Crafting

Snippets Zine

Snippets Zine

My good friend Cat, half of the power couple running my favourite craft website Cut Out + Keep, very kindly allowed me to edit an issue of their fantastic zine, Snippets.

I’ve written for Snippets a few times before – starting with my in-person interview with one of my favoyrite musicians, Amanda Palmer, back in 2009. I’ve done book reviews, email and face-to-face interviews, product reviews and opinion pieces, but being in charge of my very own issue was something else entirely!

I chose to base it on Fandom, as I love seeing the things that people get excited about. I wanted to write about the things I love, and the way their Fandoms shape them, and ended up with some fantastic articles about things I would never have looked into it.

I’ll post some of the articles that I wrote individually, especially the cover star interview which was with two amazing geek ladies, Amy Dallen and Nika Harper from Geek & Sundry, but for now you can check it out here:

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Posted by jenny in Crafting, Miscellaneous, Music, 0 comments
My Dish With Catherine D’Lish

My Dish With Catherine D’Lish

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We were lucky enough to catch some time with Catherine D’Lish, the “striptease virtuoso”, to talk about costume making and designing, her favourite materials and her and Dita Von Teese’s newest show, “Strip Strip Hooray”. Ms D’Lish has won a plethora of awards including Miss Erotic World and Showgirl of the Year, and features in the Burlesque Hall of Fame, as well as being a burlesque costume designer and the creative designer behind the infamous giant champagne bubble bath routine.
Originally posted on Cut Out + Keep’s Snippets, reposted here with thanks to Cat and Tom.
You’ve made costumes for Dita von Teese and Christina Aguilera as well as yourself. Is there much of a collaborative process?
I generally work best when left to my own devices. Most of my custom pieces for people are based on a collection of very vague adjectives, like “pink” or “fluffy”. For Christina, she wanted a red crystal ringmaster’s look built upon a corset, and I took it from there. Dita and I are best friends and we can yak for hours about costumes and that sort of thing… we share a love for extravagance that is part of the bond between us. I have a huge appreciation for the trust Dita has in me, she’ll set me free to build something that she will enjoy wearing.
Is there anyone you would particularly like to create a costume for?
Ha- that’s easy! Definitely me.
How do you find inspiration for new costume ideas?
I find motivation for new pieces in the elements that I choose to build them with. I like the excitement that comes with finding a fabric, feather or crystal type that appeals to me. Once I start to see and gather the components that turn me on, it’s very easy to start making something with them.
How important are props to a good burlesque show?
I’ve seen great shows with props, and equally great performances without props. I believe that an entertaining act has more to do with what the performer does on stage than the presence of props or accessories.
You’ve said that every costume you make has to top the last – is that getting harder and harder?
I don’t think so… I always enjoy a costume challenge, and I learn more and more as I go along, so hopefully (fingers crossed!) my work will continue to improve.
What was the first piece of costume that you made for a show?
I first started making costumes when I began stripping at a strip club. I don’t remember what the first one was, there were so many! Not all great, and god willing, nobody will ever see them again.
Were you brought up sewing and crafting or is it something you taught yourself as you grew up?
Sewing and crafting were something that I taught myself while I was growing up in the strip club. I just bought some scissors, a machine, and started going at it.
You’ve mentioned before that you work mainly from home. Is that still true?
Absolutely still true. I can’t imagine doing it any other way! I like to roll out of bed and into work, and when I’m done for the day, I want to roll right back into that bed. I like making every day “wear your pajamas to work day.”

What are some of your favourite materials to work with?
Hands down, Swarovski crystal gets me the most fired up. I could never tire of it. I also love working with feathers, and enjoy my relationship with Jason, the owner of Fabulous Feathers. He sources incredible products for me, and I appreciate that he will find and sell to me anything I ask for. He is my feather pusher, and I’m a feather junkie.
Is there a fashion designer you are a particular fan of?
There are many designers with work that I like very much- Dior, Mugler, Head, Galliano… I could go on and on, there’s no shortage of beauty in the fashion world, both past and present!
Do you have any shows coming up soon, that either you or your costumes are featured in?
“Strip Strip Hooray” is touring more this year, I perform in that show, and Dita wears three costumes I’ve done for her (Cowgirl, Powder Puff and Opium Den). Also I’m touring Europe this Spring and Autumn/Winter. More scattered shows in the US in between, hoping to get a couple new costumes for myself completed this year… lots to do… lots to do…
Posted by jenny in Crafting, Miscellaneous, 0 comments
Emilie Autumn in Snippets

Emilie Autumn in Snippets

This article was originally posted in Issue 31 of Snippets – reposted here with thanks to Cat and Tom of Cut Out + Keep!

A native of Malibu, California, Emilie is a singer-songwriter, poet and violin prodigy. Her music incorporates hugely contrasting elements like classical music, glam rock, cabaret and electronica and she frequently uses burlesque, steam punk and Victorian themes in her music and stage shows. We were really pleased that she could spend some time talking to us in the run up to her American tour with The Birthday Massacre.  Her first studio album, Enchant, was released in 2003 to great success. Emilie’s style then was very different to how it is now – she describes it herself as “having become more detailed, more intricate, fewer primary colours, more muted but more variety” and is proud of her evolution of style, which is an important part of finding yourself. On stage Emilie produces fantastic costumes and sets but even in her private life she is a compulsive crafter who nearly always makes her own clothes; “if I purchase something, it’s specifically so that I can screenprint some design on it, or something I think might be fun to shred.”

“I’ve still found the best revenge to be a good song”

Over the last ten years she has developed a devout and committed fanbase nicknamed The Plague Rats, who have been there for her through thick and thin; occasionally these fans are promoted to the prestigious role of Bloody Crumpet, a title for the female dancers and performers that provide her live back-up. What is a Bloody Crumpet, you might ask, and how does one become one? “They are usually the ones sitting alone in the corner of the café with a nervous tic and a noticeable problem fitting into the ordinary world,” Emilie jibes. “Like attracts like.” Over the years she has had eleven Crumpets and her current line-up consists of Veronica Varlow who has been part of the act since 2007, and newcomer Amalthea aka Moth who joined the show in October of 2013 when Captain Maggot announced she would be taking a break to pursue her own music.

An important part of Emilie’s art lies in her mental health issues which have troubled her throughout her entire life, and it has been interesting to see the evolution of her music in this respect. In her early career she seemed much angrier and cited revenge as her motivation, but has now clarified that “the real message is about justice…the righting of wrongs…and, for the record, I’ve still found the best revenge to be a good song.” Emilie struggled with her problems for a long time before realising “I AM special and individual and unique, but I am NOT alone. No one is alone.” She now aims to be the person that reminds others of this fact, turning her negative experiences into something positive for everyone else.Another important aspect of her personal and emotional progress is her crafty nature. “I do believe that creativity is absolutely necessary to live a healthy, happy life, despite whatever you’re dealing with, mentally” she comments, reinforcing everything we believe about the positive effects of crafting. “You don’t have to write books and albums and design an entire stage show around it, but you’ve got to do something to use what is going on and transform it.” She is well known for making elaborate costumes for her stage shows, both for herself and her Bloody Crumpets who all have distinctive styles and characters – “I simply base every element around the character that the costume is supposed to represent…If the costume is good, you know what the character stands for before the wearer even moves or speaks.” This is most obvious in the case of Captain Maggot, one of her longest-serving Crumpets, whose pirate costume has represented the start of the show for years. When I asked for her favourite  creation she could only answer that it’s difficult because “all costumes represent characters that I am so deeply in love with” – from the original Pyrate Captain Vecona to resident cannibal Blessed Contessa, all her girls have had distinct personalities and skills.

Inspiration for her shows come from her own life as well as the work of literary geniuses like Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare; “Oscar Wilde’s humor and wit has been a significant influence on me,  which I think has actually programmed my mind to deal with difficult situations, such as turning a psyche ward incarceration into a joyful career,” she noted. “It’s all about finding the joke. And there is almost always a joke.” She also has an interest in Daphne du Maurier, an English author and playwright who should be best known for writing The Birds (which the Hitchcock film was based on), a person whom Emilie admires as “she’s very dark and detailed and descriptive.” Quite possibly her darkest album, the title of the 2006 Opheliac was inspired by the Shakespearean character who was driven mad by controlling men and committed suicide, and contains the song Shalott, based on The Lady of Shalott by Lord Tennyson. She even hinted in our chat about at a future project in which she will create an audiobook series of Edgar Allan Poe’s entire works, which she is sure which infect her mind in a significant way.

“Oscar Wilde’s humor and wit has been a significant influence on me,  which I think has actually programmed my mind to deal with difficult situations, such as turning a psyche ward incarceration into a joyful career”

Although the Poe series is some way off, her fans will be pleased to hear that there is something much bigger in the works: an Asylum musical! The subject of her semi-autobiographical book The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls, which deals heavily with her time in an institution, has been expanded into her most recent album Fight Like A Girl and in 2014 Emilie aims to release a musical version of the story. She will be working with Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed her F.L.A.G video, and is now in the process of composing original pieces of music for the show and casting roles other than hers, and the Bloody Crumpets’ – the announcement at a gig in London about the musical was met with cheers from audiences and fans worldwide.In her alter-ego as The Admiral, Emilie is part of the Platonic Friends duo with the actor, dancer, singer and producer Marc Senter, known in the Friends context as SharC. Marc also starred in the Fight Like A Girl music video and in the short musical horror film The Devil’s Carnival with appearances from Emilie Autumn, Captain Maggot and The Blessed Contessa. “The beauty of it is that Marc is a well known indie actor with a lot of integrity, and I’ve got the same reputation in music, but Platonic Friends is all about selling out.” Sounds intriguing! “We also have breakdancing as an actual instrument.” Merchandise is expected to come before music, and apparently following @platonicfriendz on Twitter will provide you with educational Shark Facts from SharC on a daily basis, for those with an interest in undersea life.

What else is on the table for the Queen of Rats? “The Asylum Emporium is in testing stages for my new Signature Blend tea, which is a rich black tea flavoured with almonds, cocoa, and rose petals,” she dished. Currently the website stocks a blend of tea called Basil’s Brew, a Chinese Silver Needle tea with peony, peppermint and chrysanthemum flowers, but she hopes that her new blend will become a High Tea favourite. The “Laboratory” section of the Emporium which has remained blank for a year now is rumoured to be a return to selling perfume; she once released a perfume called Mistress which was co-created by Queen fLee, and released the song “O, Mistress Mine”  for free with the product, which came with rose petals.Whether she’s Emily-with-a-y, the Asylum inmate responsible for the Asylum letters, dressed as the Rat in grey rags or glammed up for her role as The Admiral, Emilie aims to inject creativity into everything that she does, and expresses herself through costume, expressive dance and performance. The last decade of her career has seen her progress from the fairy of Enchant, to the fury-filled Opheliac, and finally to a beautiful woman who is proud of herself, her mind and her body at last. “Every woman should experience this feeling. I’m becoming myself. That will never stop.”

Posted by jenny in Crafting, Music, 0 comments
An Interview With Violet Le Beaux

An Interview With Violet Le Beaux

This was an original leading article for the thirtieth issue of Cut Out & Keep’s zine Snippets. You can read it over there too with pictures and links!

Here at Cut Out + Keep, we talk to a lot of different people; goth queens, cross-stitching fellas and lolita icons. This month I had the pleasure of talking to one of the cutest crafters around, Miss Violet Le Beaux! This self-proclaimed ingenue (meaning innocent and wholesome) takes much of her crafty inspiration from the Japanese style of Hime Gyaru and loves to work with diamanté, lace and pastel colours.

She wasn’t always this way, of course; back in her teenage days Violet was much more of a rebel. “As a teenager I went through a punk phase for several years,” she tells me. “Then I did a 180 degree turn and delved into sweet Lolita fashion before my style evolved more into more of a Hime Gyaru style.” This particular style, which directly translates to mean ‘Princess Girl’ is heavily influenced by European royalty, specifically that of the Victorian and Elizabethan areas and French Rococo styles: picture jewels, lace, velvet. Violet’s family on her father’s side comes from England, and she has been to the UK many times for inspiration. It’s not just a style though, it can be a way of life to live like a princess. Defining features of the style can include big eyelashes and hair, heels and pastel printed dresses.

“Even now my style tends to change just depending on my mood. I like too many things to dress in one way forever!” Although her style changes accordingly, there are certain signatures to Violet’s appearance which make her distinctive. From her long, bleach blonde hair in an impeccable beehive (which she assures me doesn’t take as long as it looks like it should) to her perfectly applied makeup and fake eyelashes, she has her own style down, although severe skin allergies make finding cosmetics difficult. “For eyeshadow I tend to stick to my Coastal Scents 88 palettes because I know they work with my skin and there are so many colour choices! Lipstick and glosses are my favourite products though and I tend to go with Pretty Serious cosmetics or if I can splurge a bit I’ll treat myself to a Chanel lipstick for special occasions!” Mirenesse mascara, Illamasqua eyeliner and Jill Stuart eyeshadows also feature among her favourite allergy-friendly products.

Of course, Violet is a crafter. Many of her outfits and jewellery have been made by hand, buying diamantés, lace and pearls in bulk on eBay.  “I still have dreams about the fabric district in Japan” she mentioned. “The last time I visited, I came home with around 5 cards of beautiful quality lace for less than the price of one here in Australia!” There are definite advantages to regular visits to Japan. While clothes and jewellery making are an important part of her life, she is also a long-time knitter, now and then; “ I go through phases where I will knit for weeks at a time and then get bored with it and not pick it up again for months,” a problem many people can have. She suffers from the same compulsions though, claiming she can’t walk past a yarn store without getting something, and has recently gotten involved with needle felting as a simple, quick craft.

Also among her repertoire of talents we find watercolour painting, the results of which she sells online. “It’s such a relaxing way to wind down at the end of the day and I love watching colours blend together,” and it’s obvious from her work that she enjoys working with bright colours. The artwork is adorable, featuring fantasy images including many delicately done fairy pieces which are reminiscent of a simpler Flower Fairies style. As well as her prints, she has also created a sidekick for herself in the form of Bergamot Bunny, her very first attempt at making a plushie. Bergamot was so popular on Violet’s blog that she has gone on to feature in stories, comics, paintings, tshirts and has a website dedicated just to her with regular updates of images of adorable bunnies. It seems like Bergamot is a great little buddy for Violet to share her hobbies with. “She loves tea,” and Violet isn’t ashamed of her weakness for a nice cup of English breakfast tea with a couple of sugars. Tea love and cuteness may be where the similarity ends however; while Violet is a sweet, regal girl, Bergamot apparently “has a talent for creating mischief wherever she goes!”

Violet has over 200 tutorials currently on her website and has recently been working on a series of tutorials for beginners called “Sew Fun”. The first large project on the site was her simple Lolita style skirt, a staple of many Japanese fashion styles, and unlike some online tutorials Violet’s is easy to follow and suitable for complete beginners. I asked Violet for some advice on how to work on your own style; “Don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t think that you can’t change your style later,” she wisely states. “People’s tastes change over time so mix it up and do what makes you happy!”

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Rebel Girls and Runaways

Rebel Girls and Runaways

Riot Grrrl was the movement I always wish I’d got to experience first hand. It was a huge movement in the ’90s and although there are many versions of how the movement started, most people would agree that the band attributed with starting up Riot Grrrl was Bikini Kill. Starting out with a free zine with the same name, they later became a band and were into creating more female-focussed gigs by encouraging the boys who wanted to mosh and dance violently to head to the back, while the girls could enjoy the music at the front if they wanted. As with any feminist movement, they were labelled sexist towards men, but that wasn’t what it was about – it was about trying to do something that women could enjoy just as much as men.

The zines carried on from the punk ethos of the ’70s and the college idea of freedom of speech. Cutting and pasting together pieces of photos and literature was the original form of what we now have in many online zines – but before the internet was really used, it was important to have something that could be reproduced, photocopied and passed around to get the message out. It was never about making money but about spreading the word, and helping girls to come together. And also, importantly, about advertising girl punk rock bands, which were hardly seen in major music magazines – and if they were, were normally insulted or at best, classed as “good for girls.”

“We want and need to encourage and be encouraged in the face of all our own insecurities, in the face of beergutboyrock that tells us we can’t play our instruments, in the face of “authorities” who say our bands/zines/etc are the worst in the US” The Riot Grrrl Manifesto

The bands grouped together, and there seemed to be much less of the competition between bands than often happens now, because they were all fighting for the same cause. They wanted to talk about the issues that women go through but were never allowed to talk about; like childhood abuse, rape, abortions and equal pay issues. They could talk about lesbianism, but in a way that wasn’t designed to just attract men – real love between two women, which was either unspoken or still considered “just a phase.”

Riot Grrrl has taken on many forms, and although it is largely associated with punk rock music, anyone who believes in the Riot Grrrl manifesto could be one, whether they realise it or not. Singers like Beth Ditto have come out as saying they support the movement – Ditto said that Riot Grrrl helped her to become a whole person. Other contemporay artists and bands which seem to fit into the movement include Amanda Palmer, PJ Harvey, Regina Spektor and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Not many people would come out as saying they’re Riot Grrrl – any more than people tend to announce that they’re feminist. It’s not about declaring it as a publicity stunt, it’s about being it and getting across the ideas in your music.

Seeing girls in the rock business doesn’t happen all that often, even now – of course they exist, but usually as lead singers or bassists. These are seen as the “acceptable” places for women to have power, but the drums and electric guitars – the instruments that are seen to be gritty and difficult – are reserved for the men. The movement also revolutionised the idea of a female musician who didn’t have to be beautiful or thin, just talented. Even now in the rock industry there are so few female musicians who are not conventionally attractive, when in history male singers such as Steve Tyler, Axl Rose and Sting were seen as sex icons despite not being commonly accepted as attractive. In many metal bands, the attractiveness of a male lead singer means nothing, but Christina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil will be criticised if she puts on a little weight or takes an unflattering photo.

“You learn that the only way to get rock-star power as a girl is to be a groupie and bare your breasts and get chosen for the night. We learn that the only way to get anywhere is through men. And it’s a lie.” Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill

I think one of the greatest parts of the movement was the girls’ acceptance of what people thought of them – they said “I know you think I’m a bitch, so I’m going to write it on my arm,” and often wrote conflicting messages on their arms, such as the famous picture of the band Huggy Bear in which lead singer Niki Elliot has written “Slut” on one arm, and “Prophet” on the other. Other than that, there was no distinctive style for Riot Grrrl – no way to dress like one – which meant it couldn’t be corrupted by capitalism as easily as, say, Punk culture.

Riot Grrrl brought feminism into the public eye in a way that was less academic and less structured – instead of only finding a voice in studying feminism as a subject, or by participating in marches, girls were able to kick and scream about what really mattered to them. It gave girls – normal girls – a voice, and that voice wasn’t what a lot of people wanted to hear.

A re-emergence seems to be happening now – the DIY ethic that Riot Grrrl helped bring back with third-wave feminism has stuck longer than anyone had predicted, and with films like Whip It!, we get to see natural women a little easier than before. So for all of those who thought that Riot Grrrl was just a phase, just some angry girls kicking off – you were very much mistaken.

Posted both in Snippets #19 and on Neutral 2013

Posted by jenny in Crafting, Miscellaneous, Music, 0 comments
Urban Cheesecraft

Urban Cheesecraft

First published on Cut Out + Keep, re-posted here with thanks to Cat and Tom. Original article can be found here: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue27/urban-cheesecraft

If you’d like to see how I got on making halloumi with one of these kits, check out my tutorial for a Mediterranean breakfast.

Urban Cheesecraft is an Etsy company run by Claudia Lucero straight from Portland, Oregon – a city famous for its DIY ethic. Urban Cheesecraft is based on one simple philosophy: that fresh cheese should be easy and affordable to make at home. For thousands of years people have made cheese at home using simple recipes, so Claudia created her DIY Cheese Kits – we discuss how she started up her company and the peaceful experience of creating your own cheese in the comfort of your own home.

What first got you started making your own cheese? Did it take you a long time to refine the process?
I was first and foremost a cook and crafter in general. I value DIY ethics and traditional skills. My grandmother was a great cook and since I can remember, she let me be a big part of cooking big meals. To me, homemade, from scratch food just equals love and health. Most recently, the inspiration came from needing to preserve veggies that I received from a farm share. I looked for pickling and sauerkraut recipes so that I could preserve cabbage, beets, squash and green beans and that led me to preservation of all sorts including cheese. I looked at recipes for aged cheeses and although I find it fascinating and a great hobby still, the cheeses that I could see myself making a regular part of my life were fresh cheeses like mozzarella and paneer.

How have you tried to spread the word about home-made cheese?
It was easy because all I did was live it and share it. It took off from there into the kit business, my blog, and classes. Other people were as hungry for forgotten skills as I was/am.

Who benefits from making cheese at home as opposed to the supermarkets?
Anyone who enjoys all-natural, fresh cheese but especially anyone who wants to know and control what they eat. Whether raw, organic, grass-fed, whole fat, no additives, vegetarian etc. is the concern, you can choose that when you make your own cheese. You get to see what goes in because you put it in. The bonus is you can customize flavors you cannot find in stores…rosemary fig chevre, jalapeno mozzarella, dark chocolate lemon ricotta…the possibilities are endless and very fun to play with.

What would be the best kit for starters, or for anyone with children?
I think ricotta is wonderful because you can have it sweet or salty and you can cook many favorites like pizza or cheesecake with it. Uses are as simple as ricotta with honey over pancakes and fruit- beloved by anyone who tries it. Alternately, a ricotta dip made with fresh chopped herbs and sea salt is wonderful for raw veggies or crackers. It’s an easy way to start making cheese but also getting a taste for what mild, fresh, old fashioned cheese tastes like. Younger people have not grown up with these mild cheeses unless they are still a cultural part of their lives. As a Mexican-American with a grandma who liked home-cooking, I was raised with wonderful fresh cheeses like Panela, and Queso Oaxaca but my nieces have not, until recently of course! 🙂 Now they make their own cheese too!

Are all of your kits suitable for vegetarians?
Yes, the rennet is vegetarian so everyone can enjoy the kits.

In a featured Etsy video on Urban CheeseCraft, you said that cheese-making rekindled your love of science. Do you think it’s more of a science or art form?
Absolutely and inseparably a combination of both. That’s why I get such an eclectic combination of students in my classes. I love it.

What other types of craft have you experimented with in the past?
Everything you can imagine since my earliest memories, from crochet to candle-making to book-binding and that’s not even in the kitchen. I have also worked with children for many years so that always inspired new low-budget ideas that I tried…string and stick dolls, paper scrolls, flower “ink” painting…currently, I have a burning desire to sew little vests for my chihuahua as well as skirts for myself. In the kitchen, I want to work on preserving more without the use of electricity as well as aging cheeses for years, making fruit cordials, flower wines etc. It’s endless. I have been gardening with the goal of growing and preserving my food but completely living off this food is a craft I am humbled by so far. It does get better every year though!

Eating cheese creates serotonin and can ward off depression, but can the process of making cheese also be relaxing?
Absolutely, it is no accident that making cheese is something that monks have done over the centuries, much like traditional fermented breads that have to be risen several times and require a lot of kneading, it gives a lot of time for reflection and challenges one’s patience…it pays off though. It’s quite zen. I think there must also be a spike in serotonin when you see milk coagulate successfully and see your finished cheese, it’s very exciting!

Your products are already sold on Etsy and in several places in Portland, Oregon and beyond. Would you like to see other companies being set up to promote local produce in their own cities?

Indeed. The more people can strengthen their community and local economy, the happier they are. I see this in Portland all the time.

You’ve been featured in Home Dairy, and the Food Lover’s Guide to Portland as well as many websites. Where would you like to be seen next, and where would you like to take your company in the future?
Hmm, good question, this is where that business plan comes in handy right? I haven’t gotten around to that yet. The kits have a life of their own, I’m happy to let them go in the same fashion for a while but what I would love is to have a fully sponsored tour of several countries so that I can learn to make lesser-known humble cheeses the traditional ways. I would be happy to be a keeper of traditional skills and pass them on to the younger generations in any way I can. We have lost too many skills already and there are lots of people trying to re-learn but we need to hurry and talk to the people who learned these things 50, 75, 100 years ago if possible!

Posted by jenny in Crafting, 0 comments
Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer

First published in Cut Out + Keep’s Snippets – thanks to Cat and Tom for letting me post it here too! Original article – http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue17/amanda_palmer

Amanda Palmer is a Boston-based singer, lyricist and pianist, best known as the lead singer of the Brechtian punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. With four CDs under her belt, including last year’s Who Killed Amanda Palmer solo album (produced by Ben Folds), and many collaborations, Amanda is definitely worth looking out for.

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It’s mid-September in London and the leaves are already beginning to fall from the trees, Amanda leads me out to the courtyard of the Union Chapel to begin the interview. She pulls a chair up next to me and sits down, munching carrot and houmous, obviously exhausted from a busy weekend which included a performance at the Union Chapel the previous night and an appearance on the Jonathan Ross radio show that morning. “I did a brand new song called The Bed Song”, she tells me. “I butchered the bridge fairly well, but I think it was okay. I didn’t kill it, only maimed it. Of course, the recording of the show would later prove otherwise – The Bed Song is a beautifully tragic song and she pulls it off wonderfully. It sounds even better live that night.

The Union Chapel is a fantastic venue; huge and filled with candles and stained glass windows. It doesn’t take Amanda long to make it her own. She starts off with Astronaut; a loud, passionate song about a woman dealing with the death of her astronaut husband. The set consisted of a mix of songs from her solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer (an homage to Twin Peaks), favourites from the Dresden Dolls’ albums, and covers. She even pulls Neil Gaiman on stage at one point to sing Derek and Clive’s “Jump”. For those who don’t know, Neil Gaiman is the award-winning author of Coraline, Stardust, the Sandman series and many others novels, children’s books and graphic novels; and Amanda’s partner.

Incredibly curious, I had to ask about the Dresden Dolls and whether she had any plans to reunite with drummer Brian Viglione. “We don’t have any plans, per say,” she tells me carefully. “Part of the problem is the label. Because with things in flux with the contract with the label, it’s impossible for us to say whether and what we can do because we’re still stuck. So that’s very frustrating. I love playing with Brian. When we got together to do the show this last winter, when Obama got inaugurated, it was such a reminder to us both that we’re just permanently locked in. We hadn’t played in for ever, for months and months and months, and we had a half hour sound check and then killed an entire set. I would be really surprised if we didn’t play together again, I just don’t know when and where, and how it is going to happen.”

Roadrunner Records seems a sore spot by now with Amanda, and she seems hesitant to talk about the situation with her record. Amanda battled with the label last year over the music video for her song Leeds United, which Roadrunner requested was cut to hide her stomach. Fans turned out to support Amanda, setting up The Rebellyon; a collection of photos of bellies – big, small, fat and thin. Amanda’s constant struggle with the label has come to a standstill with their refusal to release her from her contract, meaning Amanda’s future with the Dresden Dolls and her own project are on hold, for now at least. However, I couldn’t resist asking whether she had any plans with Regina Spektor; “She’s very much her thing and I’m very much my thing. It’s like asking two people to make a bowl of cereal. You don’t necessarily need two,” she laughs. “I think what would be more fun is for us to play together, probably, rather than sit down and try and write together, because that to me just feels unnecessary. I’d love to get together with her in a studio and have a task. Like, cover this song by Van Halen and you’ve got ten hours, go, and see what happens.”

Amanda’s origins in performance go back to when she was a young girl, bashing on the keys of her mother’s out-of-tune piano. Over the years she changed her style, writing hundreds of songs which she keeps at home. In her twenties, Amanda worked as a living statue on the streets of Boston. “When I look back on it, I think that doing that kind of street performance gave me performance balls of steel. It gives you a real solid ground to stand on as a performer. Basically, when you stand on a box in a street for five years, and you deal with everything which goes along with that, which is a lot, you just have to be so comfortable in your own skin. Because you’re so vulnerable, you’re just literally painted white and standing there on a box and you feel completely weird. And slowly but surely you start to control it, your senses and your perception get very finely tuned. When I was working at the peak of my game, I could see someone taking their wallet out of their pants from fifty feet away, out of the corner of my eye and know it was coming, it really sharpened you. And it also makes you immune to ridicule, I was just completely zen. I think that going from that to stage, stage is a safe place to be, everyone there wants to see you, they’re not random passers by.”

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Reliving those days, she mentions that she’s just seen the rough cuts for the silent movie she’s starring in, directed by Neil Gaiman and including Bill Nighy. “I play a bad living statue, which was liberating,” she explains, “a bad living statue that no one gives any money to, ever.” If you want to catch it, it’ll be on Sky Arts in the twelve days before Christmas as part of a silent movie theme.

The kind of creativity which has driven Amanda to write, act and paint herself white has spread to her fans, leading to her creation of the Post War Trade. “It’s basically a website and a nexus that would be fan-oriented, and art oriented. There really isn’t much profit involved, once you split up money with the artist and you pay for the manufacturing of something that’s unique and handcrafted. There’s really not much money in it, but it wasn’t really about the money to begin with; it was more about being able to say to someone, you can share your talent. And it would be awesome for other people.”

So how did it all get going? “It started a couple of years ago, because people were coming to shows all the time with handmade things, and some of them were really, really incredible, and I could tell that people were making multiples, or possibly could make multiples. So I thought, what a cool thing it would be to do an equivalent of etsy. And it still exists in its own little crazy way, and we’re constantly trying to build and move it. Things changed when I got Beth involved, because someone’s gotta be running it. It’s a big project, so she spends a lot of her time dealing with it – on top of being my assistant full time!”

Amanda’s philosophy of spreading creativity comes across on her website, which she regularly updates with new pieces of fan art. “I don’t necessarily weed for the top quality or the most technically gifted people, although when stuff comes through where the person is obviously a genius craftsman. I sometimes put up watercolours by six year olds, and really really earnest drawings by someone who may obviously be a self-taught artist who may not be ‘very good’, but their ideas are so fantastic that I like sharing it.”

So surely someone so creative must be doing something interesting for Halloween? I am going to be in Singapore with Neil who is at some kind of literary festival, and they’ve offered me a gig, so I took it. And I think they’re barely paying me anything, but they’re paying for my flight, or something. It’s basically a free trip to Singapore and I’m gonna be there anyway so I might as well play a gig. And I don’t know exactly what happens in Singapore on Halloween, but we’ll find out.”

With something so exciting, I ask if she’s in to horror films. “No, I can’t stand them”, she laughs. “I accidentally watched Seven with a friend of mine. He was like, ‘Oh, let’s just watch this, you’ll love it!’ I’d never heard of it, and I was like, ‘Is it good? What is it?’ ‘No, I’m not telling you anything, you’ll have to watch it, you’ll love it!’ And I was really unsettled and just pissed at him because I didn’t want to spend the next 24 hours with those images in my head. The only two horror movies that I can really say I’m a fan of are The Shining and The Exorcist. I just don’t like being deliberately unsettled when I’m already unsettled undeliberately so often.”

Posted by jenny in Crafting, Music, 0 comments
Pretty in Punk

Pretty in Punk

First published in Cut Out + Keep’s Snippets – thanks to Cat and Tom for letting me post it here too! Original article – http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue20/pretty-in-punk

It’s just after Christmas and I’m thinking about how to spend the vouchers that I always get from relatives I never see, when I stumble across Pretty in Punk: 25 Punk, Rock and Goth Knitting Projects. Despite the emergence of craft books for a younger generation, there are still so few that cater to subcultural audiences – and it’s even rarer to find one that doesn’t look too difficult, so you don’t have to be an expert knitter to have fun with it.

It’s a laid-back book and when I spoke to Alyce Benevides, co-writer of Pretty in Punk and co-owner of Knit-Head, she was so friendly I could barely believe it. She works with Jacqueline Milles, who she met in the ’80s when they were at high school together, and they formed a long-lasting friendship which has taken them through living together, studying together, working together at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and now at NYU Film School, where – from what I’ve gathered – they’re kept busy.

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Alyce was brought up by a strict Catholic family, but they couldn’t stop her punk nature, or her artistic talents. Getting involved in punk at a young age, she started crafting in that accidental way that most punks do – by ripping jeans and painting jackets. Jacqui was brought up in army camps in Iran and Germany as a child until she moved to the US as a teenager, where she began to find herself and appreciate a love for dyed hair, make-up and good music. She still knits everywhere; supposedly comfortable with the self-defence weapons that knitting needles can be used for. They claim that they were often called “freaks” when they were teenagers for being into punk rock, but like many they found that as soon as they left school no one cared any more – now they’re admired for doing what they love and being proud to wear who they are on their sleeves – or, heads.

Knit-Head itself started out when Jacqueline, who was taught how to knit in the first grade, passed on her talents to Alyce. They began designing items for their friends and family, as most crafty folk do, and eventually realised that the stuff they were making was actually pretty good. Alyce says that “Jaqui was making some ponchos, I was making these arm warmers. We showed each other our stuff, and thought, “Hey these are really cool.”” But it was their trademark mohawk hat that really started things off for them. Jacqui says, “We just started maniacally knitting for a couple of months, making imaginative things that we thought would be fun to wear — quick things that we could sell online. The Mohawk hat grew out of that. Alyce found inspiration in a couture Mohawk hat worn by Gwen Stefani in No Doubt’s “Underneath It All” video. We discovered this particularly fabulous yarn and loved how it looked felted. Light bulbs went off. We designed the hat, felted the yarn for the “hair” and it came out like a Mohawk!

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So Jacqui had the years of training; Alyce, who had started up a production business with her husband Rob, had the business know-how; and both of them had the creativity and ingenuity to come up with knitting designs that appealed to their ’80s sensibilities, and that would sell well. The mohawk hats, which you can buy in “Punk’s Not Dead” one-tone, two-tone, three-tone or “God Save The Queen”, with a Union Jack on the side, sell for between $110 – $175 and can be done in huge range of colours. Jacqui says that the hats are for anyone who wants to unleash their “inner rock star” – and Alyce talks about how the hats sell best to people who don’t mind getting a bit of attention. Then again, the woollen hats with side tassels and felted wool mohawks are kind of designed to be eye-catching. What’s great is that they even have a range for babies, where you can buy both adult designs for tiny heads, as well as some milder patterns with bears and flowers on the side (if your baby isn’t into the punk thing.)

In 2007 came the book, which contains 25 original designs, including the mohawk hat. They both made each item, wrote the instructions and drew illustrations, with Alyce’s husband Rob taking the photos. Alyce explains, “We broke it up by body parts: for the head there are hats; for the neck there are scarves and chokers, etc. We also designed sweaters, tops and “bum” patches.” The patterns range in complexity, with some tougher ones like the jumper, but they are designed to be worked up to – and there are patterns for the basic knitter, and anyone wanting to improve.

This came about to a huge turning point for Alyce and Jacqui came in 2005 when Alyce waited eight hours to meet Depeche Mode at a signing – her favourite band since she was fourteen – and give them the Punk’s Not Dead mohawk hats. On top of getting to meet her all-time favourite band, an extra surprise came when she saw Gore wearing his hat on stage – which he did for every night of the remaining tour. This was amazing free publicity for the hats, as it meant the pictures were in magazines and newspapers – Wikipedia’s main picture of Depeche Mode even shows Gore wearing his black mohawk hat. Jacqui says, “When we went to see the band at Madison Square Garden, an editor from Entertainment Weekly saw us in the lobby wearing our Mohawk hats. When she went into the concert and saw Martin wearing his on stage, she talked to his publicist and got our card. We were braced for all of these orders to hit our inbox once the issue hit the news stands. But we got no response. Zero. A few weeks later, the one email we got was from Chronicle Books in San Francisco, asking if we wanted to author a knitting book. For the next four months we walked around like, “Somebody, pinch us.” Other celebrities that have been spotted wearing the hats include Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

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The girls claim that their designs were inspired by the likes of Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, and the originality of punk bands throughout history. And the pictures from the book definitely look like something that should be part of a high-scale fashion show; they have that impressive mix of looking fashionable, but also completely wearable, with bags, wrist cuffs and even skirts for the more daring knitter. Oh, and they also manage to be punk without having to emblazon anarchy symbols on everything, which is great news. The community feel of the book and the people is amazing; Jacqui says that “We ask everyone who buys a hat to send us a picture because it is just so fun to see. It feels like a club.” You can check out the Gallery online, which even shows some of the adorable baby hats.

And the thing that makes this story so great? It’s about two people doing what they love. Alyce says that she has always heard people say, “You’ll be happy when you are doing something you love. And it is absolutely true.” Jacqui describes it as a hobby that took on a life on its own; “We were just so happy when we were selling enough hats to make the yarn pay for itself. Also, we are not making anything that we don’t like – it’s all been fun. It’s totally a win-win situation.” It’s thanks to the re-emergence of craft culture that the book was a possibility for these guys – although it’s great that for anyone who can’t knit, their awesome hats can still be bought online.

Posted by jenny in Crafting, 0 comments
Lime Crime Makeup

Lime Crime Makeup

First published in Cut Out + Keep’s Snippets – thanks to Cat and Tom for letting me post it here too! Original article – http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue24/lime-crime

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What inspired you to create your own makeup brand?
I’m a self-styled makeup artist and often couldn’t find the makeup I liked. Everything was too sheer; I wanted pure color that looked the same in the packaging and on your lips/eyes. You could say the brand was born out of frustration and a burning desire to make the impossible possible!

Another source of inspiration is solving a problem — such as eyeshadow creasing and fading during daily wear. I have rather oily eyelids and no primer worked for me, so I went into the lab to develop a waterproof eyelid primer. We call it Eyeshadow Helper — it keeps my eyeshadow crease-free for 20+ hours! In fact, you can even swim in it. If I can continue making products that make people’s lives even a tiny bit easier, I’d be a happy woman!

You get fans to write stories about your lipsticks. How do you pick them?
It is true — we have fan-written vignettes for almost all of our products. We love them! I believe that each color has a story to tell, and our customers seem to agree! We’ve held a Vignette-Writing Contests in the past and published our favorites on our website.

You started out as a fashion designer. What are your fashion influences?
It’s hard for me to distill it down to specific sources, but here is a list of random things I like: the fancy & delicacy of the Victorian era, the firece glamour of the 1930s, silhouettes from the 50s, pastels of the 60s, bold patterns of the 1970s, the swinging London… For designers, I’m a fan of Anna Sui, Erin Fetherston, Betsey Johnson, Vivienne Westwood, Luella Bartley..

Do you have any tips for the crafty folks on our website wanting to go into fashion?
I recommend taking a few courses — just something to get you started! The idea is to get you exposed to new ideas and people. That’s how I discovered my passion for color and design, through my stint at Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Also — communicate and learn from others online! Obviously, if you’re here you’re in the right place for that. (smiles)

You have some fantastic makeup names – Airbourne Unicorn, No She Didn’t, My Beautiful Rocket to just name a few. How do you come up with them?
We love us some word play here at Lime Crime! Myself and my partner/husband Mark come up with with cheeky puns and rhymes all day long, it’s just how we are. My favorites are No She Didn’t (a blue lipstick) and New Yolk City (yellow lipstick).

You’ve been in a few bands as a singer. Would you consider getting back into it the music business?
I’ve been surrounded by music since I was born. My mother is a pianist; I began playing piano at 5 and graduated from music academy in Russia at 15. After I moved to the US, I formed a rock band, put on a festival, and even made a silly disco-pop solo recorder under the moniker Doe Deere! (That’s how I got the name.) I’m grateful to have had those experiences and though I no longer do music professionally, it will always be in my blood!

Who would you say your musical inspirations are?
I love pop, rock and electro. Some of my favorites are Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Dragonette, Type O Negative, The Green Children and Ultraviolet Sound. I can’t get enough of my 80s hair metal — Guns N Roses, Skid Row, and Bon Jovi are my guilty pleasures. My favorite movie of all times is The Metal Years, it’s a documentary about LA heavy metal scene in 1987.

You tour around the country giving makeovers; when do you think you’ll do your next rounds? Would you consider going overseas?
We did a UK tour last April which was amazing. It was incredible to meet our customers face-to-face — and make over some of those faces! We also just did our first appearance at IMATS, the makeup show, this June. We are always doing something, so keep an eye on our Facebook page!

You seem to pretty much have it made – husband, cats, successful company – not to mention your stunning looks! Do you have any advice for young women trying to get what they want and be happy?
Thank you so much. I try to be very appreciative of everything I have, every day. At the same time, I’m not sure there is such a thing as ‘100% content’ for me — I see happiness as the process of achieving it, not a destination, and am happiest when there is an exciting goal to work towards!

If I were to give a few words of encouragement to the readers, I’d say go after what you believe in, fearlessly — you’ll be glad that you did!

You have a quote on your website that says, “Those who break the rules of Today make the rules of Tomorrow.” What rules have you broken in your time?
I’ve broken quite a few, but it almost never happens on purpose. It’s usually when I’m trying to express something, and it’s the only way I know how to get there. The first few labs I approached about developing a lipstick range pretty much told me I was crazy, but in my heart of hearts I know it was possible! I think blue lipstick looks beautiful, and I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me otherwise!

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Posted by jenny in Crafting, 0 comments