White Wedding Block Kit - Vintage Elements

There are only twelve of these kits, so grab one while we have them! I love assembling kits with vintage elements. I'm fortunate to live in an area filled with antique stores with an abundance of quality linens. And it's time to begin cleaning out the totes I have filled with linens! I will also begin to load linens, beads, crockery, books and bits on the etsy site - Oldelements.

Each Wedding Block Kit contains: One  10" or 12" Damask dinner napkin, 6" square of a rayon motif  from a wedding gown, 6" square of green embroidery on organza and the embroidery includes mint green bullion embroidery with bead embellishment on top of Tambour worked leaves, 1 yard of iridescent lace, 1 yard of ivory rayon gimp braid, 1 yard of 1/2" wide rayon braid, 3 ivory roses, 8" square of white velvet, 10" square of muslin fabric for the base,  3 yards of variegated 7mm buttercup silk ribbon, and a color print of this block. The kit is $15. The items in the kit also can be dyed in vintage tones using our RibbonSmyth Rainbow Dyes. This block could be used for a bridal purse or a bridal pillow.

Mermaid Seascape in Quilting Arts

My Mermaid Seascape, featured far left was designed for Quilting Arts Magazine, during their first year of publication. This piece along with other embellished pieces are now available through a newly released  CD.

The seascape was a pleasure to design. I made tiny clay shells for ears and used vintage silver sequins, stitched in layers for her tail. The fan on her tail is made with vintage French wire-edge ribbon. I made small stuffed velvet pods for the ocean floor and the trunk was created from vintage brown paisley fabric. The fish and seahorses were created from techniques I featured in my book "The New Ribbon Embroidery". How nice to see Quilting Arts showcase techniques from 2001!

FiberFusion Collar

Matilde is posing with her new RibbonSmyth FiberFusion Collar. Great thing about using the Rayon ribbons for the collar ties is that you can adjust the length of the collar. Now to create FiberFusion yardage in a variety of colors for more collars!

RibbonSmyth's FiberFusion Collar

This is a close-up of a Collar I made using RibbonSmyth's FiberFusion and Solvy. It's a project for an upcoming class. I used  RibbonSmyth Monet RibbonRuffles among the collage and RibbonSmyth Rayon Hand-dyed tape in the Mermaid colorway for the collar ribbons. I've added wire-wrapped sea-glass, objects I keep scouting for my friend Leonie's Tryptich! I've added small vintage Czech cabochons. These cabs are from the 1950's and I have them on the RibbonSmyth site. They are rarely purchased, which is a shame as they add such a punch to any piece! They are one of my fav design elements and I use them on my beaded cuffs. I then added a vintage Austrian Stag button and a St. Christopher medallion from New Mexico. Above that I added a flower harvested from a 1950's hat. The flowers are great to use whole or tear them apart. I've used vintage milliner flowers for years in my embellishing and they add allot of dimension to any piece. I will post pics later of a matching cuff I made as a companion piece. It's the simple pieces I appreciate the most because they can be finished in a limited time.

Silk Ribbon bouquet with Calla lilies

This is a bouquet I created many years ago when I was designing patterns for Bucilla Corp. Christi was asking how to create Calla Lilies, so this pic is for her! This piece shows a few calla lilies and the use of 2mm silk ribbon to create violets and dianthus. To make a Calla Lily make a Japanese Ribbon Stitch in 7mm ribbon and pull the stitch to allow the ribbon ends to fold into the center of the ribbon.  6 strands of cotton floss were used for the lily center, by creating a straight stitch. And of course, RibbonSmyth carries the silk ribbon and buttonhole silk twist, used in this design. This piece was stitched on linen. The design was created free-form without sketching a design onto the linen. The linen is a lighter weight and is not my fabric of preference since the dark silk ribbon colors can be seen on the back of the fabric. This piece was framed with a mauve oval mat.

FiberFusion Collar

Artistic Fashions in Cloth - Columbus, Ohio April 28th

"Marie"  Designed by Stephanie Novatski at

http://www.novasblossoms.blogspot.com/

If any of you are in the Columbus, Ohio area, we hope you will have a chance to attend this show. It is a super event showcasing amazing dolls and talent. The show occurs every other year and this year it is at the Double Tree Inn from April 28-May 1st.

Stephanie and I will both be in attendance.  Stephanie will have some of her dolls and patterns for sale. I will have my vendor booths filled with ribbons, dyes and trims.

"Marie" features RibbonSmyth Fiber Fusion hair and the trims on her luscious gown are dyed using RibbonSmyth's Rainbow Dyes.

Stephanie is one of the most talented women I have ever met. She was the first place winner in the recent Hoffman Challenge with her doll - "The Dragon Slayer". She is a generous, dear friend that is always ready to share her talents. She has helped enormously with the ArtBra foundation over the years. Her ArtBras have consistently been the hit of each exhibit. And her doll patterns are popular; filled with detailed instructions.

To celebrate the Royal Wedding, we will be wearing our Tiaras!

Vintage French Crown

Here's a side shot showing a bit more detail of this lovely crown.

Antique French Crown to commemorate the Royal Wedding

Isn't this a lovely crown? Even with missing stones, and a bit bent, it is one of my favorite pieces. I would think this piece is turn-of-the-century. When I was on a book tour in London many years ago, I spent a day in Covent Gardens. While wandering through floors of antiques, I found this piece.  I was told that it was a French piece. It is made from stamped brass. The crown is adjustable and would probably have been used for a  first communion service. 

Vintage Crown Pincushion

With the Royal Wedding arriving soon, I had to post a couple of crown photos!

This is a large 8 inch pincushion that I found many years ago in the Philadelphia fabric district. It is very heavy and the metal is a brass color complete with stones. The red velvet is studded with pearls and very old pins.