Goals for 2012

First of all, I can't believe it's 2012.  And I can't believe it's been so long since I posted to my blog (only 3 posts total in 2011)!  I love how a new year feels like a reset button has been hit, and it's such a great time to make some small improvements.

One of my goals going into this new year is to post a new entry at least 3 times a week.  Some others are:

--to continue to redefine the style and offerings of Frost, and to list 5-7 new items a week
--to re-establish my fitness routine after my mandatory six-week postpartum rest (my second little boy Mikko was born on New Years' Eve)
--to get some new poetry written (it's been ages since I wrote a new poem) and keep submitting it to journals; my most recent work to be published was in the Winter 2012 edition of Amethyst Arsenic


So those are the things I'll be working on this year!  What goals do you have going into the new year?

"Dead Sound"

The first time I ever heard The Raveonettes was one summer at least 5 years ago (probably more like 7) when a local TV channel was using "That Great Love Sound" to promote some summer shows, and from there I bought every album they had out, and every time a new one came out, I bought it at my local record store. Each subsequent album has been deeper, darker, and more unique than the one before, and I find myself always in the mood to listen to The Raveonettes. I've been thrilled by both of their shows that I've had the pleasure of attending in Boston. It's hard to choose one favorite out of so many excellent songs, but one of them has been "Dead Sound" ever since Lust Lust Lust came out. This summer, late one night I was sitting in my apartment watching the video, and it just took hold of me in an incredible, unforeseen way. I hadn't written a poem for months. Part of being a mum and not having a lot of mental free time, I think. But that video, and the song played over and over till it was the landscape of my mind, inspired a poem I now love. Here's my Raveonettes-inspired poem (and I actually have one going inspired by "Black/White").


Dead Sound
Cyndle Plaisted Rials

Your ghost edges flicker into view
as you dance with jerky hip swings,
languorous neck rolls, side to side, all the way
around, curtain of dripping hair
whipping your cheekbone, drowned, the guitars
fuzzed and fading into backgrounds
of a dark moonlit ocean, sweet retro
harmony in a fast-moving car.

This dance is your last hurrah among the living,
your bluish hand twisting the knob
for more sound, vibrations that even your emptiness
might conduct. Your desperation is water-like
drifting in and out of your dark bones
as you flail with unstudied transparent grace.

Your face is white like the moon
even here in candlelight, and it's unclear
if you're been pulled under by accident
or in soft submission. Either way the rhythm of waves
took you, splashes of salt still cresting
your sharp cheek.

Tuesday Playlist: Dark Electro Brooding

(The perfect visual representation of this playlist)

I would love to share my playlists so you could listen to them right here, but since I've been finding so many great songs on RCRDLBL.com a lot of the things I'd like to include aren't available on playlist.com. I do know that most of these songs are findable on YouTube, so you can get a listen of them there!

This is one of my favorite playlists for late night creation marathons. It's dark and moody with some goth and shoegaze vibes: plenty of fuzzy guitars, the occasional synth, general gorgeous listlessness punctuated by desperate outbursts of emotion--enjoy!

Dark Electro Brooding Playlist

"Beat and the Pulse"--Austra
"Mild Confusion"--Tamaryn
"Little Kids"--Deerhunter
"Black/White"--The Raveonettes
"Public Pervert"--Interpol
"Rainbow Girl(Glasvegas Remake)"--Giana Factory
"Hidden Systems"--Bright Archer
"Roommates(Remix)"--Now, Now
"Advice & Vices"--Chelsea Wolfe
"Another Likely Story"--Au Revoir Simone
"Get Away"--120 Days
"Dry Ice"--Pure X
"A Time To Be So Small"--Interpol
"Leave"--Whirl
"Apparitions"--The Raveonettes

In Love With Fictional Characters

I know I'm a little late to the party, but thanks to my brother, I have become totally wrapped up in the Showtime series Dexter starring Michael C. Hall. My brother gave me the first season on DVD, the twelve episodes of which I finished in days and then quickly purchased the second season. The photo above is from the opening credits, which I ALWAYS watch, just to see this expression. Needless to say, I am fascinated, and it's all because of the title character. I can't help but be thrilled to see Dexter Morgan himself every time I watch a new episode. The story line is riveting and everything (seriously I can't stop watching it), but my brain is the brain of a poet; I have been known to spend a lot of time fixating, yearning, pining, and longing. It's my nature. I mean, if we didn't get hung up on things, what would we write about?

I had to take a break from Dexter since I only have one Season 2 episode left and the third season hasn't arrived in my mailbox yet, so I popped The Phantom of the Opera into the DVD player again, and that led me to muse on the subject of arresting male leads and the commonalities among the ones I adore. Certainly the Phantom and Dexter aren't the only fictional men that have struck my fancy--Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights springs to mind, and I'm sure there are many others.

Some or all of these factors are present in my ideal fictional man (and let's be real, my actual man as well): he's intense, brooding, and misunderstood; has a dark and mysterious past that has scarred him whether physically, emotionally, or both; he's villainous, but his nefarious deeds have parameters(of course he would never hurt the object of his affection--he might rough her up with some passionate love-making, but never injure her on purpose); he wears a mask in front of most, but the object of his affection eventually gets to see behind it, showing him that he is worthy of love . . . Add some rakish hair, a sullen brow, and a strong body, and there's the man to captivate me!

And it certainly isn't just me. The popularity of the Twilight series, of which I have not been a huge follower, is certainly due to the fact that in general, women seem to be intrinsically drawn to a mysterious, broken man with a core of hidden radiant goodness; you just have to be the One to open your eyes and see it.

Being that special woman, the One who can accept the man as he is when no one else has. . . that's central to the whole idea. I like to think it's separate from the trap of trying to change a man--in this case, you know the guy is damaged and you want him anyway (so badly)! Plus the whole package comes with a hefty weight of tension, and women like tension, do they not? It's emotional foreplay. It's intimacy and intensity with a deep river of romanticism running through it, and there's the core again, this time not just being the One, but feeling the one-ness with that lonely, lonely man. Yes, it's all quite melodramatic in truth. I have never shied away from over-romanticizing anything.

But being in love with a fictional character is just too difficult. I think a lot of people transfer those emotions to the actor, thinking that he must be that brooding, broken man, but I know the truth. It's worse than day-dreaming about an actor. Dexter is an illusion--just words on a page or a portrayal on film, and what could be more hopeless than that?

Poem

First an aerialist.

A woman so light
she looks like a dewy petal floating
down from the gathered rose of the big top.
Palest pink satin
and sequins. How sure they are
she’s going to
--but to think it would be to wish
it to happen. She swings and tucks, her grip
loosens from the bar

a man swings out in an arc
from the wings, from the dark
to catch her
in that heavy
breathless
pause

the long split-second where it seems sure
she’ll descend to the dusty floor, a crumpled
flower part. But he catches her. How is it
possible that he holds her so certainly?
Does he falter, inwardly, ever? We know
he does not falter. He is her very young
father. They swing and let go and somersault
in tandem
to the ground, movements reciprocal
as they bow. Rubes assume only
they are lovers as he palms
her lower back and they disappear
into shadows—no one does
anything to contradict their assumption.

New Felting!

Felted Neck Warmer--Antoinette Gold and Blue on Etsy

I was pretty productive this weekend with the felting! I made 4 new pieces and added some to another one I had already worked on. The four new pieces are all on the ide of the one above. Of course they never come out exactly the same, which is most of the fun! I had a ball making them, and I love how many ways they can be worn. If you don't know already, I really like to make pieces that are versatile/convertible! I'm thinking I may have to make myself one of these, and I hardly ever keep anything! Check out the other new handmade items just listed at Frost on Etsy!

I can't wait to buy some more felting supplies! They are the most fun to browse through on Etsy, all those gorgeous colors and textures and all the ways to combine them. . . heavenly! I'll probably wait for some more sales before I go drop a big chunk of change on new supplies--I still need to get a new flyer for my spinning wheel because my son broke my current one! :(

And yes, I am totally procrastinating on packing things to move. It really shouldn't take that much, because so much of our stuff is already in boxes, but it's just so not fun! Oh, well--better sooner than later, because my husband has to work this week, and I don't want to be doing it with just Sage! :)

Neglect

Wow, I have been an absentee blogger lately! I have been working on some new fall items though, after reading up on the Pantone picks for fall 2010! It's such an awesome resource for designing; I can't believe I didn't know about it till this spring!

So here's a new item that I really love:


Freeform Crochet Collar by Atelier Frost on Etsy

I did a new turquoise cotton one the other day--just haven't photographed it yet. It's been too sunny for my taste. I also have some lovely new colors in a pretty standard design of mine. I've also got some stuff rolling around my head for some convertible/layering garment pieces. We'll see how that goes.

I'm also collecting things and packing for the move! I am NOT looking forward to that, but luckily most things, besides supplies and clothing, are already in banana boxes for the sake of storage here. I acquired a wonderful vacuum, toaster oven, bed spread, bathroom stuff, and more today, which was great! It's going to be nice to have all that space!

Moving and some decorating finds

I am moving in a few weeks, to a lovely little apartment about 10 minutes away--of course I am in major magazine-scouring, sale-peeping, housewares-radar mode. That's always the best part about moving; decorating a new place! It will be nice to have more space for the three of us and all of our things. . .

Those frames and the mirror pictured cost less than $30 all together! I plan to leave the mirror as is (the frame is sort of gold, but rubbed through to dark brown and red in places--it has some character) and then paint the frames black with some glossy paint. I think my print from Hidden Eloise at Hide N Seek will look great in one of them. I think maybe a nice black and white of the baby would be cool, and I don't know about the rest! I DO know that I need a nice oval ornate one and at least a few smaller ones.

Working on creating my dream rug on the Flor website at the moment--I really like the Martha Stewart Faux Bois patterns!

Independence!

That's a little graphic I made just for today--I've been experimenting and trying to figure out Illustrator, which I have had for, oh, 6 years. And thanks to a variety of internet tutorials, I have found my way around it fairly well!

Enjoy the day with your families, your cookouts, your fireworks and sparklers--enjoy the freedom!

East West Carnival Collection

The New Atelier Frost collection.

Sooooo, I've been putting my energies into this new collection. I know what I said about the dark romance, and all of that, but I think I'll be keeping that on the back burner for fall. Because as soon as I started formulating new designs and digging through materials, the raw silk grabbed me, and I just wanted to make something bright and multi-cultural, like the Himalayas by way of the Great Plains and some retro hippie culture. It's all those sitars, I'm telling you--they infiltrated my mind and totally determined the style of this new collection.

Tassels, shimmer, iridescence, bright shiny baubles--it's all here! And the best thing about it is that it feels like totally me. I don't feel influenced by someone else's accessory designs, or anything like that--I feel totally led by my imagination. And that is a great place to be. I feel like my color choices really make my products hang together too. I've always kind of worried that I like and make too many different styles of things for it to all work together in the shop, but I like to think that my customer is a fashion chameleon, a style shape-shifter, just like me. One day she's rockabilly tough-and-sweet, the next she's an earthy bohemian goddess, then she might be a darkly romantic steampunker, a shoe-gazing rocker in an ironic t-shirt, an ethereal nymph in gauze and flowers. Limitlessness!

So for now it's East West Carnival, Savage Romance is in the works for fall, and who knows what after that? I'm just having too much fun with my head full of ideas and designs!


Summer Reading Recommendation

I just picked up a new book at Target to read on the beach. So many of the books I skimmed the backs of were about murders and detectives, divorcees, knitting circles or sewing circles or whatever--a lot of boring stuff, as far as I'm concerned. And then I saw this book by Alice Hoffman:



I started reading it yesterday and I think I'm probably halfway through--I was naughty and I took it out of my beach bag to read in the house!! I can never seem to keep a beach book for long if I really like it. Anyway, it reads very fast, and the story is full of imagination, love, danger, trouble, modern fairy tale. . . most of the elements that I love! I love books with settings that seem otherworldly and the imagination of the characters is just as meaningful as the "real" world.

I was thinking about that as I watched Big Fish again the other night, actually. If you have not seen this marvelous movie, do not continue reading this paragraph!! I do not want to ruin it for you!! SPOILER ALERT! Will (played by Billy Crudup) feels as though he doesn't know his father Edward (Albert Finney) because he tells so many fantastic tales that couldn't possibly be true. As a journalist, Will is obsessed with what actually happened. But a person's imagination is just as important to the creation of the person they are as the things that "really" happened. A lot of people get so troubled by movies where you can't tell what's "real"--I never worry about that.

But anyway, this is becoming an incredibly long post! I highly recommend The Story Sisters for quick and enjoyable reading; the story isn't always pleasant, but it has grabbed me, and I truly enjoy the writing style--it's rather poetic.

Go ye forth and read and imagine and be a style shape-shifter!

Collection Notes

Something Savage This way Comes
I have had SO MANY things swirling around in my head lately, but they're sort of coalescing into a collection of dark romance and slightly refined savagery. I'm hoping I can do these ideas justice--some attempts turn out to be offensive to the original idea.

Here's one portion of the inspiration. Right around 3:35 it gets really intense for me.


For this new collection, it's not really anything visual that's inspiring me--it's been more music. I've also been listening to "Disturbia" by Rihanna and "She Wolf" by Shakira lately, which intersects with this somehow--still raw, but it's kind of the industrial, insidious side of this imagined girl that this collection is made for--a contrast to her melancholy, wandering, earthy self. . . Needless to say, there will be leather, but there will be gauze; there will be metal, but there will be bone; black, but also brights. . . I'm really excited about this. Even more excited than I was about Haute Electro, maybe because I feel this collection will be saying something more personal.

Speaking of saying something more personal, here's some stuff I jotted around this idea as well. It's interesting to create in more than one medium--if I can't express the idea properly in one, I can try another!


The Hunter

The desert is the fulcrum of despair.
I ride my horse bareback, the wind
braided into my hair. From dark mesas

in the moonlight I see your horns, shadows
of your jaw--my love, my myth. Your mystery
whispers around the rocks, hushes

in a mountain stream. You twist out
of my grasp, wind through feathers. My father
warned me this journey was waste. I packed

my saddle anyway, packed my fur boots,
a wedding headdress. My wedding clothes
I rolled and left under my sister's pillow--

when I find you, you'll take me naked
in the river. I trust this truth. The wind
trails fingers through my hair.


So these are some of my seeds--we'll see what they grow to be.

Long Time No Blog

Wow, I have just gone missing lately, haven't I? Well the other part of my identity is assistant extraordinaire to my mother, who is the adviser to the senior class at our local high school. This week was their graduation and all the events that go along with it, and my time has been totally sucked up by that. But I have returned from the land of the graduates, and I just listed some new things at Frost on Etsy!


Hand Dyed Felted Gauze Scarf--Green Citrus

Cotton Gauze Adventures
I ordered some cotton gauze a week or 2 ago and I spent a lot of time ripping it and dyeing it--once that part of the process was done, I started felting on some of it, adding beading and embroidery. They're really summery, lightweight scarves, which is nice--plus, I just love doing anything with details and embellishments. That's the thing I enjoy the most about making any pieces, whether they be jewelry, scarves, or clothing.

I hope to have some new scarves and jewelry up soon--I've got some colorful ideas blooming in these parts and after I clean up from the whirlwind week, I'll be all over that!

Oh Nostalgia! Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink is an excellent movie, and lately MTV has had the good sense to play it in the afternoons. I remember a few years ago when I was re-introduced to this movie full of awesome fashion (thanks to kooky Trax owner Iona, played by Annie Potts) and marvelously obscure tunes. And the songs I liked the best were the ones played at the club, Cats. Of course these songs are omitted from the soundtrack. Isn't that always the way? Anyway, at that point, the songs were not available on iTunes. But today I peeked again after catching a fave scene (the one were Duckie and Iona are at Cats, and Andie comes by with Blaine) and they had this fabulous rockabilly song on there for the buying! Well wooo-hoooo for me! :)

Overdue

Wow, I've been lax with the posting lately! But here's a poem for you. It's old. From 2005! I was looking at some stuff I had on my external hard drive my old computer, and out of 40 or so poems, this is the only one that really spoke to me in its entirety.


Wanna Get it Right: A Sonic Embodiment
by Cyndle Plaisted Rials

I’ve read everything and you seem kinda fucked up kinda pissed off
off on tangents lots of that off-and-on,
sweet unpredictable
focused madness that spreads and intrigues
and I mirror we mirror
I’d watch your face and trace the changes
thatfast, not so fast
as 8mm film tick ticking winding through wheels cogs reeling back
on itself reflexive like all this cyclical
all that rolling circular
back and forth still brilliance from green to blue
sharp shots pairing wit
imparting fabulous personal truths which wind around
legs tangled hair askew around the body a vacuum
poles magnets of coldness or heat— hard to tell. To leave well
enough alone— not my style not yours not
when things cluster
and break shatter rework in the slow
burning silences or the swift exchange
it’s all melting and pooling, swelling
like speed-heated glass so
fragile I won’t blow too hard.

Vintage Lucite!

Midway Brights Vintage Lucite Necklace


This is probably my favorite out of the seven new vintage Lucite necklaces I posted last week. I love the purple-ish color with the turquoise and that orange stripey bead is just awesome!!! I have some other great color combos going on in the necklaces in the shop--check em out at Frost on Etsy!

Poem: "The Fortuneteller"

Here's another of my circus poems from my MFA manuscript. I've been planning to enter some chapbook/book contests--I think I'll probably expand my circus poems and include them too. I'm also waiting to hear from a dear friend about these and her thoughts on them. I definitely feel that I need some more of them though to really flesh out the series. Anyway, here she is in her dark and shadowed tent,


The Fortuneteller
by Cyndle Plaisted Rials

Some offer palms shyly,
as if they never meant to enter the wine-red
tent smelling of jasmine
and incense, but as soon as the flap falls
shut, even the skeptics’ eyes darken,
widen at the prospect of revelation.
The womb released me
with these ancient talents—on the brackish edge
of a river, I read the sky, the birds, my father’s
face in the heat, my angry brother’s black
looks. I read fear everywhere. The rubes
shield their tender fright
with laughter, cup it in their hands
and offer it to me in the shadows
of my tent. Sometimes I tell
the truth about what I see, if it is not too dark,
not too feverish and tragic. If there’s anything
worse than a sad
ending, it’s the knowing
and the wait.

Florence + the Machine

Here is something sonically gorgeous, visually mind-blowing, and deeply emotive! I just discovered Florence + the Machine this week, and I've been listening to nothing but the debut album "Lungs." I would totally recommend reading her bio too--it really speaks to me, as someone who has a love of magic, fairy tales, dark love and emotions, and juxtaposition. So sometimes the perfect inspiring, stimulating thing really does come along to pull you out of your creative rut. Speaking of which, I was strolling Sage along on the way to the playground yesterday and the perfect little piece of a poem got snagged in my brain, but I just remembered that now--and the piece of a poem is gone. Hopefully I'll find it later, drifting around somewhere else. I have a firm belief that these things find their way back into our work if they were really true and necessary to say.

Anyway, here is the gorgeous stuff! "Cosmic Love" is just killing me with its savage beauty--not to mention, the lyrics are ethereal and gorgeous as the place the vocals reach. And as otherworldly as the visuals.

Labels

This morning I headed online to check some shop stats (though I haven't listed anything new since Sage's surgery), and spotted Tara Gentile's post about labels on Scoutie Girl. I definitely related to her struggles to characterize and label herself. I've considered myself a poet for more than 10 years, and I've been crafting and creating fashion accessories and jewelry for just as long.

I think that's the challenge of being someone who wants to do so many things simultaneously. If I narrowed my focus, would I be a truly accomplished practitioner of just one of those things? Because I certainly can't pour the same energies into a variety of disciplines at once. Some days I feel like writing, some days I feel like revising, some days it's spinning, crocheting, dying, felting, paper crafting, graphic designing, photographing, baking, stringing, blogging--if I only had one of these avenues to express myself, I don't think I'd be as fulfilled.

I feel now more than ever, as being a stay-at-home mom has become my definition to a lot of people, that making my range of skills clear to others is even more vital for my personhood. I think that's why I've never had a truly fulfilling day job--I've never been able to take full advantage of all the things I can do.

Even with style choices I've never felt like I could label myself--I love elements of punk, boho, retro glam, goth, mod. . . and that's influenced (as everything else is) by my mood for the day! So I guess I'll just continue to be a great big amalgam of all the things that I do and that inspire me. I'm going with "limitless", Tara!

New: Fun Vintage Lucite Necklaces

I have been a HUGE fan of vintage Lucite ever since I discovered it about 5 years ago. It comes in amazing colors, a gorgeous array of surface finishes, and who doesn't love vintage? Anyway, last week I went to my favorite supplier and got some great new beads to add to my collection. Today while Sage napped I finally made some lovely new necklaces! I have plans to go buy more bags of wonderful, colorful beads, but for now, these are ready to be photographed tomorrow and listed with the rest of the Frost! goodies on Etsy!

Post-Surgery

Well, Sage had his cleft palate repair on Thursday at Maine Med and we were able to go home on Friday, which I was hoping for. It's always so impossible to sleep in the hospital. The worst thing is how stuffy it is! No fresh air is no good for me. Sage definitely isn't back to 100% yet, but he's having a better time now than he was at first! He can't have any solids at all for the next week or so, and I think he's getting sick of yogurt.

But the best thing about it all is that this is the last surgery he'll have until his permanent teeth come in--I can't even express how nice it is to know that the next time he has to have surgery we'll be able to explain it to him and he'll have an idea of what's coming. I always feel like we're tricking Sage with these surgeries because we can't tell him what's going to happen. And then after that one, he may just need some nose/lip touch-ups as his face grows. But as far as that goes, I'm going to leave it up to him--if it's purely cosmetic and doesn't affect functionality, I think he should decide. I would never want him to feel that he needs to look a certain way--I just want him to feel comfortable with who he is.

It's so weird--children born with clefts are often considered "special needs"--now that he's had the surgeries, that has kind of disappeared. I think a lot of people don't notice the little scar on his lip, the little flatness to the left side of his nose, and his teeth. He's just like any other kid.