Typewriter!

I have a typewriter that works!!!

My brother-in-law gave me it to me last summer and I had put it away in my closet for a future date when I could get it to working condition again. 

I was deep cleaning the other day and found it in my closet (along with the corset that my great grandmother wore in the 1800s which I shall post about later.)

I pulled it out and handed it over to my brothers to give a look over and see if they could do anything about making it usable.

Two hours later I had a fully functional typewriter.

It is a 1920s Underwood

I love the feel of it and there is something therapeutic about using it. I wrote 10 pages yesterday and have written several more today. I think it is going to help with getting me back to my writing.

Just a quick update for now.

Oh, and I spent the entire afternoon dry brushing a stage floor so that it looked like wood flooring. That turned out to be a interesting afternoon and very educational.

Well, toodles.

Knitting

During the run of White Christmas I started knitting again and have finished several projects since then. I have completed three hats, two scarfs, a couple of beards and other random stuff. I have also sewn a vest and skirt set and a new top. I have also designed my costume for an upcoming LOTR themed ball. But I won't show you that because I want it to be a suprise.

I will show you pictures of my sewing and knitting projects when I get pictures taken. Until then you will have to be patient.

My sister did send me a new knitting magazine that I have been enjoying. It is called Jane Austen Knits. I have made one thing out of it so far and it turned out looking good. I want to make some other stuff from it, but I have to get my Christmas projects done first.

I also made my first Gingerbread house this past week. No pictures downloaded on that either. Sorry.

It also got consumed rather quickly by many talented actors and actressess.

So there is the random quick update. I shall try to give a better ones with more pictures and maybe even tutorials.

Toodles

Opps, Not done yet...

They finally loaded the rest of the pictures taken by the profesional photographer for White Christmas. So I thought I would share some more pictures. I promise that this will be the last post White Christmas related.

Here are the pictures, all thanks to Bob Phelan.

So there you go, the last of the pictures.

Toodles.



The Muppets! Amy Adams Costumes

Yesterday I went to the movie theaters in the United States for the first time. I went out with my wonderful sister-in-law and we went to see The Muppets. I wasn't expecting much. I knew I would at least enjoy the Muppets themselves, but I did not expect to see anything remotely interesting with costumes. 

I was surprised!!!

Amy Adams wore the most adorable outfits!

Her outfits were all very retro, with a 1950's appeal.

She started the show out in an adorable red floral blouse with a bright yellow circle skirt and red belt. 

I loved all of the bright, bold colour combinations.

The next dress she wore was a green striped dress.

The dress has a matching belt and the skirt is rather full. It looked as if it were a circle skirt to me.

She had her red hair curled and pulled back softly from her face and wore bright orange heel 

The sleeves were tulip sleeves! That made me happy as it is one of my favorite sleeve cuts. It allows for so much more range of motion.

Here is a closer up on the bodice. It is cut on the bias and gathered, giving it a princess appearance.

Then she wore a aqua blue dress with a bright purple belt. 

Here is a bit closer on the bodice. It had a wide oval neckline with little bows for trim.

For a lot of the outfits I could not find pictures yet. There were several other really cute ones.

I hope that movies such as this will bring back some of these fashions. They are so pretty.

This was one of my favorite outfits that Amy wore. It looks as if it is the same basic pattern that was used in green dress that she wore near the beginning. It is a pink eyelet with simple set in sleeves. I could not find a full dress picture of this one.

She also wore a stunning peach shirt waist dress with pin tucks adorning the bodice.

The dress had purple and pink flowers printed on the skirt. She wore this dress with a purple belt.

Here is her final outfit. She wore a bright orange bodice with a brown skirt and cream belt. 

The bodice was pleated and crossed-over in the front.

The sleeves were split flutter sleeves.

The costumes may not have been impressive and stunning period costumes with tons of intricate detail. But they were charming and adorable.

Amy Adam's outfits provide some goodies for the eyes of a costumer, seamstress, or retro enthusiast.

So, go see it while the costumes can still be seen on the big screen.

My Birthday!

My birthday was yesterday. 

I am not big into birthdays. 

Not that I am a "Bah Humbug" kind of person, I just don't bounce off the wall after stuffing myself with cake. 

I love to celebrate other peoples birthdays.

I am just not the kind of person to get terribly excited over anything as minor as my own birthday. I don't get terribly excited over much of anything. (Except sewing patterns, sewing machines, sewing techniques, movies with good costumes, and a good book.)

It is obvious as can be seen by previous "big" occasions in my life.

I have never had a birthday party ever.

I did not have a confirmation party. (Unless you count my sister's wedding.)

I did not have a graduation party. (Unless you count my brother's wedding.)

I think the first "party" that I might have in my life is my wedding. And that is only if I get married.

I think part of the reason I try not to get excited over "big" event in my life is because I don't wish to be disappointed. If I had been expecting something to happen for my graduation and then nothing did I would have been disappointed. But because I knew that nothing probably would happen surrounding my graduation I did not form any expectations that were broken. 

I knew nothing would happen, thus expected nothing and when nothing happened I was satisfied. Quite simple.

So once again with another "big" event in my life dawning (yes I know 19 is really not that big... next year is worse.) I again expected nothing. I knew that we had far too many things happening this week to even have time to make a cake or probably sing Happy Birthday. That way I was pleasantly surprised (and embarrassed) when they sang Happy Birthday for me at church before our Advent soup supper. When my Grandma made brownies for lunch I was even more surprised. 

But the most surprising of all was the gift that my little brother got me. I took him shopping yesterday afternoon to buy him a winter coat as it is starting to get cold here in Missouri. While we were out he decided to get me a birthday gift. (Totally unprompted mind you.)

My little brother got me the best birthday gift I could have expected. 

My very own copy of

That is right... The Young Victoria with Emily Blunt and Rubert Friend.

Like I said, one of the few things that excites me is a movie with good costumes.

The Young Victoria is one of those movies that has breathtakingly stunning costumes.

It is a fairy tale that was actually true. Yes, they may have taken some minor liberties, but who cares. It is still an amazing movie that I love. I have only watched it once and that was last year then it came out. But now I can watch it as many times as I want.

I think this yellow dress is almost my favorite. I can't really choose a favorite because they are all so lovely.

And who doesn't like a man in a top hat and cravat???

The detail on all the costumes is really amazing!

She only wore this dress at the very end and I wish we could have seen more of it.

Emily Blunt seamed to look good in just about every colour imaginable.

I will need to watch this movie several times and try and take in all the costumes on the extras also.

Hats, bonnets, shoes, lace, flowers, shawls... oh my!

Love it! That is all I have to say about this movie.

So it was a pretty amazing birthday after all. Even though I wasn't expecting anything. That is what made it even better.

I spent the morning babysitting a room full of 4 and 5 year olds. Then spent all afternoon shopping with my brother (you do know that I am not partial to shopping right?) and all evening at church. But it was glorious weather (and I was inside building most of the day... oh well.)

However, it was still an amazing birthday.