, he’s probably a Pacific Pond Turtle, but I can’t be sure until I clean all the paint off. It’s gonna take days, maybe weeks because I can’t do it all at once for fear of killing him with the toxicity.

However, last night my husband held the turtle while I cleaned off a couple scales. This morning, Graffiti ate breakfast with his two tankmates. I think he’s gonna be okay.

My best friend got married over ten years ago, I’m not sure exactly which year in the late 1990s because that part of my life is kind of a blur, but anyway, I was to be one of her bridesmaids. The dresses would be easy because we all went on a shopping trip and found what we needed. Tons of fun. However, there was still the rehearsal that I seriously did not have a dress for.

This was back in my hardcore theater technician days. I wore all black jeans and t-shirts, all the time because it was easier. I even carried my wrench in my back pocket, flashlight and multi-tool on my belt. I spent more time backstage than I did working on my car or doing homework. I did not own any dresses.

But I love shopping at thrift stores.

And at one of them, there was a vintage sewing pattern for 29 cents. It was for a cute, 1970s full-length dress with little flutter sleeves. It was a size too big for me, but whatever. It was so cheap, it didn’t matter.

Oh yeah, did I mention I couldn’t afford to buy new clothes? Let alone a dress that was in brand new shape to wear to the rehearsal?

Anyhow, I hit up the discount fabric store and got some floral fabric. It was lightly tie-dyed navy blue with very small pink flowers on vines. I didn’t have the money for a long zipper, so I planned to do some kind of front closure. I didn’t know how to do button holes on my thrift store sewing machine, so I found some snaps on the sale rack.

From there, I cut out the pattern, didn’t adjust it properly to fit or to accommodate the snaps. Whoops!

In order to resurrect the dress, I just went with it and added a tie to the waist to pull it in. Once it was on, no one could tell that I’d screwed up the pattern. At least I couldn’t and I got a ton of compliments on that sweet dress.

But then it shrank when I laundered it and since I couldn’t wear it anymore, I donated it back to one of the thrift stores I frequented. Sometimes I wish I’d kept it just for the memories.

Now, I still don’t buy new clothes and I wear mostly vintage…

And now that my Etsy store is full of vintage patterns, I can make whatever I want…and modify it properly for a change! I’m not selling that flutter sleeve dress pattern, though. One of these days I’m gonna redo the navy blue dress…the right way!

Since last I blogged, I’ve started regularly having a booth at the Santa Clarita Open Air Market (aka The Saugus Swap Meet at the Saugus Speedway).

At the moment, I’m there on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays, but I might scale back a little because of another venture I’ll get into later in this post.

I’ve been having a great time out there. I’m always looking for deals, so my work is priced accordingly and I’ve always got stuff on sale just for the fun of it.

Plus, I make jewelry while I tend my booth. You can pick out beads and have me make them into something for you (earrings are only $5!) or I usually bring some from home and fill custom orders while I’m there. I also make ribbon choker necklaces and ribbon bracelets.

There isn’t much I cannot do…one way or another.

Okay, now for the bit I said I’d get to later in this post…

In my Etsy store, I’ve started listing vintage patterns…mostly from the 60s-80s. See, my closets are full of clothes from those decades, too. There are a lot that I’m just not wearing, so I’m photographing them and also getting them listed at Etsy. If all I’m doing is looking at them, why not take pictures (which are grrrrreat to look at!) and let the clothes move further on their journey?

Don’t get me wrong, I still wear mostly vintage:

But I’ve got racks and racks of such great stuff that it’d take me a few years to wear it all if I wore something different every day.

Yeah. I’ve got a lot of clothing.

And vintage patterns go hand-in-hand with the clothing. I’ve got about 150 patterns listed and at least 300 more ready to roll. It’s just a matter of time. Being a one-woman show, I don’t have the army I’d need to get everything posted, but that’s okay. It’s nice to have something to show for all my hard work.

Plus, since I enjoy vintage clothes so much, seeing the patterns is just as much fun. I’ve held back a few so that I can make outfits out of them. Some will be out of vintage fabrics and some will be out of later stuff, but all will be fun and well worth the time invested. The plan is to use those as the vacation, the treat, the celebration of things to come.

Oh well. I’m glad for it. The print galleys for Forsaken Talisman arrived. It’ll release in paperback in February 2010. In the mean time, Jen and I are working on the next in the Talisman Bay series, Eternal Talisman. It’s gonna be awesome.

During my read through of Forsaken Talisman, I remembered so many nuances and hints of things to come and just so much fun stuff. In fact, after I finished reading it, I ended up reading what we’ve got so far of Eternal Talisman.

I just can’t wait. While Jen’s on vacation, I’m tasked with drafting the next scene and I’m so glad I read Forsaken Talisman before I dove in. Just so I can have fresh eyes. It takes Jen and I so long to write full length novels that it’s easy to forget details if they aren’t in the outline…or if I don’t get the “what were you thinking? Did you forget?” phone call that follows me sending a scene to Jen! I dunno why, but she’s just that much better at remembering what’s been written, what’s been outlined and what we’ve got planned, but aren’t gonna write into a book just yet than I am. I get them all confused. Oh well.

In February of 2010, Ashleigh Raine’s Forsaken Talisman will be available. We’ve added over 20K words to it. Yeah, several new scenes, a few new takes on existing scenes, lots of changes. It’s hardly the same book that it was the first time around. And we’re so thankful for the second chance.

Here’s the blurb:

Kidnapped and mind-wiped by the Shadow Walkers’ greatest nemesis, Skylar has no memories of her own, except for her name. All she knows is what memories she does possess belong to someone else—as does her face—and that she can’t trust anyone, including herself.

Shadow Walker Dusty Clements goes against direct orders to rescue Skylar and take her into hiding. It’s the only way to get to the truth, and keep her out of the hands of an enemy who could use her to wipe out the entire organization. The last complication Dusty needs is to fall for her.

As Dusty and Skylar work to uncover the secrets of her past, they discover a mystery more than twenty years in the making, and a love they can’t deny.

The enemy has one more trick up his sleeve though—a magical kiss capable of probing the deepest secrets of the mind. All he needs to bring the Shadow Walkers down is to get his lips on Skylar one more time…

To read more about it–including excerpts and deleted scenes–click here to go to the Ashleigh Raine website!

Anyhow, Here’s what I wore to the New Kids on the Block concert last Friday. It’s not the best picture and it’s not the best outfit, but I always build something when I go to their shows. Not because I think they care what I’m wearing, but because otherwise, I’d never actually make anything for myself. I used to make outfits for when I was a seatfiller. My Grammy outfit is still in my closet and I’ve worn my American Music Awards quite a few times since then, too. It’s all incentive to stay the same size.

Admittedly, there are certain things I like to do… Stretch pants, stretch velvet, parts that flow when I spin around. I dunno why, I just like those things. And I usually like to show very little skin. That’s probably why I flailed so much on the concert outfit. In comparison:

This was what I made to wear to the Grammys.

Back to the concert outfit… The fabric is burn-through velvet. I got a few yards in 1999 because it was just so awesome to me. Then, in 2004, I found a partial bolt for $1/yard. I bought the whole damn thing…figuring of course that I’d use it for ’something’. Well, that something had arrived.

I’d designed it in my head for about two months prior. Nothing actually turned out like what was in my head. I even screwed up the pants. They were supposed to be a little longer. Whoops. Oh well. My seatfiller boots went great anyway.

Initially, I was going to do this cute half shirt on the top and make a bunch of tassels to hang down just above my knee somewhere. Then, that morphed to a tank top…to a long shirt similar to a dress…to a backless, but longer top. When all was said and done, I ended up with a short halter. It’s okay, but not my best work.

I’d never built a halter before and I didn’t have a pattern to pull the shape I wanted, so I just had to guess and drape and make it up as I went along. I only had a few days to get my act together, so once all my important parts were covered, I pretty much had to be satisfied.

Yes, the necklace is holding up the center of the halter. It actually looked better that way rather than letting it hang.

The necklace was also an experiment. It’s my first triple-decker. I might make more, but not necessarily out of crystal unless I receive special requests. 90% of the beads in this particular necklace are upcycled from my grandmother’s broken necklaces. They’d needed restringing when they were given to me in high school (some even earlier!). I kept all the beads around for ‘just the right’ necklace.

That was the only part of this whole outfit that turned out…and was even better in person than what I’d dreamt up in my head. The sparkle on that thing was incredible. It also weighs a lot, though.

I mis-measured the waistline and cut the elastic too big. Luckily it was snug enough not to look too bad. The skirt isn’t really a skirt. It’s just a bit of fabric attached to the waistband and I cut it to give some nice folds. I’d feel better about the skirt if my sewing machine had gotten along better with it. The bobbin kept barfing. I almost gave up, but again, I was pressed for time. The halter top was already done. All I needed were the pants.

Because of the burnthrough aspect of the velvet, I needed to use two layers in a few important spots. I suppose the outfit might’ve turned out better if I’d had more time, but I’m not positive. The good news is that I learned soooooooooooooooooooo much from this adventure that I’m betting the next outfit I make from that fabric will be a billion times better. I already have a few ideas.

I still wanna try the tassels. I’ve never done them. They’d be the same as the ties on the back of the halter…and those went off without a hitch. Here’s hoping I can do a better second rendition.

Or at least use up the remaining 17 yards on the partial bolt!

I’ve been making lots and lots of necklaces, developing new designs, even selling them at swap meets just to do that inevitably fun ’something’ with them this time around.

I just got home from a New Kids on The Block concert. They were awesome as always. I even met them ahead of the show. Tonight was my seventh time. Back in the day, I went to 9 concerts, but was never able to meet them. I suppose I’m making up for that now and I’m sooooooooooo glad for it. They were absolutely worth the wait.

Because I’m too lazy when it comes to myself, I use the concerts as incentive/inspiration for me to create more outfits. I haven’t even twittered the last few days because I was making a little halter top and pants/skirt. I’ve never done a halter top before, so that was quite an experience. I didn’t even have a pattern I could fudge from. I just had to do it on the fly. The pants were easy, though. Yoga pants. I can whip up a pair of ‘em in less than an hour. Then, I draped a quasi-skirt over the top.

Yoga is another thing I’ve been doing more of. I barely talk about it on my blog here, but I absolutely love yoga and all that it allows me to do and feel and be. Bending, stretching, twisting…and building tons of strength…while really taking control by doing the poses and in turn, they do me, good golly, I wish I could live on my mat.

I built another website. It’s not completely finished yet, but it’s damn close. Tomorrow, I’ll be helping out at a TAPS boot camp. I absolutely love being a TAPS member. Ghosts were people, too. There’s no reason to be afraid of them. Yeah, strangeness abounds when they’re active, but that’s only if you refuse to admit what your senses are telling you. Some of the most interesting people I’ve met are dead and I plan to meet many, many more.

It seems I’ve got my hands in a little bit of everything these days and I wouldn’t have my life any other way. In fact, just the other day I was telling someone about how even two years later, I still have trouble believing I was paid to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Porsche 911 Turbo and 2 Ferrari F430s. These are the kinds of things that happen in my life and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

However, I really should blog more about them!

Anyhow, a few weeks back, at a swap meet, I scored a composition ball-jointed antique doll body. It needs to be restrung, but so do several of my other dolls–some are even on display smashed between two others so that it’s not obvious their arms aren’t really attached. Hell, some of them, their heads are just sitting on their bodies. One good earthquake and they come trembling down. Is it wrong for me to find that hilarious?

Anyhow, I wanna blog about restringing. I’ve never done it before, so I wanna see if I can do it.

My cars need some work, too. I’ve had the replacement speaker for my Prowler over 2 years now, at least. Plus, I’m finally sick of the manual switch on the fan in my ‘68 Fastback. Well, it’s not really a switch. When I go to drive the car, I have to plug the fan in or it won’t turn on at all. Heaven forbid I should leave it on while I’m in yoga class. I’d come out to a dead battery and that would be very, very bad. I’ve got the proper thermostatic relay switch. I just need to install it. The wiring is already done and everything. I dunno why such a quick job has gotten backed up in my queue.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll also be doing a lot of writing. Jen’s handed the current few chapters to me. One to rewrite/edit/change, the other to draft. Eternal Talisman is gonna be an amazing book when we’re through with it. The characters come alive. They live, they love, they fight, they laugh, they lead very tumultuous lives, but yet somehow they pull it all together and help each other through.

If I can’t be back at the New Kids on the Block concert right now, I’d like to be in Talisman Bay. Maybe I’ll dream myself there tonight. That would be awesome. Have a wonderful weekend!

They’re not 80s, but they sure do look retro. And they make me wish I had more pink in my wardrobe so that I’d wear them more often. Especially now that I’ve worn them in so much after that impromptu shopping trip.

Okay, so there you have ‘em. They aren’t all my wackiest or all my faves, but they’re a fair representation of what I have to work with and my collection grows every year. These pics were all taken last year. Since then, I’ve added some like totally awesome 80s pumps that I would’ve died for back in the day as well as various other great pairs vintage and modern…including jellies!

There have been a few times where I’ve found the same pair of shoes twice at thrift stores. Once, while I was wearing them! Yeah, what was funny is that I saw them on the shelf and thought, “Ohhhh…those are awesome…Wait. Don’t I already have ones like them?” Then looked down and there they were on my feet! I bought the pair on the rack and donated the ones on my feet. (The rack pair was less worn than the ones I was wearing! The cashier got a kick out of it, too.)

I don’t need to spend a lot of money in order to really enjoy the shoes I find. I think that’s one of the best things about my collection. It’s comprised almost entirely of shoes I found without actively searching. Sure, there are a few that I needed to get for certain applications, but the rest just happened. I know what I like, so I buy them when I see them…as long as they’re less than about $10. Most, I get for $5 or less. If I’m spending more than $5, they’ve gotta be truly stellar and something I don’t already have. That’s pretty hard to do these days, but it does still happen.

A few months ago, I picked up another pair of vintage silver shoes like the ones I posted earlier. They’re a slightly different style, but the same toe shape. I wasn’t gonna get them since I already have a similar pair, but for $2, I just couldn’t pass them up. They’d never been worn. The bottoms are still smooth!

So, instead of lamenting, I’m trying to figure out something else I can do to take my mind off of it. I’ve got a ton of sewing projects, beading projects, even writing projects, but why is it that at this very moment, I can’t decide which to do?

Perhaps that’s a sign that I should see what I’ve got that needs repaired. Between antique dolls, vintage clothes and jewelry, I’m certain I can get myself occupied.

I think the worst of the whole ordeal is simply that I lost so much time. Generally, when I put 18+ hours into something, I have something to show for it. Even a completely screwed up, ugly dress…something.

File not found… Not “File messed up”, “File misplaced”, “File screwed up beyond recognition”, “File in hiding” or “File doesn’t wanna be worked on at the moment so wait a few hours, days, weeks until it’s in a better mood”.

File. Not. Found. *sigh*

Yeah, these came into my collection because I couldn’t find what I needed at thrift stores and I just didn’t have a pair of killer black spike heels. Even I was shocked when I discovered that I’d have to actually go out and buy a pair of new shoes. It happens so infrequently for me.

In fact, I don’t even remember the last time I had to actually go shoe shopping. Most of the time, I just check the racks at thrift stores to see if there’s anything I like. Then, it all comes together when I either look through my wardrobe and discover the perfect outfit or when I store the shoes until the perfect outfit comes along second hand…or I make the perfect outfit. (That’s what I’ll be doing soon for a pair of silver boots I acquired a few years back.)

Anyway, a few weeks back, I posted a pic of my tortoise (his name is Toad) looking like a bathing beauty. My husband snagged it, applied his sense of humor and here we have my Friday fun pic:

I hope you have a fabulous day and a wonderful weekend. If you’re anywhere near Pasadena, come see me at the Rose Bowl!

I generally wear them with some of my fancy vintage stuff, but they’re silly enough to wear with just about everything else in my wardrobe. They’re silver. That’s easy to work with.

They’re not the most comfy, but if the funny-factor is in order, they’re perfect. I got them at a thrift store almost 10 years ago now. That was one of the few times where I actually found what I was actively looking for rather than just buying something because it was silly. I’d needed a pair of vintage shoes to go with one of my old dresses. I’d doubted I’d find the right shade of mint green, so I focused on silver or white. Lo and behold there they were at the second store on my rounds.

They’re a little too high and a little too small, but they do peg my weird-o-meter pretty well. I definitely don’t wear them much, but when I do, it’s always memorable… Last time, I got some pretty wicked blisters, but strangely, when I wore other shoes, the blisters weren’t irritated. That’s like both having and not having blisters all at the same time. I suppose I’m a glutton for punishment, but the experience was worth it to me.

Not to be confused with my dark brown one, my red one, my gold one or either of my light blue ones. I got this coat from a thrift store and didn’t notice that one of the sleeves had blown out in back until I went to wear it one chilly night and slid my arm right through the lining and everything. Whoops!

It’s understandable. The coat is likely from the 60s or 70s. It’s definitely vintage and has seen a lot of wear. That’s why I like it and most of my others. They’re so worn, they really look like fuzzy monsters or well-loved teddy bears. Kind of matted, but so very comfy and warm.

Anyway, I’ve never sewn fur before (fake or real), so this was a bit of an experiment for me. Rather than be afraid, I just pretended it was like any other fabric and started pinning, starting with the side. Only the seams had busted. The fabric was still intact.

I stitched it back together and then pinned the sleeve:

Sewing it back together was a little tricky, but I made it happen. Plus, it’s fuzzy fur, so it’s quite forgiving as far as showing repairs.

I really wasn’t sure what to do about the lining since it was frayed. There are a few iron-on patches in other spots, but while I do have patches I could use, in a way, I wanted to do this in such a way that when it frays again, I’ll be forced to replace it entirely. There’s a lot of wear on the inside, but the outside still retains its fun.

So, once the lining was stitched up, too, it was time for the moment of truth:

Hooray! Some day I’ll replace the buttons. The plastic is getting cracked and crazed. You can’t tell from far enough away, but up close, those buttons really need to be swapped out. And it’s not like I don’t have a billion buttons waiting for the ‘perfect’ garment to come along when I’ll finally break down and install them.

I picked them up at a thrift store and some of the rhinestones had fallen out of the buckles. One day while I was downtown in the garment district, I happened to remember that I needed some pointed-back stones. I had the clerk pull out a few sizes and then just guessed which ones would work.

I’m still amazed that I somehow guessed correctly when I hadn’t actually looked at the shoes for months before I bought the stones.

And then there are days when I look out, expecting him to be frolicking in the grass or ground cover, but he’s not.

I should caption this “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful!”