The Magpie Diaries

Crème de la crème

2010-04-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

An idea occurred to me this afternoon as as I perused the chocolate counters for Easter treats - what fun it would be to have a dress entirely made of Creme Egg wrappers! I got to work that afternoon, unwrapping and carefully smoothing out the crinkled foil before photographing it. A little while later - ta da! My Crème de la crème dress was born.

I teamed it with an asymmetric purple bob, red heart shape sunglasses by elsa Liebknecht, and a dear little chirpy chick by Whynx Whiplash. I made the topper, adding red ostrich plumes and two little creme eggs tucked alongside. My mismatched purple and red boots, and red gloves came from Doh!

Altogether, not your average Easter look, but I think it's rather stunning all the same. Most eggcellent in fact.

St Patrick's day at Atelier

2010-03-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, there isn't quite enough 'special days', and so, St Patrick's Day is a festivity that I like to acknowledge, if not necessarily celebrate, after all, I cannot boast to be of Irish descent. It's possibly got something to do with the colours, and definitely something to do with the shamrocks - all that lush greenery after a dull old winter.

This year, visitors to Atelier can celebrate St Patrick's Day in style in one of my charming Tiny Toppers, a bargain at 75L, and complete the look with a shamrock choker - a snip at 45L. Additionally, this year I have a limited number of shamrock trees, which I have patiently cultivated and now am able to offer to all at 50L. Just three prims a-piece, they can be planted in the garden, or shrunk down and shoved in a pot for the parlour, they make a welcome change from aspidistras!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Sublime Storage

2009-08-29T03:48:00.000-07:00

There aren't too many things I would like to possess in RL, but I'd love to have my brand new workshop cupboard. It's in a subtle pallette of turquoise, blue and gold, inspired in part by copper oxide colouration, and, of course with a touch of trademark damask. Who says that workshops can't have pretty things in them?!

I've set it for sale along with two large drawers and two small ones, so people can arrange them how they like, and put whatever they like in them too. I'm going to keep the following in mine: clouds, cogs, feathers, dreams, tiny seashells, small copper butterflies, ozone, mist, confetti and the merest wisp of opium smoke.

The Optometrist's Topper

2009-08-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Perhaps my silliest project yet (even sillier than clockwork squids), I put this new topper for sale at Atelier this evening. I'm not sure where the inspiration for it came from - a monchrome striped topper with lenses and aparatus from the optometrist profession - but I am hoping it will do well, even though it was pure indulgence to build.

The actual hat has been ready for some time, but there was a fanciful twelve verse tale of how the hat ended up in my shop to write, and then a little Punch and Judy-esque device to construct that enables people to view and read the accompanying poem. It's all filled a space in the ground floor at Atelier very well.

Happy Birthday Mr Tesla!

2009-07-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today is Mr Tesla's 153rd birthday! And also one year since I commemorated his birth with the Tesla Topper, still one of my favourite creations. This year I decided to make a nice little freebie to match the Topper which I know so many of my group members purchased. And so here we have ... the 'I <3 Tesla' brooch!

More info on Tesla at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

The Edison gets an outing

2009-06-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

I was very pleased to be able to don the new Edison topper this weekend at the New Babbage Illusions White Themed ball. For the rest of my outfit, I decided the emphasis should be rather more on the punk than the steam. So it was on with the Panjen glamgoth skin, white Kin freebie hair, tattered Ghost dress, and Tesla white framed sunglasses.

I really like to accessorise steampunk outfits with sunglasses. It always brings to mind that surreal scene in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, where Mrs Lovett is daydreaming about an idyllic day out at the beach, herself and Mr Todd eccentrically dressed in bathers and round framed sunglasses. I love a hint of surreal modernity in period costumes.

And the perfect finishing touch to this pale melée?

A white boa - of the constrictor variety naturally!

Wearable albino boa constrictor, with blinking eyes and flicking tongue, by Meissa Thorne.

My black wooly shrug - a new and inseparable favourite item -

a Curio Obscura freebie, just the back and upper arms worn!

Me and Tyger on the steps at Piermont Landing during the ball.

The Edison Topper

2009-05-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

This week, my dear friend Miss Breezy Carver sent me a request for a new summer hat. She's been wearing my Tesla Topper all winter, and I've been so pleased to see her in it in a number of snaps on the New Babbage Ning. Her request was to have a Tesla Topper but in white. However, rather than re-hash the Tesla Topper, I asked Breezy if there were any other inventors she would like to personify in top hat form. She gave me some suggestions, and so, the next day I began work on a new Tribute Topper devoted to the work of Mr Thomas Edison.

The hat itself is made of a silvery white damask, with a smoky lace band, with a tiny detailed rendition of Mr Edison's incandescent lamp glowing on the brim. With the addition of some vintage electrical flex, three copper buttons and a flourish of copper fuse wire, the new hat was complete!

I gave the hat to Breezy today and she was delighted, and, I too am very pleased to have a brand new Tribute Topper in the collection at Atelier.

Above, Breezy in her new summer topper, plus, Mr Thomas Edison, and his incandescent lamp: In 1879, using low current electricity, a carbonized filament and a vacuum sealed globe, Thomas Edison first produced a reliable and long lasting light source.

On the topic of topiary

2009-05-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today the good people of Babbage (and some bad ones too) headed to Miss Llewellyn's wonderful garden for a May Day celebration. The green fingered among us, myself included, entered an inspired building competition with a topiary theme. To my delight, I came joint third place with Miss Blakopal. Here I am with some of the entries.

First place saw a battleship in bush form, that fires apples and has flowers in place of steam, by Mr Cleanslate. Second came Miss Andrew's fairy globe, and third, Miss Blakopal's lovely twirly conifer with lantern. I must also mention Miss Writer's alphabetty plant, and Miss Frye's glorious airship battle tree.

My leafy offering came in the form of a macabre little fellow, having recently beheaded his dear wife with the garden shears. This bizarre image came to me last week, and I quickly scribbled it down on paper before I started work with prims. Here is my sketch, the end result was very similar! I have Tyger to thank for the name 'A bush with death', but of course, only my nonsensical pen is to blame for the accompanying rhyme.

Bunnykins, the Easter Rabbit

2009-04-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Bunnykins was meant to be a kind of grungy, dishevelled, forlorn looking creature, but, even though he has drawing pin eyes, and his limbs are only just staying on, he still ended up looking terribly cute. I gave him as an Easter gift to all the Atelier Eccentrics today, on top of a brown felt top hat. He has a dirty calico body, grubby flower fabric lined ears and paws, and pink sculpty buttons. Of course, a snowy-white fluffy tail finishes him off.

His faded pastel colours put me in mind of an outfit I made long ago, and had quite forgotten about, but since it is Easter, I dug it out from the back of my wardrobe. Here I am with our giant brown bunny from HPMD, in a nubbly knitted waistcoat with Victorian miniature portrait buttons, a pink floral ditsy blouse, and foxglove print, mustard skirt.

Too many Easter eggs, too early in the day, have a lot to answer for.

The March Shadowbox

2009-03-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

The shadowbox for March is now on the wall at Atelier, since it's late again, I'll keep it out for most of April too.

For a March theme, I had to include a March Hare, and have had the main picture for this shadowbox in mind for a long time. Of course, a March hare theme would not be complete without one of Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland woodcuts, the March Hare here seen dunking the poor dormouse into the pot. I also added a woodcut I found of the Vernal Equinox, which occurs on the 21st, the image here representing the equal hours of sunlight and darkness at this time. The bronze Roman coin, is a symbol of 'The ides of March', the name for the 15th March in the Roman Calendar. The term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, as dramatized in Shakespeare's play, and the coin was commissioned by assassin Brutus after Caesar's death. Two green porcelain hare-shaped buttons and a bottle of pussy willow buds bring the nature theme back into focus, and a line from an ode by Victorian poet Algernon C. Swinburne, on a stained and torn scrap of paper, sum up the madness and chaos of the season.

"March, master of winds, bright minstrel and marshal of storms

that enkindle the season they smite."

Algernon C. Swinburne, March: An Ode

Curious cogroaches!

2009-02-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

The onset of warmer weather in New Babbage saw the broom cupboard here at Atelier somewhat plagued with beetles earlier this week. On capturing a few specimens I noticed, that like so many things in our fair city, that they are indeed clockwork insects! I have thus named them 'cogroaches'.

They are quite the most curious yet beautiful creatures, with delicate, papery wing cases and glowing eyes. Not being one to let such a discovery go to waste, I have utilised them to adorn a charming spring straw bonnet, which can be found for purchase at the store, along with some sweet little cogroach brooches.

I find insecty jewellery such a joy, don't you?! And the bonnet is just the sort of hat that one might wish to wear to church, providing you can convince the vicar that cogroaches are not wood burrowing and will not eat the pews.

February shadowbox

2009-02-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

A wee bit late, due to the new shop, Valentine cards and other projects, but completed at last!

With a Valentine theme, the shadowbox takes it's inspiration from a poem by Anne Bronte, 'In memory of a happy day in February', 1842. With a collage of vintage valentines, painted heart-shaped buttons and cross stitched wording, I hope it conjures up the spirit of valentine wishes received in happy surprise. The thermometer, an indication of rising temperatures at long last - 'the smile of early spring' - after the worst of the winter weather has passed.

The February shadowbox is on the wall by the stairs at Atelier until the March one takes its place.

"Was it the smile of early spring that made my bosom glow?

'Twas sweet, but neither sun nor wind could raise my spirit so!

Was it some feeling of delight, all vague and undefined?

No, 'twas a rapture deep and strong, expanding in the mind!"

Valentine fun at the new store

2009-02-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

It took three days to move into the new shop in the canals, but all is now in place and looking marvellous. The cephalopods have settled in nicely, and the poisons are safely out of harm's way on the upper floor.

In order to celebrate the opening, which coincides with Valentine's weekend, I have made a selection of free Valentine cards. There is indeed something for everyone! Even one or two that the urchins may wish to send. All are decidedly different, and two are tea-themed!

I have placed them on a dresser just inside the shop and they will be there until Sunday, just in case anyone has been forgetful to send romantic (or otherwise!) wishes at this time of year.

I have a new store!

Wonders galore!

There are cards to be had

and the rhyming is bad.

An exciting new main store

2009-02-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Atelier has had a few homes, and I have been extremely fortunate to have had a succession of wonderful landlords behind my retail career. It all started with a dear little shop (something of a broom cupboard!) above the Bakery at Loner Lane, Port Babbage, back last May, when Loner Lane was owned by Miss Kaylee Frye. Miss Frye came up with the generous notion of small spaces for new builders - rent free!

I had 50 prims at my disposal, and it was a very successful introduction to selling. When the plot was sold to Mr Albus Weka, he was kind enough to ask me back. In the interim period of Miss Frye selling Loner Lane to Mr Weka, I took one of the little shops at my good friend Mr Max Queller's Queen Victoria Arcade in Wheatstone Waterways (now no longer standing). Looking back, I have had some lucky breaks, for which I am very thankful; I have had a chance to play, build and develop my style.

It became apparent recently that I had pretty much done all one can do with a 50 prim limit, and needed a new base and a new project. I was again fortunate to hear of the perfect plot very quickly. And so, I am pleased to announce that Atelier has found its new, much improved, and permanent home, in the Canal District, New Babbage.

Tyger and I had already started a lovely new shop for Atelier - with me haphazardly throwing prims together in roughly the kind of thing I wanted, and he, pulling them into shape, aligning, straightening and generally un-wonkifying them as I went. Not to mention dealing with the cumbersome mega prims I find so tiresome to work with. So when the time came we were pretty much ready to go. And here is the end result!

JUST REZZED Boarded, for now, but soon to be up and running,

the new main store at Babbage Canals

My favourite parts? The two bay windows on the lower floor, reminiscent of lighthouse lanterns, the copper-hatted 'egg' window above, the wonderful palette of colours in the roof tiles, and the chunky beams in the open attic, complete with a little barn owl - a welcome to the neighbourhood present from my new neighbour Miss Canolli Capalini.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Babbage%20Canals/56/87/105/?title=Meadow%20McBride%27s%20Atelier&msg=New%20main%20store%21

Eclectic plumage - a recipe

2009-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS:
1 freebie cowboy hat, white with black band
1 small bunch of flowers courtesy of Greenthumb Magic
1 French Maid top, by four Yip (part of a set)
2 poofy lace sleeves, from 'Victorian shirt' by Candy Enoch
1 homemade rose choker (textured with chequered floor tiles)
1 knitted belt, by Pixel Dolls
1 hastily made skirt using black and white damask wallpaper texture
2 buckle cuffs, by Felicity Overlord
1 pair black and white spotted socks, by Bellinda Box
1 pair black ballet pumps, by Shiny Things
1 black and white garter, origin unknown
1 large chiffon bow, from aforementioned set by four Yip

METHOD:
Shrink cowboy hat to minimum limits. Take flowers and texture with chequered floor tiles. Afix flowers, position hat in jaunty fashion. Wear remaining items, fixing large chiffon bow to rear. For best results attend the New Babbage Founders Day Black and White Ball, graciously hosted by Miss Breezy Carver. Dance till dawn, or until done.

A shadow box for January

2009-01-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling inspired to work on a project I have been mulling over for some time - shadow boxes. I love the eclectic, surrealist shadow boxes by Joseph Cornell and for quite a while have been wondering how pieces like this might translate into SL. I wanted to keep prims low, so this meant the collage must be a single texture with shadows and detailing added.

With temperatures dropping to minus 7 here, I thought it might be fun to use a frosted window as a frame, and this led to an idea of creating a shadow box for January. The botanical study of snowdrops was hunted out next, along with the beginnings of a verse by Mary Robinson, (The Snowdrop, 1797). I then just had to find 'winter's timid child' and was pleased to come across a white caped little girl c.1890. I finished off with a calendar page from 1889 and some green buttons, before adding the lettering, which, to help the 3d effect, are vintage printers blocks. The whole thing was then set in a box of distressed tongue and groove.

The box is available at Atelier in Loner Lane for the whole of this month, and hopefully, will be replaced with a February shadow box, inspiration allowing.

"The snow-drop,
Winter's timid child,
Awakes to life bedew'd with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flowrets bloom,
Amidst the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!"

(RL) Steampunk Sculptures

2008-12-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

This Boxing Day I took my camera to 'The Pride of the Valley Sculpture Park', which is about five minutes drive from me, in Churt, in Surrey. I've always loved sculpture placed in the great outdoors and the park occupies ten acres of woodland and water garden, and houses 200 sculptures, many in a decidedly Steampunk vein. It was a lovely crisp winter's day, and although my hands froze solid taking these pictures, the light was beautiful. Here are a few of my favourite pieces:

1. Teapot Pachyderm
I love this little fellow! He is nicely nestled among the rhododendrons, where his brass body catches the light beautifully.

2. Rusted Towers
Two wonderful rusty towers, possible grain stores or similar. Glorious colouration and a satisfying echo inside :)

3. Broken Diving Bell
Crushed and lying in a puddle of water, you can't help but wonder what happened to this forlorn looking diving bell. A misencounter with a leviathan perhaps?

4. The Brass Sentries
Standing on duty at the top of the park, brass animals of indiscernable species gaze out from their tree trunk plinths.

5. Funnel birds
A pair of quarrelsome birds perch their tubby bodies on equally tubby little chairs.

Many more frames on my flickr photostream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meadows_pics

Back at the Lane for Christmas

2008-12-20T06:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I finally had a chance to move Atelier back to the new updated premises at Loner Lane in Port Babbage. Mr Albus Weka has done a splendid job of keeping the fundamental elements of Kaylee's old Loner Lane - which was much loved - and has updated all the units, and more besides, with wonderful new details.

I am extremely grateful to Mr Weka, for I now have not one, but two fabulous rooms for my goods! Both are quite different to each other, so I am planning to have two loose themes. The lower room, which has a curved glass window with some very pretty ornate iron work and a lovely tin roof, will have a workshop feel to it and will showcase more of my 'mechanical' builds such as the clockwork cephalopods and the Time Flies pocket watch. I have already built a new workshop cupboard for this area, which is on sale at 35L, has some very pleasing perspective on the shelves, and is an amazing 2 prims!

Heading up the little ramp and through the wooden door at the rear of the front room will bring you to a beautiful back room. When Mr Weka showed me this room a few months ago, when he was remodelling the site, I instantly fell in love with it. It has wonderful semi-circular windows on two sides, which, outside, are surounded by a litle balcony that runs all the way round both rooms. It's a great place to sit, with a cosy atmosphere, and I have placed a sofa so that customers may take a seat while they peruse the goods. At present the La Mort collection has found a home here, along with the Poisoners and Cupid's Heart brooch, and so this room has aquired a gothic parlour atmosphere in red and black.

My new premises are on the same site as the old Loner Lane Atelier store, so anyone still with a landmark in their inventory will find that using that will bring them directly to the front room! Here is an SLurl for those without - do pop along!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Port%20Babbage/25/217/110/?title=Meadow%20McBride%27s%20Atelier

A Christmas Trinket

2008-12-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

As an aside to a particularly fiddly build that has been bugging me for some time, tonight I put together this sweet little frosty snowflake cog stick-pin. A trio of tiny bronze snowflakes revolve under a frosted glass dome and an iridescent pearl glimmers gently at the other end. And then, cause I simply couldn't leave it at that, I made a little ebony box for it to live in, lined with my favourite faded damask wallpaper.

trin⋅ket

–noun

1. A small ornament, piece of jewelry, etc., usually of little value.
2. A trivial thing; a trifle.

Gyroscopic Sparkle Selection Device

2008-11-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a little gem of pre-Christmas magic - a short but sweet nugget of steampunkness, in the form of an advert for a high street jewellers, currently on our tv's here in Blighty. Of course, being Magpie like, I couldn't help but fall in love with the marvelous gyroscopic sparkle selection device, and all the little sparkles captured in the glass jars! It's beautiful!

And here's the link: http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA7784

Objet trouvé, the magpie and Meadow

2008-11-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

i. Objet trouvé or 'found object' - created from the undisguised, but often modified, use of objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a mundane, utilitarian function.
ii. The Magpie - an intelligent bird that likes to explore. Shiny things interest them as toys or something to stash away, they like to hoard.
Is able to recognize itself in a mirror.
iii. Meadow: Eclectic, curious magpie with an overactive imagination.