Everybody Loves a Clown!

The "theme" of Beadboy1's summer school is the circus, and he was assigned a project to do at home, something he could share with his class.  I picked clowns because that's something he likes about the circus (second to food, and I wasn't interested in helping him do a presentation about popcorn and cotton candy and hot dogs).  I even did some research about clowns with him, although I'm not sure how much of that he retained.*

Making a clown face suited my crafty inclinations, would be quick and easy to do, and would be fun for Beadboy1.  I pulled together some supplies:

I then had him glue it all together:

According to his teacher, he was thrilled to show it off.  He's a sweetheart, and so easily pleased.  (Usually.  We're entering the tween stage.)


*For the curious, there are four main types -- Whiteface, Auguste, Character, and New Vaudeville.  Some replace the last category with the Tramp/Hobo.

Book Round-Up

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline:An interesting look at a time period when mysterious "Sea Peoples" attacked nations throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Cline's thesis is that the Sea Peoples were actually not as mysterious or as unified as scholars previously thought, and that there were a variety of interconnected factors, events, and changes that led to the collapse of so many civilizations.  The book is well-researched, but a little repetitive; I think it would have worked better as a long journal article rather than a book.

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev:A delightful romance with Indian protagonists.  There is a lot of melodramatic plot, befitting the Bollywood influence, but fortunately the prose isn't too purple.  The best part was the glimpse into Indian cultures, and the differences that arise in such a culturally diverse country -- north and south, city and country, modern and traditional.  Also, the food; I've been craving Indian food ever since I read this.

Season for Surrender by Theresa Romain:This starts out like the typical Regency romance, with an aristocratic rake, a virginal spinster, debauched nobles, a no-nonsense elderly family member, and an eeeeeevil nemesis.  But then, the rake and the spinster actually talk to each other.  A lot.  And in the process they get to know and trust each other, and learn about themselves and what they really want.  As a result, the expected happy ending for the couple was absolutely earned and quite satisfying.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke:After re-reading Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, of course I re-read these stories set in the same universe.  They are wonderfully English and atmospheric, and beautifully enhanced with illustrations by Charles Vess.  Ms. Clark, please write more!

The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger:A modern take on the epistolary novel, comprising of emails, notes, memos, legal briefs, court filings, statutes, and caselaw.  Sophie's handling of her first (and only) divorce was fun and frothy, if a bit unrealistic; the memos between her and her partners are remarkably casual and personal -- good for narrative purposes, but a lawsuit waiting to happen in the real world.  The novel is set right around the time I began practicing law, and I finished the book all nostalgic for that time and thinking maybe I should go back to litigation (ha!).

Pop Culture Badges

Last year Wendi Gratz of Shiny Happy World started making felt merit badges as a way of keeping track of her monthly goals and achievements.  I thought that was a neat idea, but I knew I'd never have the time to do something like that (plus my monthly achievements would be things like prepping X items for serials inventory, filling out medical forms in triplicate, spending Y minutes navigating a bureaucratic phone tree,  successfully shuttling kids from point A to point B, and so on -- not a lot of fun to embroider).

Making badges with various geeky symbols, on the other hand, would be both fun and more manageable.  First up was the coat of arms for the Raven King, from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: argent, raven volant.  I traced the raven image from the book jacket onto water-soluble stabilizer and pinned that onto a piece of cream felt.  I used black thread (Gentle Arts Sampler Thread in Soot) and long-and-short stitch to stitch the raven:

Almost done!

Once I was finished stitching I rinsed the piece in water to remove the stabilizer (and several more times to remove excess black dye that ran) and dried it on a towel:

As I've said before, clear water-soluble stabilizer is a great way to embroider a pattern on felt without having to transfer the markings onto the felt itself, and it allows me to tweak the stitching as I go along without having to worry about exposed permanent marks on the fabric.

The finished badge:

Next up was the deathly hallows symbol from the Harry Potter books:

Another badge of black-on-white embroidery would be boring, so I chose grey and metallic silver thread used together on periwinkle felt.

The third badge has the Stonecutters' symbol from the Simpsons:

Who rigs every Oscar night?

I've been wanting to embroider this symbol ever since I spent a month looking at it last year on my Tapped Out game.

I hope to have a chain of these eventually.  Next up: something from The Lord of the Rings.  Oh, and I have to do Babylon 5.

Fireworks Cookies

Happy Fourth of July!  Here are some Fireworks cookies I made:

I used the Mexican Hot-Chocolate Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart. I omitted the step where one rolls balls of dough in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and chili powder, and instead dipped (very sticky) blobs of dough in the star sprinkles.  I baked them ten minutes as per the recipe, and they came out perfect.

Mmm .... star sprinkles ...

We will be enjoying these while watching the fireworks on TV tonight.  Last year we got to see local fireworks from our back yard, but I don't think we'll be so lucky this year, given the clouds and rain. Enjoy the day!