The only reason I would want a Video iPod...

SESAME STREET PODCASTS!
(You can subscribe at iTunes.)
You can also watch them on your computer, which I am doing right now as I type. "Newspaper is the word on the street."

Tiara Thursday!

Here is more done. I have put on the large crystals and started making "points". So far so good. I have been commissioned to do some waterfall/chandelier earrings to match. Fun stuff.

Full of Dragons

You might notice that my "What I'm Reading" is full of dragons right now. Naomi Novik's 4th book came out today. I adore her Temeraire books. I have long been a fan of anything with dragons - I think I have read Anne McCaffrey's books almost once a year since I was 12. I am waiting just a few days to go and get my copy of "Empire of Ivory" as I just started re-reading the first three books in anticipation. This is only my second read of these and I am still loving them. I frequently reread books (unlike Andy who never does - weirdo). I like the way you can relive a good story, I don't ever mind that I already know how it ends. Anyhow, I recommend them to anyone who needs a little dragon in their life.

Project Tiara Part 2

The Framework



This is silver coated copper wire. It is very stiff, which is great, but makes it a bit of a challenge to work with. It seemed a little heavy here or somewhat cartoonish but the more beads I add, the better it looks, as you will see.



Here I have started to add the base of beads. I am putting more color towards the band and less as I go up, so this is full of purple, amber, green and orange. I think I am probably working with about 30 different kinds of beads. I have them sorted out by "layers" - large beads and more saturated colors towards the base and smaller, sparkly and more transparent towards the top.

And the winner is...

The winner of our "Sewing Stories Contest" is...

kenyetta

Please email me at beckarahn {at} gmail.com with your mailing address and I will send your prize.

Lucy did the name drawing. She loves paper.

Project Tiara

Step One: Materials Acquisition

I volunteered to make a tiara for my sister for her upcoming wedding. Yesterday I went on a little shopping trip to add to my bead supply and get a few extra things. Who knew that this...

was such a difficult thing to find. I have removed the white headband so I am working with just the comb. Next, starting to build the wire "crown".

My bead collection for this project is mostly in the frosted/white/clear range, but I am adding purple and warm coppery amber to the mix for the base so it has some color. Her flowers are all warm autumn colors and we, the bridesmaids, are in deep eggplant purple, so I am working with those colors in mind.

one fish, two fish....

...red fish, blue fish.
There was a thunderstorm last night and they say you should go to the basement if it's hailing and stuff like that, so Lucy and I went to the basement and made these earrings. Can't stop creating just because it's raining!

Avast!

Well, stitch me to the mainsail and throw me over! It be talk like a pirate day and I didn't even know it! Methinks some pirate talk would have brought a little sparkle to me day.

A Contest! Sewing Stories

In celebration of discovering my new-old favorite sewing machine, I am going to give away one of these little ornaments...
(your prize will be made up special just for you, so the fabrics won't match this photo exactly)

To enter, just leave a comment about your favorite sewing or crafting tool (sewing machine, thimble, scissors or humble seam ripper? You tell me!) I will randomly draw for a winner on September 24.

I have a new love.

And her name is Singer.

My sewing machine is ailing. It made a horrible strangled noise and quit this afternoon. I had just spent all of a couple of evenings cleaning the lint out, replacing the needle and all of that good stuff. To her credit, she had started to squeak, which is what made me think that I ought to do a good cleaning, so I did perhaps have a little warning. I don't think the problem is anything I did while cleaning (or putting her back together) but I am afraid, judging by the amounts of lint I pulled out, that a big blob of yuck has jammed in some plastic gears someplace I can't get to. This machine and I have a love/hate relationship. I spent a lot of money on her. She has a nifty thread cutter (which stopped working after about a year). She has a wonderful walking foot that makes me smile while making quilts and a buttonhole gizmo that works like a dream. She has an overlock stitch which is super nifty and dozens of fancy embroidery kinds of stitches (which sadly I use next to never). However, she also has a tendency to eat and/or tangle threads at the beginning of whatever you are working on, no matter what you do to prevent it (no, holding the ends doesn't work). She also likes to eat fabric if you get too close to the edge and groan about too many layers of fabric. She is computerized and so you can't get to or see anything. She is a Babylock QC700.

Today I had declared that I was going to work on puppets. It is time to get my butt in gear if I am going to have them ready for holiday show season. I lost a couple of evenings to cleaning the Babylock and Andy is off playing with the boys today, so I made a pot of tea, got out the gingersnap cookies and was ready to cruise through the 60+ puppets that are cut out and waiting for me. Approximately 1/16th in to one puppet Babylock uttered her death cry. (I am pretty sure she's not really dead, but it will cost me to get her revived.) I grumbled some choice words, shoved her under the end table and headed to the basement.

Several years ago, I got a couple of vintage machines as a "payment" for some costuming work I did. I got them home and admired them. Even cleaned up the 1952 Singer (so pretty) and figured out how to thread and wind bobbins. And then promptly put them away. Who needs an old Singer when you have the new fancy expensive machine. HAH! If I had only known! I am completely in love with the Singer. She sews beautifully. Best machine I have ever used. No thread tangling. Sews through layers of fleece like butter. Feed dogs that feed! Perfect tension. Fast - twice what my Baby lock can do! I finished something like 30 puppets just this afternoon. I may make fun of myself later for making all of this fuss, but for now I will just enjoy that new machine buzz.

Book Reports

Aimee Ray @ dreamfollow.com has been in my list of bookmarks for years. Her paintings and little stitched pieces are charming and I sometimes just wander the website on gloomy days for a pick me up. I ordered her new book from her etsy shop and I am delighted. The illustrations are lovely. It really is a book for beginners, but anyone could learn the stitches from her clear diagrams. The book has a "learn the stitches" section with photos and examples and is then followed by dozens of little projects you could finish in an evening or two. When I was 12, I would have checked this out from library every other week all summer long. It will come to embroidery classes with me from now on, I am sure.


I just got this today and although I haven't done much more than flip through I know I am going to love it. First is that it is spiral bound and will lay flat in the table in front of you. This is huge if you need both hands to do the braid that you are trying to figure out. I have another of her books all about kumihimo and it is the best. In flipping, I discovered a section on the lucet (I have one that I haven't figured out yet.) I will have more to report as I make my way through.

My father is Pond Scum.

I have permission to say that. He was at a conference in Boston last week and on a whim decided to go on the whale watching boat from the New England Aquarium. They saw dozen of whales. Little whales, big whales, whale tails, and whales spouting water. It is not fair.

Woof!

A gift for you!

Take one super cute puppy chewing on a shoelace, add a little photoshop and I give you: A puppy embroidery pattern! Print out the line drawing (if you click it will show you a bigger one) and trace on to fabric using your favorite tracing tools. Then embroider! I am planning to put this guy on a t-shirt so I thought I would share. If you do make something using my drawing, I would love to see a photo.

Sad News

U.S. writer Madeleine L'Engle, beloved for her classic science-fiction classic A Wrinkle in Time, has died, her publicist said Friday. She was 88.

L'Engle died Thursday of natural causes at a nursing home in Litchfield, Conn.

L'Engle is the author of more than 60 books, including works for both children and adults.

But she is best known for A Wrinkle in Time, which won the 1963 Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature and has never been out of print since its publication.

Somewhat ironically, I just picked up and started re-reading "A Wrinkle in Time" just yesterday. Andy and I found the series on sale at the bookstore recently and decided that it would be nice to have the set. I haven't read them in many years and I think I will enjoy making my way through them.

Groovy

I found these today for a steal! They are porcelain dolls of "retro" Kermit and Piggy. Kermit is cheesy, but Piggy I adore. All of the Piggy things I have just don't seem to capture the right sense of her but this is perfect! Yes, I already have more Muppet things than any one person needs, but how could I not have Miss Piggy meets Hairspray? (Yes, I did finally see it! Love it.)

'Cause you can't stop
The motion of the ocean
Or the sun in the sky
You can wonder if you wanna
But I never ask why

And if you try to hold me down
I'm gonna spit in your eye and say
That you can't stop the beat!

New "Kids"

A little inspiration struck... Don't know if it was state fair or the goats I saw at the farmers market, but I needed to make this little goat. Isn't she cute? She is a variation on the puppet pattern and just shy of 9 inches tall. Her dress is reversible and will close in the back with a snap. I didn't do much detail on the dress because I had an issue with the snap-put-on-thingy. Piece of junk. I threw it away. I will look for a better one. So this dress has half a snap. Grumble. I am thinking to do little animals with a small wardrobe - reversible dress, coat, scarf. Maybe even list some extra clothes separately, like a fancy party dress, jeans & a t-shirt.
So here's my question... Is a goat too strange? I love goats. The 3 Billy Goats Gruff is one of my favorite stories. So I think they are great. What do you think?

Welcome!

I have done a complete redesign of my blog space. I spent most of the weekend tweaking and fussing and I think it is ready to go. I switched the "engine" that processes everything to blogger, having realized that it really is easier than the cludgy old interface I was using. Thank you greymatter, you served me well.

• You can still find my old blog entries in the "My Old Blog" link in the right sidebar.
• I have a pretty new book list that should be much easier to keep up to date.
• I will have categories that you can click on to see all of my entries about "Lucy" or "enamels". (You can't see those really yet, but as I make more posts you will!)

Let me know if you see anything that is broken. After you look at it a few thousand times, you stop seeing things.

EDIT: I see that uploading pictures is not working. grrr. I am working on that.
EDIT 2: Think I fixed that....