..coming attractions

So I've been neglecting this for ages now, and a good friend of mine recently reminded me that I actually HAVE this blog!! Life got in the way, what can I say?
Woah...That ryhmed... :O

Well since my last post, a LOT has happened - I'm now in Merry Old England, conducting a bit of groundwork in preperation for my Master's Degree! I'm so excited to get to work on it...and yes, it will be focused on period corsetry - what else!!?
Oh and I totally saw Buckingham Palace. And Big Ben. And a Bruce Oldfield boutique!!!!!

I haven't been able to do much sewing (which has slowly been killing me) because my sewing goodies are still being shipped over...but just this week I decided to do something about it, and have ordered a bunch of supplies (metal busks, spring steel and spiral steel boning, coutil fabric..) to get cracking on another corset -- and I can't WAIT to get going with it because it'll be the first time ever that I get to use actual, authentic materials...!!!! I'm thinking of doing two - a Victorian one from the late 1800's and a long-line Edwardian one from about 1910, so pretty chuffed about my little project coming up.
I've decided to use this blog as a sortof "behind-the-scenes" look at how I'm going to put the corsets together.. I'll take lots of step-by-step photographs at each phase in the construction and explain my methods as I learn and experiment - it'll be fun! This could take some time, but at least I'm back on my little blog here, and now I'll probably start posting more often :)

These are examples of the kind of corsets I'll be working on.  Pictures are from http://www.agelesspatterns.com/, an amazing yet simple site that offers patterns for a HUGE variety of vintage garments and accesories, it's definately worth a look for all those fashion / costume enthusiasts out there!!!

Victorian corset

Edwardian corset (loving the suspenders!)

I'll be sure to post updates as I make some progress, this should be quite an interesting challenge ;P

This is the Fan-Boy in me ;)

It's always amazing and encouraging to hear of celebs who actually appreciate their fans, so I'm going to share my little experience with the beautiful and talented actress Rose McGowan, of whom I am a complete fan...I have been since I first saw Scream. I'm still irritated that Tatum went and got squished in the garage door because she was my fave...okay I'm rambling...

It all started with a bit of drama (for me at least!) on Twitter. As some of you may know, Rose is a pretty active Twitter user, and even occasionally responds to random tweets from her fans.
Now I love drawing and painting, and Rose has been the subject of much of my art for a while now, and most of these works were posted to my DeviantArt page - this is where the trouble began, as some French chap saved and STOLE one of my drawings of Rose, then had the audacity to tweet it to the lady herself with the comment:
"this is my latest drawing of you Rose, Took many hours to complete. What do you think?"
- so when I saw THAT I was immensely pissed off, but to add insult to injury Rose then replied back to his tweet, complimenting him on "his"work. (there's a happy ending, promise!)

As a counter-measure, I sent her a bunch of links to my other art online in an effort to somehow let her know that it was ME who did the drawing!
Well after about a day, I opened up my e-mails to see this: "Rose McGowan has sent you a Direct Message on Twitter." The message from Rose basically complimented me on the artworks, and she asked if she could somehow get a copy... all the while I'm thinking: "how awesome is this woman!?!"
So then she kindly started following me on Twitter (so I could arrange to get her agent's address).

I then packaged up the original artwork in question (which was just a simple black pencil crayon drawing of Rose, from a NY Times photoshoot with her made-up to look like 20's silent film starlet Clara Bow), along with a few 8x10 photos for her autograph - I thought it was definately worth a shot, asking for her autographs - I mean it's Rose McGowan!! SO in the little parcel I sent, I included a little letter to her, the artworks and photos, and off they went to the US.

About a month passed when I got this message from her:

"I got them! Amazing! Will sign all of your photos except one I don't like. Fat angle, hahaha. )). You are so talented, it's an honor to be drawn by you. All the best, Rose "

SO that was enough for me, that the drawings actually got to her intact - which is really all I was worried about..

THEN on Monday 06/12/2010 I checked the post and there it was - my original self-addressed envelope (of course with a few new US stamps attached), and inside were these!!!!

This is the actual drawing that all the drama was over...which Rose now (thankfully) has in her possession! Yay! :D



Okay well that concludes yet another of my loooong, drawn-out blog posts.
Until next time, cheers dears ;P

Casey's Birthday!

Hey all!
So this is a TAD late, but I've been busy recovering from my New Year's party...there may be a blog post about it later...but we'll see hahaha. So much drunk and (almost) nakedness, gosh!! ;P

Anyhoo I had the absolute privilege of being invited to my amazing, wonderful, talented friend Casey-Jeanne's 21st birthday party on the 28th, and what an emotional event it was. The speeches had everyone misty-eyed, the video presentation had everyone in stitches, and the food was just superb. And oh my soul, THE CAKE and CUPCAKES!!!! I was actually in heaven right then and there. yeah...

Casey is also a spectacular fashion designer, who has JUST completed her Diploma at DUT (Yay!!), so I've been lucky enough to see her work first-hand and get to know her not just as a friend, but as a talented professional.

As a special, unique gift I decide to do her portrait - just a little something personal, made with love!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Casey-Face!! ;P