Frozen dress!

I really like the movie Frozen.  The Broadway-style songs are great, and it's an interesting change that there's no real "bad guy" (well, there is towards the end, but that's almost an aside).  My kidlet loves it, and so does every other child, it seems.  Mine thankfully wants Anna's dress (thanks, Spoonflower!) - pleated cotton and embroidered suedette I can happily do.  All the other kids, however, want Elsa's snow queen dress.  I've had three orders for one, and made a fourth for trial of fabrics and patterns.

You must pose with a crown if you're a queen.

JoAnn's wisely has all the ice-blue shiny fabrics pulled on a display table.

Size 3-4 is a bit large on a toddler.

Simplicity gets the Disney contracts, but McCall's made the pattern first, so it's called "Winter Princess," delightfully.  Other unofficial Frozen-inspired products from other companies also have silly names to avoid trademark issues - at Sparkle Skirts it's "big sister" and "little sister".

The odd underarm cape certainly met with her approval.

Hadn't made an attached cape from the yoke (rather than neck) before, and I rather like it - it doesn't pull at the neckline at all, especially as it attaches around past the arms (as in the movie, though I'll likely move it a little further out - this pattern comes perhaps a bit too far in).

The finished product, ready for Etsy if anyone wants it - if nobody wants it in a year, kidlet will have grown into it!

Made with spangly stretchy stuff, costume satin skirt, shiny organza cape, and a nice chiffon for the sleeves.

I'm glad I did the trial run - these spangles are all glued on and it did a number on my machine - needles get gummy, thread won't glide along gummy needles... I've got a metallic crinkle overlay for the other dresses!

Zipper and big placket in the back.  I may alter the placket a bit for the subsequent dresses.

One round of fray-y shiny sparkles down, three to go!

Available here.

Green miniature book

Again, blurry dying-camera shot, but you can see my little book's structure.  Case bound, linen resume paper, headbands from France, paper from odds and ends lying about... very fun little blank book.

I like this paper - it looks and feels like snakeskin.

Love the way the marbled paper turned out in such a tiny segment.

My hands look so big!  It's about an inch across and 1 1/2 or maybe 1 3/4 inches tall.  It, like the red one, is available in my shop.

Letterpress

I did it -- I got Simplesong's letterpress trial!

So excited! I love looking at letterpress stuff online, but have never gotten any ... just bouncing with anticipation now!

Mr. Monkeysuit's Shop

Mr. Monkeysuit has a shop with very cute, very cheap, and very fun things ... and an adorable moustachioed acorn logo! Go check it out!

Book fair update

Well, it was a success ... and cleared me out! My shop now has only one item left ... must restock! But it was so much fun to meet real people and get reassurance that people do want my work. Also, as others have said (but can't find the link now), I feel bad about putting something a bit wonky on Etsy, with a glue smudge, or with slightly warped covers, or just not quite as good as I'd like, but I have no qualms about selling it in person - they've already seen it and judged it worthwhile. While I spent half my earnings buying a Mrs. Molesworth book and a journal from the girl next to me, I did make enough to pay for a nice dinner -- and that makes me overjoyed.

And the few things I didn't sell? A few are going in the shop once I take more pictures, and the rest I rather wanted to keep as presents (like the metallic books below), so everything's grand.

Have a great day, all!
(stock photo, but mmmm looks nice!)

Silver and Gold Metallic Sketchbooks

Here's a pair of fun ones. My little cousin has taken up sketching, so one of these will be for her. I'm putting both up for sale, so whichever one doesn't sell first!

I used lovely drawing paper for the signatures of these coptic-stitched books (the silver one 4"x5", and the gold one some smaller proportion -- forgot to measure. Possibly 2.5"x4"...), and burgundy #10 crochet thread for the sewing.

The lighting's terrible in these shots (the black background really absorbs light -- must go back to my shiny wood floor), but it's a slightly textured silver metallic paper on the left, and a smooth and very shiny gold paper on the right.

The insides were fun to choose (I love matching things, especially since it often entails seeing which of my small pieces of scrap will fit!)...

The silver book has a lovely swirly-textured ever-so-slightly-lilac silver feathery-looking paper, and the gold book has a faux-leather black cardstock that just seemed to suit it.

I'll be at the Book Fair at the Museum of Printing History on November 8, and both of these should be available then.

Etsy notes

I have a secret admirer! That's much more entertaining than I thought it would be. And I've learned that, while it's fun to "heart" something you're debating buying, just like leaving it on your wish list somewhere else, it doesn't save you from the disappointment when someone else buys it (had been looking at Rhonda's leather scraps, as they'd have been fun for an edition binding of something small... perhaps a collection of Alcott/Montgomery/Wiggin short stories (I like late-Victorian uplifting stories for young ladies), or some such... but dawdled too long).

And I've made more earrings (they get better with time), as well as another lovely little coptic (well, twice the size of the silver-purple paisley one, but still small), and I'm learning to rejoice in so many glorious colors. Photos when I get around to it!

Silvery-purple-paisley coptic minibook

This is such fun paper -- the purple is very deep and rich and flimsy-feeling, and the silver's all shiny and lovely and happy. This is the first time it occurred to me to use my colored crochet thread, and I'm very pleased with the way it accentuates the spine.

First Post!

I am pleased to announce that after much inspiration from such people as Rhonda and Tulibri, I am now starting my own Etsy shop! More pictures, descriptions, and details of what I'm working on to come.

I work with books professionally, but not in a creative fashion, so it's been delightful to make my own books for once. I've been knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, tatting, etc. all my life (no embroidery -- I have to know exactly where things go!), and have also been in love with books all my life, so the conjunction of crafting and books thrills me to no end.

Thanks for stopping by!