Personal Costume Designer

I work a lot with dance wear in my job and have also worked on a few "Cirque Du Soilel" style shows over the years that I have worked in theatre. This has put me in a unique position for my niece... She took up gymnastics last year and loves it. However, like me she has her own ideas about things and knows what she wants in a gymnastics leotard. My sister couldn't find what my niece wanted....

So, guess who got roped in as Ezri-May's personal costume designer?! Me, of course. Now , as it turns out I quite like the job and my client is always happy with whatever designs I come up with! This one below is my latest creation and I am sure it will be the first of many... Just wait until she gets into aerial work!!!

 
 

 

Art: Fallen Princesses

A while ago I wrote about Thomas Czarnekis's collection From Enchantment Down. Today I found another photo collection on similar lines.

Dina Goldstein has created the photo series Fallen Princesses that looks at what happens after Happily Ever After. What did happen to our heroines after we closed the book?

Goldstein used real life situations that were afflicting the people around her - health issues, family issues, people struggling at life - and applied them to the endings of well known fairy tales.

Here Snow White copes with family life. Belle struggles to keep her beauty. Jasmine fights for her country and Rapunsel suffers from illness. These are just a few of her images - the ones I found most poinient personally. If our princesses were real people how would they cope in the real world? It makes me think about reality, mortality and longevity. Stunning! Check out the rest of Dina's work at www.fallenprincesses.com

 
 
 

 

On With The New!

Hello!

I know it's been pretty quiet around here and that's because it's been a very busy year here at Salvaged Muntiny Towers! Work stuff has kept me away from the fun crafting but that doesn't mean creativity hasn't happened. So I was having a little think... Maybe I need to start posting about more than my craft stuff.

Most notably this year I was the wardrobe supervisor for Norwegian Cruise Line's production of Rock Of Ages (yeah, the Broadway show!). I was also Wig Supervisor which was a new role for me - fun, exciting but stressful!

 The next leg of my adventure this year is to become the Wardrobe Supervisor on Legally Blonde. More busy times ahead but I plan to give you a little insight into it so stay tuned!!

Twilight in Paris

In January there was a stitch-a-long on Instagram based on Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching patterns. I hadn't realised how prolific the craft movement is on Instagram until then so thought it would be a good time to join in. Also, I've wanted to stitch the Sad Valentine pattern for a while now. It reminds me of the Twilight in Paris music video from the 80s cartoon Jem & The Holograms.... Yes, yes I'm a bit Jem obsessed lately.... sue me :-)

So I altered the pattern a bit, pulled out some funky pink and neon threads and stitched along:

I decided to frame it with a fabric wrapped hoop in neon pink, a very Jem colour! It now has pride of place on my wall above my framed Jem posted (see...obsessed!!)

If you want to see everyone else's Stitch-A-Long look up #sublimestitchingsal on Instagram for some stitchy goodness!

Women of Influence

Goodness! It has been a while since I posted but I have had so many projects, crafty and otherwise, on the go that I've got a bit behind. I've been working on family tree research, which has taken up quite a bit of my time and is very interesting. At some point I will have to share some of the best bits here. I have also been doing a little bit of stitching, the first piece of which I will share with you now.

My Women of Influence quilt square will be part of my Feminist Statement quilt.... when I finish it! It's one of those WIPs that goes on forever.... but I digress. Looking back at my childhood I have noticed many things that had shaped who I am today. Two of these things are She-Ra and Jem from Jem and the Holograms. Though both of these women are only cartoon characters I think they influenced my a lot - strong women who know what they want. She-Ra helps those in need and Jem has a fabulous wardrobe haha! So they both had to feature on my quilt. I wanted them to be on the same square as they are from the same era and the same media.

I've had the image of this square in my head and sketched out in my sketchbook for a while but finally got the chance to realise it now. I used a simple back stitch so the colours and the image itself were the main focus.

I used only three strands of thread at the most for the main outlines then striped down to one or two strands for the details and features. I'm always concerned about how facial features come out in my stitching but I think these came out ok.

This was a pretty simple embroidery piece but I think it will be one of my favourites in the quilt when it is completed!

More Jem embroidery to come!!!