This is just a short blog about some of the weird and interesting cat things we found antiquing or what I like to call "CAT-iqu-ing.&q...

CATiques

This is just a short blog about some of the weird and interesting cat things we found antiquing or what I like to call "CAT-iqu-ing." As a crazy cat lady, there's a lot of cat things out there, but I can't own them all. I end up picking the ones that speak/ meow to me. We have a room in our house fittingly called The Cat Room and it houses our odd cat collectibles.  Here's some of the things that came home with us.... 



Black cat pin cushion/ measuring tape. I inherited this same cat from my gram, but it's in rough shape, I've never seen another one out in the wild, so I had to get it.



Creepy cat family with sad eyed cat. What can I say? I wanted to give these kitties a home and make them happy! (The price was right too.)


Random assortment of kitties.


Sometimes I just like their faces.


I'm a sucker for the mid-century modern tilted head cats.


This skinny guy I thought was wood, but he's more of a resin. How can you resist his little tongue?! 

I really need to get more shelves in The Cat Room! I have a small collection of Black Redware Shafford Cats and imitation Shaffords. I don't really care about them being name brand or vintage, they just have to make me happy. I'm a proud crazy cat lady.






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Like I said before, I'm new to the Creeper Crate . The only other one I received was the Slasher Box, which you can see here . The one f...

Coven Creeper Crate

Like I said before, I'm new to the Creeper Crate. The only other one I received was the Slasher Box, which you can see here. The one for August is Coven themed, so I imagine it will have some things from the American Horror Story: Coven season as well as some things from the movie The Craft. (Remember when I blogged about The Craft in May? Needless to say, I really like the movie.) Let's see what we have in this box...


1. A Thank You note from Jamie. I LOVE that this is the first thing you see when you open the box.


2.  A handy little sage bundle ~ this reminds me I really NEED to sage wash my house, but first I have too clean it. lol.


3. Nail polish and 20% off coupon from Black Dahlia Lacquer. The color is "Midnight Rose" and you can find it here. The color is a nice dark black shade. They are vegan and certified cruelty free! (This polish goes on thick and shiny. I usually do three coats, but only needed two!)


4. Creeper Crate EXCLUSIVE pin from Demonic Pinfestation of Myrtle Snow from American Horror Story: Coven. It's the scene with an eye for an eye! A melon baller makes a great weapon. Don't you think?!




5. Two stickers: one is Nancy from The Craft, the other is the iconic scene from American Horror Story: Coven of the girls walking down the street.


6. Baddest Witch in Town vinyl transfer from Merch Massacre. They included instructions and a Thank You note! You can see their cup from the Slasher Box here.


7. "Have you ever heard of invoking the spirit?" Craft totebag from Rainbow Alternative, $5 off coupon, AND a button too. I like that the bag is red, unlike a black bag which becomes a big black hole of things to get lost in. If you like the tote you can find it here. The designs are made by stencil artist Nicole K.


8. A laser cut acrylic purple pentagram necklace by Sparkle Monster that reads "We Are the Weirdos". Again I like that the chain is black and the pendant is a nice size, not to big or small.


9. I'm totally over bath bombs. I know they are trendy and people love them, but I can't use them because of my vintage blue bath tub. This bomb is a limited edition "Times Three" from Porcelain Wolf. It comes with a nice cross wood pendant too. I think I may do a giveaway once I get to 200 followers on the Fluffy the Vampire Facebook page that will include some of the bath things I can't use, so spread the word!


I'm really enjoying the Creeper Crate box because there's a good variety of things included and coupons. I can't wait to get the Trick R Treat Box for October. The themes for 2018 look great too!

(I'm drinking Brutaliteas "NightPear on Elm St", maybe it will help me fall asleep. ;)

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Working our way back from our recent Salem, MA road trip (You can read about Salem  part 1 and part 2 ) we took a detour to Cape Cod and Th...

The Edward Gorey House Museum

Working our way back from our recent Salem, MA road trip (You can read about Salem part 1 and part 2) we took a detour to Cape Cod and The Edward Gorey House Museum in Yarmouth Port, MA. For those of you that don't know Gorey, he's an artist, illustrator, writer, and collector that's most iconic works are the opening sequence of Mystery! on PBS or for his abecedarian book The Gashlycrumb Tinies which showcases the death of children named alphabetically. Morbid, I know, but there's more to him than that.


The opening cartoon to Mystery! (It's the only animation of Edward Gorey's work.)


Cover of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, published in 1963. (It's never been out of print!)

I've been wanting to come to The Edward Gorey House since it first opened in 2002. Gorey's sarcasm and black comedy approach to drawing and writing is what attracted me to his style. I wrote my Master's thesis on The Gashlycrumb Tinies and how the children's deaths in the book relate to the Victorian idea of death and mourning. While I had to do a lot of research, I always felt that I would understand him better by seeing where he worked.

My master's thesis from 2002.

The Edward Gorey House Museum is his old house that he lived and worked in until his death in 2000. It has a large backyard, wraparound porch, and lots of windows and light. It's bright and welcoming. We took a docent tour and there's even a scavenger hunt within the museum. The house itself isn't that big and you can't go up stairs, but they have lots of items on display from his personal collection.




In the backyard lives a metal sculpture of The Doubtful Guest and giant magnolia tree that's even bigger than his house. (What an ironic sculpture to have on the grounds considering the museum has lots of guests that come to visit. This is the perfect example of Gorey humor.)



The house has a room dedicated the Dracula play from 1978. Gorey won a Tony Award for the costumes. I found it fascinating because there's a piece of bat wallpaper from the play on display at his museum and my most prized Gorey possession is a piece of bat wallpaper I was gifted for my wedding. Mine hangs in my living room and is twice the size of the one at his museum! (I'm gloating a little.)


Dracula room with bat wallpaper at the Edward Gorey House vs. my living room.


More from the Dracula room.

I own several Gorey pieces that are proudly on display at my house. One is a photo of Gorey and a cat. It's hanging above my stairs. I bid on it over the phone at one of the auctions the Gorey House had years ago. I just love the recluse look he has. (When people ask me who it is I reply, "Oh it's my crazy uncle Edward.")




Edward Gorey was a HUGE animal advocate. At one point he had six cats (He always said "seven is too many") and drew cats often. A portion of admission and sales in the gift shop are donated to national animal welfare organizations through the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. You can see the list of organizations of their website.

Gorey illustrated Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot 1982 edition. A book that was the basis of the musical Cats!

Edward Gorey parallels my love of animals (esp cats) combined with subtly creepy. He translates my thoughts into pen and ink drawings in a way I would never be capable of. He will always be the artist I wish I got to meet, but he continues to inspire me and still makes me laugh.

 Gorey drawings from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot.

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I was really stoked that Glamour Ghoul was having a luna/ moon themed box, but I don't feel like this one was that exciting, blame it o...

Glamour Ghoul Luna Box

I was really stoked that Glamour Ghoul was having a luna/ moon themed box, but I don't feel like this one was that exciting, blame it on my cough and scratchy voice, but this box was not what I was expecting. I think I'm going to take a break from Glamour Ghoul for a while.

They have started a new subscription box that's only $10 and includes 5-6 samples of make up and a small cosmetics bag called the Glamour Ghoul Beauty Bag. If anything I would try that one next because I really like the make up they have included in their boxes. I subscribed to a similar one, ipsy for about a year and I was sick of getting brown eye shadow. I had so much of it, I started giving it away, and that's when I realized it wasn't worth it. I think I might wait to see what's included in the first Beauty Bag and decide after that if I want to order it. Right now you can preorder it until October 1. If it comes with brown eye shadow, I'm done!

Well without further ado here's the Luna unboxing video, I apologize in advance for the coughing. I thought I was going to come back from Salem, MA refreshed, but instead I got the parting gift of a dry allergy cough. :/


Included in the August box is...



1. The first thing I unboxed was this pretty necklace from GoreJess Laboratory. I like that the chain is black and the moon picture will go with my many black and white things, plus it can be dressed up or down! The image reminds me of the original Wolfman movie ~ that makes me happy ~ I love it and I think this was the highlight of the box. (The Bat Bookmark from the Glamour Ghoul Batty Box was from GoreJess Laboratory too, but on their etsy page you can find a good variety of handpainted-horror themed glassware. The artist is really talented.)


2. The next thing was a Pocket Crystal from The Risky Rabbit, not sure why I had such a hard time saying it, maybe it's the DayQuil I took. (The Risky Rabbit had a Frankenstein print in the Glamour Ghoul Classic Horror Box that I really liked.) They are more known for printing on Ts, mugs and posters. This item was not included on the packing list. It's cool that it's a moonstone, I'd be afraid to just throw it in my pocket though ~ it would def get lost. I might just keep it in the plastic and carry it in my purse. Maybe it will help my energy. Can't hurt, right?


3. A tiny Moonchild sticker from Glam Nerd Customs. They have also been included in the last two boxes I received.


4. A moon? more like a pink and white banana keychain from Koffin Co. I'm not going to lie, this was weird. It's called a "Full Moon Keychain" on the packing slip. This is NOT a full moon. It looks like KoffinCo. has some really nice keychains on their etsy page, but this is not one of them. I'm calling this a fail. Maybe they included the moonstone Pocket Crystal because of this sad banana moon?


5. "Moon of My Life" wax melt from MoonBeamsWaxMeltz.com. This is a good size wax melt and it smells nice like vanilla and amber. It looks like their website is closed for right now, but they are planning on doing more collaborations with Glamour Ghoul.


6. Next is a Full Moon soap from Sick Soaps. It looks like they have a large variety of  soap and bath bomb shapes on their etsy page ranging from Disney's Haunted Mansion, to rubber duckies, to Beetlejuice. Pretty cool.




7. Lastly is the Mystic Moon Bubble Bar from Nature's Whimsey . Again I'm afraid to use bath bombs and this bubble bar because I have a refinished blue bathtub and I don't want it to stain my tub. I'm impressed that this is handpainted tough. It's honeysuckle scented. You can purchase it here.





















In the video, I'm wearing the bat necklace from Murderous Jewels and lipstick from Spoiled Lips in "Charmed" from the Glamour Ghoul Batty Box that was delivered in May. Spoiled Lips has a monthly lipstick subscription too. You can get 2 or 3 ~ your choice ~ sent to your door monthly. The bright palette I spoke about is available for preorder. It's the limited edition Glamour Ghoul Palette and it's on sale half off right now! Find it here.

I'm also drinking Hellraisin tea from Brutaliteas, maybe it will TAKE MY ALLERGIES TO HELL!

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Cats are surrounded with an air of mystery, so it makes sense that there are so many mystery books involving cats. I remember as a young ...

Cat About Town: A Cat Cafe Mystery


Cats are surrounded with an air of mystery, so it makes sense that there are so many mystery books involving cats. I remember as a young adult reading all "The Cat Who books" by Lillian Braun, or at least that's what I used to call them. They were a series of clever and quick reads, so I decided I wanted to get back into reading novels with cat characters in them.


I heard about a new book called Cat About Town: A Cat Cafe Mystery by Cate Conte that's the start of a new cat mystery series. It just came out this year and I decided to delve back into cat mysteries. I have to say it's a light read, most of the chapters are no longer than 10 pages, so you can put it down and pick it up easily.


The story is about a business owner (I can totally relate) named Maddie that goes home to Massachusetts because her grandmother dies. She visits with family and friends and in the process makes a new companion in a friendly orange cat that she names JJ (for John James Audubon). JJ leads her to discover a dead body of the town bully at a neighborhood event. She begins an investigation of her own with the help of JJ and her best friend, and even finds a little romance along the way! There's lots of suspects in this small town and it's a true who dunnit story. In the end you find out the culprit and it's left open ended for a continuation of JJ and Maddie's story.

While this book isn't my normal go-to of blood and guts, it's a light summer read that makes you love the character of JJ. I recommend reading it with a cat on your lap.

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For our big planned vacation this year Andrew and I drove to Salem, MA. You can read about day 1 here . Day 2 was more touristy for us, s...

Salem: The Witch City Part 2


For our big planned vacation this year Andrew and I drove to Salem, MA. You can read about day 1 here. Day 2 was more touristy for us, so bear with me there is lots of pictures. We went to Proctor's Ledge (the site of the actual hanging tree), The Witch House, and the Peabody Essex Museum.

We woke up early and walked over to Proctor's Ledge. Along the way we took in all the beautiful colonial style houses. Many of them have plaques on the house that list the original builder/ owner and the year they were built. Most are from the late 1700s though to the 1800s.


 McIntire District Salem Walkways.

Brick sidewalk.





Salem designed a memorial on the new found evidence of the gallows hill location this past summer. It's in a residential area behind a Walgreens store away from the main drag, near their parking lot. That in itself is sad, but it's a very nice tribute with the names engraved of the accused witches that were hanged on stone plaques in a semicircle at the bottom of a landscaped small hill. I feel like no matter what the town does, nothing can give the innocent people justice, BUT it's good that Salem is always remembering and learning from it's tragic past. Again I'll say it, Salem isn't just a tourist attraction, it's history you can see.


Innocent people were hung here for the crime of witchcraft.




Next we stopped at The Witch House. This house was owned by Jonathan Corwin, his was one of the wealthiest families in Salem during the late 1600s. He was a local magistrate that was called upon to investigate the diabolical activity happening in town, aka witchcraft, he also served in a court that sent the innocent people to their deaths, hence why it's called The Witch House. It's architectural style is called First Period or the earliest style home found in New England. This museum has a self guided tour where you can see period correct furnishings. It has a central fireplace that heats all the rooms, but it's not warm feeling. It's dark and dreary just like the witch craze period it was built.





Now for the fun part of the day ~ going to the The Peabody Essex Museum to view their exhibit It's Alive: Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammet Collection. Who's Kirk Hammett you may ask? Well he's the lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Metallica and has been since 1983. (Metallica was my jam up to and including the black album, if you try to tell me any of their later albums are better than the first three I WILL fight you.) The exhibit was much bigger than I expected and well planned out. For example, when you walk into the exhibition space the door has a recorded loud creak that sounds off! This exhibition included lots of old movie posters, some monster props, costumes, monster toys and electric guitars. Sorry there's so many pictures I couldn't help myself. I did buy the signed and numbered book of his monster collection too.


 Courtyard outside the exhibition.


 Some of the posters were gigantic, like this one. It took up a wall!




 Painting of Bela Lugosi.


 Wax figure of Boris Karloff in the original costume from the movie The Black Cat.








Signed and numbered book.

Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style was another exhibition up for viewing which totally makes sense since Salem is a port town. I'm not that into ships, but the interior designs displayed throughout the years was fascinating along with the fancy travel clothing and accessories.


Large replica ships.




 Fabulous interior design.

  
Travel outfits.

Travel jewelry box! 

Finally I always have to visit my favorite room at PEM, the giant room that houses the figureheads from ships. This museum has a large maritime collection that is world renowned dating back to 1799. Maybe I love these ship carvings because of the space they are in...huge and vast like the ocean. In my opinion, they are breathtaking.




This day ended a little early and we continued to walk around Salem and take it all in one last time...for now. We'll be leaving early tomorrow for our next stop The Edward Gorey House! Look for a blog on him shortly. :)

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