A Happy New Year Prize Giveaway!

In order to welcome in the new year, and say good-bye to the lovely and fantastic 2011, I have decided to do an Automatic Doll prize giveaway! One lucky girl will win a gorgeous, handmade feathered neck piece from my accessories line, Automatic Doll. I am modelling the prize in the photos below. Other fantastic pieces similar to this one can be found at my Etsy and ASOS stores here and here.

All you have to do for a chance to win this enchanting accessory is 1) Like my Automatic Doll Facebook page, found here, 2) become a follower of this blog, and 3) leave me a comment below telling me why this neck piece should be yours! On Friday, January 13th, I shall choose and announce a winner, and then ship out her prize! 

Thank you, and best of luck!

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."

--"Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Emily Dickinson

** In the photos above I am wearing a feathered neck piece and white typewriter cuff by Automatic Doll. I am wearing a thrifted dress and belt, and Max Studio pumps.

Gilded Ephemera

The holiday season is full of new surprises - like the new sewing machine that my amazing parents sent me for Christmas earlier this week. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad! The next day I was already wearing my brand new red, white, and navy plaid cape that I made from an easy Simplicity sewing pattern. Right now, I am in love with plaids, reds, greens, and various textures of leather. I know, it could be the whole Christmas thing, but really, I just think it's the bold and bright energy that these patterns and textures exude. It just so happens that during the Christmas season, we really get to enjoy these fantastic patterns, colors, and materials bedecked with gold and silver and endless amounts of glitter. These are brief, short-lived days, however, and the golden ornaments we cherished are merely baubles. This day is of the gilded ephemera.

Merry Christmas!

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farmhouses and kitchens at Christmas; and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked, the privilege ceases."

--from Old Christmas by Washington Irving 

**In these photos I am wearing a plaid cape, a green riding hat with peacock feathers, a red poinsettia brooch, an over-sized gold gift ribbon brooch, and a green and black feathered epaulette made by me for my clothes and accessories line, Automatic Doll; white leather purse from Coach (thank you Mommy!), a vintage brown purse from Etsy, a white fox tail key ring and both red and white thigh highs from Ebay; suede booties from Steve Madden; glittery black pumps from Charlotte Russe; red dress from Target; green and black dress by Gianni Bini; and cream skirt and red shirt from XXI. Luke is wearing man clothes. 

Rootwork - A New Jewelry Line from Automatic Doll

Objects pertaining to the practice of Hoodoo have been found in American, particularly Southern homes dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (don't worry - I'm going to include a great connection to fashion here! Bear with me...). Just to provide a  little bit of info on what Hoodoo is, I will first mention that it is not the same as Voodoo, which is a religion. Hoodoo, commonly described as a folk ritual practice, conjure, rootwork, or magic, is not part of a religion, and uses spiritual powers rather than religious deities. These conjurations, or "spells" for lack of a better word, are often used to heal, protect, or "bewitch," requiring objects, amulets, and charms to make the spells work. In many cases, these charms are put near windows, doorways, chimneys, and steps, in order to protect the house or those who live inside of it from negative energy, people who mean harm, or "evil" - again for lack of a better word. But for other spells, the charms were worn in the form of a necklace that one would wear under their clothes. Such charms would be found wrapped up in twine, hemp, or copper wires, bearing little notes, and on many occasions, these charms included oyster shells.

Considering these wearable charms made of oyster shells and copper colored metals, I have designed a new line of Automatic Doll jewelry that is inspired by these oyster Hoodoo charms. No, I have not gone off the deep end - I used to study Hoodoo in literature and film as a graduate student. Instead, I am simply using this little bit Southern lore and magic to create something beautiful that can be worn as an accessory. If you like these mysterious and enticing beauties, you can find them here at my Etsy shop. These I will call my Rootwork Jewelry Line.

Corncob constellation,

oyster shell, drawstring pouch, dry bones. 

Gris gris in the rafters.

Hoodoo in the sleeping nook.

Mojo in Linda Brent's crawlspace. 

Nineteenth century corncob cosmogram

set on the dirt floor, beneath the slant roof,

left intact the afternoon

that someone came and told those slaves 

"We're free."

-- from "Emancipation" by Elizabeth Alexander

**In the photos above I am wearing Rootwork Jewelry by Automatic Doll, a Green Peacock hat by Automatic Doll, a thrifted skirt, an Old Navy cami, and a belt from Loft.

Louisiana Winters and Dreams of Indian Summers

These are the days of nostalgia and whimsy. We dream of warmer nights, and Indian summers. Louisiana is a fickle mistress in the winter. She will behave coyly and cold, chilling you to your core for days, sometimes weeks on end. And then just when you have almost written her off for lost, she comes running, arms flung open, bearing a warmth that you only just recall on certain early mornings when you lie in that liminal place just between asleep and awake. It is this incandescent warmth that still lures us to her Gulf Coastal beaches on certain balmy winter Wednesday mornings. It is here that she will be remembered most.

These photographs reflect a certain aura of the past, and play with accessories, colors, and textures that radiate a golden past in America. These are the musings of an Automatic Doll.

                                                "Do not listen to the other singing.
                                                 Do not be afraid to sing your own song."

-- "A Dream Song" (Annie Long Tom, Clayoquot), 1939

*These photographs were taken by me in gorgeous Cypremort Point about fifty miles south of Lafayette, Louisiana. I love this beach, for it is almost always deserted, and it is a remnant of a purer, older side of coastal Cajun country. 

**In these photos I am wearing two different Native American inspired feathered headdresses by Automatic Doll. The clothes are from Marshall's, with the exception of the lace skirt, which is from a thrift store in South Florida (Thank you, Mommy!). The oyster shell and alligator tooth necklace is from Automatic Doll. The brown suede wedge booties are from Steve Madden. The blanket is from Mexico.