I Hope That This Will be a Teenage Dream

This is for a young girl just becoming a "Teenager" (she is my Great grand niece). Her birthday is this Friday. The fabric was given to me and it is an Acrylic with silver metallic threads. I used a top gathered piece which layers over the body of the skirt and underneath there is a skirt of silver lame'. My camera will not pick up the beauty of the lame'. I put in a pocket instead of a zipper and I think that that makes it more interesting. To finish the edges, I used black gros grain.
One of the things I experienced was how heat sensitive that the fabric is. Initially, as I was ironing out the wrinkles, I practically melted the fabric. The iron was on the "silk" setting. Fortunately it was at the beginning of the cut!
This is a close up of the fabric. I like the fabric. My main concern is, will she?

New Photographer on the Scene

This is Penelope. Annie, my great niece took this photo. Penelope looks a little cautious but she is holding her ground. I thought it was a very fine photo, capturing the beauty as well as the caution of Penelope.
Annie is 10 years old and has been handling her Mother's camera since she was three. Oh course there is a lot of experimentation that goes on, which is a fine teaching aid. But she does a lot of good solid work.
I think that this is terrific! I am going to hire her for future work.

And Beauty Surrounds You

My Darling Niece and her daughter, Sweet Annie, came down over the weekend. We have been busy every moment. Not a minute was spared. We lived and breathed the "rare" air of art and artistry.
Here they are out on the portico at the Getty Villa in Malibu. This magnificent museum was built to show the intense interest that J. Paul Getty had for early art. Art that has survived from the the countries and cities that abounded in the Mediterranean going back to prehistoric up to the fall of Rome. All of the flooring, up to the ceilings were accurate to the times. Every item used in the buildings reflected those times.
There is a wonderful amphitheater that we sat in and basked in the sun. There were people at the bottom of the amphitheater (where the actors would be) and their voices carried all the way up. This is a sculpture of a toddler satyr playing with a "drama" mask. Looking through the eye socket of the mask you could see his face. On his back side is a very short beginnings of a tail. Charming doesn't cover the wonderfulness of the statue. But my brain is still in overload. The magnificence of the Getty Villa has to be seen.
This is one of the "Wishing Ponds". The water is ever circulating. It comes over the edge to cross to the opposite side and slowly slides down the wall.
This is a Roman garden with a reflecting pool that is about 100 feet long. The statue is another satyr but this one is a youth. There is a portico that surrounds the pool. The floor of the portico is a replica of one in ancient Rome. All of stones for the floor mosaic are a duplicate the original floor. Every turn of a path or new room entered, held something new to inspect and enjoy.
A day later went went to the Tim Burton exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This time all of the children went.
This is how we entered. It was a beautifully constructed exhibit. The visitor got to see how Tim Burton started and carried forth his ideas of whimsy. That word, whimsy, is really too light a word to use with a Tim Burton work. However, since the subject matter is not representational, I cannot find a better word. The children shivered and enjoyed it all.
My Darling Niece put make up on Annie and Lucy similar to the Burton characters. They loved feeling a part of the show.
These ever changing air balloons were at the end of the show.
Somehow my darling Hollis felt out of sync with the girls but I think he enjoyed the show most.

It was a very special visit.

Visiting Museums is very thrilling and inspiring to me and I now get back to reality and use what inspired me.

Annie is Coming!

Annie is coming at the end of the week. Lucy thinks the world of Annie. I thought it would be fun to make "matching" pajamas. I made Lucy's first and she got hers when she was here this last weekend. he didn't want to take it off!
Now Annie is coming and they will both be "twins".
The fabric was purchased at FIDM. It is the same fabric as "wife beater" undershirts. It is very light and both girls have a very high thermostat and keeping them covered at night is difficult. With this fabric, they will be comfortable.
I did have immense amount of pleasure sewing the pajamas. It is wonderful to have two little girls to sew for!
The pattern for the top was from one my Darling Niece had come up with and the bottoms are from a suggestion that I saw here.
I like to decorate my darling Chester if he decides that he has to sleep on my cutting table.
Now, my next project is for my nephew's daughter. I have something very special planned. And best of all, it should fun for me .

An Evening Purse or Afternoon Tea

Finally, I have completed this journey. Life has away of imposing itself on one's time. So many other items imposed themselves on me that I am forming a protest.
This is my ribbon purse. The Indian ribbon had originally held mirrors. I removed them because I did not think it appropriate for the image that I had in mind. The Magenta and gold ribbon I backed with red and green bias tape. All this was sewn together by hand. I am finding that I do enjoy hand sewing. It gives the mind time to inspect the parts have been neglected and need an adjustment.

This is a close up of the Indian ribbon that I so enjoy.

I have lined the purse with what I call Pumpkin Spice Silk. When I first saw this fabric, I wanted to dive into the color and lose my self in it.

I will now start another project, not a purse. Although I have already decided what it will be and I await the time I can begin.

Wound Up Like Wire

I was stopped by Chester, who was soundly asleep. He was in a little ball and I was admiring his flexibility. By the time that I retrieved the camera, he was just waking up.
He didn't appreciate the interruption of his afternoon nap.
This is my next project. I am sewing ribbons together by hand. It takes a lot of time and most of all patience. I am still teaching my self not to hurry. This is going to be a clutch bag. It is loud and brassy but fun!

Hollis and the Main Librarian

This is Hollis. He is missing his two front teeth. He has an adorable lisp. All that aside, he is very inquisitive. He is the type of child that you might want to put a leash on just to keep your sanity.
Saturday they came to my house and we were going to have "quality" time together. Among the other places we went to, we went to the library to collect videos that they would watch. Just as you walk into the library there is a large table with used books to buy. We all stopped to look and see if we could find treasures. Lucy and I were going through every book and my attention had a glitch and dropped out for a second. I looked up and I could not see Hollis. This is not that big of a library, so I started to panic. I asked Lucy if she knew where Hollis was. No!.
Now I really had to go into action mode.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the main Librarian walking toward her information desk. She had a Major scowl on her face. I could not see behind her desk because she has two (2) computers there. In not so quiet of a voice she said "Where is your mother?" I rushed over there and lo! and behold! there was Hollis trying to get on the Lego site to play a game. I apologize and pulled Hollis away. Gave him and urgent talking to and then he went to give her a mumbled an apology. Me, poking him in the back, "Louder"!. " I'm sorry". Then the main Librarian became friendly and asked if this was my grandson? "Yes, he really likes computers", I mumbled.
What is it about Libraries and head Librarians that make me feel humble. Is it all the late books that I returned as a child? Or is it the head Librarians telling my mother and grandmother that I had late books still out?
Oh, my guilty conscious!