My favourite grump...

I'm sure a million people have this photo from an artsy, take pictures of your feet moment in Kelvingrove but here it is anyway, because it makes me happy and I'd hang them from my ceiling any day...

To all the bedroom nymphs...

There's too many boys in my life at the moment. Moved to a new city to live in a house with four boys and most of my friends here are boys at the moment. Which for me is strange. I'm a girls girl. Always have been. I just prefer the sisterhood, I understand the sisterhood, I laugh and dance and sing with the sisterhood. So, in honour of said sisterhood I've dedicated a wall in my what used to be a very masculine bedroom to the ladies. I painted myself some bedroom nymph friends and will continue adding to this wall. Because, one day when I grow up and own my own bathroom its going to be in a decadent cave and have columns and statues of nude nymphs and paintings of women with just one unruly breast out of some loose, flowing ancient garment...and a swimming pool.. but until that day I'll just have to make do with nymph wall and add to it as I go. Ill keep you updated on the progress of my bedroom nymphs.

The mirror nymph is my faceless version of "Goldfish" by Klimt. One of my favourite nudes in history. I can't for the life of me draw her expression. I can draw a face but I think her cheeky bare bottomed expression is very important. An expression I just can't capture. The smaller canvas, which is barely visible is my party nymph. By Jack Vettriano, she's a gorgeous, dark skinned lovely, strewn on a couch after what can only be imagined as an amazing night, because just wearing the dress she has on would make any night amazing. And that is my professional Costumier's opinion.

Every Madame Should Have a Sense of Occassion

Valentines day only beeped on my radar this year because I was a lucky Madame, a very lucky Madame. I got an 'in' for my lover and I (word lover to be whispered when read) to the one and only Club Noir, Glasgow. It would be very nonchalant and cool of me to say that I was 'jump up and down' excited. That would be a huge understatement.

A Valentines "Saturday Night at the Movies" theme and oh my heart. With a mish mash of things I brought from home before moving here, I worked with what I had. My silver and green polka dotted corset I knew was a must for the event. The fact that I wore it with an autumnal medley including a brown skirt, red shoes and a blue feathered head piece and granny jewellery is irrelevant. I wasn't going for matching. It was actually a concoction gathered from the leftovers of every other ensemble I tried with the corset before that. The only thing that works with corsets I really think is knickers. But this Madame had a few stops to make the night of the cabaret and thought that a corset and frilly knickers may be too much for the rest of the Saturday night revellers.

I look forward to the fact that one day I will be an old eccentric lady with scarves of all colours, huge earrings, long grey hair living in an artists retreat/commune in a movie destination somewhere with a lake, with a village and house like the one in "Practical Magic." The kind of place that doesn't really trust you cause you're a mad auld wench squawking at all hours of the morning but they like you nonetheless. The kind of place where Poirot is the local detective and Elizabeth Montgomery's mother is your neighbour ...in an era where a mixture of all the decades of fashion collide into this mad colourful, bejewelled, nipped in at the waist, blue eye-shadow, pin up, dropped waistline, red lipstick, below the knees, above the knees, flapper, ruffs, feathers, sequined mess happens. With all this in mind and my hopes of one day being an accomplished eccentric I dressed how I felt comfortable and beautiful. A little miss matched and as comfortable as you can be with restricted breath.

Corset based on 1890 - 1900's pattern

In polka dot green and silver with silver metalwork

Blue feathered fascinator.

Both made by Madame Cakeface herself.

I love how teeny this corset makes my waist but honestly am quite uncomfortable with just how...ahem...fleshy...the whole ordeal is.

The night was incredible....the crowd was brilliant, everyone dressed up. The acts were tongue in cheek and other places too, whilst being graceful and gorgeously vibrant keeping everyone's eyes on the stage even though there was enough happening in the audience to keep you entertained.

I twirled the night away with a very dapper gentleman indeed and had one of the best Valentines celebrations ever. So here I am, could I say I'm a Valentines convert. I don't want flowers or chocolates, this lady just wants to be taken dancin'.

Birdgirls backstage..

A few technicolour Seussical Memories....

Birdgirls doing what they do best, flapping about backstage.

a girls gotta eat. . . . . .

.......and this madame wants to have her cake and eat it too. They look so much better with a lady in them, as opposed to hanging on a makeshift washing line in a rainy carpark. Which my beautiful models proved in my corset gallery. More of those photos to come because there were so many to choose from that I didnt want to leave any out. Hopefully the next venture will be sunnier, or indoors.

The christmas the apocalypse decended..

Intent on making Christmas presents this year and armed with heaters and fingerless gloves I braved the elements of my freezing workshop. I was so close but the weather won.....and the jacket I was supposed to make for "la mama" is sitting comfortably on the backburner, along with my resolutions.
It currently looks like this...

I do appreciate that it may make her look like a confection but neither myself or "la mama" are adverse to a good ruffle or indeed fabric spiral creation, even if it is completely oversized.
I will put sleeves on it when I am good and ready or have built up the patience because this cakeface has little to no patience for this jackets sleeves. Aiming to finish it in the next couple of months, unless the sleeves come to life in a Disneys fantasia way and Im never seen again....