She Keeps Working

While K is putting in over 50 hr weeks at her job, when she started there she also had a few freelance jobs to finish.

One client found her at the summer designer show on Daley Plaza.  (That sure netted extra contacts well!  Two deliveries for a top Federal Judge there! Yahoo!!)

This client was designing outfits for a Macy’s show and asked K to provide hair accessories for the models.  K said later this was a much bigger deal than she realized at the start!

One model had a hat designed and made by K —

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June Jems

What else happened this month?

I got NEW sandals from Heather in Brazil!!

They are super comfy and great quality South American leather.   She originally planned to bring them to me but at the last minute couldn’t pull off the 6 hour trip each way to get here.  It was just after our big May parties so I couldn’t go find her either.

But I had a very happy day when the box arrived from her!!  Isn’t she sweet?  🙂

Thank you!!

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Earlier in the month, JP was honored & thrilled to be invited to attend a Fine Arts Conference at Willow Creek along with some others in the music ministry at church.  What a treat!!

This was his first outing on his own but he had a great time and handled buying his own food & staying in a hotel just fine.  🙂

One evening they went to Medieval Times for dinner & the entertainment.  It sounded like a ton of fun!!

A highlight of the conference was hearing Darlene Zschech speak and the live Hillsong concert!  JP’s first live concert – nothing like starting at the top!  He said it was fabulous.

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K has had a busy month with her 2 classes & her RA job.   One class is an independent study with her hat making instructor.  She is loving the time at Eia’s studio and learning some of the business end of it as well.  She and another student did an art fair this past weekend.  Near the end of July a bigger one is planned near K’s neighborhood and they plan to have hats & accessories for sale that weekend as well.

She is following leads for jobs and also looking for an apartment to rent.

Her students in the building arrived last Sunday (6/21).   She has a floor of high school girls spending 2, 3, or 5 weeks studying at SAIC.   She has taken any of the ones in the building on trips to the grocery, Chinatown, and Dairy Queen.   I’m sure she’ll include a trip to the thrift store again as that was a huge hit last summer!  She is a good tour guide!

She also had a weekend at the beginning of the month with Phil’s parents!   She ran them north & south and back again for 2 long days.  They all had a great time!

Her other class ends this week.  She has enjoyed it but it is intense, putting a whole semester of work into 3 weeks.   This has been on Chicago architecture and they have only been in the classroom a few times.  The other days are spent touring and studying the city!  (I only had a small panic when she called that she was lost!  I googled her location and could direct her in the right way once I knew where she was and had her heading the right way!  🙂  Yeah for the internet & cell phones as she was walking away from the street she needed when she called. )

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Phil continues to watch his crops grow and with all the rain & heat we’ve had, the corn seems to be jumping!   He is nearly done with spraying but has a few fields of soybeans to get to yet.  Yesterday and today have been too windy for that job anyway.

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Mrs. So & So has been busy this month back in the work station.  I’ve made 96 oz of MSM cream,  192 oz. of goat milk lotion, and 8 batches of goat milk soap. Whew!

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Here is my newest appliance:

The dishwasher died June 1st!  Sort of funny but I was SO thankful I had made it through May with a working one!!

The buttons are along the top so the front is flat and clean.  🙂  I’m loving it!

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Award to K!

Miss K annouced through tears of joy on Tuesday (May 5) that she was the

2009 recipient of The Raymond Hudd Millinery Award!

Now this poster has been on an end table since K was home back in March.  I didn’t really know what it was for except that K was the model but it wasn’t her hat or her award.    It was cute.  She is my daughter.  I kept the paper. I didn’t really know anymore than that.

Until SHE won!!

She had a very full day and since I didn’t hear my phone when she tried in a stolen minute, I first heard the news via Phil.  He was crying to tell me she called crying to say she won!  Phil said, “I clarified, ‘you won?’, and she said, ‘yes!'”  🙂

wool felted hat with ribbon flowers

We couldn’t be more proud!!

So at 8 p.m. finally on her way home that day, she called me and through tears told me all about the day and her award.

Her Hat class II that I’ve mentioned in other posts had the final critque on Tuesday.  In most class, there is a culmination display the student arranges for the final.

2 piece wool felted hat for another student's fashion show - note the profile on the black portion

In her hat class, the instructor brought in 3 of those in the art world to be judges for this award.  The award was also started by this instructor in honor of Mr. Hudd, a great milliner ‘in the day’.

The judges were:

• Richard Wetzel – huge artist from the 60’s
• Susan Aurinko – photographer and owner of the Flat File Gallery where the students had their hat gallery a few weeks ago
• Daniela Ortiz – led the SAIC fashion show for a couple of years

After each student had presented their display and spent time discussing with the judges, the judges deliberated.

AN HOUR!

*sigh*

When they returned, they started at the top of the list instead of giving out drama.   Our K had won 1st place for Best Body of Work!  The award itself is a high honor but also includes a financial benefit (which will be spent on hatmaking supplies!) and a dinner out.

coon hat & hat pin - sold at the gallery

After the other awards were given out, she quickly packed up her display (maybe called Dad at that time?) and was taken away for a very nice dinner with her dear hat instructor and the 3 judges.  She really enjoyed the time talking with them and had the wherewithall to ask them, “Why me?”

They said her display was the most finished.  They noticed her craftsmanship.  She said the instructor stresses that and her mom did too when she was little.  😀  Eia, the instructor, replied that all hear it but not all execute it.  🙂

K said her competition was really tough!  She was the only one who chose to use a long table and she had completely filled it.  She actually left out 2 additional hats she had with her.

(Later she learned that choosing the first place award was the easiest for them.  🙂 )

Dinner was lavish and at a restaurant where one of the judges is the party planner.  A private party with their own specially designed menus with the award name across the top.

Each person was brought their own plate of appetizers normally served to the whole table.   There were wonderful breads there and K’s entree (5 to choose from) was a pasta dish with mushrooms & bacon.   For dessert she chose a lemon meringue dessert with a cookie wafer in the top.

I love the trimmed feathers used here.

After the dinner & conversation, she headed to a visiting artist’s lecture and then had a night class.

Mr. Hudd is still living but he is sad that he is in a retirement center/nursing home setting.  K asked for his address and is going to write him and send some along some pictures.  I hope that brightens his day.

Congratulations!!!

These hat pictures are from a photo shoot K did with fellow students.  The photographer is in photography and the model is an RA friend.   The hats are a few of the ones K has made over the last 2 semesters and were just a part of the final/judging.

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Our Hatmaker

K has just loved her hat making classes and she has a wonderful teacher!  This semester with Headwear Design II, the students had a place to display their hats for sale in a local gallery.  

K submitted 11 hats but I can’t point them out to you in these pictures.   We have heard about most of them.  

We were thrilled she sold 2 hats from the gallery!!  Yeah!!

After a week at the gallery, there was a big closing reception.  A reporter was there for a local fashion (online) magazine at K’s invitation and 2 of K’s friends came in support of her.   Very sweet!!

I love how they suspended the hats.  A great display plus ease of fittings!

I think this must be the class.  I love that many of them had hats on for the evening event!  🙂

 

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Another part of that week for K was the school’s Fashion Show.   She was asked by another senior student (Arushi) to design and make a hat for one of Arushia’s outfits in the show.  A HUGE DEAL!!!

This is K modeling the hat while everything is still in process, so the student could see it: 

Both hat pieces are from wool felt.  

Here you can see the back of the coat/dress has a profile which was the inspiration for the hat having the black profile of a face.

 

K got to see the dress rehearsal of the fashion show (tickets to attend the Fashion Show are quite pricey) and snapped a few pictures of the model with the whole outfit.  

K says the model has the black part back too far but she hoped they corrected that for the actual shows.  

Next week is K’s final critique week so this week has had her busy finishing more purses, more hats, and more accessories.   🙂

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Hats in the Case

K’s Advanced Headwear class arranged their hats in the display case.  This is the view when the elevator opens to the Fashion Department.

Soon the students are moving the hats to a local gallery for a special display.  K is sending 11 hats!  🙂  They are for sale.

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Overview of the Weekend

So besides Fabric Dyeing, what else did we do?

 

K had homework.  Some reading got done on the way to church and on the way back downtown.   She had her hat block (layers of that pink styrofoam hot glued together).   She had done the carving at school.  

Saturday she sanded it smooth. Then added paper mache’ layers. Thankfully it was dry for the return to Chicago on Sunday afternoon.   (Sunday night she had to apply layers of polyurethane to the paper mache’.   Tuesday was Hatmaking class and she put on her wool felt.)   

I drove in partway and K drove the rest of the way.   Phil got to drive home since he had the nap on the way in.  😉

So while I had Phil in the car and remembered his MIL question… I asked.   I guess the nap had made him sappy…. So his favorite MIL asked about getting 1/2 a hog when they are out.   He replied, “What will she do with the other half?”  Which made the car erupt with laughter.  :-p  (We’ll take care of the other half, Mom.)  

Which then led K to remember the conversation at the last staff meeting…. Someone said, “Did you know you can buy half of a cow?”  “Oh gross!”  

None of this sounds odd to she who grew up with such talk, however she is one among many.  😉  She seeks to educate them in a better way.  🙂

After we arrived at her building, I found myself again… hanging out in the alley.   I had a quilt catalog to occupy me.   They only took an armload each up to her room. Of course, there she found a note from a resident seeking her help.  

We drove to the street of her previous building for a parking place and walked around a bit.   The streets were cool and breezy but quiet.  

The Daley Plaza was set up with that fall “holiday” type tents and such.   I was glad the vendors were closed by then.   However, a large screen was set up, benches facing it and speakers facing the crowd.   About 75 were huddled with heavy coats and hoods over their heads watching a free showing of ET.  Movies are scheduled for the next few weekends.  It would be a bit too cool for me.  

K thought she should return to assist the resident-in-need so we drove her back to her home.   Not such a problem upon further investigation but it was time for us to head home as well.  

We arrived home at 10:10 p.m.  T I R E D.  I love having her home but the visits sure are short.

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