November... it only believes, in a pile of dead leaves

It's a crisp, cool November day... so I thought I'd share some Autumn photos that I have shot w you guys. Enjoy.


Twisted-Tree House, Freehold, New Jersey



Abandoned Howell Carpet, Howell, New Jersey



Franklin Mountains Sunset, El Paso, Texas



Autumn Reflection, Jackson, New Jersey



Poetry Graveyard, Freehold, New Jersey



Autumn Foliage, Jackson, New Jersey



Abandoned Ressel House (aka House of 13 Rooms), Jackson, New Jersey



Autumn Tree & Sky, El Paso, Texas



Sunset During Sandstorm, El Paso, Texas



Abandoned Hope Chapel House, Jackson, New Jersey



Mt. Rubidoux, Riverside, California



Twisted-Tree House, Freehold, New Jersey


You can see the photos & the stories behind these amazing locations on my site LostDestinations.com

And all are available for purchase as prints (and more), check out HeatherShade.com

my pretties

And now for a totally random self promotional shout out... I've been making jewelry lately. Check it out & let me know what you think...

(available for purchase, more details here)

artful dodger

After having one of the most blood-pressure-raising, hair-twisting, nail-biting stressful weeks I have had in recent memory, I decided to go into 'hiding' and submerge myself into a nice warm mental-bubbly-bath of all things art. I needed to strip it all down and reboot my life, and that is the best place to start. I've done nothing but draw, paint, draw... and it's been lovely.

I woke up yesterday feeling like I had somehow gotten my mojo back :D
I have been waiting for this.
Watch out, world.

Here is a portrait called Doll, which I did for my BFF dollface... it had been languishing unseen & unfinished on my desktop for months, and now, it is whole (and per usual, click the pic to see the much-superior large-sized version):




And a photo of the lady herself for comparison:



She loved it and I am glad. I have another one lined up for finishing tonight, I am determined to finish all of my unfinished babies. Art is saving my life right now.

As always, I am available for custom portraits, so contact me if interested. Ciao.

living dead girl

Recently I did some modeling for my good friend Bobby, who was doing a series of Dios De Los Muertos inspired work... it was really fun getting made up, dressed up, and channeling the deathly ill-fated bride for these photos...

Here's a peek at a few of them, more of the series can be seen on Bobby's site here... also you can see more of his awesome film & photography work on his website Vaboom.com, check it out.











I had such a good time working with Bobbo (and Valerie, and Manny...)... I really hope we get to do another similar project soon... *hint hint guys*!

Last but not least.... Bobby's work was recently shown at The Percolator, it was a great show complete with bellydancers, flamenco, comedy, live music, and some amazing photography & film work by Bobby... here's a slideshow peek at the shots I took of the proceedings, it was good times...

my day in pictures

I finally made it to Sinister Pleasures so my girl Francella could finish my coverup tattoo, we did the final 3 hours on it and without any air-conditioning the entire time (it was broken) cause we're hardcore bitches like that. Heh.





The before and after... and Francella did this coverup FREEHAND. She is incredible!!! My goal is to eventually have a devil-girl on the other side that resembles my little sister (as the zombie pinup girl is meant to resemble me!)




After the tat sesh I went to Francella's to hang awhile and I held a snake! I. Held. A. Snake. Might not sound weird unless you know how scared I was of doing that (I adore snakes, but got bitten once and have been a bit nervous to hold one ever since) This was the coolest, most laid-back snake I have ever seen. Thanks, snake!




Then I drove home in a pouring monsoon of rain. Everything looked so beautiful, the sky was so bright, and even the dirty asphalt was sparkling like jewels. I heart rain.



The End.

art attack

As promised, I have added a new artwork page to HeatherShade.com. Enjoy.

hey there cupcake

Behold, my latest portrait...



(click the pic to see the high res full-size version, trust me it looks much better)

This is a portrait of my super-stylish Australian friend Super Kawaii Mama (check out her seriously great blog if you haven't already) She always takes the most adorably glam pictures, she's got that pin-up vibe down pat, and this one was inspired by one of my favorite shots of her (see the inspiration here)

I loved drawing that tiara, the cupcake, and the hair... it totally fulfilled the line-lovin' art tweaker in me. I am digging the black-white-pink combo, too, since it complements the combo of playful, cupcaking innocence and edgy pin-up sexiness that I love so much about this photo. I really enjoyed drawing this.

It pains me to admit that I still have not added my artwork to HeatherShade.com, doh. As of right now, the only place I have my art up is in one of my Myspace albums. I am working on updating that though. I'll post links when it happens ;)

As always, I am available for custom portraits & artwork.
Get in touch if you want anything, yo.

from inspire to desire

Today's style post is about inspiration boys & girls.
Say it with me now: in-spi-rayyy-tion.
Fabulous!

I've said it before but I'll say it again, when it comes to personal style, I am a firm believer in finding inspiration from anywhere and everywhere- if I like it, I can build an outfit around it. Doesn't matter what it is.

On that note here are a few outfits I designed which were inspired by Gil Elvgren, pin up artist extraordinaire. Enjoy.

(click the pics for details & ordering info on each piece)









As always I invite you to view my other outfit sets on polyvore.com!