Fall Poinsettia Update!

Well I thought about what to do with the Fall Poinsettias that I created from last year's flowers that had decorated the graves of my forbears, and decided that I wanted to grace them again with their beauty.

So here are the three arrangements I made:

Added to the orange Poinsettias are red Spider Daisies, Fall-colored leaves, and Eucalyptus with a burlap wrap.

Pretty...  :-]

You May See A Pillow Cover...

Front:

 

Back: 

...I see a skirt that's halfway finished already!

Front:

Back: 

.

On a trip to IKEA in Atlanta with my daughter we ended up in the damaged/discontinued/sale area. A huge bin of... what I will call "pre-sewn" fabrics... yielded this pillow cover that I thought would make a pretty cute skirt for her. it already had a zipper on the side, and was just the right measurements, both sideways and lengthwise. It *might* have cost $3.

Since this was a project for normal wear and not the stage, a little more care would be required to deconstruct and reconstruct this piece. For costuming, I would simply seam-rip the top and bottom, dart the top to waist-size (or use elastic), and hem the bottom.

Normal wear requires much the same process, but I will be finishing the top with facing, shortening the side zipper to a more manageable length, and completing the hem and side seams with side slits.

Now to the step-by-step...

First, the top of the zipper needs to open, so I seam-ripped from the zipper top to the top seam.

Notice there are no metal "stoppers" on this zipper that keep the slide from coming off, so it helps to safety-pin the two sides together to keep the slide from coming off...  ask me how I know this...  no, on second thought, DON'T ask me how I know this...

Next I seam-ripped the top and bottom seams. 

Since this was sewn with an industrial sewing machine, it had those serger-finished seams and the resulting thread mess was impressive.  Here is where a lint-roller came in handy.

I then made darts in the fabric where the top of the skirt would be so that the resulting measurement around the top was the same as the measurement of just below her waist. (I used to have a 24" waist too...  when I was 10...)

Because pillow cover zippers extend the entire length of the pillow and skirts don't, I wanted to shorten the length of the zipper for ease of use. I love my seam-ripper...

Rip first, re-sew the seam next, then secure the bottom of the zipper by sewing over the zipper, and trim.

I thought some shallow side seam slits would be cute and functional.

With the darts done, I wanted to make a facing to finish the top. Basically, tracing over the top of the skirt with paper works well.

I chose black because...  well.....  okay, I lied, black was what I had on hand, and it wasn't going to be seen anyway, so there.  :-p  I put what would be the open side of the facing on the selvage edge of the facing fabric because I didn't want it to ravel and I didn't want to hem it.

After sewing the facing to the top edge and flipping it, I secured the open edges to the top of the zipper so the slide would not come off again... uh, would not come off at all.  That's what I meant to say...  yeah.

 I always like to topstich my facing down in place.

And again, here it is!  Can’t wait to get it on her for a fitting.

I also bought a pillowcase…  ;-]

Fall Poinsettias

Happy first day of Autumn!

I don't know if it is because I was a child of the Seventies or what, but I do love the fall colors when the season comes around. Oranges, rusts, golds and yellows...  Living in Florida, however, does limit the amount of *natural* fall colors that come into my life.  So I'm relegated to finding somewhat artificial ways of introducing the pallet into everyday life.

After gathering up the tired, worn Christmas poinsettias from the family gravesites last year, I had stuck them in a plastic trash bag (and promptly forgot about them) where I thought I might somehow spruce them up and recycle them this year--Florida, wet, hot, mildew, sun-fading, yuk!  haha!  Still where there is a will, there is a way, and I decided to spray-paint them in fall colors. Looking on the net produced nothing, so I felt the grave (haha!) responsibility of producing a how-to of my project...  um... IF it turned out.

I think it did, so here ya go!

Before...

After...

An empty box served as a paint station.  Wanting to keep the flowers in their bouquets, I isolated each stem through the box flaps.  A paper towel ripped halfway up the center further isolated the flowers from the leaves.

I simply spray painted the flower with orange.  Initially, I used brown on the tips and center, then experimented with yellow, but with this project, I determined less is more.

                                                    (^^^awesome action shot!!!^^^)

Turns out the mildew stains and sun-fading actually enhanced the look of the finished product, and all I did besides the orange was a spot of gold on the center cyathia (<<million dollar word!)

If you are a Glitter Girl, then of course, there is one more step to go before displaying your Fall poinsettias.  Go for it!  But me, not so much, so I'm good to go.

Here is a fun website with information on the real poinsettia plant: Poinsettia Facts

I believe I have indeed produced the very first orange poinsettia! Now how to use it in my decorating... Any suggestions?  :-]

Have a great fall season!

Mischief Managed...

So after a three-year long hiatus where children were married, graduated, launched, received, launched again, established, well-wished, celebrated, etc.... and dogs...  many dogs.  I'm BAAA-AAACK!  Details about all that later, but I am somewhat re-purposed in my day-to-day dealings, and have decided to write about what is new and happening now.

I am still costuming for the high school from where my children are *now* all graduated. (WOW!)  Past productions have included The Great Gatsby, The Three Musketeers (fave!), R&H's Cinderella, Footloose, Robin Hood, and many others. Currently going up this fall is "Night of the Living Dead", based on the classic 1968 movie, and subsequently costumed in all "black and white", as the movie was filmed. I love the 1968 styles, so am having fun with that.  The spring musical is "The Addams Family"  ...funfunfun!!!

I have opened an Etsy shop called "PiecesofEighths" featuring small quilt and sewing items--baby quilts, wallhangings, coffee cozies, gift bags, etc. I will be putting up some Halloween-themed items later this week.

I have continued the search and documentation of my family genealogy, and recently attended the 300th Family Reunion and Conference for the Germanna Foundation this past July in Culpeper, VA.  Turns out I am descended from one of the original 12 families that made the trip to Virginia in 1714 to establish a mining colony for Governor Spotswood.  I am a Holtsclaw-Otterbach descendant!  :-]

From my love of genealogy and a passion for cemeteries, a determination to document gravesites for Find-A-Grave has blossomed. I used to think that *every* grave in America had already been put up on FindAGrave.  How wrong I was!  Many of the very large cemeteries have not been completely documented because of the sheer size and numbers, and many of the smaller (particularly African-American) cemeteries have not been completely archived. I am trying to do my part when I can to remedy this.  I have also been able to document many sites in the small Tennessee County where we have land. This brings me joy, and keeps my own hope alive that one day those ancestors of mine that are not yet found will be put up by some kind soul.

So it's good to be back!  I hope I can be more consistent, and have interesting things to share. Onward!

More Carolyn

I know it may seem like I only have one child... or that Carolyn must be my favorite because she is all I write about lately, but the truth is she is the one that is being particularly *active* lately. She graduated from high school, went through bartending school (along with Melinda--yay!), and has been submitting for restaurant jobs, and auditioning for indie films, student films and modeling shows ever since.

In August she will be moving to Tampa to share an apartment with Melinda to be closer to where most of such jobs are, and closer to Sarasota, where she is cast in one film, the super-natural thriller, "Line of Descent" (a popular genre these days). This film was formerly named "The Witching Hours", and I love the name change! It better describes the storyline, and doesn't sound so "trick or treat". In this film Carolyn plays "Raisa", a young witch well-read and well-versed in her craft. Here is the website for "Line of Descent".  Here is her Character Page from the website: 

"Line of Descent" will be fund-raising on IndieGoGo.com in the near future.

Carolyn was cast a couple of weeks ago in another indie film being shot in Jacksonville called "Girl of My Dreams". She was cast originally as a speaking extra (two lines), but was taken aside at rehearsal last week and told they were going to write a bigger more featured part for her because they liked her screen-tests so much. (We're hoping that she gets a name, not just "Gossip Girl" haha!) This film is currently fund-raising on IndieGoGo.

At the moment she is driving to Orlando to audition for a student film being produced at Full Sail, a college devoted to the entertainment arts. In general, I have heard that if you submit for 100 roles, you may get 10 responses, and then out of those ten, you may get 1 call-back. So far she has beat those odds in acting, but has yet to land a modeling job. She is only 5'3", so runway is kind of out of the realm, but I would think that she might have a shot at print.  What do you think?

These were from a recent "high fashion" shoot in Orlando.

In order to be taken seriously in auditioning for film, she needs to have a few clips on what is called a "reel" (like a portfolio). We are hoping that these films will produce work that showcases her talent and will fit well on her reel. Carolyn has passion for her chosen career, and passion for the people she will eventually work with, and I have no doubt she will be successful. She knows that God is in control of her path, and knows that the "mission field" she has chosen will be challenging, but is oh, so needy!

Prayers up, please! :-]

Youtube...

Hey!  Just thought I'd let you know that I have a Youtube Channel with a few of Carolyn's latest performance snippets uploaded...

TheLloydChannel

Enjoy!

Milestone Event!

~Carolyn~

~~~

is graduating from

Buchholz High School

June 3rd, 2011

~

Thank you for your love and support!

That's a Thespian Bear on her head.

No, she's not dramatic...