Monday, April 30, 2012

Flower Girl Dresses

Hi friends,
I promised a couple of posts ago to share photos of flower girl dresses I made for a private consignment. They have been shipped,
 and I snapped a few pics to share.
There are three flower girls:
Above are two of the dresses: they are sundress style - made from antique pillowcases with 3 inch satin ribbons that tie on the shoulders, and embellished with vintage doilies.
The second and third dresses:
and a baby dress for a 6 month old to match the older girls.
The bride also commissioned a matching dress to wear
 on her tropical honeymoon.
The yoke is a vintage crocheted piece
A wide sash ties behind.
The little girls are wearing white ballet slippers. I think they will look so cute!
What are you working on??
Love, Linda

Thursday, April 26, 2012

A season . . .

To everything there is a season . . .

To most people amaryllis mean Christmas - those big red trumpets nestled in an evergreen centerpiece.

I've had mine for several years - the first time they bloomed, I cut the stems off and let them die down as instructed, then stuck them in the fridge and brought them out in November. But they have gradually reverted to their natural growing pattern. After leaving them out all summer, I got tired of taking them inside and dealing with the floppy leaves and just stuck the pots next to the wall. They stayed there all winter, then started with a green bud in early April. This year I let them dry out and stuck them in the greenhouse - unheated this year to save oil.
They LOVED it.
I think they love blooming at their normal time.
A little bone meal is fed when the leaves come out. Then, they go outside.
Happy Spring!!
Love, Linda

Friday, April 20, 2012

Pillowcase Dresses

I have been busy busy sewing and have 4 new pillowcase dresses to toot my own horn about. They all all sized 4 to 6 and measure about 20 inches wide by 20 to 24 inches long. All listed in my etsy shop, along with some new bonnets! I also just finished a commission for 3 flower girl dresses, a matching 6 mo. size  baby dress, and a dress for the bride-to-be to wear on her honeymoon - I'll post photos of those next time. 
I'm dying to get back to my white-on-white cloth!

Without further ado . . .
And my favorite:
Don't you wish you were still a little girl??
Love, Linda

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Growing Things

Every day, more green things are poking up
and blooming
I just keep wandering around my yard and snapping photos of the trees and flowers waking up.
New changes every day!
Well, did you buy cookies????
Potting soil??!! I can't eat potting soil!!
Go outside and take a deep breath! Love, Linda

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Decoupaged Fireplace Screen

It's made of pressed fiberboard. Not good for a real fire in the 'place.'
 But it was free.
I don't use that fireplace because it's a doggie safe space.
I wanted to experiment and I had all these illustrations from
 Country Homes mag.
I wanted to avoid cleaning the bathroom.
So, I put down some newspaper and painted it with gesso.


Pasted down the photos with matte gel. Smoothed them out with fingers since my brayer has collected "stuff" and no longer brays smoothly.
 

 Rubbed it over with sable brown and honey brown paint.
 Rubbed the edges with gold, coated with another layer of matte gel and all done!


What are you working on?? Love, Linda