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Sunday 22 August 2010

Dress Up 2010 August.

Just in case you have forgotten, the lovely Margaret at Alice and Camilla's blog hosts this challenge.
Go visit her and leave a comment please, it'll help take her mind off all the building work noise.

This month I planned to do a summer green dress.
I picked green because none of my dresses have been green yet despite the fact that I use green a lot in my projects and I wondered why that was.
Looking in my wardrobe gave the answer because I don't buy green clothes.
Weird that I'd unconsciously reflected that in my Dress Up wardrobe.

This is my second dress I made this month because the first one I made wasn't um green.
Good to see I can keep to a theme then.
Click on it to make it bigger but you can't see the shiny gold mica on it, sorry I forgot to take a shiny shot for posterity, my bad.








How I made it.

For the background I splodged Inkadinks in Gooseberry Fool and Yummy Yellow from the bright range onto my waterproof craft sheet. You can use acetate, glass or anything else that is flat and waterproof instead of the waterproof craft sheet, I only bought mine as it is heat proof and I heat emboss on my oak table, which has the potential to be a hideously expensive mistake.

I spritzed water onto the inks and then dabbed my thin white card (160g/m2) onto the inks sitting on the craft sheet.
When that was fully dry I sprayed gold mica powder mixed with water over the top using a Tim Holtz mini mixer.
Inkadinks and mica powders from www.imaginationcrafts.co.uk
A great store, excellent products and customer service and very very good value too (no, I don't get a commission, remember there is only you, me and Spanky reading this blog.)

I used a Image Tree calligraphy stamp and the fabulous free Craft Stamper flower stamp from a the August 2010 edition and the teeny distant birds from the Crafty Individuals stamp; the one with the birdcage, birdhouse and birds in branches, yes - that one!
All stamped in Adirondack dye ink in clover.

A bit of lace and light green ric rac ribbon from www.alteredelement.co.uk
I first tried to glue the white lace on with Matte Accents but it absorbed the green Adirondack dye ink and made a right mess of the lace so don't try that at home! Then I tried white PVA with a new bit of lace and that worked fine.

Can you guess what the sleeve cuffs are made from?
Go on, I'll wait...

No, not that, try again.

Do you give up then??
The waste card from the top of..... Martha Stewart's Gothic Arches border punch.
No really, it is and do you know what?
If I painted it gold, it would look very like German Scrap wouldn't it?
It could be used on Inches and ATC's or any other project where just a short strip of German Scrap was required.

I've remember to take some photos of how I finish my dresses.
After I have finished the front of the dress I cut a very slightly smaller template using 300g/m2 watercolour paper which will give the dress it's rigidity. I colour around the edges with a colour that will blend in with the dress.



Then I glue it using white PVA to the back of the dress.
Then I use Scotch Magic tape to stick the coat hanger onto the watercolour paper.



Then I use white PVA to glue the back of the dress onto the watercolour paper.
The dress is then 3 layers thick and you can't see the coat hanger. Of course I forgot to photograph the back of the dress so just scrunch up your face and imagine it please.
It is a unembellished piece of the green and yellow background inkadinks paper I made.

When I first sat down to make a summer GREEN dress this is what I made.
Click on it to make it bigger.





I have to wonder at what part of GREEN I didn't understand.
It's probably due to the brain fartage that occurs outrageously regularly.

Fartage = to fart collectively.

Oh well, Evangeline can use this one for moments when she gets the urge to be a domestic goddess (bog cleaner) .

However I think I have redeemed myself somewhat by remembering to take a photo of all 8 dresses together, yey go me!

Click on it to make it even bigger.



Do you have a favourite?
Mine is January's The Shiny Eye of Sauron, not because it is the prettiest but because it makes me laugh.
You have to understand the reverence with which The Lord of the Rings trilogy is held by some of our household.
Himself reads the books at the beginning of every year and has the 3,452 hour versions of Peter Whosit's film trilogy.
But Spanky made it so I'm safe.
If in trouble just say "Spanky did it" or 
"Spanky made me do it".
It's OK,  Spanky's shameless and I'll vouch for you.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx



9 comments:

SYLVIA-ANNE said...

Good morning Gini! How fantabulous this dress is - I have to say this is my favourite, and the pink and yellow one is a close second (that's the one with the 3 beads on the bodice and the punched hem). I love this latest design because of the beautiful summery colours, and the CS flower border - what an effective way to use it! Have a great week - Love and hugs, Sylvia xxx

Karen said...

Oh my goodness Gini...two for August!!! LOVE it of course!!! I do like the earlier version with the teensy green on it too, prob cos I love reds. All that wonderful stamping & those teensy birds are gorgeous my lovely. Now...which one do I like best? Difficult as I love all of them but I think my fave has to be the carnival one!!!!

Its good to see the backs of them too. I don't do my backs, partly cos I am lazy hahaha but I intend to put mine on a canvas.

Oh and I have brain farts too hahahahahahaha HUGS XXX

Electra said...

I'm with Sylvia-Anne, she and I have the same favorite, the pink and yellow extravaganza. This month's is lovely, I like the green colour, even if you don't wear it. But I thought you were British, not German. And I'm trying to scrunch up my face..wait...isn't that Spanky reading over there in the corner? Wow, smart little critter Spanky is. But we knew that. Did I say how wonderful all your dresses look together? They looked wonderful one by one but they look better than wonderful in a row. (Would that wonderfuller? Must be.)

~*~Patty S said...

Your dresses are lovely, so delightful seeing them all in a row!
Your latest green and yellow creation is perfect in every detail!
oxo

Margaret said...

Lurvly post again Gini! your wonderful words always make me smile, fartage indeed!! Love your double dresses for this month, am totally in favour of indecision!
As for a fav, well it's January for me! a really striking little number to start the year with!
And your wardrobe?? hmmm... coming along nicely is it??! Mx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really like the first August one you made as well as the green one. They are both lovely and colorful.

Where did you get those hangers? My hardest part each month is making the danged hangers.

It's great to see all these in a row. I think I like June's because it is so colorful, but they are all so lovely, it would be hard to choose just one. I only wish I had stuck to one pattern like yours. It would have made them so much easier to display.

Gini said...

Hi there Bluebeard and Elizabeth!

The hangers are made by Woodware and are called 20 Mini Coat Hangers code EMB024 and cost a mere £2.85 and you get them in an alterable box frame as well from www.alteredelement.co.uk
This is a great store, fast service and excellent customer service.
Although woodware is sold in the US as well I expect, it is no doubt a US company??

I have put a picture of the box they come in this post so you know what you are looking for.

Dress up 2010 June

I didn't realise that I had no aptitude for wire work until I tried to make some of these hangers!
Hence my search for some ready made ones!!!

I am going to have another go at June's dress and do it the same again but in the larger style dress so it matches the others. I'm thinking I have invested a lot of time in this project so I'm going spend a bit more time to get it just right.

What about mounting all your dresses on a canvas board to be displayed on your wall instead, it won't matter about the different sizes then will it?

Or they could hang from a stick tree similar to the bare branch designs you can by as a Christmas decoration with optic lights in or some twig branches you find in your garden (I use one of these with the optic lights as a jewellery tree in my bedroom all year round (I can't resist the shiny).

Or a ceiling hanging mobile if you have decorated both sides of the dresses.

Or put each one in a little picture frame on its own and have them all 12 hanging individually in one room or artfully displayed in a pattern on one wall?
Ok, run out of ideas now!

If you want to remake some of them to a more uniform size I have the link in the June post to the dress templates I designed that you are very welcome to use if you like.

Good luck
Gini
xx

Sherry said...

Now Gini, I don't often LOL (miserable so and so that I am), but I do when reading your posts - there's always something in there that makes me crack!

Your dresses are pretty! I like hearing about how you complete them. That punch waste really could be german scrap - great idea! My favourite dress I think is the pink, fibre-y one - Feb? I'm such a girly - even if I'm a miserable one!!

Rosemary said...

How did I miss this post? I apparently am suffering the brain fartage malady. Love this dress, and yes, paint that gold and it looks like that very pricey German scrap. Now, please go and do that and share the results with us!

**hugs**