Susan Sto-helit. Because in this world, after everyone panics,

I got this idea, as one does, of a charm bracelet of skulls. I got out the cigar box of skulls and skeletons and went through everything. This was the result. The earrings are because I found the diamond-shaped skull beads when I was looking at all the other skulls and was inspired. Paul, who doesn’t like skeleton and skull decor, said the bracelet is “gorgeous”. You never know. ( Ooo Spooky )

I was playing around with a couple of small tassels for a planner charm for my pocket Filofax and decided it needed a hamsa charm. So I got out the cigar box labeled HANDS AND FEET and found something that would do. Then I cleaned up. During which I rediscovered some hand charms I’d once thought of making into earrings*. One thing led to another, and:

Gold metal earwires, gold and silver charms, Czech firepolish beads, gold and silver findings. All from the hoard.



*I think these were the ones left after I made a pair for my cousin. But that was many years ago.

I rediscovered these mother of pearl fan shapes while I was reorganizing bead drawers, and was inspired. They’re a bit heavy, but they bounce and jingle nicely.

Mother of pearl fans, metal tassels, beads, and findings.

I put together a bracelet from bits and pieces of the hoard. ( Read more... )

This time with coils. I had a frustrating busy exhausting day. So this afternoon I played with beads. ( Ssssss )

I got the star pendant from The Peculiarity Shop. As soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had some matching Czech glass beads in the hoard and started playing with designs. ( My shiny thing )

I got this idea in my head. It just wouldn’t go away. All I could do was create it. So here it is. ( Behold, )

I received from somewhere a mental image of earrings that looked like faerie or magical wands. So of course I just had to try making them. These are pretty much what I imagined.

Sterling earwires, 18 gauge sterling wire, 25 gauge brass wire, Czech glass star beads, glass beads. The trickiest bit was wrapping the brass wire coils around the sterling. I finally found the good sense to find my favorite wireworking book, Bead on a Wire by Sharilyn Miller, which reminded me to use a small piece of rubbery shelf liner to grip the piece I was wrapping around. The second trickiest bit was finding star beads with big enough holes to fit onto the heavy sterling wire. They’re light and fun and I’m pleased with them.

I finished two boxes-with-lids. The pink floral paper came from a kit with lilac bookcloth, which looked so drab and boring that I had to change it. I had a piece of linen bookcloth that I think works much better. The night sky paper and black bookcloth on the other are from my hoard. The bookboard was all precut from a couple of Books By Hand kits, but next time I’m cutting my own. I have a box cutter and a cutter ruler and I’m not afraid to use them - much.

Oh, the thing the black box rests on is a sand-filled weight made from Japanese fabric. It was in the Aged Parents’ house; my dad used it to hold open the pages of books he wanted on display.

I got a lot done over the last few days. All I have to do now is choose the stitch patterns for each journal, drill all the holes, and stitch them all.

Bookcloth corners glued onto tied page blocks. First pass at binding thread selections.



Covers glued on. I made one mistake, swapped page blocks for two journals. So the one with black bookcloth got the cover meant for the navy blue and vice versa. No one but me knows, and the colors are close, so it doesn’t really matter. Also I revised my thread choices a bit.