Baptism Dress and more...

I finished it... well almost. I still need to hem up the underneath layer and add the horse hair to the lining to make it a better finish, but I was too excited once I tried it on her that I yanked her into the bathroom, played with her hair and made her go outside so I could snap lots of pictures. (phew- what a run-on sentence!)

Here is the front and the back

And here are some pictures of detail on her dress. Embroidering all those little pearls and crystals on her sleeves to make little viney flowers took almost as long as sewing the rest of the dress, but it's one of my favorite parts- so I feel it was worth it. I actually really enjoy doing embroidery work though I understand it drives some people nuts and they think I'm nuts if I go to the work to do it. For me, it's fun. I added a tulle (tutu material) slip to push out her dress just a touch in between her lining slip and her silk underskirt (that is just below the organza black viney layer). The waist has a beautiful silver and black trim with embroidery through it of flowers and vines and we added the little pearl broach to the center.

I'm so happy with how it turned out and I'm happy for her that she has made this decision for her life. It has taken her a while to decide if she wanted to get baptized. She told us last spring that she wasn't going to get baptized if she wasn't sure that the church was true. We were proud of her for wanting to think for herself and we told her that it was her choice and we wouldn't pressure her one way or the other, but gave her advice for studying it out for herself to find her testimony. So since then she has been reading the Book of Mormon on her own every night and with us and she has been writing in her journal things she learns and praying to know if it is true. I'm happy to have a child so determined to find truth for herself. I told her I'd make her a pretty dress for her 8th birthday no matter what. :) I'm happy she has received her witness. That will be a strength to her all her life.

On a much lighter note... our littler one decided she needed a fancy dress. Would you believe the girls sewed this? I helped in places, but the two of them designed it with the scraps of other projects.

It was cute to see Makenzie cutting out the bodice in the shape of what you would draw on a stick figure for a shirt. She asked me to sew up the side and top of the arms. Then Kendyl picked out other fabric and said how she wanted it layered. She even designed a puffy silk part along the waist like a princess dress. She found some scraps from our vampire dresses and tried to sew an apron into it which is completely crooked and starts in the middle of the dress and ends near the back. One girl would push the peddle below and the other would guide the fabric and then they would switch places. I would help guide their hands and shout for the peddle pusher to start and stop. Kendyl also cut out an old bratz valentine and attached it to the front of her dress completing the disney store look. All she needed was a parasol and tiara and she was ready for a night on the town. :) Fancy!

This dress took about 20 minutes to make- which is a very nice alternative to how long Makenzie's took. :)

Hooray for Mommy-Daughter-Dates, Girly Movies, and Art!

Our family absolutely adores this movie. I think I adore it even more than my girls if that's possible. We went and saw it in the theater and couldn't wait until it came out on DVD.
This is a picture from my favorite part in the movie when she sings to him in Central Park. She is simply delightful to watch.



Here are some of the drawings my girls did after watching the movie. They loved it so much they sat right down and began drawing. Kendyl had a stash of stickers that she added to hers. She said Gissell was dressed up for a birthday party.
Makenzie drew her favorite part of the movie where Gissell had cut his curtains and made a dress. You can see the material cut out.

Anyway, we had a mommy-daughter date where we watched this movie and played with scrapbook paper. I haven't ever tried scrapbooking before, but I love all the yummy paper and so sometimes I just buy it and have a stock pile of it. My girls like to get into it with me- like when we made our little journals. Actually Kendyl didn't make a journal that night so she did with me the other day and here's a photo of that.

Here's what I did while we watched Enchanted. My Relief Society needed some binders for the role, announcements, sign up sheets, etc. I couldn't just let them be plain white binders- so I got out my paper, scissors, and glue and made these. One binder goes to Primary, another to Young Women and 3 go to Relief Society because the room is split into 3 sections of chairs and that way they all get around.

It's fun to spend time with these cute girls and create stuff. I love to see what they come up with. I wish we could just do this kind of stuff instead of chores. I'm looking forward to summer when I get them more. We have plans for a science day, cooking day, craft day/art, and swimming the other two days of the week. They have been making a "family camp" plan for me to submit to. I must add that I am cheerfully submitting. :) I want to invite others to join in the neighborhood though. I think that would be lots of fun and a good way to use up our summer.

And the winner is...

Melissa- from back in Wymount days! Sorry I didn't post yesterday. We did the drawing at Seth's parents' house last night (aka the brothel to some of you - hahaha don't ask). Anyway, we didn't get home til late and then I forgot about it until now. Sorry. Well Melissa. I'm so excited to send you the painting. Use my email link and email me your address. I'll get it to you really quick. Sorry to the rest of you guys that didn't win. I can't feel too bad because you did have really good chances. 1 in 13 (since Seth didn't need one and James (aka Brittany) wrote two comments). Thanks for all your support with my art. It really does help!

My Painting for Janelle

This isn't a post of who the winner is from my post below. I'll post that on Sunday. It is the design I was waiting to post until I had given it to my friend. This design is inspired by the dress that my friend Janelle bought to wear for after her sealing ceremony. I framed it and gave it to her tonight when we were out to dinner. Her husband (Nate), herself, and her son (Bart- Makenzie's age and buddy) took our whole family out to dinner to The Melting Pot for one of the most delicious dinners we've had. We were there over 3 hours eating and talking and having such a great time (and the kids did great- so that was wonderful- yeah for older children). If you haven't gone there and you've got some major cash to blow I highly recommend it. DELICIOUS! Thank you Nate and Janelle!
So anyway, about the design. It's the first I've ever done in photoshop and I feel like I totally cheated and loved it. Fun to try new things I guess. I have a few other designs I want to try in photoshop that could coordinate with this particular design. I sketched the flowers etc. and put marks on it of where I'd place black, scanned it, and colored it in photoshop. It took a total of 30- 40 minutes. Way quicker than my paintings that take days and days. Janelle's dress is black and white like this with tropical flowers and has fuchsia colored satin ribbon along the bottom and across the top part of the bodice. It's so cute. I can't wait to see her in it. :) I studied her dress to figure out how to make this kind of a pattern. I wanted to make it similar to her dress for her specifically, but now have other ideas in mind to make it more my own. So those will be fun to make. Also, it goes along with my tropical thinking lately, not to mention I've been really in love (secretly) with this shade of pink since about last summer.
Well there you go Janelle. :)

Happy 100th Post

I'm actually pretty proud of myself for reaching 100 posts on this blog because that means I finished 100 projects (paintings, sewing projects, decorating things, playing songs on my guitar, cross-stitches, crafts with my girls, big school event things, etc.) I use to never finish projects! I use to never feel brave enough to show my art to ANYONE- even Seth. I didn't even draw or paint hardly at all for about 8 or 9 years (shortly after meeting Seth and becoming majorly intimidated of him - no matter how much he encouraged me) ;).

So here is a compilation of the 40 paintings I've done since starting this blog. I'm excited to see what my compilation will look like at 200 posts. What will happen in my life by that point. Maybe I'll be brave enough to try and sell some of it... nah. :) But to celebrate I want to give away a copy of one of my paintings. Any one of them. You choose. Just put your name in the comments and tell which one you'd like. Go ahead, anyone put your name in- even if I don't know you and you are a lurker. It's okay with me. :) Hopefully this wont be embarrassing and I discover only a few people look at it. I guess that would be okay, because mostly I'm just happy to have 40 paintings done and see the progress I've made. Last day for putting your name in will be Sat. April 12th and I'll post on the 13th who wins.

Tropical Themed Painting

Well, here's a painting that's not for any sort of art challenge, but just because I seem to be thinking about tropical things lately :) and spring. Today my daffodils offically opened all the way and it's very exciting. This is my first garden since getting married and it is beginning to bloom. I feel so blessed and happy to see what will come up next. I spend an hour out there several times a week pulling weeds, trimming roses, clearing the ground, etc. It's so fun and reminds me of my momma. I'll post pics of my garden I'm sure as I get more progress done, but for now here are some of my daffodils.