Radiant Rapunzel

 Last A to Z Challenge post of the week! Today's letter is R, for Radiant Rapunzel, the first character costume I made for my daughter.

 We're big fans of Tangled in my house, so when I asked my daughter what she wanted to be for Halloween, she picked Rapunzel. I might have encouraged the choice a little bit... and then she tried to change her mind after I bought the fabric and started planning the costume - no turning back then! (If you look above, this dress is one of the items in my logo banner!)

I stubbornly refused to buy the Disney brand Simplicity pattern for this costume, partly because I thought I could do better without it, and partly because I do not like single-style patterns, and there were no other dresses it showed as options. The Cinderella costume pattern from last year was different - it can be Snow White also. Instead, I used a formal girls dress pattern my mom had handed down to me. I think she got two copies of it by mistake one time. Free patterns can sometimes be best patterns, and Simplicity 4764 was a good fit!

Pretty flower girls, aren't they? I liked the skirt and sleeves, but the bodice needed work to be Rapunzel's.

This was my sketch, to get an idea I could draw and scribble on, not one of my daughter's books or her play table with Rapunzel on it! I decided to just make the bodice wider, and fold over and sew for the corset parts - it didn't need to be supportive or shaped around breasts, not for a two and a half year old!

 I did a lot of this work in a marathon sewing session, staying up all night watching The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition, finally - after probably five or more years of having those dvds and never watching them. (I watched all of our Star Wars dvds while sewing the Cinderella costume [original trilogy]) Remotes can make handy pattern weights!

My first attempt at widening the bodice for the corset inlay wasn't quite wide enough... the wider one was actually my third attempt! Good thing I got extra fabric, and this didn't take much yardage.

This is a little bit of the steps I took - figuring out how far apart, fold, pin, sew, iron, sew more!

The sleeves weren't too complicated, once I discovered the ribbon I thought would work for stripes was too sheer and wouldn't show up. Extra bit of pink satin to the rescue! I cut the pink satin close to the shape of the sleeve - narrower because there wouldn't be stripes in the underarm area, taller because I wanted them caught fully in the seams. Then I cut strips, ironed down both sides, pinned to the purple sleeves in rows, and stitched them on. Adding the lace at the bottom is just the perfect little touch!

For the skirt, I made the main front panel a lighter purple, with two overhangs of darker purple coming over that on both sides. Gathering the skirt together to attach to the bodice can be a pain when it's a full skirt, but that rectangle sure does look pretty when it's all together, doesn't it?

Here you can see the dress almost finished... with sleeves, then the grommets! I love my grommet presser, it's so nice to come up with a project like this, and know I can add in grommets with ease. This dress also has the MOST trim I've ever put on a single dress - but it's all costume-appropriate. Since in the movie, Rapunzel makes her own dresses, I think she just has a thing for lace.

I may be a snob when it comes to store bought costumes, but I can be a sucker for licensed accessories... This year, she didn't get the princess shoes (they were sold out anyhow), but she got a light up crown that came with a musical necklace and a purse - mainly I wanted the iconic crown! And she already had the doll, I can't resist taking a photo of doll and costume!

 And here, the princess herself in her dress! She still loves it, even though the satin snagged early on. Maybe it's because I let her sit on that bridge? There is a lot of length hemmed up in the skirt with the idea of letting it out as she grows taller, but with the snags I'm thinking that's a no-go. Oh well, she can have fun with it now!

Thanks for joining me again on the A to Z blogging journey! Check out the other bloggers in the challenge and come back next week for more!

Opulent Opals

Another day, another blog post! Today's entry in the A to Z Blogging Challenge is for the letter O, and I've chosen to feature my birthstone, Opulent Opals!

Opals are such beautiful gems, and they come in quite a variety.

These are from Ethiopia, I didn't even know about all these kinds. Most opals come from Australia, around 97% of the world's opal supply are from there, according to wikipedia.

This display is at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, in their gem section (there are so many beautiful gems there!). So much to look at!

Opals are one of the more delicate of popular gems, they break easier, and need moisture(there's water inside them), mineral oil every now and then helps keep them from cracking. I have a few pieces of opal jewelry in my collection, most of note is the heart shaped ring my husband gave me for my sixteenth birthday.

Two photos of the same stone, with a slightly different appearance of the colors inside. So pretty!

I always knew my birthstone was opal, just like my sister born in the same month. Some people would tell me how they thought it was such a pretty gem, but it's unlucky to have an opal unless it's your birthstone. So I considered myself lucky! There used to be a myth that opals were lucky, until a book was written where a magical opal, when neutralized with holy water, made its owner die. After that, many people saw opals as bad luck! To me, it's just a pretty stone, and special because it's my birthstone!

Do you like your birthstone? What is it? Do you have any special jewelry featuring birthstones? Share in the comments!

Thanks for joining me again as we blog from A to Z! Join me tomorrow for something that starts with P!

Lizzy's Fancies

Wow, can you believe it's been two weeks of the A to Z Blogging Challenge? This is my twelfth post of the month! Thanks for joining me again, we're almost halfway through the alphabet.

Today's post is for the letter L, and I'm breaking my little tradition by not making the title words match, to feature my little business, Lizzy's Fancies.

This is the banner for my etsy shop, Lizzy's Fancies. (Check that out, and my facebook page for the shop and this blog too!) I have been selling on etsy since July 2011, but I changed my shop name a little along the way. At first I wanted matching letters, the whole alliteration/assonance lure, and went with Izzerdoodle's Inspirations, but that didn't feel quite right. Naming a business is really difficult! that first name was too much of a mouthful, and while I use the name izzerdoodle for a few online accounts, it didn't seem like a good business name.

When I really wanted to change, I decided to go with Lizzy something, because I go by Liz and Lizzy more often than Elizabeth, and while a little more informal, it's still a recognized name. I still couldn't come up with something good though, and defaulted to Lizzy's Accessories for a while. That felt to bland though, and I was never happy with it. Searching online, Lizzy's Lovelies and variations of that name were already in use in a few places, and I didn't want to get confused with someone else's business.

Finally, I was sitting in the car while my husband was getting ice cream at Coldstone Creamery that I got the idea of Lizzy's Fancies, and the tag line "What do you fancy today?" And it felt right. It only took over two years to come up with a name I was happy with! And no one else was using the name online, it was available on etsy and on facebook. 

The downside to facebook, though, was that I had too many fans on my Lizzy's Accessories page to change its name, so I had to make a new page for the new name, and, well, not a lot of people followed over. Facebook fan pages are annoying that way - facebook chooses what people see in their newsfeed and if you like a page for a giveaway, but never interact with it again, you don't see the updates. So most of the fans I had gained through a few giveaways didn't see my page anymore, to know to go to the new page. I had discovered how poorly giveaways seem to help, so I decided against doing any for a while, I still haven't had one since making the name change over a year ago.

One of the items I gave away in a local mom website promotion

I have gotten some fans, though interaction from more than just my family and a few friends would be nice, but you get what you can! I mostly sell jewelry and some accessories - dice bags are a great seller, in my shop, and I also have some girls skirts up for sale, with my daughter modeling them. Chainmaille is one of my favorite things right now...

Two-Tone Metallic Chainmail Bracelets For Sale!

When I finally decided to start a blog, choosing the name was pretty easy! Just the same as my shop, but singular, for what I fancy, instead of the fancies I make! But you know I fancy the fancies I make, so it all works together pretty well. Maybe now that I have a blog, I'll try another giveaway. We'll see, depends on how burned out I am after the A to Z challenge and a birthday party!

Just for fun, here's a Lego Lizzy that I made while trying to think about what to write today! Please join me again on Monday next week for something that starts with M, and take a look at some of the other blogs participating in the challenge:
A to Z Challenge Participating Blogs

Jingle Jumble

Today's post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge is brought to you by the letter J, for... a lot of things!

J is for Jingle Bells, in metallics or colors

 Pretty little baubles that make a fun noise - they're even great on jewelry!

 J is for Jelly Beans, that can make pretty pictures

 They're also great to put in a cup for cake pops!

J is also for John Carter, my current literary obsession!

The first novel in the series is A Princess of Mars, and it's very good! I'm on book three now, all for free online (I'm reading the free kindle versions, but you can read them on any computer or mobile device, or buy the books in a store). The stories are great, you can't help but love John Carter, the loyal fighting Virginian transported to Mars. There was a movie last year based on parts of the first and second books, and while the movie was pretty good, the books are so much better (and there's a shirt on ThinkGeek to prove it) and well worth reading. It's somewhat historical science fiction in more ways than one - the first book was written one hundred years ago, and set after our Civil War, so John Carter is from about one hundred and fifty years ago - yet he travels to highly advanced Mars, which makes the book more science fiction. But the premise and story are still interesting today, so many years later.

Thank you for joining me once again for the A to Z Blogging Challenge, come back tomorrow for something starting with K!

Gypsy Girls - A to Z Blogging Challenge Week Two

Welcome to week two and day seven (already!) of my A to Z Blogging Challenge! Today's post focuses on Gypsy Girls, some of my favorite costumes.

Back in 2007, I decided I was going to sew, dangit! I had a lot of patterns and some fabric my mom and I had chosen when I was in high school for various costumes, but due to different issues (time, motivation, et cetera) I never made the costumes with her. There was some lack of communication as well - I think I expected HER to make them, and she expected ME to be guided by her but mostly making them myself. Then I moved to Wisconsin, where I worked full time and didn't have a good sewing machine, so the fabric and patterns sat in boxes. Fast forward three years, and I was living with my husband and only working part time, with an unquenched love of costumes. 

What's a girl to do?

Make costumes!

This was my dream costume for years, a gypsy! I had drawn the design over and over, patterned a character after wearing it even. The pattern and fabric was just waiting... well that really pretty print fabric was. I got the black silk from a friend's destash, and the bronze, gold, and red from remnants at Joann when I decided to really make this already!

 I wore the costume at GenCon 2007, I was lucky to have the costume! I stupidly forgot ALL my hanging costumes, waiting by the door, when we left for Indianapolis. But this costume was folded up in my suitcase, so I still had it!

 There's a billowy peasant blouse with two puffs and dangle sleeves, a corset-vest, and a skirt with an overskirt. The scarf on my head is just a folded over piece of scrap fabric - sometime I might hem it so I don't worry about it rolling out and showing edges! I pulled the jewelry from my own collection (this was before I started making jewelry big-time), and the belt was a great find on the convention floor! (My funny pose was an idea from the pattern model, looking back, I don't like it much, but can't change old photos!)

Three years and a baby later, and we were planning on going to a renaissance festival for the first time. I had made a few things for my daughter by then, and decided on a whim - baby gypsy costume! I had a pattern that would work, as a miniature of my costume. Instead of two pieces, I decided on a dress with an elastic waist I could hide with a little corset-belt, in a style that would make a cute dress, then transform as she grew taller to work over leggings.

 I didn't have enough gold fabric for the middle layer of the skier, so I bordered two corners with the print fabric - perfect!

 Here's my little model trying it on for the first time!

 I even covered a headband with gold, to match my scarf! This was on the way to our first renaissance festival, but the princess fell asleep in the stroller and we didn't get any good photos.

 These two photos were taken at and after Halloween events of the same year, matching costumes are fun! And she does look like a gypsy baby, stolen from another family, since our hair is so different!

 The photo below was taken the next year, 2011, I just love this photo of us! She's not looking at the camera, but the scenery is so perfect. I miss Michigan's Renaissance Festival already...

 Here are the costumes on their own, first hers, a little close up of my jingly belt, then both of ours together

My costume could use some modifications - the corset doesn't fit as well as it did before I had a baby, and her skirt needs steaming. I have also considered making a different skirt for my costume - but I am not changing that shirt for the world! I love it, always so much fun to wear! I wonder how the costume will look on my daughter this year?

Do you have any favorite matching costumes? Or a favorite piece of gypsy-style jewelry? Share in the comments!

Thanks for joining me, come tomorrow for something that starts with H!

Beautiful Beads

 Welcome to Day Two of  The A to Z Blogging Challenge! Today's post focuses on something that starts with B!

 As a crafter, one of my biggest passions is for making jewelry. And you know what you can make a lot of jewelry out of? That's right, beads! Beautiful beads, and there are so many different ones to choose from!  

I have been actively making jewelry as gifts and to sell for my business for five years now, and I used to make jewelry long before that. Some of the beads in my collection I've had since I was 13 or 14 years old, and some since I was maybe 8 or 9! I have made a lot of jewelry in those years, but I still have a LOT of beads to work with.

My beads are all in containers on shelves above a tv, since we moved to Virginia I have had to get creative with storage.

Yes, those are all mostly full, and they're all mine! My precious precious beads. Want to take a peek at what's inside?

Two of those cases have some of my jumprings as well, for making chainmaille jewelry, but those don't start with B! My cases are various styles and sizes from buying them at different times, and the small ones are great for taking along for mobile crafting. Below is my 'mobile crafting unit', a plastic shoebox full of jewelry making supplies, and lots of beads! Great for long car rides, especially moving from the Midwest to the East Coast, y'know?

So many beads I have great ideas for, and some I haven't thought of ideas for yet, just waiting for it to happen. But I only have so much time to work with! I still have a lot of green beads, intended for St. Patrick's Day jewelry, but I didn't make those again this year. I hear Emerald is a big color for the year though!

Here are a few special beads - I just love the crystalline briolettes in the top left, and the rainbow iridescent cubes and rondelles and hemetite hearts and stars below. Then on the right I have a lot of Swarovski crystal bicone beads, for birthstone jewelry and other pretties.

And just in case you were wondering, yes I am crazy enough to let my three year old have her own beads too!

There's a full alphabet in there, though she has mixed it up a little...

Do you like beads too? What are your favorite kinds? Join me tomorrow for C! (Hopefully I'll get the post up earlier on day 3...)

And if you want to see some of the stuff I make with beads, head over to my etsy shop, there's a button on the right for it ;) And my facebook page has more photos of things I have made not currently available.