Frankenstein

Me, preparing for fittings
This is the gypsy who has been in prison for a few months

A few months back, I got asked to design the costume for a Provo Production of Frankenstein. I said 'great', and have been working on it ever since! It has been quite the endeavor, because the place we are getting costumes doesn't have a whole lot to choose from... lame, however it has been adventurous trying to get clothing from other periods to look like it belongs in the 1850's! I have also had a fun time figuring out how to distress the creature's clothing in order that he looks like he has been running around in the woods for almost a year... So yesterday I went out and bought some black tea and fake moss, and am in the process of distressing polyester... it is SO much harder than you would think... Polyester is practically indestructible, so through the use of some sand paper and a sharp knife, I am starting to get somewhere. Here is the beginnings of what will be a disgusting shirt:) Dirt, and some black tea!

Fabric

Oh how I love fabric, and love my job! Isn't this last thing the most gorgeous thing that you have ever seen? this is a special way of sewing to make the fabric look like it is woven. This was part of an old scrap too! I work in a costume shop for theatrical productions ( as you have perhaps known or noticed:) and this is one of the many reasons for loving my job!

... and sometimes I cook...

challah Bread
Ratatouille
ratatouille for crepe filling
focaccia bread

When my cooking day roles around, nothing delights me more than kneading soft bread dough, or smelling vegetables cooking in the oven. Here are some of the recent things that I have made. Unfortunately, they look surprisingly similar. The reason behind that is that one of my roommates brought us a TON of summer squash and zucchini from her families garden and we have been trying to use it before it goes bad. Thankfully we all like it, but we have had quite a bit of it as of late. So here we have ratatouille, challah bread, focaccia bread and more ratatouille. Along with the second ratatouille, I also made a chicken pesto to fill the crepes.

For four years I have owned a pair of silver/grey sandals. The shoes on the right were the first pair. After wearing them almost every day for two years, and cutting off most of the sole and leather on the bottom, I acquired a new pair: the second from the right. These beauties were $12 at Target in the little girls section. Then they broke too... After hot gluing them back together about 3 times, I decided it was time for a new pair. Unfortunately, you should not ever buy an expensive pair of sandals to take to a place where all they have is cobblestone... really not a good idea. Especially when the end of the shoe is a little too long and you trip every 3 steps. Literally. But I liked them, so I wore them out in London. But, after some convincing from my mom, I decided to invest in a new pair last week... Thus, the new pair on the left... The silver sandals live on!

For the Birds...

We have two cats. Both of them are my responsibility when I come home for the summer, or even for a few days. I usually relish this job because they LOVE me. I brush them and feed them and I am their best friend. Unfortunately, with this responsibility comes the ick of reality. Cockroaches in their water bowl in the garage (there were 4 this morning... ew), cones around their heads from cat fight wounds and other things.

Regrettably today I was on my way out the door to a haircut when one of our cats ran into the house with a dead bird in his mouth... I can deal with throw up, roaches and litter, but I didn't think I could do dead birds. Can you just see me standing over the dead bird with a rake in hand in heels and dress ready to fling it into the open trash bag that my mom was holding....? Yes, that was me this morning. I am going to be so prepared for motherhood...

FREE!

Have I ever told you how much I love gift cards? Well I do. When I graduated from High School, I received close to 10 gift cards of various kinds. One to Target, one to Walmart, and several to others that I have forgotten. They were glorious because unlike money that can be used anywhere, a gift card is free money to a particular store, so if you want to splurge a little, it didn't cost you a dime, and you don't feel nearly as guilty!

Until yesterday, I had held onto a gift card to Staples, because we don't have a Staples in Las Vegas, and until this summer, I didn't have a car, meaning that I never got over to one in Utah. Well, I was a little worried that they had started taking money off of it, or had canceled it, but two years after receiving it, I went to Staples and asked them how much was on the card still.... 25 free dollars... Oh the bliss! So I wandered around for close to an hour deciding how to spend this precious money. I finally settled on some black printer ink, and orange headphones. And I only paid $4.87 for them...mmmmm...

The Scarlet Pimpernel

I decided that a series of the pictures that I have drawn would be a little more interesting than a variety! So here is my final for Costume Design 2 class. This was a crunch project that turned out quite well! The Scarlet Pimpernel has become one of my favorite shows(It already was a favorite book)... that I have never seen. But, the music is amazing and the movie was great because Jane Seymour, one of the classiest and most beautiful women of all times was in it... if you haven't seen it, you should. The acting is pretty good, it is very romantic, and the costumes are gorgeous! But here is my interpretation of it for the stage.

Fops are SO much fun!
The left hand corner of the bottom of this dress was a triumph! The face however was not, but in crunch time, you take what you can get (Which clearly isn't much...)
Percy... mmmm....
Not a favorite, but mostly because I did it so fast... like 15 minutes...
My favorite of the series. Notice his lovely pants. I love them.