Dolly bouquet pictures.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Change in direction
I really thought that I was going to focus on crafty and my handmade items in this blog, but I think it is going to be more a place to tell my story. I don't know if anyone will read, but I will tell. It will have crafty, artsy type stuff b/c that is part of my story. It is also going to have a lot of my history. That being said, here is my post for today.
This morning while I was on the treadmill praying and pondering a thought came to me. My favorite metaphor to use when talking about my past and childhood abuse is the basement. I feel like I am a house. On the outside everything is put together. The house looks in order. I think most people would consider that I am a pretty high functioning individual. I take care of my kids, I don't really struggle with depression; I work out 6 days a week; I have 17 years clean from drugs; I am not saying all that makes me better than anyone else, but I seem to have things pretty together. That is the house being in order. Under the house, though, is a very different story. There is a basement that I keep locked up. There are scary things inside the basement. I try to be pretty in touch and honest with my self. I try not to dwell in denial or fear. I just don't really know how to deal with the basement properly. I know it effects my life, my relationships, my walk with God, etc., but it does not cripple me, or keep me from living my life and doing what I need to do. I feel like the basement is just full or rotten corpses. They stink and they are scary. Most people probably don't want t0 venture down and play with the corpses. You don't usually drag them upstairs to the dinner table or out on the lawn for a family picnic. They just remain hidden. Sometimes the stench of the death and pain they represent leak out into the house. In my life I think the stench is kind of subtle and not over whelming. Kind of like a fart. Any way, I grew up knowing that not everyone had corpses in their basement.
I thought that I needed to get the corpses out and clean out the basement. I got a different perspective on this today. I was thinking about decomposition, the process and benefits. When plants, animals or even bodies decompose they eventually enrich the soil. The death and decay turn into life and abundance in the soil. That soil, once enriched, grows healthier and more beautiful plants, veggies or whatever. God has been at work all of my life turning the rot and damage that lives in the basement into a beautiful garden which bares greater fruit because the decay has nourished the soil. I don't need to get rid of it, but i do need to unlock to door so that the Sonlight can come in and so I can enjoy the garden and let others be nourished by it.
This morning while I was on the treadmill praying and pondering a thought came to me. My favorite metaphor to use when talking about my past and childhood abuse is the basement. I feel like I am a house. On the outside everything is put together. The house looks in order. I think most people would consider that I am a pretty high functioning individual. I take care of my kids, I don't really struggle with depression; I work out 6 days a week; I have 17 years clean from drugs; I am not saying all that makes me better than anyone else, but I seem to have things pretty together. That is the house being in order. Under the house, though, is a very different story. There is a basement that I keep locked up. There are scary things inside the basement. I try to be pretty in touch and honest with my self. I try not to dwell in denial or fear. I just don't really know how to deal with the basement properly. I know it effects my life, my relationships, my walk with God, etc., but it does not cripple me, or keep me from living my life and doing what I need to do. I feel like the basement is just full or rotten corpses. They stink and they are scary. Most people probably don't want t0 venture down and play with the corpses. You don't usually drag them upstairs to the dinner table or out on the lawn for a family picnic. They just remain hidden. Sometimes the stench of the death and pain they represent leak out into the house. In my life I think the stench is kind of subtle and not over whelming. Kind of like a fart. Any way, I grew up knowing that not everyone had corpses in their basement.
I thought that I needed to get the corpses out and clean out the basement. I got a different perspective on this today. I was thinking about decomposition, the process and benefits. When plants, animals or even bodies decompose they eventually enrich the soil. The death and decay turn into life and abundance in the soil. That soil, once enriched, grows healthier and more beautiful plants, veggies or whatever. God has been at work all of my life turning the rot and damage that lives in the basement into a beautiful garden which bares greater fruit because the decay has nourished the soil. I don't need to get rid of it, but i do need to unlock to door so that the Sonlight can come in and so I can enjoy the garden and let others be nourished by it.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Makeup World and Craft world collide
Yesterday I had the privilege of working with some amazingly talented women for a photo shoot. The idea came from meeting Ariela of RBK creations (Really Bad Kitty- I just think that name is so cute) in a chat room. She was finishing work on a custom bridal order which included 3 bouquets and somewhere in the range of about a dozen boutonnieres. She had not gotten any really good pictures of them. Being in the hair/makeup/modeling industry I know photographers and models who love to get together and play. I made the proposition that we could do a big photoshoot to showcase her bridal order and have fun too.
Well, that grew into a dolly party shoot at a car shop in Deep Ellum. RBK brought tons of bouquets and flowers, as well as balloons and cup cakes. DtB (that would be me, Dawn the Butcher) did hair and makeup. Havi Frost shot the whole scene and allowed makeup, hair and wardrobe to go on at her house. Of course, we ran behind schedule as is tradition for DtB. Everyone looked lovely; the shoot went smashingly and I can't wait to see the pictures. They will be posted as soon as I have them in my possession.
Creative people seem to bring out the best in one another and make beautiful things when combined.
Well, that grew into a dolly party shoot at a car shop in Deep Ellum. RBK brought tons of bouquets and flowers, as well as balloons and cup cakes. DtB (that would be me, Dawn the Butcher) did hair and makeup. Havi Frost shot the whole scene and allowed makeup, hair and wardrobe to go on at her house. Of course, we ran behind schedule as is tradition for DtB. Everyone looked lovely; the shoot went smashingly and I can't wait to see the pictures. They will be posted as soon as I have them in my possession.
Creative people seem to bring out the best in one another and make beautiful things when combined.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Girl Scout Sit Upons
Well, I did not feel like a accomplished much this week, but looking back I guess I did. I completed sit upons for 3 girls in my daughter's Girl Scout troop. They turned out really cute. They all have fleece on the top part (so that it is soft when they sit down on them). The bottoms are flannel. Each of them has the girls name and a custom embroidery on it. I have been told I kind of went over the top with them. I put pillow forms in them so that they would be really cushy. I put zippers in them too, so that the covers could be removed and washed. Then I put plastic lining under the covers and over the pillow forms. That was just in case they get wet so that the pillows won't be ruined. The girls were very excited and pleased. It was a great experience for me. I got to practice putting zippers in and I used my embroidery software to design the embroideries. I am still learning how to use my software.
I hope to do a lot more work on the projects in my brain this next week. Hopefully, more pictures and thoughts will come out this next week.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Might as well
To be honest I don't really believe that anyone will really find or read this blog. I am told it helps with web presence and getting your business out. So I am really not going to worry about if it gets read. I do think having place to download my thoughts would be great. I intend on writing a book some day; maybe this will help me start to get my thoughts together. If someone finds it and reads it, great. Maybe it is obscure enough that I will know that the people who stumble upon it will be those who need.
I will start with the story of why I titled this blog "The Handmade Journey of Dawn the Butcher." As I continue to blog I will talk about the journey I have been on to reach this point in my life. To explain the title I have to explain why I am Dawn The Butcher....
So the story goes like this. I am a makeup/hair artist by profession. My very favorite type of makeup to do is gore and special effects. One day while leaving a particularly bloody photo shoot reveling in the beauty of it, Shanda Kerr, Photographer Extraordinaire, said to me, "Dawn Hall, you should have been a butcher!!" We all laughed. I thought, "that would be a cute quote to put on my my space." I did and not long after someone told me that they found my my space page by searching DAWN THE BUTCHER. I thought wow, that is my trademark. I have gone by that every since. You can currently pull up a whole page on my by entering DAWN THE BUTCHER in Google. My special effects company is DAWN THE BUTCHER FX. You can find it at www.dawnthebutcherfx.com.
When I decided to begin making things that were a decidedly "dark" influence, it only made sense to call my shop THE BUTCHER SHOPPE. Why not capitalize on all the effort I had put into branding DAWN THE BUTCHER?
Now to the journey part. This has truly been a journey to become involved in the "Handmade Movement." If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I thought I was creative, I would have said no way. Now I can look back and see that I was always creative. It took a lot to get me to where I actually believe that. The first step was hair school. I had wanted to get to hair school for about 17 years. I was going to go when I was 16 after dropping out of highschool. Instead I spent the next 4 years being deeply buried in drugs and the lifestyle that I led b/c of the drugs. Then when I was 19 I became pregnant with my first child. That will be story for another post. I gave birth to 3 children and revolved my life around raising them. Finally when the last one was just about ready to go to school, I decided to pursue my dream to become a hair dresser. That was not all it was cracked up to be. Yet another story for another post.
It was in hair school that the creativity began to really wake up. There I discovered that I love makeup. I pursued that whole heartedly. I adore makeup and do a good job at it. I am most well know for and find the most passion in blood, zombies, gore and anything gross. As I continued to do makeup and realize that I had a very creative nature making things naturally seemed the next step. (I always thought that I wasn't creative b/c I couldn't draw.) Once I got over that silly idea, the creativity was unleashed. I began to want to learn to sew....
But the real catalist to creating THE BUTCHER SHOPPE came when it became apparent that my second child, 11 at the time, needed to be home schooled b/c he was not doing well in the public school system. I thought, "Ok I am going to buy an embroidery machine and start making purses." It took a year of doubting myself and getting myself distracted with 2 different jobs, before I got really sold on the idea of making this work. So hear I am 13 months later, I have 2 embroidery machines and a serger now. I lost my job to economic cut backs in January and decided this time I wasn't going to get another job. I am giving my best effort to my business and I am going to do what I really want to do. I am going to make things and sell them. I still do freelance makeup work, but I don't want to be tied to another job that will eat up all my time. Who knows maybe as I start writing more I will go somewhere with that talent too.
This has been the short version of how I got onto the Handmade Journey. There is so much more to share. I will continue to write about this amazing journy I have been on even if I am the only reader. It has taken me along time, about 35 years, to reach the point that I kind of know who I am and like that person.
Almost forgot......
My shoppe.....
www.thebutchershoppe.etsy.com
I will start with the story of why I titled this blog "The Handmade Journey of Dawn the Butcher." As I continue to blog I will talk about the journey I have been on to reach this point in my life. To explain the title I have to explain why I am Dawn The Butcher....
So the story goes like this. I am a makeup/hair artist by profession. My very favorite type of makeup to do is gore and special effects. One day while leaving a particularly bloody photo shoot reveling in the beauty of it, Shanda Kerr, Photographer Extraordinaire, said to me, "Dawn Hall, you should have been a butcher!!" We all laughed. I thought, "that would be a cute quote to put on my my space." I did and not long after someone told me that they found my my space page by searching DAWN THE BUTCHER. I thought wow, that is my trademark. I have gone by that every since. You can currently pull up a whole page on my by entering DAWN THE BUTCHER in Google. My special effects company is DAWN THE BUTCHER FX. You can find it at www.dawnthebutcherfx.com.
When I decided to begin making things that were a decidedly "dark" influence, it only made sense to call my shop THE BUTCHER SHOPPE. Why not capitalize on all the effort I had put into branding DAWN THE BUTCHER?
Now to the journey part. This has truly been a journey to become involved in the "Handmade Movement." If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I thought I was creative, I would have said no way. Now I can look back and see that I was always creative. It took a lot to get me to where I actually believe that. The first step was hair school. I had wanted to get to hair school for about 17 years. I was going to go when I was 16 after dropping out of highschool. Instead I spent the next 4 years being deeply buried in drugs and the lifestyle that I led b/c of the drugs. Then when I was 19 I became pregnant with my first child. That will be story for another post. I gave birth to 3 children and revolved my life around raising them. Finally when the last one was just about ready to go to school, I decided to pursue my dream to become a hair dresser. That was not all it was cracked up to be. Yet another story for another post.
It was in hair school that the creativity began to really wake up. There I discovered that I love makeup. I pursued that whole heartedly. I adore makeup and do a good job at it. I am most well know for and find the most passion in blood, zombies, gore and anything gross. As I continued to do makeup and realize that I had a very creative nature making things naturally seemed the next step. (I always thought that I wasn't creative b/c I couldn't draw.) Once I got over that silly idea, the creativity was unleashed. I began to want to learn to sew....
But the real catalist to creating THE BUTCHER SHOPPE came when it became apparent that my second child, 11 at the time, needed to be home schooled b/c he was not doing well in the public school system. I thought, "Ok I am going to buy an embroidery machine and start making purses." It took a year of doubting myself and getting myself distracted with 2 different jobs, before I got really sold on the idea of making this work. So hear I am 13 months later, I have 2 embroidery machines and a serger now. I lost my job to economic cut backs in January and decided this time I wasn't going to get another job. I am giving my best effort to my business and I am going to do what I really want to do. I am going to make things and sell them. I still do freelance makeup work, but I don't want to be tied to another job that will eat up all my time. Who knows maybe as I start writing more I will go somewhere with that talent too.
This has been the short version of how I got onto the Handmade Journey. There is so much more to share. I will continue to write about this amazing journy I have been on even if I am the only reader. It has taken me along time, about 35 years, to reach the point that I kind of know who I am and like that person.
Almost forgot......
My shoppe.....
www.thebutchershoppe.etsy.com
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