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I admit my librarian's heart skipped a beat when I went to pick up a needle (yes, I keep my beading tray hidden away in one shelf of my book cabinets) and came upon this act of vandalism. I'm just glad it wasn't the cabinet with the beading tray!!
How it could happen at all, you ask? Well, these cabinets are almost 50 years old, and for some reason I don't manage to lock all the doors anymore so they really stay locked.
For some other reason it was always the black cats that were fascinated with those cabinets. Ponder regularly tries to fight his way in as soon as I open a door, but in this case I suspect it was Gundel who was in the mood of not taking no for an answer today.
Oh, and yes, if you take a close look and are old enough, you may recognize that the books on the top are "Family Affair" going with the TV show from the late 60s as this happens to be my children's books cabinet. For me "Family Affair" will always be connected with a Saturday bath and a blue bathrobe with white poodles on it.
And yes again, I do own two copies of "Charlotte's Web", one in English, one in German.
Now excuse me while I go interview a little black cat ...
... where the yarn for my yarn baskets is coming from?
Maybe you have been following me a little over the years and got to meet some of the sheep I couldn't have done without. These are just three of them, Belle, Spots and Myrtle.
It has always been a happy little flock, and none looks like the other.
These three have already left me for the big world out there, Belle and Spots live in the USA now and Myrtle is in Canada. I guess they like it there because they never bothered to write, the little beasts. I know they are in good hands, though, so it's okay.
And every, now and then a new sheep turns up to help me out.
Let me introduce you to Minnie. She's a real cutie with her sky blue eyes (yes, you can only see one of them). We already had a little collaboration as you can see. I hope I didn't make her work too hard in this heat!
You know what's funny, I just noticed that so far all of my sheep except one have been looking in one direction ... I wonder what they are seeing there ...
Ouch, has it really been over a month that I have been here last time?
Granted, I did spend a lot of time with a personal project, bead loomed portraits of my siblings and me (one still missing) which I am not allowed to show.
I did find the time for a small stash tackler, though.
This mix of little semiprecious drops had been in my stash for about ten years. I had used a few of them, but forgot about the rest until I happened to find in a drawer - yes, I know, me and my drawers - just a few days ago. That baggie had been wandering from here to there, and now it ended up on the little table next to my computer chair (that was supposed to hold only my old laptop, but also became a spot for things that wait to be moved to their final destination, books, DVDs, CDs etc.).
Ten years of travelling are enough ;-) I spontaneously decided to wrap the stones up in copper which I gave a light patina and to put them on a chain.
I love dangly earrings!
Both Hugo and his beloved ball have been around for a while, one being glass, the other being a shimmering Polaris bead, and they got tired of having to wait for their favorite napping spot.
The basket had been around for a while as well, waiting to be filled up.
So what has been keeping me, you ask? That's easy to say. I can't sew.
My plan for this had been to give Hugo a nice cushion to sit on. I scrounged some fabric off my sewing neighbor and - failed. Oh, so miserably. I can't sew. I never learned it, but you should think I would be able to make a little pillow? Maybe I gave up too early, I don't know.
In the end, however, I did one of the things I do best. I simply crocheted a little afghan in two shades of blue. Hugo seems to be okay with that, he's snuggled up in it right away as you can see. Blue seems to be his favorite color, anyway. I mean, look at his ball, it fits right in!
Once again the Northern Hemisphere is longing for spring. No matter if winter was all snow or a lot of rain, people want to see colors again, blue skies, hear bees buzz, birds sing and feel that rush of spring in their veins.
It is kind of ironic that when I'm looking out of my window, I see a rainy day, but I've said before that I love rain, so that's okay with me.
Nevertheless it is nice to breathe a different air, to see flowers return, tiny violets, spring snowflakes (which we call Märzenbecher here, March cups), bluebells and to hear birds singing when I walk to the train early in the morning.
Not that April may not have its surprises in stores for us ;-)
Today the Jewelry Artisans Community Oldies but Goodies Challenge is all about spring colors. I hope you'll like my picks.
What is the weather like in your area now? Are you already feeling the spring?
1 and 8 MC Stoneworks
2 and 4 Jewelry Art by Dawn
3 and 5 Cat's Wire
6 and 7 RioRita
I have a tiny stash of Cantera opals which are Mexican opals still in their matrix of pinkish rhyolite, and I love them. I can't say how often I took them out and put them back to keep them safe from the outside world ;-) My two favorite ones have gone to good homes and I still miss them. Silly, I know.
It was time to take a deep breath and start letting see them - well, one of them at least - what's outside of the stash drawer - only to go into the finished jewelry drawer afterwards, that is, unless someone takes this little beauty home.
This Cantera opal is almost clear. It looks like a drop of water on a crackled ground, but if you move it, you can see some tiny specks of color, green, yellow, and red. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a really good picture of them, it seems the stone wants to keep its secret!
As it is not very big - those opals often aren't - I kept the woven bezel rather simple, but added a bigger bail to balance it out and of course I couldn't resist a small embellishment, a very light pink pearl.
Three more opals left ...
