No Leave For Me

Well my leave was not approved and I will not have another opportunity to apply for leave until April & May now. So no sewing for a while still. I'm only getting single and double days off in which I need to clean my apartment and set everything right before I go away again.

I may get a promotion at work, I'd rather have leave though.

The Career Change Has Begun

I've been working on a career change for a while now except I always knew this one was going to take some time to germinate. My long term desire is to be a full time writer of fantasy fiction. And I'm one step closer to that dream. I've finished a manuscript and it has been accepted for representation by a literary agent. Now don't get all excited because that doesn't mean it will be published. But it's a lot closer to being published than before.

I'm onto my second novel now. I have this wonderful idea (well of course I think it's wonderful) and my characters are developing nicely. The sad news is that all of this creativity in print and a full time job means I rarely get time to think about sewing these days.

I miss my sewing adventures a great deal and hopefully the approval of some leave in Feb this year will see me creating a new corset or something similar. I've still got those hat patterns and all that silk and a myriad of ideas for pretty, pretty things. Not to mention pounds of red wool which really needs to find it's way into a lovely coat for winter which will be upon me all too soon.

Sometimes things just suck

Well wouldn't you know it, another 2 months have passed and I'm not here to post about a sewing project. On Christmas eve this year I said goodbye to my last surviving grandparent. She was 91.

I'm back to work tomorrow and it hardly feels like another year has passed. If there is one thing I have taken away from the funeral it's not to just watch the world slip by, we are not here forever.

Yes I'm Still Alive

Being back at work always makes me feel as if I have zero time for anything except work. Before I know it another month has slipped by. So I've been terrible and haven't even touched a scrap of fabric since my last break. Being away from home so much always puts other things in my mind when I get home. Like cuddling kitties and doing my washing. Not half as exciting as making corsets but I'll find some balance soon.

Back To Work, tomorrow

As much as I've enjoyed 5 straight weeks of sitting on my butt and enjoying myself all good things...

How ironic that I go back to work on a weekend. Seriously though I'm not crying about this because to be honest I've missed the buzz. The rush of things, the meet several hundred people a day and yes even the whingers that sometimes find their way into my experience. I guess paradise loses all meaning without the pain that precedes it.

I've also decided to start working on my next career change, since all careers have expiry dates on them. Mine usually last between 2-5 years before I have to do something new. Now's as good a time as any to think about the next step.

Getting the bug...again

A time away from sewing is always great for me. But I can feel a new pair of stays coming on in the next day or so. Just a few details to sort out in my mind first.

My Perfume Fantasy

I haven't been sewing for the past few days. I've been taking a well deserved break. When I get interested in something I tend to do it to the exclusion of all else then I have to walk away from it for a little while once I'm done. If I don't, I end up hating my passion. So sewing is off the cards until at least the end of this week.

In it's place though I've been going sick on perfumery. Not creating it, just buying it. Which is much, much more fun for me. I have for the past year since I've been creating body creme's wishing for someone, skilled in perfumery, to make scents I could put in them. I've been getting by with mixing my own little stash of essential oils but have not succeeded in creating anything I'd call a "scent". More just vague hints of pleasantness. I'm a big believer in paying for the skill of someone who can do it better than you in some things. Perfume definately falls into that category for me. So on my wishlist was a large array of masterfully blended oils I could put into my cremes and enjoy. They had to be natural, they must be beautiful and they must be elegant.

Luckily Isis came along and dropped a little crumb on the Historical Costuming Board. The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab link. Not only do they fit the bill for my cremes (I do not sell my cremes, they are for me alone) but they might also have something I could enjoy wearing as an actual perfume. It's been a year since my gifted bottle of Jadore went sour and I haven't been inspired to buy anything else since.

So I've spent countless hours reading their fan forum and getting a feel for scents I might enjoy and at length ordered seven samples from my family of favourite scents. But I also wanted something a little 18th C or at least my imaginings of 18th C perfumes. Something that evoked formal rose gardens, herbal drawer sachets, floral toilette waters and just a hint of exotic spices.

Here are my choices....

Rapture - a classic floral oriental perfume. Light soft florals combine with musk. Similar to my floral choices in commercial perfumes.

The Caterpillar - this appeals to my sense of humour. I kind of like the idea of a perfume named after an opium smoking grub. Besides it's supposedly a greener version of rapture. So still very much a floral scent with a hint of earthiness. If I smell hippy though, this one will hit the bin.

The Marquis De Merteuil - well honestly I'd be an idiot not to order a perfume created on an 18th century, fictional, aristocrat now wouldn't I? One has to at least try on that shoe to see if it fits. Apparently peaches and flowers with a sting in the tail. A femme fatale scent.

Queen Mab - I truly believe that no perfume experience can be complete without a touch of faery. A dark floral and otherwordly undertones. Nothing to do with 18th C but then I'm hoping for a scentual trip to the summer country with this one.

Kubla Khan - despite never having found a pure oriental scent I can wear I couldn't resist the opportunity to at least try. I always love the way they smell on other people. This one is apparently warm with floral overtones so here goes nothing.

Lyonesse - having already ordered up enough flower gardens to drown all of europe I decided to take a trip somwhere else with this one. A hint of sea salt, warm summery glow and about a hundred other things I can't describe. This is a favourite scent on that site which means I will either love it too or completely hate it.

Death On A Pale Horse - I can't even imagine a magazine ad for this one. Despite it's name though, the notes in it are decidedly less ominous. More of a mossy aquatic which people either love or hate. Since I love aquatics I had to try it and part of me really wants to love it to pieces. I mean can you imagine anything more cool than telling people your lovely perfume is the Grim Reaper...?

Now the hard part. I have to wait about a month for them to arrive. Apparently this perfumery is a make to order kind of place and that slows things down a bit. Sigh...but I look forward to testing them out though.