The Ivory Bonnet

I am happy to let you know that the ivory bonnet took a trip to New York and has been invited to live there permanently. I know she will be happy there in her new life. I will now have to create a new one to take her place.

A MORE POSITIVE THOUGHT

I AM POSTING AN IMAGE OF SOMETHING I FINALLY FINISHED,after a long time.
I do not have something that I want as a backdrop yet. BUT! I am posting this image to make up for not getting anything else done so far today.
I know this one piece, mostly upcycled cocoon is looking pretty wintery, but colder weather will be here before you know it.
Let me know what you think of this newborn cocoon. I kind of like the figure eight that allows the hands to be seen. What do you think?

NOT YET

I HAVE NOT CREATED A SINGLE THING TODAY!
MAYBE AFTER WORK TONIGHT.
THIS SHOULD NOT STOP THE REST OF YOU FROM BEING PRODUCTIVE.
LET MY LACK OF ACCOMPLISHMENT BE AN INSPIRATION TO YOU ALL.

DESIGNING AGAIN

HELLO EVERYONE.
Although I normally make newborn infant cocoons for my Etsy store, I have made bonnets..
Recently, I am getting some attention concerning those bonnets that I made.

I made a couple of them to see how the public would respond. I had a few inquiries about them, but not much more, until now.
Yesterday I accepted a challenge to create a new bonnet in a big hurry. I am posting 3 images of the finished bonnet.

The main body of this bonnet is ivory dupioni silk, it is lined in a lighter weight silk. The flowers are vintage millinery flowers of organza, velvet leaves and chiffon centers in the flowers. The ribbon ties are the dupioni silk that has been handcut and and I have done a machine rolled hemstitch along the edges.
There is gathered antique lace in the inside of the front ruffle, closest to the face. There are satin ribbon bows on the side, along with more of the antique lace that has been sewn flat onto a ribbon, and then done into a large bow, that is nestled in between the organza flowers.
All in all I am very pleased with the results.
I can't wait to see images of this bonnet on a child.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Jerry

ETSY Education

It was an absolutely beautiful day today in the Northwest.
I spent some time on Etsy tonight reading several Etsy Success articles.
The message that seemed to be coming through the strongest for me was a reminder to return to, or get more authentically creative.

I feel like I keep creating for the bigger audience in order to SELL, rather than creating beautiful things from my own inspiration, that are good enough to inspire people to purchase them.

Wish me success. I will need your support in order to do the work that is required to achieve that goal. I want to support each of you in your endeavors to be creative. It is what makes life magical.

RAMP #2

I told you there was going to be another ramp, and now it exists. Hunter and I created another ramp for the TekDecks yesterday after I got home from work.
The two photos are of Hunter paying homage to the project, and the other is of him doing the spray painting of the project. He was quite excited, as you can tell by his intense look.
It was fun to do.
Sorry I did not get construction photos this time, we were trying to meet a deadline (before it was time for him to leave for home)

If you are ever thinking about trying something like this. Jump in, and get creative. I am amazed at what we create out of literally nothing.
Component parts for this project were, a pencil, scratch paper, cardboard, poster board, foam packing, hot glue, plastic tubing and spray paint

What Have I Been Doing?

My grandson Hunter had a birthday coming and he wanted something that he could use when playing with his Tech Deck mini skateboards. So I decided to construct a half pipe for him. Since I had no clue of where to start, I put the thinking cap on and went to work.
I knew that he would really play with this, so it would need to be sturdy, and realistic.
This shows the cardboard side panels
and the modified popcicle stick structure. I of course used hot glue as my cement. If I had realized that I would post images, I would have been even more careful in aligning my supports.
I kept building with most of the plan in my head, only.

More and more supports, I went crazy.

Several coats of black paint were used to give a nice finish.
Then Grandma copied Tony Hawk logos and graphics, printed them out and glued them to the half pipe.

You see the finished product in the last image.
He was very happy with the result.
As of two days ago, he sent Grandma home with a picture of my next project, a set of stairs with hand rails on both sides and a ramp leading up the back of the stairs.
I will hopefully take pictures and post them for your enjoyment.
Happy Birthday !

Long Time No Speak

GOOD MORNING WORLD. I am about to begin anew on this blog,...... again.
It has been about two months since I have added anything new. I think today is the day.
I hope all of you have been well, I wouldn't know since I have been absent on this scene.
SO what is new?
Well, I decided to close down the Etsy store about a month ago. I reduced prices (to accommodate the slump in the economy) and thought to I would give myself two weeks to see if anyone would buy anything at reduced prices, then I would close the store and forget the whole idea.

I was tired of trying to figure out what photographers wanted to see and buy, and I was certainly done with spending another dime in an effort to find out. I am not sure I will ever recoup enough money from this venture to ever make it worth it.

36 hours later I received an e-mail from one of the proprietors of PropInsanity.com, a site dedicated to a world wide search for photography props and the people who buy them. The e-mail stated that a friend had e-mailed her suggesting that they visit my store. They kindly offered to do an article about the store, featuring photos of several items made by me. The article will be offering one item in a free drawing for their readership. They have an average of 25,000 hits a month. This would definitely be more people than I have visit the store on average, by about a THOUSAND TIMES!
That sort of blew my idea of closing out of the water....not to mention the voice in my head that was now screaming, "if that many people visit their site, and even a few of them visit the CuteByDesign store, I might need more stock.

Ooooooooohhh I was so confused by this whole idea. I stewed for about 24 hours before I replied to that e-mail. I thanked them profusely and said I would send things in a short while. That short while has stretched into several weeks, but I did send a box to them 2 days ago.

SO in a few months there should be an article materialize out there in the cyberworld.
I GUESS I AM NOT CLOSING, NOT QUITE YET.

Moving Forward

After dragging my feet for a long time, I actually photographed the three latest newborn dresses that I made and have had sitting for a long time.

I had been really unhappy with my attempts to photograph them. I need a lot more lighting expertise to be able to show the texture of the fabrics, but I needed to move on. Now they are photographed and listed on Etsy. Whew! On to something new.

The SUPER CAPE FINALLY GETS DONE

(There are more images of the cape below. I just wrote to much that you will have to go in to older posts to see them)
A while back I talked about a granddaughter requesting cape.
She specifically asked for a pink cape with a red circle and the letters
S and G.
I thought "those are not her initials", but it very quickly came to me that the letters would stand for Super Girl. She also requested lightning bolts on the bottom of the cape, near the corners.

After that request I got involved helping my wife decorate a nursery for our youngest granddaughter.
It was soon apparent that there was going to be some major appliqueing to be done. Appliqueing is something I just have never really done.

THE CAPE GOT PIT ON THE BACK BURNER FOR A WHILE.

Well, the nursery is done, and the cape came up in conversation, as it had almost every time I saw the Super Girl in person.
So......... two days ago, with my recent applique experience in hand, I dove into the world of the superhero.
I apologize for not taking more detailed how to pics of the initial steps. I planned on it......but just kept working and did not take pictures.
I want to say that I was committed to making this cape from materials that I already had on hand.

• I cut the cape out of 60 inch poly satin fabric.
  
• The red circle of the emblem is kind of a heavy crepe material with wonder under to stabilize it.

• I downloaded the letters from a free monogram site, enlarged them, cut them out and used that as my pattern. I did the same thing with the lightning bolts. I enlarged it as much as I could, then free handed a larger one on packing paper to make a pattern, then flip flopped the pattern to get the bolts curving in opposite directions.

• The letters and the lightning bolts are crinkled poly silk, with wonder under for stabilization.
• I made the top of the cape wide because I intended to gather or pleat it onto a band, so that it fit more like a regular cape, coming around the shoulders, versus just hanging down the back. I like more fabric in almost every project.
• I was going to have the cape tie at the neck, but as you will see, in the end, I opted for magnets, for safety sake. Although sewing magnets in was a pain in every sense, when they kept attaching themselves to the sewing machine and my serger, which sits right next to the sewing machine, oh and to my shears, and measuring tape ends AND to each other. Make a special note to yourself to pay close attention to which way each magnet faces, so that the correct ATTRACTION is acheived, otherwise they will repel each other, and you will be ripping seams to change one around. I should mention also that if the magnet is not secured properly in a little pocket, they can flip change position and cause no end of trouble.
  
• I did a rolled hem around all of the outer edges. It is a nice finish but I started to get a lettuce edge along the outsides. Too much on the bias, I guess.
  

Her custom branding

The super girl herself had requested a big round circle in red with the letters S and G in gold. This image shows what is so far my best applique attempt. It is hard to stabilize multiple layers. The pink satin was beginning to stretch a bit, puckering as well. It was much worse around the lighting bolts on the bottom of the cape, where the fabric was more on the bias, and a coming to a point.

More lightning

I decided the supergirl needed a little more pizazz, so I added another bolt of lightning to it.
I think it did the trick.

Finished

This is the finished cape. I gathered the cape on to a band with super strong magnets inside the ends for the closure.
I plan to deliver it this afternoon.
I hope she has a "super reaction" when she see her custom designed cape.

American Idol

Anyone watching American Idol?
I am getting pretty frustrated with some of the contestants. Nothing new there I guess.

I want to say this "If you want to close your eyes and go into you own personal bubble for the majority of the song, get off of the show".

I am investing my time to watch. Connect with me. Engage me. Make me want to care. Please.

Whew! That makes me feel better.

Les Miserables and more

Well, I did it. I made an offer to help with costumes for the high school play.

I had a nice e-mail back from the costume chairperson. She sounds very sharp and knows there can never be too much help.

I will keep you posted and post images of anything that I get assigned to make.

I have the day off tomorrow and I want to find time to post more text and images.

My wife is almost completely done with the baby quilt for our granddaughter.
Hey, I should take pictures for you all. It was inspired by a Pottery Barn quilt.


I hope you all had a great day.

Burned and Torn Fabric Flowers

EXPERIMENTATION

I have been wanting to experiment with doing fabric flowers with the burned edges. This is what I am coming up with. This headband will go with of the pink baby gowns I posted images of recently.

THE FLU

The flu bug found me this week, or weak would be just as appropriate. I forgot how great my daily ache and pain life was until I got the flu on Thursday.

I did feel pretty weird by the end of work Wednesday night. Thursday morning I complained to my wife that I wished I could get more sleep....be specific in your wishes......I ended up sleeping the entire day, except for the endless trips to the bathroom. Sorry, too many details.

About 11:00pm that night we finally checked my temperature, which was 101.5 which was interesting, since I was burning up inside but feeling pretty reasonable to the touch.
I needed to be at work at 7:00am next morning.
If any of you work in low level corporate America you know that that means "come to work, and if you have to be removed by ambulance, we will get someone to take your place".

I imagine people wondered why I was perspiring like it was 110 degrees even though I was standing still. But a few hours later the shift was over and I was home resting.

I can feel, even though it is across cyberspace, that you are feeling very sympathetic to me right now. I thank you.

I WILL BE GETTING BACK TO CREATIVE BLOGS, VERY SOON. THANKS FOR LETTING ME VENT.

ONLINE JOB HUNTING

You may have noticed I have been absent for a few days. I am trying to improve my day job status, which in this modern world requires a lot of time online filling out mind numbing profiles and applications which seem to lead to nowhere.
How anyone can determine whether you would be a great fit for there place of business by the process that is used now is beyond me.

HERE ARE SEVERAL OF THE PROBLEMS I FIND WITH THIS SYSTEM:

• trying to navigate those endless, convoluted sites. I truly believe that is one of the major screening methods of the modern process. People just give up before they ever get to the application, or during the process
  
• enduring the sign up process
• dealing with the glitches as you go forward and back trying to enter all of the information so that it presents a fair representation of who you are and what you can offer
• trying not to get timed out, and loosing all of the work you have just done
• being given a box into which you can enter any other comments that you would like to make about yourself and yet being so limited on the number of characters that you can type that you can barely begin a sentence before running out of space
• worst of all, needing to log off and requesting your information be saved......instead, it submits your partially completed application and sends it on to some Human Resource person, or worse another computer system designed to screen applicants by scanning the application, looking for key words and omissions, and then rejects you for not having enough sense to complete the process before submitting your application.

Whatever happened to face to face encounters? I personally think you need to meet me to get who I am.
Anyway wish me luck in this process.

all in a day's work

I spent part of the day making headbands to go with the pink dress seen below, and two other dresses that are sort of a variation on the same theme.
Later in the morning I started sending my blog link to some of the nice people who have visited the CuteByDesign Etsy store, and added it to their favorites.

Thanks to Marty from Martys Fiber Musings on Etsy for stopping by today. Visit her there.

My granddaughter was wearing a scarf cape today. I asked her if I needed to make her a real cape. That sounded good to her. She wants a pink cape with a round piece in the middle of the cape, in red. She wants a yellow SG in the middle of the circle [to stand for SUPER GIRL], and a lightning bolt in each bottom corner, in kind of a goldish fabric. She would really like the SG to look like flaming letters.
Yikes! what have I gotten myself in to.
This might be a good step by step photo blog experiment. We shall see what develops.
Anyone interested in following that process? I write this stuff like I think someone is out there reading this stuff.

Good night all.

Sunday March 21

I found out after church today that our local High School is mounting a production of "Les Miserables". I am thinking of volunteering some of my time. It is not far from home, our grandson attends school there, as well as a lot of youth from our church.

Who knows, they may need a little help in an area that I have background in.
I will let you know how that turns out.

Clackamas High School Theater Department
Presents:
"Les Miserables"
Composed by Claude Michel Schonberg
Libretto by Alain Boubil
Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

Performance dates:
May 14,15,20,21,22
@7:00pm

May 16,23 @ 2:00pm matinee

Students $8.00
Adults $10.00

Sneak Peek. Don't share these pics with anybody. Promise.

This is another new piece I am doing. It is chiffon with all torn edges. It is soft and kind of like an infant gown. It is feminine, and the front of the skirt is short on purpose, to expose the baby's legs and feet.
The back of the skirt has been left long, to create a train effect, and can be posed in different ways.

Hands of Service, Hands of Love

I was asked to capture images of hands for a slide show to shown at a party for our women's group at church.
I just wanted to share one of those images that a group of teenage girls helped me create.

Celebration Time

Good Evening All.
We had dinner at El Gaucho tonight in downtown Portland.
It was a pretty amazing meal. We were invited to celebrate our oldest son, and our oldest grandson's birthday's.
This is actually the first time I have been in to the city since we moved here almost 6months go. How can you can live this close and never have a reason to go downtown?

I highly recommend the restaurant to those in the area. It is a "special occasion" kind of place.

Time Flies

Time literally flies. I don't know how, but it does.
Well.... part of that feeling earlier in the day has to do with the fact that I forgot to change the time on the clock in my car.
I couldn't get over how much we were getting done, so quickly. SHOCK hit when we got home and found out what time it really was.

We made it to Fabric Depot, and I got elastic and cheated by buying a pattern. I need one for making a diaper cover for a new look I am playing with.
I keep wanting to make something other than cocoons. I saw a great new semi-sheer fabric at Mill End and made a little dress with an open back, gathered elastic straps and ties at the back. It screams for a matching ruffled diaper cover.

I promised to post "in progress " images of things that I am working on.
This a promise kept.

Fabric Resources

For any crafters visiting the blog, I am going to list several favorite fabric stores.

On a hot tip from a lady I met at Hobby Lobby in Cumming,GA I learned about GailK Fabrics in Atlanta.
Gail K Fabrics Inc.
2216 Cheshire Bridge Road
Atlanta, GA
gailkfabricsinc.com

This a must see if you are near, or visiting the area. Literally floor to ceiling fabric, barely room to walk between tables and racks, in the funkiest building and neighborhood. IT IS FABRIC HEAVEN!!! Expect the unexpected.

Next on the list is Mary Jo's Cloth Store Inc.

I discovered Mary Jo's when I was living in Utah and making a lot of evening gowns for Miss Utah contestants. I had to phone and order by mail since they are in North Carolina. They are wonderful to work with over the phone, will send samples and you can take a virtual tour of the store on line.
Mary Jo's Cloth Store Inc.
401 Cox Road
Gastonia, NC
maryjos.com

Now that we are back in Oregon, I haunt
Fabric Depot
700 SE 122nd Ave.
Portland, OR
info@fabricdepot.com

Where everything is always on sale. Another converted grocery store. They will sell you anything they carry in stock at wholesale, if you buy the bolt.

Lastly is Mill End, fabulous selection and a great bargain area in the rear of the store.
Mill End Store
9701 SE McLoughlin Blvd
Portland,OR
millendstore.com


I hope this information comes in handy for somebody. It does for me.

Play Day!

It's me shot in RAW format [literally] I think a trip to Fabric Depot is needed. Time to find some new inspiration. They are having a big sale.

BABY BRYNN

I had to work this afternoon and when I got home from work, our 6 month old granddaughter Brynn was still here. I was so excited to see her. She took one look at me and started howling. Grandma had to pick her up and comfort her.. Then she wouldn't take her eyes off of me. Her gaze kind of drilled right through me.
Her Dad got here shortly after that .
She finally warmed up to me and then she wouldn't stop grinning. She is so cute. Once she gets going, she wants to smile with her mouth wide open. I mean wide open.
It looks like she could swallow the whole room.
What a hoot.

I am having a great time with this blog. I can't wait to see what will happen next.
Anyone interested in a contest, with the prize being a OOAK cocoon set designed my me?

The three cocoons seen below are all examples of what I can do with Upcycled materials. Me being green.

One of my first Upcycled Cocoons

This image never made it into the Etsy store. http://www.smithphotodesign.com/

The Tribal Way of Life

WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ ALL ABOUT ME, YOU WILL WANT TO VISIT AGAIN IN A FEW DAYS, TO SEE MORE IMAGES THAT I WILL BE POSTING.

This is my first blog, and introduction to me.

I want you to read my blog.
I want you to know who I am.
I want you to know how I feel about the creative process.
I want to inspire some of you to start creating.
I want to give something back to the community, the way others have given to me, when I have needed it.
I have a variety of topics and thoughts I want to share with you.
For now, let's just get acquainted.

My name is Jerry, and I am a Southern California boy. We will definitely talk more about that later. I grew up 15 miles inland from Long Beach, CA.
I have been in Utah, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, back to Utah, on to Oregon, across the map to Georgia, and now back to Oregon.

My life has been in a rapidly changing mode for the last couple of years.
When my wife and I left the Oregon coast a couple of years ago to move to Georgia, we left a lot of things behind.
I loved being on the coast. I felt that I had found my "tribe", a term I never truly understood until we landed at the coast.

So when I use the word tribe, what do I mean? Simply put, I think it is a group of people who share interests, thoughts and feelings about a certain aspect of their life. In this case, I found my artist tribe.

I miss association with my tribe. They understood how important it was for me to express myself creatively, and were not only willing, but wanted to discuss the same things I wanted to discuss. Most importantly, they spoke the same language as me. They understood the language that artists speak.

It's funny how you can exist in a community and yet not really connect on subjects that are vitally important to you. When you find your tribe, you find a subculture in which others not only understand what you are talking about, they are passionate about sharing ideas with you.

EXAMPLE; I miss the connection with those who do not find it insane to think that something you are creating, can and will speak to you about what it wants to be.

IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY WITHOUT AT TRIBE, LET ME SUGGEST PLACES TO FIND THEM.


1. They are in the store where you buy your creative supplies. If you see someone buying similar supplies, make conversation, ask a question? Remember most of them want to talk about what they do.
2. They are at craft shows showing and trying to sell their work. Ask questions.
3. They are doing demonstrations for local groups. Ask questions.
4. They approach you in the store. Smile, let them ask a question.
5. Use the word "artist" as you describe yourself and what you do. It is a huge clue to others that you are passionate about what you create.
8. Start an artist cooperative. It's easy. You need at least two of you. You don't all have to do the same thing.
On the coast, I was the only male member of a group that formed. We shared thoughts. We did show and tell. We critiqued each others work. We had swap nights where we each brought a stash of creative things we were no longer using and spread those things on the floor for others to take home as inspiration in their work.
We listened as others talked about being "stuck" in their process. We encouraged growth, we eased pain, we motivated each other to keep working, or to get moving after a period of being stagnant.
In short, we shared what we all loved, being creative. It worked wonderfully well.

REMEMBER, BE BRAVE. YOU NEED THEM, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY,THEY ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO FIND THEM.

Wow! That is a lot of information. I hope you survived it. I actually loved writing it.

I want to end this first blog by giving thanks to my Mom, Dad, siblings, my beautiful wife and family, and a whole lot of wonderful friends for who have supported me as I try to discover who I am.