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All Sparkled Up

~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none. BE the bright!

All Sparkled Up

Category Archives: beading

On my worktable – beads

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, dolls, family, grandkids, On my Worktable, sewing

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Tags

beads, crafts, doll dress, grandkids, Joan Russell

…and a doll, Sarah, with her girl. I made the doll for her three years ago, following a wonderful Indian Dolls pattern by Joan Russell. (Woman’s Day magazine, 1966) Sarah was showing signs of love and needed a new dress.
loving her dolly
I wasn’t up to sewing so I sat in the rocking chair and cut out pieces to make a “no sew” doll dress out of non-fraying stretchy, shimmery fabric. We cut a rectangle with a small slit in it big enough to fit the doll head for the bodice and slid it over the doll’s head. I cut narrow “ribbon ties” in the side of the bodice and tied it at the doll’s waist.

The skirt was a long rectangle with tiny slits across the top through which I threaded a long pink fabric sash and tied the skirt around the doll’s waist. Doll dress made from three rectangles and no sewing. That was fun!

But a girl has to have beads, right? So we strung beads together to form a necklace and made loops of beads to put over the skirt sash.
On my worktable - No sew doll dress 1
Sarah looked lovely in her stylish, beaded ensemble but of course a girl with imagination won’t let a tray of beads go to waste. So a tiny stone was the friend of hundreds of little beads…
On my worktable - No sew doll dress 2
…which kept piling on top of her and looking like snow…
On my worktable - No sew doll dress 3
Children have exquisite imaginations!

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On my worktable – Leaf and Stone Necklace

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, On my Worktable

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

crafts, geode, jewelry, jewelry making, necklace, stone

This will be a gift.
The stones are jasper and peridot and turquoise.
The leaves are Czech glass and vintage pearl.
But the best part is the geode.
On the outside, it is cold and hard.

Leaf and Stone Necklace in progress

Leaf and Stone Necklace in progress


But inside is where the treasure is, all glittery and stunning in beauty.
Inside the geode - a secret treasure of stunning light

Inside the geode – a secret treasure of stunning light


It makes me wonder how many people I have met that I didn’t take the time to find the treasure inside. And that cold and hard exterior was just there to keep them safe.
Today I’m going to smile more at people, no matter how angry or disconnected they seem. You never know what’s inside. And maybe it’s the kindnesses we give away that actually make those crystal interiors all the more brave and shiny.

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The Moss Rose Bracelet is finished

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, projects, sparkling, tea time, tutorial

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

beading, beads, crafts, flower beads, jewelry, jewelry making, Moss Rose, moss rose bracelet, tutorial, vintage beads

The Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by an antique tea set from my Grandma, is finished and I love it! It turned out even better than I expected. ..happy smile…

Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by a vintage teacup from my Grandma.

Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by an antique tea set from my Grandma.

There are three things special about this bracelet. First, the colors truly say Moss Rose.
I was working from my stash of beads from French General, A Gilded Life and vintage beads and wasn’t sure I had all the right colors. Without intention, my love of Moss Rose must have influenced my purchase of beads over the years because I just happened to have the right colors. How cool is that! I had dark mossy greens, deep pinks and the perfect little dusty lavender cone flower beads. I was most particular about the white beads, which had to look like old white china. I didn’t have any rose beads but that was ok since all I really needed was the impression of a rose. I used Lucite trumpet flower beads with a bead calyx and that worked well.

Moss Rose Bracelet components

Moss Rose Bracelet components

Second was the movement of the bracelet. Necklaces lay fairly still around the neck but bracelets have to move. They need shimmy and jingle, drape and sway, elegant like ballet. Bracelets need movement just distracting enough to be noticed. The Moss Rose Bracelet does exactly what I hoped it would do; the roses and leaves drip down and sway gently against my arm.

I love how loose and draping the leaves are on this bracelet.

I love how loose and draping the leaves are on this bracelet.

Third and best is how much the bracelet makes me think of my Grandma and my mom. Some of the beautiful china-white beads are from a broken necklace that belonged to my mom. So special. ♥

Even though I’m making a few of these bracelets to sell in my Etsy shop, I want to share how I made some of the components. I have not included directions for making the small clusters of purple flowers because some Moss Rose patterns do not have these flowers. But you can see how they were constructed by looking closely at the photos.

Make the “roses”
To make a rose, prepare the wires for the flower centers.
1. Bend 1/4″ at the end of a 2 1/2″ piece of jewelry wire.
2. Hold the bent part of the wire in round nose pliers.
3. Coil the wire using the round nose pliers. As the coil is formed, you will have to move the bent tail out of the way until a full coil is formed. It’s hard to explain but you’ll see what I mean as you bend the wire.
4. The finished coil, ready for seed beads.

Prepare the wires for the rose centers.

Prepare the wires for the rose centers.

Add about 8 seed beads to the wire.

1. Slide the beads onto the wire and into the coil.
2. Make sure all the beads are in the coil and then bend the tail of the wire over.
3. Use needle nose pliers to fold the tail tightly around the wire as shown. Cut off the short tail close to the center wire using flush cutters.

Add beads to the flower center wire loop.

Secure seed beads to the flower center wire loop.

Shown here are all the steps to make a flower center.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 3

Prepare the beaded Calyx wires.
Start with a 1 1/4″ piece of wire.You can use head pins for this but I didn’t have enough so I made my own by tightly folding in 1/16″ of wire at the end. Two calyx wires are used for each rose and one for each rose bud. I varied the length of these to make the mossy roses and buds more realistic and natural looking. The color of green seed beads are placed in a light to dark to light pattern on each wire.
[NOTE: The photos show the way I made the wires first. But I had a few broken seed beads when I twisted the center of each calyx wire after the seed beads had been added. The better way would be to form the center loop first, then slide beads onto each side, and then fold the tip of the wire in to secure the beads. I don’t have photos of bending the wires that way but these photos will give you an idea of the finished product.]

Secure green seed beads on wires to use for the calyx.

Secure green seed beads on wires to use for the calyx.

The components to make a rose are two calyx wires, a trumpet bead flower and a round beaded wire center.

Components used in making a "rose".

Components used in making a “rose”.

Insert the flower center into a flower bead.  Slide the green beads apart at the center and bend the calyx wires in half.

Insert the flower center into a flower bead. Using round nose pliers, bend the calyx wires in half and then bend until you have a tiny loop.

Two beaded wires ready to place on the flower wire.

Two beaded wires ready to place on the flower wire.

Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 8
Slide the calyx wires one at a time down over the flower. Twist a little tighter to make the calyx secure. That’s ok if they move a little. Remember, if you twist too tight, you might break some of the seed beads. It might be easier to make these directly on the flower wire so as to avoid any seed beads breaking. I will probably try that next time although this worked well enough.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 9

Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 10
I finished some of the flowers with just a wire wrapped loop. But others I added seed beads to make a slightly longer stem before finishing with a wire wrapped loop.

Make the rose buds
1. Make Calyxes as above, one per rose bud.
2. Slide a pink seed bead and then a 4 mm round pink bead on a 2″ wire with folded end or use a head pin. Then add a dark green seed bead. Slide the prepared beaded calyx wire over the round bead as you did for the flowers.
3. Add more seed beads to the wire and finish with a wire wrapped loop. I slightly spiraled the calyx wires around the 4mm bead.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 11

Make the rose leaf clusters
Oh my goodness, I got so excited the night I figured out how to wire these! I was shutting down for the night and was staring at my work table, not seeing the beads. I was actually praying for some family members in distress and not even thinking of beading. Then all of a sudden I figured out how to wire the leaves together so they would dangle the way I hoped. God is so cool to give us ideas when we least expect it.
1. Prepare the center bead by sliding a seed bead, then a pressed glass leaf bead, then another seed bead on a 2″ wire with folded end or head pin. Finish with a wire-wrapped loop and set aside.
2. Cut a 3″ piece of wire and bend at a 90 degree angle as shown.
Slide the center bead you made down to the angle in the 3″ wire.
Slide a leaf bead on each side of the center bead.
Fold the wires toward the center of the two beads. The wires will cross over. Where the wires cross over, twist the wires together at the top, as in photo 3. Be careful you don’t twist too tight or you may shatter the leaf beads. I didn’t break any but I know that’s a possibility if you make the twist too tight.
3. Cut one of the wires with a flush cutter as shown so you have a single wire remaining. The twist should be tight so that it will fit inside a bead in the next step. Click on the photo and then click the number link at the upper left of the photo to view the original size image to see a close up of the construction.
4. Slide a larger bead with a hole big enough to cover the twisted wires. Add a couple more seed beads on the remaining wire. Finish with a wire wrapped loop.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 12

Gilding
The Moss Rose tea set I have has a delicate border of gold, much of it worn off by age. I duplicated that touch of gold by using Rub n Buff and a stiff brush to add a touch of gold to the some of the white beads and wire findings on the bracelet components.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 13
Here are the beads all ready for assembly. I moved them around on the table a bit until I came up with a design I liked. I ended up not using the little white doughnut beads but it was fun to have options.

Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 14
The bracelet is finally assembled using jump rings to attach all the pieces together.
Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 15

Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 17

Moss Rose Bracelet Tutorial 18

Thank you for visiting my blog. I truly appreciate it! Blog readers get just little glimpses into our lives; they see splashes of color, tangles of wire, components lined up but not always connected. I really appreciate your faithfulness as I figure out how to make this blog better for you.

In the beginning of this blog, I didn’t have any readers at all but merrily posted away like a little bird chirping in a forest. Then I went through a rough time after breaking my back and getting major surgery, with its months of medicated pain management. Over the past year my posts weren’t always happy. But I have come to value life and the beautiful people in it more than ever.

This blog is for you. Like tending a garden of roses, I’ve done some weeding and deleting here. What is left are posts I hope have value, and the ones written when I did my best to be brave. I’m learning how important it is to stay true to the sparkling things in life and share the best. I guess we all grow in grace like that. I want to give you something good because your presence here reading my blog is a gift of pure grace. Thank you.

May grace adorn your life, with all the splendor you hoped for.
Love to you, my dear readers!

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On my worktable… Moss Rose Bracelet

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, On my Worktable, tea time

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All Sparkled Up, beading, beads, child's tea set, crafts, jewelry making, Moss Rose, Moss Rose china, vintage beads

One of my favorite china patterns is Moss Rose, with its lovely dark pink roses and characteristic mossy ferns and leaves. The Moss Rose pattern has been used to decorate china since the early 1800’s. I wish I knew the history of this child-size Moss Rose tea set that belonged to my grandmother.

The inspiration for the project on my table - a vintage child's tea set in Moss Rose pattern that belonged to my grandmother.

The inspiration for the project on my table – a vintage child’s tea set in Moss Rose pattern that belonged to my grandmother.


Inspired by the colors and pattern of the tea set, I gathered beads to make a Moss Rose Bracelet.
Possible beads to use in the bracelet.

Possible beads to use in the bracelet – Czech glass leaves and flowers, seed beads, vintage white glass beads that were from a broken necklace that belonged to my Mom in the 50’s, Mother of Pearl beads, vintage plastica flowers and glass pearl drops, and others.


The greenery is prominent in a Moss Rose pattern so I wanted to feature the greens more than the pink. I didn’t have any rose beads so was able to give the impression of a rose by adding a calyx to pink beads.
The calyx is made of two tiny wires of green beads, twisted around a central wire.

The calyx is made of two tiny wires of green beads, twisted around a central wire.


My stock of head pins is limited so I had to make my own. I learned how to make make several styles of head pins by following a terrific Craftsy.com class online – Make Your Own Wirework Findings, taught by Lisa Niven Kelly.
All the completed jewelry components are sorted and ready for assembly.

All the completed jewelry components are sorted and ready for assembly.


I played with jewelry components, moving them around on my work surface until I came up with several possible configurations.
One way the Moss Rose bracelet components can be assembled together.

One way the Moss Rose bracelet components can be assembled together.


I haven’t finished the bracelet yet because I haven’t decided what to do next. Just placing the leaf clusters on the bracelet looks complete, especially to someone who loves greenery as much as I do. I will probably finish the bracelet as planned but will save this idea to make another bracelet with a profusion of leaves.
The sections of white beads are attached and the leaf clusters have been added. I love the bracelet just the way it is here!

The sections of white beads are attached and the leaf clusters and vintage pearl drops have been added. I love the bracelet just the way it is here!


I will post a photo after the bracelet is complete, perhaps tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’m already gathering supplies to make a vintage all-white and pearl bracelet using the beading techniques I made up for this bracelet.
I have too many bracelet ideas! I’ll just have to make some and sell them in my Etsy shop – All Sparkled Up.

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Little Ribbon Totes and Miniature Purses

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bead crafts, crafts, mini, mini purse, miniature, miniature purse, miniature tote, purses, ribbon

Rainy day fun with ribbon and beads making tiny totes and miniature purses.
I started with the Klutz book Ribbon Purses (no longer in print) and made this tiny purse following their directions and using the kit materials.

A tiny ribbon purse made with Klutz book kit materials.

A tiny ribbon purse made with Klutz book kit materials.

I really wanted to stick with just the kit items but then I thought of this one, using some of the kit supplies and adding my own seed beads and charms.

Tiny ribbon purse with charm dangle.

Tiny ribbon purse with charm dangle.

I didn’t follow the directions on this one but did use the kit supplies plus seed beads.
3 Ribbon Totes-6
I used the purple beads from the kit to form the purse bottom.

Then I got a shiny new idea.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: ribbon, chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: I used the ribbon from the kit but the chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins are my own.

Tiny ribbon tote bag.

Tiny ribbon tote bag. This was fun to design!

For the last one, I used the Klutz kit ribbon but added my own embellishment. I would love to make a full size clutch purse like this. The hardest component would be finding large, clear, flat-sided acrylic gems to form the sides of the clutch. I love how the light passes through this purse. I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring for the decoration on the side.

The light passes through the gems in the sides of this tiny clutch purse.

The light passes through the gems in the sides of this tiny clutch purse.

I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring to embellish this miniature clutch purse.

I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring to embellish this miniature clutch purse.

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Miniature Perfume Bottles

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bead bottles, bead crafts, beads, crafts, miniature, miniatures

I was cleaning out old photo files and found these photos from way back in 2003.

All the perfume bottles are made of beads, earring backs and jewelry findings. They are tiny, some less than half an inch. To help the bead “bottles” stand up, I glued the bead on a pierced earring back. If you want to see the most detail in these photos, click on the photo to open a larger image. Then at the upper left of each photo will be a link that says “ORIGINAL SIZE AT (number) “. Click that link to see the largest image.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads and jewelry findings.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads and jewelry findings. Please click on the photo to see a larger image.

 A small plastic organizer with the lid removed made an elegant faux glass shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

A small plastic organizer with the lid removed served as an elegant “glass” shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads. This dresser tray is a mirror with trim glued around the edge.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads. This dresser tray is a mirror with trim glued around the edge.

To make the tray, I glued seed beads around the edge of a small mirror.

To make the tray, I glued seed beads around the edge of a small mirror.

The first two photos were taken in my kitchen window… so many years ago, even before we planted the rose bush which has climbed all the way up to the kitchen window. I don’t remember where I put all the tiny bead bottles. When I find them, I think I’ll put the display case in the bedroom or bathroom window. I love tucking miniatures around the house. Most people never see them but I like knowing that my home has an even smaller story for those who have eyes to catch it.

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Rainy May Day French Beading

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, flowers, nature, sparkling, sunlight

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beads, crafts, french beaded flowers, French Beading, May, rainy day

It’s been mostly overcast and rainy for at least two weeks now.

A Rainy day in May.

A Rainy day in May.

I’m discovering that the weather greatly affects my pain level, ever since having my spine fused. Despite the pain, I shall redeem this time.

Rain in May, drip drip drip...

Rain in May, drip drip drip, fall the crystal drops …

Today when the sun peeked out briefly, I stood outside even while the rain was still falling, so desperate to feel sun on my face.

Even the trees are becoming mossy from all the dampness this spring.

Even the trees are becoming mossy from all the dampness this spring.

Then the clouds moved in again and I tucked back in the darkness of my work space. But places don’t have to stay colorless and uncheered. I got out the beads.

Seed beads, mostly size 11, including Aiko and Delicas, fill a bin with color.

Seed beads, mostly size 11, including Aiko and Delicas, fill a bin with color.

Pearl, crystal and glass beads.

Pearl, crystal and glass beads.

They glistened and captured every speck of light. I didn’t want any light to get away.

Beads in a small condiment dish.

Beads in a small condiment dish.

I made petals and leaves and flower centers.

Gold and bronze bead flower centers await petals and assembly.

Gold and bronze bead flower centers await petals and assembly.

I use children’s teacups and dishes to hold flower components while I work. Here a child’s teacup holds stamens.

A small child's teacup holds white stamens.

A small child’s teacup holds white stamens.

I made

I made a cardboard insert in a bin to hold my bead bottles upside down so I can see the color of the contents better.

These vintage flower centers belonged to my grandmother. I’m looking forward to using them. Thank you so much, dear sister Donna for sending them!

I will use these vintage flower beads in French Beaded flowers and jewelry.

I will use these vintage flower beads in French Beaded flowers and jewelry.

Even though it is dark and rainy outside and there are no flowers blooming in the window, I have flowers blossoming on the table.

French Beaded flowers.

French Beaded flowers

French Beaded flowers in a shoebox await stems and leaves.

French Beaded flowers

French Beaded flowers

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French Beaded Flowers

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, sparkling

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beading, beads, crafts, french beaded flowers, French Beading, seed beads

All the activity of last week finally caught up with me so yesterday was a down day. Some days are just like that; I just have to hold very still all day and let my old bones repair. Fortunately, I had a new craft to work on – French Beaded Flowers.

I used this book, French-Beaded Flowers, and this terrific video by Lana to get started. The book is very good for beginners but it was the wonderful video by Lana that finally made sense. Thank you, Lana!

I don’t have a studio so I do all my crafting on the dining room table. I try to only take over half the dining room table so the family can use the other half for actual dining. ha ha. My end is called “the work table” and here is what it looked like last night.

My work table, covered with beading supplies for making French Beaded flowers.

My work table (half the dining room table) covered with beading supplies for making French Beaded flowers.

The bead spinner was essential! In the photo above, it’s the little round wood bowl with green beads in it on the left. I was going to skip purchasing one until I tried to hand string about… (getting calculator)… about 2730 tiny beads. I put about 10 seed beads on the wire by hand and looked at the clock and figured I didn’t have the luxury of eight more months to finish. To string the beads quickly, I used the mini bead spinner from Bead Wrangler.  It works fantastic! It was fascinating watching the beads fill the wire as I spun the spinner like a spinning top.

The beading tools are from French General. They are very durable and are stored in a lovely roll. I’ve purchased many unique and gorgeous beads from French General over the years and hope to incorporate some of them in my flowers.

I didn’t take photos of the beading process because the day was all about holding as still as possible. These flowers were all made while watching two movies, so basically less than 4 hours.

French Beaded Flowers, made with size 11 seed beads and delicas.

French Beaded Flowers, made with size 11 seed beads and delicas.

The construction wires were wrapped with green floral tape.

The construction wires were wrapped with green floral tape to form the stems. Delicas are cylindrical beads, such as in the pink flower shown here, while seed beads are round, which is what I used to make the leaves. I made up the green loopy leaves because I didn’t want all the leaves to look alike.

French Beaded Flowers 3

I aspire to making stunning flowers like these, from the Bead Society of Greater New York. Until then, I’m really pleased with my first little arrangement.

My first French Beaded flowers.

My first French Beaded flowers.

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The Dewing of the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, Easter, flowers, gardening, home decor, miniature, sparkling, tutorial

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All Sparkled Up, crafts, Easter, Easter decoration, Easter Egg Tree, egg tree, miniature, miniature eggs, miniature flowers, miniature plants

Last year I posted about the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree I made. It’s time to get it out again. Adding the drops of dew was my favorite part.
After I finished each miniature plant, with it’s tiny leaves and petals, I hung it on the tree. Though pretty, the plant didn’t seem fully alive it was all sparkled up with spring rain or drops of dew.
For each drop, I used tweezers to dab a single crystal seed bead in tacky glue and attach it where it should go, hanging from the tip of a leaf or puddled in the folds of a petal.

The tree was from Pottery Barn a couple years ago. The hanging egg baskets are cut from small plastic eggs and filled with tiny plants

The tree was from Pottery Barn a couple years ago. The hanging egg baskets were cut from small plastic eggs. The miniature plants were made by cutting up full-size artificial flowers and leaves. Some of the hanging vines were made by gluing hand-cut leaves to artificial plant stems. Click on photos to see the full size images if you wish.

2 Miniature Daisies

Miniature Daisies.

3 Miniature Daisies 2

Miniature daisies.

4 Miniature Lily of the Valley

Miniature Lily of the Valley.

5 Miniature Lily of the Valley 2

6 Miniature Fern

Miniature ferns and moss.

7 Miniature Forget me not 2

Miniature Forget-me-not.

8 Miniature Forget me not

9 Miniature Burros Tail

Miniature Burros Tail.

If you want to add realistic drops to an artificial plant, remember how real water acts. It flows down hill. So it will puddle at the bottom of a flower center, or hang from the lower tip of a petal or leaf.

10 Miniature Blue Flowers

Miniature Blue Flowers. The fluffy white balls were actually stamens cut from the center of a full-size artificial flower.

11 Miniature Ferns

Miniature ferns and moss.

12 Miniature Tuberous Begonia

Miniature Tuberous Begonia, reminiscent of the colors of my mom’s beautiful begonia hanging plant.

13 Miniature Peony

14 Miniature Peony 3

15 Miniature Marigolds

Miniature Marigold.

16 Miniature Rose

Miniature Roses. To make a rose, I took one petal from a 1″ artificial rose, folded it in half and glued and rolled it up into a cone shape. The pointed tip of the cone was cut off and stuck down inside the top part of the cone to make center of the rose. Some cone tips are also used as the buds.

17 Miniature Roses 2

18 Hanging Basket Egg Tree

Placing the tiny bead droplets on the plants was a very contemplative task, like yoga or painting, with each moment crystallized and beautiful. No it was not tedious, it was restorative and full of light. All sparkled up.

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11

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Crissy has a Gilded Crown!

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, dolls, Gilded Life, sewing, sparkling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Crissy doll, Gilded Life, Stash Society, vintage Crissy doll

A box of glittering goodness arrived from Gilded Life’s Stash Society and oh my, what splendid craft supplies! There were glass vials of mica flakes and vintage mother of pearl buttons. There was a vintage trinket box, a mica-dusted cherub, a glass tube of sparkling beads and jewelry supplies. There was a generous piece of ultra-soft, rose-taupe sequined fur. Sequined fur! Not your everyday stuffed animal variety fur. I instantly pictured a garment out of a fairytale, perhaps a baby’s bonnet made of swan’s down or a shawl worn by a princess.

Although these items were beautiful, it was a small, clear box that stole my breath away. Written in gold on the box were the words Thank You and inside was a glittering, miniature beaded crown. What an awesome Christmas surprise!

A beautiful beaded crown from Gilded Life.

A beautiful beaded crown from Gilded Life.

I carefully took the crown out and placed it on the table for a day. It made me happy just to see it. And then I remembered something from long ago and far away. Tucked in an old dusty trunk was my vintage Crissy doll from my childhood in the 60’s, the doll that grows her hair by turning a knob on her back. My mom sewed all Crissy’s clothing, including this stunning pink taffeta and velvet dress and cape, with a sprinkling of hand-stitched pearls and iridescent gold trim.

Vintage Crissy doll, wearing a handmade pink taffeta and velvet dress.

Vintage Crissy doll, wearing a handmade pink taffeta and velvet dress.

Crissy can’t wear just any crown when she dons pink velvet and pearls. My mom’s handwork deserved nothing less than a grand crowning touch. Now, over 40 years later, Crissy finally has a crown befitting the occasion.

Vintage Crissy doll wearing a beaded crown from Gilded Life.

Vintage Crissy doll wearing a beaded crown from Gilded Life.

Thank You Debbie and Shea for the glorious crown!
And Thank You, Ma. I am still awed by your handwork! Love you. ♥

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