birthdays and birthday dresses

My birthday week starts today and I thought I'd share these pics from Lebanese designer Hanna Touma's spring 2009 collection. I love the detail on these gowns. Exquisite and feminine. They almost remind me of teacups.

 

When I was young, up until I was about 12, my mom would make a new dress for me every year for my birthday. She would let me make a drawing of what I wanted and we would pick out the fabric and trim together. I remember being so excited about it. I spent hours pouring through my storybooks and her magazines for ideas. The whole process was magical, watching my mom cut and sew the fabric and trying it on every step of the way. It was such a special thing that to this day when my birthday comes around I think about treating myself to a party dress. Of course nothing as fancy as these and these days I'm tickled to find something vintage I can alter and play with. Funny thing is I never outgrew the urge to dress up on my birthday, even if it's just to spend a quiet day by myself, hunting for a good book and a decadent cupcake. I loved all my birthday dresses but the best dress my mom made for me wasn't a birthday dress at all but my wedding dress 16 years ago. That was truly special. I love you mom.

pardon my blog

If you have visited the last few days I'd like to apologize for the ever changing appearance of my blog. Designing, or rather redesigning it has become somewhat of an experiment for me. Does that fall into the creative category too? I have been teaching myself various functions of Photoshop and Blogger. Although I've used Photoshop for several years I tend to stick to the same things I know and love. Having a blog and visiting so many creative ones inspired me to learn more about the many features I never knew about. Thanks to a number of great tutorials I've learned to do a few more things including tweeking my blog's html to make a second sidebar. As the dust settles I think I'll find a look I love and I promise to  limit the editing to just a few tweeks!

paper flower banner

I searched and tried a few paper flower techniques before deciding on this one. One was a flower origami but I thought it was a bit too structured. I like the loose unstructured feel of this which allows you to sculpt the flower anyway you want.

Cut out several circles from your choice of paper. I used pages from an old book because I like the look of printed words. I made 2 large and 1 small circle for my flower.

Fold the circle in half and then in quarters to crease. Unfold and tear down each crease about 1 inch or so to create petals. Tear a thin strip from the left side of each petal to give each petal space. Then tear bits of the top edges of each petal to remove sharp edges.

Fold and pinch the edges of each petal around your finger .

Pinch the flower from the center and keep pinching and bunching until you like the shape.

Gently brush on decoupage on the top side of your flower. I used a decoupage with an antique finish to see what I would get.

After the decoupage dries layer each section with the smallest one on top. I also took a small strip of paper and just bunched it up in a circle to create the center. You can add a jewel, button or any decorative accent. Glue all the layers together and that's it!

I used a 4x5 scalloped card to create an impromptu banner using peices I already had out. I attatched 2 ribbons to small holes punched in the upper corners and embellished with decorative papers, silver scrolls and a mini charm that says 'Dream Big'.

I like the look I got using the antique decoupage but I'd also like to experiment with staining the paper with tea or coffee. I think there's even an ink stamp that gives you that look. I'd like to try this again for a vintage inspired project, maybe using old lace and photos. I think this would also be a fun and easy project to do with kids.