Pascal; All Season Dog~ Fall

Posted on 7 December 2009 by Judy

Perhaps you are wondering as I am, where the time has gone~ It’s so hard to believe that Christmas will be here in a few weeks. It was just summer! Since we seem to be flying through the seasons, and I’ve been too busy to write until now, I apologize for being a season behind in my Pascal stories. You may remember a story I posted in July titled, PASCAL; All Season Dog~ “all season dog” meaning, in Pascal’s case, no matter what season, he’ll find an excuse to NOT walk! If you are wondering about the photo above, I placed that large leaf on Pascal’s head one day while we were at the park to show him that leaves don’t bite; they’re really not scary things! Even more puzzled? Read on……..

I love fall. It’s my favorite season. I love the way the air is crisp and seasoned with the delicious scent of smoke-curls wafting from rooftop chimneys. I always look forward to our walks in the fall and I was eagerly looking forward to the many fall walks we were about to be taking.

If you were to ask Pascal, I’m sure he would tell you that our walks for the first part of fall were wonderful. The temperatures were perfect for brisk walking and there weren’t many days that were windy. We had great walks down to Heather Farms where we could watch the daily changes in leaf color- or I could. I brought my camera and stopped in awe every few steps, to take a picture. Pascal thought that was great because it meant that he could stop and sniff around while I took pictures- one of his favorite outside occupations. He was as ecstatic with this freedom as I was with the potential to “preserve” every minute shade of the color spectrum. Our walks were mutually wonderful~ until about mid-way through fall-

One day

we started walking down the sidewalk, and guess what happened? The leaves were falling off their branches and were headed straight for US!! Yikes!!! All of a sudden Pascal darted in front of me, straight out to my side. I almost tripped over him. They were coming to get us, those beautiful leaves!

Our walks became difficult. Pascal was convinced that we were under attack. There were a couple of really bad days. It got windy and the leaves became really aggressive- and what was wrong with me, Pascal wondered as he sat down in the middle of the sidewalk with leaves shooting down all around him. Didn’t I see what was happening? How could I be so stupid as to consider walking at such a time. I called him towards me to make him continue walking, and gave a little tug on his leash. That only convinced him that I had become just plain lame and needed a more powerful message or we were both going to become victims of this ruthless assault from the sky- My second tug on the leash made him budge! He stood, turned around so that his back was towards me and, with all 18 lbs. of his little body tugged hard in the direction of the car. O.k~ I got it!

For the next two days I didn’t even try to go walking. The morning of the third day was sunny, warm, & perfectly calm. Great! A wonderful day for a walk. Surely the leaves must be off the trees now. “Let’s go! I said, standing at the door with his leash in my hand. He came bounding to the door; unusual for Pascal- for a walk. He wiggled excitedly as I fastened his harness. All right, I thought. Two days without a walk. Now he really wants to go. I felt excited too. This was going to be a good one. I could feel it!

I just barely got him out of his car-seatbelt and he was off and running down the sidewalk, pulling me behind him. This lasted just long enough to get us partway down the block. Then he abruptly slowed to a walk. It was such a beautiful morning. The sky was sparkling blue and not a single leaf was falling. They were lying in scattered piles that covered the sidewalk. Like always when I bring my camera, I was looking for the “perfect shot” and not paying much attention to Pascal.

As we continued down the sidewalk I became aware of erratic little tugs from the other end of the leash. With the next tug I looked down at Pascal and saw one hind leg raised high in an attempt to hop over a leaf. I kept watching as we walked and when I saw what he was doing, I couldn’t keep from laughing. First it was one leg up high, & then another. If he had been able to figure out how to do it, I’m certain he would have very quickly been airborn. As it was, he was doing what looked like a complicated jig down the length of the sidewalk, trying to avoid stepping on those evil leaves! Oh Fall, you most perfect of seasons, whatever has happened to you?

Looking out the window at the 5:00 darkness moving in to blanket bare tree limbs, I’m reminded that it’s Winter now! Somehow we made it through Fall! We actually survived our walks! Now, I have a feeling, we are about to see how we fare with Winter. It snowed last night. It almost NEVER snows here- We didn’t walk this morning. My decision. Too cold! Hmmmm~

About “Winter”

Posted on 19 October 2009 by Judy

I’ve just finished this dress that I call “Winter”; my third in a series of four long- sleeved dresses that I wanted to add to my store. My goal is to have at least one long-sleeved dress in each size available. I just finished cutting out my fourth one, a size 4, so hopefully before much longer, there will be one, OOAK, long-sleeved dress in each size in my shop!

I thought I’d speak a bit about “Winter, ” and it’s creation, because its appearance was a surprise even to me. I know that seems strange. It’s not the first time that I’ve been surprised by one of my dresses. The whole process of creating something has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and making this dress, is a perfect example ~

Not always, but often, before I begin working on a dress, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with the dress. I usually have a picture in mind. It’s not always a completed picture, but it’s at least a basic idea. What puzzles me, like what occurred while making this dress, is what happens between the time I begin working on a dress with a particular image in mind, and the time I finish the dress—–and have created something entirely different from the idea envisioned when I began -

Finishing the dress before “Winter,” I began thinking about what I wanted to do with the size 1 that I planned to create next out of a piece of printed white cotton fabric. I suddenly got an image of a white dress with green, or possibly white, smocking. The dress I envisioned had a very simple, pretty design of smocked zig zags, interspersed with embroidered red, green, and white candy canes~ Yes!! That was it! I ran & got a piece of paper & a pencil so I could sketch a simple picture of what was in my head. I don’t usually write my ideas down, but this looked so cute the way I pictured it, that I wanted to be sure it wouldn’t be forgotten.

I began the dress with my original idea, working white smocking into a zig zag pattern on the white fabric,—– and somehow worked my way into the scene you see pictured in the photo above. It seems to have just “happened.” I don’t remember consciously making a decision to abandon my original idea, nor do I remember ever having visualized the scene that emerged on the dress. It’s as if my fingers just took over; as if they had planned the scene from the very beginning- and I was there simply because I was attached!

Now that the dress is finished, I look at it and feel very fortunate. Though it was not at all what I had in mind when I began, I’m pleased with the way it turned out- Fingers did a good job! Once again I’m left baffled by the creative process, but that’s o.k. Sometimes it’s nice to just be surprised!!

Leading the Life of Pascal

Posted on 28 September 2009 by Judy

It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Pascal and I had a little ordeal to get through, but we made it and I’m happy to say, everything turned out well! Pascal managed to avoid two weeks worth of walks, as well as a trip to the groomers, so, with the extra attention and as much sympathy from me as he could get, I think he didn’t consider it a totally bad trade-

One evening I noticed that the upper corner of hisl eft eyelid looked red. My first thought was that it must be an eye infection. I hoped that I could put hot compresses on it and it would go away. After applying hot compresses several times a day for five days I saw no improvement at all. I started to think that maybe it was something else; a spider bite, perhaps, or-? I was stumped~! When my daughter saw it she said that one of her dogs had something that looked like that & it turned out to be a tick- Tick? I hadn’t thought of that- Uh-oh—— I don’t deal with ticks! I decided that I’d better make an appointment with the vet.

I brought him in the following day and was shocked to hear that this little red bump was a tumor. I was told they are usually benign and it could possibly remain there as long as it wasn’t touching the cornea~ and his wasn’t. We decided to try antibiotic drops in his eye for a week and see if maybe they would shrink it a bit. I was supposed to call back the following week & report on how the eye was doing. The day that I brought him in, (the picture on the right,) it really didn’t look very big to me- But six days later, after using the drops to shrink it all week, this is what it looked like~(the photo on the left.) Not a pretty sight!

When I reported this to the vet he said to bring him in & he’d remove it. So~ I spent 2/3 of the next day in the waiting room at the vets while Pascal was in surgery. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they brought Pascal out to me, groggy & miserable, with stitches in his eyelid and a “cone” around his head. I carried him carefully to the car and strapped him into his seatbelt, where he lay down, moaning & breathing funny; making the entire 10-minute ride home feel more like 30 minutes. It was awful to see him like that. The first two days were rough, but I could see improvement each day and by the third day he was himself again, running to the window to bark at squirrels, and picking through his dinner, Pascal-style, scattering it around the dish so that it would look like he’d eaten more than he actually had- and thus garner his favorite treat, some baked potato.

I took this picture two days ago and you can see, other than the skin being a bit pink,- and that’s probably because all of his fur hasn’t grown back yet from where it was shaved, his eye looks “like new!”

The weather has finally cooled off, so I’m hoping he’ll be ready to go for walks again~ as long as it’s not too hot or too cold, or raining, or windy, or muddy- or too many prickly stickers, or~~~~~never mind! Feeling good!! C’mon Pascal, let’s go!

Long Sleeves!

Posted on 31 August 2009 by Judy

I have just listed the first of my long-sleeved dresses in my etsy shop and on my website. Two posts ago I wrote that I had decided to add some long-sleeve dresses to my shop and I had just finished cutting this one out, so I’m very happy to say that it is now finished and in my shops ready to go to a party, school~ or wherever your little girl would wear a dress.

I’m pleased with the way that this dress turned out. It reminds me of something out of Hansel and Gretel; in fact, I can picture Gretel wearing this dress! The embroidered scene in the center could be straight from the forest where Hansel & Gretel dropped their trail of bread crumbs. I can picture them coming upon this forest stream where a mother goose is teaching her two goslings to swim, and stopping to watch for a minutes before continuing on their way to the gingerbread house~ The eyelet trim on the sleeve ruffles dress the dress up a bit as well as tie in with the fabric’s design and the white, heart-shaped buttons mimic the hearts in the fabric’s design.

The addition of long sleeves I think, besides being more practical for colder days, changes the “look” of the dress a bit. To me, the shorter puffed sleeves give the dress a cute, poised kind of look while the longer sleeves seem more relaxed and “artsy.” I like both styles equally well, but I find it interesting that something so simple as a sleeve length can change the overall look of the dress. It will be fun to have two sleeve lengths to choose from in my shops. I’m just beginning to cut out my next long-sleeved dress. It will be a size 3 and will probably be available in about two weeks- the time it usually takes to make one dress- I plan on doing several more dresses with long sleeves so that you will have a nice selection to choose from, so be sure to check back occasionally to see what’s new in the shop!

Fall is my very favorite season, so I’m excited that it’s just around the corner. I’m looking forward to the end of the hot temperatures and dry hillsides and the arrival of cool, breezy but sunny days, and brilliant colors as far as the eye can see!

This Goat Says “Woof!”

Posted on 22 August 2009 by Judy

Today is Friday. Tuesday I brought Pascal to the groomers to have his usual, every 5- weeks, haircut. When I picked him up the groomer told me, “When I gave Pascal the choice of having his hair brushed out, or my cutting it short, Pascal said he wanted it short!”— which really means that his hair was matted and it would be much easier to just cut it off. Okay- whatever. This has happened before and even though it doesn’t look as cute as when it’s long, I know that it’s difficult to brush the mats out and that Pascal hates to have it done. It grows in quickly anyway~ and besides, it was already done.

By today, I’d already forgotten about it. I took him for a walk downtown and it seemed like everyone we passed was staring at us. I am sort of used to that, as Pascal, being a rare breed, always draws stares, but today seemed much worse than normal. A few people actually stopped us, after staring at us for half a block. Looking at Pascal, one said, “Is that a, a, a terrier, a, one of those?” “Yes, he’s a bedlington terrier” I replied, as Pascal started barking his own response . The next person was waiting on the corner for the light to change and she stared at us until we reached the corner. “What is that?” she asked, her eyes on Pascal. I told her and she looked again and said, “Is their hair always cut like that?” I explained that this was a bit shorter than usual and she looked at him again, like she couldn’t really believe what she was seeing. Then she asked me if he was a showdog – like maybe that would explain his eccentric looks. I told her no, he wasn’t, but the breed is seen in dog shows. This time she just looked at me, looked at Pascal, sort of shook her head and muttered, “unusual~”

We were walking the final block to get to our car- Towards the end of the block a woman was putting money into the parking meter, but I’m not sure exactly how she managed it, because the whole time she was feeding it coins, she was staring at us. As I got closer I had a feeling that a comment was coming- (I’m getting pretty adept at predicting upcoming comments-) Just as we got opposite each other, she got a big grin on her face and let out a little laugh- “I was about to ask you what kind of dog that is, but now that I see it up close, it looks like a goat!!”—–and she laughed again, as did I. Pascal barked and then she really started laughing. I could hear her laughing all the way down the sidewalk. I’d love to hear the story she tells people about what she saw downtown today!

That was it for Friday’s collection of comments. We reached the car. I opened the door and scooped “Billy Goat Woof” into my arms, deposited him into his seat and strapped his seatbelt. Driving home I was lost in thought, my mind replaying our morning’s encounters. I realized that I was smiling to myself. I glanced at Pascal sitting next to me and had to laugh out loud. He was looking at me with a HUGE smile on his face.

I imagine that he too had been thinking about the morning’s walk and laughing to himself. I really believe he has as much fun being a bedlington terrier, garnering stares and comments from every person he passes, as I have, watching people watch and enjoy him! Oh the joy of having an eccentric dog!!!

Where Did Summer Go?

Posted on 15 August 2009 by Judy

Looking at all of the beautiful flowers in everyone’s gardens, it’s hard to realize that we’re mid-way through the last month of summer! Where did it go? It seems like it was just spring and everyone was excitedly anticipating the arrival of summer- I remember as a child, I thought the year was divided into summer and winter and that each was an equal amount of time. It seemed as if summer vacation was just as long as the school year! I don’t enjoy the heat and my favorite seasons have always been fall and winter, but there’s no denying that with summer comes gardening and all of the beautiful flowers that I love so much. Each of the seasons brings its own special beauty and even though I have my favorites, there are things I enjoy about all of them. Right now, it seems like I could use at least another run-through, (’cause that’s what it does,) of summer to get my garden in shape!

Lately it seems like every day I hear people talking about being ready for winter and Christmas! My brain is still filled with flowers and sunshine and water~ and summer, yet with all of the daily reminders, I realize that fall and winter really aren’t far off. At least the calendar says they aren’t- So it’s with a lot of difficulty that I’ve forced myself to realize that and start putting long sleeves on my dresses. In all but the extremely cold places the short-sleeved dresses are wearable year round, since a sweater or coat along with a pair of tights can always be thrown on for outside. A long-sleeved t-shirt can also be slipped under the dress for added warmth, but I know that some people prefer to wear long sleeves in fall and winter.

With this in mind I cut out my first long-sleeved dress of the season yesterday. This dress will be a size 2 100% cotton with a deep-teal blue background and a print of white mini-hearts and leaves. I have no idea yet what I’m going to embroider on it, s0 you’ll have to wait a bit to see, but I’m trying to think “winter” for the design. Hopefully I’ll have it ready for you to see in a few weeks! Until then, savor the last weeks of summer~ It’s going to be a long time returning!

Let’s Go!

Posted on 2 August 2009 by Judy

This is the second part to my last post on, ” Pascal, all season dog”- the “all season” meaning, no matter what the season, Pascal will have a reason not to walk. His most-used, weather related excuse is the wind. The wind is a great one because he can count on it to be around no matter what the season. It’s definitely his most reliable source, followed by summer’s heat and winter’s cold . Fall and Spring are always good for wind, and the few days that are left free from the elements are, believe it or not, actually good for walks! We have even had some very good walks on those days. But it’s the days, the ones that actually have “weather,” where the problem occurs, and it’s of those days that I write.

Assume for this post that it is a typical windy day- ( I’m choosing windy, since those are our most prevalent encounters, but the things I’m about to describe here occur equally as much on any weather-related day.) I also should state that “wind” for Pascal can be anything from high velocity, sway trees, , shake leaves off branches, to the slightest puff of a breeze- anything that can be even remotely experienced as air moving-

So——I left off in my last post, where we’ve gotten out of the car, Pascal has chosen a few “lucky” bushes to water, and now he’s ready to walk. He takes off, quickly- eagerly, ahead of me. For a few fleeting seconds, following him, walking as fast as I can, I think, could it be that he doesn’t notice the wind~ or maybe, finally he just doesn’t care?~ No sooner have those thoughts crossed my mind than I notice that, while still out in front of me, he has started hopping with one back leg raised every other step, so that it looks like he is either skipping or has a seriously hurt leg. By now we have almost walked/hopped, to the end of the first block. As we approach the corner I notice he has slowed down and is no longer pulling in front of me, but instead, has fallen behind and is walking so close to the back of my leg, ( I think he’s walking in my footprints- ) that if I were to suddenly stop, he’d crash right into me. I realize then, he’s using me as a wind-break; actually pretty clever! Apparently walking in my footprints doesn’t offer enough protection-

The tension on the leash has shifted from him pulling me, to me pulling him. This is only good for four or five steps. I know what’s coming next, and it’s more than just reaching the end of the block. A sudden sharp tug stops me mid step and I know it’s happened. I turn around and let my eyes roll down the leash until they meet Pascal’s- (He has seated himself firmly in the middle of the sidewalk and is staring up at me,) “What is it, bud? Come on, let’s go!” I try to muster as much enthusiasm into my voice as possible. He looks at me a few seconds, then looks away, but doesn’t budge. “Come on Pascal. We’re almost there! Let’s go see-” I plead, giving the leash a little tug. Nothing happens. He’s dropped anchor. I know once we’ve reached this point, I can tug on the leash and cajole him forever, he’s not going to budge. I’m left with only one alternative-

I bend down and scoop him into my arms saying, ” You need a little jump-start, do you? O.k, I’ll carry you, but just for a little bit-” I carry him half of the block until his 18lbs. feel more like 100 lbs. “That’s it, bud,” I say, setting his 4 feet firmly on the sidewalk. He immediately sits down- “I can’t carry you any more. Time to walk. We’re almost there!” I say “heel,” give a little tug on the leash and start to walk forward- only to have the leash slacken when I reached its end.

I turn around and face him again. He’s still sitting there, but refuses to look at me. He knows I’m not pleased with him. As I talk he looks off in one direction, then turns his head to look in the other direction- anything but look at me. Finally I decide this is definitely not a day to be going for a walk- (not with Pascal, anyway.) “O.k!” I say. “Fine. Let’s go home!”I turn around and before I can say “heel,” Pascal is off, once again in the lead, pulling me! He holds his head high and moves quickly, prancing with polished Bedlington grace.

“Slow down!” I yell after him, as I chase his wagging tail–

straight into the wind–

the entire length of the block back to the car—–!

“Good walk, Pascal!” I say, trying to catch my breath. He looks up at me as I strap him into his seat belt for the ride home and in his eyes I see a peaceful sense of calm- That had to be a sign of agreement!

PASCAL; All Season Dog!

Posted on 8 July 2009 by Judy

After our walk today, I have decided that Pascal is definitely a “Uniquely, All-Season-Dog!”

What’s that, you might be wondering~

The answer goes something like this-

I have taken Pascal out for a walk , 5 out of the last 7 days. Out of those five outings, Pascal has walked 1 1/2 times! Huh? It seems that no matter what the season, Pascal can always come up with a weather-related issue to not walk!

It has been our routine for the last 10 yrs., to take a walk every morning. When I pick up his leash and call him, he never comes bounding to the front door like every other dog I’ve had. This is what Pascal does- From the comfort of his position stretched out on the couch, lying with his chin on his paws, he watches me out of the tops of his eyes, (although looking at this photo, I can’t figure out how he ever sees anything at all-). They follow me over to the corner of the room while I take his leash from it’s basket, then over to the front door where I stand, waiting. “Come on Pascal!” I urge. He continues to stare at me, so I say a little sternly, (at least I think it is,) “Now Pascal!” He decides I really mean it, so he lowers his front two legs to the floor and with his back legs still up on the couch and his butt in the air, he gives me a huge yawn, accompanied by a long, slow stretch, then slowly places his hind legs on the floor. “Come on, Pascal- hurry-up!” At this his tail starts wagging and, not taking his eyes off me, he slowly walks towards where I stand waiting with his leash in my hand, careful not to increase his speed. I wait,~ he’s getting close- Just as he gets almost to where I can grab him, he veers slightly to the side and attempts to walk right past me! “Uh uh, buddy,” I say with my hands on his collar. It clicks!~ There—-leashed!!! His tail continues wagging as we walk to the car. His pace has picked-up considerably. I notice that he actually seems excited to be going . I strap him into his seatbelt, start the car, and we’re off.

There are a few places that we usually go to walk, all of them requiring under ten-minutes to reach. I try to rotate so Pascal doesn’t become bored with any particular one. He watches out the window the whole way there, probably trying to determine our destination. As I pull to the curb to park the car, he begins an excited, loudly- shrill, barking, which, should anyone be around, causes heads to whip to our direction. He continues, his barking mounting to a wonderful frenzy, while being temporarily oblivious to my pose of quiet. Finally it’s like he suddenly realizes that the rest of the world isn’t interested that we’ve arrived, and that I’m sitting there, waiting for him to stop barking. He stops instantly and fixes me with a nonchalant stare, as if to say, “So what are you waiting for, I’m ready-” In the silence, with his barks echoing in my head, I open my car door and prepare to get out.

He’s wound-up another bark, but keeps it sitting, bubbling in his throat making funny sounds as he looks out the window and pretends that, of course he’s going to sit quietly and wait for me to come take him out. But I know differently. The minute I start to climb out, a little yelp slips out his mouth. I turn and fix him with an angry stare. He immediately looks away as if he hadn’t just made that yelp~ and would never even think of barking at such a time . I get out of the car and slam my door, his resumed barking following me through the closed windows. I’ve tried leaving him in the car until he stops barking, but he doesn’t stop, or if he does, it’s only momentarily. As soon as I grasp the door handle, the barking resumes. I never have the time or the patience to stand there forever playing that game – As I reach to open the car door he stands, tail wagging, excitedly ready to leap out the minute the door is opened, so I have to tell him to sit and stay while I open his door, unfasten his seat belt and lift him out. (He’s already had one broken leg so there’s no way I’m going to let him jump out of the car-)

In case I haven’t painted a clear enough picture, let me just say, without a doubt, Pascal is now clearly excited about going for this walk. Once out, he pulls me to a few bushes, “the Chosen ” and then he’s off, pulling ahead of me down the sidewalk. This is what happened yesterday. This is what happens almost every time we go for a walk, with only slight, weather-related variations, (i.e.does he need to wear a coat today, or, do we need to get an extra-early start before it gets too hot? etc……)

I’ve decided to save the actual “walk” for my next post. I hadn’t expected when I started writing, that it would take so many words to relay Pascal’s behavior from the moment I enthusiastically say, “C’mon Pascal, let’s go for a walk,” to actually beginning “the walk itself.”

You may be wondering why I’m including the following photos ~ I always enjoy seeing beautiful pictures, so in the hopes that you too, enjoy them, I like to include some at the end of my post as a way of saying, “Thank-You” for taking the time to read. I hope you enjoy these~

And if you really, Really, enjoy them, they are all obtainable for you to have, either on a set of notecards, or if there is one that you’d particularly like to have enlarged to hang on your wall, convo me, and I’ll see if I can do that for you~

How Hot Are Your Squirrels?

Posted on 28 June 2009 by Judy

So how hot do you think it was today?

When I went down the hill to get the mail at 5:00 P.M. it was 103`!

Walking back up to the house I heard a little rustle in the tree and out of the corner of my eye thought I saw something move. I stopped for a second to look and this is what I saw. This little guy had slung himself over the tree limb and just lay there in the hot shade. He didn’t quickly run away like he usually does, instead, he lay there watching me & Pascal- who was either too hot to bark, normally he totally “loses it,” or he was pretending not to see the squirrel so he wouldn’t have to bark~ It’s a rare occasion that Pascal forgoes an opportunity to bark- That’s how hot it was!

I quickly put Pascal inside and grabbed my camera, feeling pretty certain the squirrel would be exactly where he was when I left him~ and he was! Normally he and I are enemies, as he gets even more delight in digging up my garden and unplanting my flower pots, than he does lying on a shaded tree limb on a hot day, but today, with the heat on high, we seem to have called a truce. I actually felt sorry for the little guy. I could say he posed for me, but I can’t give him that much credit. He did lay there and silently stare- or was it glare- at me while the camera clicked back at him. Mission accomplished!

Too hot for me, I left him, hangin’ out on the tree, (probably mapping a new game plan for my garden, once it cools off-) and went back in to join Pascal in front of the fan. Having finally finished my baby dress, I needed to figure out what I want to make next!

This is the dress I just finished~ the one that I started too long ago- I wanted to make a plain white baby dress for summer. Some people gasp at the thought of a white dress for a baby, but if you stop to think about it, what difference does it make if it’s white or any other color; if it’s going to get dirty, it’s going to get dirty. Whatever shows up on white will also show up on light pink, blue, green or yellow; all of the classic baby colors. Actually white has an advantage over the other colors when it gets dirty because with white, you can usually bleach out a stain, whereas with a color, you don’t have that option.

So~ I wanted it to be white and I wanted it to be intricate and soft, but appear simple and elegant. Most of all I wanted it to say, “baby!” I’m happy with the results and I hope you like it too. The smocking on the side panels is a double wave design that’s easy for the eye to follow, yet at the same time, notice the gathers the smocking has created. They add the degree of intricacy that I wanted the dress to have. The central panal, smocked in a white diamond design, gives a nice background for the brown hand embroidered bunny to stand-out against, and the blue bow tied around her neck, ties-in the blue smocking from the side panels. The white, diamond design of the smoking holds the background flat. To add dimension, I hand embroidered several flower stalks in both baby-blue and white that give the scene a 3-dimensional effect.

To me this` dress says, “Baby”~ it is baby-fresh; soft & delicate, feminine & sweet, and most of all, like every baby~ totally unique!!