Akasha, Queen of the Damned headdress

Little by little I’ve been working on a headdress for a customer who is attending a Hallowe’en party as Akasha Queen of the Damned.  If you’re unsure of what I’m talking about then you can see some stills from the film here and the headdress I’m doing a version of is the one with pendants and coins on it.

It’s been one of those projects that has required a lot of looking at pics from the film, has required a few coats of thinking about, and it’s underway and should be finished by the end of the week.

As usual, early on in the process it looked pretty ….bleak…. then I found some pendants that totally rock and even though they’re not actual Turkoman pendants (as they would have used up the whole of the customer’s budget before I was even started) they’re doing a damn fine job of looking cool.

And because I’m rubbish at documenting what I’m working on as I do it there are no pics yet, but you can be absolutely sure that once it’s done the pictures will be here.

Fun’s over

Back to work…….

The bedtime ballet……

…is in reality more of a fight.

This is about children by the way…

Yes.  I know it’s a bit warm.  And yes, I know it’s light outside.  But for heaven’s sake, surely after being up since silly o’clock small children with busy lives and full tummies should feel the need to go to bed, and sleep.

Not want to get into each others bunks, spill water, need their sleeping bags (sleeping bags!!) and generally feel the need to bang and crash around until I have to steam up-stairs and play the evil mummy card.

I’m no fun when it gets to this point, no eye contact or kisses or kind words, just stern admonishments that they should GET BACK INTO BED.  All totally lost on them the minute I close the door.  My almost three year old is currently over-tired and shouting for the kids who live across and up the road…maybe he hopes they’ll come and save him from evil mummy who keeps making him get back into bed….

Don’t they know I have to write a blog, do some dance practice, make a Mucha inspired headdress for the Etsy shop, do some more dance practice, think about how I’m going to cobble together a costume for Sunday’s performance at Hipnotic (for which I need to practice some more, did I mention that?)

I think I’ll go and eat some chocolate and hope they don’t smell it.

Being Ethical

This is about what I make as a designer and I dare say I may meander into other areas…..

Tonight I made this.

Titania Headdress

As Blackwillow I get to make and sell things.  I do this because I have a creative streak that really only gets going once the children are either in bed or when they are with their dad (ie tonight).

But, this is about being ethical.  Here’s why this particular item is ethical.

The fabric used for the base I bought some 15 years ago from a charity shop.  It’s a beautiful brocade sari and choli (I used a sleeve from the choli) and it’s taken me this long to get around to cutting it up because it’s SO beautiful.

But I had the urge to use it this week. The sari is hanging in my bedroom at the moment and may well become something else (a skirt or trousers).  The choli had been taken in at least three times so there was a lot of stitching to undo but it was worth it.

The flowers I have had in my collection for some time too but don’t ask me how long.  They came from a charity shop too as most of my items do – you can count into that the jewelry and the pearls and beads and lace that I added.   All of those things came from a good friend of mine who works in a charity shop and puts things aside for me.

The earrings than brooch that form part of the design are pretty old, probably vintage (I do as much research as I can into designs).  The beads and wire part at the brow were second hand.  Inside the base is a belt I bought some time ago (from…guess where, a charity shop) and the elastic that makes up part of the ties is one of the only things that was bought new.  So I can’t claim that the whole item is ethically sound.  Just 90% of it….. maybe even 95%…..

Why is this important?

Because if I use things that have come from charity shops (goodwill or op-shops depending on where you live) then I am re-cycling or up-cycling.  Sustaining the life of an item that someone had decided they had had enough of.

The recent upsurge in fast fashion disturbs me, even though it suits my single parent pocket.  Even more so that I am now reading *To Die For* by Lucy Siegle, and then two days ago there was the rehash of a Panorama (BBC) programme about children working in sweatshop conditions for one of the biggest retailers of fast fashion here in the UK.  The BBC said that they were going to apologise for showing a programme that had *flawed footage*, apparently made up footage by the investigative journalist Dan McDougall.

If the footage was faked then I am disappointed.  That means that many people will continue to disregard the reports (that they cannot ascertain as true for themselves) about the working and living conditions of those who are subcontracted to make and decorate the fashion items that we now all take for granted as being as cheap as chips on the High Street in the UK, the US and in Europe.

But.         Think about it.        If you can buy a hand beaded top in Primark or a Walmart store for less than £10 then someone is not being paid properly.  Full stop.  I KNOW how long it takes to hand bead something.  I can’t bead a vest top, let alone a dress or a skirt for the price I could buy one for.  New.

In fact I can’t make my own clothes for less than I can buy them in a High Street store.  I certainly can’t grow, harvest, weave, dye, cut, sew and embellish a top for less than £10.00………….

But someone (in fact lots of someones) does all of these things in order for us to get such cheap fashion.

So how can we all play out part?  Do our bit?  Feel as though we have made a difference?

Get the most out of what you buy and wear.  Wash and care for it correctly and it’ll last longer, ensuring that you don’t have to buy more often.  If you’re going to buy something new then maybe buy something that is better made, better design, better quality.  BUT don’t be fooled by Fairtrade labels.  Fairtrade labels only refer to the growing of the cotton, possibly to the way it was woven.  They do not refer to the making/sewing/embellishing.  Sorry to burst the bubble……

Another alternative is to buy second hand and make alterations to ensure it’s unique to you.  Buying second hand makes sure that an item does not end up in landfill.  That it does get a second or maybe third lease of life.

And the hardest one?  Don’t be seduced by fashion.  Fashion is fleeting.  An industry that WANTS our support, but that does not need it if you are able to follow your own path.

DO NOT buy into the fantasy that buying a cheaply made top/skirt/dress means that someone somewhere IS getting a fair wage that will feed their family and keep them employed.  Consider this.  If there is no other work than the work that is offered by subcontractors for the clothing industry, then where are you going to get a job?  When you have worked a shift (8 plus hours) and your manager is under orders to complete and order and s/he instructs you to work another 8 hours 9through the night) before your next shift, are you going to ask your children (aged 5+) to help you or not?  Take a guess.  If you live in one of the many locations that are subcontracted into this work then you probably will tell them to help you.  Many hands make light work.

Take a stand.  Buy second hand.  Buy from people that up-cycle.  Have a go at making things yourself.  Wear things for longer.  Don’t be fooled by the foolishness of fashion.

End of rant.  You may now switch off.

Using my camera like a pro….

Ah. I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how long it has taken me to work out how to get a great picture with my camera, but do you know, I think I’ve cracked it.

Having a tripod helps, good lighting is a must but is tricky in a terraced Victorian house and no extra lamps for illumination.

Today I managed to snatch half an hour when the sun was out and the children were occupied to get some new pics done.  And then I snatched a bit more time cropping and tweaking with the camera itself before putting it all up in some software and doing final image sizing.  What a difference!

I may even get good at this!

I already knew how to add a few effects (not I’m trying to trick your eye, it just adds a vintage look to the photo with that darker edge) but hadn’t worked out how to zoom into a shot.  I love it!

I would have played around some more but the kids came upstairs and both started crying and arguing about who loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar the most (the stuffed toy that accompanies the book, not the book.)  TVHC War was diffused and my time was up…..

Distractions…..

So tonight, once the children were in bed I was planning to make a KILLER headdress.

Killer as in fabulous fabric, chains, dangly jewelry bits, feathers, flowers – the whole shebang.  But in order to clear a bit of head-space I needed to do some house-keeping first. NO!  Not house-work, but check my bank account, do my books, tidy up the boring stuff.  That allows m the creative space I need.  And what do I find?  That I just paid for my ex’s motorbike (a hunking piece of rust) to be insured.  What…..?

Last year, when we were still pretending to be in love, I paid for his motorbike insurance from one of my miniscule bank accounts (ok, I’m a Taurus so I have more than one and one day they will all be filled with moolah…)

I had forgotten about this and didn’t realise that when it was due to be paid again they would write to him, and would then automatically take the payment from my account…. (because he never opens letter, that impinges on his life too much and *ties him down, man*).

In fairness he responded to my text message about it pretty quickly and I will get the monies so that I can sort out the debt but FFS.  That messed up my creativity big-time.

Tonight’s lunar eclipse is supposed to be a significant one, and for me one that relates to monetary matters.  *Rolls eyes*.

So instead I’ve just spent the last two hours adding to my blackwillowbellydance website and SEO’ing for all my life is worth.  Well, got to do something constructive…..

It’s now 11.03pm and I’ve got bread in the oven so that I can eat Tricolore Salad before bed (I am willing the avocado to be ripe enough…..)

In other news I found out tonight that the first campsite I am going to with the kids is on rocky ground so I’ve had to buy rock pegs and a claw hammer to accommodate this…that’s ok, I don’t want to return the tent I’ve borrowed with 20 bent pegs at the end of the summer.  I’ve only borrowed a tent because the one I have is huge and takes up three very heave bags because when I bought it I wasn’t a proper camper and didn’t look at how it was constructed, only at how big it was.  The tent I have borrowed is just as big but fits into one bag and I can put it up by myself.  I do have a girly tool box that contains a hammer, but it’s not a claw hammer so hey, I needed one didn’t I?

And tomorrow I will again give the killer headdress a couple of coats of thinking about during the day when I am busy with my small son, and tomorrow night might get around to getting the base ready for some magnificent accessorizing.  Fingers crossed eh?

Slowly but surely….

…I’m moving everything from one site to another.  I really want to get everything shifted and the site closed down as soon as I can, particularly as I read about other people’s vain attempts to get their sites closed with this particular web-host (I’m not going to mention names until things get ugly…) as I’ve done the sums and it costs me too much for what I can achieve with it.  So let’s get shot of it.

…I’m honing my search engine optimization skills.  An art if ever there was one.  This is something that I have put off for quite some time, but I really need to get my act together and make sure that I tweak and tweak and tweak until I get the results I want.

…I’m working on a choreography for myself.  This is always a tricky one as I often feel as though I am lacking time for this area.  See above…..

…I am making notes for lessons plans for September belly dance classes.  I have some great ideas for the ladies who attend my classes (including the learning disability class) and I love teaching so it’s all worth making sure that after the summer break everyone gets to do something that challenges them.

…finishing a custom order and getting ready to start another and also try and make some new items to put up on my Etsy shop, Blackwillow Boho.

One of the keys to selling on Etsy would seem to be having lots in your shop.  But that is only one of the keys.  But I have to say that I’ve had more sales and views of my items through Etsy than I have through the existing costuming website so all’s well, I just have to build on it.  It’s hard hard work though, particularly when you’re starting out there.  Don’t let anyone tell you that selling online is a doddle….

In all honesty I’m unsure where this surge in creativity has come from but I’m not knocking it.  Sustaining it is the difficulty, but then who ever said life was easy.

It should also be added that I do spend time with my children.  I seem to be at the back and call of my daughter and her current obsession with Webkinz and Bin Weevils websites, as well as collecting snails and generally playing with and attending groups with my young son.

I’m hoping to have a night out with friends this week, so maybe that’s the start of a mini social-life too!  Eek!  Can I do it all?  Watch this space…….

I have an intense dislike for my printer

It refuses to feed paper through and tells me that there’s no paper when there is.

Then it tells me that there’s a paper jam when there is not.

Printing one sheet of paper can take hours or persuasion, let alone when I need to print out multiple sheets.

Yes.  I know I should buy another printer.  When I can I will, and in the meantime I shall continue to SHOUT at an inanimate object that refuses to assist me.

Rant over.