Crafting, costumes, jewelry, fashion, DiY grown fresh daily!
I had an utterly delightful weekend (even if I had a bit of a sniffle, heehee!). The quest for The Dress was short and sweet, and made easy by the presence of my family and maids, as well as the delightful support of Courtney at Little White Dress and of course the amazing designer, Claire Pettibone. Here’s a little preview of what I went through on the journey for my wedding dress…
Over the weekend, one of my favorite and one of the most delightful writers of YA fantasy passed away, Diana Wynne Jones. She was of course the author of Howl’s Moving Castle, which became quite famous after the production of the Ghibli film of the same name, but her wealth of other literature was equally amazing. Her close friend and fellow author, Neil Gaiman, has written a lovely blog entry about her passing and their magical relationship.
Even though I came rather late to Diana’s fantasy party after seeing Howl, I still loved her books once read, and look very forward to sharing them with my future students and children. I was of course inspired by the movie to make several of Sophie’s dresses, and always intended to make a dress more in the style of Diana’s description from the book, Sophie of the red-gold hair and drab grey dress. Maybe this will be the year to do it, in her honor.
Thank you for your worlds and words of magic, Diana Wynne Jones! You have been so inspiring. Enjoy walking over rooftops.
This weekend I’m heading out to achieve one of the milestones of wedding preparation… the dress! This is an unbelievably exciting event for me (and my girls!) because I care so deeply about garment construction and style. I’m lucky enough to be able to attend a trunk show with my chosen designer, Claire Pettibone, at Little White Dress in Denver on Saturday. Meeting a creative, unique designer like Claire is a real treat!
The dress that I’m most looking forward to seeing – and trying on! – is the Clover, a really lovely natural waist dress with straps and the usual Pettibone detailing. It’s also a cotton dress, which I just love the idea of! It’s just a beautiful vintage-y, classic, natural, unique look, and I love it! I think it’s The One… I hope trying it on this weekend will prove it!
Oh, and Nick has seen a picture of it! I don’t mind sharing the dress because it’s so beautiful, and the real surprise will be on the actual day (and well, I do value his input, even on this very bridal choice!)… I can’t seem to help but want to share this amazing gown!
I’ll be sure to let you know the results on Monday!
I bought a tablet. I have become one of the tech-ridiculous.
Well, maybe not. I have never had and will never have an iPhone. I didn’t have a laptop until last year. I bought my first desktop in 2003 and used it up until I got the laptop! So maybe not ridiculous. But it’s definitely a big part of my everyday existence.
I mainly purchased it to take to teaching interviews and to use as a tool in my classroom next year, but as I thought more about it, I realized it could become a really useful tool while crafting! Need a quick costume reference photo while shopping for fabric? Carry this little guy along! Need a look at some colors or paint chips? Bam, right there. Take a note while you’re shopping, and email it to friends? Piece of cake. Need to sketch but your only pen is out of ink? This one never runs out of ink! Oooohhh, how about a blog post? The possibilities are endless!
What’s your favorite crafty-tech?
My friend’s beautiful daughter just had her first birthday over the weekend. She specifically asked for handmade gifts, and I was delighted to get the chance to create this fun little project that I saw recently over at Craftzine Blog. I didn’t make mine into a game, but included instead several different options for a delicious sandwich: peanut butter, jelly, ham, and cheese, and two pieces of bread, of course! Each piece was machine-stitched with the name of the item, as well. The birthday girl loved it!
A quick (and hilarious) shot from Animeland Wasabi of my Refia costume.
I love tea from Starbucks. I need a slightly different wig, as this one was a bit light and definitely too short. But otherwise it was a great, comfy, fun costume! Love it!
Additionally, I plan on participating in the For Japan With Love Bloggers Day of Silence on Friday. Bloggers will keep a day of silence for the people of Japan, as well as direct donations toward shelter boxes. Don’t forget that you can also donate by text to Red Cross, or donate via your PayPal account, like I did this morning. =)
I was busy on Friday checking in people at the cosplay contest at Animeland Wasabi here in Denver, hence my lack of post! I will resume regularly posting this week, but here’s a quick shot of where I was!
Not the greatest shot, taken from my phone, but it was a wonderful time and a very successful contest!
Also want to mention, of course, to please pray for and send support to Japan in any way you can. We wouldn’t have cosplay as we know it without the Japanese culture that influenced it, so please show your appreciation! You can text 90999 to REDCROSS to make an instant $10 donation or visit the Red Cross’ website for more information.
I had one of those HOLD IT REWIND THAT BLOG moments the other day while going through my Google Reader. Here’s why:
OMG PERSONALIZED PENCILS. I NEED THOSE FOR THE WEDDING.
Sorry for the capslock, but seriously, those are so adorable! They appeal to me on so many levels! As a teacher, they’re a staple of my everyday existence. As a lover of all things text-filled, more cute fonts as a part of our décor and favors is always good. And hello, would those not make the best favors EVER? Personal and practical? With about 4 dozen (in custom colors with custom fonts, HELLO?!?!) at $50 from Explicitly Yours, they’re a pretty reasonable deal. Even with our limited budget, I’d love to fit these in, just because they’re so fun!
What item has made you do a backflip?
Over my “off” week, I did a lot of extra errands that I hadn’t gotten to lately, including picking up paint chips of our wedding colors. I plan on creating coordination packages with the colors and some of our favorite textures for our wedding party to use as they purchase dresses, suits, and accessories. Here are our colors!
Look familiar? I totally involved the same scheme in the main charmedseed.net website, because I love them so much! I’ve been having a love affair with grey and teal/robin’s egg/turquoise blue for the last several years, and I love the modern but vintage effect it can have on an event.
The blue-green and grey will be the two main colors (although really it’s just the grey), and we additionally chose a deep chocolate brown accent and at the last moment added a navy as well. The navy was Nick’s addition, as it’s one of his favorite colors, and it makes a nice compliment to the warmer grey and chocolate. All these colors together offer us a nice opportunity to choose accessories, flowers, décor, and clothing. My dress will be an off-white, but Nick is looking at grey suits for himself and the groomsmen. I initially went after grey dresses for my maids, but recently found a SUPER cute blue-green dress that I’ve ordered to look at. Surprise!
Because I deal with color so much as an artist and seamstress, this was a sort of difficult choice! There are so many beautiful combinations for wedding colors, so many choices and options of how to express them. Navy and sunshine yellow were also a contender! I’m delighted with the subtle result we ended up with, and I can’t wait to keep decorating in this scheme!
How did you choose your wedding colors?
