dress form!!!!

My dress form came in the mail today!
I ended up getting the "Uniquely You" after doing some research and deciding what i'll be using it for most.
Of course i'd still love to get a "cute" one some day, to showcase costumes etc... but for now this is functional!
and by functional i mean i can now make myself costumes and clothes!
well, almost....the thing is, with a "uniquely you" dress form you have to fit the cover, seen below, to yourself and then you squeeze and squish it onto this foam core.
and wala! you have a dress form custom made to match your body!
so until i have someone to come and help me fit it to myself i won't be able to actually use it.
but i'm still thrilled that it's here!

Now i just have to think of something to name her....

Sharing

Like my new apron?! my mommy got it for me! :) I have wanted an apron for some time now, keep thinking I'll make one for myself but.....
well I guess it's just not a priority in my life at the moment.
But now I have one! Yeah! Just thought I'd share.
P.S. I know you love the bag of Tostitos in the background too, wink wink, lol I'm so "professional"!

drooling!!!

OK, so this hat!!! I am in love.... so wishing I had $745 of fun money right now and could actually justify spending it on this hat. :) simply lovely! ahhhh....sigh.

bored

Wishing my bed looked somewhat more like this one...
only with some more colors thrown in. Wishing my whole house could be "springy"! alas it takes time which I really don't have right now. at least not for home shopping...
well, just thought I'd share.

new blog!

Hey, I just figured out how to post pictures to my other blog!
For those of you who don't already know I had started another blog to devote solely to costumes but couldn't figure out the picture thing.
So I have it up and running now, come visit!
Confessions of a costume addict

So occasionally I play dress up.....It's lots of fun, you should try it some time!
Last night I watched "Marie Antoinette" So then I went upstairs and decided to play around a little. Here's what I did....

I had a lot of fun with the lips. I blanked them out with cover up and then painted on the shape of the small lips. similar to the 1920s look but more clownish.
add lots of blush, and a beauty mark....

And you have china doll. :) lol! Well I had fun anyway!

When someone knows you....

This is a picture of some pages i've been tearing out of magazines.

(If you can't tell, I like white dishes.)

I do this fairly often and have files and books full of ideas for my home.
I learned it from my mom. :)
Well, yesterday my sister came to visit, she brought a gift from my mom to me.
This is what it is....

I love it when someone knows you so well they know what you like!
Thanks mom! I love you :)

musings

I am wondering lately why I don't just dress like this. It's what I love, I spend way too much time thinking about how gorgeous these gowns are, thinking about how much fun it would be to dress this way. Wondering why on earth we decided it was better to wear shorts and tank tops. (ok, yes i understand it's much cooler in hot weather etc... but bear with me)
Everything in me at times wishes that I could dress that way and not have people question my sanity. I know in the reality of my life it is a foolish use of my time and money to be making such things, and that i wouldn't wear them all that often due to heat and comfortability but I still wonder, still want to try it.
I wonder why God gave me such a love of history and clothing.....?

my blessings

Earlier today I was sending quite a few pictures to my husband.
I try to do this fairly often while he is away so he can enjoy watching his children grow and change as much as possible despite the distance.
I was looking at picture after picture of these two adorable, beautiful children that God has blessed us with and was overwhelmed by the responsibility!

This is Gabriel,

Gabriel is full of laughter and smiles, he has a wonderful imagination;
only yesterday as we were driving i asked him what he saw out the window and he replied that he saw, "sleeping lions".
like any child he has his moments of disobedience, although lately they have been more frequent.

His current difficulty is staying in bed. I find that underneath it all there is an incredibly strong will. One that I must confess he has inherited from myself.
So I guess it's only right that I must contend with my child on this issue, as I am sure I did to my own wonderful parents.
The challenge lies in shaping that will into something that loves and glorifies the Lord!

This is Gwendolyn,

At 8 months old she is all smiles and giggles, and loves to eat!
I find myself wondering, as I watch and learn more about Gabriel each day,
"What is Gwendolyn going to be like?"

I would venture to say that she, like her brother will be full of life and laughter.
but what will she really be like?
What things will capture her interest? Will she be into "girly" things?
Will she love the Lord with all her heart, soul and mind?

I certainly hope so, with all my heart! And that is just what I meant when I mentioned being overwhelmed by the responsibility as a parent!

It is my calling to teach God's word to my children, talking of it when I am sitting in my house, and when I am walking, when I lie down and when I rise!
All to the hope and prayer that they may one day know him personally as Lord of their lives, and serve him faithfully throughout.

And so, I am thankful that God has blessed me so richly with precious human lives, I am humbled and honored that he finds me trustworthy of the task.

And I am eternally greatful that He has promised to be with me every step of the way, always just a prayer away. So thankful that he gives us our own parents as well as others to pass on their wisdom and insight, so that whoever seeks may find, and that in finding we may grow.

I end with this,
My deepest responsibility to my children is to live my life loving and honoring God.
For there is nothing greater I can give than to live by example,
therefore I must truly follow and worship and serve my heavenly father every day, every waking moment. That is my true calling, that is all that really matters,
that I love him with all my heart, and all my soul and all my mind!

He is teaching me so much about himself and my relationship with him through this miracle of being a mom.

I have recently started another blog devoted solely to costumes. however, i am having trouble figuring out how to post pictures. therefore until i get it all sorted out i am going to put my posts on here since i have many ideas and thoughts on the subject. :) and so, here is my newest thought....

A year or two back my parents gave me an older used book on historical fashion. Most of it is on the early fashion designers from the 20s on up. however there are some pictures of gowns, and clothing from even earlier.
Yesterday I was perusing this book when one dress stuck out to me.
It is from 1885. Granted it is a lovely gown and from one of my favorite historical periods but why was it so familiar?
Turns out it has striking resemblances to the red Ball gown that is worn in the masked ball sequence of "Van Helsing".
It made me wonder if perhaps this gown was inspired by the other?

I may never know but is certainly seems like a plausible inspiration to me.

yummy!

So yet again another slightly random post but hey, I guess I'm just in that kind of a mood! :)
Anyway, Here is one of my favorite things to eat. Especially when they are ripe and sweet! So delicious and good for you too! Who doesn't like those kinds of treats?
OK, I will admit my second favorite treat food right now is this...
But what can I say, I'm a girl, it's chocolate, what's not to love?

The little things in life...

So this might be a little random but I wanted to show you my cup.
Last week I was walking through Target and noticed these dishes.They come in yellow, pink, green and blue. All very cute but the yellow ones really just called to me! They asked me to buy them, said they would remind me of sunny days and iced tea, that they would make me smile when I see them, and be a joy to use. Plus they are plastic so my kiddos can't even brake them!
So I gave in, I bought myself two and I use them daily.
They have not broken their word, they do make me smile every time I look at them :)
kind of weird I know to blog about a cup but I just wanted to share.
Sometimes it's the little things in life that bring us the most joy.

It's a long one....

Well, it's been some time since I have posted so i have a bit of catching up on life to do.

To start, my husband is still away and I miss him a lot!
(isn't he cute! this pic. is old but I love it!)

Shortly after he left we headed up to our beloved Hume Lake.
The day we arrived it began to snow and dropped quite a lot, I should have taken a picture of it then , however, it was rather cold outside and i chose to stay by the fire in the comfort of my home. :) But Gabriel and his papa braved the elements in order to keep the porch free enough to walk on. We could hardly bring him inside despite the Blue lips. :) Perhaps kids don't get cold like we do. lol! As you can see, it was quite a bit of snow.
While there we celebrated Gabriel's 3rd birthday with the family, cousins etc...He loved having everyone sing to him! We hadn't done anything big party wise yet.

Here they are, the elder of the cousins,
Avery Bay the oldest by about a month, Isaac who's only 10 days older than Gabe, and Gabriel.
After the party we went sledding!
What else happened while we were gone? well, my little sister Erin turned 18! She is on the left, on the right is my other sister Emily, aren't they both beautiful! :)
ok, maybe a little goofy too but they make life fun!
We took pictures with great grandpa! This is only half of his brood of great grand babies!
Here is Gwendolyn with her great grandpa and cousin Zachariah

She figured out how to get up on her knees!

And had her first taste of baby food... hmmm, maybe not so great?
Gabriel practiced his piano...
or at least enjoyed banging away:)

And we discovered he has a gift for imitations....lol!
Now we are home and have been busy with daily life.
but hey, Gwen decided that baby food wasn't so bad after all!