Oak Leaf Brooch

The background for this brooch is based on a loose tracing of a very small oak leaf I picked up during yesterday's walk around my country home.

It's been absolutely wonderful around here for the last few days with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. It looks like today will be the last nice day before the colder weather sets in.

Dusty Rose Brooch

This is a really tiny brooch I made utilizing some beautiful yarn in my stash.

I guess I should say a word about the craft show I did a couple of weeks ago. Actually, a word does come to mind but best not say it here.

It turned out to be one of those church bazaar type sales with cakes, pies, jams, little knitted things, discontinued Tupperware, etc. The attendance was low due to rainy weather.

I basically sat there for five hours, people watching. Not one sale and hardly any interest. It was as if I was invisible. They kept charging by my table to get to the woman next to me who was selling halloween candies and chocolates that she made and packaged up herself. She was raking in the dough.

I am just grateful that hubby showed up half way through. He was good company and we kind of sat there and joked about the whole thing - what else can you do?

It obviously wasn't the right venue for me. I kept thinking something positive will come out of this and in fact it did. Later that evening, hubby and I went to a Halloween costume party. I met a woman there who makes kilts for a living. She suggested I use tartan fabrics in my dolls to appeal to the Highland dancer crowd.

I have some authentic small scale tartan cotton fabric (very hard to find) from my last Scotland trip, but I need more. So seeking out tartan will be one of my missions whenever I'm near a fabric store or thrift shop.

Halloween Brooch

This is the brooch I made for the goul costume I wore to the Halloween dress up party we went to last Saturday. I will be getting dressed up again tonight when the kids come by for treats.

Please leave a comment here for a chance to win the Icicle Doll giveaway.

Don't eat too much chocolate and candy today.

Cheers.

Navy and Pink Face Brooch

Presently, I have a couple of unfinished dolls that I intended to work on. As usual, I got distracted and dove into a different project. I read about an interesting swap on Monica's Girl Gone Thread Wild blog that I thought would be fun. Sassy Art Goddess is hosting the fourth annual Beaded Face Swap. The challenge is to "create a brooch/pin no larger that 2 ½ x 2 ½ inches. Anything goes for the face as long as it implies a human face and has SOME beads."

I don't have a problem with the face part but I have stated before that I'm a simpleton when it comes to beadwork. You're probably supposed to use special needles and thread and work with a pre-stuffed form. I use regular needles and thread and work flat.

What you see above is what I came up with. Now I've looked at the previous years' submissions and they are impressive. Most of them are loaded with artfully and skillfully arranged beads surrounding 3D (polymer clay?) faces. My face is 2D on cloth with fewer beads.

I'll have to think about whether or not to submit this. Maybe I'll take another stab at it...or maybe not.

Brooch

I made a doll and a brooch yesterday, which I had hoped to post here today. The problem is that my best photos are taken outdoors and with the steady snowfall today, there was no opportunity for a photography session out there. Here's the best indoor shot I could manage of the brooch.

The muslin face is sewn onto two circles of red and green felt. The face is encased with red seed beads with three red sequins on the forehead. The facial features are drawn with glitter pens so they do not appear as clear in the photo as they really are. The finished size is two inches in diameter.

I made it to the fabric store today and managed to drive the saleslady crazy with all my cuts of .2 and .3 metres of various cottons for future crafting projects.

The nice surprise in the mail today was a Dotee Doll from my swap partner. I will post of picture of the doll tomorrow.