A Garden in my Jewelry Box

I glued vintage cabochons into bezels, and linked them with dyed green turquoise. The chain came from a commercial necklace I took apart.

A Present for a Little Girl

whose birthday party is Sunday. The party has a Wizard of Oz theme, so of course I could not buy any old present when I have lovely Wizard of Oz fabric in my stash.

A tote bag:
With a poppy field lining:

A drawing case:
(A note pad is supposed to go in the pocket to the left, but I have not bought it yet.)

The Year of the Dragon

The schools around here make a big deal of the Chinese New Year, which made me think of an old Piecework issue that had instructions for making a cute embroidered felt rooster for 2005. Of course, I never got around to doing it then, and subsequent years would need a different animal, but last week I decided to try my hand at designing my own pattern.

I studied the old pattern and the pictures of silk and cotton dragons in the accompanying article. I also read up on Chinese dragons, and how they are shaped like snakes, with four (usually) legs and no wings, and then sketched out the little guy. I decided the legs, tail feathers (or whatever) and head crest would be easier to manage if they were separate felt pieces attached to the body. I used the fly stitch to give the appearance of scales, and embroidered a few more details for the face and tail. The orange thingies are supposed to be flames coming out of the mouth; it didn't quite come out the way I'd intended. Otherwise, I'm quite pleased with the cutie.

Mr. Beadgirl reminded me that this is not the first Chinese dragon I've made. Years ago I made one out of beads and wire, and gave it to Mr. Beadgirl because he was so taken with it (usually he is indifferent to my work). Mr. Beadgirl christened it Edgar, and he sits on his desk at work.

Mr. Beadgirl just emailed me a picture of Edgar:

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault

The Broken Teaglass was a Christmas present from Mr. Beadgirl, and just what I needed during the Christmas season -- not too heavy, not too light, intriguing, and a quick read.

The plot starts when Billy and Mona, editors at a dictionary company, discover in the company's citation files references to a mysterious book, "The Broken Teaglass," one that does not appear to exist anywhere else. The mystery of what the book is doing there is resolved rather quickly, and in a non-surprising way, much to my disappointment. But this is the only complaint I have; the mystery as to the contents of the "Broken Teaglass" (rather than its form) is satisfying.

Of course, in a novel like this the mystery is only part of the point. The oddball characters Arsenault created are engaging, and the slow reveal of what's going on with Billy (for lack of a better way to state it) is well done. And on yet another level, this is a book about storytelling -- the stories we tell each other and ourselves, the reasons why we tell (or don't), and who "owns" the stories once told. I look forward to reading more by Arsenault.

Rose Ring

A quick little pick-me-up after a rough day. The rose is an inexpensive button, and I used size 8 seed beads and fireline (run through the beads three times) to make the ring. I love it! I have another button, which I am thinking of making into another ring to sell, but what size?

Steampunk Bracelet

The inspiration for this design came from some awesome zippers I found in a tiny little quilt/fabric store in Carlisle, PA, on my way to visit Beadmom and Fr. Beadbrother. Unlike the dyed plastic zippers of today, these had brass metal teeth and were nice and big. I snapped up the zippers in black, brown, beige, and burgundy and plotted what to do with them.*

The bracelet came together over several months. I first unzipped it and cut off a length from the end to wrap around my wrist, with extra to spare for finishing. I turned the teeth out so the brass would serve as a kind of picot edging. I tea-dyed some white lace and sewed it between the two strips, and then I sewed on various watch parts, using crystals to hold them in place.

The last step was to make a loop on one end from gold-painted size 6 seed beads (I hope the finish does not wear off, but if it does I can replace the loop) and attach a gold-plated button on the other. The button is quite plain, but it was the best fit for the bracelet. If I ever find a suitable charm, gear, or watch part I'll glue it on to the top.

Unfortunately it's winter, which is long-sleeve weather, which on me means sleeves to my knuckles. So I can't really show the bracelet off yet.

*While I was in the store, the proprietor and another customer, both in their 50s-60s, spent the entire time complaining about how young women today don't know how to sew a button and have no interest in sewing. Apparently they are unaware of the growing popularity of needlearts among all sorts of people -- crafty types, hipsters, green/eco types, young homemakers, artists, city people, country folks, retro and vintage lovers, people on a budget, and so on. Also, I wonder what they thought of me buying zippers. (I didn't tell them I would be "repurposing" them.) (assuming I still count as a "young woman.")

Definitely Elegant

The design over all, that is. My D is not elegant, because I apparently was a little shaky when I traced it, so the lines are crooked and those shapes in the center of each side can only be called polygons, not diamonds. Plus the white thread was not great at covering all of my shaky purple permanent marks (I wish I'd known about Pretty By Hand's tip of marking the spot for a detatched chain stitch with just two dots, for the top and bottom). Once I finish the rest of the sampler I should tear out the D's stitches and redo it, perhaps . . . ah, who am I kidding? That D isn't changing.

The E came out nicely, however, which is surprising given how much I hate satin stitch. I used the weave of the linen to keep the stitches spaced evenly, so perhaps that's the secret.