something old, something blue

mmmmm.... I love old things and I love aqua things. I've been pairing these small vintage skeleton keys with hand linked beads for awhile now, and I just got a bunch of new lovely beads to try this with. I think I'm going to do a you-tube video showing how to do this type of simple linking, and I want to do one with the more complicated wire wrapping also. When I was trying to learn how to do this a long time ago, I had a hard time finding resources, so I'm really excited about doing you tube tutorials. They are addictive to watch and I'm hoping addictive to make!

tis the season

I never get tired of pictures of vintage children:

...or sparkly rhinestones for that matter :)
here's another ornament to get you into the christmas spirit:

get yours here today!

leap!

I've been wanting to try shirring for a long time, and I don't really know what took me so long. It is so easy! I read somewhere a long time ago how to do it, and just had never tried it. I'll take some pics of the steps and do a tutorial soon, in case you've never tried it. I am always thinking of ways to make clothing that will fit many different bodies (oh, the joys of online selling), so anything with elastic that's adjustable helps me to reach that goal.
This dress style will fit about size 8 up to a size 12. Now I just need to go through and draft patterns for a small (4-6) and a large (14-16). Usually I'm lazy and wait until someone orders a different size before I go to the trouble of making other sizes. I used to be a 12, and now am about a 10, thanks to all my sickness lately.
I've had this white seersucker type fabric for about a year, and finally found the perfect project for it. It has little silver metallic threads that give it a really special quality:

leonard nimoy, paul stanley, tim burton, and frida kahlo

I spent most of the week making halloween costumes for other people. My hubby was spock, my daughter and her friend need handpainted tshirts with the KISS logo on them, and another of her friends needed a Betty Rubble flintstone blue dress. (sorry no picture)
So, I didn't have any ideas for myself. I haven't dressed up too often over the last few years, but my husbands band was playing on halloween night, so I figured I had an excuse.
So at the last minute after finishing everyones makeup and hair, I thought about Sally from Nightmare before Christmas. I've wanted to do this costume for several years, but never got around to it. I love the idea of 'stitching' yourself together. So with about an hour or so left before we had to leave, I whipped up a patchwork dress, checked the internet for images of Sally, watched a couple of you tube videos of someone applying Sally rag doll makeup, and proceeded to get ready.
This is why I would love to be on project runway someday, because I like the pressure of sewing/designing really fast.
Start to finish here are my times:
Betty Rubble dress: 30 minutes
2 KISS stencils: 1 hour
Handsewn patches over a dress I own: 1 hour (I didn't get a full length shot, but I'll take some on madame coco and post later)
Spock costume, wig, ears and makeup: 2 hours
The spock costume was the most time consuming, and I had to actually BUY things. Gold rick rack, a girls pixie wig that I had to cut to look like what it was supposed to, and my hubby already owned a blue shirt.
(Prepare yourself, it's kind of scary looking) {Drummer Conrad from Cordial Spew on the left}

He was so excited to live out his life-long dream of having a star trek costume. He made the tri-corder thingy and the phaser gun himself.
Also, a most awesome idea that I may have to 'borrow' someday, Conrad's girlfriend went as Frida Kahlo! Totally brilliant. I forgot to take my camera to the show, but she was lovely. Hey, I'm an art teacher, what can I say?