Revamping, Improving, and...Bees.

I've mentioned in a few posts here that I am in the process of trying to improve my Etsy site. Currently, it looks dated. Well, to me anyway. I have put the site on "vacation" mode until I decide what I want to change, and until I have enough new stock to freshen things up. Many of the pieces currently on the site are old, and after repeatedly being re-posted with no response, and having been lugged around to various SCA events where they essentially got  ignored, I am going to dismantle them and use the parts for something new.

Another of my problems is photographs. I have limited ability for snazzy photos. Mainly due to lighting. My house is dark, especially in the winter, and even with lots of lights focused on a piece, I still get shadows...usually of my head as I bend in to get a closer shot. During the summer I can take pieces outside and that works fine, but the bottom line is, I need to make a light box. Nothing fancy, but something that will give me a better quality photo no matter the season. So, add that item to my long list of "Need to do/make" projects.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. To show off this new bracelet, I was attempting to use one of my old books as a prop. Not sure how successful the experiment turned out, since I still think the lighting is terrible. I like the idea, just not this current execution of the idea. And as per usual, there is the shadow of the top of my head on the left bottom corner.

 

Then I got really wild, and attempted a few iPhoto options for enhancing pictures. In my old computer I have the ancient Adobe Photoshop 2.0, which allowed me to play with effects. My new computer doesn't have Photoshop, and I've been told the old 2.0 disc won't work with it. So, this is what I came up with in the limited resources of iPhoto. I got a bit of feedback on this from my FB friends, who liked the effect. However, when I thought about what it would look like with a whole page of items surrounded in black halos, I decided the effect would end up making my Etsy home page look like a weird chessboard. This is the photo, but I am not going to use this effect for displaying my work.

So my search for an eye-catching way of displaying my pieces without taking the focus away from the piece, and not making my Etsy home page look like I should hand out game pieces with each sale, goes on.

Which brings us to bees. In one of my jewelry/beading books, I noticed that a few of the artists featured add a special charm to each piece. Sort of an ID charm. I liked the idea, and thought about what kind of special charm I might like to add to each of my own pieces. At first I thought of dragonflies, as I love the creatures and we have a lot of them around our place. But the available charms for dragonflies were either too expensive or too dorky. Then I got a new Fire Mountain Gems and Beads catalog, and on one page was a cute little bee charm, sold in packages of 50.

I like bees. I look forward to seeing them return to the garden every Spring. I have a special understanding with the bees—and not just honey bees, but native bees, and all the different bumble bees—I respect them, and they don't sting me. It has worked out fine for over twenty years. I also like the symbolism that bees represent: Industry, productivity, and giving back to the world in which they live by polinating flowers and trees, literally keeping us in fruit, veggies, and flowers. And they create something lovely in the process. Honey.

So finding that special price on a package of 50 bee charms was a sure sign that the bee should be my personal ID charm for each piece. This in hopes that it will symbolize for me the industry of working hard at my craft, producing new pieces, and giving back by donating pieces to non-profit group silent auctions or raffle prizes whenever I can. And although many would consider it frivolous, I think a lovely piece of jewelry is like honey, in that it feeds, if not the stomach, at least the spirit. That can only "bee" good thing, don't you think?

Belle Epoch Necklace

Two things happened recently that inspired this necklace. The first was two friends sending me boxes of beads and findings, because they were things they couldn't use. Between the two, I scored a huge stash of agate, jade and quartz beads, faceted glass beads, painted wood beads, and a large collection of silver coins with bales already attached, from several foreign countries. Also my mother gave me a inexpensive (from a Big Box Store) heart bracelet that she didn't want. So, a ton of new stuff to play with, which is always fun.

The second, was finding a site on Pinterest that showed dozens and dozens of period clothing, hats  and jewelry from the Edwardian and the Belle Epoch eras...approximately late 1800s to the outbreak of WWI. These are my favorite eras for ideas in unique color combinations, designs to tweak and adapt for stencils, appliques, and beading on clothing of my own. Also for wire jewelry ideas. Obviously, there is NO way I can copy the amazing work by jewelers of that time. Those pieces are works of art, and most reside in museums. But I can simplify...a lot...the swirls and leaf/vine shapes of those Art Nouveau and Edwardian pieces.

Which brings me to this latest necklace, made from agate beads, faceted glass beads, glass leaves and flowers, turquoise chips, dusky-blue ceramic beads, drop pearls, two slides with rhinestones, "silver" worked wire, purchased chain, one of the dozen lanyard clips included in one of the gift box stashes, and faux-silver marcasite hearts from that bracelet of my mom's. As you can tell, I am all into recycling, upcycling...or whatever they call it these days.

Work table...necklace in progress.

The lovely green pearls did not end up in the finished work.  The three connected hearts to the left of the photo are what is left of the little bracelet my mom gave me to play with.

And here is the finished piece.

And here is an FYI: My Etsy site is temporarily closed. I am in the process of updating all of my jewelry pieces and revamping the site. This piece is the first one in that process. I got to the point where the site looked dated, and a lot of the jewelry were things that had been on and off the site since I opened it, about three years ago, and hadn't sold. Also, I am trying VERY hard to improve the quality and workmanship. Which is another reason why most of the old pieces will be taken apart and made into something else. I was new to a lot of the techniques needed, and have improved, I hope, since then. Still improving and learning, which is a lot of fun. And I'm still collecting bits and bobs, haunting junk/antique stores for that special find...like the mason jar full of broken bits I just scored the other day for $9, which ended up being 75% usable for upcycling. I don't usually get that lucky, and end up tossing or giving to the Goodwill almost half to 75%, with only that last 25% being anything I would want in a piece.

So, thanks to my mom, friends, and a lucky junk store find, I have lots of new things to play with, and an eye-candy web site to inspire me to keep pushing that design envelope.

Linen Jacket #1

This was the first Christopher & Banks linen jacket I bought at the Goodwill ($45 jacket for $3.99) about a month before Christmas. It had machine-sewn embroidery, and machine-created openwork on the front, and a back yoke decorated with a small sprig of machine-embroidered leaves.

Here is what the back looked like when I bought it.

I let it sit in my closet for a while, until I decided what I wanted to do with it. In the meantime, I did this to a Goodwill sweatshirt.

I liked the free-form curlicues so much, I wanted to play around with them on something else. So I dug out the linen jacket and went to work. Here is the result.

 

Then I added beads.

Since I didn't want to overpower the nice soft color of the linen, I didn't get real wild with the stitching and beads. I have only worked the back for now and since I have some other things that need to get sewn and finished, that are more urgent, I will go back later and add a similar design down each side of the front of this jacket. I really do love the curlicues, so I suspect they will show up on lots of things in the future.

Meet Inara

Over the years I have often wished for a dress form to make my sewing life easier. Years ago (early 90s, I think) I picked one up at a garage sale, but it was too big, and was so wonky it couldn't be adjusted. I ended up giving it to a friend, who put male clothing on it and stood it in front of her living room window so people would always think there was someone home. Not sure what she used as a head for it, or maybe she just left it headless as a warning to potential burglars. Then I had about a two year hiatus from sewing, mainly because my old White sewing machine finally died, and I couldn't afford a new machine. But also because I had become a bit burnt-out doing costumes, and just didn't want to sew anything...at all.

Now I have a new machine, and lots of ideas for sewing projects. I am also back into making costumes, so I really did need a dress form. My husband is wonderful and willing to help, but his knowledge of how to make garment adjustments on my body are pretty much zilch, and he's gone a lot, so I was really pining for a body double.

I knew I didn't have a big budget for this, so would have to settle for something pretty mundane. That was okay, since I wasn't going to be doing anything super complicated, that would require absolute to the fraction of an inch, exact measurements. But it did have to be sturdy enough to carry the weight of multiple layers of cloth, since some of the costumes I will be doing will be quite heavy.

So, a week ago my Mom and I went through the local Joann's Fabric store and I checked out what they had. The medium quality dress form was between $230 and $260 dollars. Still over my budget. A few days later my Mom called me and said that Joann's had put the dress forms on sale for $100 off. Shazam! I headed back over there, and sure enough, the form I had looked at was now down to $135. Sold! However, I kept the receipt so I could take it back in case the thing turned out to be a piece of junk.

Putting together and adjusting a dress form is kinda weird. You are essentially creating a double of yourself. At one point, when I was standing boob to boob with it, I burst out laughing. Once it was all adjusted and done, I stood back and thought, "Sheesh, is that what I really look like?" At that point, I dug out my Chinese red camisole and put that on "her" along with one of my necklaces.  After all, "she" couldn't just stand there all naked. The thought crossed my mind that "she" looked better in the sexy camisole than I did. Ah well.

Next "she" needed a name. At first I kept referring to her as "That Other Woman." When I posted a picture on Facebook, someone suggested I call her Ruby, but I wasn't too crazy about that one. Then it occurred to me that, with the racy, Chinese camisole and flashy jewelry, she resembled a character on the old TV series Firefly. The character's name was Inara, and she was a beautiful, professional "companion" who always wore lovely, sexy dresses and expensive jewelry. Since the dress form doesn't have my face, or any face, I decided the name would fit without insulting the stunning woman who had played the part in the series. It also crossed my mind that if I named her Inara, she might have a more glamorous life than I do.

So here she is. Meet Inara, wearing my Chinese camisole and leaf necklace. But I still have her receipt, so can send her back if she misbehaves. 

Pogonip...Yes it really is a word.

For the last week our place has been frozen over. Frozen pond, frozen hoses, plants buried under patches of frozen snow, frozen water buckets in the horse stalls. This time of year that's pretty par for the course, except for the frozen snow. We rarely have snow last more than a day or two, but this year it was heavy, and lingered for weeks. However, pogonip was a whole new deal. Apparently it is a Shoshone word meaning "cloud." It is caused by fine ice crystals suspended in the air, and occurs rarely during cold winter spells. Old settlers referred to it as The White Death because they thought the crystals got into your lungs and could kill you. We have had frost at our place every year, but nothing like this. It was beautiful and weird, coating everything in lethal looking ice-spikes. It made our hot-wire pasture enclosures look like barbed wire. Here are some of the photos I took around our place, showing the effects of pogonip.

Making An Effort

In my previous post, I did a short rant on how people dress these days. I guess it's because clothing can be so much fun, and is one of life's greatest, and most easily accessible, forms of expression, that I kinda don't get it when people won't at least make an effort. Maybe it's because when I was a kid I watched too many of those romantic comedies from the 30s and 40s, where, before stepping out the door, everyone got DRESSED. Yeah, that was movie make believe, and there is no way any of us could match those dresses and that make-up, even if you wanted to. Which I don't. Well, the make-up part anyway. Make-up makes my face itch. But, oh my, those dresses.

But I dither. Back on track. I guess what I really mean is, have fun with your clothes. Don't look at them as just something to keep you covered or warm. And despite what you might think, you make a statement no matter what you wear, by the choices you make. You may not think you do, but even if you throw on the nearest item that isn't in the dirty-clothes hamper, that is also a statement. If you pull dirty clothes out of the hamper to wear, well, that's a whole 'nuther kind of statement, and I won't go there.

For me, since I might only get into town once a week, if that, making an effort is fun. I get tired of looking like a transient most of the time. Working around animals is how I spend most of my day, but let's face it, neither my horses or my cats are going to be impressed with what I have on while cleaning stalls or cat boxes. When I know I am not going anywhere, I live in sweat pants & sweatshirts. Lately, due to the extreme cold, when working outside, I look even sillier, since I'd rather be warm than stylish. But once I head for town, I try, I really try, to make an effort to "clean up good."

This does not mean I throw on a fancy dress. I am a jeans and T-shirt kinda girl. But you can have a hell of a lot of fun with those as well. There are times I wish I was even braver, and a bit more eccentric. But at my age, I can only push the envelope so far before people start wondering if I belong in a padded room. But I still push. If the general reaction is good, then I push a little more next time.

Add to this effort the fact that I am artistic, and a whole new area of expression in clothing opens up. I can sew, bead, embroider, applique, and otherwise restyle all kinds of things. But as stated, since I live in a rural area where getting "dressed to the nines" only happens on New Years Eve, if then, it makes sense that all that embellishment has to go on something more practical than a fancy gown.

So here is an example of how I "make an effort" without looking like I'm trying too hard (a cardinal sin), or without ending up looking ridiculous, 'cause I've been there and done that, believe me!

The hat is felted wool and was custom made for me by a good friend. The long, handwoven scarf was gifted to me by another good friend. The sweatshirt is the embellished one I just finished. And, courtesy of The Gap, my go-to store for basics that I wear FOR YEARS, is the nylon bomber jacket and skinny jeans. I have on short street boots that kinda look like hiking boots. And jewelry. There is always jewelry.

On the arm of the couch is Sabine, who approved the outfit.

A better shot of the hat and scarf. Lots of times I will put jewelry pins on the hat, but I had just taken off the vintage Christmas-ish looking one, and haven't decided yet what to put back on. My husband, who took the pictures, thought I looked quite dashing.

So, there is a small example of what I mean by making an effort when you go out the door. Assuming of course you're not going out the door to work in the garden, clean stalls, or mow the lawn...although that last one has possibilities (visions of my first husband mowing our large lawn in a lime-green Speedo butt-huger comes glaringly to mind, alas).

Bottom line. Have fun with your clothes. Why not? You have to wear them every day, anyway.

Embellished Sweatshirt

I confess, I love vintage and period clothing (also jewelry, but that's no secret either). I love the craftsmanship, the artistry, and the embellishments that make those pieces of clothing so wonderful. However, I live my life in sweatshirts, T-shirts, tank tops and jeans. Add to that list an ever-growing number of jackets, and that is my wardrobe. Most of the time those sweatshirts, T-shirts, tanks and jeans are full of cat or horse hair, hay flakes and pine shavings, and during the summer, bits of garden vegetation, seed pods, and oak twigs.

I love the idea of skirts and dresses. I really do. I buy them, thinking I'll wear them, but I rarely do. Instead they linger at the back of my closet, forlorn and neglected.

The conclusion I came to was, if I want to attempt to incorporate any kind of embellishment on my clothing, it would have to be on the garments I wear all the time. Granted, I'm not going to go clean stalls in something I've labored over for hours, but when I do head into town, or my husband and I go out to dinner or the movies, I will have something unique to wear. Because, the bottom line is, I am bored with most of the clothing I see in stores.

**Insert quick rant here**

 Let's bring back "dressing." Making an effort. Don't just slouch off to town or to dinner in tatty old T-shirts, grubby jeans, and messy hair. I'm not advocating the Barbie look, or expect people to dress like Donna Reed in My Three Sons. But yikes, some of the stuff I see people wearing while out and about makes my teeth hurt. Look in a mirror, people!

**Rant over** 

Back to embellished clothing. The Alabama Chanin books, and Rice over at the Voodoo Cafe, have been a huge influence on my quest for unique clothing. The techniques in the book are easy, but time-consuming. The results are grand. Even in small doses, the embellishments add so much to any piece you put them on. They also lend themselves very well to individual styles. My pieces, even using the same techniques, look very different from, say, what Rice, or anyone else, will create. I have made two boleros from the pattern included in the book, and one tank top. In this case, I attacked a $4 sweatshirt I bought at the Goodwill.

Here is the sweatshirt, and the stenciled bit of purple T-shirt sleeve I had left over from the Tibetan Bolero. The gold paint is by Lumiere.

The start of the stitching, and the reverse applique done. And some beads sew on. I blush to admit it, but, other than the metallic thread, I just used doubled regular sewing thread. Whatever I had on hand. The purple thread is poly, and the turquoise is cotton. In all honesty, these pieces I still consider experiments, so I'm not overly concerned with their longevity. If the center piece manages to last longer than the sweatshirt, I will cut it out and sew it to something else.

Here it is with the stitched curlicues. It took me awhile to figure out how to tie in the center design with the rest of the shirt. The curlicues are what I finally ended up with. They turned out so nice, I decided I would use them again on something else. Eventually I will add stitching, curlicues and beads to the back neckline, so that it sorta matches the front neckline. By the time I got done doing this, my eyes were crossed and my fingers tender. I needed to take a break and do something else. I will come back to this and tie up that one loose end.

 

Here are a couple of closeups of the curlicues and beading as they progressed. The curlicues were done freehand, like doodling with thread. Lots of fun.

So, now that this little project is almost done, I'm off to do something else. I have three costumes to work on, and an experiment I want to try with stitching on the stenciled T-shirt material. I figure I'm on a quest to stamp out boring clothes. At least in my own closet. If I'm lucky, I might inspire someone else to give it a go, branch out...make an effort. Not sure my pieces will be that influential, but wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake!

Go, be creative. Make an effort. It's not that hard, I promise.