this beauty is finally done and getting ready to fly off for her wedding~

I’ve been working on this dress for about 4 months now..
it’s quite the labryinth. I had a nice stash of edwardian
skirting fabrics and used many layers here.
all the side textural work is hand-sewn.

it can be tricky with commissions because they need to be
fairly planned out, without many surprises or diversions from
the original path. so the challenge I play with
(so as to keep growing & having fun)
is continuing  to bring in new elements/try new
things while staying within the safe zone, so to speak.

the bride who commissioned this is a beautiful celestial faery
named Jamie, and she has incredibly vibrant red hair.
when I saw her in the dress at our fitting, I was
stunned by the gorgeousness!
can’t wait to see the wedding photos.

I worked in tiny galaxy details for a starry feeling..
there are tiny silver stitches and little silver & pearly beads.
it’s amazing how much they catch the light when the dress moves~
looking forward to experimenting with this more!

I often find/inherit the lovely embroidered edwardian dresses
& skirts in ravaged states.. where the cotton is rotten
but the flowers are intact. I hand-stitched some of
these blooms trailing down the right side of the torso.

one of the main inspirations for this was a dress I made many years ago
called Celestine. she had one of these stars too ^+^

it was lovely to just use subtle bits of silver fabric in this.. the torso has
some behind the lace, which gave it an interesting moonshadow look.

ok, next to finish is a pastel dream dress! see you in a bit :)

xo
S

finished this beauty last week- a custom sister to the Ada bonnet
from last summer. I’ve been calling this one Ida :)
Ada lives in Japan now, and Ida just flew off to China.

this was really fun to make. it’s odd- sometimes ‘remaking’ a piece is like pulling teeth
but sometimes it’s easier on the second round. grateful this was the latter.

I lovve how it looks in the light.. I’ve already been plotting some ethereal diaphanous
dresses for quite awhile and this really convinced me that those need to exist!

It’s  funny, when repeating something, how difficult it is to stay on track. my brain
doesn’t like repeating, it wants to try new things, and I have to constantly rein it in on
commissions. but they do give me tons of new ideas in the process.

hurray! another piece done and en route to it’s new life.
I also just finished a wedding dress that’s been in the works for 6 months,
will be sharing photos here soon :) I love finishing things!

xo
S

Hallo diary, and guests!
It’s been ages since I posted here, which I’m looking forward to remedying.
there are lots of interesting new tangents afoot that will be making their way
to this little window soon. but for now, I just really want to show you
this pincushion I made~

a lovely client in Seattle asked me to make one for her and I kind of blanked,
but said yes anyway. i made the body of it outside on one of the first warm,
sunny days we’ve had here.. my cats were gallavanting around
and thought I was making them a supreme new cat toy, haha

I stitched all the flowers, beads, leaves on last night and it slowly went from
a strange lil blob into.. something elegant and fae and dreamy.
it looks delicious. I couldn’t stop bopping it around
& everyone in my house wanted to eat it.

sometimes making things that are other people’s request/idea is just the
ticket~ for being pushed into a new way of looking at what you do.
when there isn’t enough time for experimenting & play, things get
mechanical, boring & lose their luster. this definitely seemed like an
obligatory project at first, but it became really inspiring.

this is the end of my pincushion speech.. i love it, it feels awesome, and now
I want to make more plushy stuffed things :)
Happy Spring~

xo
S

i had a rare photo day a few weeks ago, with the lovely Kelly Murphy~

we’ve been friends for years & i’ve always wanted to make photos with her,
so it’s exciting to be living in the same area now..
she is a lovely, magical lady and has a strong kinship with nature & animals.
one of the neatest things about moving here is that Kelly is now the
veterinarian for my cat pack! we are so lucky!

Kelly is also an awesome photographer- she has a really good eye for beauty & angles.
her (instagram) is a kaleidoscope of forests, nightlife and creatures

this is the first shoot i’ve done at my new home,
a 37 acre piece of beautiful faery land on the outskirts of Olympia, WA.
after years of running around cities and parks trying to find a bit of privacy for photos,
this feels like hitting a serious jackpot.. so grateful to have some space, to be unobserved.

this dress was made with reclaimed silk, velvet, vintage coat lining & lace.
after this shoot i dyed it a bit darker.
it went to live with a magical doll-maker in Japan this week

watching the autumn come in has been so comforting

and the pageant has only just begun~
i missed seasons so much.. it feels right to be back in the northwest.
Happy Equinox to you all

xo S

i’m having a autumn sale in the gibbous shop and the etsy shop..
everything is 10-20% off for a week.
it ends on September 18th at midnight.

xo S

i’m so happy to share these photos at long last!
they feel like from a lifetime ago.

this is the last shoot i did in Oakland, at the magical marina house.
my dear friend Amber came over for the loveliest photo date, about a
week before the big move to Washington. i made a flowery nest in the studio
and adorned her in foliage, crystals, gibbous & victoriana.

Amber has been like a lady star beacon for me since our very first meeting.
she has a rare kind of authenticity.. an otherworldly vibrance and elegance
that is threaded into everything she does & makes.

she ‘s definitely been one of the most inspiring people for me in the bay~
always being creative, being a rad mum, wildcrafting, taking care of birds,
playing shows, making art installations, plant medicines, mead..
hosting neverending magical  gatherings at the cemetery.
she managed to be this ladylike faery in a rough & difficult, dangerous city.
a perfect balance; radiating kindness, but you wouldn’t wanna mess with her.
Amber, Angelique & Chelsea were kind of my role models for this at the time.
the badass Oakland faery queens :)
i was like, ok these ladies Know.. watch and learn.

Amber has a special kinship.. she is a bird whisperer.
~Especially chickens~
it’s really fun to hear tales of her fearless rooster companion Grettel,
who traveled & lived with her for many years.
he was the star of the tea parties, with pink toenails~
oh, and the raven who showed up and lived
with her for awhile.. he was named Dennis Hopper :)

Amber & her partner Shannon love chickens so much,
they made a chicken podcast, called… (Twin Beaks!)

i also recommend checking  out her music on soundcloud, it’s amazing.  often VE lL
(her project with Elm Outcault) performances would put me into the most far out
trance states. they also created beautiful altars, garments & rituals for
each performance. they were seriously mesmerizing.

VE lL performing at the first ALVA show in Oakland.

here are some of Amber’s beautiful paintings..
i’ve probably stared at the one above for at least 40 hours in my life.
it would always hold my gaze when it was hanging up at Katabatik.

i love this one & wish it were a whole book!

*

i’m sad to not live in the same city as this beautiful lady now..
she just moved to the woods too, though & i love to think of her
living in a magical forest realm.  a constellation
of friend land spots is starting to take shape.. it feels like the future :)

xo S