Here is a little behind the scenes look into how Hannah's wedding dress was embellished! Hours of stitching down some wonderful loopy merino wool thread that I found on my first trip to California, followed by singeing circular flower petals, sewing them on, and finishing it all with a little gauze along the hem for an extra elegant look.
Matching jewels and headband were awfully fun to make too. The wedding was lovely(and it was an unbelievably hot day)~ very fitting for my dear friend... Awwww, pretty girl!
This week's featured seller on Etsy is very inspiring to me, even though I don't really wear hats.. and I don't actually think I could pull something like this off 'round here anyways. I have really been feeling "Atelier Vespertine" as I am embroiled this week in embellishing Hannah's wedding dress (pictures soon) and making something in lieu of a veil to put in her hair. I was really pulling for the little deer, but it got voted down! It has been so nice to work with needle, thread, merino wool ribbon I got in California, and of course gauzy flower petals. Photos from Zara Carpenter, check it out here!
One of my fave customers (KP!) encouraged me to make a post about the music I play in the store. I thought it was a brilliant idea, because not only am I crazy about my music, but I do have some interesting stories regarding customer reactions to what I am playing. I get a looooot of questions, and a lot of great reactions when people walk in and I happen to be playing their favorite semi-obscure artist(Cat Power). Today I have a mp3 cd on shuffle that has Broken Bells, the Fleet Foxes, and these guys, that KP liked:
This a great band from Brooklyn, Grizzly Bear, that I discovered on a icy day this winter while lounging around surfing YouTube looking for John Oliver stand up routines.. I have had many customers try to guess who they are, most notably Neil Young, which still makes me giggle.
The story for this song happened recently and involves two teenage girls who walked in, and upon insulting most of the soap flavors asked "what is this you are listening to". I was taken aback because 1. this is an incredible song and 2. this is the second most popular band in the universe(I'm putting them right behind the Beatles, and I mean, very close second). I told them it was Radiohead and the first girl professed her love of Radiohead and said she was a big fan while her friend pointed out that she hadn't even recognized the song. "Oh", she said, "it must be from one of their old albums", which made me feel ancient.. I can remember as if it was yesterday laying on Hannah's bedroom floor, our heads near the speakers, listening to Radiohead... so lovely! But yeah, these girls probably weren't born yet....
This last vignette into life as a shop owner comes from when I had just opened my shop on the big street, and people hadn't figured out I was here yet. (who am I kidding, people still don't know, three years later) A couple came in the shop and browsed around, the woman was quietly admiring everything. As they were at the door to leave, the man came back, leaned into my face and whispered "I think there is a sick woman over there". I was worried and confused as they were the only people there and his girlfriend looked fine. "A sick woman" he went on, "a very sick woman, I think it has something to do with her stomach" Then he gestured to the Bose and the ambient music (which was the above song) and I realized he was attempting to tease me about my music choice. At the time I just smiled politely and waited for them to leave.. but I have always wished I'd told him to stuff it...
Got into the shop early this morning and took some photos in the soft light. Love love love the new colors of hairpins I've been working on lately. They are meant to invoke daffodils, bougainvillea, redbud blooms, and mimosas.
I went on a labeling bonanza last week: packed up all the tub teas--Rose and Provence are back in stock, then I spent wayyyyy too long on Photoshop working up new Solid Perfume and Lip Balm labels (although it was very fun to get to use all the brushes I've been downloading). Lots of flavors of perfumes including Honeysuckle, Gardenia, Patchouli, and a minty refreshing Headache Relief.
New Lip Balm flavor: black pepper! Hannah says it's great.. so there you go!
My CSA (community supported agriculture) from Harland's Creek Farm is getting better and better each week. I'm not sure how Judy is going to top herself after this bouquet featuring some wild roses, peonies, and iris.
This has been quite a month for me so far... Some worrisome things like friends starting cancer treatments, a sick dog, canceled appointments, and never having enough time to finish anything have plagued me. I've also had the pleasure of dear friends visiting, setting up my new studio space, finding some awesome things while cleaning and re-organizing my workspace, and perhaps best of all is that it's starting to feel like summer.
This has always been my absolute favorite time of year (no school plus my birthday!). I procured for myself some fabulous fuchsia colored sandals for exploring rivers and oceans and next week I get to visit the new Art Museum and also an outdoor concert. Planted some basil last week....yessssss...I think it will be a good summer!
I'd like to be Coco Chanel please! Minus the cigarette of course, all all the tragedy and heartbreak. Just the business and creative success...
I've been reading a great biography of Chanel recently after watching the new movie with the lovely Audrey Tatou about her early life.. I'm much more interested in the paths she took to set up her business and all the ups and downs along the way.
Some things I've really taken to heart are how she opened several branches in resort towns. Once I had a dream so vivid of having a second shop in Carrboro that I woke up in a panic because I hadn't scheduled anyone to work at the second shop that day! So, while I'm in absolutely no position to open another shop, I did just manage to rent a lovely little studio space in the Blair Hotel where I will have all my jewelry operations--metalsmithing and beadwork. I got my key today and I can hardly stand all the excitement and possibilities this will entail.
The main trick to Coco's success (I think) is that she had very capable sales ladies (vendeuses) and models who manned the front of the shop while she was in the back designing dresses and torturing her mannequins (live models who wore the clothes while she pinned all the bits together). This is another dream I hope to see become a reality in the next five years.
