Cute as a Coot’s Patoot

Confession time. I’m in love with a coot. Two coots, actually. There is a mama Coot and baby Coot swimming in Echo Park Lake. Every day we walk there, when I get to a certain spot on the edge of the lake, Mama and Baby come swimming toward me.





Esmeralda likes them, too.



Coming from a gluten-free household, my breadcrumbs are not particularly enticing; they’re rice cracker crumbs. But this seems to be acceptable to the coots.



When I started feeding them, toward the end of June, Baby Coot couldn’t actually eat the crumbs. Mama had to pluck them out of the water and feed them to him.



But by the next visit, Baby was snatching the crumbs from Mama’s mouth. Baby doesn't look so fuzzy any more.



The next time, he was eating on his own.

And as of July 4th, he has learned to dive. And he is getting very shiny. He is also a lot less interested in rice cracker crumbs.



Or maybe it was because someone else had already fed them. Is my coot unfaithful? Is he leaving me for another crumb hustler? Stay tuned for the next episode of "As the Coot Turns."

Serpent Tales

There are many poems written about Cleopatra. Shakespeare gave it a go, as did Robert Louis Stevenson, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Shanmugam Chettiar.

But the Cleopatra poem that got stuck in my head while I was making this necklace was an old ad for Swingline staplers, remembered from childhood:

Cleopatra, with feminine guile,
Said to Tony, "Let's barge down the Nile!"
When she reached for an asp,
Her belt lost its clasp
So she stapled it up Swingline style.



The necklace is not stapled together. Actually I wire-wrapped each individual piece with sterling silver wire.





Staples might have been easier. It’s made with Swarovski crystals and Czech pressed glass. And it’s listed here.

For the record, I don’t think you can staple a belt shut. Just my opinion.

Gold in Them Thar Hills

The year was 1949. Settlers streamed across the nation in search of gold, after the discovery at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848. Over the next few years, over 200,000 arrived in California. Some struck it rich. Others did not, and struggled to survive.

Many were fooled by Pyrite, or Fool's Gold, with its brassy gold glitter.



Miners with get-rich-quick schemes soon and sadly learned that Fool's Gold was worthless. What they did not realize was that Pyrite is normally found around deposits of Copper and Gold. Had they dug deeper, they may have found what they were seeking.

This bracelet is the cemetery left behind, after 49ers moved on and others settled in.



It has nine brass tombstones surrounded by tombstones of Pyrite. There are pyrite nuggets as well, to tempt and to remind.



They are set off with hematite, vintage Czech glass seed beads, and fire polish crystals. And every Cornerstoregoddess bracelet comes with a bead to protect the wearer from the evil eye.





This is my answer to the second EHAG (Eclectic Halloween Artists’ Group) tombstone challenge this month. I’ve always been fascinated by the cemeteries in ghost towns, and, being a rock freak, the ores that drew the settlers there.

Other EHAG-ers created some intriguing tombstone art. Here’s a peek at some of the other offerings.

This one is from Joyce Stahl, who made a tombstone quilt.




This needle punch tombstone is from Sherry Kristoff, of Sherry’s Heart.




Searching EHAG on both ebay and etsy will bring a diverse and creative assortment of hand-crafted Halloween-themed art. Take a look the next time you're feeling ghoulish!

Something Gorey This Way Comes

One of the EHAG creative challenges this month was to create a piece relating to Edward Gorey. For those who are not familiar with the Prince of the Macabre, Gorey was an American writer and artist with a taste for the bizarre and dark side. He wrote over 100 books. According to Wikipedia: “He was noted for his fondness for ballet (for many years, he religiously attended all performances of the New York City Ballet), fur coats, tennis shoes, and cats, of which he had many. All figure prominently in his work.”

Here are two examples of his illustrations.





My follow EHAG-ers came up with some spectacular works works. From the amazing Chris Klingler, AKA SpOOky CK:

"Peek-A-Boo" ~ Postcard



"Needful Things" ~ Postcard

Artist / Owner: Christopher Klingler / Designs By CK

Website: www.designsbyck.com

Blog: www.designsbyck.blogspot.com



Melissa Valeriote created an Edward Gorey sculpture.




http://theholidayqueen.blogspot.com/


And Laurie of MonkeyCats Studio painted this:



Monkey-Cats Studio

blog http://lauriehardinsaccents.blogspot.com/

This one just in from Leah Humberston of Leah's Folk Art:



What’s a poor beader to do? I don’t sculpt or draw or paint. Chris bought me an Edward Gorey necklace, with a cat hanging upside down, and you know how I am with charms. I just have to use them. But I didn’t want to pillage a necklace from my sweetie.

So I painted with beads, instead. I made a bracelet and earrings in an Edward Gorey color scheme, using gemstones in shades of gray and white, with just a splash of red: moonstones, agate, jasper, hematite, onyx, zebra stone…







It’s right here.

http://stores.ebay.com/Cornerstoregoddess

I think they would have made perfect accessories for a Gorey character.



Don’t you think the one in front needs a bracelet??

No Parrots Were Harmed in the Making of This Necklace

Another fine walk around Echo Park Lake with Esmeralda, the World’s Most Fearful (and Skunk-Loving) Dog. Being gluten-free, it’s hard to rustle up breadcrumbs for the birds, so we brought some rice cracker crumbs for them, instead.

The last time we tried feeding the Mama Coot and Baby Coot, Baby Coot had a lot of trouble wrangling a rice cracker chip, and usually Mama would snatch it away from him and eat it herself. But Baby Coots grow up, and get smarter.

This time, Baby Coot gobbled up the tidbits. When Mama got one, he’d swim up and eat it right out of her mouth.



We didn’t see any of the blue herons, but this brown heron was hanging out, looking none too pleased with life.



This parrot, on the other hand, looks very pleased. He’s hanging out not at Echo Park Lake, but in my ebay store (http://stores.ebay.com/Cornerstoregoddess)



I’ve been experimenting with combining elements for the “chain” of the necklace, and really like the look and diversity of the elements here. There’s some vintage Czech glass, some artisan lampwork (including the parrot), a touch of millefiore, some cat’s eye… everything but the kitchen sink, and only because I haven’t cut that up and drilled it into beads. Yet.