Books and the Brocante

I've been struggling with getting the illustrations done for the latest book I'm working on - a cute story about two sisters who find a beautiful necklace, and their quest to find the rightful owner.  They're pretty much all done, except for the cover, but I have a few days for that.  Some pics soon...

Meanwhile, here's what I've been working on alongside - these will be at the Brocante Lux this Friday...I'm excited about how the cuffs turned out, and they look really cool on the wrist, all encrusted with roses and beads and sequins. 

Very quick pics...so they don't show the whole cuff, and I've got them wrapped around an old bottle from IKEA : )

The roses are less orangey and more deep pink,

but somehow it doesn't look that way...

I made a brooch with this same base - see the last picture!

And a few simple earrings...



Looking forward to the show!



Flames Of The Forest

Oh, these are BRIGHT!

This first brooch I did with my usual layering of fabrics with the machine,

then layering some more by hand, and then embellishing the whole thing,

by hand of course.

On this piece I have let the edges be, but for a lot of my jewelry I sew up the exposed edges, and it can take a lot of time, like on this necklace:

And then I discovered fusible web.

I never knew about FUSIBLE WEB!!! 

The salesperson told me the kind I bought was non-woven,

whatever that meant. 

Anyhow, it was the only kind they had. 

So I bought a meter of the gauzy thing, and voila - new technique!.

This multicolored flower (brooch? fascinator?)

has the magic touch of fusible web.

Now I thought fusible web was useful for sticking two fabrics to each other, and maybe some kinds are, but this kind turned out to just be adhesive on one side.  So when I sandwiched the web between the two fabrics that I wanted to adhere to each other, it only stuck to one.

Still, I ended up with fortified petal shapes, and a fortified base shape,

and sewing the two together turned out much easier than my older technique.
Also, I didnt have to worry about the edges -

the webbing stops them from fraying!

I have much to learn about the different kinds of fusible webs out there

(is interfacing the same thing??)

but it looks like it'll be a fun thing to explore.

The New Black...

...is PINK!!!

Ok, only for me - but isn't it sweet?

: )

Captured Colors

A series of reds and pinks...

And a woodsy brown and green.



Fall In The Water

Observation:

The breeze sounds different in Fall.

Theory:
It must be because of the leaves being a different texture and feel.

Fact:

Fall is magical even in its reflections,

even when you can't hear the breeze, only see its results.

 

If the leaves are falling in your part of the world,

take a moment to marvel at it all...

Blue and Gold, and the Brocante Lux

Some older pieces, reworked.

This top one was a pendant, but it looks better as a brooch, I think.

So I removed the bail, refinished the back, and added a brooch pin.

This was a pendant too, and still is, but I trimmed the corners

 and rounded them, then refinished the back.

I wasn't satisfied with how these pieces used to look,

but after revisiting and reworking them, I feel ready to show them.

Next up is The BrocanteLux Art and Fashion Market, Nov.26;

check it out!

Manga and Mystery

Chilling out and taking a two-day break with some graphic novels...

Not sure I like Agatha Christie in such an abridged fashion.

The Tatsumi is fascinating, though. 

It's also very long - more than 800 pages worth,

but a manga eye-opener for sure!