REACHING FOR THE LIGHT

It's been almost a month since my last post...the last two months of the year are often difficult for me...I teeter on the edge of depression. The expectations of the season are sometimes overwhelming, and all I want to do is sleep till January 1. Over the years, I've amassed many ways of coping; one, obviously is to hide away in my studio. Another is to get together with loving longtime friends and let my inner extravert out...

Yes, that's a plastic bag on my head...

and here I'm dancing my heart out. All of us are "of a certain age" but time
hasn't slowed us down much!

I'm almost back to normal, whatever that is, and ready to share my life again.

I made another kappogi for my friend Joan, for Christmas,

from a Japanese cotton from F&S Fabrics in Los Angeles. I use mine so often, I
hope she enjoys this one as well.

I also made a pair of "lantern pants", V8712 OOP, from Marcy Tilton, to go with a new pair of boots. My elegant friend Willie from Oregon stopped by on her way to spend Christmas with her family in Los Angeles. She looked so stylish in her
pants, jacket and boots, that I tried to copy her look...

(picture lightened to show details). I haven't quite got it yet, but I'll keep trying!

The Visible Women  are having a post-holiday meet up later this afternoon over at Patti's blog...

come over and say hi!

BACK IN THE SADDLE!

Yee haw! We finished moving everything back where it belongs and I got to return to my studio. FINALLY. 

I had two projects that have been in process since we started our renovations, and I finally got to finish them.

First up, another pair of Marcy Tilton pants, V8929, which I've made several times before...this pair is out of a lovely "French 'faded scroll' printed stretch denim - gray"  from Emma One Sock...

This pattern has become my favorite pull on pant and goes together quickly. The 
OTHER  new things I am wearing are my Superga Silver Sneakers...

Such fun!

Next, I made a jacket from V8620, an OOP Marcy Tilton pattern that I made
here and here.

I used a yummy  "Baroque Velvet Flocked Stretch Denim" from Marcy. 

I lengthened the jacket by about 10 inches. I love the collar on this jacket and can't wait to wear it!

I'm going over to Not Dead Yet Style Visible Monday where there is a sign up
for a Karina Dress give-away. Thanks, Patti! Come on over, sign up for the give-away, and marvel at the Visible Women!

TTYL!

COMING UP FOR AIR....

I'm still in the thick of renovation...the painting is finished, the new flooring starts going in on Tuesday and I have been SHOPPING (mainly via the Internet)
24/7 (or so it feels...).

This is the paint color, although it doesn't look this brown on the walls...more green in it.

New bed (but not the headboard or footboard)...still looking for a headboard.

8x11 area rug....

New sheets and duvet covers...etc., etc., etc......

Meanwhile, we have moved the contents of our closets to the living room

and hope for no company in the next few days!

I treated myself to a very lovely Kantha Cloth Vest by Mieko Mintz...the link is to her wonderful website...such eye candy!

I took my friend Joan out for her birthday yesterday, and my vest had its debut...

It's totally reversible, light as a feather and something I'll wear a lot.

BTW, I'm also wearing my Danish outfit from Bitte Kai Rand. AND...the new funky bracelet is from Marirose who I discovered at Artistry in Fashion and told you about. I LOVE her work!

Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to spend the afternoon in my studio...my fabrics and my machines are calling to me!

TTYL

A LITTLE RENOVATION BREAK...

As I may have mentioned, we are doing a little bit of renovation (there's no such thing as "a little renovation")...we are repainting our bedroom, dressing room and my office, and then putting in new wood flooring. The good news is that our kitchen, dining room and living room are still intact, and we are sleeping in our lovely guest house for three weeks until the work is done.

The bad news is that we had to move 1000+ books from our bookcase in the bedroom.

This is what happens when you have a degree in English Literature and rarely throw away books.

The whole area will be painted in Dunn Edwards Center Ridge....it's a medium
gray, neither blue nor brown.

The trim will remain an off white. The plaster walls have a "skip trowel" finish with a glaze, but this time we will do a simple paint coat.

This weekend we went up to the Cambria area (in Central California) where Dave was born and raised, to attend his high school reunion. It was a beautiful

day, after a little tiny rainstorm Friday night, so everything was sunny and glittery.  We stopped off in Pismo Beach for some oysters on the half shell (for Dave) and aFish Taco (for me). This is a blurry picture of me at the restaurant, but it'll qualify me for an appearance on Hat Attack, Judith of Style Crone's wonderful monthly opportunity to show off our hats.

TTYL

BITS AND PIECES...

This post is to catch up with all the little bits and questions I've been asked! In no particular order...

Our trip next fall, to North Eastern India; this will be my EIGHTH trip to India and I have wanted to go to Nagaland since my very first trip in 1990. Why?

"The uncontested 'wild east' of India, Nagaland is probably one of the reasons you came to the Northeast in the first place. A place of unparalleled primeval beauty, Nagaland's dazzling hills and valleys – right on the edge of the India–Myanmar border – are an otherworldly place where until very recently some 16-odd headhunting Naga tribes valiantly fought off any intruders. Of course, the place is a shadow of its once savage self today, and much of the south of the state is fairly developed. In the north, however, you still stand a good chance of meeting tribesmen in exotic attire who continue to live a lifestyle that is normally only seen within the pages of National Geographic" 

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/northeast-states/nagaland#ixzz3GkOk0Z2Y

I was attracted to their textiles the first time I saw them...maybe you can see

why...

I must have been a Naga woman in a previous life... travel to Nagaland has been difficult in the past, but Lesley Robin, who specializes in textile tours, is

inaugurating this new tour next year, so we're on! I've traveled to South India with Lesley in the past. I'll let you know more details as I get them.

That's not to say we won't take another trip between now and then....

Several readers have asked about my fabric data base which I showed a picture of here. I use Bento, a Mac program that was developed by FileMaker, and unfortunately is no longer offered or supported. Since I had already set up my own templates for my fabric stash and my patterns, I continue to use them.

I have experimented with Evernote, which would probably work, but to tell the truth, I haven't spent the time necessary to set up the application as I would like it.

This is the "form" view which consists of a picture of the fabric and all the data elements I determined I needed. As often as possible, I copy the description of the fabric from the website of the vendor (in this case, Emma One Sock). This is the first step.

This is the thumbnail view, which shows the picture of the fabric and the description.

This is the list view, which can be sorted by all the different fields I chose...I really like this app, and will continue to use it as long as I can. Like any database, it only works if you keep it up...:(

I set up a similar data base for Sewing Patterns...if anyone wants to see it, email me and I'll go into the details.

The giant hook and eye tape I've used here

and here

came from (I think) Fabric of Vision in Ashland, Oregon. It appears to also be

available on Vogue Fabrics' site.

And one last share...my mother studied at the San Francisco Art Institute (then known as California School of Fine Arts) in the late '20s and early '30s. As well as Fine Art, she studied dress design and designed and sewed most of her own clothes, as well and mine and my sister's, all her life. When I last cleaned out my studio (waaaaay too long ago) I found some note books she kept in the early '50s, chronicling her designs, mostly of my sister's high school graduating outfits and the wardrobe my mother made for her when she went to the University of Washington. There are a few outfits of my mother's and one or two for me (I was about 14 at the time).

I thought you might like to see some of them...

Aren't those fun?

TTYL...

BERGEN...THE END OF THE TRIP!

Finally! I have a lot of pictures of the last week in Norway, which was SO beautiful...when I last wrote of our trip, we had gone up the mountain and were on our way down to Bergen, on the west coast of Norway.

Before we reached Bergen, we had a wonderful 2 ½ hour cruise on the Sognefjord...spectacular scenery and a thrilling experience.

Cool, misty, mysterious...

It's hard to imagine living in such a remote location...but there's always the
"mail boat" which makes daily stops and also takes travelers...

So, we arrived in Bergen, a city dating from the 11th century, always a significant port city and center for trading. It's also a stop for cruse ships...

so tourism is a very important element. There are many colorfully restored building on the old quay...

There is a daily fish market on the wharf

and lots of boats...

The seafood market had a restaurant which we really enjoyed.

We walked the streets of Bergen, seeing wonderful old buildings,

festive street decor...

and statues of famous native sons (this one is Edvard Grieg)

We were amused by the local adaptations for familiar food...

We took a funicular to the top of the mountain for the view...

took pictures of each other...

and had a treat before we left for the ride to the bottom.

I've got WAY too many pictures to include in this post...here is a link to my Picasa album for anyone who wants to see more!

On our last night, we had a farewell dinner with the group, and our charming leader Ylva and I modeled our outfits from Bitte Kai Rand

So...we were no sooner home than we drove north; I dropped Dave off to visit his brother in Santa Clara and I raced to Artistry in Fashion where I met up with
Shams from Communing with Fabric and many other textile-type friends.

This is the only picture I took all day, of Sharon with her distinctive handbag
she bought in Santa Fe 

.

but helpful friends, like Jane Foster, emailed us copies of their photos.

                       L-R: Jane, Sharon and moi...

Sharon and I discovered Marirose and her wonderful jewelry, so...

 I bought these earrings,

Sharon bought these,

and I bought 3 of these bracelets that have hardly been off my wrist since.
I was very grateful to the readers of my blog who came up to say hi at the event...

Well, that's the end of the travel posts; we HAVE chosen our next trip...to
North Eastern India, but it's not till October of 2015. I'm dying to get back into the studio and sew something, but we are redoing our bedroom, so I may have to take a detour into the realm of home decorating...

I'll head over to Patti's Visible Monday to see what the super visible women are up to...come look, too!

TTYL