Don't you want this kind of help in the kitchen?

Please meet my new spokesmen. I don't want to call them "mascots" because that rather takes away their personhood, don't you think? I try to think of these guys not just as vacant pin-ups but as complete human beings, suspended in this moment of cheeky sensuality. Their names are even starting to come to me: Tommy, Steve, Oscar...

When I started this whole endeavor to get HotHolders out into the world in earnest I was inspired by some retro beefcake beach boys who were depicted snuggling up to their surf boards, holding giant lobsters, strumming their ukuleles, etc. Very friendly and charming and they disseminated almost immediately. I've been hankering for them, or at least some worthy replacements, ever since.

I discovered the Handymen above in the spring and they have been one of my best sellers all summer. When I bought my first couple of yards, I thought, "Maybe the ladies will like these." Well, the ladies have been buying them up almost exclusively for their gay male friends, bless them. One exception was the woman who bought one for her 83-year-old mother as a stocking stuffer. "It's okay because he's winking...and because she's my 83-year-old mother."

I think it will be okay for lots of other ladies, too, of all ages and stages of mother/daughterhood when these handymen make their Montpelier debut next week at Swingin' Sphere http://swinginsphere.googlepages.com/swingin and when they make the rounds at my holiday fairs. I'll post a schedule when I have it finalized.



related/unrelated announcements:
Come see me, my theatrical lumberjack friend Nick, and about 40 other characters who are "a little bit brave and pretty on the inside" as we skip down the AstroTurf catwalk tomorrow night at 9:30 at the Tip Top Cafe for the Revolution Vintage semi-annual "fashion freak show."
http://revolutionvintage.com/
I think Kim just called it that because she gives us complete creative license on the runway. I get to strut two fab outfits this time: one rather butch and one very femme - in fact, if anyone has a long, thin black cigarette holder, I could use it for a prop.

then...Please come help me stay alert and cheery the next day at the last Norwich Craft Sunday of the season, Sunday, Oct 7, 10-3. I made Nick promise to get up early and help me put a tarp above my stall if the forecast threatened rain. Lucky for him, it looks like the precipitation will hold off.

I'm ending this post with a special commemorative beach boys HotHolder I made recently using the last scrap of that fabric I have depicting one of their sweet faces. But Tommy, Oscar and company are sweet, too. I think I've found very worthy replacements.