Maybe it isn't a hellscape where you are. Maybe where you are, it's temperate and mild, with faint, fragrant breezes gently wafting about and lifting all spirits in peace, love, and harmony. Right here, right now? We can but dream of such a state of being. And try not to be too cranky.
It's been a while, yeah? So, what's been going on, asked no one ever. We'll tell you anyway.
If you are a regular reader of our Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr nonsense, none of what follows will be news to you, one way or another. Here's an abbreviated recap of the Atelier's recent haps:
1. Art Dolls! With Neil Gaiman's Sandman set to premier soon, we thought it would be a cool idea (and we still think so) to express our love for the characters by creating a Muppet interpretation of the Endless, and it's been HUGE fun.
From Left to Right: Miss Piggy/Desire, Kermit/Dream, and Sam the Eagle/Destiny.
All the needlefelting was done by my DIL, and costumed/styled by me. Miss Piggy was the first - I think she still needs a red rose pinned onto that mermaid gown. Maybe right behind her knee. But that's picking nits. Next up was Kermit as Morpheus, or Dream. I could manage the starry eyes, a ruby dreamstone, a bag of sand, even a Matthew - but I just couldn't manage that helmet. I think the moppy hair wins it in spite of that shortfall. And most recently, Destiny. Who BUT Sam the Eagle has the gravitas to carry off the persona of Destiny. This one was a true family affair - DIL did the needlefelting, Daughter crafted the leather-bound Book of Fate, and Son made the buckle for the book and the doll stand - I just pulled it all together and slapped on a monk's hood. The rest of the Endless Muppets are in the !Coming Soon! stages.
2. Baking - Yes, indeed. There was a good bit of that going on.
Cupcakes, muffins, nun's farts (look 'em up), cookies, bread, casseroles, an oven omelet, and my first ever attempt at calzones, which were surprisingly good, if I do say so myself. And I do.
3. Writing. I participated in the April Camp NaNo. I set a goal of writing an ending to the draft of my 3rd trunk novel, and while I hit my word goal, I still didn't reach anything like an ending. I set up an indie project in May, and finally made it. But as it's the sequel to my 2nd trunk novel, it brought up some continuity issues. I spent the first couple of weeks this month addressing those. So that's 4 of my 6 trunk novels with completed 1st drafts now. There's another session of Camp NaNo coming up in July, when I'll tackle the project of finishing the 1st draft of my 4th trunk novel. Should be a cinch. It's the 5th one that's going to kick my ass be the real challenge, but that's for another time - most likely in the very far distant future. And that was way too many numbers in one paragraph - I think I just bored the crap outta my own damn' self.
(I only do this stuff for the super cool certificates)
4. Beadwork sales! I KNOW RIGHT? What's it been - a million years? I might be exaggerating. Just a tad. First, out of the blue, through a friend connection, I was put in touch with a person who had received one of my beaded treasure boxes several years ago. They wanted to give one or two as gifts, and after a bit of back-and-forth, they bought two! - and both of us were thrilled with the exchange. Second, Daughter had an art show in Omaha at the end of April, came here for a nearly week-long visit, then went back to Omaha for another show. A few weeks before she came, she asked me to gather up any and all supplies/tools/beads/stones that were excess to my needs, and she'd haul them to this second show to sell along with all her extra stuff, it having a sort of "artist garage sale" component to it. I ended up sending her off with 85 pounds of stuff in a rolling suitcase. From the sale of my extras, I realized enough $ to fund some other atelier nonsense. And new socks. Everything that didn't sell, Daughter donated to an organization called Beads of Courage.
These are the beaded art boxes that sold.*
5. And now, to help cope with our insane weather, we decided to bust out some light and lovely frocks here in the Atelier. That's right, we said frocks. A few weeks ago, we felt like we were way overdue for making a sundress or two. Energy being at a premium, we imagined it would be just that - one or two. Naturally, things got out of hand. Without further ado, we present the sundresses of Spring/Summer 2022.
These were the first three produced. Not all that thrilled with them - the colors for the first two were just all wrong for sundresses, and the third one was the wrong color for that particular doll. Also, some new, untried patterns were used here. They're from a pair of books by Annabel Benilan, translated from the French. They were picked up on the strength of their reviews, but perhaps the reviewers were impaired on some level. The patterns were all supposed to be configured for three body types - curvy, tall, and original. They all took a LOT of tweaking, which wasn't what was expected or wanted. These not-quites, while perfectly fine, won't be going into the collection.
These were built from Vogue patterns, as well. The one in the center was adapted from an evening gown design.
The one on the left is an adaptation of a Vogue evening gown design. The one in the center is from a vintage Pattern Factory design called "In Paris," and was the first sundress ever created for the Atelier, in 2018. The fabric for the skirt is one of a kind, hand-painted muslin, also an Atelier original. Hard to see, but the fuchsia wheel hat sparkles. The one on the right is a hybrid - the skirt is from Butterick #6664, and the bodice is from a vintage mail-order pattern.
Now for a little retrospective. The following six sundresses were all adaptations of Vogue evening gown patterns, and all made for the 2019 Spring/Summer collection. It is the considered opinion of the Atelier that a sundress is simply an evening gown made of cheerful cotton. The point is here most capably made.
Here's hoping it won't take four months for the next post.
Happy Summer Solstice, from Our Atelier to Yours
GIF shared from giphy.com
*If you'd like to see other beaded treasure boxes, click on this handy link HERE. It just leads to one of my Pinterest pages.
