Monthly Archives: March 2020

The Alien Carnivorous Venus Flytrap Finale!

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Alien Venus Flytrap Headpiece by Suzanne Forbes March 2020Used the last of the Audreii Two’s to make a terrifying headpiece and hair clip.

I had a lot of silk leaves and plastic plants left over from the potted Alien Venus Flytraps and fascinators, so I used ’em up! This moment in time is all about using all my hoarded materials.

Alien Maneating Venus Flytrap Headpiece by Suzanne Forbes March 2020I had planned to make the headpiece and donate it to a fundraiser or raffle for Berlin queer performers.

Now, of course, I can’t imagine when in-person raffles or fundraising auctions will happen again. But I am filling a box with things that can be donated to raise money for the incredibly hard-hit performers of our city, who have lost all their income in a swift stroke.

And when it’s time, these wonderful things can be sold, donated or raffled to help my beloved Berlin nightlife folx, whose inspiration has made the last years the most fulfilling of my life.

Alien Venus Flytrap Hairclip by Suzanne Forbes March 2020The Carnivorous Venus Flytrap hairclip uses a very special piece of recycled material.

Suzanne Forbes making Bettie Page at Chicken Johns for Balsa Man 2009In the second half of the Oughts in San Francisco I wore my hair and eyebrows bright red.

It was part of my brand, how everyone knew me and spotted me drawing at an event. I’m only five four, but the hair and flowers piled on top of my head helped me stand out!

For special events I added feathers and tulle and tiny tophats, but for everyday (or I should say, everynight) going out I wore two double-flower red dahlia hairclips.

I have no idea where I got them, probably Target or Claire’s, but I wore them whenever I went anywhere for five years.

You can see me wearing them in the photo above, taken at Chicken John’s warehouse in the Mission in 2010. I was working on a balsa wood Bettie Page for Balsa Man.

Suzanne Forbes photographed by Libby Bulloff 2009Here I am wearing them when photographed by Libby Bulloff in Seattle in 2009!

Alien Venus Flytrap Hairclip by Suzanne Forbes March 2020 2

Then somehow I lost one in 2010, while having sex in my car outside a SOMA goth club with a bouncer half my age.

I wore the other til I went blue-haired again in 2013 or so, and I kept it, afterwards, because I had this idea I’d use it for something. It went in the shipping container with all the craft materials, and arrived in Berlin, and has been sitting in a craft drawer.

Alien Venus Flytrap Hair clip by Suzanne Forbes March 2020 3I found the thing to use it for!

It came out so well! This is a pretty special item, and if the virus doesn’t get me I’ll offer it up for sale worldwide whenever it’s safe to ship things again.

Bead embroidery works in progress, March 2020

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Bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020I went into self-quarantine on March 1, and the first two weeks were HARDCORE BEAD EMBROIDERY.

Like, my most hardcore deep dive into beads and pearls and crystals EVER.

Opalescent bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020The first piece I put a quick forty hours of stitching into is an opalescent colors patchwork of applique and vinyl.

I used a commercial applique in shades of pale blue and lavender on tulle as a base.

Opalescent bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020 detail 1I added scraps of pink iridescent vinyl left over from last month’s Fairy Rainbow Unicorn crown project, and then when my glitter and holographic vinyl shipment (The Last Art Supplies) arrived from the UK, I added some bits of blue and lavender textured iridescent pvc.

Opalescent bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020 detail 1I stitch the wavy scraps of pvc onto the back of the piece in a patchwork, using colored and metallic thread. The beads and rhinestones are from my stash, some 20 years ago old.

Sickle Moon bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020Then I decided to do something gothy, in the second week of March.

Back when I still thought I’d be going to some glamourous Weimar Berlin 1920s themed parties later this year. (Spoiler: as an immunocompromised person with asthma, I probably won’t go to an event again until there’s an effective treatment, a passive immunity shot made from antibodies, or a vaccine.)

Sickle Moon bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020I had the idea of a sickle moon, with antique pearl buttons and anthracite rhinestuds. The base is a commercial wristwarmer or fingerless glove with embroidered applique on it. I cut it open, both to make it easier to work on and because I have quite large bones and will need to add a gusset to it anyway.

Jewel color bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020 2The third big bead embroidery project this month was jewel tones.

Why do we call dark purples, blues, greens and reds “jewel tones”? I don’t know, since obvs jewels come in all colors. Anyway, I found a beautiful piece of flowered velvet while digging through stashes, and used it as a base, with a purple applique left over from my Bisexual Pride corset project a couple years ago. Jewel color bead embroidery WIP by Suzanne Forbes March 20 2020I added some petrol-colored (that’s the UK/European term for dark teal or peacock blue) velvet, some scraps of dark blue glitter vinyl, and some purple iridescent PVC. An additional piece of tulle (galaxy glitter tulle, as seen in the Big Gay Rainbow Dino-Witch!) holds everything down. I trimmed it back in an organic way in some places, to get different amounts of shine from the vinyls. In some places I also colored the light tulle with a blue Sharpie, where I wanted the blue vinyl to come through more.

patchwork tulle embroidery diagram by Suzanne ForbesSince this is hard to explain, I made one of my signature Bad Diagrams. I hope it helps a little?

All three of these pieces will eventually be sewn into wrist cuffs. I’m often photographed at events from over my shoulder, as I draw, and I had the idea it would be cool to be wearing something spectacular on that hand!