Catching Up on Creativity

Lately I've been in a "finish it" mood.  I've got dozens (no exaggeration) of crafty projects either unfinished or still in a "to do" pile.  In an effort to organize, I've been trying to finish these projects up little by little.  Besides, I paid good money for the classes to learn how to create the project.  It's like money wasted if I don't actually CREATE the project.  So, today I am showing you a few of the projects I finished this weekend.

LE BELLE BOUTIQUE

This was the only class I took at Paper Cowgirl this year.  Cindy Gilstrap is an oh-so-talented lady who lives just down the road in McKinney TX.  Incidentally, she will be teaching this class again in October at one of our favorite vintage-inspired boutiques, Smitten, on the downtown McKinney square.

The skirt of the dress was created from strips cut from a vintage dress pattern.  I inked the edges with chestnut roan colored ink before gluing them to the styrofoam half dressform adhered to the canvas.  I believe Cindy mentioned that Cerri of Little Pink Studio sells these at her shop.

On the bodice, I used old primary school lined paper Cindy brought with her.  I liked the pinstripe effect they brought to the dress.  This spoke vintage French fashion to me.  Additionally, I decided to create a neck ruffle and pearl "buttons" to complete the blouse.  I really like how those little details added something special to the outfit.

I surely liked the finished product.  Thanks, Cindy!  Now, if I could ever get my dining room makeover complete, I'd have somewhere to hang this cutie.

PRIMITIVES

My other big project I completed this weekend was my "Prim" doll.  A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to attend an AMAZING 3-day workshop at "The Church" in Dallas.  Debbie and Shea are the most talented and gracious ladies around.  If you haven't heard of them, they're this mother-daughter duo from California, who we were lucky enough to receive a few years ago in our Texas Heartland.  Shea's husband is in real estate and together, they had the vision to restore an old broken down Methodist church (we're talking, windows shot out, animals living inside, rusty plumbing) into an unforgettable studio and home.   Aside from being astounded by the beauty and grace of their home, I enjoyed great friends, great food, and great classes during the retreat.  Colleen Moody taught us how to make a doll, like the "Prims" she is known for.  It was actually a pretty arduous task and took more time than most "class projects" do.  But, I'm not complaining.  I feel like I really LEARNED something completely new for the first time.  Though I didn't complete my doll at the retreat, I finally got her finished up this weekend!  I'm thrilled that I even managed to get the wings sewn on properly.  

Here is the overall finished product.

This is really my favorite part:  the underdress stuff.  I used a sleeve from a dress I'd had, to create her bodice and hanging down slip under her skirt.  Under her slip are a pair of bloomers I fashioned from another odd piece of clothing I had.  It had chenille dots and delicate tat work that made for lovely bloomer legs.   My mom would be so proud of my bird wearing a slip, as she thinks it's immodest the way nowadays most women (including myself) fail to wear slips under their dresses.

Here you can see the back of my bird's dress.  What initially attracted me to the sleeve I used as the bodice (which just happened to fit around her perfectly) were the little pearl buttons.  They were the perfect thing!  I added some velvet trim to the top of the bodice (which was really just cheap Wal-mart ribbon I had soaked in    a potion of red food color and brown tea to get that perfect peachy color.)  I also had a piece of CZ chain I'd received from the generous Shea to add a little BLING BLING.  Jewelry always completes a look, in my opinion.

And the "crowing" achievement:  her crown.  The base is Dresden trim.  I added vintage accordian folded sheet music, a vintage pin, a few "diamonds" and my favorite color of Stickles--Platinum.  My crown is actually quite basic compared to some of the crowns the other ladies created for their birds!

Any ideas for names?  She needs a name.  I can't just keep calling her "bird".  

So, that's it for now, but I've got other projects to finish and blog about.  I'll keep you posted!