Tips from Stina The Renegade Seamstress

Blue Ridge Sassenach

Wandering along the Blue Ridge Parkway I came upon a most beautiful unsuspecting creature. The Blue Ridge Sassenach cloaked in yellow brocade clothe brighter then the sun. She had appeared suddenly above the Haw Creek Overlook as the fullness of the sun broke over the valley. I asked her how she came to be in 2021 and she looked down at the Amethyst Point in her hand.

The story she relayed to me was eerie and enthralling. The crystal had apparently transported her through space and time... I love time travelogues and this fashionista seemed not a stranger but a familiar sentient being. She collided with the landscape, and was one with the natural world; she was  a mother from the universe appearing to heal the landscape’s vibrations.

We have all experienced some type of time warp over the last year. The first year  of the pandemic shifted our previous timelines.   Netflix and Hulu inundated our subconscious and dream states. The storyline that enchanted me was that of Claire the English Sassenach who came to be living in Scotland 200 years before her original timeline. I had became #outlanderobsessed sometime in the Fall of 2019. My bestie and I started watching the Outlander STARZ television series based on the historical fantasy novels by American author Diana Gabaldon. The pandemic gave pause to the recording of the 6th season; sew after a dramatic 5th season cliffhanger, we were left in #droughtlander mode. After watching the series three times sequentially; I began reading the books to satiate my #outlanderobession  The only way to quench my Outlander thirst was to capture in photographs the beautiful world that Diana’s story helped me create during the worst of times.

The words of Diana Gabaldon are concise and mysterious, her style  is driven by her passion for historical and contemporary fusion of dialogue.  Excerpts from Outlander Chapter II Standing Stones are presented as captions to our Blue Ridge Sassenach story. Enjoy!

“I thought there might be a beehive lodged in some crevice of the rock, and placed a hand on the stone in order to lean into the cleft.”

“I could say that my field of vision contracted to a single dark spot, then disappeared altogether, leaving not darkness, but a bright void.”

“I could say that I felt as though I were spinning, or as though I were being pulled inside out.”

“All these things are true, yet none of them conveys the sense I had of the complete disruption of being slammed very hard against something that wasn’t there.”

“I was in the heart of chaos, and no power of mind or body was of use against it.”

“I cannot really say I lost consciousness, but I was certainly not aware of myself for sometime.” 

“I “woke, “if that’s the word, when I stumbled on a rock near the bottom of the hill.”
 The Blue Ridge Sassenach climbed aboard ARTeries Mobile Boutique thanks to model Cindy Bowen and photographer Morgan Ford.

"Every Woman Wants a Dress No One Else Has"

Read more →

How to Host a Successful Clothing Swap

I highly recommend you create a fun, playful atmosphere where women can feel free to play and explore new looks! Clothes swaps can empower women to unleash their creativity and explore new color schemes.

The joy of clothes swapping is beyond measure! To take a bag of unwanted garments to a party and swap them  out for new desirable clothes is like getting a makeover without the cost.

Read more →

Building a new Boutique!

"Our hope for the new Boutique is that it builds upon the collaborative magic that is created by our collective of designers, and meets with a more successful market through Jenna's renovations and rebranding as the place to shoppe for local Asheville fashion."- Stina Andersen

Read more →