Michele Carragher - Embroidery Art and Costume Wonderment.

I am completely in awe and drooling over the website of Michele Carragher embroidery art and costume design.
She is probably best known for her exquisite costume embroidery for Game of Thrones. 

Why didn't they close up on more of these beauties?!

There is even a dragonscale tutorial on her site. *swoons*

She also embellished and adorned the incredible costumes for HBO's Elizabeth 1, starring Dame Mirren. 

No end to her talent, it seems, she also designs and creates costumes for film. 
Dragons, witches, Samurai and Keanu Reeves' face aside, I can't wait to see her work in Ronin 47

Halloween in July anyone?

Madam Macaria

Madam Macaria - Black rose, Howlite Skull, Glass Jet & lace Headdress with Birdcage Veil. 

Sex, death and food, they are the milestones on this mundane path we travel. 
I do try and elevate myself from that a little through my creativity. Let the spirits talk through my hands with the hope to create something that will stir other's spirits; bring them rapture or chuckles, whilst leaving my indelible stamp on this life. 
It still always comes back to sex, death and food as my main pointers for inspiration.

Since my return from England I've been compulsively watching Heston Blumenthal's feasts. 
I just love him. I come away drooling, but riled up to make my own plate of marvelous. 

Sadly, this is only edible with the eyes. 

INCREDIBLE - Mascherina Mask for XIA (Junsu) Music Video.

So chuffed! 
My Mascherina Midnight Kitty Mask is featured in the new poptastic  XIA (Junsu) video, 'Incredible'. from 2:29. 

Just in case you blinked and missed her. 

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Feral Vintage - The Power of 300.

I started running my little online vintage shop Feral Vintage back in 2010. 
All the costumes I end up dragging home after a shoot, became one too many and too stinky for my tiny house. So, I had a lightening strike to clean them up and sell them off to help pay for a humongous vet bill for one of the fabulous ferals I look after. 
My love/habit of thrifting, and my passion for the care and rehabilitation of ferals grew, as did my little colony, season by season.
Today I have 7 fabulous feline buddies in my backyard and 3 ridiculously adorable rescues in my house. 

Tybalt and Cassie

Ellis, daughter of Tybalt and Cassie

Coco, once a wee feral beastie, now a ridiculously affectionate wee beastie.

Wolfie Wolfington and Coco. Oooh so feral!

I won't bore/horrify you with the statistics of feral and abandoned cats and kittens on the streets of LA, but it is just miserable. 
The city of LA offers free spay/neuter services for feral and homeless cats. If everyone took care of their cats and got them fixed, we wouldn't have this appalling problem, but I will bite my tongue and get to the exciting point of this post:
Today we have reached a massive target: 300 sales!! HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!

Thanks to all the sales in my shop, I have managed to TNR (trap, neuter, return) over 20 cats, purchase my own trap to loan to other helpers, pay for vet bills and the food and maintenance of the colony, (kibbles, flea treatments and cat nip are not cheap!), and donate to Fix Nation and Stray Cat Alliance. And I will continue to do so for as long as there are teeny mouths to feed and people love good vintage. 
The proudest bit for me, is that we have successfully sent to their forever homes 6 of the strays that have wandered into our colony, smashing to smithereens the massive fallacy that feral cats can never be domesticated.

Let's celebrate and continue to help the kitties!

Take 20% off all items with the code: THISISSPARTA at checkout. 

Limited time only!

HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!

Whitby, my heart.

I have just returned from my honeymoon in Whitby.

I grant you, it’s not the usual nuptial getaway, like the tropics or the pyramids. But, as a Yorkshire lass, living 3000  miles away in Hollywood , it made perfect sense to return to the seaside town I visited every summer as a girl, to recharge my spirit by charging the 199 steps to the abbey, scoffing chips, swilling cider, and jetting on the beach; learning about the fossilized monkey puzzle tree and the difference between the jewelry quality jet and sea coal.

Jet I picked from my trip and Victorian jet bracelet segments. 

The trip, though short was a bit of a life changer.

One of my dreams in life is to build up my wearable costume business to a point where I can transport it to the studio from my future cottage in Whitby, to live and be inspired by all the sea sprayed seasons and have Fortune’s kippers everyday for my brekkie.

For the present I want to take a break from LA, and become a jetter in Whitby for a season, trailing the shore at low tide for this ancient black gold.  I will be content to put enough money in my pocket for a pint of cider of an evening, and to stay in the town, learning about the traditional craft and maybe apprentice to a jeweler, to learn how to work the black properly.

Back in LA, I am going get out my mini dremel and to teach myself how to carve and polish the pieces I picked with the hopes to use them in my work to make real ‘Modern mourning’ collars. 

Modern Mourning Collar

This is my wedding ring made by the fabulous Ebor Jetworks. 

They took my finger size and then made up the ring for me in under 2 hours, which is exactly enough time to go to Sherlock Holmes' cafe to eat a slice of cherry cake bigger than your head and then work it off, running up the steps to the abbey. Trust me. 

Well, hello....

Welcome to my blog.
I hope you enjoy your time here.
Please and be patient as I dither my way through the workings of this, in a sincere attempt to bring a sprinkling of joy, magic, enchantment and a little bit of sauciness to your day through my world of costume and textile art.
Cheers
Vikki aka Mascherina