For the contemporary dance portion of the snow scene in Nutcracker I'm making pants. But I really didn't want to take the time to make proper gaucho pants so I decided on wrap pants

http://laupre.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/easy-breezy-wrap-pants-tutorial/

I ended up using this brilliant wrap pants tutorial to figure out how. The pattern is so easy! Although I'm discovering that one side of the pattern needs to be about 2" taller to accommodate tush room.

Also a key detail; belt loops. Do not underestimate the way loops make wrap pants fit.

artist-a-day Jill Sylvia

I am quite simply amazed at the patience this woman has to exacto out all of those tiny little rectangles to make the delicate ledger lace and mosaics. Some of her work makes me feel like there is message behind the delicate pieces of paper that our world is built upon.

How beautiful a clean slate is. And how fragile our finical existence will forever be.

All images  were taken from the artists website which can be found by going to http://jillsylvia.com/index.html

Holy busy Cow batman!

Holidays and Nutcarcker? Yep, I'm busy. But I'm learning how to make pants :)

http://www.ehow.com/how_2268565_drawstring-pants-shorts-that-fit.html

Glorious Glitter Glamour

After far too much glitter and a lot of spray glue the crown now exists :)

On the other hand the cord that connects my camera to the computer seems to no longer exist. FAIL.

For some reason I'm obsessed with the snow queen more than anything else

http://finalfashion.ca/project-snow-queen-dress-and-crown-in-process/

 This crown is brilliant!!!!! http://finalfashion.ca/project-snow-queen-dress-and-crown-in-process/

http://infantprincess.com/princess-tieras-and-wands/

Although that's a little more elegant than I want. I'm going more towards a collage of glitter and snowflakes... Cute and sparkly that's my nutcracker :)

http://belindaschneider.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/ws-snowflake-kisses/

Closer...

http://family.go.com/images/cms/disney/queen-clarions-christmas-crown-photo-260-cl-000A.jpg

 Even Closer...

 And here is my crown design, although I'm sure some more shiny baubles will find their way on there. :)

Artist a day, Jason de Caires Taylor

Another artist found through artist a day http://www.artistaday.com/?p=3605

This artist is absolutely fantastic! He creates underwater sculptures and then leaves them there until the ocean starts to reclaim them. Its brilliant really, what makes the art of the past so stunning? Their history. Well, it's part of it anyway. Knowing that a work has survived decades of people and war and can still stop viewers in their tracks partly because of what it's been through. What better way to fake history then by making it look aged? And quite frankly, there is no better artist than mother nature when it comes to time and decay.

before Mother Nature

After

You should definably check out his work. http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp

I can totally foresee a use of these images. Possibly in my design of Into The Woods this spring :). How? I dunno yet...

In honor of my good friend TK's Birthday

here is some random information about the history of birthdays:

Birthday Time!!!

image found at http://www.piewacketblog.com/journal/2010/4/9/kawaii-mini-giveaway.html

Happy Birthday my dear!

Halloween for realzie this time :)

Both parties I went to were lots of fun and full to the brim with  awesome people. And both cases I must thank my hosts for a much needed evening off.

As far as the costume goes; the hair was actually all my own, wrapped around Styrofoam cones then hair tied and bobby pinned into complete submission. I found that it was waaaaay easier to get it all up there when my hair was wet. So if ever you want to make elaborate hair sculpture without the gels and sprays, start with wet hair.

 The rest was mildly organized and distressed silk for the skirt and shawl. The shawl was an impromptu thing-- spare fabric that I wrapped around myself for warmth. Black tights, a leather corset, lovely mask, and a "sexy maid" dress make up the rest. Dear Halloween, thank you for giving me an excuse to dress even stranger than normal. Much love, Jeanette.

 

These pictures are thanks to Miss Kellyann Mikowski.

Halloween

As I'm going to a belated Halloween party this upcoming weekend, the second round with this costume is going to be much better. I'll actually have time to finish distressing and do all of the make-up I wanted to do. So here's a teaser pic of my Halloween costume, round 1:

Also, the idea was she-devil-- venetian style ;)

Artist a day

igoogle has this wonderful app called "artist a day" and it introduces you to, you guessed it, a new artist everyday. I've found so much inspiring artwork this way.

Today's artist is Ingri Haraldsen, a Norwegian artist with a sort of dark twisted way of drawing. My favorites are the ones that are almost like children's book illustrations-- but with something a little off about them.

check out more on her website!

BTWz

Poetz corner-- I can't wait until next Tuesday so I can go again! But if you're like me and didn't get a chance to go last week. here's the show :)
http://www.accesstv.org/Network%20Channels/Channel%205/Poetz%20Corner.htm

And once again, I can breath!

Hello friends!

The last couple weeks have been pretty crazy. I've been living inside the Katter theater while getting everything done for the wooden sword. (pics soon!) The show's going to be pretty good. :) While in the thick of things it was hard to see the end result, but now that the costumes have joined the scene (designed by Ashley Fong) and the orchestra is here the show feels ... right. And I've actually been enjoying the dress rehearsals.

It's been stressful getting all of the furniture together and making scabbards and painting unexpected seating for the orchestra. But-- now that it's almost done- I'm really quite proud of our big little opera. And a good show always make the stress worth it.

Now that the sword is almost gone, I'm soooo ready to get a jump on the nutcracker!!! Sparkles and slippers and masks! All so wonderful after the rough and dirty wooden sword. :)