28 September 2010

The dress is done!

With just enough time to pack, I have finished my dress!
The front

The back. We were able to add the beads here and it looks amazing!
With some expert help from Grandma Bev, I was able to complete my dress. (She sews an amazing shirttail hem!) I have gathered some vintage crystal jewelry from my grandmothers to finish it off: a pin for the front, a set of drop earrings, and a beautiful bracelet.

If I were able to close up the back (There are five hook-n-eyes holding the beads on, plus I would have to be talented enough to tie a bow behind my back!), I would try it on to show you, but you'll just have to wait till I return from my party week celebrating Trish's wedding to see more!

25 September 2010

I want a pony!

After a delightful dinner with Grandma Bev, Aunt Noreen, Uncle Randy and Aunt Debbie, my brothers, J.R. (aka Mr. Billings) and my parents the drive home resulted in my desire to stop and have a picture with the large lawn ornaments.

Yes, out on the frontage road is a company which supplies the public with preposterously proportioned  lawn ornaments. Any thing your heart desires! Elephants, bulls, flamingos and, as you will see in the following pictures, a few rather special concrete creatures.
Yes, that is my $5 dress I bought today!
Oh the majestic, and elusive, unicorn! I have tamed him for my own magical use. yay!

And these are my new shoes! (You can only kinda seem them in the above pictures.Just squint a bit) I bought them to wear with some great dressed for Trish's wedding this next week!
Check! Life goal No. 145 Take Picture Next to Large Concrete Animal is complete! (Actually I have to say that I completed this goal at age 7 when I had my picture taken next to the roadside cow and white buffalo statues on the way to Minnesota)

Well I must go into a NyQuil coma now so that I can wake to venture out to Granny's Attic tomorrow. Oh I love vintage shopping! :D

16 September 2010

How come I never thought of that?!

What an ingenious idea! It combines my love of leggings and tights with doodling and artistic expression!! An idea just in time for the chilly days ahead.



Via Craftzine.com and then from The Clothes Horse I was able to find the super simple instructions!

 I am totally in for setting up a craft day if anyone would like to join me (I'm a pretty fun time, if I do say so myself!) in making these totally fun and original (duh! because you would be designing them) leg decorations. 

14 September 2010

Fifty years in the making!

Pig Roast at The Ranch to celebrate Dad's 50th birthday!
    This weekend family and friends gathered in Fishtail, Montana at The Ranch to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday. A few days ahead of time my dad, brothers, and grandpa went up to prepare for the pig roast. A HUGE hole was dug, filled with coals, and a whole pig rubbed with seasoning, wrapped in cheesecloth, burlap, and finally chicken wire was placed among the hot rocks. It was then filled back in and allowed to cook till the next day.     A few hours before the party began we pulled the pig out and then began shredding it on a large table. It was a group effort! Tables were set up and decorated with sunflowers and cattails. The tractors were proudly out on display and for riding. All across the yard were games and tournaments to play in. The boat was in the water and the keg on ice. It was a wonderfully sunny day for an outdoor party.


 




HAPPY BIRTHDAY!   


Taylor, Dad, RC. I love Taylor's catalog stance ;)
Granny and Nick
Lots of work to get ready for the roast!
Dad and Mom
Nick and Ben on one of the tractors
A little map! Look for the fishy to find The Ranch :)

Musk Deer and Keyboards

I am taking my Senior Portfolio, or Capstone, course to finish my BA in English with a minor in Environmental Studies. Our first task has been to take an assessment of ourselves as writers. It's a bit difficult having to write about myself, but I feel this captures my writing abilities and habits in the most non-biased way I know how.Gah! It feels a bit scary to know that I'll be graduating soon and that I am becoming a writer. Not that being a writer is scary, but if I'll be good enough.I suppose though if I make it a goal to be published that I can make it happen. I will be published.


Mattie Clark: a writer. It seems an out of body experience to call myself a writer. Could all of those years of essays, short stories, and even scribblings amount to titling myself a writer?  It appears so. Here I am after 16 or so years of schooling and a focused attention to my writing skills that I can consider myself a writer, an emerging writer. Yeah, let’s stick with an emerging writer. I’m still not very sure footed in this idea of Mattie as a writer and not Mattie as a student. I have not published any work. It has mostly revolved around numerous course assignments. Although, I suppose I can consider the quiet submission of personal ramblings to my blog a form of publication, right?

My blog allows me to write with humor and creativity. I develop small, everyday topics into something larger. For example, I was able to couple my experience of looking for an apartment with my latest discovery of a white lined sphinx moth. If only to tell my audience that I bought a pattern while at the fabric store or to explain how interesting it is to have found a new use for fashion rings, I enjoy filling the post with asides and interjections of my internal thoughts and musings. This writing is most closely linked to how I speak.

I move within multiple realms of writing, though. Mostly academic, I focus my essays toward a scholastic audience. Here I construct grand scaffolds of sentences, which can build and build to make overly complex structures. Like transforming a tool shed into the Taj Mahal. I have such large ideas for my points that the words just keep piling. Eventually what began with a meaningful and clear viewpoint turns into a kaleidoscope of vocabulary. This is due to the thesaurus. I love it. Well, I love words in general. It is thrilling to discover denotations along with the numerous branches budding from the root.  Just this morning I looked in the medicine cabinet and found myself drawn to the word musk. It has an odd sensation on my pallet when I say it; it is even odder that a gentleman would like to smell like the rectal glad of a male deer. So, I don’t like the word, but I want to use it. What kind of sense does that make? Still, I want to use the word with the anticipation of sharing my newly found fact. Yet, in this adoration for words, I come to a place where I reach word choice conundrums. In my hopes of using a word creatively or to inspire an image in the reader’s mind I discover that it can lead to confusion. My point is lost in amassing words, in the muddling of ideas and tangents.

My ideal setting for writing includes a computer, my Pandora music stations, a thesaurus and dictionary (usually already online), a large glass of ice water, and a window with plenty of light. At my workstation, usually my desk skirted in an adorable floral fabric or the corner of a local coffee shop, the books, articles, and notebooks covered in my observations and highlights are splayed out as I initially run my fingers over the keyboard to compile any important quotes. From the list of quotes I then categorize them by topic or point to build the body of the paper. I enjoy smaller tasks particularly because I will find myself becoming restless and antsy if I spend too long working on one paper. My ideas become disarrayed or even mutated as I continue. So I take small breaks by either working on another paper or diverting from writing entirely, usually by perusing my favorite websites. As long as I stay at the computer though I will pull the paper back up from its demoted space on the tool bar and jot down a few notes or ideas until I am ready to bring my focal point back to the essay.

I am finding myself more aware of the power of my writing. I am concentrating on the task of making it interesting. Hypothetically, and potentially a reality, if an essay I wrote were to be found by a researcher with the hopes of documenting it in a project, would it capture his/her interest and be of any use by bringing forth a new idea or support for his/her paper? Yes, this is what I have started to consider while writing essays. This could just be a side effect of the start of school enthusiasm, but I hope to uphold this awareness of the reader’s interest while tackling this semester’s papers.

Gag me! The guy next to me in the computer lab has way too much cologne on. His musk is drowning me out. (See how I used the new word in a sentence. It’s already coming in handy) Gasp, I need fresh air! This is certainly not part of my ideal setting for writing beyond brilliant works.  Must stop here; I feel my brain is already be affected by the fumes.

06 September 2010

Pattern Party

Well with it being Labor Day I knew the fabric stores in town would be having sales. I was lucky enough to come across Vogue patterns for $3.99 and a McCall's pattern for 99 cents. What a steal!!


So I found this vintage Vogue pattern (V2960) and fell in love. The low scoop back plus all of the buttons in the front and a full skirt just make for a beautiful combination. I am very excited to make this one :) 
Then I came across this interesting jacket (Vogue V8600) made by Marci Tilton. I am going to make the hooded version of the jacket and hopefully play around with some fun mixes of prints for the fall. And even better, the pattern claims to be easy (I'm lulling myself into believing that even though the draping looks challenging)


 Ok, ok I know this one looks lamer than lame. It's a one hour dress and has the simplest of instructions, but I am planning on using this McCall's pattern (M6102) for my Halloween costume as the Morton Salt girl. After thinking about the time I have between now and October 31st filled with the other projects I'm working on, plus the school work that I'll be doing, I reconsidered the previous pattern and am going to work with this one. I plan on using a vintage inspired yellow print and adding cute details at the neckline so it's not soo plain jane. Seriously though, look at the models for this pattern. I'd never be able to find white, slingback kitten heels. Ridiculous!

Log rolls and No deals

Rachel, Caitlin, Kali, Mattie, Tiah, Beth

Post log roll. The yard has the most perfect slope for log rolls!
The birthday girl. And yes, that is rainbow chip frosting made by the wonderful Beth :)
This weekend was an epic birthday party for my dear Caitlin. We had so much fun in her new place :)

Beth and I, earlier in the day, went on a search for the perfect gift. We found a wonderful locket which opens to reveal a clock. Score! Then we didn't know what else to get. We scoped out multiple stores finally finding this cute stack of tiny black and white polka dot plates. Still we were not sure, so we expertly hid them among the shelves and tried another store. We knew though that only those plates would do! Rushing back we uncovered them and rushed to the checkout. Double score for perfect gift number two!!

We then gathered all of the supplies (cake, presents, etc) and made are way over to Caitlin's. In our excitement, we were the first to arrive :) Not a problem though because we know how to get a party started!!
~~~~
When Sunday rolled around, I lazily read in bed till I finally started to collect myself to start the day. I went to scope out a few rental properties.(And was also stalked by Katie while driving. She just had to get a closer look to see if it was me!) They look promising---in a nice quiet neighborhood which is centrally located to downtown and the westend. I put a call in to have a viewing. (Cross my fingers it is just the place I'm looking for because it's a steal of a deal) After driving around I went out to Grandma Bev's house. We are going to work on the party dress together. I got as far as making the muslin dress so as to ensure fit. Also we auditioned a few fabrics to make my pillowcases. When we finished dinner, I then scooted out to meet up with the Peila's for a movie and cookies. mmmm It was a wonderful way to wrap up the day!  Plus we have started plotting a large group Halloween costume.It is brilliant and tasty!
~~~~
Now I think I may head out to look at fabric. Yay for Labor Day sales :D

01 September 2010

My treasure

Grandma Bev, as a belated birthday gift, gave me a Saint Philomena medal.
It's tiny and perfect. 
I have added the medal to my eclectic necklace of all my favorite pendants!
My tiny medal of Saint Philomena. You can also see that my left pointer finger has a whirl print!
Philomena is always depicted with arrows, an anchor tied to her neck, and lilies
My newest addition: Saint Philomena from Grandma Bev. A pearl from Dad after a trip. Aquamarine, my birthstone, from Aunt Darcy and Uncle Jim when were were in Whitefish. Mystic fire topaz from my parents when I turned twenty-one. Turquoise cross from Aunt Treecy.