How do I make time to blog???

Well, I really haven't taken time to write my blog for quite some time. Work, life all those things keep a girl busy! And creating? Well, I haven't done much of that lately, just bits and pieces here and there. So, this little note is just to say that I haven't disappeared from the face of Mother Earth. I'm still here, and still designing in my mind all the time. So I will be sharing my creations again soon.

So, get in touch! I miss you!
Jamie

Squeezing in Some Design Time

Summertime is my super busy time at work. I work in production at concerts in the Bay Area, and we're having a great season. My main gig is at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga as production runner. It's great to be fully emplyed, but hard on a creative chick like me who can't seem to make time to make stuff, so I decided to start taking my Magic Bunny (she's my silly stuffed bunny) to work with me. Over the past week I sneaked an hour and decorated a pair of Charmed Life Day of the Dead style hi-tops for her and they are adorable!

Well naturally, Magic Bunny has to have cute Day of the Dead outfits to wear them with, right? So yesterday as I headed out the door I grabbed my wardrobe assistant sewing kit, my scraps, beads & sequins bag and a piece of fabric featuring dancing skeletons. During my standby time I started designing a little Cha-Cha dress for my bunny, and put it together over the course of my day. It's a feel-good project for me!  Here she is modelling at my "desk" in the crew room.

Here's Magic Bunny backstage with Marcello & Chris, touring  guys with the Goo Goo Dolls. The guys thought she was so cute. I'm just really glad they didn't think I was off my rocker!

So here's one more shot of Magic Bunny, my little stuffed alter-ego, conveying my feelings,
"I want a road trip! Let's go on vacation!" I'll be bringing my design bag along the rest of the week, and try to make a few more pieces. It's a productive way to pass my stand-by time, and it fulfills my need to create something fun. Who knows, maybe there's somebody else out there with a Build-A-Bear friend who'd like for me to make them a little outfit... 

Excitement, Frustration and Discombobulation!

I'm getting a lot of great reaction to my work and lots of interest from friends and friends of friends who want to have cardies and kicks of their own. Exciting, right? Well, yes, of course it is! Wonderful and fabulous even!

At the same time my jobs are keeping me really busy, also a good thing. However it's a bit frustrating because I need time to put into my designs, which of course, are very time intensive. 

Several friends are interested in a pair of hi-tops. Steve is waiting patiently for a pair of custom kicks that have just not come together in the design center of my mind.

I keep thinking about all these pieces and maybe I'm getting a bit discombobulated trying to figure everything out. I'm sure other designers have experienced the same type of concerns so I'm not all alone in this, right?

I just want to say, if you're waiting for something from me, I'm working on it, even if it doesn't really appear that way. Thanks for your patience!




Lisa in her birthday gift!

 

Lisa Rocks her

Lucky Cardie!

Lisa loves her new cardie. She calls it her "Lucky Sweater". She wore it to class on her birthday and her teacher let her go home and take her birthday night off! That first night, she wore it with jeans. Next she wore it to the office with a pencil skirt and dress pumps. She gets compliments whenever she wears her cardie, but I think her personal fabulosity has something to do with that!

My Marty Cardie

Don't get me wrong, I love my violet cardigan, but everybody needs a few options in the closet, right? I decided it was time to make a new top for myself, especially because I just adore this little flower coifed skull motif. She's just so cheery and cute! I used her on Cynders' kicks and fell in love.

I've been asked why I like using the  Day of the Dead theme so much. You know, we all live with death every day. Everyone at some time or other has lost someone important in their life. I can't count the number of conersations I've had with each of my grandparents, my dad and my brother since they've passed over. My great grandmother Carrie Leona Miles Shumake, we all called her Marty, (even her children did!) loved to wear beautiful hats. For a Texas farm wife she was quite the fashion plate! These two little skulls remind me of Marty and Daddy George, and make me feel  so happy whenever I see them! I enjoy this little connection to them.

Here's the back detail of the Marty Cardie. Flowers for joy and life, bluebirds singing happily and butterflies for rebirth and regeneration.

The photo below shows the early part of the applique process. I baste the skull motif in place, then outline it by stitching tiny black beads around the motif.

Cynders' Kicks "In Action"

Cynders sent me this picture of her "Too Cool for School" hi-tops in "action" in her classroom yesterday. Don't you wish Cynders was your middle school teacher?

New Lavender Cardie

Well yes, I stayed up half the night and then slept half the day, but I finished the lavender cardie I was working on last night, and it's very cute! It's a size 18-20, same size and style as the turquoise one shown in the "How to Wash a Cardie" photo. I changed out the buttons it came with for some pretty multicoloured shell buttons. I just love this cardie!

Working After Midnight!



 

Sitting up late tonight, listening to the great sixties girl groups and singers on YouTube while stitching a new cardie. The past few days it's become pretty clear to me that I need to get a rack full made up! My sister Kathleen and I hit a couple of my favorite second hand shops (it's really called "junking") today where I was fortunate to collect ten great cardigans to work with. They're all washed and clean and ready to work on, so here I am. Just my little queen cat, The Shangri-Las, Pet Clark, The Marvelettes and me. And Patsy Cline. She's the real deal! What I would've given to have Patsy wear one of my cardies!

So, maybe you'll give the Girls a listen, and wish me well in my quest to construct a collection!