Homemade traditional Bulgarian costume/dress for a girl

I am so proud of myself today, so I had to share.

My son's class is doing presentations on European countries and he chose to do Bulgaria ( well, kind of obvious, but still I am very happy he is interested). So, while  we were discussing the presentation that he is preparing with his classmates, I suggested we bring some visual aid, like traditional pots, tablecloths, souvenirs, rose oil etc. We were talking about traditional Bulgarian clothes and it occurred to me that we can bring my daughter to the presentation, dressed with a traditional Bulgarian costume.

Now, don't think for a moment that I had the costume for her already made. No, no, no! As you can imagine I have absolutely no time for sowing, and there is no way I could buy a traditional dress from anywhere here, so I had to figure something out with what I had on hand.

During the summer I got from Target a thin strap white dress, a white tunic with embroidery and a white skirt with matching embroidery, with the simple idea in mind to combine them to look like a real Bulgarian dress.

    

 

  Of course, this was only a part of what I needed. I had only 2 hours to finish it ( including going to the store to pick up some things).

So, Super Mom walks in, step aside, please! :-)

 I had a piece of traditional Bulgarian tablecloth, which in design resembles a traditional Bulgarian apron. So, with a little double glue tape, glue gun and some Velcro tape, this is what happened.

 

My next very big challenge was the belt, which I had absolutely no idea how to make. These traditional belts are made of engraved iron and are called Пафти ( Pafti) .A trip to Michaels later, I had some wire, couple of extremely large heavy iron pendants, a glue gun, some twine and a lot of courage, I attempted to make something I never would have thought possible- making pafti out of common objects.

 

And that is how the belt looked like when I was finished with. For the sleeve cuffs I used two handmade collars with ribbon.

 Then I started to tackle the head decorations. That proved more challenging because my daughter was very tired at that point and I had to bribe her with some candy.

My poor sick baby was so tired of me at the end of the day that she didn't even want me to take pictures of her. Her nose was so red, like a little Rudolph, but I love her for putting up with all that today and helping her brother out.

For the head decorations I used ribbon, some feathers, coin ribbon, pom poms and a lot of glue for the hot glue gun. :-)

 

So, for not having an actual traditional Bulgarian dress handy, I believe I did pretty awesome. :-) 

What do you think?

Present from a far away friend

Svetla and I have never met in person, yet from the moment we got acquainted through our blogs I felt a strong connection with her. She has a very unique style that represents traditional Bulgarian design mixed with modern creations and miniatures. I also love her special projects that you can take a look at here, the clock that is on page one reminds me so much of Hugo Cabret!

Svetla creates her own designs with such care, you can never mistake her work with the work of another. Especially because I admire her so much, I am very happy and proud to own some of her creations. Svetla was so incredibly nice to send me and my kids gifts, which I just have to share with you. I don't think my pictures do justice to her work, so if you would like to see more of what she has created, please check her blog out. 

This is what she sent me:

Just look at these beautiful notebooks and the frock shaped card

 

A Bulgarian martenici card

A paper purse with a small handmade notebook and a card

Svetla was also so kind to send me extra materials to make my own crafts

Thank you, Svetla, for the wonderful gifts and I hope soon to return the favor!

Annie

UB Homework

When I first heard that we'll have Photoshop retouch homework I was really happy, because some years ago I was working as Image editor at a modeling agency. Although it was tedious and sometimes boring job ( unless you have five models behind you talking too fast for their own good, "explaining" to you  which part of their body you should fix first) sometimes I miss the " fixing" effect of it.
It would be so easy if we can fix things the way we do with Photoshop, wouldn't it? One brushstroke and 10 lbs from last Christmas are gone. Second brush stroke and your hair is longer...

Anyway, I'm a little rusty with the retouch, but still I think I did OK for not using retouch for 11 years.
What do you think?

Fixing red eyes ( Ok, I added a little extra from me)

    

Fixing underexposed picture

   

Skin correction and blemishes

  

Now here is time to mention that I just got my brand new Lightroom 3 ( Boo-yah) and I'm enjoying it very, very much ! :-)
Do you use retouch for your own pictures?  I honestly don't have time to do that for my own pictures but it's nice to have an idea how to do it, right?

Update on Niskayuna Art out! WOW!

WOW is really all I can say! I had no idea that our work would be judged so that was a  big surprise, but actually winning 2nd place was even bigger surprise for me! It was really my first time participating in an event like that and getting the 2nd place prize under these circumstances it's pretty good in my book! :-)