treasury blitz

I started looking at vintage and antique book plates--avian, floral, faunal--and I felt compelled to treasurize:

Putting together Audubon prints: Making a quilt with art

Having a field day

No monotony in botany

dangerous necklace

Little Wing: Newly listed in my Etsy shop.

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quest for the acorn: a work in progress

A fabulous new friend gave me some items to construct a necklace as a gift for her friend: a San Francisco watch chain, a tiny seal, and an agate heart charm. Her friend thought a nice Infant of Prague medal and maybe an acorn could be incorporated. Finding a nice Infant charm was pretty easy. I then went on The Quest for the Acorn. This is what I turned into:

Oh, the number of acorns that slipped from my grasp. I had no idea how precious acorn adornments could be. I thought I'd hit the mother-lode with three Victorian carved moonstone acorn fobs or charms. There was nothing else out there like them. I bid accordingly high...only to be sniped in the last seconds.

Other failed bids followed, on bog-oak-acorn earrings, vegetable-ivory (tagua nut) acorn needle cases, acorn treens. Here, see some for yourself.

In the end, I did find a listing for four acorn treens. I bid on them without realizing it was eBay U.K. and that the people auctioning the treens didn't ship to the U.S. Then I won the auction. The seller was so kind to actually ship them to me. I also found a great brass spring locket. Now to decide which one my buddy wants. One of these? Or continue the quest?

three wood acorn treens; one tagua-nut acorn treen

tagua nut treen on the left is pretty chipped and would be
harder to fashion a bale for

inside of brass spring locket--
springs  keep it closed

I'm also thinking of adding an inner, slightly shorter chain to the necklace with a smaller acorn button or charm.

YOU CAN BUY MY STUFF ON ETSY

going once, going twice

I reduxed Toots for my friend Lily's auction for Canyon School. I thought it would be easy to make a necklace I'd already made, but because the materials were different, it really wasn't easier--it still took a few hours. But the result looks great. I love the sterling cartouche as a cloud, with its upward whisps. It probably won't garner the "retail value" I placed on it of $150, so, folks (all three of you), if you want a bargain Millennium General Assembly necklace AND wouldn't mind contributing to the education of the future minds of America (of which the daring, darling and dynamic Lily is sure to be a great one, not least because of her amazing, brilliant parents), then bid on this.

C. Cypert's Bioform Cabinet from the Dentist's Supply Co. of NY

Mike came home with a fantastic, tiny bakelite cabinet, perfect for buttons and beads.

best new word for christmas

                           UNICORNAMENT

craftsmanship

in which the back of the brooch--the part you don't see--
is as beautiful as the front!

YOU CAN BUY MY STUFF ON ETSY: CUNNINGLY CRAFTED COMPONENTS REVIVED