When profoundly sad events happen, it causes me to personally reflect on my own life and re-instills my resolve to never take love ones for granted, never give up on my dreams, and to never live in fear. Recently, my dad sent me a sweet text. These days, text messages are a very common occurrence, but not for my dad. He rarely sends them to anyone, and so his make a big impact with their small, yet powerful messages. The most recent one was, "Just finished playing golf, and decided to drop a line to say mom and I love you." and the previous a few months ago, "Just a message to tell you I am proud of you. You got it together. We love you." As an adult, I sometimes forget how nice it is to hear encouraging words from my parents and they often come at just the right moment. My dad's text brought me back to a dad moment 10 years ago when I was in a distraught, post college breakdown of "what to do with my life." His words have stuck with me and have finally come full circle (paraphrased), "Erin, calm down- just keep working hard and following your heart and I have no doubt that you will end up doing exactly what you want to be doing." Sometimes if I over-think about the current state of my life, I realize it is a great risk- but it never phases me in the end. It is a joy to wake up excited about what I am doing and to fall asleep overwhelmed with ideas spinning in my head.
With all that said, I am feeling more inspired than ever in these past couple of weeks. This past Saturday, I woke up with the idea for the below tee-shirt transformation, made it within a couple of hours, and wore it out that night. It's been a while since I have made anything for myself, and it felt good. The front is made from a remnant of an awesome, silk blend fabric and the back is taken from one of my boyfriend's old tee-shirts. Recycling with an old tee-shirt can be lux...even chic. Going to make more of these to sell ;)
Also, with a pending lookbook photoshoot coming up and a million ideas, I have been furiously trying to finish up my latest little collection. Everything handmade, and everything special and unique. Special props to my neat and tidy boyfriend for being patient as my materials remain strewn all over our tiny apartment. A few sneak preview photos below :)
One of my takes on the crop top trend. It's a little less intimidating when you're mostly covered in the rest of the top. The main print fabric is from a vintage Hawaiian shirt (before photo is below).
A super cute, high-waisted skirt- my favorite features are the pockets and super fun lining.
(before)
current top in progress:
Also, I was super excited to receive these leather remnants from one of my dear friends! It's such a joy when friends take part in what I do. I can't wait to work it into some special pieces such as my leather earrings.
Alright, back to work for me. Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey. Wishing you all the best!
-Erin
