Allusions to Alice for Blasphemina's Closet

Instead of leaving this as a photo-only post, how about a bit about putting the set together, eh?

How to make your own large checkerboard for under $20:

1. Go to the home-improvement store of your choice. Peruse through the lumber and plywood until you find a suitable 4'x4' piece of wood. Mine was some sort of thin veneer, but getting a 4'x8' plywood plank and cutting it in half would suit as well. Cost: $7

2. Next you need 2 4oz bottles of acrylic craft paint--one black, one ivory-- and a square foam "brush". Cost: approx. $9 Get some wide masking tape too if you don't already own some ($3).

3. Get that all home, and draw straight lines (I used a carpentry measuring tape) piecing your board out into 1ft squares. Now, paint all of the alternating squares white. It's OK if you're sloppy; the black part is where care is needed. Let that dry for several hours.

4. Once the white is dry, carefully apply straight lines of masking tape against the edges on the inside of the white checkers. This is a PITA, but it'll save the white checkers from any errant black paint.

5. Paint the remaining squares black. Let it dry, then remove the masking tape. Voila! Checkerboard!

Other props necessary for this set: blue glass bottles and jars (check your local thrift stores first), and a decorative metal lattice. Now, find a public wild area where you aren't likely to be disturbed. Haul everything out there--and I won't lie, carting around that checkerboard is going to be a bitch--and thunk down the board in the first pretty area. Shove the metal lattice into the ground next to the board, affix the bottles to the lattice (use black electrical tape if you don't have the sort of bottles that'll loop on without extra aid), and you're good to go. That's the set.

If you want a bunny for a prop too, sorry, you're on your own on finding that one :P

More about this photoshoot:

-Makeup is simple: brows powdered and eyes lined with blue. Peachy-pink blush and lipstick.

-Hair: thrown into a bun on the right back side, and a bunch of curly extensions thrown on top of that. Fascinator (large decorative barrette) clipped onto the right side. Forelocks tucked behind ears.

-Have discovered that Cleo, teh bunneh, does not mind being carted around in a food cooler :D

-Lighting is all natural, facing towards the sun in late afternoon 3:30-4:30pm

-The sky has been darkened in photoshop to a stormy purple. The original bright blue was pretty, but took emphasis away from the dress. Same thing with filtering out the yellow and red tones in the shrubbery.