My classes at Emerson have recently started up, and as some of you know, I am a theatre education major, meaning a majority of my classes are hands on, and creatively stimulating. Currently I am taking a class on puppetry! It is a crafter's wet dream! Twice a week I sit in a classroom full of sewing machines, felt, pom-poms, yarn, glue - anything you can imagine - and craft little creatures! I show a lot of my flair for creating fashion on this blog, but this class gives me the opportunity to show you some of the other things I have a passion for creating! So for the next few months I will be posting -interspersed with other posts as well (I hope! Fingers crossed that I commit!)- the puppets I create and a little how-to on how I created them or what inspired me to create them!

In honor of this endeavor I wanted to take a moment to pay homage to my favorite puppeteer, Jim Henson. I have be creatively stimulated (not in a creepy way) ever since I saw my first episode of Sesame Street. You'll see, in my next post, just how creatively stimuating and inspiring he has been! I also want to start thinking about how I can incorporate Jim Henson into Fashion! Keep an eye out for any DIY's that may come from that!

"When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people
who made a difference in this world.
 My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there."
                                                                                                                                - Jim Henson

I realized a few days ago that I haven't updated my "inspired by" page in a while. I've been pretty busy with grad school starting so I haven't had enough time to post a tutorial (I do have a few waiting in the wings though!!!) but I wanted to share one of the people - or in this case worlds - that I am inspired by and that is:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll have always been two of my favorite stories and some of the most iconic images of Alice and her wonderful world have found their way into my creations. I love working with cards - Making playing card bows is one of my favorite things and I am currently working on a card inspired how-to! The placemat purse I recently created has a very Alice-y vibe to it. And I find myself attracted to fashion with a bit of curious whimsy to it! I have a few Alice inspired DIY's on the backburner that I want to try out- so look for those in the future!

I also had to share a coveted item with you. I recently started working at Barnes and Noble and while on the job I found myself shopping the racks for craft books. Today I came accross this book:

It literally has everything, from food, to decorative items, to clothing! I MUST HAVE IT! Hopefully I pick it up soon and I can share all of my creations from it with you!

I've been meaning to post this for a while now but I haven't had the chance. A few weeks back I was on one of my favorite blogs studs and pearls when I came accross a pretty cool how-to. Kirsten took a placemat an created a beautiful clutch out of it:

Isn't that great!??! I was so inspired by this creation that I began searching the stores for the perfect placemat to use to make a handbag. Then this glorious day came when I was in the Christmas Tree Shop (one of my favorite thrifty places!) and some lovely quilted placemats caught my eye. The best part? The placemats where two for a dollar. Two for a Freakin' Dollar!!! ... I bought Four.

I didn't want to make a clutch because the magnitude of things I carry at one time would require a much larger receptical so I used all four of the placemats to craft a large purse. Then I ran out to Joanne's and grabbed a faux bamboo handle and threw everything together. This is what I came up with:

It's kinda vera bradley-ish and I love it! Thanks Kirsten for the inspiration!!!

Although I haven't posted too frequently the last two weeks - and haven't put up a new how-to in roughly the same amount of time - that doesn't mean I haven't been crafting. I've spent the last few weeks surfing some of my favorite creation websites and blogs and trying out some of the DIYs and How-Tos I've seen. Below are a couple of my favorites, the links to the website/blog, and a sample of my creation based off of the DIY inspiration. Enjoy!

Let's take a moment, as I update my "inspired by..." page, to honor the recipient of the "You Inspire Brittany" award. She is the creative inspiration behind my feathered earrings, and yesturday she was the fashion icon on my day-by-day calendar. I took this as a sign and knew that now's the time to add this woman to my list!

And the recipient is.... Cherilyn Sarkisian.
...
Who?

Singer, Actress, Fashion Icon, Diva, Gay Icon, and Serial Dater (seriously, who hasn't she canoodled with). She's paved the road for so many performers who have followed in her leather-booted footsteps. This queen definitely inspires the eccentricities in my style (although you probably wont see me in a ribbon covering my lady bits, while a straddle a cannon surrounded by hundreds of sailors).  And I can forgive Burlesque; her outfits may make for some devastatingly fabulous How-To's and her performance was fantastic (although christina's was something to be desired). And my life-long dream? That she will put on just one more farewell tour. please, please pretty please?!

Now Mermaid Daughter, if you love this Mermaid Diva as much as I do, why don't you go check out my mermaid - I mean feathered - earrings and put on "Half-Breed!"