spring awaits...

aaaahhhh, these sun-filled days of 50 degrees tease us into thinking spring has arrived, but I know the cold hard truth that winter has not finished it's nasty reign of terror... Bring it on, midwest, because I've got my arsenal of wool mittens, warm hand-knitted scarves and leather boots waiting in the wings.
Anyway, spring has made it's arrival in my studio! Lovely chartreuse green, vintage baby blue, hot fuchsia pinks... mmm I love silk. I actually love heirloom cotton too, but it's twice the work, because I have to line it with voile or some other sheer dreamy fabric so that it doesn't become lingerie.

I'm just a fabric addict, always have been.
I've had some wedding sashes on the back burner for quite awhile, and some of my brides come up with the coolest color combinations :) I've had a few weeks of rest, after not taking any days off for a long time, and it's nice to actually have a weekend here or there where I don't work. Novel concept, I know. Here's a peek at a few of the satin ribbon sashes I've been making. The new ones are so vintagey special and colorful, with lots of lace, ruffles, and the most beautiful colors.... images of those are coming soon. Some of these sashes available here-




happy spring everyone!

loose ends

I'm spending this afternoon tying up loose ends~ I had to ruminate about them all for a couple of weeks and gear up for it, but I'm enjoying it none the less.
After painting the walls icy lavendar over Christmas break, I moved my cutting table, desk, ironing board and various craft cabinets about 120 times before deciding on a set up I could live with. I'm still contemplating rearranging it, but it takes too much time. So today I finally cleared out some of the piles that inevitably happen when moving the studio. I basically felt like I was sitting in the middle of a giant pile of junk before, so it was pretty overwhelming.
Then I started working on some hang tags for some of my boutique clothing:

pretty fun and easy to do actually~
I printed out my new logo, 6 to a page so they are about 2 x 3 (on white cardstock), then printed out fiber content, sizing info, washing instructions, etc. on a separate piece of cardstock, then used some lovely fabric scraps cut just a bit larger than the logo rectangle.
I left extra fabric at the top, so I can hammer some tiny eyelets in for hanging. I love sewing paper, and if there is fabric involved it's even more fun. I used vibrant aqua thread in a zig zag stitch. I forgot to put the price, so I printed those out separately and stitched below the size on the back.

I sandwiched the fabric in between, made sure the front and back papers were matched up on the sides, and stitched all the way around. simple, pretty, useful. Maybe this is like the fun cardmakers have when putting pretty papers together, etc.
I love the raw edges and tattered look. I'll put in the eyelets and add some vintage ribbon, and safety pin them to the garments. Hopefully I'll get lots of oooh's and ahhhh's at the boutique.
I also found a bag of feathers and fun embellishments that have been lost for a few months (another perk of cleaning :)
so I made a little aqua pair of feather earrings~ available in my shop

now back to my tags!