One Week Down, 10 To Go

First week of classes is complete! It seems like I will get to be a little more creative this quarter, with more of a focus on artsy-craftsy items and a little less on garments.

Monday nights I have Costume Specialties. We are all to choose an existing character, or create our own, for whom we will make first a pair of shoes, followed by a face mask and a hat. I think I am going to go with an Alice In Wonderland theme, but I'm going to have to expand on Alice's story and put my own twist on it. I picked up a pair of heels at Goodwill yesterday ($6.99!) to start with as a base. We must also keep a process book, documenting all our ideas, sketches, swatches, and work. In a couple of weeks we will be casting our own faces in plaster for those masks.

Tuesday nights I have Screen Printing, which I have been looking forward to for a long time! We won't get into the actual printing right away - for now we are collecting supplies and finding images to use. I found one of my dog that I tweaked in Photoshop and I think it will be kinda cute. We will also be doing hand embroidery and beading, which is right up my alley. I have the insane patience to do the details.

Wednesday mornings (not exactly awesome to get home at 11:30 from a night class and have to be up at 5:30 the next morning, but whatchagonnado) I have Applied Computer Design. It's more techniques and tweaks in Photoshop and Illustrator, but also learning how to package it all in InDesign, which we will be using for our final portfolios when we graduate. For our first assignment we are re-doing an existing fashion magazine ad. I decided I was not crazy about Calvin Klein Jeans ads, as they depict their wearers as oiled up, topless, and making out with each other in heaps. I'm pretty sure the majority of Calvin Klein Jeans-wearers do not do that.

So far, so good. I know I will be changing my tune when I am feeling swamped, but for now it's all good. I also entered an online bridal gown design contest, which I will hear about in a couple of weeks. Last quarter for Couture class I chose a local "socialite" who was well known for charity and committee work, as well as being seen out and about looking fabulous, and designed some gowns that I thought would suit her well. I made one of the gowns and then sent her a packet with information about myself, sketches, swatches, and photos, and lo and behold, she emailed me this week. She would like to work with me in the future. I immediately forwarded the message to my instructor, who giddily replied this evening. I would have chosen myself out of the class to be the least likely to get a response! It would certainly be a great first "big" job though.

That's all for now!
Cheers!
Red