My heart is in the highlands.

   

From where I live, I can smell the saltwater air when the wind is just right and the ocean has always felt like home.  But just when I thought I knew myself, I went to the mountains and discovered who I truly am--like layers of paint being stripped away from a piece of furniture to reveal it's natural state.  Since June, I have spent the majority of my time there.  Why hadn't I done so before?  I have stargazed from the highest ridges (If you've never seen the stars that way, you must!).  I have hiked through forests so pure and enchanted to discover hidden mountaintop meadows surrounded by wild strawberries, blueberries and blankets of wildflowers.  I have cast my worries into the deepest valleys and let rivers carry them far, far away...and felt renewed.  I have experienced a sense of gratitude deeper than I've ever felt.  I have had my breath taken away more times than I can count.  Looking out upon those meadows, I imagined how lovely and perfect it would be to have a cabin there, where I'd live a simple life filled with less "things" and more meaning.  I could see Chloe running through the wildflowers in a dress made by me and Elandon taking care of his sister and I.  It's a peaceful and soul-soothing place, the mountains.  The air is healing, it's visually breathtaking, there's an abundance of solitude, and the place in which you stand feels like a piece of sacred ground.

"Whether we are walking or climbing, mountains both comfort and inspire us.  We are affected--uplifted by them, and we firmly believe the affect to be a good one, though we cannot explain why." --RLG Irving

They have certainly inspired me.  They've inspired me to start creating and sewing again and are the inspiration behind my latest collection of dresses.  Like the mountains, each dress is rustic and beautiful.  They are rich in texture and warm.  They hold so much meaning to me--telling a story of this particular time in my life.  And the materials and textiles used are entirely found, foraged and salvaged.  There are six dresses in this collection, each named after one of the mountains in the Olympic Mountain Range.  I can't wait to share them with you!

Here is a sneak peak of "Mount Olympus"....