New Earrings!

After several cloudy days I finally had enough sun today to take some pictures of the new earrings that I made last week! Both pairs have metal links as their base and dangling glass bead accents. I liked the teal and brown ones so much I kept the first pair for myself and made a second pair to put on Etsy!

Not Quite A Dress

I mentioned in my last post that I had purchased some adorable fabric that called out to me for a dress for a good friend's daughter who will be 1 this month. Here's the fabric, isn't it cute?! It's called "Sweet Tweets" by Janet Gossard for Fabric by Spectrix and I picked it up at Joann's. I was double-y inspired by Heather Ross' new book Weekend Sewing, which had the cutest little dress in it with smocking at the top (aptly named the Smocked Sundress) and an easy summer feel to it, perfect for a growing girl and for the weather here in the south.


Well, yesterday was my last day of classes for the spring semester and as I finished up class around 1:30, I had all afternoon to play with my sewing machine and get this little project started. I was especially excited to learn how to make smocking, I can think of many opportunities where it would be helpful to have a little extra give or to avoid structuring a garment (not that I have any experience with structuring, but this seems like a great way to avoid anything too difficult for a while!). So I wound my bobbin with elastic cord and off I went! It was incredibly easy to make the smocking and I think it looks pretty good. In fact I was thinking that this pattern and shape would make a really cute maternity top, when else would a woman be able to wear bubblegum sweet birdies without looking silly? Alas, I don't know anyone in that state at the moment, but maybe I'll pick up a little more yardage anyways for future present making :)

New Metal Links

I picked up these cute new metal links the other day and love the possibilities! I made a fun and eclectic necklace for my friend Diane's birthday this past weekend but alas I forgot to take a pic! Here are two sets of earrings that I made with similar links, the Raspberry Drops which have a great dangle to them, and the Blue Circles that are just gorgeous pale blue colors.


On another note I've been working on a dress for little girl I know who is turning 1 this month! I wasn't planning on making a little girl's dress but I saw the fabric in Joann's the other day and couldn't help but buy a yard and then I picked up Heather Ross' new Weekend Sewing book and low and behold there was the perfect pattern! I'll post pics of the dress next time when it's a little further along!

Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit

This month several of my pieces of jewelry are on display in the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit! I think it is such an honor to exhibit with the talented artists in my department when my role in the department is as an Art History Professor. Here you can see several pairs of earrings and two necklaces on display in one of the cabinets. I was excited to be able to share this with my mother as well who was visiting this past weekend from the far north (Maine)!

Bridesmaid Commission

A few months ago, one of my best friend's (C.D.) initiated a conversation between myself and her sister (K.D.), who will be married this coming fall. K.D. had admired a pair of earrings that I had made for C.D. a few years back as a Christmas present and as luck would have it, the earrings perfectly match the dark raspberry pink of her bridesmaids dresses. So... she commissioned six pairs of the earrings for her bridal party! It was a wonderful commission for me but unfortunately I've had one illness after another this spring and didn't have a chance to complete them as quickly as I would have liked. Typically I like to complete commissions within days or weeks depending on the complexity, but this one was initiated shortly after Christmas of this year and I've only just finished them! Good thing the wedding isn't until September!

Oh Jamaica

One last look at my trip to Jamaica. Here's a little video I took on the trip so you can see the beauty of Jamaica with the music and calming sound of the sea in the background...

Jamaica, No Problem

I've got a lot of work to do tonight, but I felt the need to share a few pics with all of you who have been hounding me about the trip. For those not in the know, the BF and I spent last week in Jamaica. We had THE most amazing trip. No worries, no problems, at least once we arrived :) Here's a quick glimpse, I'll post more later!