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Thursday 4 August 2011

The Dragstalgia Fascinator

A few months ago a received a lovely email from burlesque and pin-up model Miss Phoenix, offering her modelling services for Off With Her Head. We got to talking and when she told me that she was going to be the official flag girl for this years Dragstalgia (http://www.santapod.co.uk/e_dragstalgia.php) I offered to make her a fascinator for the event, and what we came up with is the Dragstalgia Fascinator.


I was inspired by the idea of the chequered flag and by hot rod flames and combined them to come up with this piece. The base was constructed from heavy cotton in a chequered print with cotton interfacing ironed to the reverse side, lined with wool felt and edged in with bias (I ended up using black bias instead of the red). The flames were constructed from 3 layers of sinamay in flame colours and decorated with Swarovski crystal accents.


I was really pleased with the finished result and shipped the piece of to Miss Phoenix who, despite the windy, wet weather during the weekend, managed to wear the fascinator and get a few great shots during the day!



Miss Phoenix can be contacted at the following:

Products I Love!

As a busy Mum, its important to me to finds beauty products that work and involve a minimum of fuss. I dye my hair, its a dark red/brown and I've been this colour for some time now. Normally I get my little sister round in an afternoon to help me dye my hair but with a one year old running around its not entirely practical. So, when I saw the adverts for the new John Freida Precision Foam Colour which promises a 'quick and easy application' I decided to give it a go.



I selected shade 5R - Medium Red Brown which is as close to what I've been previously using and decided on Monday evening to set aside half an hour to dye my hair. I have to say I was very, very impressed! It is one of the easiest and mess free products I have ever tried. In the past I have had dye all over the bathroom, on the walls, (yep, bright red too on a cream wall!) carpet, radiator and all over the sink by the time I was finished, but the non-drip foam was fantastically easy to apply. I didn't need combs or clips to separate my hair or a third arm to make sure the back got covered properly. You simply add the colour to the developer, tilt 5 times to mix and then squeeze to get a foam which you just smooth over your roots and then massage into the rest of your hair, wait for 30 mins (no longer) then rinse and apply the conditioner and you're done! Easy!


This product gets a 5 out of 5 from me, although the only downside for me personally is the limited colours available... I'd love a really vibrant bright red or purple please!

Wednesday 3 August 2011

So tell me, do you feel lucky??

This summer I've been busy working on a new range of fascinators inspired by the old school style tattoos, you know the ones... cherry red hearts with scrolls that have words like 'LOVE', 'ALWAYS'  and 'MUM' written in script across them an popular tattoo imagery such as anchors, swallows and cherries! Well I've some up with a range of 6 designs, that I hope you'll love as much as I do and I thought I'd share the design process as well as the finished pieces.

Sometimes, not always, I start with a blank piece of paper and a box of coloured pencils and fine liner pens! Then from that concept drawing I produce a prototype from cotton and wool felt.


There are 6 different designs for this range (at present, but I have a few ideas for some others!) - AHOY, LUCKY, LOVE, CHERRY, SWEET and ALOHA. Cotton print fabrics for each design are selected and each heart is cut from a template. Cotton interfacing is then ironed to the reverse of the fabric. Matching or sometimes contrasting wool felt hearts are also cut from the template and matched up with the cotton pieces which are then bound together and edged with bias.


Decorative elements for each piece are then selected. Pieces such as the banners, text, swallows and cherries are hand cut from wool felt and appliquéd to create a 3D effect.


I'm really please with the finished pieces! I think my favourite one has to be LOVE!





I took these with me to London for The Roost photo shoot with photographer, Ange Harper, and they received lots of positive feedback from both the models and photographers there. The lovely Lilah, who if you've seen my website over the years you will be well acquainted with, modelled a couple of designs for me, my favourite on her is LUCKY! Would you mess with this feisty Femme Fatale, tell me punk do you feel luck, well do ya??




Tattoo Inspired Fascinators RRP £30.00, available from the website and Etsy store at www.offwithherheadmillinery.co.uk
Introductory offer - get yours now for £25.00, offer ends 31st August.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Modelling for James Corrin/Captured Light

At the start of July I popped down to London for the day to take part in the annual Roost Photoshoot organised by Ange Harper (http://www4.clikpic.com/AngeHarper/) and as well as supplying a large suitcase full of hats for the other models to use I got dressed up and modelled for a couple of the photographers too!

The first set I have to offer is by James Corrin (www.capturedlight.eu), a fantastic photographer who really put me at ease, and as you can see he produced some fantastic images!








Cherry Fascinator by Off With Her Head (www.offwithherheadmillinery.co.uk)
Clothes, Styling and Make-Up all models own.