Philately Lately

At a car boot sale a lady was selling packs of around 500 stamps from all around the world for £1.50. How could I say no? The tiny canvases are perfect for incorporating into jewellery and other art projects. I had more fun than I thought I would going through them all.



These are seven of my favourite designs.

Link to the Past

I was lucky enough to get a commission to put together a costume from one of my favourite game series, Zelda. It was Link's outfit I was challenged with making and I had a whale of a time making it all up.

I started with by gathering up the materials I needed for the basic outfit. This included green suedette which was great to work with (no fraying, fabric glue was fine on the seams, minimising sewing!), and white stretch cotton. The faux chain mail was difficult to find, but I eventually found some silver netting in my favourite haunt: Fabric Land.

The hat was the easiest thing to make so naturally I made that first! Only one line of sewing was needed, then I glued the hem and added the side detail. Next up was the green tunic. Since this was laced up at the side rather than one complete piece, this didn't take too long. I made the criss-cross detail at the front with strips of the suedette.

The white under shirt was the most difficult piece to sew, as I had to work from measurements and no model, since it was a mail order piece. I redid the collar a couple of times, as this was quite tricky.

After this was finished I added the faux chain mail, sewing this into the tunic. I ended up with two pieces - the tunic, complete with chain mail, and the white undershirt. The customer kindly agreed to find some white trousers himself, as I don't think I'm at the level to make trousers from scratch quite yet!



Next up was the accessories - a Hylian shield, Master Sword and the belt brace. I used three belts for the brace. They proved very difficult to attach to each other - I used epoxy and velcro in the end.

For the sword I bought a plastic one and took off the guard. My dad cut some wood into the general shape and I attached and painted it, along with the handle. It's a rough representation but it does the trick! My dad ran away with shield idea and created his own method of making them from a cardboard base. He's sworn me to secrecy.



I used acrylic paints to paint the basic design and touch up, and silver spray paint around the edge. We attached a metal door handle to the back, and a leather jug handle (we just happened to have a bundle lying around!) as the arm brace. I was very pleased with the end result. I'll be making one of these babies for myself next!



I had a fun with this project and learned a lot too. I'm really happy with the way it all came together. I'm still waiting for the customer's verdict and I've asked him to send a couple of photos of it in action - provided it fits!

Cute as a Button

Last weekend I went to my first car boot sale of the year! I just love walking around the boot sale, not knowing what people are giving up. There's a huge one near my house every Sunday and the weather was good so we headed up. I was on the lookout for old watches, having missed out on some ebay lots recently. I found four watches for £3 (plus a pretty pearl brooch for £1), way cheaper than on ebay. Oh how I love a bargain.



I intend to use them in jewellery pieces.

Rekindling a lost love for antique trinkets, I dug out my grandma's sewing box, where I remembered seeing some old school buttons. Who doesn't love buttons?



I love how the designs are so intricate for such small things. I can't help wondering what they were originally intended for...I think these are my favourites:

London Love

I traveled up to London recently, and made a point of checking out a couple of craft markets. First up was the Sunday Up Market in Brick Lane. I was completely taken with the area, immediately feeling a great atmosphere. The market itself was full of handmade items, predominantly clothing, cards and jewelery. A few small retailers I'd been following online had stalls, including Buddug, who have to sell the most beautiful jewelery and trinkets. Also came across a lovely lady who sold crocheted fascinators and interesting brooches. Her website is underway at Twinkle Bug so keep an eye out!

I bought a brooch from Rosie Wonders. I have a thing about robots, and this little fellow was a must have, since I was informed it had only been made the previous day! Meant to be.



I can't wait to save some money and go again (without the burden of my luggage!). I highly recommend a visit. If you decide to go, make sure you get your money out before you get to the area as the cash machines often run out before lunch!

Fascinating!

A boredom-inspired eBay search led to my discovery of fascinators. I had the notion to search for 'burlesque' in the clothing and accessories section, and these curious hair ornaments kept popping up. There were some beautiful ones about, most of which predominantly used feathers. A few went a stretch further and played around with materials, which I what I decided to do when I tried my hand at making one.



Using mostly bits and pieces I had lying around, I'm really pleased how this turned out. Black, white and red is a favourite colour scheme of mine and I'd wanted to usde some old playing cards in an accessory for a while. The only new purchase for this creation was the red feathers.



The piece is attached to a slim red alice band, and so can be worn on either side of the head. I had a lot of fun making this and can't wait to make some more. This, and others, will eventually be sold on my forthcoming online store.

The Fight Against the Blank Canvas

Blank space does funny things to my brain. Whether it's a blank page or blank walls, the long I stare at it, the more my mood spirals downwards. That's why I'm a fan of that basic and beautiful design skill - the collage. Everywhere I've lived, the collage has followed. The colour and design of each individual piece transform the entire canvas into visual candy.



At university a like minded friend and I collected fliers. Being students, we collected a lot! At first we created a simple collage covering an entire wall, but one lazy Sunday we decided to step it up and make a flier rainbow. This is probably the best collage I've had a hand in making!



I've also used collages to jazz up boxes, folders, notebooks and such. Here are a couple of boxes I worked on as gift boxes.

Untamed Menagerie

On one of my many internet adventures I was led to the Etsy store of Untamed Menagerie. Being a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, I fell in love with the 'Curiouser & Curiouser' necklace, which arrived in the post today. I thought I'd share that, and one or two of the other wonderful acrylic jewelery designs.