Ballerina Summer Reading

It's the first day of summer!  You all know I love a good ballet book, whether it be for grown ups or adults, and summer is the perfect time to find some great new reads.

I was super excited to find a follow up book to Tallulah's Tutu by Marilyn Singer.  Check out my blog on this cute story here.  Now Singer gives us Tallulah's Solo, just as endearing and wonderfully illustrated.  Now that Tallulah is a big girl ballerina she's certain she's to get the lead role in her school's upcoming performance of The Frog Prince.  Things don't go as planned though, when her little brother's dancing threatens to upstage her.  What's a ballerina to do?  Cute, well-written and easy to love, Tallulah takes us on another great dance adventure in her second book.  It's fantastically illustrated by Alexandra Boigner, I love the colors and innocence of the illustrations, below are a few excerpts!

Add this to your summer reading list and I'll keep you posted with more great reads I find.  Happy Summer!

Fun Ballerina Birthday Gifts

I'm usually so focused on planning the details and entertainment portion of the parties that I do that I sometimes don't get to check out the cute gifts that are being given to the birthday girl.  You all know I love a good gift wrapping job, but I don't usually get to see the goodies that are inside the wrappings.  Since presents are synonymous with parties, I thought I'd share a few gift options that I thought would be great ideas should you find yourself headed to a party and want some unique options.  And of course they have a ballet lean to them!

I'm loving the ballet prints!  The text can be customized as well, so if it's ballet or gymnastics or soccer it can be tailor made, but of course I'm digging the ballet vocab and I especially love the font of the pink print.  The ballet slipper bow is creative and cute, and hair accessories are always a must for any up and coming dancer.  How great are these stuffed pillows?  Again, totally customizable and gender friendly, but if I were a ballerina birthday I think I'd love one with my initials in a ballet inspired fabric like one of these...

All of these items I found on Etsy, gotta love that place!  I'll keep my eyes peeled for more great gift ideas and if you have any to share I'd love to hear from you!

A Follow Up To The Tutu Table.... And More!

A few blog posts ago I shared a tutu table (read about it here), and mentioned that this project gave me an idea for my own tutu table settings.  Well, it didn't quite turn out as planned.... not as cute as I had hoped for, but I figure when crafting things go wrong occasionally and thought I'd share my not so triumphant mini tutus with you.  (You can't win 'em all right)?  I think these may be better doll tutus or possibly ponytail holders.  What do you think?  Would love to hear your ideas for my next go round on cute table settings.

The original inspiration...

My mini results....

 On a more glorified tutu note, I found this awesome display of gorgeous tutus by Repetto.  Here are a few of their costumes for Sleeping Beauty.  This is truly art, gorgeous craftmanship!

Darcey Bussell joins the RAD!

Exciting news!  Darcey Bussell is the new President of the Royal Academy of Dance!  Darcey has long been one of my favorite dancers (check out the video clip below) and she's had a long and wonderful career with the Royal Ballet and just recently retired from the stage 2007.  Check out the article on the RAD's newest President here (thanks again Ballet News!).  As a member of the RAD and an active teacher of its syllabus this news affects me directly and I couldn't be happier to have Darcey be the new face of the RAD, she's all the things that I know I want dance to be representative of: grace, poise, intelligence and dynamic.  Cheers Darcey!  Here's to a long and happy career at the RAD!

Little Ballerina On So You Think You Can Dance

Happy Friday!  So You Think You Can Dance is back!  I was watching last night and was so tickled by this cutie - she's adorable!  (My favorite moment is the luxurious head tilt she does while on the floor).  Always exciting to see up and coming talent!

Let's Go Fly A Kite! (And other party inspirations)

You know how you have those go-to stores, the ones that you can always count on to find some little treasure or inspire a new project, or that just make you think happy thoughts?  Cost Plus (or World Market as some call it) is one of those stores for me.  I know whenever I pop into this store I'll always find at least one thing that I love (and usually more like 5 or 6).  And even if I'm not looking to buy Cost Plus always seems to have products that give me an idea for a future project or give me a boost of inspiration.

A few weeks ago I was wandering the aisles at the Walnut Creek Cost Plus and found some super cute birthday and gift wrappings.  Check out my blog Wrap It Up on some of the other great wrappings I've found there.  Summer birthdays have the great advantage of beautiful weather and bright colors to work into party color palates.  The gift wrapping items below are bright, fun and sweet - I don't know the next time I have a friend's birthday party to attend, but I hope it's soon so I can use some of these!

A language lesson & a cute bag!

Pretty goodie bags

Bright tags & bags

Ribbon shreds = fun!

As I mentioned, great weather is another bonus to summer parties.  These kites caught my eye and had to snap a few pictures; I thought they were just too artistic not to share!  Can you remember the last time you flew a kite?  Me neither... but if I had some of these to take with me I'm sure I'd make a day out of it.  It's a great idea for a party as well - either have kites on hand for guests to use or have them bring their own.  Add some great picnic food items, maybe some lemonade and sunscreen and ta-daaaa!  Great party underway!

What a wingspan!

Love these colors!

Dance Art - Christine MacDonald

I consider myself pretty luck to work in a community that values the arts.  Sonoma Ballet Conservatory especially has a rich appreciation for all things creative from film to art, and of course dance!  Every so often the studio is lucky enough to have local artists display their works around our walls and a few weeks ago we got to change things up with some wonderful works by Christine MacDonald.  I happened to be at the studio when the paintings were delivered and I was instantly excited.  With her bold colors and interesting, subtle details reflecting dancers' classical technique, Ms. MacDonald obviously either had or has dance training or a very keen eye.  I was impressed that her dancers have perfect lines, subtle tilts of the head to reflect epaulment and arched feet that would make Sylvie Guillem proud.  Here are a few of her pieces off her website, and below is a short bio of Ms. MacDonald taken from a brochure I found on here.  Click here for her website and enjoy!

Christine MacDonald was born and raised on Tiree, a remote Hebridean island of the west coast of Scotland.  Before settling in Sonoma with her husband in the early 1980's, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Painting from the University of Brighton, Sussex, England.  She is also an exhibiting member of The Arts Guild of Sonoma.

MacDonald's bold and visceral acrylic images are created from a combination of formal training and a spontaneous, instinctive dialogue with paint and canvas.  She paints majestic birds of prey, the human figure and abstracted elemental seascapes influenced by her Celtic childhood.  MacDonald has collectors throughout the United States and Europe.