On Being Published

Sometimes it just doesn’t happen the way it’s supposed to. Or, more aptly, I don’t know dick about how to be published.

It kind of makes me happy that I have a full-time gig again. The constant let down of managing your own business? Meh, perhaps my skin is just not thick enough.

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So you might remember when I went and did a photo shoot for Premiere Bride magazine? It was back in October, but I couldn’t post much about it because the shoot was for this April’s edition.

So April came and went. No magazine. I looked for it on stands and online and it was nowhere to be found. So I contacted the person who contacted me for the shoot.

“A change of direction.”

“Didn’t capture our vision.”

Sigh.

I’m sure you can figure out the rest.  I did get a few images, but not enough to warrant the full day of basically feeling a bit like the on-set stylist.

Photography by JMT Photo

Accessories by TruLu Couture.

 

This little feather number sold!

Um, for the record? That fascinator is NOT in her hair the way it should be. Someone moved it…and not in a  good way.

What do YOU think?

When It All Comes Together

There are very few things about your wedding day that you can see ahead of time. You know what your dress will look like. You’ve done the hair trial. You’ve picked the flowers, the colors, the linens, the favors, the whatever. You’ll never know what it all comes out to be though, until the big day.

I think that’s part of the anticipation; the build up to “the day.” Some us of might be disappointed. Some of us overwhelmed. For me, that “it all came together” moment was one of sheer joy. Everything looked exactly as I had pictured it in my head. No wait, better.

What I’ve come to recognize since that day is that what you see in your mind’s eye is subjective to reality. And that’s OK. What you get might actually be better.

Case in point, my friend Brady at BeMe Photo asked if she could borrow some TruLu Couture goodies for a photo shoot. Naturally, I was fine with that. I love that what she produced was nothing like what I had envisioned in my head when I made these pieces.

 

 

 

 

Aren’t happy surprises wonderful?

{Product of the Week} Pleated Pill Box Hat

So I found this gorgeous little white pleated hat MONTHS ago. I’ve been sitting and staring at it for that long. It’s been perched on different versions of head forms I have and it’s taken a while for the its’ new vision to appear. The fanned out pleats are simply divine and with what I’m going to add to this sucker? It’s going to be a lovely little vintage upcycle to die for.

I’ll add some Russian tulle to the hat, across the front. I want it to fall across the face, about nose length. It will be able to be lifted up and worn that way too.

I’m going to add some feathers too, it’ll add a little height. Not sure about these feathers, though. Still thinking it through.

I think this little vintage rhinestone number will be involved too. I love the little dangly rhinestone bits on this one.

I can’t wait to finally figure out the rest of this hat. I imagine it on a bride who will wear a dress like this:

or maybe like this:

or these:

 

Right??

{Product of the Week} Crowns, Tatting and Flowers

Right before Christmas, I got a call from one of my aunts. It’s not an aunt I normally talk to on the phone, so I was super surprised when I saw her number flashing on my phone. She called to let me know that she was bringing a bag of old lace to my mom to bring to me when she saw me over the holidays.

Old lace? Hello? You have my attention! When I asked about where it had come from, she told me lots of it her grandmother had made. MADE. Lace. Her grandmother. Like, super old shit. We’re not talking vintage, we’re talking honest-to-goodness antique.

What I got was a giant bag full of all kinds of lace, edging from old fabric, trim – truly a mixed bag. Lots of it was tangled, held onto old postcards with steel needles, some rusted through the fabric (insert extremely unhappy face here), assorted doilies. I went through the majority of it with my mom, ooohing and aaahing over certain pieces, wondering if other pieces could be cleaned. I knew it would be a huge under-taking and I attacked it when I got back from the holidays. I’m still not 100% finished sorting and cleaning it all, but I’m pretty close.

Holy gorgeous silk embroidery!

There’s a lot of tatting in the bag. Do you know what tatting is? It’s a kind of lace made by hand, back in the day. It’s almost like super-duper-mini crochet. Patterns can be incredibly detailed and the lengths I have are stunning. I’ve been able to clean just about every piece back to its original beauty.

Soooooo, some pieces are too short to do much with, but there is enough of one style. Lookie:

And do you remember this vintage goodie I found that was a total mess? It's a beaded cotton crown from the 1930's.

Oh my God, you guys? It totally got all pretty-fied.

Can you believe it? It’s such a beautiful little crown! Every single bead is in tact. I added a new buckram underlining and lined it in a pretty slub-weave silk. I’ve turned it into a headband that ties on with ribbon versus the original elastic thing. Now that’s I’ve got the length of tatting cleaned, I think the two will look perfect together! I do believe I have enough to make a 75” cathedral length veil. Dudes! First of all, I’m probably freakin’ nuts. That’s 12.5 FEET of hand sewing teeny tiny tatting onto tulle. Just shoot me right now. But you know what? It will totally be freakin’ worth it when it’s done!!! I can't wait!

And the flowers? Oh, the flowers. I found this amazing resource…..an old silk flower factory out of New York. It’s long been shut down, however, they have gobs of silk petals in pristine condition, meant to be made into gorgeous flowers, but never got there. And now I have them! What fun! I also found some other flowers that are soooooo pretty.

I simply cannot decide which thing/color/style is my favorite. So many pretty things, so little time!

WINNER!

Happy Sunday, y’all! Just a quick post to announce the winner of my BHLDN knock-off! Drum roll, please………….

Congratulations

to

Kinzie!

(She's got herself a lil' blog, so make sure you check that out too!)

Check out TruLu Couture for other fun bridal accessory goodies!

Thank to everyone who entered!