2 corinthians 12:10

This past week, my mom decided to take a last minute trip up to northern Michigan just to get away from everything for a couple of days. We went to a place called Crystal Lake and it’s always been one of my favorite places to go to ever since I was little. Every evening we went to see the sunset on the shore of Lake Michigan. The wind off the lake would softly blow on my face while the sun slowly went down into the earth; casting different colors that signaled the day's end. I’ve watched the sunset every night since by brother's passing and it always reassures me that if a sunset on earth is this beautiful then heaven must be a million times more lovely…and that’s where my brother is.

Today is exactly one month since he went to live forever in happiness with Jesus Christ…it’s been the hardest month of my life, and all I know is that the many prayers that people have been praying have been holding me up right now during this time. Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers…it truly means a lot to me.

Isaiah 25:8

Sorry I’ve been so quite lately…last week was my trip to New York, but it didn’t turn out the way I was planning it to. My older brother, Daniel, passed away the Monday that I left. I found out about it on the flight to New York. My dad wanted my mom and I to go on with the week, but by Tuesday we were both really homesick and we just wanted to get home to be with family.

Thursday morning, once I woke up my mom called me over to come and talk. She had the dress that I had made to wear to Carnegie Hall. I thought that she was going to say that she wanted me to wear it to the funeral, but instead she said that she wanted me to wear it to Carnegie Hall.

That morning while I was still sleeping she asked my sister Ruth if she would go with me to New York. My sister said yes and my mom made all the plans by the time I woke up. So Friday morning we took an early flight and made it to the award ceremony 10 minutes before I had to be there. It was very special and even though my brother passed away I like to think that he received part of that award as well.

(photos taken by Ruth)

Max and Joslyn from the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. They've always been so helpful and supportive of me and I'm so thankful for them.


My brother was 21-years-old and he’s now in Heaven with his beloved Jesus Christ who he believed in with his whole heart. I miss you Dan.

A fire shut up in my bones Jer 20:9

Welp, I took the SAT this morning and I feel pretty good about it...well, most of it at least. Thank you all for your tips, they really helped me out! :) Now I just have my finals Wednesday and my summer will finally begin! I say this every year, but my summer plans are to lock myself in my room and sew all day! What are your summer plans? I want to hear them!

If you click on the photos you can see them better :)
Dress: Sent by Sheinside
Converse: Thrift store $1

Lately I’ve really been inspired by ballet dancers. Which is kind of ironic, because I was a dance school dropout at the age of four. I was a huge tomboy and I just thought that dancing was considered too girly. So I dropped ballet and switched over to soccer. I’ve always secretly wanted to do it again.

Although, I've always had a thing for Michael Jackson's dance moves. About 4 or 5 years ago I was completely obsessed with him! For that whole summer I was on YouTube watching every "Dance like Michael Jackson" tutorial that I could find...yes I was that person. Although by the end of that summer I was at least able to do a fairly decent moon walk without totally tripping over my feet and falling. haha


If you’re thinking of buying something from Sheinside you can use this code“fromthesticks2012” and get 20% off until May 31st.

60s style

Hello everyone! Here’s a photo shoot that I did of the blouse that I was telling you about. There’s this really beautiful, old abandoned church that’s over by my house and it’s a really cool place for doing photo shoots. There’s this old lady who lives right beside it, and she came out right while I was in the middle of the photo shoot. She took one look at me, stared for a second, and then went right back inside her house. Haha I feel bad, I must have scared her off.









^Check out this cute little guy ^_^





I made my blouse using the Built by Wendy 4112 pattern. I made a few adjustments to the sleeves and neck tie. The leather shorts actually used to be pants that I got from Goodwill on the 50% off day.

I also made the sunglasses that I’m wearing. The frames are cut out from the cover of an old hardbound book. I then painted the frames orange and took clear finger nail polish for a protective layer. The lenses are cut out of a two liter pop bottle. They’re a bit flimsy, but still fun to wear :)

I hope that you all have a lovely day!!

BurdaStyle Interview

Hello everyone!! How’s your week been going so far? A couple weeks ago the lovely people at BurdaStyle asked about doing an interview about the process of making the masking tape dress. If you’d like you can check it out here :)



Also, sorry I’ve been so slow in posting lately. I only have 3 weeks of school left so I’ve been busy working on my final presentations that I have to give along with studying for the dreaded finals week D: Along with that I’ve been studying for the SAT which is, of course, the same week of my finals (oh I’m so nervous!) Do you have any studying tips that you felt worked for you when studying for the SAT? If so I’d love to hear them! I finished sewing a blouse the other day, so hopefully I’ll be able to take pictures of it later this week.

Until then, I hope that you all have a fabulous day and hopefully I’ll be able to post more things later this week!

April showers bring May flowers

Hello everyone! It’s been so hot here in Indiana the past couple of weeks! Last week it hit a record high of 86 degrees! I’ve had to wear sunblock all week, just so that I don’t burn (oh the joys of being a redhead). Because it’s been so hot lately, all of the flowers are out early this year. For years, every spring my mom has been splitting daffodil bulbs and replanting then all over our yard so that they can grow and multiply. Now after years of doing this, there are thousands of daffodils all over our yard. It reminds me of that scene in “Big Fish” when the main character finally tells the girl that he loves her and there are daffodils everywhere. What are some of your favorite movie scenes? I have a whole list of favorites, but I want to hear yours :)







^This is my cat Bobby. He's going to be 15-years-old in June!


I hope that you’re all having a great weekend so far!!

Red Tree Frog

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a lovely Monday! Here are some better photos of the dress that I wore to the Funky Formal for the Scholastics announcements. The dress is based off of a Dior design that I saw a while back, but with a couple design adjustments. The pattern is my own. Let me tell you, this dress has so many hours of hand sewing! All of the piping that you see on the bodice was hand sewn. All of the feathers that you see on the skirt were sewn to tulle panels using a baste stich and then they are hand sewn onto the tulle skirt. The zipper in the back is just attached to the bodice, then there’s a placket with snaps sewn on that connects the rest of the skirt. That way the zipper doesn’t get in the way of the feathers. The dress is fully lined, but I’m thinking of going back and adding some pockets to the dress…I’m a huge fan of pockets! :) What are some functional elements that you like to have on dresses?















P.S. How cute is my dog!!