My Creative Progeny....

Laura - my lovely daughter - the one who still at 30+ calls Mom when she needs a costume - is one of the new generation of knitters. You've seen them - the anti-craft, slightly sinister, subversive knitters who take traditional skills like knitting and crochet and use them to create their own amazing things.  It's part green-recycle-reuse-repurpose and partly a way to make something cool out of an old-fashioned technique.

This is great, because in the process, the skills of knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, and more are reviving, being passed on to more generations and being transformed in the process.

My daughter is an intuitive knitter - she never uses a pattern but comes up with her own creative designs. (Along the way she's also learning. Her first knitted animal - an orange cat for her niece, Choe, was stuffed with stray pieces of yarn - so this cat literally left yarn "hair-balls" around the house. Now she makes a neat little muslin pillow stuffed with fiberfill for each padded shape.

Now she's making The World's Ugliest Best Friends....each a quirky animal with a matching hat for the recipient to wear.

Her current menagerie (available at Eclectics Gallery in Kansas City) includes a dragon, a horse, a duck and a cat....each with a coordinating hat.

Each is unique - the first duck was made for niece Anastasia, and included a hat that looked just like the back end of a duck....it was awesome.

However, Anastasia was not thrilled about everyone laughing at her "duck butt" hat and she wouldn't wear it.

The elephant hat gives the wearer matching ears...

I love her creations....nearly as much as the Laura and Aaron dolls she made for her nieces. (Since they live  nearly 2000 miles away and rarely see each other, the girls have soft fabric character dolls dressed and coifed like Laura and Aaron. They come to visit for special occasions, like when Grandma comes to visit.

More about them another day....

1969 Clarinda Girls Okoboji Reunion

16 or so girls from Clarinda High School Class of 1969 met at the Inn at Okoboji in Mildford, Iowa for a weekend get-together to celebrate our shared milestone birthday!

back row, l-r: Pam Tritsch, Marta Brockman, Karen Carlson, Elizabeth Adams, Rebecca Roe, Ramona Kanne, Dee Hartman, Kay Varley, Ruth Davis, Diana Troester, Joy Hartstack
front row, l-r: Lynette Fisk, Catherine Herzberg, Nancy Beattie, Mary Kay Nieman

Wine, snacks, chocolate, dinners out, walks around the lake, shopping and LOTS and LOTS of talking! What a great, fun weekend. And we're not done - tomorrow lines will be drawn in the sand as the Iowa/Iowa State game takes place and then we kiss and make up to take a boat ride on the lake.

Thanks to Becky (Black) Roe for making all the arrangements! Thanks to Nancy Beattie who made the extra effort to come despite her recent surgery. Thanks to everyone who drove, who brought goodies, scrapbooks and lawn chairs.

We're having a great time reminiscing, sharing photos, bragging about grandkids. And we're still going. Ready for cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday to us!! 60 is Hot!

Blue Moon

This new piece is going into the Arts on Grand gallery in Spencer, Iowa.....

It's fun to repurpose old costume jewelry - but I do get distracted by the tiniest of details. You would not believe the time spent in August just on rhinestones: researching the best prices for replacement stones, measuring, comparing colors with online photos, ordering and waiting, being disappointed in the quality from one vendor, ordering again....then popping off old or loose stones, cleaning and removing old glue, resetting or gluing in replacement stones! (I use 2-part epoxy - those puppies will not fall out!).

But IMHO (in my humble opinion...) you can't have too much bling on this type of piece.
This piece includes:

• large blue rhinestone brooch
• small blue and pearl brooch
• large pot metal shoe clip - all stones gone
• rhinestone circle earring with blue rivoli added
• moonstone sterling earring drop
• rhinestone ball bead
• silver metal stamped earring
• length of vintage silver metal, pearl and AB rhinestone bracelet
• pieces of beaded chain in silver with pearls and blue links
• vintage 2-hole rhinestone spacer bar
• 3mm blue Swarovski bicone crystals
• large blue Czech glass bead
• vintage pearls, crystal, and glass beads
• fine silver balled headpins
• silver jump rings
• silver craft wire
• vintage clasp
• pieces of rhinestone chain
• rhinestone earring (faux Diana style)
• blue, cream an crystal drops

I am getting the hang of the asymmetrical  design - the trick is to design on a dress form, not on a flat bench. Time is lost crawling around on the floor searching for dropped jump rings or beads, but it's the best way to create something that hangs properly on the neck.

Amber Sunset Necklace

One more necklace completed....called Amber Sunset. It's a sparkly confection of vintage jewelry pieces, chain, pearls and crystals.

Metals are all gold-toned. Crystals and rhinestones range from dark pink aurora borealis  to salmon to red. Length is about 18", although it fills up the neckline nicely. It looks heavy, but is actually quite comfortable.

Elements include:

• part of an amazing, vintage necklace with pearls and rhinestones
• large starfish brooch with pink rhinestones, white antiquing and iridescent cab settings
• double heart pearl and rhinestone brooch
• leaf dangle with stone
• large gold-tone metal flower brooch
• gold sunburst vintage earring
• salmon lucite cab in gold setting earring
• vintage round brooch with red and orange rhinestones, pearls
• lucite/foil earring setting
• Swarovski Siam crystal bicones
• Pink AB vintage crystal beads
• Red Czech crystal beads
• Vintage pearl beads
• Various reclaimed pink dangles from vintage jewelry
• Vintage double ring twisted Gold plate chain and findings
• New rhinestone clasp, brass wire, headpins

Currently on display and available at Eclectics, 7015 Oak Street in Kansas City, MO. Find us on Facebook at Eclectics Gallery.

Whoo-Hoo!! Sold it, Jan. 27, 2012! Thanks to whoever you are - please wear it lots and tell everyone to check out Eclectics.

Etsy Treasury

What a great way to start the day - an email from a fellow Etsyan who has included one of my peyote-stitched bracelets in a Treasury.

TheBeadedbead (curator of this Treasury) selected all peyote-stitched items, in aqua/teal/turquoise and lime green. It's a beautiful looking page with yummy items from great beaders on Etsy.

Really shows the versatility of peyote stitch - from flat to tubular to sculptural...

It goes from simple

...to complex and it is still the same great stitch.

Check it out and visit the various shops of these talented beadweavers.