Printing on Fabric Class

I spent my Sunday with three lovely and talented ladies in the Studio of the Imagination, which is the class room at Castle in the Air. I had the best time teaching "Printing on Fabric" to this unique group of smart, enthusiastic and very artistic students. I loved how they experimented with the medium, creating new and inspiring treatments with the fabric paints. I can't wait to find the time and stencil a batch of damask embellished linen tea towels myself.

Hand printed T-shirt

I am so excited by my "Printing on Fabric " class at the Castle. So I have been experimenting with stencil cutting and repeat patterns. The result is this beautiful t-shirt, which I hand stenciled.

Butterfly Reliquary (RIP)

Inspired by Ulla Milbrath's Reliquary Class I had a craft date with my friend John McRae and we set out to create our own personal reliquaries. But first of all, you may ask: "What exactly is a reliquary?" Well, according to Wikipedia : "A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine or by the French term châsse) is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures."
My reliquary is a resting place for a dead butterfly I found on my porch. I initially had placed him on a book shelf to keep him safe, but knew that I had to find a safer and permanent home for him soon. I lined his oval box with crushed velvet and embellished it with vintage gold cord and Dresden paper trim. I also included a poem by Philip Larkin, which reads:
"And the case of butterflies so rich it looks
As if all summer settled there and died"
I wrote this poem with my finest nib in my tiniest hand writing. I closed the box with a window made from mica and soldered the edges close. The size of the oval box is 3 and 3/4 inches by 2 and 3/4 inches.

Fairy Habitat

I had the pleasure to create a Fairy Habitat from one of our Fairy House kits, we sell at the Castle. These kits are a perfect gift for any fairy enthusiast, no matter what age, who likes to be crafty and create. The kits are delivered in a lovely box (decorated with Italian paper - and can be used for storing other important items , once empty of its original contents). Inside youy find a plethora of natural materials, like twigs, reeds, moss, dried mushroom caps, fabric flower and German spun cotton mushrooms, as well as a wooden base and a lovely German Fairy doll. All you need to add is glue and you are on your way to create your own unique Fairy House.

The Mermaid Collection

This summer I created a special jewelry collection for Castle in the Air. Inspired by my co-worker, who suggested that I should make jewelry that the Castle's mermaid (she, herself a creation by John MacRae) would wear, I set out to assembly pearls, watery-pastel colored semi precious stones and cast my own silver sea shell and charms. The result has been displayed and is for sale at The Castle.

Fabric Flower Class with Ulla

In June I took Ulla Milbrath's "Summer Blooms" class at the Castle. I went with my friend Lisa. We had a wonderful time learning to make fabric flowers, which we turned into pins and necklaces. The weeks that followed I couldn't stop wearing my fabric flower necklace - I loved it so much! Check out Ulla's blog with pictures of the other student's creations.

My fabulous dress by Sarah Borruso

I am wearing in this picture the fabulous "Unfolding Dress" by the talented designer Sarah Borruso, who owns the San Francisco fashion label Stars + Ravens. I went to one of Sarah's trunk shows and fell in love with her style: vintage meets modern - very San Francisco. "The unfolding dress" was originaly created in a beautiful silk charmeuse . Knowing how chilly San Francisco and the Bay Area are most of the year, I opted for a light wool as fabric of choice. Sarah made this custom dress for me and I am so delighted with it.
Here I am at Sarah's second trunk show in another fabulous dress she designed. This dress is made of a lovely heavy silk that she hand painted. Her own dress has the same cut, but she cut lots of little slashes into the fabric. Very cool!
Last not least I had to try on her Monika Vitti dress, that sports a sexy opening in the back.