A glittering sparkling sea of tulle

I had full intention of sharing a little of our daily routine today, just as the January photo a day challenge demands…  however, our routine wasn’t routine.  In fact, our routine simply WASN’T.

Early this morning I got a phone call from my sister.  She wanted to take Lily-Ann out for breakfast and then for a walk down by the river.  The girl has been aching for some time with her auntie, and I was more than happy to make things work.  So the girl and I jumped out of bed, she picked out some clothes (I sent her back to pick out something different – a summer dress just doesn’t work for a walk in the snow), got dressed, threw on her outerwear, and she was ready to go!

So what did I do with my kid-free morning?  I worked on a tutu her pre-k EA had commissioned. 

Last year I made a purple, plum, and black tutu for Rhonda’s Halloween costume.  She was a wicked fairy.  It turned out wonderfully.  I made it extra long and super wild.  It ended up being such a big hit that she keeps it at school to wear every so often, just for fun (and has even lent it to some of the other staff – both male and female).  Well, last month she asked me to make another one for her… this one with a water theme.  And I have to say, it’s turned out beautifully!

It was the most complex tutu I’ve done to date, with five different colours of tulle.  All various shades of blue, including one earthy blue that was covered in sparkle.  I alternated lights and darks so that while Rhonda walks it will look like ocean waves, cresting and flowing – light to dark.  It’s a very elegant tutu.

Lily-Ann and I dropped it off for her at school on our way to Lily-Ann’s classroom.  Rhonda was just thrilled, and I’m sooo glad.  Damon even overheard her raving about her tutus when he went to pick the girl up after school – which made me feel pretty good.

the tulle elegantly flows from dark to light and back again, like the ebbing of the ocean tide kissed by the glittering moon.

I really do love working with tulle. Tutus are one of my very favourite things to sew.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll be a little more successful with the challenge topic.  After all, with such an open topic I’m sure the bigger problem with be narrowing it down. 

The Baby Crow

Every year our yard serves as a playground for at least one baby crow (sometimes two, depending on how many eggs the parents hatch).  We have had one die in our yard, which broke our hearts.  Not everyone is as gentle or appreciative of these incredible birds, and some folk will do what we consider to be unspeakable things given the chance.  But generally our encounters with them are positive.  Today, we even got to witness the joy of seeing our current crow baby take one of it’s first successful flights.  It caught me off guard at first – and so I didn’t follow it as easily as I would have, but you can see it soar on the clip I managed to snag.  Once they get started, it doesn’t take them long to master it at all.  Pretty darn cool. 

We really do love and respect these beautiful animals.  They’ve always held great significance for me.  And I truly treasure every interaction we are lucky enough to have with them.  We are very blessed that they have chosen our yard to come back to year and year again.

See y’all at the Pride Parade tomorrow!!!  Look for me!  I’ll the one dressed all in yellow on the Avenue Community Center’s float, and you can’t miss the girl!  I’ve done up a rainbow tutu and headpiece for the girl, she says she’s the Rainbow Bride.    Spent the day sewing her stuff and my skirt.  It’s gonna be EPIC!

Hmmmm….

Ya know?  Earlier today I had a few things on my mind, all of which would have made good blog posts.  But right now?  I’m beat.  It was a long and busy second half of the day.  And I’m now laying in bed next to the girlie…  typing on my netbook while I listen to her breathing in the quiet  dark.  All I can think of is her.  She may be absolutely exhausting, but she’s amazing, she’s wonderful, and she’s mine. 

Happy St. Pats everyone.  The girlie wore a pretty green shirt with button flowers on it, and her green tutu.  We sang Pangur Ban, and danced around while watching The Secret of Kells.  Haven’t seen it yet?  I’d say it’s about time you did.  We are repeat borrowers (have reserved it from the library a couple times now).

My Little Witchy-Poo!

Singing:  “One little, two little, three little witches…”

…and Optimus Prime.

 

Here’s Mrs. Tracy Painchaud (dressed as Belle) taking a photo of Mrs. Rhonda Carlston, Lily-Ann, and another girl in their class all dressed as witches.  And, of course, Optimus Prime is there – bogarting the limelight.  LOL

If you couldn’t tell, the wee girlie’s class had their Halloween party today.  And guess what?  Lily-Ann won a pumpkin.    She can’t wait to carve it this weekend.  Love, love, love the celebration of Halloween and all the tremendous fun that goes along with it.

Here’s the wee girlie’s school costume from the back.  I love making tutus and have to show this one off.  It’s SUPER full and flouncy.  And I made up a matching bit to put on Lily-Ann’s hat (braided the tulle and sewed on a bow and some dingleballs).

 

Fabric Shopping!

Today I went fabric shopping.  I love fabric shopping.  All those colours and textures.  I just walk through the store and touch everything.  It fills me.  I really do love it.

Fabric stores are all about possibilities and potential.  Beautiful things to touch to see…  beautiful things that are just waiting to become.  Unfinished things just waiting for the right person to come along.  A good fabric store just makes me feel happy (but a badly set-up one fills me with anxiety).  I love my fabric store.

Today I bought some really cool denim (you’ll see it in the photo below).  It’s for a ring sling I’ll be making for my cousin Jamie.  She’s due in a few weeks.  Some slings are hard to shop for because people want such specific things, which aren’t always easy to find – and in some cases just aren’t available locally…  and I don’t buy a fabric I can’t first touch.  Jamie was fun to shop for though.  She wanted a casual fabric, preferably patterned, preferably with blue, green, or brown in it.  And initially she said no orange, but then took that back, and said orange would be okay too.  I couldn’t believe my luck… to find denim with a fun floral pattern in BLUE, GREEN, AND BROWN. 

Jamie, hope you love it! 

I also bought some new tulle.  Tutus and ring slings are probably my two favourite things to sew – and I now have fabric for both.  LOL  Jamie gets her sling and the wee girlie gets a new tutu.  Joy!

Fabric for Jamie

On another note…  only had one entry for my Scraptastic Saturday challenge.  So she wins the gift certificate for Sugar Pie Scraps store at ESS.  Congrats!

Faery in the Garden (yesterday and today)

Yesterday:

Today:

A Tutu for You-you.

Decided to make the wee girlie another tutu today (this is her fourth).  LOL  Three that I’ve made, and one that my mom bought for her.  She loves dressing up, and throwing a tutu on over ANYTHING including a t-shirt and jeans means it’s instantly princess worthy.  Case in point – yesterday.  LOL  T-shirt and jeans, toss on a tutu and you’ve got a happy girlie.

As per request (by Denyse) here’s a photo of the girl in her new tutu.  I’d have preferred an action shot that shows off how flouncy and cute it is…  but I used my camera phone.  So, the only way to get any kind of recognizable image (as she moves so quickly) is to have her sit down.  So I had her sit down. 

A tutu for you-you.

This tutu features alternating strands of pink and purple tulle with sparkles.  I’ve also included about 8-10 strands of ribbon – just for fun.    It’s a different style than the others I’ve made for her.  More flouncy, less skirty.