Hats are Happening!

 
Yesterday, while Marietta sweltered in the mid-90's, some friends and I got together and created some fabulous witch hats.  We threw open all my ribbon bins, fabric samples, and various this and thats, and started creating.  Even with identical hat forms---and working side by side---they were all different in color and creative edge.  The top one was a frothy sensation of purples, hot pinks and black and white.  Kind of like a Halloween tribute to My Fair Lady.

These two were done by artists ages 10 and 11.  Can you believe the creativity and style from those ages?  The one on the left was cloud of turquoises and greens with some swirling funky fibers.  Very mysterious.  The one on the right was a popping mixture of lime green, orangish red, and black and white.  Both witches will be getting plenty of notice! Ck. tomorrow for part 2.  More hats will be posted as they get photographed.

Fabulous hats.  Fabulous friends.  Fabulous afternoon. 

Plums Here, There and Everywhere

 

I am not sure what the fashion industry will deem the "it" color for fall, but more me, it may be plum.  Lately, I have been finding fabulous finds in my favorite thrift haunts that remind me of a bowl of ripe plums.  (Still yearning for fall no doubt while these insane temperatures continue. 90's all week!)

Feeling like a little Napa action with this one, though the blossoms remind me of those on a pumpkin vine, when they are just beginning to form.

The one above reminds me of a cloaked figure.  Guess you could wear this as the "Plum Ghostie".

Finally, this cutie cute bolero has a pine cone pattern- but still reminds me of all things fall. Perhaps if we will just drop to the 80's sometime, I will know we are only a few short months away to that most wonderful time of the year.......

Trick or Treat T-Shirt Sacks

Several years ago, I came across an Etsy seller that made these great sacks out of used t-shirts.  In our neighborhood, the teen trick or treaters always used a pillowcase to collect as much loot as possible on Halloween night.  The only drawback? No handles on the pillowcases.  Time for a better mousetrap! 

So, when I saw her ingenious use of t-shirts for everyday items, it made sense to adapt it to Halloween use.  When I was out thrifting, I started to notice lots of used Halloween shirts. Over a short period of time, I had collected more than enough for my ArtWalk club. We had a lottery to determine who got to pick their t-shirt first. Once all the fun was done, we had some great sacks. Some of the kids' creations are displayed above.  What a great, inexpensive way to celebrate a fun, creative holiday!

Artists of the World Unite!

Sometimes, the things we work on together are the best.  Maybe it's the creative spark that rebounds between people, or maybe it's just the fun we have creating colors our view of the result.  Years ago, when Nikki was a wee little artist, her four grandparents came together to create this dream house as a surprise for Christmas.  (Ryan's motorized roller coaster is barely visible behind the house, but the hours it took to create easily matched the time spent on the dollhouse.) Both projects are etched memories for our family.  I'm betting that most people have a similar memory of making something with friends and family.

Perhaps this is why I am so excited about the first ever Halloween Hat Party coming up on 7/30.  This past week at the AmericasMart Gift show I found amazing hats--- by a great company called Elope.  One of these amazing finds may become my base, or I may have to break down and do my take on Professor McGonagall's hat.  No matter how the hats turn out---and I will post them, so stay tuned-- it will be the process of creating them with friends and family that will make them all the more memorable.

All Business....Not!

I recently found this very straightforward gently used sweater at my local Goodwill.  The colors attracted me, but the boxy crew neck shape did not.  So, in an effort to see what I could do to liven it up and make use of the color palette, I started cutting.  With some reshaping, I could see it might have potential.  With some fabulous cream and black swirled cashmere trim, it went from boring to certainly not...."All Business".

Boo to You!

Getting ready for the AmericasMart gift show beginning this week, I couldn't resist doing another Halloween tricked out tee.  It's called Bats & Skeletons.  With an asymmetrical hem of both stripes and dots, it's a little fancier than you might expect.  Check out the bat that I added which flies out of the eye socket. Fun with leggings-- especially if you could find some with spider webs! Boo!

Georgia Bulldog Halloween

Here at Echo, we are busy getting ready for the upcoming Atlanta Gift Market that begins next week.  My rep Cathy Walrath of Winc Apparel has been graciously allowed to use a friend's showroom at the Apparel Mart for an "Echo Event".  We will be clearing out our spring/summer, highlighting fall/holiday and hopefully placing orders for some great boutique owners who will want to carry our upcycled sweaters and tricked out tees.  The showroom is on the back circular hall at 11N313---at the end of one of the spokes that runs from the atrium.  The challenge?  Entice buyers either down the back hall from Chick-fil-A or from the front of the atrium to the showroom.

With this in mind, we have created some really interesting ensembles to put on several mannequins on the atrium hall with signage heading back to us.  The one in today's entry is made up of one of our fall GA color tees (UGA #1), my new black pettiskirt (moonlighting for the week) and our just finished "Black Jack Halloween Hat." Let's hope the silhouette is intriguing enough from afar to draw some of the 110,000+ buyers to us. Fingers crossed!

Football Fans Unite!

I know it is mid-summer, but pre-season football is just around the corner.....any other year.  Unfortunately, the players and owners continue their argument of who gets what share of the truly obscene money made from the sport. Meanwhile, the fans, vendors, sponsors, stadium workers, suppliers, season ticket holders and others whose livelihoods are wholly or partially dependent on pro football sit helplessly watching the temper tantrums.  Makes you want to skip right on to basketball season, doesn't it?

But for those of us who love football, this shirt is for you.  Called "Touchdown", it may be what we are all yelling if the league will get it in gear in time to open a season. Made from a Target shirt, and embellished with pieces of three others, it's meant to capture the joy of the game.  Perhaps until the season begins----if it does, we should just tailgate for fun and turn our enthusiasm and loyalty to high school and college football (can you say "Roll Tide"?!?). 

Boo Kitty Revisited

Back in the saddle from a week of cool California winds!  With a little time to play today, Nikki and I tackled the Halloween hat that complements the tee we called "Peek a Boo" (from the June 21st post).  The hat, called "Boo Kitty", was so, so much fun to create.  With 10 different ribbons in oranges and blacks in varying patterns and sizes, one little wire bird which had lost it's legs and some jack-o-lantern buttons, our masterpiece was complete.  Hope you like it as much as we do!

Baseball and Americana

4th of July has never been my favorite holiday.  But....I can appreciate the "Americana" that goes with it.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, corn on the cob, fireworks, running through the sprinkler, baseball, frisbees, sparklers....... and the ever present red, white and blue.  So, when a favorite store of mine in PA, Frogkotton, asked me for a baseball tricked out tee, I sure didn't mind.  Trimmed out in Carolina blue (per request), it's Home Run!