Periwinkle Birch

I'm nothing if not original. *snort*  Meet the Periwinkle Birch dress.  Which is exactly like the navy Birch dress.  Except, you know, periwinkle.  Which makes it totally different, right?  

I wanted another rayon dress in my summer rotation, and I loved my Rifle and Co. rayon dresses so much in the spring, I thought it would be nice to pick another colorway of the Birch fabric.  I felt that the darker dresses from my spring were out of place with my summer palette, and also I wanted to save them for next spring.  I find I don't always have two rotations in a row worth of wearing in me.

No construction notes, just a straight up Simplicity 1080 (redrafted somewhat for my specs).  I put on patch pockets because of the rayon.  I did have a little fight with the fabric during the cutting, and I do wonder if I'd like another inch on the length, but it is a fine dress and I'm pleased with it.

I really like the bright colors for summer.  And yes, I'm still in a cardigan and stockings and boots this morning, but I think I will be out of stockings by afternoon at least.

I keep fiddling with the back elastic width, and when I get it right, I don't remember to write it down, so I always have to start from scratch!  It is true that the placement does depend a lot on the fabric--rayon needs a tighter back vs. medium weight cotton or lawn, for example.

Ye ol' patch pocket.  I think this dress would go with my royal blue cardigan as well.  And you can see how different the fit is with my navy cardigan as against the horrid white one I wore yesterday.  I ended up swapping it out for the navy one in the morning.  They are exactly the same size and brand, and from the same line.  I don't get it.

Troopa boots again.  They still need a tiny bit of breaking in, particularly across the wide part of of the toe box, but otherwise, not too bad wearing.  They are all leather, which I like.

I remembered these pretty blue and silver earrings that matched the medium blue leaves in the dress perfectly.  I found the earrings last summer at CVS of all places.   Also back to my purple glasses--I just really like the shape of these frames.  I had stopped wearing them for a few weeks in favor of the pink pair because the stem was irritating one of my ears terribly, but it seems better now.  I'm noticing that I really can't not wear glasses most of the day now.  I can still see without them, and read if I have to, but I can tell my eyes are working really hard when I do.  I'm getting middle-aged I guess.

I forgot to mention in my little Twilight ramble yesterday that I'm listening to all the soundtracks again and I'm really enjoying them so much more now.  When the soundtracks first came out, there were only a handful of songs across all the albums that I really liked (and have been on regular rotation on my playlists since); I've been kind of casting around for something different to listen to lately, and decided to give all the albums another shot.  They are quite excellent and I love all the songs now.  They suit my current mood perfectly.

I watched Queen of the Desert yesterday and thought it was okay.  I have an academic interest in the topic, as I wrote my senior thesis on T.E. Lawrence and spent an intense nine months immersed in his life and writings.  I thought the film was very visually interesting, the costumes beautiful, and the soundtrack evocative, but overall the story is uneven.  I didn't buy the initial love story at.all, and I thought the movie was trying just a little too hard to be David O. Lean's famous movie on Lawrence (which is entertaining, but not very factual).   I also thought that a casual moviegoer would have a hard time following what was going on unless very familiar with the period and the characters in question.  I'm pretty familiar with it, and I still had a hard time making sense of the story arc and passage of time.  There is a lot of assumed knowledge, I think (and a couple of glaring historical errors).  Still, I'm glad I watched it, if for no other reason than Robert Pattinson's portrayal of Lawrence.  It is not his best performance, and he's only a minor character, since the film is primarily about Gertrude Bell, but I think Pattinson's portrayal is probably truer to how Lawrence actually was than Peter O'Toole's dashing hero of the big screen.  Lawrence remains an enigma.

Just the facts:

Perwinkle Birch dress: Rifle and Co. for Cotton+Steel rayon, Simplicity 1080, vintage bias tape, elastic

Cardigan: H&M

Stockings: O-socks via sock dreams

Boots: Troopa by Steve Madden via ebay

Earrings: CVS

Necklace: had since a child

Bo Peep Dress

I took these photos before I left for school drop off yesterday and promptly went back inside to put on stockings and boots (I was already wearing a cardigan, as you'll see below).  It was 53 degrees and not going much above the low 60s.  I'm not complaining, but my summer rotation isn't really set up for this!  Things heat up a LOT next week, though.  I'm trying to restrain myself from making a double gauze tunic dress I have planned for the fall.  It doesn't go at all with my color palette this rotation, and it will be wearable for probably 3 days of it.  Don't worry, I'm not going to attempt it right now.  The kids are finishing school on Tuesday, there is a lot of stuff just swirling around me and in my brain, so I don't have the mental space to try a new pattern at the moment.

Back to the dress.  I should probably start by saying that I know this cardigan looks terrible with it.  It is too big on me, and the length is pretty awful for my frame.  I've been looking for a white or off-white cardigan for months now and it is amazingly difficult to find what I'm looking for--something cotton, a basic button up crew neck, not too long in the body.  I've bought these H&M cardigans before, but the sizing is all over the place depending on the color.  My navy and royal blue ones both fit differently from this white and my charcoal gray ones, and they are all the same size.  Fie on you, fast fashion retailers and your sloppy slopers.  But they are one of the few retailers offering 100% cotton cardigans in a somewhat nice shape, so there is that.  <le sigh>

The fabric is from Penny Rose, and I really like their stuff.  I made the girls' strawberry dresses from one of their lines last summer.  Many of their prints have a definite 1930s feel to them, but a lot of it is too juvenile for me to wear.  I decided to take a chance on this print, however, since you can only see what it is up close.  It has Little Bo Peep and some little sheep and flowers scattered in pattern.  I really liked the colors too (it came in a blue colorway that I was very tempted by, but wanted some more red for my summer)  I think it works!  

This is definitely a medium weight cotton, but it is pretty soft and has a decent hand to it.  It also is densely woven enough to repel some liquids--I managed to spill some coffee in my lap at breakfast in the morning and was able to get it off before I took these photos!  

I'm going to keep hunting for a better cardigan to go with this dress and several others I have for my summer that don't have a good match to them.  We have a trip planned to a cooler place this summer so I think I will need some additional layers even if it is disgustingly hot and humid here.

I also went back to Victory rolls this morning, although it didn't really turn out exactly right--I'm kind of out of practice.  I started watching Suite Française on Netflix last night (it is set in rural France in 1940; it is just okay) but I really like Michelle Williams' hair styles in it.  

This is what I actually wore for drop off yesterday morning:

Stockings, boots, cardigan.  Could have used a heavier weight one, but I didn't have time to dig one out this morning.  I recently found the boots on ebay after stalking the site for a few months and thought I wouldn't be able to wear them until the fall!  Ha!

I rewatched the whole Twilight saga again in the last week or two and enjoyed that very much.  I remember when the movies were first in theatres, I was having a baby almost every year at that point, so it became my kind of post-partum tradition there for a while.  My sister and I shared the obsession and I remember calling her after Eclipse came out to discuss it with her, and she made the comment that she thought that it was the best of the movies so far, and that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were to the point of just zipping into their Edward and Bella suits and getting on with it.  I think that is exactly true!  Eclipse is also the best book, in my opinion.  Breaking Dawn 1/2 is just the frosting on top of the Eclipse cake, if you ask me.

I even started re-reading the books.  They are hitting me slightly differently this time around, probably because I'm older, and in a different place in my life, but I'm still finding myself thinking a lot about them.  I'll be curious to know if my original thoughts still hold.  I'm about halfway through the first one right now.  

Ponchik wanted to do a photo together before we went back inside after getting off the bus.  She is such a goofball.

Just the facts:

Bo Peep dress: Penny Rose fabrics via fabric.com, Simplicity 1080 (redrafted), elastic, vintage bias tape

Cardigan: H&M

Necklace: my gram's

Earrings: flea market

Stockings: O-Socks from Sock Dreams

Boots: Troopa by Steve Madden via ebay

(sandals in earlier pics are saltwaters)

i dig you!

--1--

Since I dedicated last week's post to health stuff, I won't talk about that this week, except to say that we've mostly survived The Siege.

--2--

Today I'm channeling my inner Joan Holloway (minus the bouffant hair and crazy hourglass figure).  So far, the retro fashion make over is going fairly well, although I must confess that it is hard to find the time to set my hair properly.  Lucky for me, my hair is pretty curly (and even more so after a recent cut) and so I can manage a somewhat retro hair-do without a set on many days.  But a roller or pin-curl set looks so nice when I can manage it!!  My look is tending a bit more toward the late 1940s/early 1950s than the WWII era, but that is more a function of needing easy access for breastfeeding right now.  The best part of the whole thing?  My husband loves the look and is so complimentary!  Never hurts the old ego to be stroked a bit.  

--3--

I have a fun new project in mind, thanks to an idea from a bloggy friend, Matushka Anna Crawford.  She challenged her readers to photograph the alphabet in creative ways this month.  I thought it would be a neat idea to make a picture book for the boys with the photos.  I haven't actually started it yet, but when I get my feet back under me, I'm going to tackle it!  I think it would be a great MDS project.

--4--

Yesterday I started making valentines for Piglet's classmates and teachers.  It took me a while to settle on a design, but I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.  Since I have to make 36 of them, I needed a simple design that wasn't very supply-intensive.  Besides, let's face it, they are four, and at that age, you are making the valentines for their moms as much as anything. I also wanted something that would be appropriate for a four-year-old to be giving to other kids his age.  That little dump truck with the "i dig you!" sentiment was just the right thing!

--5--

While I was juggling Birdie (who has started projectile vomiting in the evening, just to keep things interesting), and trying to make the valentines, I started re-watching Grey's Anatomy from the beginning, mostly because I wanted to watch something on the computer that was familiar and easily interrupt-able.  It was kind of fun to see how that show has evolved over the last eight seasons. (And if you are a Grey's hater, don't tell me about it - I know there are plenty of objectionable things about that show, but I still like it).  I nearly gave it up after season six, but have gotten sucked right back in.  Although I've got to say that since they killed off Henry, I'm less interested in keeping up.

--6--

Today is Boo's namesday, so we will have a little celebration at dinner.  I think I'm going to try and figure out a way to make vegan brownies, since that seems to be Boo's favorite dessert lately.  Although he is kind of a cookie monster. 

--7--

And last but not least?  Breaking Dawn Part One DVD hits stores on February 13.  Yippie!!!  I've already preordered mine from amazon.com.  The timing is perfect as my husband will be traveling a lot that week.  Now I can finally catch the funny scene with the Volturi after the credits that I missed in the theatre!!

"Wife-swappin'? Who Said Anything about wife swappin'?"

Thus sayeth the never-dull Nicholas Cage in Raising Arizona, a movie I've never actually seen, but heard that scene recited over and over again in high school by my guy friends who adored the flick.

I'd also like to point out that the release of Eclipse is t-29 days! I hope I can figure out a way to go without having to tote the baby with me. I saw a great bumper sticker on Diana Gibbs' blog today and had to grin--I totally want one for my car!!

When I was browsing Cafepress.com looking for the sticker (thanks, Di!), I found a bunch of funny Twilight-themed tshirts too--goodness, there is a lot of Twilight snark out there. I think these two are my faves:


My post today is about swaps, hence the title. I managed to make a swap for the downline meeting that I went to at the end of May; I had to take Boo because the meeting was in New Jersey and he is a munchy monkey during the evening hours, but it was really nice to get out and hang out with stamping friends! I took the layout from this card, which you may remember from April, and used Cottage Wall as my color palate, which worked well. I inked up my Dream Gardens stamp set (love it!) and the whole thing came together pretty quickly. Please forgive the less-than-stellar quality of the photo--I had to take the picture before I had my digital camera situation sorted out.


Supplies:
Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White cs, Cottage Wall dsp
Jet Black Staz-On, Rich Razzleberry marker
White 5/8" satin ribbon
Dream Gardens Stamp set
1 3/8" circle punch
dimensionals

The first step to recovery...

is admitting you have an addiction. I confess, I'm addicted to Twilight. (*I know, never say never...). I've seen the first movie several times and am currently re-reading the series, having almost literally devoured the entire four books in less than 4 days time last month, and am eagerly anticipating the next movie installment in November (countdown to 11/20 anyone?). As a recovering academic, I've tried to break down the cultural reason for the seemingly national obsession and my own addiction, but can't seem to pin-point why the series resonates so strongly with me (and clearly with many millions of others). Maybe we all secretly long for immortality and perfection and the trade-off of being a slave to blood-thirst seems a reasonable one. I mainly think about how much I could get accomplished if I never had to sleep!

All of this is to say that last spring, before I was ever bit by the vampire bug (ha-ha), I considered launching a line of Twilight-inspired items for the etsy store. I noticed a lot of people making custom requests for Twilight-themed items and thought it a good business decision. Then I got hooked myself and thought it would be fun in addition to good business. I mentioned the new line to my sister in mid-August, who promptly ordered two items from the as-yet-undeveloped-line for a birthday gift for her best friend.

That spurred me to put action to words and get the line going. I ordered a couple of custom word stamps from an online vendor I use for these things in order to have a few Twilight-inspired quotes and then hunted around for some good images to use (not hard--there are a lot of crazy fans out there!) I made the items for my sister first (a journal and card) and was pleased with the results (as was she) and then kept on going! The return address labels have been a hit.

A German Twilight fan found me a few weeks ago and kept ordering things almost as quickly as I posted them, so I've been poking away at new items for the line, including some canvas bags with iron-on transfer sayings.

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to work on this stuff and just thought I'd share.

Twilight revisited

Okay, another non-stamping related post. I promise to post photos of cards from last week, but I'm battling an ear and respiratory infection at the moment and am too tired to edit them for public consumption. At least my son seems to be getting better--his fever finally broke around 10:30 last night after a week of running around 102. He too has a nasty ear infection and respiratory deal, but is clearly on the end of it (thanks to some Augmentin...what would we do without that??) and seems much more perky today. At least my lovely babysitter was here this morning to keep his newly peppy self entertained while I sat like a lump on a log.

In any case, stay tuned for those photos.

But. My sister converted me to the dark side after my guilty admission about watching the movie Twilight last fall and loaned me her copy of the first book in the series. Oh what a guilty pleasure THAT is! I will say I find myself smiling a time or two at the absurdity of it (on occasion), but I will say it's a cracking good read! Gosh darn it--now I have to read them all. I'm never going to finish Cancer Ward, I fear. Solzhenitsyn's been sitting on my nightstand since we returned from Russia (I started the book on the trip), sadly neglected, covered by issues of the Economist and The Week, my knitting and now Twilight. *sigh* One of these days.

With that, I'm off to lie down with my book and maybe some hot chocolate for my sore throat.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

I admit this is not at all stamping-related, but I needed a venue and a captive audience, so you're stuck. Feel free to skip on to card-related stuff.

Anyway. I finally watched the movie Twilight today. I had resisted reading the books because I'm the type of person that has a hard time reading something precisely because everyone else is reading it. I'm kind of contrary that way. So when the movie came out, I thought, well that's a movie I can miss. Somehow stampers and Twilight seem to go together, however, and I found myself intrigued by all the discussion on the stamping blogs--weird, huh? So I decided to give in and watch the movie to start. I told myself I was *not* going to read the books. ;)

But. I have to say, I enjoyed the movie. It won't be on my top 10 (The English Patient is just in a whole other category), but I still had fun watching it. I will *sigh* probably watch the next one when it comes out and...wait for it...I *may* even have to crack the books. What is the world coming to?

On to stamping. Today I spent catching up on sketch challenges (very early in the week too!) and will post more of them later this week, but for now, here's my take on Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch.

Paper: Close to Cocoa, Red Riding Hood, Candy Lane DSP, Very Vanilla
Ink: Real Red
Stamps: Great Friend
Accessories: Random red button from long-gone garment, DMC embroidery thread