It's Been A While.

I admit, it has been quite a long time since I posted here. Mainly because I was working on house projects - painting practically the whole inside of the house - and partly because I was working outside more. I didn't do much crafting or artwork. Fortunately, all those inside projects are finished, and with winter coming, chores in the garden are pretty much over. It was time to get back into the craft/art/writing groove.

There was a very good reason why this light jacket was my first project. Actually, it was one I started a couple of months ago. This jacket is to replace the first one I made for my friend for her birthday a year ago.  She and her partner lost their house, and everything in it, this summer to one of the California fires. Along with helping them replace some books and DVDs, I was eager to make another custom piece for her, to replace the one destroyed. 

And here it is. Goodwill T-shirt cut up the front, banding sewn on with embroidery thread in the feather stitch, and beaded with small, matte silver beads, and rough, flat, ceramic beads that came from a broken necklace (these beads had also been used on the jacket that was lost) I loved the shirt pattern, as it made me think of storm clouds. 

This is the beautiful jacket that was lost in the fire. The necklaces she managed to save when they evacuated. 

So now it is time for some new projects. With that in mind, I wanted to up the ante in my beadwork skills. Almost exclusively I have been beading over stencils. The only embroidery being sewing binding on to T-shirts or jackets, like the two above. Months ago, while at Barns & Noble Bookstore, I found a wonderful book titled "Bead Embroidery Chinese Style" by Han Yu. It was just the thing I was looking for. Lots of new techniques to learn - along with patience (not my best virtue) - that I could apply to the clothes I love to make from recycled T-Shirts. The idea of adding embroidery in conjunction with the beading and stenciling has me very excited. Many of the projects in the book are three-dimensional, which is a complete departure from how I am used to working. 

Having gone years without doing any intricate embroidery, I had to go buy supplies. JoAnn's here I come! Well, there I went, anyway. I bought a hoop, DMC thread in fun colors, and a package of assorted embroidery needles. Luckily, I already had a yard or so of organza, one of the fabrics recommended in the book, in a beautiful antique gold. So, now I am all set to play.

Needless to say, along with learning this new skill, I will also continue writing (I really need to finish that book!), and have decided to hook up with a trainer so my horse and I can learn dressage. That's pretty exciting as well.

Looks like it is going to be a busy, but fun, winter. 

Lots Going On

Much like my last post, the Covid-19 virus is keeping me home most of the time. So I continue to work with supplies that I have on hand...which for me is quite a lot. Between the beads, jewelry findings, Goodwill T-shirts, paints, and stencils, I am pretty much good to go with almost anything. I also managed to do a cute little birdbath from recycled bits. So, here we go.

All of the items are available other than those marked with an * after the description, which denotes they have already been spoken for. 

The top necklace is made of clear crystals (they look pink because they are picking up the color from the dress form), teal blue glass beads, and silver beads. There is a set of simple earrings to match.

The green necklace is made up of green glass beads, gold and green bulge beads, brass spacers, and vintage long glass beads taken from an old necklace that was broken. *

This necklace is made up of brass plaques set with black stones, and what was a filigree brass earring. 

Going from top left to right = Silver Celtic knot with yellow bead and silver bees *, Silver Scotch thistle hung with green beads and silver feathers *, Gold faux-coin discs (reverse side has a religious figure but I don't know who it is) with black and gold glass beads.*

Bottom left to right = Clear crystal and dark green beads, Blue squares topped with silver and blue beads, Pale blue squares topped with silver and opaque white mini-crystals. 

This shirt was one that had been cut out and beaded, then put on a back burner for over a year. I finally finished it. It is made of Goodwill T-shirts, stenciled, and beaded. The binding is sewn on with feather stitch embroidery. I may end up beading the binding as well, but for now at least it is off my "to finish" list. *

This is a shirt I did a while back, but I have decided to let it go. I have a lot of beaded shirts and my closet is starting to look a little OCD with beaded stuff. LOL The T-shirt is a size M, with a stenciled, beaded and stitched appliqué. The center piece is a silver Celtic knot. 

And this was my little recycle project. The wire base was a plant cage filled with succulents. They outgrew the basket that was in the bottom, so I took them out, and took off the top of the cage. The glass bowl was a light fixture we took out when we remodeled the kitchen. The small hole in the bottom was plugged with a bit from a kneaded art erasure (I couldn't find my floral putty). I filled the bowl with glass "stones" leftover from those we put in our propane fire pit. I am going to look for some artificial greenery to fill in the bottom of the cage. The crock was one I bought decades ago at the Rose Bowl swap meet, and the slate was leftover from another project. I added a couple of rocks for the birds to stand on and eh voila! Birdbath. It only took the birds about two days to find it and start to use it. There is also a little tree frog that likes to hang out in it as well. That made me quite happy. 

If you are interested in anything shown you can leave a comment here and I will get back to you. 

Hope you are all staying safe in these chaotic times. 

While in Self-Isolation

I haven't talked about the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has affected not only my life, but the lives of others. I keep abreast of the latest scientific news, my husband (who works at an "essential" business) and I know what the risks are, and take precautions accordingly. And since both of us are in the "high risk" age group, we are cautious about talk of things opening up in our area. That being said, and with me being retired and pretty much an introvert, my lifestyle hasn't changed all that much. I try to concentrate on doing positive things, be it working in the garden, riding my horse, or raiding my stash of beads, jewelry findings, Goodwill T-shirts, stencils, art supplies, or writing. 

So between dragging a hose around to water the yard/garden, doing construction and painting of some Working Equitation obstacles for an upcoming WE clinic me and my partner are putting on June 6-7, and with outside temps rising into the 90s during the middle of the day, I have been retreating indoors and listening to Dr. Martin Shaw podcasts or his YouTube videos, and playing with jewelry making again. Last month I made a couple of necklaces at birthday gifts (see previous post), but  I wanted to do something a little more elaborate, again, using things I already had on hand. 

The first was this necklace, which I think has a very Renaissance flavor to it. I liked this necklace so much I intend to keep it, and that eventually when the artificial pearls start to lose their luster, I may remake it with real pearls. 

The one I just finished today is in a similar style, but made in a difference color scheme. The blue accent drops are from a vintage necklace picked up somewhere, that was broken, or missing pieces. I have had it for ages, so I don't really remember. 

They were not intended to be worn together, but they do make quite the statement when they are!

For both of these necklaces I made simple matching earrings. 

I had a lot of fun getting back into making jewelry, so I am looking forward making more pieces using only what I already have handy. 

Something else on my radar as a possible future project is a sweater coat made with some of my stash of Goodwill T-shirts. My inspiration for this comes from an amazing lady named Katwise, who makes stunning, one-of-a-kind sweaters and coats out of the sweaters she collects from all over the country. Most of her things, as much as I love them, are too flamboyant for me. However, I starting wondering if I could do something similar, a bit less flamboyant, more conservative in color, with the material I get from cutting up men's XXL T-shirts. This afternoon I made a quick sketch, thinking about a simple, simple knee-length coat, just to test and play around with to see if it would even work. For starters I found an old McCalls pattern I had (number 4243) that would give me a boxy bodice easily split up the middle, to which I could add sleeves and a pieced full skirt.  I also considered that if it worked, I could stencil and bead parts of it, to tart it up a bit. 

This is the rough sketch, with a few notes. Once the Working Equitation clinic is over and I can clear off my big worktable out in the garage (now covered with paints, and misc. building supplies) I can start playing with fabric again. With the summer temperatures rising into the high 80s and 90s, this will be a fun project to do when working outside is not really an option.

This is how an introvert stays sane in these chaotic times. Hope you  all stay safe and find your own ways to keep positive. 

Recycled Style 5

It has been quite a while since I posted anything here. Been working on other projects not related to clothing or beading. But now I am caught up, and can post three projects that were all finished up within the last month. Being in Covid-19 self-isolation for almost two months gave me plenty of time to finish these projects - and I admit, it helped that for two of them I was on a deadline. LOL

All material in these clothing items were T-shirts bought at the Goodwill unless otherwise noted. Beads and embroidery thread from my stash. 

Crafters/artists/jewelry makers/sewers, etc. sometimes get teased about all the supplies we stash away for "someday." But with all the stores closed due the pandemic, having a supply of things on hand to tide me over worked out really well. 

First item is a light jacket I made for a very good friend who shares the same birthday date as mine.  The necklaces were made to wear as a pair. 

The jacket was a woman's size M T-shirt that I cut up the middle, and also took about four inches off the sleeves to make them 3/4 length instead of full. The banding is sewn on with embroidery thread in a feather stitch, then beaded using regular sewing thread. The tank top under the jacket is an old one of mine, and used to show how the jacket could be worn. I like these light jackets for summer, so when I go into a restaurant where the air-conditioning is on full blast and set at arctic temperatures I won't freeze to death. 

The second project that I finished is this beaded and stitched mandala shirt. The stencil was done on a sleeve cut from another shirt (I have dozens of these sleeves, cut from XXL mens shirts when I use the body of the shirt as flat fabric). The paint color is Coastal Waters by Americana. The beads were ones from my stash. The stenciled sleeve was backed by another cut off sleeve, then pinned to the front of the shirt. Here is the sequence.

I like the design of this mandala very much, but in retrospect think it would have been better on the back of a jacket, or on a sweatshirt, as its size seems to overwhelm the T-shirt. 

Lastly is a necklace I made as a birthday gift. 

All this productivity has left me with just one old project to finish that has been sitting sidelined for months. With things still pretty much in lockdown, although some restrictions are lifting, I have plenty of time to catch up on things and then start new projects. That's always exciting. 

Hope you are all staying safe and healthy. 

Thinking

Thinking about Dr. Martin Shaw's concept of being "of" a place, as opposed to "from" a place.

Thinking about the long history of the land beneath my feet as I do my morning laps through a chill winter mist between the oaks.

Thinking about the Native American grinding rock we found among the leaves in our back ten acres, and wondering who made it, who used it, and why they left it.

Thinking about the tiny-toed horses that pranced along the I-5 corridor eons before my fat white mare came to graze here.

Thinking about how deep my roots have grown into the red forest clay of our 20 acres, and realizing that after 29 years, I have only began to understand its wisdom or listen to the songs it sings to itself. 

Yes, a new year and a new decade. A good time to learn about being "of" a place, and with humility understand that my part in its long history is but the blink of an eye. When I am gone, what songs will it sing about me?

Recycled Style 4

This is another chapter in my ongoing attempt to urge people to recycled things, but especially clothes. As I have stated many times here, and will continue to state, the clothing industry is one of the biggest polluters of the environment. 

So, here we go on a new example of Recycled Style. 

My latest find at the Goodwill was this amazing reversible jacket. The material is heavy cotton like a sweatshirt or, to be exact, two sweatshirts sewn together. It washed beautifully. Cost of the jacket was $8. The blue side is the one I prefer, but the lighter green side has side pockets, which the blue side does not. The dragonflies, coins, and bamboo leaves are printed with shimmery paint that reflects the light very prettily. The buttons are made to looks like coins, but are light, not heavy. It is really a unique and lovely jacket.  

The long-sleeved green T-shirt under the jacket is by the Gap, bought a year or so ago at the Goodwill for $3.99. 

The necklace is one I made from an earring that had lost its mate. 

Now for the not-thrift store things. 

The hat was a birthday gift from my husband about ten years ago. No, it was not from the Goodwill, and it was kinda expensive, but I wear it EVERYWHERE, and it is aging with style. One of the perks of buying recycled clothing, is that every now and then you can splurge on accessories and jewelry. I admit, I do not buy shoes at the Goodwill or from thrift shops. I buy good ones, and have shoes that are over 25-30 years old that I still wear because they were well made.  The only inexpensive shoes I buy are flip-flops for summer, and I have three pairs of those that are over four years old! My good leather purse, which is over 15 years old, is just now starting to look a bit shabby, but I love it, so will keep it until it falls apart. I am trying really hard to avoid the whole "buy it then trash it" cycle in our current society's "throwaway" mindset. 

This was the very outfit I wore out to breakfast with my husband last weekend, along with a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, and my Ariate shoes (made for horse riding, but they are so comfortable, I have a pair to ride in and a pair for street clothes). I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favorite finds. The only regret I have is that whoever owned it before cut all the labels out, so I have no idea who made this beautiful jacket. 

You really can be "styling it" with recycled clothes. And the hunt for unique pieces like this jacket is half the fun. Wearing them is the other half of the fun. 

Recycle Style 3

Here are two easy tips for using things found at the Goodwill or secondhand shops.

These are coffee mug holders. You can find them at the aforementioned Goodwill store, garage sales, and thrift sales. I always intend to paint them, but then never get around to it. They make perfect displays for jewelry, and I use them at home, but also when I take my jewelry to events to sell. The most I have paid for one, which was the wooden one, was $1.99.

The next little tip is what to do with all those very inexpensive clip-on earrings you can find at junk/antique shops, thrift stores, etc. They make very decorative sweatshirt, coat, or sweater clips. I have shown a few from my collection on a simple sweatshirt, but I have also clipped them to hat brims, hat bands,  and head scarves. Think outside the box on these little guys, which are so pretty, and I bet you could come up with dozens of ideas on your own.

It is little things like this that can be fun to play around with, is a good way to recycle which is good for the environment, and it saves you money. A win-win for everyone.