Blog Posts by Angie

Twice in less than a day I was allowed to see the effect of something I did for another, and I love it.

The Wedding Dress. In previous posts I talked about the difficulty of altering this dress, the fears of screwing it up, and what I learned about myself in the process. The end result: The bride was thrilled and felt it was perfect. In watching her, none of the alterations were visible and she glowed. That is why I do the things I do. Sometimes it's just about trusting yourself, regardless of the project or your skill level. We always judge ourselves more harshly than others do.

The Dress

The birthday party was after the wedding and the granddaughter was absolutely thrilled with her purse. I gave her a card first, sans gift, so I could see her look of, 'this is it?' before handing her the package. It was priceless. The look on her sister's face was also priceless. It looked an awful lot like the one this granddaughter had on her face when she saw the Hello Kity purse she had recieved

Last December, I made a "Hello Kitty" purse for my middle granddaughter (age 6 at the time). These are the steps I took to create it.

1) I bought the purse ($2). The purse was actually an insulated lunch 'box', which means it was waterproof. This is a good thing for children's purses!

2) I crocheted the head. I started out with a circle, chain 3 and join, crochet 6 sc in the ring. Then, just as if making a hat, you increase the circle in each round until the circle is the correct size (done in double crochet after initial ring). Then you begin decreasing slightly to bring the sides around. This will be about 3 or 4 rows.

3) Using fabric glue, I put a layer of felt on the inside of the head to give it some stiffness. Glue and felt made the facial features as well.

4) I crocheted the arms, dress and ears for the kitty. All were attached to one another and the resultant kitty was sewn to one side of the purse. The head was left open at the top to leave a 'secret compartment'. The

Yesterday, I placed the last stitch on the wedding dress I was altering. I had spent several days just looking at the thing and trying a, then b, then c, and then looking again, waiting for inspiriation. No it was not a simple sewing project. Then at some point, it clicked and everything came together.

After placing the last stitch, I stood back and looked over the dress with that, "whew!" feeling. The one that says 'I did it'. I'm sure you've all had that feeling before. You struggle with something, especially things that require creativity (no one says do this, then do that). Your brain has cogs turning all over the place, and you pray that the gears will all slip into place soon. All artists, of any genre, have felt this.

Creativity is like all learning. Learning something new is FRUSTRATING! It is not easy to grasp a new subject. You have to start at the beginning and practice until you master the concept. Creativity is the same way. That learning curve, when the gears are

I have been making costumes for longer than I care to mention. I often made them for my children, and now make them for my grandchildren at times. There's nothing better than the feeling I get seeing a child's face when he or she has a hand-made, unique costume to show off

I still have the Indian outfit made for my daughter many years ago. She loved it, and wore it as a 'dress up' outfit many times after Halloween. While some costumes may require a knowledge of sewing, a creative person can use what is at hand, along with what skills he or she has, to come up with something kids (and older kids) will love to wear.

About 3 years ago, I made costumes for the three of my four grandchildren I had at the time. The oldest was heavily into Sponge Bob, and she wanted to go as Sponge Bob! So, Grandma looks around and gets her creative juices flowing... This is how to create the Sponge Bob Costume.

I used a large box, just big enough to fit over her, with head and arm holes cut out. The

Creativity may be my bag, but I'm in over my head!

Someone asked me if I could alter her wedding dress. It saves her $300, but it is giving me nightmares. I have done many alterations before, including bridesmaid's dresses, but never an expensive wedding gown. I do not want to cut the dress or have to take it apart to get to some of the seams, so I must use my creative gene once again to figure out how to make it work without making permanent alterations.

Sometimes, even when we want to create and know we have the skills to do it, the creative process is not fun. The finished product, if liked by the recipient, is great. The trying a, then b, then c and however many trials it takes to get the creative project to a finished state, is a pain!

People think it's so easy because I have the skills or gifts needed to do projects many would never even try. They are wrong. The process is not always easy. In fact, it's seldom easy when you take on this magnitude of a project. It's work. So,