Life and Death

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking recently explained his belief that there is no God and that humans should therefore seek to live the most valuable lives they can while on Earth.
Guardian writer Ian Sample asked Hawking if he feared death in a story published yesterday. This was his response:

I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.

Forgive me Dr. Hawking if I don't agree with you.  Today I have to pick up my boys from school and inform them that their great-grandfather has passed away.  This will be the first time my children have encountered death on an extremely personal level. I know that my kids will be okay, they have known this was coming for a long time.  Arthur Armand was 95.  I was blessed to meet him in 1990 he was elderly but was still hale and hearty.  I'm grateful to my husband for sharing his grandparents with me since I grew up with none.  My kids know what Dr. Hawking doesn't, there is a God. How can someone who has seen the wonders of the universe that Dr. Hawking has and not accept that it was divinely created?  Well doc, since you say you won't be around too long, you'll find out soon enough.  

I loved Arthur "Micker" Armand like my own, I neglected him like I would my own grandparent.  I have been a terrible granddaughter to the people I have been privileged enough to call grandparents.  When I was growing up, my father had an older sister, Alice, she lived in Scranton, PA she encouraged me to call her grandma.  I used to write her faithfully from the time I was 6 until I discovered Shaun Cassidy at age 10.  She passed away soon after I sent her a letter at age 12, as elderly as she was she responded to me quickly forgiving my 2 years of neglect.  I still have that final letter from her.  Have you noticed how easy it is to ignore that generation?  Some of us are lucky to have grandparents that were born during the baby boom and these grandparents are more technologically savvy.  But what about the generation before?  How arrogant can we be by not keeping in touch with them because they got off the technology train before the home computer? Are our fingers broken that we can't write a note or pick up a phone?  My husband comments that I hold on to people, when my friend Helle moved to another state we continued to talk on the phone and email as if we still lived in the same neighborhood.  But how easy would it have been without current technology?  If this was still the day of the corded house phone? I admit I have composed hundreds of letters in my head, even put some to paper but for some reason the act of stamping the envelope and taking it to the post office has always defeated me.  I'm grateful that I was born in this technologically advanced age that will allow me to keep in touch with my kids when they move on in their lives.  But what of the future, when I step off the technology train, will I be treated to the same neglect I have subjected my elders to?  I hope not but you know what they say about karma. 

 Terri

Distracted by chickens, well feathers at least.

I warned you this might happen, I get distracted easily by life so it's been a while.  What has been going on?  Lots of stuff!  First General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2 days of inspirational talks given by the President and Prophet of the church and other leaders. In one of his talks President Monson mentioned Manaus Brazil and New Caledonia.  My friend Cheryl's son is serving in Manaus here is the blog they are keeping of his adventures.  And if you have been reading my blog you know that my son is serving in New Caledonia. What a little valentine to have them both mentioned!   More information about General Conference can be found here.  Next up, Dan and Lacey's wedding, the ceremony itself took place in the San Diego LDS Temple.  The reason for why Mormons build Temples can be found here

 

 Here are some photos of the wedding dress in progress:

The fabric: Duchess Satin, Silk Alencon Lace and  a Silk/Cotton Batiste to underline it.

The first cut is always the one I stress over!  I can sew for myself and not think twice about it but when I sew for others I usually have a nervous break down, then I can sew.  Yes, I made most of the pattern myself.

Here is the skirt, it's not easy to tell from the photo but it's a full + circle skirt with godet inserts.  The beauty of this is that it's full at the bottom but doesn't add any width to the waist! That is always a good thing.

Still not looking like much but it's coming along.  Sorry for the weird posting but my cursor seems to have disappeared.  I'm not sure what is going on with blogger!   

Starting the lace, it's shaped on the form then stitched together. It's very time consuming work.  I kept telling myself, "Don't screw up you only have a yard and a half and this stuff is Expensive."

I said a lot of prayers working on the lace.  A lot of prayers!

 

 

More photos of the lace being shaped. I did the same for the back.  Next came the sleeves.  I ended up sewing all the lace on the sleeves by hand.  I got very fast at it.

The back once I got the zipper done it wouldn't close on the dress form anymore but that's ok, by this time I knew it fit Lacey.  The hem was 8 yards around!

Just Married!

Here are some other items made for the wedding.  I didn't get any pictures of the bridesmaids skirts, I don't know what I was thinking.  The Mother of the Bride dress: 

I love how it turned out, it was made of yellow crepe back satin

 Next is the brooch bouquet.  I got the idea from a sight on Etsy.  They are just gorgeous and also run in the neighborhood of six hundred dollars so Cheryl and I decided to try making one.  Here is the final result, and I have to say it's much prettier in person! 

At the end of last month I was contacted by a lady who was given my name by my friend Helle.  Her daughter needed 2 prom dresses made.  One short with a feathered skirt and the other one was a Elie Saab design from his 2011 Spring Collection.  He is the designer that did the lavender dress that Mila Kunis wore to the Oscars.  In fact that lavender dress was straight off the runway, loved it!

 First up the short model :  

Now my version, by the way check out her shoes, more on that later!

Now the Elie Saab gown, they asked me to remove the sleeves and make it spaghetti straps:

Believe it or not I had to take both dresses in even more.  This girl was TINY!!!!  The picture does not do the fabric justice.  It was a flesh colored silk lining with a dusty pink beaded lace overlay! Stunning.

Other things worked on:  Prom dress make over, this was a fun project.  My friend Sara has a daughter who is attending 2 proms. She already has a dress for her prom but she also went to a cross town high school's prom and decided to wear her mom's old prom dress from the 80's.  Kudos to Sara for keeping it this long and in such good shape!  I removed the 80's style poufy sleeves, finished off the raw edges and made it tea length.  I think it looks very vintage-y  and what is better than breathing new life into an old outfit? 

 

Aren't they both gorgeous? 

Here is another project that I worked on for the same prom, Arielle and her mom Jenine ordered this gown online, very brave of them.  It fit great except it was about 5 inches too long and the sparkly strap was too long.  I removed the strap down the back, cut it and reattached it and the sparkly stuff that came off.  Then I hemmed the dress, all 4 layers.  I love the color, it looks very young Elizabeth Taylor! 

I still have 1 prom dress to work on, that's the one on the right you can barely see in the above photo and I have a dress draped in muslin on a dress form but no rush on that one.  I am so grateful for all the paid gigs I have had over the last month, it's way better to get money instead of grades for my sewing! ;) 

So other random stuff, I noticed a tree in my neighbor's backyard that looks like Batman standing on a roof. My kids agreed with me so I know I'm not crazy.  I have discovered that Choco Tacos are pretty darn awesome! And snails can actually stick to my car from driveway to junior high, across town to high school and back again!  How he got on the side of my car I have no idea.  John took care of him and removed him.  My Hero! 

So what do you think of Bat Tree?

MMMMMMM! ChocoTaco!

And finally my hitchhiking snail.

So about those shoes worn with the above prom dress.  I loved them!  They are a pale dusty pink with a sparkly platform.  Now if you know anything about me, you must know this: I LOVE shoes! And these little beauties made my heart go pitter-pat!  The day after I saw them I had a bad morning, so after running errands I headed over to Baker's Shoes and decided to just try them on.  It doesn't hurt to try them on.  So I searched the store and didn't see them.  I was bummed out and turned to leave when I saw a pair on the clearance rack!  The clearance rack!  I approached slowly so they wouldn't get startled and run away then I picked them up.  The sales girl was there before I turned and asked if she could bring me my size.  Why yes you may, I need a 7, thank you.  It took her a moment but when she returned there they were in their own little box.  She also brought me a pink pair of sparkly shoes that I will have to keep my eye on.  It was almost as if they were made for me.  They slipped on like a long lost friend, hugged my feet and whispered seductively,  "take me home"  I replied, "I can't I just came to try you on."  Then they said, "we're on clearance look at our price."  I turned them over and they were 50% off. The sales girl approached and asked if they fit, and said they were the last pair in the store, how lucky that they fit!  I took them home.  Very bad of me but what could I do?  All their friends had been sold to good homes, these shoes needed me!  The best part? I got another five dollars off because I had a Bakers customer loyalty card!  I love shoes even more when they are discounted.  Incidentally I tried to by some flats a few days later and my son Cameron stopped me telling me flats were for quitters, where does he get these ideas from?  I wonder?  Well that's a look into my mind, scary. 

SHOES!!!!!!!

Now we just have to get Cameron over his contact dermatitis, we suspect poison oak from a hike, get the kids to Youth Conference tomorrow and head out to VLV 14! I can't wait. 

Here is a link from last year's vintage fashion show.  The model at the very end is Johnnie Mae, you can follow her on Facebook.  She modeled for me last year at a school fashion show and one of the other students tried to highjack her from me. 

That's April in couture, Take care!

Sewing, laundry, rain, chauffeuring and did I mention sewing?

I am happy to report I have finished: 1 wedding dress, 6, I think it was 6, bridesmaids skirts, 2 skirts for the brides cousins and 1 mother of the bride dress in the last month and a half.  2 days before I completed the wedding gown I was contacted by a young woman who was given my name by Helle, she needs not 1 but 2 dresses for Prom.  So I will be making this:

She wants it slightly modified with spaghetti straps and a low low back.  I'm just glad the fabric isn't sequins but rather a lovely silk and embellished lace.   I will be using a Butterick Pattern 4657 and modifying it.  I find when I am crunched for time this is the easiest method.

After checking out tons of patterns I decided this was the closest to the style. 

This is the second dress she has requested, and yes the skirt will have feathers.  This one she wants in black. The bustier top will not have the jewels on it since again they brought me fabric that is already embellished.

This is another pattern I have had in my collection for some time and have wanted to make it forever.  I found some gorgeous cotton fabric that just said Easter to me so why not make it now?  My Sweetie and I are planning to head to Viva Las Vegas Weekend in April and vintage clothing is needed.  This is Butterick pattern 4790 from 1952.  It was called the "Walk Away Dress." You can read a brief history here.  It was easy to make with just 3 pattern pieces and then binding. I love the fact that some of the pattern companies are reissuing vintage patterns.  I love them, the dresses are so feminine.

Here is the fabric and the binding, now to search the closet for some shoes that will go with this dress.  














So for my Sweetie who has a great sense of humor and since I rarely sew for him, I found an outrageous  fabric that I will be making a Hawaiian Shirt out of.  The fabric is called Mirage and I purchased it at Michael Levine's in Downtown LA.   I also found buttons made from coconut!

That is everything that is on my sewing table at the moment.  Monday I peaked into Jordan and Jonathan's room and realized the laundry is up to my hip.  It has spilled out of the hamper and is threatening to overtake the room.  Jonathan was doing the laundry for himself and his brother but has decided it's for the birds.  So I guess it's back to me.  I hate laundry.  I don't mind folding it but I hate sorting and remembering to take it out of the washer then put it in the dryer.  I hate that after I fold it, instead of putting it away my kids will leave it on the dining room table and just take what they need for that day.  There has to be an easier way. 

It has also been raining quite a bit.  I'm not crazy about winter but some of the positives about it: warm jammy pants, my hubby's sweatshirts, my mother's beef stew, wearing boots, my new polka dot coat, hats and the mountains (hills)behind our house get covered occasionally by snow.  During the cooler times of the year the tops of the mountains (hills) also get covered by the clouds blown in from the ocean.  I love this, when my kids were little we started calling it the "cloud monster" because of the way it crept over the top of them.  Lately I've taken to calling them the Misty Mountains.  I've been rereading Lord of the Rings in my spare time. 

The rest of the time seems to be taken up by chauffeuring kids here and there.  To school, from school, to Church, friends houses, jobs and doctor appointments.  I cringe every time I have to get gas.  OUCH!  If this keeps up I'm investing in horses for the boys.  At least I am grateful that I no longer have to travel 10 miles to the grocery store, we now have one 2 miles away, along with a gas station a bank and Subway!  If I'm feeling ambitious and weather permitting I may even walk there.  I believe somewhere in my garage is one of those old lady shopping carts.  Notice I didn't say ride my bike, the hills in our community still defeat me.

The above photo is of Cameron's big toe on the left side about a half inch above the joint you can see the break.  The doctor said it's healing nicely and he should be back running in about 5 weeks.  Hard to believe he managed to go hiking with his Scout Troop last Friday and Saturday up Mt. San Jacinto. Go Cam!
  
So that's life this week, the kids are out of school next week for Spring Break, I will need to start a list of projects for them.  Our friend Kurt Rose is extremely ill and in need of prayers. My son Andrew reports that he is well and has been on his Mission now 8 months! Where did the time go?  I continue to feel blessed that I have a family that loves me, a (repaired) roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, cars to drive and good friends willing to celebrate or sympathize with me.  But most of all, I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life.
Terri

Proof that I sew

Pirates of the Caribbean purse I made at the height of the craze, sold it on Ebay.















Sock Monkey apron, will post soon on Etsy

Ashton in her Queen of Hearts costume, this was a few years before the Tim Burton version.  She was emphatic about it not looking like the Disney version.

Andrew as Two-Face based on "Batman The Animated Series" not the recent Dark Knight movie. 

Costumes left and center are my work.  Helle makes her own.

I was feeling saucy in my pink courtesan costume.

I make a lot of stuff in pink!

And finally, John and Andrew as Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompa!  I had to go back in and tailor John's jacket since I measured him wrong. 

Washing Machines, Giant Boot, Broken Toe and Theater, and that's just 1 week!

I thought when I quit my job and decided to take a semester off from school that I would have more time...Silly me!  I feel busier than ever.  I feel like I usually do when final projects are due but that feeling seems to stay with me all the time now!   I'm busy but the house is still a mess and laundry just never seems done.  Speaking of laundry my washing machine gave up the ghost.  After 10 years and countless loads of laundry it decided it had had enough. The spin cycle stopped working, during a load of towels.  Yeah, try wringing those out by hand.    My sweet hubby, who is way too good for me, purchased a new one for me.  The drum is a bit deeper than the old one so I have to be careful I don't fall in when I'm emptying. 

This is the new model, we considered one of those front loading machines but John and I are opposed to anything that forces you to use specially formulated products to use them.  John hates Apple for this reason.  I like top loading machines, when I was a kid we had an old fashioned front loader that was a washer and dryer in one machine.  Yeah that sounds cool until you consider that you have to wait for the load to wash and dry before you can start another load.  We also lived in an apartment for about 2 years with an even older machine that had an open drum and a wringer.  I saw one just like it at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. it was circa 1950's.  At the same time my washer died child #4, Cameron, broke his big toe.  He was at the park with friends playing football and kicked a cone, the kind used in soccer for marking the goal.  What he didn't realize was this cone marked the metal base of the soccer goal, so thinking he was kicking plastic he kicked metal.  There goes the track season. 

Here is a picture of his toe, he realized I was taking his picture and hid behind a pillow.  This isn't the first time Cameron has been broken.  He broke his arm running through the house a few years ago, he broke an arm skateboarding at a Cub Scout Meeting and broke it again doing something else that escapes me at the moment.  When he was 3 he tried to cut the grass in our backyard, he was barefoot and tried to use hedge trimmers.  He cut his toe instead, 3 stitches.  Recently, he got into a fight with a kid who wouldn't leave him alone, finally he decided enough was enough.  Cameron won but I still needed to pay to replace 3 broken brackets on his braces.  A word about our family stance on fighting:  With 4 boys fights are hard to avoid, especially when 3 out of 4 wrestle or plan on wrestling.  At least with wrestling it's a sanctioned sport and the coach teaches them to control their anger and use it on the mat.  Which of my boys doesn't wrestle? You got it, Cameron.  So back to fighting, our policy is don't start it but if you must fight finish it.  I call it the Top Gun Method, "do not fire unless fired upon"  or if you want to get more street, the Men in Black Method, "don't start nothin won't be nothin."  The one thing my wolf pack does understand is this, while it is perfectly acceptable to beat the snot out of each other at home, in the world at large you always have each others backs. 

So the same day I went to the urgent care with Cameron, I stopped at Lowe's to compare prices on new washing machines.  While in the store I came across this giant boot. (36"high)  Why does anyone need a giant boot?  Do you use it as a planter?  A decoration? Have it handy in case Paul Bunyon stops by and needs a right boot?  Where was the left boot? Did someone buy it?  So many questions.  Why a cowboy boot? Why not Converse high tops or a construction boot?  Okay I'll stop.  After Lowe's it was back to the high school to pick up #2 son then the junior high to pick up #4 son.  Finally back home to fix my hair and get ready for a fun girl's night out.  I usually don't do too many of these since my favorite playmate is John.  He's my best friend and the person I would rather spend time with. But the occasional girl night is fun. 

So here I am with my friend Helle, (pronounced Hella) in Pasadena.  We went to dinner at this hole in the wall Mexican restaurant called La Fiesta Grande on Colorado Blvd then we walked over to the Pasadena Playhouse.  We purchased our tickets an hour before curtain because they drop the prices to $15.00 per ticket.  It's a gamble to drive all that way but we figured we were good since it was Wednesday.  We had seats in the 6th row, not too shabby.  At the left is us sitting in the courtyard waiting for the doors to open.  This was Helles first trip to the Playhouse and my second.  John took me there a month ago for a romantic evening out.  Loved it and the play so much I decided to go back and take Helle since she loves costumes as much as I do.  Oh the play was Dangerous Beauty.  We had some rather tall men sit right in front of us, luckily the one in front of me fell asleep during the first act and they left during intermission. Yay!!!

My view of the stage during the first act.

Other stuff going on:  Todo Sushi in San Diego, one of the best places I have ever gone to they had a roll called the Jojo Roll, we got a kick out of that since that's what we call Jordan.

He said that is not his roll since it has shrimp on it.  His roll would have salmon on it. 

Here is the beginnings of a fun project Cheryl and I worked on last Tuesday for her daughter Lacey,  This is a brooch bouquet in the larval stage.  It's pretty much done but I don't want to post any photos until after the wedding.  Less than a month to go.

And finally the beginnings of Lacey's wedding dress.  I am doing the final touches on it and I will hopefully be done with it today.  It looks gorgeous and I'm pretty sure it is what Lacey and her mom envisioned.  I seriously had my doubts when I first cut into the lace.  The photo at the left doesn't do the material justice.  Bad lighting. 




So that's the week in Couture, I pray that the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will get the emergency assistance they need quickly and that our Father in Heaven will comfort them during this time of loss and devastation.  I hope that we take a lesson from this and have or get all that we need to survive a disaster. 
Take care,
Terri