Frida My Love

This same time, every year, I think of Frida Kahlo. This week is especially charged with her special energy because she was born on July 6th and she passed away on July 13th.  Every ounce of my love and appreciation for her and the inspiration she has brought me as an artist has gone into this headpiece.

I also have a friend who I love so dearly who has a birthday sometime about now...(actually I missed it because of work commitments)...who also loves Frida, and big flowers, and red polka dottie things. I made this for her too. Every hand cut and pressed petal that went into this was made with love and intention. My intention is that the wearer, who ever she may be, will be blessed with creative abundance, divine love and Frida magic...forever and ever.

If you think you would like one of these headpieces, I am selling them in my SHOP right now. I can also do custom ones in almost any fabric you like.

Love and Light

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Dressing Up For The Olympics

Hi there!

Recently, I was hired by a lovely local lady to make a dress for her granddaughter to wear to a big fancy party for the 2012 London Olympics. I didn't have to make the pattern this time. It was an existing Vogue pattern...which means it was SUPER easy and didn't take long to make. What a pleasure this job was...and I wanted to show you the progress pictures and the end result because the fabric is really cool. It's the 'Eternal Flame' limited edition Tana Lawn Liberty print from the SS12 Whitworth Collection. The dress is a simple A-line with princess seams...and coupled with a built-in neon green net petticoat, it really looks like a funky 1950s meets 1980s party frock.

I don't like sports, chaos, or crowds so you can bet I will be hiding under a rock during the London Olympics...but I have to say it was really nice to be involved (although in a very non-direct sort of way) in something Olympics related. So, somewhere out there amongst all the Olympics chaos, there will be something I lovingly made by hand being proudly worn by a wonderful young lady. Very sweet.

Love and Light

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New Summer Bunting in My Shop

Hi all!

I'm still here and although I haven't posted in a while, I have been very busy working on some exciting projects. At the moment I am juggling two very big illustration assignments...one is an entire book...and the deadline is looming which is why things have been pretty quiet here at the Live Love Cherish blog.

There's also some exciting things on the pipeline in regards to my work with the Slow Design Movement. I will be posting more about that next month.

In the meantime...I have listed some new lovelies in my SHOP today. I thought some soft, feminine and delicate bunting would be perfect for summer decorating, outdoor parties, weddings, showers, beach huts...or just hung across a breezy, open window. Lazy, dazey, warm summer days are just ahead...full of blue skies, daydreams and lemonade. I can't wait!

Have a marvelous day.

Love and Light

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Real Bride: Karis, Headpiece and Bouquet

Hello there! Spring has sprung and wedding season is in the air.

A while back I posted about a crepe paper bridal bouquet that bride-to-be Karis had commissioned me to make for her. What I didn't mention was that along with the groom's button hole, I also made her a lovely bridal halo to wear in her hair. It's a natural wreath adorned with hand made flowers, up-cycled millinery leaves and vintage pearls and ribbon.

She just sent me this gorgeous photo, taken by Arran Corbett, on her special day and it shows how lovely the headpiece and bouquet went with her dress and the overall look and feel of their wedding. What a truly delightful project to work on and I am especially happy for the new Mr. and Mrs. I'm wishing Karis and Joe all the love, light and sparkles that the Universe has to offer for their new and exciting journey together.


Love and Light
Gx

Making Silk Cherry Blossoms for Springtime Goddesses

 

While Mother Nature has been busy whipping up thunder storms, pushing tulips out of the ground and peppering the trees outside with gorgeous blossoms, I have been inside all warm and cosy making some blossoms of my own.

These delicate little cherry blossoms have been individually cut, stiffened and pressed from the silk fabric from the sleeves of an old discarded wedding dress. All made up, they are like dainty little ballerinas eagerly waiting in the wing for their grand entry to dance around the heads of beautiful Springtime goddesses.

Love and Light

Gx

Summer Dress Making

The summer dress making adventure has begun.

I have pretty much given up shopping because the clothes I want to wear are not in the shops. There are some brands I love...like THIS, and THIS...and THIS. But there is often something that prevents me from having them such as size, or price...or location. I like obscure stuff and it's not always easy to just pop out and buy it. And to be honest, I just want something simple, flattering, different...and I don't want to spend any time worrying about what I'm going to wear.

So, some time ago I figured out what style and cut suits my shape and I designed a few dresses, cut and perfected the patterns, and I recreate these dresses each year. It may seem boring but there is a reason why I do this. I'm too busy thinking about art and creating things and smelling flowers, and watching birds, reading, dreaming up ideas, and planning my next project to worry about what to wear. I choose to spend my energy in other ways. Simplicity is key to me...so a closet full of similar dresses and a few colorful cardigans, black leggings and my FitFlops is all I need.

Oh, and how could I forget? The flowers...always flowers somewhere on my body :-)

Love and Light

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Crepe Paper Bridal Bouquet

I don't know about you but when I think of crepe paper flowers I think of fiestas, back yard parties and grade school art projects. My mind's eye simply could not envision anything elegant coming from anything made from crepe paper. Then I get a private commission from a lovely bride who thinks outside the box. She is a vegan and a conservationist and a really swell chick and isn't afraid to go non-trad with her wedding. She wanted a paper bouquet...red roses to be exact.

So with my usual flower making techniques that I use when making fabric flowers, I set about making some out of paper. I tried different papers...experimenting with different thicknesses and colors as well as different types of roses. None came out like I wanted...they looked too 'crafty'...not elegant enough. Then I tried crepe paper.  What a gorgeous paper to work with. We all know someone who is chilled, happy, fun to be with and easy to get along with, who never gives you agro right? Well, that is crepe paper. It's yielding, fluid yet tough, pulls, stretches and does exactly as it's told. I love it. And it makes perfectly gorgeous and elegant flowers. (Note: Make sure you use the top quality Italian crepe paper. The cheap 'party streamer' kind is thin, looks cheap and rips easily).  The traditional rose I made looked too uptight so I decided to make a rose/peony hybrid...which is basically a peony petal template without the jagged top.

Each petal was hand cut, stretched and shaped and glued around a stamen, layer by layer, then reinforced with floral tape. I used a thick florist wire to start the making of the stamen then after I added a few layers of petals I added a 10" long pipe cleaner to the wire and then wrapped the two together with floral tape. This gives the stem some girth.

Oh, and I also made a matching button hole/boutonniere for the groom which will look good against his black suit. I am pretty pleased with the results and astonished at how real it looks. I'm now in love with crepe paper and can't wait to explore more ways of using it in flower making. I'd love to try it on flowers that are difficult to make with fabric...such as sweet peas or giant sunflowers. The only problem is sourcing decent colors here in the UK. Most of the quality crepe papers I have seen on offer are in bright or garish colors. Another challenge is...color runnage. If you use a bright color crepe paper to make flowers, please note that the color will run when it gets wet. If you are making a bridal bouquet, the bride must be told this so color doesn't get on her dress. Fortunately, the bride I am working with is aware of this and it didn't put her off the idea of big red roses! I'm also going to experiment with hand painting on white or ivory crepe paper and will keep you posted on the results.

Love and Light

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Making Millinery Flowers

My passion with flowers doesn't stop in the garden. I have also been harboring a serious millinery flower obsession for as long as I can remember. As a child, I used to go to the dime store and buy all sorts of velvet flowers, fruits and berries. It was the 1970s and things like that were in abundance. Sadly millinery flowers that have the kind of quality of yester-year are very, very scarce. In fact the whole artificial flower business is quite elusive. Most artificial flowers that are readily available are mass produced in the Far East and are made from cheap polyester and come in garish colors. There are places that sell good quality millinery flowers, but they are so traditional. I want something unique, funky and kinda quirky. When I do find some old millinery flower stock though, I find it very hard to part with it.

Lately I have been busying myself with trying to make some of my own. These are some of my first attempts. Try not to laugh. They are 'flat' and 'new' looking and aren't really 'there' for me. I think I will try to dye some of my own fabrics next. I am also ordering a set of heat flower presses which will hopefully give future flowers that I make a more 3-D appearance. I want my 'new' flowers to look old and vintage...so onward and upwards with experimenting!

Meanwhile...these flowers may just end up on a fascinator base with some other embellishments...so stay tuned.

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Summer Wedding Fascinators

Wedding season is here and I have been busy making fascinators. Both of these were made with vintage flowers and bits so they are one-offs....but I have also been very busy making some repro flowers too. I have been studying vintage millinery flower techniques and although I'm still in the experimenting phase, I hope to have some fabulous ones (with a funky, modern twist) made up and in my shop very soon. I'm not really a hat person but I can't seem to resist floral fascinators...or huge flowers in hair! I can probably trace that obsession back to the day I fell in love with Frida Khalo. I spend most days alone in my studio so I never have a reason to put my hair in bunches and festoon it out with huge blossoms, but I am going to a big bridal fair on Thursday...so maybe it will be as good an excuse as any to stick flowers in my hair!

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Valentine Mobiles and Cards

I love hearts...always have and I can never get enough of them. This year, rather than give cards that will probably eventually get thrown away, I have decided to make them a wee bit more functional.

Since I was a kid I always enjoyed making these dainty paper heart mobiles. Watching them gently turn and twist in a gentle breeze (usually from the radiator) relaxes me...makes me feel all cozy...maybe because they are a wintertime project and usually end up hanging in a window that frames a winter landscape. Usually I make them out of tissue paper but this year I wanted to use the antique atlas index papers that I have lying around. I also have an old London A - Z which came in handy too.

They are quite easy to make. Just cut various shapes of hearts out of a semi-transparent paper. Then with your sewing machine start sewing and gradually add a paper heart as you go along. Be random with them...it looks better when they are all higglety-pigglety. You can use ribbon instead of the actual machine thread too but I have found that they are far more dainty and blowy if you use thread. Then decorate them! Write lovely things on them. Hang them from found objects or simply tape them to the top of a window frame.

Since this is the year of 'Being Your Authentic Self' why not tell my nearest and dearest what it is about their authentic self that I love so much. It's so nice when people remind us that just being 'us' is good. I wish it happened more often.

All my love to All of you!

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