Black Friday Weekend Sale!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends! I just got home not long ago from seeing my family in Connecticut and my husband's family in Massachusetts. It's a lot of driving, but well worth it to see the folks we love most.

Before I hit the hay, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop for Black Friday weekend! I'm offering 20% off everything in my shop from now through Sunday. I'll give you your discount as a PayPal refund, or if you are sending a money order, I'll give you the discounted total to send.

Visit my Etsy shop now to find mystical and unique jewelry, herbal hot/cold packs, original art prints and magnets and other fun gifts!

As always, thank you for your support! And remember this holiday season, Buy Local, Buy Handmade!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it today! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and/or friends. Reflect upon those things you are happy and thankful for. For me, it's a lot of things... my husband, my family, my friends, the many things in my life that make me happy.

And...I'm thankful for Tofurky and silly things found on the internet! Isn't it great that I found something that combines both? And it's even crafty as well. This website, Simulated Comic Product has instructions on how to disguise your faux-meat Thanksgiving dinner to look like a turkey...



I'm not sure I'll have time to dress up my Tofurky today, since I'll be driving all over creation to see our families, but if you do, why not give it a try? Let me know how it turns out. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Support Your Local Economy

In the group I'm a part of, Artisans of WMass, our slogan is "Buy Local, Buy Handmade". Buying local is an important part of our team's outlook and is also an important part of living in western Massachusetts. We live in a unique area where more people are aware of the importance of supporting the local economy and keeping money within the community. More and more communities around the country are starting to see things this way, but we are still plagued with big box stores and corporate take-overs.

Etsy recently posted an article called New Rules: Support Your Local Economy. This interview with Stacy Mitchell of the New Rules Project at the Institute for Local Self Reliance shows her insight into why people do and should shop locally.

Read this article and when you're done, remember to Buy Local, Buy Handmade.

Evolution of a Wedding Dress

Since I was away for so long all busy getting married, I figure it's only fair to show you what I was doing that whole time. I pretty much made almost everything I could for our wedding. The biggest task of all though, was the dress!

In this post, I'll show you the evolution of my dress, from start to finish. Granted, I missed a few photos in between, but you get the general idea!


This is a scan of one of my original sketches for the dress and ensemble. The final product is *almost* like the sketch, but I found myself making a few changes along the way. Sometimes, you're not quite sure how an idea will work until you actually do it.


This is the floor of my work space as I worked out the pattern for the dress. I referred to my sketches and marked up cheap muslin fabric with dressmaker's chalk to come up with a pattern.


This is the muslin fabric draped over my dress form as I mark up where I think the seams should lay.


Here, I finally come up with a pattern that seems to work. It took me several tries and several times of poking myself with pins to get it right. This is the basic bodice and skirt mock-up in muslin, shown on the dress form with the petticoat under it.


Now, skip several steps of cutting fabric, sewing together fabric, etc... and here you see the outside shell of the dress, before adding the lining and extra trimmings.


Here is the dress with the lining now inserted. It is not hemmed yet and the trim on the neck is only partially secured.


This is the back of the wedding dress, almost complete. The trim is now sewn on and the lacing is put through the eyelets on the back. The only thing left from this point was the hemming.


And here is the final product! This is me with my husband, David. I made my dress, my head circlet, my veil, my jewelry and David's jacket as well. Phew! That was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. The dress and jacket are made with matching velvet and brocade fabrics, just in different colorways. Our color theme was purple, black, silver and green. This beautiful photo was taken by our friend, Steve Friedman.

I hope you enjoyed the evolution of a wedding dress!

Artisans of WMass

Hi Everyone! I know it's been a while since I've posted here. I got so busy with life, I didn't keep up with my blog. I know I know...bad! But hey, I'm married now! And now that all of the wedding hooplah is over, I'm back in action and ready for the holiday rush.

In other news, I'm part of an Etsy group, which we recently renamed as Artisans of WMass. We are a collective of artists and crafters from Western Massachusetts. I recently created a website for our team. We're still working on adding content, but, we're well on our way. Take a look!



Check out our artisans listing to see some of the great artists and crafters who are a part of our group. Make sure you visit their shops and browse their sites. And remember, this holiday season, Buy Local, Buy Handmade!

Molly the Cat Goes On a Laser Frenzy

My housemates and I have been taking care of a friend's cat and dog for a while. Having two little furry critters around has definitely created many amusements. Olive and Molly have been nice companions, even if they do shed all over the place! I just make sure they don't go in my craft room. LOL.

One day, I decided to pick up a couple of toys for the fur balls. For Molly (the cat), I got a little mouse shaped laser pointer. I found that I think I'm even more amused by it than she is. Here is a short video clip of Molly chasing the laser beam on the floor of our den.



Maybe if I'm lucky, next I'll have a video of Olive and Molly beating each other up. I must admit that seeing the animal equivalent of a wrestling match is a highlight of the evenings.

My Elven Bridal Head Circlet

Continuing with my show and tell about the stuff I'm making for my wedding, today I'll show you the head piece I made to wear for the big day. Our theme is somewhat mystical and fantasy-like with a natural theme as well. I've been telling people, when they ask about what I'm going to wear that it is something you might find at a Renaissance Faire or in the Lord of the Rings.

My dress is almost done, but not quite, but I have completed my jewelry, including the elven style circlet for my head. I do not have a photo yet of the complete jewelry and circlet with veil ensemble yet, but for now, here is a photo of just the circlet:



I created this head circlet in a style that would look somewhat elven and mystical. The dress is white with some purple trim and lacing. The main color for the wedding is purple. So, in the head circlet, I used purple amethyst oval stone beads. I also used white opalescent beads and silver seed beads. The front of the cirlet is made from hammered nickel wire and wrapped with smaller nickel wire. The rest is made from two different sizes of silver plated chain. The back closes with a lobster clasp.

What do you think? Should I offer this style of head circlet for sale in my Etsy shop?

Thanks for looking! I hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July weekend.

~Victoria~