the loveliness of mold, and other wonders

i'm constantly being amazed at the talent on etsy, it's really wonderful actually. since shopping on it these last few months i've noticed a real lack of interest in myself of wanting to shop in the real world. i've this feeling when looking in stores that i could get a much nicer and more unique item on etsy.

if you asked me a year ago what i like to do for enjoyment i would have told you "shopping". just walking into stores, looking at things, trying clothes on, touching materials, is really fun. but lately i just seem so tired of it all. the need to purchase something so that a shopping excursion is deemed successful has just really disappeared. most times when i do go shopping i don't bring anything home. it's all rather odd.

but then i look at the things i've acquired from some really talented ladies on the web, and i feel good. these pieces make me happy when i look at them. it's incredible to know who made what, put a person to each piece. there are stories behind them, blogs you can visit, websites that let you know more about the artist; what drives them. i think this connection is what is missing from stores now. call it the mass production affect, but all these things that they stock just seem dead, so soulless in their anonymity.

i am a follower of the "handmade" movement; for reasons such as craftsmanship, preservation of historic skills, the creative eye, a fair wage, uniqueness. but i've come to realize that it's more than that, it's the ability to reach out and share something wonderful with someone else. i know that when i create, so much of myself is put into it. call it a piece of your spirit, your energy, or your fingerprint, but this whatever-it-is makes what you create alive. so the happiness is more than the acquisition of material things, it's the happiness derived from surrounding oneself with things that contain life.

i hope the handmade movement is here to stay; because if we lose this ability as humans, to create, to empathize with our surroundings, i don't think there's much brightness in our future.

so unexpected!

i was just checking my email, flickr, and etsy this morning around 10 am and lo! there my pin was on the front page! i was super excited, this is a first for me, and it was really stupendous how the view count jumped from 32 to 420 over the course of half an hour. i managed to grab a picture of this most excellent event:

hopefully this exposure will lead to my first sale! i'm still on my "being on the front page" high, so for the most part, i'm at a loss for words.

a pin for sunny days

it's grey like an approaching thunderstorm, so it's a good balance for those sunny days. this pin has some sparkle though, and that's awesome. i have quite a lot of grey in my wardrobe but don't really feel it when looking for accessories, so i tend to go for color.

to be surrounded by lovely things.

i've an art gallery of sorts. in my bathroom. i think it's a great place to have art; the walls are painted white, the light is bright but soft as it is filtered by the frosted glass of the window. the small space really allows you to display varying sizes without the fear of needing to fill a large area.

as long as i don't shut the door when showering, humidity isn't really an issue.

pretty polly

echo needed a new frock for the holidays. and as i have been neglecting the poor little sprite i felt it was time to make her one. i had some small scraps left of the nani iro coururiere fabric, even after these three projects i have still a tiny bit more.

drawing inspiration from the dress i spoke of yesterday, i went about cutting and sewing. there were some moments i had to pick up my seam ripper, but after some time a finished garment was made. luckily i was done minutes before i had to head out the door to work.

i love this color against her skin. it's really soft but bright; the salmon goes wonderfully with her skin and face tones, she really warms up as her current hair is like corn silk and makes her quite pale. all she needs is maybe a pretty bauble and she can be off to enjoy winter solstice.

a bon bon princess

awhile back i stopped in at the exhibit for the 2009 scad fashion show that the jepson center was having. i absolutely loved this hot pink chevron frock, and have had it as the wallpaper on my phone since; but can't for the life of me remember who created it. i would feel like such an incredibly girly girl if i wore it, and seeing as though that's not likely to happen, would like to immortalize it on my flash drive. if anyone seeing this happens to know who the designer is, i would be most grateful!

at liberty

i have started down the perilous road of collecting liberty tana lawn. at first i just sampled the fabric, not really being sure what it was like in person, acquiring small pieces that i could use in my patchwork projects. i was really drawn to these darker prints, something i do not have a lot of.

then, upon receiving these bits in the mail, i became enamored and needed larger widths and lengths. i turned to purl soho, which has quite a few from this years seasonal collection. i have been eying one print in particular, the pink grey haxby. so, i chose a quarter yard of this print, along with the pink caesar, and sarah's secret pastel garden. i haven't a clue what to do with these lovelies now that i have them. i really would like to make a quilt, mostly using a few white fabrics of natural fibers, so that these prints in the pink hues really stand out and shine.

a show i love

can i just say how much i'm enjoying the fifth season of bones? this series has been fantastic from the start, but the personal development of the main characters booth and brennan in the last few episodes really twangs the romantic fool in me. ah, concealed love and the tightening of the chest it creates upon viewing.

also, as an aside, in the latest episode, "the dwarf in the dirt", the waistcoat that booth was wearing later in the show was amazing; the fabric of a deep purple with a shimmer of blue that was used in the backing was really dapper. it's nice to see such details in menswear, as i find the absence of real personality in suits another reason to be glad i am not of the male persuasion.

pin it to me!

after this last month i've finally regained some of my creative equilibrium. i sat down and sewed two pins yesterday, and i have to say they're both lovely little wisps of fabric.

on the shores is a pin reminiscent of cotton candy, and summer days spent among blossoming trees. i used a bit of the scraps from my party dress, the nani iro coururiere fabric, and one of my vintage pink rhinestone buttons for some bling.

melted jelly beans is a multi hued sparkly take on the piece of fabric i used in my strawberries from space pincushion. it's so yummy, that fabric; sadly i can't recall who made it or where i purchased it. with the print as inspiration this pin called for sequins and lots of them.

i've listed both pins on etsy, so if you're interested...

as to why it's looking a little bare bones on my etsy storefront, it's because some of my work is now available for purchase at shopscad in savannah.

queue hunting

since getting my membership for netflix i've been watching some really good movies, some "they eventually get better three quarters of the way into them" movies, and the occasional kinda awful movie. but, every now and then i pick a fantastic movie; the ones you want to purchase for your collection. camille definitely falls into the last category. i absolutely loved this movie, it was quirky, humorous, colorful, made me cry, and left a lasting scar on my psyche. and after all, isn't that what movies are supposed to be made to do, the really good ones?