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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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.

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.

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…

…which kept piling on top of her and looking like snow…

Children have exquisite imaginations!

On my worktable – artificial flowers

21 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, family, flowers, home, home decor, Inspirational, On my Worktable, Uncategorized

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artificial flowers, crafts, family, flower arranging, flowers, home decor, On my worktable, spring arrangements

Today my worktable was full of flowers for the spring arrangements. The bins have been in the living room for over a week but I finally had time today. It’s always a pleasure to arrange the flowers, even though they are the same ones I’ve used for years. At the end of a season, I pull all the flowers out of the vases and sort them by color in bins, then they go to the attic. It’s good to start fresh each year so I mix and match the flowers to suit the season and mood.

The arrangement for the foyer. I’ll probably add a little more at the base. It looks a bit too tight but I’m crazy over the color.

The bare brances were in the corner through winter, strung with lights and crystal snowflakes just to add brightness to the room.

The same bare branches now share the space with artificial dogwood and greens. The lights were taken off the branches and placed in the vase for ambience.

I love the new arrangements! They make me happy. =)

Not in the photos: son’s twin size mattress on the floor in the living room because we have to tear out the downstairs bathroom and completely redo it due to a major leak.
Not in the photos: the flat screen tv right in front of the large dogwood arrangement in the corner.
Not in the photos: tears shed because another one of our children moved out last week and we’re all missing him and wishing him well and cheering for him in his new job in another state.

Two of my sons. Noah on the left moved south last weekend. We miss him! Very glad for the job opportunity though.

We all have a choice on what to focus on. I choose to focus on what’s good and bright and beautiful and sparkling in life. You can have brightness if you choose. Sometimes it takes a lot of work, like clearing a garden of weeds. You have to yank out bad thoughts and deliberately hack at unwanted vines. But it’s possible and totally worth it.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Ph 4:8

The arrangement for the living room table. The velvet-petal roses are showing their age but they are still beautiful.

My QR code fabric was a success!

25 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, fabric, On my Worktable, sewing, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

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crafts, fabric, On my worktable, QR code, QR code fabric, sewing, Spoonflower

QR Code Fabric. The white QR Tale design was printed on silky faille on the left. The gray QR Tale design on the right was printed on Kona cotton.

Yay! Pardon all the exclamation points but how cool is that! Woot!
My QR Code fabric on Spoonflower printed beautifully.
I’m surprised QR code fabric isn’t available by the bolt yet. I’ve searched all the major fabric companies and haven’t found anything. The options for code in fabric are endless and super duper fun.
I had this fabric printed via Spoonflower. I call it “An Unfinished QR Tale” because each block of text contains just a hint of the story. There are over 30 separate phrases in QR code in this fabric. The code squares printed up beautifully in silky faille and cotton. I thought perhaps the fabric grain would interfere with the QR reader but there was no trouble at all reading the code. I don’t have a smart phone so used a QR code app on my tablet.

with nary a moment to spare

Yay!
I had designed another QR code fabric for a ModCloth contest but didn’t win. Here is my entry for the ModCloth contest, a sweet little design featuring code and wings. This design has different text from QR Tale, mostly light and airy phrases.

As soon as the QR Code on Wings proofs, I’ll be able to offer it on Spoonflower.
The first two QR tale fabrics printed perfectly so they can be purchased on Spoonflower now. I plan on making more.
~ Recipes in QR code for making an apron
~ QR Check design for a picnic table cloth
~ Poetry, perhaps haiku or limericks
Imagine wearing a shirt or dress and hearing “May I please read your dress?” haha
Imagine a restaurant with QR code napkins or placemats… Reading the code would make waiting for the meal much more enjoyable…
Ah yes, so many ideas.

Also, I really want to do color. These designs are all black and white or gray scale. The picnic table cloth will be a lot of fun to create and even more fun for picnic guests to use. :)

On my worktable – Christmas decorations in progress

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, fabric, home decor, On my Worktable, sewing, wreath

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crafts, fabric flower buds, fabric flowers, fabric roses, men's tie crafts, ruffle buds, sewing, worktable

Many tasks, all quite mixed up. On my worktable, the big red bow for the front porch, the garland lights for the back deck and the fabric roses and ruffle buds I’m making for a wreath.

On my worktable – roses, rosettes and ruffle buds made from men’s tie wool interlinings.

The roses, rosettes and ruffle buds are made from the wool interlinings of men’s ties. I’m saving the silk tie fabric for other projects and kept the interlinings just because I can’t bear to throw out fabric. I’m glad I saved the pieces because they make beautiful roses! I tried unsuccessfully to make a rose bud so had to come up with another design. I really like how the ruffly buds are turning out, with luscious little layered centers. The next time I make icing flowers for a cake, I’m going to try to duplicate the design in icing.

Each full rose is made from the uncut interlining from one tie. The buds are made from a narrow interlining. One of the tie interlinings didn’t need cut to make one bud but the other longer interlinings did need cut to about 24″ in length. I can get two buds from one narrow long interlining cut in half.

On my worktable – torn paper fringe

20 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, On my Worktable

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crafts, paper crafts, paper fringe, vintage paper crafts

On my worktable this evening, torn paper fringe, made from a vintage French book.
This fringe will be used for the same project as the tiny snowflakes.

Torn paper fringe.

The book, Le Voyage De Monsieur Perrichon, is in poor condition, which makes it suitable for use in crafts. The binding is tight and the paper not too brittle but the book has pen and pencil scribbles on almost every page. I was going to erase the tiny pencil marks but decided they added to the charm. The paper is soft, dusty and easily torn.

On my worktable – tiny snowflakes

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in Christmas, crafts, home decor, miniature, On my Worktable

≈ 1 Comment

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miniature, paper snowflakes, tiny snowflakes, vintage paper crafts

The tiny snowflakes are for a decoration I’m putting in our library/guest room.

Tiny snowflakes cut from a vintage dictionary page.

Tiny snowflakes cut from a damaged vintage dictionary page. I have several vintage dictionaries that I cherish but this page was from a damaged book that is just for crafts.

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

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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

But inside is where the treasure is, all glittery and stunning in beauty.

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.

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.

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 – 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.

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.

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.

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.