Sure, it's a Saturday...
...but none of my people are available for fun this weekend. So I'm working working working, trying to get on top of some computer-based tasks whilst I still have access to this pc. My current computer woes have still not been fully sorted (despite an old school friend saving my files for me, what a gem!), and so I apologise for any delays responding to emails, etc. I'm not generally an "email over the weekend" sort of person anyway (time off is important, after all), but I'll get on top of it soon. In the meantime, I'm going cross-eyed with all the computer work I have to do!
So, what is in my head this week?
Well, the charity auction, of course, which I hope will do very well. The only other charity auction I have done as Sparklewren was for injured British soilders in 2009, so quite a different cause to Hope2Haiti. I was chatting with a friend about having particular charities that one always donates to. I tend to always put my coppers into collection boxes for CancerResearchUK as my family has been affected by cancer. A few years back I did a couple of collection days (ie: standing around with a bucket) and it's amazing the stories people tell you. It's like they feel relieved or safe being able to discuss this terrible illness that affected their lives. Because generally, I've found that people won't ask you about the bad things. They don't want to trigger any upset or seem insensitive. But silence is far worse than speaking about it.
So, yes, CancerResearchUK is my charity of choice, along with WaterAid. But this is why I think it's wonderful that each of us are inspired by different things. Had Cathy not been inspired by Random Act's Hope2Haiti (and the fact that there were so many people saying, "oh, I'd take part but...") then I would never have even heard of it. As it is, I suppose we always feel that we haven't done enough, helped enough, cared enough... but if your heart broke for every tragedy in the world I think you might just die! So I think doing a little bit consistently, even just 1pence here and there, is the best way for those of us who aren't mega-rich.
And this is precisely why I'm doing this auction. The bidding is up to 165GBP so far! That sum, as small as it may seem, is not something I could have given from my pocket. I just don't have anything to give right now, except my work. I suppose it all comes back to something we already know. We're stronger if we work together with good-will than we are separately. "No man is an island", right?
Taking up the rest of my headspace this week are beautiful beautiful images, courtesy of Sean Elliott, and all the beautiful girls who helped out on the day of our portfolio shoot (including my friend Breezer, who dutifully laced the models in and out of corsets!). I've only recently received all the images, which is why you're seeing them trickled out slowly. So far we've had a corset mini-dress, a contemporary take on stays, and some dramatic hip arches, to name just a few. Facebook is currently the best place to see my new images, since uploading large files to my website is currently proving to be a nightmare.
Today's little corset is a more "classic" piece though, based on a Victorian antique corset on LaraCorset's website.
Exterior casings throughout, but with sandwiched casings on the first two panels and decorative silk flossing. The fashion fabric is an iridescent silk duchess satin, so although it doesn't translate well in the images there is actually a slight golden sheen to the grey. This fabric is basically the satin "reverse" side of the golden embroidered corset that I shared recently.
A friend of mine, V, loved this design so much that we made her a version in petrol green satin. She didn't want the flossing though, try as I might to persuade her. I don't have any proper photographs, but you can see the colour and some of the construction here:
I also loved a June blog post from Ivory Flame (the model in this grey corset) today. Otherwise this week, I have been working on a client's plain underbust corset (many many steels!), a white broche fan-laced corset, and a cranberry red silk charmeuse overbust with black details. The latter is something I am really excited about, as charmeuse is something I have only tackled a handful of times (it's a challenge using such a slippery fine fabric for corsetry, but for special occasion corsets I think it can be oh so worth it). I think I may have finally gotten a real handle on it though :-)