Crystal Clear

Sharp bright white, lightly caged in swirling black velvet scrolls, and finished with a of sparkling clear crystals. What could be better attire for ringing in a new year?

I made this dress to wear in Paris, and wear it in Paris I did. I sometimes forget that I went to Paris this year, how could that have been so? It feels like an age away already. I need to look over those photos again when I carve out some time to review my year and reflect on what 2017 has meant for me. It is so easy for me to view the passing of time with a negative eye, always focusing on what I didn't accomplish, what I failed to achieve. It would be wrong to sum up my year as just another stagnant year of failing to meet my goals, not when I got to walk through the golden gates of the Petit Palais in the morning, taste tart lemon deserts among the company of wonderful friends in Avallon, not in a year where I was gifted an open horse carriage ride through the glowing green woods behind a pink stone castle.

France was a dream of course, but so were the huge snowflakes I couldn't help but pause and admire even while juggling large boxes last week trying to get them in my car without slipping on the ice, so was every Ghibli movie I finally watched for the first time this year, so was any fleeting moment spent editing and thinking I'd finally hit upon an idea to carry me onward towards a finally finished manuscript. I may not have done everything I wanted to in 2017, I didn't sew every planned project, I didn't finish the book, but I am here at the end of it still full of hope that I will keep creating, I will keep trying and going after my dreams. No I'm not ready to give up the dreaming just yet, and that in itself is an accomplishment in its own way. Not even dreary 2017 could dash my dreams away, and persistence is my motto going forward. Only one way to go after all, and that's through.

Enough cheesy reflection, though in excuse I am writing this quite late at night...I beg your forgiveness. Thank you all so much for visiting my blog this year, it's impossible to really say how much it has meant to me. Thank you for every comment, every view on YouTube, and every like on Instagram. The online vintage community means more and more to me all the while, especially as it is so encouraging often seeing women supporting other women and with such genuine compassion and joy. I love creating projects and photos and sharing them with all of you. Hopefully one day soon I'll be sharing stories too, I just have to finish writing one first...

Dress: Made by me
Gloves & Fishnets: Amazon
Shoes: Zara
Jewelry & Clutch: Vintage