Imagination is a wonderful thing

Scissors are just scissors unless you have imagination :)

Flower Power with Candace Kling

Flowers are always a delight to behold,

the variety,

and simple beauty

make flowers amongst the most gorgeous creations,

in the universe.

A close second to the natural beauty and variety of a flower is a ribbon flower.

and although simple in appearance the subtle nuances of making a beautiful ribbon flower

are a challenge that many artists spend decades perfecting.

Candace Kling is wearing the red blouse

One such artist is Candace Kling; a world renown ribbon artist, published author on the subject, exhibitor in world-class museums, educator and a very nice woman.

 I recently had the extreme good fortune to spend four days of seven hour ribbon workshops at 

Wayne Wichern Millinery Studio taught by Candace Kling.

( http://www.waynewichernmillinery.com/index.htm
for upcoming workshops )

Candace generously shared dozens of techniques and tips that are the result of decades of practice and careful examination of hundreds of vintage ribbon works that people send her from all over the world. Museums and collectors also have allowed her access to gorgeous ribbon work.

Candace is a ribbon detective, trying to determine how the beautiful ribbon works were created.

Each day I took at least 9 pages of notes.

Candace specifically asked us not to share techniques online so all I am posting are images.

 Candace would demonstrate and throughly explain a technique 

and then we students tried our best to replicate it.

This student was incredibly successful and had a real eye for composition and color.

One of Candace Kling's sample boards of cockades

After two days of ribbon and fabric flowers the workshop moved onto cockades. 

Cockades developed during the 18th century and were most often used to indicate political alliance or rank. It is basically a ribbon that is folded in a repetitive sequence to create amazing patterns.

A very focused Wayne Wichern

The cockades were extremely challenging for everyone.

Cocades aren't just for medals and medallions,

this is a vintage hat with two lovely cockades.

This is one of my cockades during it's creation. 

Notice the chart underneath that allows you to evenly space the points.

And yes, there are dozens of details like that to make a successful cockade.

These four days of ribbon work were indescribably delightful.

I valiantly tried to keep up and complete all the samples but, 

there was never any down time to catch up.

On the last day demonstrations actually speeded up because 

Candace's wealth of knowledge outpaced my fumbling fingers.

And although cockades were interesting…

 give me a flower any day.

Imagine That ( Hat )

This hat started dancing around in my imagination at the end of last year.
The dance floor in my imagination is very crowded.

So when I knew exactly what I wanted the hat to look like I quickly drew this sketch. 

Approximately 5 months later I can state that I have successfully created the exact hat that I imagined.

Let me share the journey from fantasy to reality...

Shopping the half-price sale at my local Goodwill for a different project I found this beautiful off white 100% wool jacket with moth holes. 

There were minimal seams so it was a great candidate for recycling into my hat.

I salvaged the wool exterior and the rayon lining and began the most time-consuming method of creating a hat.

After endless tweeking to paper patterns I finally cut the band, the brim and the tip ( top ) out of buckram. 

Pieces were sewn together and some were edged with wire then covered in bias tape. 

Easy hand sewing with jab stitches and a straight needle.

Now that the hat structure was finished it had to be covered in the beautiful wool.

Almost all of the stitching was done by hand with a curved needle.

Difficult and precise work.

Creating a hat this way is very time consuming.

If I had a wooden hat block this shape I could steam a hat blank over it.

But, I am weird because I actually enjoy the tedious hand sewing and old school methods.

Sometimes the journey is more fulfilling than the destination.

Once the hat structure was completed I cut out the lining 

and quickly sewed up the seams on my machine.

The lining and head band were hand sewn into the hat and I was pretty happy because…

time to embellish !!

I did not vary at all from my original sketch.

A lace overlay covered 1/3 of the band,

and three strands of velvet ribbon were wrapped around the band.

Triple ribbons are becoming a signature for my hats.

Now the whole time I was working on the structure I was also making flowers,

 and flowers, and more flowers.

Some were too tight, some were too bulky and some were disasters.

and then I found the method to make roses just right :)

front view

My hat is finished and it looks exactly how I imagined it.

back view

Of course, I took a hat class whilst making it,

right side view

and learnt a millinery rule;

 height looks best on the left and embellishment on the right.

left side view

And that is how I sketched the hat but, of course I built it the opposite.

LOL

Remember,

" With the right hat, nothing else matters "

anonymous quote

If the Shoe Fits…buy it ?

This is a quiz.

Guess which pair of summer sandals is priced LESS than $1,000

Designer: Dries Van Noten

Designer: Prada

Designer: Gucci

Designer: Givenchy

Designer: Dolce & Gabbana

The only shoes under $1,000 are the cobalt blue fringe sandals by Gucci at $767

 I wonder what my fashion purchases would be if my budget was unlimited?

Three Little Shops

Three wonderful, whimsical stores that take your imagination to the land of possibilities

Tail of the Yak at 2632 Ashby Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705

First store is Tail of the Yak. 

A Berkeley store full of curiosities and treasures from around the world.

The owners have loved and cherished this store for over 40 years !

It's truly indescribable and constantly evolving.

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The Ribbonerie at 3695 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94118

 The next amazing store is The Ribbonerie in San Francisco's Presidio Heights.

It IS the ultimate ribbon store.

The owner has been selling ribbons for over 20 years.

My ( now signed ) Ribbon book by Candance Kling

This time my visit was special because I attended an afternoon 

Ribbon Flower workshop 

with THE ribbon flower expert;

 Candance Kling, 

who literally wrote the book on ribbon flowers.

Candance brought a dozen 24" X 36" boards filled with her gorgeous ribbon work.

Yellow flowers are Candance's samples and pink flower is my finished one

But, the 3 hour class focused on just three flowers. 

And I still only finished one.

Loved every minute and am enrolled in a 4 day ribbon course

at Wayne Wichern's studio with 

Candance Kling in June :)

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Gilding the Lily at 305 N. Harbor, Suite 101, Fullerton, CA 92832

My last wonderful, mind blowing store is much closer to home in Orange County

at Fullerton's historic downtown district.

Gilding the Lily is a store FULL of mostly vintage, one of a kind wonders.

This small store is a treasure hunt of goods in every nook, drawer and cranny.

It is my new go-to store for ribbon, buttons and feathers.

Hopefully I won't be too distracted by all the other fantastical items.

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  Each of these amazing stores are an extension of an amazing female proprietor.

Each store is full of creative energy, possibilities, vision, whimsy,and imagination. 

The fuel that feeds your soul.