Project 10: Reclining Nude

Dear Mom,

Now she looks like this:

Thank heavens you're not the blushing sort.

Sincerely,

Your Daughter

Project 10: Reclining Nude

Dear Mom,

I restarted your painting yesterday. This is what it looks like.

I'm not exactly sure where you'll hang it. Maybe you can take down that dreadful painting I did in college that you have in the guest room. Just a suggestion.

Sincerely,

Your Daughter

A Friday Poem

The Satin Dress
by Dorothy Parker

Needle, needle, dip and dart,
Thrusting up and down,
Where's the man could ease a heart
Like a satin gown?

See the stitches curve and crawl
Round the cunning seams-
Patterns thin and sweet and small
As a lady's dreams.

Wantons go in bright brocade;
Brides in organdie;
Gingham's for the plighted maid;
Satin's for the free!

Wool's to line a miser's chest;
Crape's to calm the old;
Velvet hides an empty breast
Satin's for the bold!

Lawn is for a bishop's yoke;
Linen's for a nun;
Satin is for wiser folk-
Would the dress were done!

Satin glows in candlelight-
Satin's for the proud!
They will say who watch at night,
"What a fine shroud!"

Sewing poems, what a way to start the day. Now I'm off to the fabric store because my needle broke on my machine last night, and I hadn't any backups!

Literal or Not?

Yesterday, the bead shop hosting the challenge posted the results on its website. I was not the winner, and this I am okay with. It was my first bead embroidery cuff, after all. I respect the amount of time and skill that goes into creating a bracelet of this sort, but what irks me is that the other seven entries are nearly identical.

Winner: Amy Jarvie, Venusaur

Mary Kyle, Lilies on the Pond

Julie Austin, A Day in the Life of a Lily

Julie Hauri-Foster, Monet's "Water Lilies, Night Effect"

Janis Mills, Hopping on Lilie Pads

Raette Kaiserlian, Your Pad or Mine

Teresa Kenyon, George & Gracie

 Blue with lily pads, blue with lily pads. Then there's mine:

 

 

 

Picture from the website.

Taken with my phone.

What I like about it, and what I'm proud of, is that it's not so literal. I used pink beads around the cabachon as a lily with green crystal circling it to hint at a lily pad. The green and mauve seed beads were meant to represent water rippled with reflections, much like Monet's paintings, where my inspiration came from.

I should have known from the charms that they wanted something more literal. I'll keep this in mind for next time. When I get it back, I will be snipping most of them off.

Project 9: Water Lily Bead Embroidery Cuff

The bead challenge is due by five o'clock tomorrow. I have a long evening ahead of me finishing this off, but I will hunker down with a needle and thread, and before you know it, I'll be winning the contest. Or at least that's how it works out in my head.

The method I used for the background is pretty hypnotic and my favorite thing about this bracelet. I'd like to do a piece that's made entirely of undulating beads. Note to self: do that.

MIA: Rosewood Buttons

I'm genuinely shocked to find that the last post was in January. It's been two months? I suppose that makes sense... One may recall that it was about this time last year that I fell off the face of the planet, leaving a void in my blogging. Winter marks my busiest time of year at work, gearing up for the traveling summer season and sending two publications off to press. I am happy to report that the winter rush is winding down, and life is about to return to normal. Sigh.

In fact, I have a slew a projects ready for posting, from a new dress finally using the white silk I got last year to the previously mentioned Beading Challenge bracelet. The competition ends in a week! Stay tuned!

Bead Challenge

I went to the local bead store today for a simple clasp, only to walk out having signed up for the spring beading challenge: taking the provided kit and creating a water lily inspired beaded cuff. I love beaded cuffs, if you haven't guessed it, and I've been eying Monet's Water Lilies quite a bit lately as a source of color.

The true challenge is the provided kit. Frogs. Dragon flies. Butterflies. Sigh.

Everything pictured has to be used. I'm not one for charms usually, so how do I incorporate Kermit into something sophisticated and lovely? Thinking cap on!

La Vie de Cirque

A week-long cold certainly gave me a head start on my goal to read a new book each month in 2011: I just completed my third for January. Water for Elephants by Sara Guin was certainly refreshing after the humdrum memoir Summer at Tiffany (prior to that was a reread the lovely History of Love by Nicole Krauss).

The dazzling imagery of life aboard a circus train is still swirling about my head, and I’m suddenly filled with the longing to surround myself with all things Big Top, from watching one of my favorite movies, Freaks, and brainstorming on how to use a couple of yard of yellow and white striped fabric from my aunt to spending an evening making an circus-themed Etsy treasury.

The glamor of the circus. Visit the collection here and give all these artists a bit of love. The feather dress, by the way, reminds me of the scene in Freaks where Koo Koo the Bird Girl dances on the table at the wedding feast, only far more fabulous.

Where does your inspiration come from?

New Year, New Dress (Project 8)

Let me start this by saying this is my first blog post while nestled at home. The awesomeness of it all is indescribable.

Meanwhile, when I received the invitation to a Mad Men themed New Years Eve party, I didn't exactly know what to expect having never having seen the show. I did know, however, that it would be the perfect opportunity to break out vintage pattern Butterick 6582. This classy little frock has the necessary mix of New Years Eve festivity and early 1960s class.

Armed with a few yards of amazing emerald taffeta, my dress form, and a slew of pins, I began a whirlwind twenty-four hour dress making extravaganza.

It must be said that when one scores excellent bargains like patterns for $1, sacrifices like proper size must be made to obtain the styles you want after other pattern pickers have left the drawers barren. I had to go up two sizes from the pattern, and I couldn't have done it without the genorous gift of my dress form.

A note to Mother Paquette:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was absolutely blown away by your gift. I was just about to attempt making my own dress form when I was presented with yours. I think you have forever changed my sewing life!

An hour before the party, I was trimming threads and applying fake eyelashes. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and it was truly the perfect party dress (the twirling definitely gets an A). I'm particularly fond of the neckline. There's something about it that is both feminine and sophisticated. While it's higher, I didn't feel matronly. I will keep this pattern on call for the other silhouetted versions of the dress. It appears to be flattering on everyone from what I can tell in other photos around the web.

 

What a great looking group! Can you believe those rich colors? 

I wish I was the Sugar Plum Fairy.

It feels like Friday, which is a very sneaky thing for a Thursday to do.

A little shout out to any West Michigan Rosewood Buttons readers. Perhaps you would like to take a short jaunt over to West Michigan Weekly, a blog full of mitten travels such as a trip to the GR Ballet and awesome giveaways, such as a wine tasting for six... a.k.a. "the work blog."

P.S. My AT&T saga still unfolds like a prickly sweater. Shall the Internet ever come?

Is it?

And the first rude sketch the world had seen
was a joy to his mighty heart,
till the Devil whispered behind the leaves,
"It's pretty, but is it Art?"

Rudyard Kipling

I came across this quote on The Pine River Review and also wanted to share. Meanwhile, I've been stood up twice by AT&T and am still without the Internet. Damn them.

How movie posters should be.

Aren't these delicious? Every now and again, we're treated to a set of posters that are more than a Photoshopped image of an actor or actress (not to minimize the skills needed for a well done Photoshop job), and it is like a treat to the eye. Already looking forward to the new film by Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky, I was simply tickled when I saw the posters for Black Swan. Deranged ballerinas running around paranoid in feathers and tutus? I'm in.

Number three is my favorite. If the movie lives up to my expectations, I'd be willing to track down a copy of it for my wall. Number two is lovely as well.

Open for Business

Come one, come all, to the wonderful, whimsical world of Rosewood Buttons on Etsy!

My Etsy shop is open, featuring a few circular brick stitch pieces, the beginning of a lovely selection of handcrafted items. I'm thrilled to say that things are finally up and running, as it was very intimidating thing. In addition to a sling of things on the Etsy to-do start-up list, selling items online feels somewhat exposing. A silly thing to hear from somebody who blogs, I know.

The photography aspect ran parallel to the cooling Michigan weather. Winter has certainly awoken and stretched its arms, casting chilling air, icy temperatures, and quickly darkening evenings. None of these things make for smooth photoshoots. Neither does the presence of a quite adorable beagle.

 Hey, Rufus! We're trying to do a photoshoot here!

Please take a moment to stop by and tell me what you think!

Rosewood Buttons on Etsy

Welcome to the 21st Century

One may notice that my posting can be a little willy nilly, and for that I offer apologies. I often make my way through the day with frequent blog-thoughts popping into my head. "Oh!" I say to myself, "I should post a picture of this fabulous Art Nouveau chocolate tin I just got," or "Shannon! What a lovely little crafting moment you just had. Post it!" (I may actually talk to myself. Maybe I should get a pet: a goldfish named George.)

Why don't I follow through on all my blogging whims, one might ask. Well, I'm about 15 years behind the rest of the world and don't have the Internet at home, so I have to sneak in a bit of lunch time blogging here or at-the-boyfriend's blogging there. This shall all change in one short week.

Yes, yes, my appointment has been made for early Tuesday next. I will finally have the Internet!

{Internet dance, Internet dance, Internet dance}

Let the countdown begin!

A few of my favorite things...

Ah, Thanksgiving: the time of year to gorge on copious amounts turkey and spinach pies, debate with your brother over who inherits the prized 1920s family dictionary, and dine with the oh so whimsical bird silverware.

I love this silverware.

My parents are a pair of talented trash pickers. I recall moments of driving down the streets of Detroit with Mom as a little girl, rain whipping at the windshield as the wipers swish and swash, when she would swerve to curb, slam on the breaks, and say "Hurry. Grab that chair and throw it in the car." How embarrassing it was, though I appreciate my parents' hunting skills and refinishing know-how now that I'm an adult.

The greatest find of them all came when I was a freshly born babe. My father, as the story is told, was making the trek to work, when he spotted a promising pile of garbage. With a few spare moments on his hands, he stopped, only to find a flat, black box. It was the days when he was an avid chess player (I too would belong the chess club not seven years later. I also collected stamps...), and he so hoped it to be a lovely set. Much to his surprise, it was a rather absurd looking set of flatware.

Family tradition was born that day. Each year at Thanksgiving, the set is taken down from the shelf, its heavy silver polished, and each piece set according to proper etiquette (I earned that badge in the Girl Scouts and can say that I set a mean table. Have I ever mentioned my Super Nerd status?).

This year, as always, the "turkey" silverware was set, and we began to ponder its origins. A little Google searching, and I came across this:

Jezzine Ware Ornate Flatware designed and manufactured by the S & S Haddad Company of Lebanon. The cutlery is so well regarded that it has been presented to dignitaries all over the world, a tradition that began in the 18th century with a gift of Jezzine cutlery to Sultans of Oman. The handles are carved from African buffalo horn in a "Firebird" or "Phoenix" pattern with inlaid stones and metals.

What?! Our little trash pickin' set of Thanksgiving flatware is the same as those given to the Sultans of Oman! I don't know who they are, but it surely sounds prestigious. Wouldn't you agree? Why would one just toss this out with the coffee grounds?

How silly some people are.

Meanwhile, we still haven't finalized the dictionary debate.

I love grammar humor.

Check it: The Oatmeal's Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.

An art nouveau fantasy...

I spent the last two days traveling for my day job, and one of my stops was an amazing 1905 bed and breakfast in Ludington, Michigan. The Cartier Mansion was spellbinding with 98% of its floors, walls, furniture, fixtures being original. Imagine my sheer ecstasy when I walked into the library and saw this:

Shut up! Shut. Up. The art history nerd in me was shining, still is shining. This is pure, classic art nouveau, hand painted at the turn of the century. This is a perfect example of Alphonse Mucha's style, the father of art nouveau (which, coincidentally, I was just discussing fervently not three nights ago), a perfect example from when it was reaching its zenith. The 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris burst art nouveau onto the world scene. This is when it was happening!

I have this delicious fantasy that Mucha needed a break from Paris and his Sarah Bernhardt posters and retreated to the quiet lakeside town of Ludington on Michigan's west coast. He ran into the worldly Cartier family, constructing their masterpiece of a home. The Cartiers said "Hey, Alphonse, why not just do a little diddy in our library?" Then this master of design shrugged his shoulders and said sure, as he did not want to get rusty during his retreat...

There's an utterly dorky smile on my face right now. Over the past few years, I've become a Mucha/art nouveau superfan. I even painted a copy of his 1896 Summer for my dad for Christmas last year. Oh, her look is entirely mischievous. I just want to climb in all his paintings and roll around in them.

Actually, that's my response to a lot of things.

Refreshed

With the past few months being entirely dedicated to one project (I'll have complete photos of the AB gown soon), I find myself absolutely refreshed with a new slew of ideas on the drawing board. Namely, the next batch of creations is going to my upcoming (oh gasp, I shan't say it, oh yes, I will) Etsy site. Gah! Rosewood Buttons on Etsy! I'm so excited and well on my way to having things up and running by Thanksgiving.

With all of the positive feedback I received while sporting my circular brick stitch cuff, (I seriously got stopped on the street dozens of times) I'm going to start with a series of dizzying circles. Stay tuned for the madness!

Haunting

Does this photograph capture the ghost of Anne Boleyn stopping in for a visit on Halloween night?

Project 7: Anne Boleyn Gown

The day has finally come, and I'm sitting here in my full Anne Boleyn regalia. Of course, I have misplaced my camera, hence the lack of recent posts. Thus far in my day, I have learned the following things:

1. It's hard to eat oatmeal with trumpet sleeves.
2. Wheely office chairs and full skirts do not mix.
3. You feel awesome when you're dressed up as Anne Boleyn.

I can't believe it's done!