Exciting News Coming!

Guess what?!

Oh, wait, you already guessed it. There is exciting news coming for Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe! I wonder how you figured that out? I'd really like to borrow some of your mind-reading powers!

I'll only keep you on tenterhooks for a week... 

In the meantime, please check out my previous post and VOTE on what YOU want to see here at the Shoppe!

Shabby Apple Dress Design Entry

Dress design for Shabby Apple dresses.

by: Shaylynn Rackers

A friend told me about this contest awhile ago; I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw the contest mentioned on a blog. I knew I had to enter, it would be too much fun.

This contest is by Shabby Apple. They make some über cute dresses. ^_^

Here is my Spring-inspired dress!

The Front of the dress!

      When I think of spring, the first images that pop into my head are the bright colors splattering the earth and kids playfully romping in the yard. My little sister with a ruffly dress dancing in the grass; my brothers barefoot in the mud.

     This dress is bright, bold, and playful, just like springtime. It's the sort of dress that makes you feel bright and chipper and pretty.

The back

This dress is flattering on any body shape, especially the hourglass and pear. The asymmetrical hemlines and color blocks pull the eye away from any "problem areas" and focuses on a slimmer, taller line. (Don't we all want that? lol!)

The contrasting waistline brings the waist into focus, something which ladies with pear and hourglass figures will love! However, it is not a problem for those with flat waists, either.

I've included gathers on the front bodice and the waistband. I've noticed that just a few gathers in the right places make one look just a little slimmer.

There are no cap sleeves. Instead, the sleeves are looser and longer, a boon for any woman with a larger arm.

The dress has a good neckline, hemline to the knees, and draws attention to the face.

And, of course, the timeless A-line shape is flattering on anyone.

I love ruffles, but so often you find them in overabundance. In this design I toned them down-- they are still there in all their glory, but a little more grown-up in the sparseness.

And then COLOR! Color is so bold and playful and jazzes up anything! In my drawings, I experimented with several different color combinations. The monochromatic green, shown in the very first image of this post, is my favorite and my "official" entry. This dress could easily be done in so many other ways. The darker shade could be on either the contrasting ruffles, or on the "wrap" part of the dress. The color can fade in shade, as seen in the "pink" drawing. Two or even three colors could be used. This dress could be made in monotone for a more sophisticated look!

[IMAGE]

Fabric
I checked the tag on a dress with material similar to what I was imagining- it was 95% polyester with some cotton and spandex. The fabric shouldn't have a sheen to it and should lay nicely, especially along the gathers.

Inspiration

The entry guidelines at Shabby Apple ask for design inspiration. Frankly, I didn't have anything in mind except general "springiness. " ^_^ I imagined a dress, sketched it out a few times, and finally decided that "Yes, this is something that I would wear!"

However, I can pick out a few things that inspired this dress-- or rather, things that inspire my imagination. 

The bright colors so popular in the European styles that I've seen.

The classic A-line dress, and RUFFLES!

And, of course, SPRING! 

And I might even go so far as to say that the top, with the front panel that crosses over, was inspired by a beautiful Indian sari that a woman at Wal-Mart was wearing!

I'm working on a fun drawing right now with a girl wearing this dress. :)

A Medley of Chainmaille

Some of the stuff littering my room...

Chainmaille is addicting. I never knew just how fateful that one day at the Summerfest would be. I saw UnkamenGifts, and was immediately hooked.

I've been working hard on some new chainmaille items. Shown here is most of what I have made (that I still have; I've made and given more!). 

Click to enlarge the image. Which is your favorite? Leave a comment!!!

PSST! I've discovered the secret to getting a good picture of chainmaille!

It's called a scanner. While, as an artist, a scanner is very annoying, it is a lifesaver in the way of chainmaille. Of course, the scans are not very artsy, but boy do they show detail! I'm sitting here grimacing at all the pliers' marks and the half-shut rings.

Escaping Marble

This little fella sure lived up to it's name. Let me explain...

Once upon a time...

     I spent a very long time trying to make this captured marble. I'm pretty sure it hated me. I used a random assortment of rings, all quite munchkin-ier than the rings I used for the Truly Captured Marble.

     The rings were much smaller, which let me make a "window" in the front-- while securely held, the marble was able to move. Whenever I wore it, I couldn't stop fiddling with it. The marble moved. Thus it was named "Escaping Marble." It never really escaped. It only tried to. As I said, it moved. 

     Thus it was doomed to half-escape and moving for a whole month.

     Then I wore the necklace to a dance, got it tangled in my hair, and instead of doing the rational thing and going to the bathroom to untangle it, I yanked really hard. And broke it. Go figure. And now I can't get it back together. Go figure.

And so the marble truly escaped.

The End.

(Thankfully I snapped some pictures before the necklace was doomed to the painful death of yanking.)

In all its pre-yanking glory.

Escaping marble, Captured Marble, and a little trapped bead.

Masquerade Graphics

I made these graphics for my Masquerade party! I used the amazing Adobe Illustrator CS5 software.
It all began as a pen and ink sketch of two mask. I then scanned in the page from my sketchbook.
After a few hours of tinkering around and learning the software, I finished it. Fully vectorized, colorized graphics!

*Please note that I am keeping the graphics at a low resolution for safety reason. I'll be doing this to many of my graphics from now on. It's not too small-- I wanted you to be able to see it, but clicking to enlarge will not enlarge by very much.

See also:
My Other Masquerade Posts (scroll down)