Super Button Mashers

Planning on staying in and playing video games on your Friday night?  If you live in Chicago, why don't you combine your love of games with art and make your way over to OhNo!Doom gallery for the fantastic video game themed show, "Super Button Mashers."

I am excited to participate in this show with my Oregon Trail inspired piece "Meager Portions, Grueling Pace."  If you are not familiar with the game, it is based off of the real Oregon Trail trek across the United States and is filled with rattlesnake encounters, dysentery and broken wagon wheels.  Does that sound fun or what??  It's quite addictive and best of all, in elementary school, we got to play it off of floppy disks on our green screened Apple computers, because somehow, it is also educational.  

Growing up, my siblings and I owned a copy of the game for our home computer, but instead of strategizing on how to make it to Oregon and navigate the Dalles river, we would compete on how little miles we could travel.  This new way of playing the game also involved strategy, namely by quickly killing off the entire pioneer family by ignoring illnesses, buying the max amount of food for the wagon (and then letting it rot), setting food rations to 'meager portions' and the pace of the oxen to 'grueling.'  Doing this would ensure writing silly epitaphs for your characters with names like "Ima Goner" before even leaving Missouri.

The piece I made for OhNo!Doom is a trophy mount honoring one of the exhausted oxen from our sort of twisted way of playing the game.  It's quite large in size, about 13.5"x11"x14".  My favorite element besides his down turned head, broken horn and purple eye bags is it's giant tongue.  I wont be able to get to Chicago to see the show, but I am looking forward to seeing the pictures and how the other artists interpreted the theme!

The show runs February 11th-February 25th 2012.  Get all the details for it here!

Gotta love those Crafty Bastards!

The Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair in Washington DC is my official marker for kickstarting the fall season.  However, instead of beautiful autumn weather this past weekend, we got rain.  Lots of it.  All day!  So, the weather was kind of a bummer, but the crowd did not disappoint!  

There were a ton of enthusiastic shoppers filling up our booth all day!  It was so great to see so many people out and about, purchasing lovely things even though it was cold and rainy.  Lots of creatures have new (warm) homes too!

My new display worked out even better than I hoped for (thanks Chris)!  However, I could not get a good picture of it because of a longer than expected set up.  I was able to fit every creature on one wall, instead of splitting them up among several boards.  There is also a little shelf that folds down to display free standing items.  I promise to get a better photo of it at the next fair!

My boothmate Wooden Coasters did really well too!  I suspect that people have already starting their Christmas shopping.  His coaster sets and prints make great gifts and stocking stuffers.

A photographer from The Feast came around to snap some photos.  I was really excited to show off my outfit, because I had been bundled up in a long coat all day, and I really dig this new skirt.  Unfortunately I had to wear flip flops because of a broken toe and I felt like such a dummy.

The Mossy Meewog wanted to add something, " Psst.. there is still time to vote for Horrible Adorables as THE Craftiest Bastard!  Just follow this link!"

Delightful News of Late

My faux fur stole is featured on the cover of the third volume of Pinnacle magazine!  I couldn't be happier with the styling and photo.  Love that birch tree wallpaper too.  I think it would be quite wonderful if I could cover my entire apartment in it...

Anyways, back to the magazine!  I had written about it previously here, but you should really go check out the full online edition on the official website.  There is some really great art, including a wooden piece overlayed with prints of Chinchillas, titled 'x10' by Christopher Lees of Wooden Coasters.  Word on the street is that there will be a bunch of these glossy magazines being handed out at New York fashion week!

The second exciting project I have been working on is a full scale peacock for JoAnn Fabrics to introduce their fall line of products... featuring peacocks, of course!  This is the largest Horrible Adorable I have made yet.  Look to scaled image above.  The bird ended up being approximately 3 feet tall, but it's ornate train is even longer.  

I enjoyed putting in all the flowery details and meshing their concept with my stylized approach.  

Perhaps this curious bird will make an appearance at Crafty Bastards in Washington DC.  I suppose it just depends on if he will be comfortable with the room I have left in my car!  Toting so many boxes and display pieces is a problem I encounter with every show, but hopefully it can be solved with a new super collapsible display board.

Cheers!

Plastic Camera

I have a bunch of photos that I wanted to share.  They are from many months ago, but I finally got the film developed!  Yes, I said FILM!!  I received a Diana F+ toy camera as a Christmas gift and am starting to get the hang of using it!  

The dreamy, vintage look adds such a charm to all the images, plus everything is contained within a perfectly stylish square frame.  

You can head over to to the official Lomography website to pick up a Diana of your own and check out all the fun and silly plastic cameras available!

All the above images are from the Art Star Craft Bazaar....

but I couldn't resist putting this one in too!  

Happy camera snapping everyone!

Pinnacle: Reinvent The Icon

'PINNACLE: Reinvent The Icon' is an anti-fur fashion and art initiative.  I was contacted a month or so ago to contribute a piece of art to them to promote their cause.  Their magazine is shocking and beautifully photographed, bringing awareness to the cruelty that exists within the fur industry.  You can check out their full online edition here.  

I created a wearable faux fur stole made from eco-felt in the 'Horrible Adorables' style.  I am so happy to be part of this, as I am a huge supporter of animal rights!  I'm sure that this creature will have some adventures to share after hanging around the necks of many awesome people.  I'll keep you updated!

"Horrible Adorables" xoxo's "Worker B"

This month has been filled with custom orders of all shapes and sizes!  However, my favorite collaboration has been on the "Queen B" for Worker B.  Worker B is a small company specializing in lotions and balms made from organic ingredients and locally sourced beeswax.  Because "your skin takes a beating every day," "Worker B skin care helps you fight back by providing a lasting protective barrier and [is] the ultimate in skin repair."

The "Queen B," seen here tipping her crown, is going to be used as a display for Worker B at their product booth.  Hopefully she helps to sell lots of their great chapstick and scented lotions!

I stitched the detail onto her wings.  I really enjoy how this came out and am brainstorming how to use the sewing machine to create details in my other 'horribles.'

Best of luck in all your crafty adventures Worker B!

Renegade Wrap Up

I know this is long overdue, but I finally have a chance to write about my crafty adventures in New York for last month's Renegade Craft Fair.  It was a wonderful show and well worth the trip to get there!  It rained like crazy the first day (what are the chances that this would happen at my two major craft fairs of the season???) but by the second, the sun was shining. The biggest crowd of craft lovers, of all ages, came out to enjoy the festivities.

Next year I will make sure to bring many more wall mounted creatures!  I nearly sold out and was getting nervous, halfway through the second day, that I didn't have enough!!  It's funny to see what the crowd is drawn to depending on the city you are showing in.  New Yorkers seemed to only want sculptures for their walls because there was not enough room in their apartments for the free-standing ones.  In fact, the only free-standing sculpture I sold during the fair was a little hedgehog to a fellow Clevelander!

My booth-mate Wooden Coasters had a pretty lovely display going on and I was excited to show my work alongside his!

I wish I got to walk around and enjoy the fair a bit more, but it's difficult to leave your booth during a show the size of Renegade!  Here are a few notable vendors whose booths I got to explore:

Josh Longo's creepy cute and overall super amazing plush monsters.

I was excited to see Worker B again!  We had done a show in Chicago last year and they make the most wonderful of wonderful products!  I picked up one of these scented lotions and it's just heavenly!

I ran into Mimi Kirchner in the elevator of the hotel we were staying at holding a giant ziploc bag of woolen fish!  I have admired the stunning detail she puts into her dolls through her online shop, and was so pleased to see her work in person!

Can't wait to do the show again next year!!

Toodles,

Jordan