It's been 97 years...

...and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was...

Just taking a moment to think about the lives lost and those affected by the Titanic tragedy.

There was a neat article in the St. Louis Post this past week. Close descendants of one of the late surviors live in the next county from me. You can read it HERE.

You can find more of my Titanic posts HERE. More to come!

Titanic~ The ship of dreams~

Are you ready to board Titanic?

~~~*Drum roll please*~~~

*These images and painting are copyrighted*

Isn't it fabulous!?

This wasn't a surprise; I knew my SIL Joyce was painting it. But still, I am blown away. She told me she was going to paint it for me long ago. We discussed how it should look, etc. I said I wanted the ship to be HUGE, and as if it were coming at me out of the canvas. I wanted a bright sky, not dreary or night time. I think she completely nailed it. I love the lighting on the funnels. The color of the water is gorgeous.

(The photo doesn't do it justice)

The red stripe at the bottom is the perfect shade.

It will hang in our stairwell upstairs. Joyce said after she finished it she raised her arms and said "I'm the king of the world!" WOOOHOO! I don't blame her, what a work of art, patience, time and love.

(Speaking of Somewhere in Time, see her sweatshirt? Joyce has been to the Grand Hotel and took pics of it for me!)

Joyce is an art teacher and has already begun to nurture the *budding artist* in Nova. It runs in the family as Kevin and Joyce's Great Grandpa painted. Nova loves to paint, perhaps he'll be next!

Just look at the detail!

There is a window in my stairway in the the back left if you're looking at the painting. The sun will stream in just enough to look like that is where the light source is coming from; hitting the ship just so~ it's perfect! You can click the picture to enlarge~
The steam and smoke, the lifeboats... the shading... wow.

Melly cat had to approve~
It will be hung higher and I want a shelf below to create a vignette.
Note: we are not finished with the staircase~ and the entire hallway decor upstairs will be inspired by the great ship's corridors and staterooms.

I played with pictures of the painting and turned it black and white. Joyce and I both gasped as it looks like an actual photo of the ship.

The Titanic has always fascinated me, so it wasn't just the movie Titanic with Kate and Leo that started my obsession. It just added fuel to the fire, BIG TIME. My dad and I have always talked about it, and there are many other movies and of course documentaries on the ship other than the Rose/Jack version.

Here are a few of my movies. I know I have more stuff I have taped somewhere. Joyce found some of these for me too!

This is a collection of books and such. I have a book from 1912, and an album with survivers telling their stories; both of which I have put in one of those "special" places that I can't remember where. I hope to find them soon.

This is the book that had the picture of the ship that I liked best, so that's what she went with.

Joyce obviously has a passion for Titanic as well. She also painted me this cool cherub~ inspired from the broken one off of the grand staircase. I love the gleaming metal look of it!

We've gone to one of the exhibits together about three years ago in St. Louis, MO, and then to the Titanic museum in Branson, MO this summer. I've been to a few other exhibits, including one in Kansas City, MO. Kevin took me to the last Titanic dinner and to see the musical when we were first dating as a surprise. I already knew then he was a keeper, but that definitely sealed the deal, lol!

Joyce and I in St. Louis~

The dome pic featured on my banner~

Are you still here? Goody! Then I must show you a few of my costumes too!

And let's not forget my Rose doll collection!

OH, the necklace I'm wearing in the first pic while holding the painting is a replica of one brought up from the actual ship. This replica is much larger than the original.

So anyhoo... back to the star of the show here! JOYCE. I cannot thank you enough. Your hard work and talent is MUCH appreciated and I shall display this materpiece with great pride. Love and hugs to you!

I also want to thank all of you special blogging friends for being here to share my prize gift today! Big hugs to you all as well!

Nikki

Back to Titanic

I'm going to fast forward through our Branson trip. I'll get back to the family reunion later, when I get more photos from my SIL.

TITANIC.

I can't explain it. I get a lump in my throat when I go to these exhibits and museums. I make sure I'm doing something Titanic related every year on April 14th and 15th~ to pause and think about the lives lost and what the passengers endured. Not only the passengers, but their family and friends who were awaiting their arrival.

As you all know, I'm obsessed with costumes. Especially period clothing. The edwardian era is one of my favorites with it's slim lines and empire waists.

Since we were going to be in Branson, I of course had to visit the Titanic Museum again. We went last year for the first time, and I wore the Flying Dress. (And the staff remembered me from last year, I thought that was so cool!!)

This year I was finally lucky enough to find a Sinking dress on eBay that looked presentable. (It is also known as the swim dress or water dress.) I have seen many repros, but most are made using the Simplicity 8399 pattern, which looks like a maternity dress. The fabric should not be gathered at the waist. Doesn't look too bad on the pattern cover, but the dresses I've seen made up really show the puffiness. (Same goes for the Jump dress!!) Here are some repros to compare. My favorite on that site is Jennifer Laconte's.

I'm quite happy with the dress I found, tho I do want to alter it some. For one thing it's too big for me. I've got it rigged up in the back for these photos. I want to change out the lace on top and add some beading. I'd also like to do some ombre dying to the panels, and change out the sash and cumberbun thingie for real tissue silk instead of the polyester. Still, I like mine even better than the J. Peterman reproduction!

All of these things I wanted to do before I went down to Branson this time. But alas, I'm deathly afraid of my new sewing machine. It's two years old and I've never even threaded the thing! I'll tackle it one of these days.

Ok, so without further ado, here I am in my swim dress in front of the museum. This is a crummy pic of me with my eyes shut, but good of the dress, lol

Kate wearing one of the originals for screen tests.

Here is a sketch of how the original swim gown was to be. I really like this version, except for the bust area. I do like the use of pink velvet for the sash tho!

This clip shows the gown made as sketched. Be sure to note how the screen version shown in the actual film flows behind Kate. I LOVE that.
And I wanted you to see how mine flows too! There was a replica of the corridor in the museum, with a mirrored wall on both ends. I wanted to run thru there and watch my dress, lol...I *really* felt like Rose in that little area. Corny, I know.

Here are some photos of my dress, tho this is not me. It's the person I bought the gown from, (I assume!)

Photography is not permited on the *ship*. They will however take your photo in front of a blue screen, and then super-impose you onto the staircase, ect. Then of course they want some $$$. I chose not to buy them as I found out you can view them online.

So here they are~ I asked them to take a pic of my back so it would look like I was walking up the stairs, they looked at me like I was nuts but they did it. I think it turned out pretty well!

We couldn't talk the museum folks into letting me take real photos, but we did twist their arm last year. Only thing was, they took the pics and they all came back blury. I was so disapointed! I still bought them tho, I figured it was all I was going to get.

The museum is really neat, and has some great artifacts. I love being able to see part of the ship they built and to walk up the grand staircase. The feeling is breathtaking.

They will have Rose's Jump dress and sinking coat, along with several hats from the film there until December.

If you are interested in Titanic Era gowns, esp. those from the film, this Titanic Dress group is for you. Speaking of Titanic dresses... I love how Rue's wedding gown looks like Rose's *heaven dress*. And she looks gorgeous in it!