The Desert Princess - A Work in Progress Oct. 26

I have pretty much completed the necklace except for some embellishments I would like to add to the connectors. I wanted to make sure it would hang ok before I did any extensive wire wrapping. With the last strands connecting to the clasp, I made the outside strand a bit shorter than the inside strand. Usually it's the other way around but I needed that outside strand to pull the bottom 4 strands up a bit.

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I invision this on someone much taller than me. When wearing a T-shirt, it hangs too low on me, but if I put on a blouse with a wide collar and wear the necklace on the outside, or if I wear a turtle neck sweater, it actually looks good! Here is a not very good pic, but just to show you



OK ! Now to go and add a few details!

(edited a few hours later)
Embellishments !!

Some Personalized Soap Examples

Island Coconut and White Sage small soaps for party favors.

Labeled and still unwrapped. First cigar wrap is plain white light weight card stock.

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Second cigar wrap is a heavier weighted ivory card stock with colored speckles



And here's both with a deli wrap

The Desert Princess - a Work in Progress Oct. 18th

OK, where did I leave off on the Desert Princess?? :) It's getting a little harder to find time to work on it as the soap is starting to demand more and more of my attention. Which, by the way, is a GOOD thing!

I added the last strand to the piece. I know I said I was going to add a couple of pieces of red coral, but I just love this blue blue turquoise too much !!

(Click on photos to enlarge)


Now I am at a point where I have to think outside the box a little, a bit outside my comfort zone. These 2 sections need to be braced apart, so they are not collapsing into each other. I do a little bit of wire wrapping, so I have plenty of sterling wire. So, using a 6 inch piece of 18 gauge half hard, and my little wigjig, I made a simple modified U shaped connector, with 2 loops on the ends which I will connect strands of sterling silver beads.



And here they are attached to the necklace





And this effectively holds the two sections apart! Kind of plain looking, don't you think? I have some 24 gauge soft wire that I will do some wire wrapping with turquoise embellishments to spiff them up a bit. THEN I can make the sterling bead strands that will connect to the clasp. I still haven't decided which clasp. These are my two choices:



I'm liking the hook, but the toggle will probably hold up better under the weight of the necklace.

And speaking of princesses .....

First Crochet Project Completed

I've started crocheting again, after years and years (about 25 or more!) of not picking up a crochet hook. I started again for 2 reasons ...

1 - I have a TON of yarn that I purchased when I was weaving. And I mean a ton! Look at all this yarn ...

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Most of it is gorgeous wool from Bartlett Yarns in Harmony, Maine.

2 - While watching TV, I realized I was wasting so much time! I LIKE watching TV in the evening, so I figured, instead of messing around on the computer while watching TV, I should do something a little more constructive.

I've been practicing my crocheting by making a few ipod/cell phone cozies. And I finally feel confident enough to start making items to sell. This is my first sellable ensemble .... a purse and a matching phone cozy. I just finished washing them and they are blocked out on a thick towel for drying.



Since I don't have buttons in the house, I crocheted the "buttons" for the flaps. Worked out good!





Opps, I see a little thread sticking out in the cozy above ... I'll have to weave that back in when it's dry.