Copyright 2008 Margot Potter for CYSWCSE Photo Courtesy of CYSWCSE

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Here's another of my Halloween themed designs for Create Your Style^TM with CRYSTALLIZED^TM-Swarovski Elements. It's a huge trick or treat bag that Mom could carry as a purse too. I love that orange stitched grosgrain ribbon I scored at Michaels and the vintage image is from a Dover permission free Halloween collection. It's printed on Pabric, an easy to use printable fabric I was able to run through my HP inkjet printer without a snag. It's just a simple canvas tote I got at Michaels, nothing fancy. I had fewer embellishments initially, but they asked for more and I think it turned out well. There's one crystal I would place in a different spot if I were to redo this project, but that's just me being super anal. As soon as the links go live, I'll post them here. This kind of design work is interesting because it's all about showcasing the materials. My challenge for all of these designs was that they be striking, affordable, and easy for a Mom and kid to work on together. Purses are my favorite medium, they're endlessly inspirational and generally speaking the average women will be far more outrageous with her accessories than their clothes.

My daughter Avalon was sitting next to me waiting for the bus on the front steps the other morning. As we straddle that nebulous and terrifying territory between childhood and puberty we're working on the finer points of personal hygiene. It's an ongoing battle. She's a little rebel without a comb. She loves to dress up and she really does have her own punky, quirky fashion sense, but there's a disconnect somewhere with the cleanliness factor. I must admit I had the same issue at her age, so she comes by it honestly.

"Did you remember to wear your deodorant?"

"Um...I don't know."

"Well, you may want to put some on so you don't get odorant."

"Mom!"

(Insert eye roll here.)

"Odorant is not a word."

"It will be after gym class."

She's been asked to audition for a lead role in a local children's theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. Because my background is as a performer, I've been reticent to get her into theatre. Maybe too much so, but I didn't want to hoist my dreams on her. She's got an innate talent for drama that's far better used on stage than around the house during chore days, so we decided to let her give it a whirl and see if she liked it. Two theatre camps later and apparently she's a natural. They emailed me asking if she was going to audition. We're in a pinch financially with the new braces, the doubled oil bill and my cut back in hours at QVC, so I wasn't sure we could swing it. We worked it out and she's auditioning next Saturday. We went online to download a song for her to sing and she picked Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray! How much do I love my kid?! She's been working really hard on her dance moves and learning the words. I love seeing her engaged in something because her natural tendency is to lie upside down on the couch eating snacks watching TV like a tree sloth with pig tails. There's not much future in that dontcha know.

I'll keep you posted on her progress. GO AVALON!

xoxo
Mama Rose