Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Premature Felicitations....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Just a little note to wish you all...

 Where ever... How ever and Who ever you might be celebrating with...


I know I'm a little Premature...

 But that's the story of my life...

Bottoms Up Darlings...

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas In OZ...

Hello Dhaaarlings...

It's Christmas Down under on my drive out to lunch with family the Empress and I spotted these two suspicious characters in a paddock and just had to stop and take a couple of snaps to share with you...




Even the local farmers are getting in on the act this year...
I hope you all have a great day

I've been "Gut's Up" on the couch all afternoon with a very full belly...

Merry Christmas Darlings...

Monday, December 22, 2014

The Partridge Hath Multiplied Somewhat....

Hello Dhaaarlings...
Only three more sleeps till Christmas and I've finally gotten around to finishing off the decorations...
So here we have some more photo's for your viewing pleasure...












Merry Christmas

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Is that a Partridge I see in your little Pear-tree?

Hello Dhaaarlings...

It's that time of year again...


No... It's a shimmery Peacock...

and 

A fancy festive Dove...


Just a couple of new trinkets for this years tree to get you into a pre Christmas mood Darlings...

Saturday, December 6, 2014

The Little Mermaid's Over and Poor Old Princess is Sunk....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Princess can finally come up for air...

The Little Mermaid made a great splash and went off swimmingly...
People were Absolutely blown away by the costumes and sets for this production...
You know that I'm not one to boast darlings.... as it is so unbecoming for a Princess...  but I will on this occasion...
I had some astoundingly marvellous feedback from several people who had seen the Broadway production and they thought that our costumes and sets out shone that production by miles.
For a small school production in a regional City I think that is very big praise don't you?  
The team are all very chuffed and proud of our achievements and the kids performances.



Sadly due to the hectic pace of the last few months I only have scanned images from the program as I personally haven't had the time to take snap shots with my own camera... Not even to record the process and development of making some of the more complex costumes.
The program shots really don't do the costumes justice compared to seeing them under full lighting with sets and props...

I trust you will understand and forgive me Darlings...

Fortunately, I have a camera happy friend who usually takes literally thousands of snaps during the performance... 

So... When I do get my hands on his photos... and I will...
 You will see them here first!

But for now here are some more images...


 Sebastian "Under the sea" Surrounded by only some of the Sea Creatures with an incomplete Walrus and Lobster...


 Kiss the Girl... with some of the lagoon creatures...


Flounder and Ariel.... Ursula, Flotsam and Jetsam, an Angler Fish with teeth that light up..(and nearly did my head in trying to create by the way) and Moving Sea Weed...
 Five of the six Mermaid Sisters... The yellow one is missing...


"Scuttle" and his crew... 

Swashbuckling sailors...

So there you have it Darlings...
Just a little taste of what I've been busy with... 

Like I said these shots don't really do the costumes or the sets justice... 
Some of the costumes are incomplete and still had final embellishments to add. Many of the costumes and props like the Jelly fish and Sea Creatures still had to be fitted with battery packs and strings of hundreds of LED lights

Many of the costumes... particularly Flounder, Flotsam and Jetsam and many of the amazing array of animals and sea creatures were made from scratch without a pattern and evolved simply from my head to a rough sketch of my envisioned concept and then into reality... 

I've spent hundreds of hours hand stitching costumes.... ("Flounder" for example... couldn't be sown on a machine) leaving my fingers calloused and bleeding... and then there was the constant lack of sleep from being up till all hours doing the final fittings, adjustments and finishing touches... and in order to get the costumes ready for the program shots I had to pull a couple of "all nighters" and still didn't get some of them finished in time...
There was a great team of mums that helped out with many of the costumes and for that I am very grateful...

Sadly...I should be feeling over the moon with my effort and achievements but in reality I am exhausted and as a result am taking a break from costuming for 6 to 12 months or so... 
I have found that two huge productions a year for the past 4 years has taken its toll on me along with just doing life and all that entails...
 I just need a break and a little time-out for myself to re-think and re-energise. 
Volunteering my time, energy, and creativity has been a wonderful experience for me.  I have been truly blessed to see the growth in self confidence, interpersonal and life skills in the kids that I work with. 
I have stayed true to my creed... that is...

 "Every kid deserves to look spectacular on stage"

And from all the feedback I think I've at least done that...
But now it is time for me...

Till next we speak Darlings... Bottoms Up!