"Irreplaceable Women" Fabric Book Page Six

 Some of the laces have been rust-dyed by my friend, Stephanie Novatski, who assembled the muslin pieces and an assortment of laces for the book. Her blog is listed in my favorite blogs - Novas Blossoms. Check out her book, on her blog. Her talent amazes.  None of the pages are perfectly square, which is the best.  I make the Mother of Pearl buttons and used  a rose button with hand-dyed rayon leaves. The little embellishment clusters, are bits from decades of collecting. 

"Irreplaceable Women" Fabric Book Page Five

Since the book has not been bound yet, this is currently Page 5 of a 10-page book. Love Jodie Foster.  I used quotes from the 20th and 21st Centuries and all images are from the 1920's. The collage of laces are pieces stitched to the muslin base. 

"Irreplaceable Women" Page Seven

Love this quote! Once the pages are finished, I rub a bit of bronze Guilder's Paste, over the quote, to reduce the starkness of the white. The appliqués were cut from a deconstructed wedding gown bodice. I dipped the pieces into  teabag water to turn the rayon appliqués bronze.

Irreplaceable Women Pages 7 and 8

These pages were just completed. A feat in trying to download these images from my iPhone. Google does not want to help in the process! Pages are approximately 8"x8" and each page has been a delight to create. The quotes do not match up with the women featured in the photographs. The book is so thick, that it may not support 4 more pages. Will assemble some type of toggle to close the book. I also want to create a "bookmark" hassle using our hand-dyed rayon tape. I will load all of the images and quotes from this book, onto our Etsy site at RibbonSmyth.

"Irreplaceable Women" Fabric Book page Two

 Page Two of the fabric book. The background is a napkin adhered to muslin with Mod Podge. The image is fused to the page with an iron, then laces are added and finished with findings. Found a pickle jar  filled with mother of pearl buttons and have stitched some of the buttons around the quote. After this photo was taken, removed all the buttons and stitched again, so the quote was visible. 

Irreplaceable Women Fabric Book ~ Page Nine

Another fabric book page for the "Irreplaceable Women" fabric book.  Hope to finish the book this week-end. Will load a series of my vintage images onto the Etsy site.  The images are approximately 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". The fabric images have a fusible back and can be ironed on to fabric in a few seconds.  Etsy - www.etsy.com/shop/RibbonSmyth

Vintage, funky earring bracelets

 

A few bracelets made with 1950's earrings. Have made several as commissions for weddings for Etsy Customers. So much fun! I've been wearing 3 stacked together, and I like the boho "look". I use brass vintage bracelet blanks, and that makes a big difference! Bracelets are on my etsy site at

www.etsy/shop/ribbonsmyth

New Fabric book back cover

 

I've started designing a 12-page fabric book, thanks to Stephanie. Stephanie Novatski put together all the pages, using muslin with a fusible back. She then cut twelve square pieces of batting and included two pieces of grunge board for the covers. She dyed an assortment of laces.  Her book is almost complete! We just returned from Brimfield, Mass., searching for antiques. We were going to work on the books at night, but just completed the cover and back cover at the studio. Can't wait to see this project completed.

 

Still have a bit of silk ribbon embroidery to do on the lime green silk doupioni.

 

The book pages will feature quotes about women, written by women. I wanted to use quotes that we don't often see.

 

A great project for all the laces I've collected over three decades. I hate to admit how much lace I have. More than can be used in a lifetime. Something about lace....



My Studio

Here's a shot of my parlor in the studio. It's rather dark, but it gives a bit of a glimpse of what a great space this has been for creating! The studio is eleven rooms on the second floor of our Pennsylvania bank barn.  We have held wonderful classes, complete with tea in the afternoons.  Years of collecting  need to be reduced, in my ongoing quest to keep my most important treasures and move treasures on to new homes. Many of my items will be listed on my etsy and ebay sites. Grateful every day to have had my dream studio.

Gorgeous 2mm Silk Ribbon at our Etsy Store at RibbonSmyth

 

We sell the nicest quality hand-dyed silk ribbon at our Etsy Store ~ search "RibbonSmyth".

Many new colors and the one above is in the Mermaid colorway.

Lots of new listings coming to our Etsy site!