Upcycling a Rococo dress.

I'll admit, fashion is not something that crosses my mind all that often in the real world. When I say 'real world', i mean actually wearing it and the shoes and bags which go along with it. Maybe twice a year, I'll have a compulsion to go out and splurge on a bundle of cool and eye-catching garments, which I can wear in place of a personality (and just occasionally, that compulsion will coincide with me having a good-taste day!), but I'm not one of those girls who wants to shop whenever they have a spare moment. I can't. I feel rather useless and as though I've totally wasted a day. Retail therapy doesn't work for me. Aren't I tedious?! Still, sometimes if I go out, I'll suddenly want to go crazy - wear something different - and then just end up wearing some strange concoction of leaves, lace and bread. Or something. So mostly, I play it safe/boring now.
However, I am a little obsessed with this dress at the moment. I'd wear that. Not sure where, but I'd find somewhere! You wouldn't normally combine yellow, pink and gold, would you? But there we go. It works here. It's genius. I painted a little 18th century lady wearing a similar dress

 

Click here to find her IN THE ETSY SHOP.

Then, I thought "What if the dress WAS a little more pret-a-porter?" and came up with this:

A little fifties lady, like many of my paintings. So, has she redesigned a fabric similar to the original Rococo one? or...SHOCK..has she 'upcycled' that actual dress?! Surely, a face like this couldn't perform such a heinous act?

 I shudder and hope for the former. You can find her by CLICKING HERE.

Jane Austen Postcards

 

They're finally here and all packaged up!

 

After a long wait and many requests for a postcard set, I've been able to add them to the shop.

As I was putting them together, I couldn't help imagining all the uses for them. Here in the UK, whenever we can, we go and stay in a National Trust Holiday Cottage. Admittedly, we haven't done it for a while, but if we were to, I think it would be nice to send out some postcard invitations to friends. That website though - you can get lost in it, so be careful! I'd love to visit quirky little places like this, or this, purely for the excellent name. The latter looks like a place I would like to write some poetry...if I could... 

..and this place is here... Ahhh...

The postcards would be excellent Book Club party invitations, or for a Regency ball or dinner party, or even a wedding!

 

Anyway, have fun whatever you do this Summer (or Winter, depending on your hemisphere...) I hope you like them. 

 

 Happy writing!

Austen Girl

 

Austen Girl

5" x 7" acrylic on canvas.

Floral babies

Just a few pretty garden pics. With all the rain this year, the sudden few burst of sunshine have brought out SO MANY lush colours! There's something new every day I go out to check on the garden! 

 

In Amelia's little wildflower garden (which the bees have just found :)

 Feeling sorry for this little geum, who bloomed so beautifully and strong last year - this year, she's being inundated with aphids! I've given her a good feed to give her extra strength, and there should be a good rainfall later, so fingers crossed she'll pick up.
The other, yellow geum is much happier.

 

I'm working on a few arty pieces, so should have more to show you very soon! 

xxx

New Austen Prints

My mind is completely frazzled today - probably because I've been thinking too much about recent news events both here and in the States...and the world over for that matter. Maybe I should give the news channels a rest for today and just paint and think about pretty things...speaking of which...

I thought I'd make up some new prints from recent paintings! Hope you like!

 

"Jane and Bingley Take A Stroll" - 5 x 7 print

 "Kitty & Lydia" 5 x 7 print

xxx

New Kickstarter goal and extra goodies...

Shhhh! Lydia Bennett has something to whisper to you...

 Yessss! Only £28 to go on the Jane Austen Postcards Kickstarter Project and I've decided to add some extra goodies if we can take it up to £200...

For ALL pledges £10 and over, I'll add in there a pack of the popular Jane Austen bookmarks, normally on sale over at the ETSY shop for US$9.50 (currently £6.29).

The bookmarks are each feature a different character from Miss Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' (the five sisters and Mr Darcy) and are really popular especially over the Holiday period.

So spread the word - the more we can pledge together, the more freebies, bargains and surprises I can give to you!

Thank you so much for your help!

~ Jess (& Lydia)

xxx

Jane Austen Postcards

 Hello! Happy Thursday (where do the days go?!)

This is today's workspace. Four commissions for a lady, and a couple of little extras too. 

 Kickstarter...

Some of you will already know about this project I've put up on Kickstarter. I'm so excited about it!

  

 

It's a new Jane Austen postcard pack, and you get to win rewards if you pledge a bit towards it (the more you plege, the more you win, as you might have guessed). 

If we go over the intended target, I will be able to add extra goodies to each reward, no matter how much you have originally pledged. 

The reverse will look like this:

 

Please come and help us out here >>> Jane Austen Postcard Pack <<<

Hope to see you there!

xxx