Erin go Bragh!

I pulled dandelions today.

Not all day, but I created a dandelion-free zone in the yard.  A couple of dandelion-free zones, to be exact.

No dandelions! The creeping charlie is next...

...after the rest of the dandelions are defeated. Yeah.

I also planted some annuals, in pots and in the first garden area I reclaimed when I moved back here. A rustic seating area under an old lilac shrub, now front-planted with primroses and astilbe. So I added celosia for a shot of color at the front.

Celosia - they remind me of Jen D.

And I worked in the yard just long enough to burn my lower back. Right across my claddagh.

Erin go Bragh

G'night, all.

Why I do what I do

Monday evening. Nothing on my calendar. WHAT??

So J. and I made collages. Best. Night. Ever.

J.'s flower pictures

and I went with sideways hummingbirds

(I just looked at the calendar - I had a rehearsal/runthru scheduled, but it was changed to Tuesday night. Lucky, lucky me!)

that's better!

She picked a spot in the dining room to hang our fabulous creations; now I just need to frame them, and hang them. Still the best night ever.

I'm not bitter - but the vinaigrette might be

I got to cook dinner on Sunday. After striking the set, props and costumes for I Hate Hamlet. And painting the floor black. Again. Yeah, I got home around 5 p.m. and got to cook dinner for my family. Because they were waiting for me to come home and fix dinner. How considerate of them.

It wasn't that bad; I had some tilapia fillets thawing in the fridge, and they had at least picked out a quick potato side dish for me to make.

I mixed some flour and corn meal with smoked paprika, sea salt, garlic powder and black pepper; dredged the fillets in the coating, and pan-fried them in peanut oil. Simple, yet so delish!

Even better, the fam picked up some blueberries and strawberries at the same time, and I made a lovely, fruity vinaigrette with basil-infused olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed blueberries, sliced strawberries and a bit of sugar (to offset the sharpness of the vinegar); dressed some salad greens with this loveliness, and watched J. go to town on the salad, especiallly toward the end of the meal.

Quick, tasty, lovely to look at and delightful to taste. I rock!

Just a Quickie

....both as post update, and as a creation.

I've been on Pinterest since late December, and I've found inspiration for several of my creations through that site. Especially food items: Nutella cake, chicken tikka masala, plus so many other Beautiful Foods that I want to make/create.

And then there's my Craft Ideas board. One of the first crafty things I saw on Pinterest was a repurposed painting - taping a quote or saying on an old, thrift store painting, then painting over the entire surface with a solid color, removing the tape, and revealing the words.

like this

I made this on Tuesday; I had an old oil painting in my house (probably from my mom), used vinyl letters to spell out a Nietzsche quote, and painted over everything with a pale aqua (left over from the I Hate Hamlet set).

I started a part-time job, and need to run now. But I'll get the last few day's creations on here tonight (we can only hope!).

Later.

Cookies and cocktails

A random selection of some lesser creations:

My youngest, J., wanted me to braid her hair before school one day, a couple of weeks ago. French braids, but not the full length of her hair; she wanted a french braid/pigtail combo. Braids at the top, to just past her ears, then fastened off with ponytail holders and the lower part hanging loose. Her hair is so long, I don't know if they can be called "pigtails"; but that's what I've always called it when a person wears their hair in two "tails" on each side, instead of one "ponytail" at the back of the head.

When I finished the braid/tail combo, she pointed out that could be my creation for the day. Done by 7:30 a.m.! With my life and schedule lately, I'll take that.

My friend RPK is in town (for Jen's funeral), and he loves Oatmeal Scotchies. He once referred to them as his kryptonite. So I baked a batch, some for him, some for my family, some for my IHH cast.

That last bit of cookie dough is always the "big" cookie

What is actually the "creation" part of this is the Big Cookie and the Small Cookie. Most of the cookies were pretty uniform in size, but after four dozen cookies were baked, I had enough remaining dough for one giant cookie; and as I stacked the cookies, I found the runt of the litter. Two of my dear theater friends, Z. and MPL are like these two cookies - Z. is a whole lot of a man, tall and big; MPL is shorter than the average bear. And they tease each other constantly about their respective size disparity. The rest of us enjoy the facebook banter that they provide; I know they don't like it when others join in (it really is a tennis match between the two of them, not a basketball park pick-up game, people!), but I had to tag them when I posted the above photo. And then I brought all the cookies to Z.'s party last night, for RPK and everybody else to enjoy. I don't know who got the Z. and MPL cookies, but they were all gone when I left.

Speaking of Z.'s party, I didn't create a cocktail, but I watched one of the best amateur mixologists I know create some lovely drinks, with vodka, or gin, and he brought his own bottle of Lillet, along with oranges and lemons (for the rind, of course!).

And now that the weather is so lovely and warm, I can wear one of my favorite creations ever - a sundress made out of a man's shirt.

I was given several men's XXL and XXXL shirts by a friend of a friend; the fabrics are lovely and colorful, but the shirts are SO LARGE. I don't have many (if any) actors who would fit into them, so I repurposed one of them into a dress for myself.

I started by removing the sleeves, the back yoke and the collar from the body of the shirt. Then I turned it around, and used the front button placket as the back closure for the dress. I put in a couple of shaping darts, and took in the side seams, to fit the shirt to a woman's curves (namely, mine!).

I cut the bodice out of  the sleeves, and draped it for an empire bodice, on the diagonal for some added design interest. Then I finished the neckline by using the original collar as a halter neck.

shirt collar into halter collar

back to front! 

the button placket, now the back closure

Full disclosure: I didn't create this dress yesterday; I made it a couple of years ago. It was one of the inspirations for this blog; I really enjoy manipulating fabric patterns to create a new look, and repurposing clothing into new uses.

Happy May!

Pink!

I dyed my hair pink, in tribute to my friend Jen.

Well, I tried to dye it pink; I've never used the intense, bright hair dyes that Jen used, and I wasn't sure how much to put on my hair. Also, I didn't bleach it first, and I already color my hair, but there is definitely pink tones to my hair color now.

Jen's funeral is tomorrow. So many of us are dying our hair, or getting colorful clip-on hair extensions; going barefoot; and I'll be in a skirt for sure.

As a costume designer, I've realized my tribute to Jen will be via wardrobe, not through words. We work in different media (lights as opposed to fabric), but color and layers are both important aspects of our designs. I'm glad I got to work with Jen on so many shows. There will be photos of a lot of her lighting designs at the funeral home, I'm interested to see which of our collaborations will be represented, plus all the other theaters she worked for.

The ends of my hair are definitely pink; I expected the roots (especially the grey!) to take more color. Ah, well....It is what it is.

Much like life, and death, and everything in between.

The Shadow Knows

I'm finishing up the spring show at St. Kate's - On Air! A Return to Radio looks really good! The kids are having fun with their actor personae, as well as the different voices for the radio scripts.

And there are photos!

new collar/lapel, buttons and a sparkly buckle

I've also added some soutache trim to this red jacket, that was yesterday's creation. I'll post an additional photo from last night, once I get them.

The suit fit like it was tailored for him!

The red ruffle trim was Sunday's creation - I couldn't find any ready-made ruffle trim, so I bought a spool of wide red satin ribbon, ran a gathering stitch down one side, and attached it to the dress! I love how it looks against the polka dots, and the skirt gives the loveliest little swirl whenever Greta turns away from the microphone. She loves the dress, as well! She wants to buy it, and she should - it suits her beautifully.

The newly patterned vintage dresses

The other dress has a calla lily print for the body of the dress, and green taffeta collar, sleeves and a tie sash. It's a fun little design - there are two sections to the sash, one sewn into each side front seam, then they overlap in front, one section wraps around the back, and it ties at the side waist.

A snood, a peter pan collar - so sweet!