A beak shining bright

Seems the invisible beak of the last one was traumatic for me and I just couldn't get over it ... I had to make another chicken, but as a pendant this time.
I still underestimate every time how long a piece like that will be taking me, especially since I only use one or two strands of floss and make quite tiny stitches. That may be something I will have to work on eventually.

Why this feathered lady would want to have a nest in the middle of a meadow, you want to know? I have no idea.
First came the hen sitting in the grass and then it somehow felt right to give her a nest. Maybe my subconscious wanted to avoid having to stitch legs?
Or maybe this little scene is a flashback to childhood memories? There is a one particular wild meadow that comes up in my mind when I see or make something like this.

The bees are obviously after the flowers. They were flies at first, but then that looked a bit annoying to me, so I added the stripes.
Those flowers must be delicious or there wouldn't be as many of them!

And of course the lady has a beak shining as bright as the sun. Not invisible at all! ;-)

Waiting for pizza

They could hatch anytime now and they would definitely be hungry. Where was that guy with the pizza??
Merlinde congratulated herself on her choice of the little swing basket up in the tree as a nest. From here, you had a really good view over to the driveway and the soft swinging in the breeze calmed down the eggs.

I sure hope the pizza will turn up soon before Merlinde falls out of her nest! But wait, chicken can fly a short distance ... I almost forgot ;-)

Melusine

I guess it had to come like this. Melusine had to try this after her sister Eulalia did and found it was surprisingly comfortable ... ;-)
A trend started?

Eulalia and the new nest

Eulalia was not like the other chickens. If they did one thing, Eulalia did another, just to show it could be done.
One thing of those was that she absolutely refused to build her nest inside the coop. She needed something for herself, something different, something that was just hers, and she found it.
It was a very comfortable little basket, as if it were made especially for her and there was even some nice hay in it for extra comfort.
The others began to eye her a bit jealously ... I wouldn't be surprised if more of them follow suit, but what will Eulalia say to that?

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Bling bling

This was one crazy week!!

I feel as if all my energy is drained, but still I managed to got a little bit done. Let me show you my latest creations with Swarovski crystals. I will be blinded soon if I keep working with them ;-)

And that's meant in a good way referring to their sparkle.

Do you remember Tomomi, my little dragon (read up on her story here)? Here is a new nest of hers, a little different from the others. The "egg" in it is an antique pinkish faceted glass crystal and all around the edge of the silver colored nest are black Swarovski. The bail is not only coiled, but also twisted.

Next is the Magma ring, crocheted from fine silver wire, adorned with a dome of light siam and black Swarovski. The name was thought up by a Plurk friend and when I read it, I could see it myself, the way the hot red magma shines through the black rocks.

Mabel had her say again as well, this time it was her playful side.

"I am Leo, hear me roar ... and see me sparkle." There are crystals all over him, his face, in his mane, even the nose and his tongue!

I hope to list these pieces in my shops tomorrow as I have to go out to dinner tonight. Yes, it's true, I have to. I'd rather stay home to catch up on some seriously needed chilling.

By the way, for those who don't know yet, there is still a sale going on in all my shops, 20 % until the end of January!

Help me name my dragon!

This morning I saw her again.


She wasn't hiding and she had brought me a new nest.


I guess that means she is going to stay and that means she needs a name now. I asked my friends and my coworkers, I played around with a dragon name generator one of my Plurk friends recommended and still I can't decide.


I need your help and you shall not go unrewarded, well, at least not the winner. You will get five names that have come from different sources. There would have been so many more I liked, but five it is now. Pick your favorite. The majority will then decide what name my girl will carry from now on.
I will then randomly draw a winner who will get the latest little dragon nest!


Poll will be open for a month, so the nest will definitely arrive in time for Christmas.

And go! Please don't forget to comment, so I'll know who voted and can draw a winner!

By the way - if you like my dragon girl (and how couldn't you??), you should really go and check out the shop and blog of ColtPixy. She is one talented lady with polymer clay and it's her merit the dragon flew to my house! ;-)

Murphy's law, paragraph 113

I feel a little sick today. Headache since yesterday, nose starts running and overall weird. Do you know this feeling that it hurts when someone or something touches your hair (that I got on the arms in abundance)?
So I decided to go home early today after making the mistake to go to work in the first place.
Happily I trotted off to the train, but when I came from the S-Bahn (kind of suburban train) to the regular one I saw mine was cancelled. "Police investigations in one of the stations" - that usually means someone has jumped in front of a train. Another train was waiting, but as the track had been blocked, of course it didn't run, either. At least it would be warm in there, outside it was freezing cold and I sure didn't feel like that.
Soon a lady joined me and (remember the sign on my forehead that says "Talk to me!"?) started asking me what was the matter, telling me about her train experiences and sighing heavily in between questions and stories. Then a group of students entered the wagon and started talking very loud. I could have handled either one easily, but not together. Because of the noise the lady couldn't hear the announcements from outside which she told me a few times. Then one of the students said "At least they could announce something!" Uh-oh.
The lady started telling them nobody could hear the speaker because of them and the students asked back if they were supposed to remain silent or WHAT. I shrinked into my seat because what I needed least in this moment was a heated discussion. Luckily one of the students took over and calmed everybody down by apologizing to the lady and winking at his friends.
Over one hour late we could leave the station. Slowly because of course the long-distance trains were allowed to pass us by on the way. I made it home anyway and now I am more than ready for a nap.

Still I wanted to share with you what keeps me sane through rides like this one ;-)

Ice nest - frosted nest with a shimmering piece of ice inside


I'll never go anywhere without hooks and wire! :-D

First traces

May it be that by finally cruising Loch Ness like I had wanted to since I was a child I am more attentive at the moment or because I am still very relaxed, but today when I heard a funny little scratching sound I reacted faster than the last times.
Just when I came around the corner into the tall guy's room, I saw something disappearing on the big armoire we have standing there and I tried to take a quick picture while it was running away. I couldn't quite see what it was, but it looked as if it had a long tail.
When I checked the picture, I was really reminded of Nessie pictures because as you can see, there is no telling what it is no matter how much you edit the picture. Not even Agent Mulder would be convinced by this!
But I am not giving up yet, believe me!


When I looked around a little more, I found this, another nest. It had been a whole month since I found the last ones, but I feel I am getting closer and closer to the solution ...

They are here ... I know it

How I know? Look here. I found these today. What is amazing to me is that none of the birds or creatures - whatever they may be - is trying to defend the nests. Actually it seems as if they are put in my way deliberately.
Just look how different they are. Some are almost flat, some are real thick, some have one really big egg and now there is one with three tiny eggs.
I have looked around for suspicious signs today, but I found nothing that couldn't have been done by the cats. There is another thing - if there are birds around, why are the cats so cool about it? Does it mean something that sometimes they sit there and stare up into a corner that seems totally empty to me?
Instead of getting closer to a solution it seems the matter is getting more complicated.

The power of jasper, strange eggs and class

Do you believe that gems have hidden powers? Check out the T-West I got today. Beautiful jasper all over it, in all varieties. According to the comments there are people who doubt that jasper protects you from spider and snake bites, though ... What do you think? Game to give it a try? ;-)
If you want to comment on that, go and visit Go away, evil spirits!



Some strange birds are nesting in this area and I have the feeling they are endemic only to this house. I haven't been able to catch a glimpse of them yet, but I found some of their nests. Small nests with one big egg each. Maybe I should watch them until they hatch? Although the nests look very similar, they do have different colors and the eggs look different, too.
Also I found some other nests lying around that are still without eggs and they again have different colors. One or two have an egg in them, but none of the attachments these have. What are they for? To hang up the nest? Wouldn't the egg fall out? Are those secretive birds weavers maybe? I wonder, I wonder .....



P.S. Double strike, although it was a close call. Many of my favorite movies have Audrey Hepburn in it. There is an exclusively 1970s Japanese Francie doll (Francie was Barbie's cousin) whose make-up made her look like Audrey. I have seen some of her movies (Audrey's, not Francie's!) so many times I can't even count it anymore. I love "Charade", "The Nun's Story", "Roman Holiday" and "Sabrina", but I have to admit "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is not one of my favorites. The movie is not, but the costumes definitely are. Such a difficult decision, watch or not watch? As you can see it has influenced me nevertheless. Take a look at Silver and black and you will know what I mean!