progress report

in which our plucky heroine surveys progress in ways large and small...

Decided to go ahead and set one of the Anglo Saxon enamels, as a brooch inspired by the historic settings. The entire brooch is 27mm across the widest dimension, so very very small indeed... The small glass spheres, which are less than 2mm diameter, I made by melting individual seed beads into spheres... the torch I have was not the correct setup for that, but it did work, though it blackened more than half of each sphere.

As I don't have any high-copper bronze, and am not going to fire-gild* the setting, I chose to use brass sheet metal for the setting, and I did have a small piece of serrated bezel in brass which I used for the enamel bezel (as I feel that the serrated edge puts less pressure on the enamel than straight bezel wire) I used RTV glue to hold the tiny glass spheres in the circular collars on each of the seven lugs. So this brooch is an interpretation, rather than a strict re-creation, but I am still quite pleased with the effect.

I plan on making more settings, refining the design to more accurately reflect the originals (trying out using straight brass bezel wire, and consulting with my glass guru Jen Ariadne about possible alternate ways to make tiny glass spheres)

*Fire-gilding, also known as mercury gilding, is an ancient method of gilding non-precious metal, involving making an amalgam of gold and mercury, then driving off the mercury with heat, leaving behind the gold on the surface of the material. It is both lovely and durable, but a very toxic process, unsuitable for home use, and modernly superseded by other, differently toxic, methods of gold deposition.

:::

June was a productive month, though it sure didn't feel like one! Made good progress on catching up on the SMART goals. The things made category is only two behind, things fixed is only five behind, and even the furthest behind, things gone, was more than halfway improved, with eleven out of eighteen... I am starting to feel like this year long challenge will be a success, my efforts are improving things.

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	duvet cover	SPQR pendant setting	metal scrap to recycling
6	embroidered red horses	craftwall organised	bag to Goodwill
7	nine tiny enamels	workbench cleared	bag to Goodwill
8	green silk underdress	SR brooch setting	paper recycling
9	*	setting for one Anglo Saxon enamel	bag to Goodwill
10	*	*	bag to Goodwill
11	----------	*	bag to paper recycling
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

... leading up to...
July SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	*	*	*
2	*	*	*
3	*	*	*
4	*	*	*
5	*	*	*
6	*	*	*
7	*	*	*
8	----------	*	*
9	----------	*	*
10	----------	----------	*
11	----------	----------	*
12	----------	----------	*

:::

one two three many...

in which our plucky heroine continues in her self indulgence....

Remember the Anglo Saxon enamel brooches I have been so obsessed with? Well this week I made a few sketches of some of the various designs... these are all 17mm diameter, (slightly smaller than a dime), which is the average size of the enamel discs in the finds... and chose nine to begin with...

Here they are are about halfway through the enameling process. I have been doing my best to match the enamel colors to the colors shown or described in the archaeological data...

 

Later in the week... some very tiny Anglo Saxon inspired enamels; well over twenty hours somewhere between 20 and 30 hours in to the project. The next step is to make appropriate settings for the finished enamels, so they can be worn as brooches.

I have been putting together a notebook of documentation, and still need to transcribe the useful data from the Portable Antiquities web pages into a format that will refer to the archaeological images and allow me to have data ready to hand... this is the first time I have started collecting documentation in such a structured way, and I can see how useful it will be in the future.

:::

Hmmm I made nine tiny enamels this week, that puts me either really ahead on my "things made" column, or if I count them as one thing then I still have only three more items needed to complete that column for June.  The other columns are somewhat more challenging to complete in the remaining five days. Still, it looks very promising this close to halfway through the year.

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	duvet cover	SPQR pendant setting	metal scrap to recycling
6	embroidered red horses	craftwall organised	bag to Goodwill
7	nine tiny enamels	workbench cleared	bag to Goodwill
8	*	SR brooch setting	paper recycling
9	*	*	bag to Goodwill
10	*	*	bag to Goodwill
11	----------	*	bag to paper recycling
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

declutteration

in which our plucky heroine is both exhausted and chuffed by progress...

Today there was time for another four hour session with K,(like the time we spent a few weeks ago) and not only is the entire back wall of the studio now organised, but I have some idea for how to continue progress in making this space functional. There are spaces left vacant, so that as the supplies and equipment that need to live here either are found or acquired, there will be room for them to get folded in to the plan.

...and... this is my workbench! I haven't seen it this clean since I moved here!!

The current plan is to set whatever tools/supplies I find myself needing to use in the next two weeks on the shelf directly behind the workbench, so that we can get a better idea of what is used in this particular space and therefor how best to store it... much better than stockpiling random tools and supplies in prime access areas. As I have a fair amount of work that needs to happen in that time, it should be really enlightening...

My hope is that with another few several half-days (as we can find time to schedule them) the entire workroom will be at this level of functionality. There are some areas that need infrastructure that isn't yet in place, some rather a lot of small shallow drawers would be very helpful, and yes, more task lighting (actually all round the house could use more lighting). I looked at the cute little kitchen cart from Ikea, but sadly it is just about two inches too tall to fit in the space where it would be ideal to have such a thing.

I am looking forward to continuing to find beloved missing things by decluttering/sorting, and really excited about how much this will help my plans to teach more workshops!

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	duvet cover	SPQR pendant setting	metal scrap to recycling
6	embroidered red horses	craftwall organised	bag to Goodwill
7	*	workbench cleared	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	paper recycling
9	*	*	bag to Goodwill
10	----------	*	bag to Goodwill
11	----------	*	bag to paper recycling
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

so very small

Our plucky heroine is currently obsessed with tiny Anglo Saxon cloisonne brooches. I have been researching all I can find, managed to locate two different archaeological reports (by David Buckton, in "Medieval Archaeology") but have not been able to answer a question that puzzles me: what did they use to attach/hold the enamels and the even tinier little glass spheres to the brooch metal? The bezels are not crimped over as is done in modern jewelery (my background is in modern enamel and metalwork).

I suspect that they were held in place with pitch or some other glue-like substance... but would love to know more... so obsessed geeky girl decided last night to send an email to the British Museum regarding my question: what did they use to attach/hold the enamels and the even tinier little glass spheres to the brooch metal... I am quite excited, today I had a reply to my email that I sent to the Portable Antiquities section of the British Museum - they are " forwarding your email to our National Finds Adviser Kevin Leahy, who is a guru on Anglo-Saxon metalwork! He will be able to tell you more about A-S artefacts." ...

I shall certainly share whatever information they are able to tell me, and am astonished and delighted that my query was taken seriously (geeky girl suffering from a serious case of "who, li'l ol' me...?)

These are not all the extant brooches, just the ones I have managed to find photos of...
they are tiny, the enamels range between 15mm to 18mm (5/8 to 3/4") across.
:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	duvet cover	SPQR pendant setting	metal scrap to recycling
6	embroidered red horses	*	bag to Goodwill
7	*	*	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	paper recycling
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

wordless Wednesday: the march of the threadwinders...

Tuesday tidbits

Monday afternoon was exciting! Lots of LOUD thunder-n-lightning directly overhead, and a fair amount of 1/4" to 3/8" hail, followed by and including another intense downpour... this is the sort of summer storm I grew up with, back in the Northeast, where there is a much more even distribution of precipitation throughout the year, but not what I expect around here. Perhaps this is a different weather pattern than in the last ten years; instead of lovely grey soft mornings and unpleasantly hot glaring sunshine in the afternoon, the renowned "June gloom", we are getting quite a few strong thundershowers.

Fortunately I enjoy a good thunderstorm, which could not be said about the dog I saw running away just as we drove up to my house (pal W gave me a lift home). 'Twas just before the storm hit, and am wondering if the pooch heard the thunder moving this way... still, no way to safely stop and catch an unknown dog running fast, with no human companion in sight... hope that story ended well...

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Progress continues on the tiny Viking horse embroidery project... Not sure if I will simply leave the horses as pale blue outline images, or fill them in. The rest of the embroidered cuffs are a pretty elaborate combination of red, yellow, pearl, and several shades of blue, I think that these will look more like part of the design if some of those colors are included... Once these are closer to done, I can start on the second underdress.

≈ : ♥ : ≈

This may not look particularly delightful, but in fact, this is a bunch of young "green" garlic that my friend Wanda gave me; the garlic is mostly too young to have developed bulbs, and wonderfully tender. It won't last long around here (reminding me that planting garlic this year is a must-do), some has already been cut into chunks and been roasted under the skin of some chicken legs, for added flavor and to keep it from burning. The two chicken legs will make at least three meals, and then turn into soup...

≈ : ♥ : ≈

what do these three have in common?

our plucky heroine has made sewing a part of her life for many many years, and yet, there are far more sorts of artwork that can be done with those tools than I have ever considered... recently found two different animated tidbits that both make use of sewing/embroidery in different ways... one is this pop video that uses stop motion to animate sewing equipment and threads, in a most entertaining fashion:

and this one uses machine embroidery images frame by frame to create a science fiction narrative, all set to heavy metal, you can read more about the process, or just watch the movie:

Lastly, my habit of reading sewing blogs occasionally casts up a gem of great beauty on the electronic shoreline... I was perusing biblioblog's current post, and she mentioned the sculptural work of Susan Else, and linked to an artwork: "Hard Times" that I found to be profoundly moving...

Saturday and Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine makes assorted progress in a generally forward direction...

Yesterday when I swept off the front porch, saw the most tiny little nigella growing in one of the planter pots. Seriously, the entire plant was miniature, about the size of a normal nigella blossom!

:::

I used “knitters graph paper” to draw out a design for a two color pattern, (since I read that just using regular graph paper would distort the design)well apparently my stitches are not normal! My design which looked so nice on the knitters graph paper, is now really attenuated... after checking my actual gauge, my stitches are a little bit taller than they are wide, which is why I got such unexpected results, the graph paper is meant for the stitch proportions of ordinary knitting, not stranded colorwork.

:::

As I gradually put things away and slowly declutter, that I am finding some of the various things that have been misplaced over time. Most recently, the missing Kelly Kettle turned up, for some unknown reason, on the windowsill in the small bedroom?!? The Kelly Kettle is a powerful little hot water generator, and uses just small scraps of dried biomass. It heats water to boiling very very fast...

:::

...just spent a chunk of time looking at photos over on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website (which documents archaeological objects found by members of the public in England and Wales) just found a whole lot more of the little Anglo-Saxon cloisonne enamels I am so currently obsessed with... must make some, soon!! I am collecting the images over on Pinterest

:::

Today was Crafternoon, and though attendance was sparse, that did allow for what turned out to be two very different delightful individual visits. And there was homebaked cake. I am still amused that these vintage jello molds not only work well as cake tins, but that they have my SCA badge on them (rather hard to see here, but it is an acorn between two oak leaves; here is a better picture of a different cake). The recipe* I use makes a pretty plain cake, and while it would definitely be improved with a little jam and whipped cream, it is pretty tasty just as is...

Early in the day, Z came over, which gave us a chance to talk enameling, and also a chance for me to hear about some fascinating travel options on the Oregon Coast. She is eager to do more enamels, interpreting some of her gorgeous photo images in a very different medium. Later in the day, U came over and we worked on some of the sewing for her elevation to the Order of the Laurel next month. Marya and I are making the green silk under-dress, and so today was partially about making certain that the upper bodice and neckline fit well, and starting to sort out the sleeves. I pretty much never wear 12thC clothing, so this is all a bit of a learning experience for me. Fortunately, fabric doesn't scare me, even delicate thin shot silk...

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	duvet cover	SPQR pendant setting	metal scrap to recycling
6	*	*	bag to Goodwill
7	*	*	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	paper recycling
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

* for those who might be interested, here the recipe I use, this time I made the plain cake, but as mentioned it can be lemon poppyseed, or mocha, or pretty much whatever variations are pleasing. Pound cake is useful that way...

read the small print...

in which our plucky heroine discovers that she had been doing it wrong all along...

For some reason, yesterday morning while taking my tiny thyroid pill, I looked at the bottle and saw that there was a new tiny warning label, along with the "take with plenty of water": it said "do not eat anything containing iron or calcium afterwards" along with the "wait an hour before eating". I checked with the pharmacy and yes, that means not just vitamins, but any dairy product at all! This is not good news... makes this dairy-based life form less than thrilled. My usual breakfasts run to things like fruit and yoghurt, or stir fried veggies with cottage cheese, or crustless quiche, so have apparently been sabotaging medicine all along...

On the suggestion of several folks and based on two different medical studies, am going to try taking the thyroid at bedtime instead of on awakening; this might solve a whole slew of issues, most particularly the not eating for an hour after getting up one, which I have HATED ever since starting on thyroid years ago. For most of my adult life, eating breakfast was how I started my morning, preparing food was part of the gradual wake up process and eating it woke me all the way up (girl is not a caffeine-based life form, for me coffee or tea are strong drugs used as needed when I am willing to deal with the side effects). Giving up a morning routine that worked well for one that has me wandering around in a daze for an hour has remained an ongoing challenge.

If, instead, I simply trade off having the occasional bedtime snack for getting my functional morning routine back again, that seems worth the trial... (after all, the gorram stuff can't work any less well than it does already - still have all the symptoms I had to begin with, despite "your numbers look normal") and supposedly the active ingredient is more thoroughly absorbed when ingested before sleeping, so there might be a Useful Improvement.

Thursday tidbits

Moving right forward... our plucky heroine will, through a combination of clever cutting and pieceing, use the well aged embroidery as part of a new SCA gown. There is just enough of the red silk herringbone for the body of the gown, but since the cuff embroidery is inexplicably too narrow for my hands, adding an embroidered patch to extend the cuffs seems like a good idea.  The running horse that is the main charge on my arms is here interpreted as a Viking design/style; I have used this image for many years, even before my SCA life - born in the Year of the Horse, and symbolising moving forward but looking towards the past as well, a point of view that is useful in both the macro and micro context...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" ~ George Santayana
:::

A very clever technical hint: DIY micro sanding strips made from strapping tape and emery paper, cut to use in a jewelers saw frame! Must try this, there are many places where suchlike would be useful, not just for pierced work. And speaking of saw frames, found this absolutely gorgeous one online made by Green Lion Studios; my own trusty saw frame has been a boon companion for over forty years, but a girl can certainly appreciate a piece of elegant design.

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	sleeve bands on green gown	bag to paper recycling
5	*	*	metal scrap to recycling
6	*	*	bag to Goodwill
7	*	*	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	paper recycling
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

well aged projects new and old...

our plucky heroine had to wait to share this photo 'til after an elevation this last weekend in the Kingdom of Caid, but this was the most current Laurel medallion from my studio... I am quite pleased with the tiny stamped crescents in the background diapering and around the edge of the setting (as well as the graduated sizes of leaves I showed in an earlier post) The setting is brass and silver, the enamel is about 1 1/2" in diameter.

:::

Back I was still living in OlyWa, I took a temporary job working on the evening shift from 5 to 10 answering phones in the local office of the Census Bureau... truly, how many folks call a government office after office hours? We did have various tasks that we worked on, but there was always small amounts of downtime when our hands/minds were idle, and we all know that our plucky heroine is loath to just sit with idle hands...

Whilst decluttering, found pieces of an unfinished project started during those empty hours: an embroidered set of cuffs and neck yoke for an SCA gown (as well as the rest of the unembellished fabric, a thick soft red silk herringbone) As more underdresses are needed, my current plan is to cut and assemble this into something that fits me... for some reason I made the cuffs really small, and while the years have expanded my circumference, my wrists have been the same size all my adult life ?!?

the leaves that are green

Final stage of embroidered sleeve bands is filling in the leaf outlines with bi-color stem stitching in light and dark green. This is my transit time handwork (being very portable at only 1 1/2" wide) and will, when finished, reinforce the sleeve/body seam on my new herringbone linen underdress...

There are a number of camping events yet this summer, and my hope is to make progress on my summer 6PAC, which is focused on SCA sewing rather than on modern clothes. Would still like another one or two more underdresses by the end of this month, though that will entail forgoing any embellishment. Still, as this wee project shows, embellishment is ideally suited to pickup handwork that can be added afterwards. Shall look through current fabric stash to find other fabrics that will work well: light to medium wt linen, possibly some cotton gauze... Then in July I hope to add two pair of loose trousers to wear with my Central Asian garb; the trousers in that photo were not quite configured comfortably, the legs were just a tad too short, so the cuffs bound painfully at my lower calves, but that is an easy fix: just cut the legs a bit longer...

:::

Our plucky heroine is definitely making better progress this month... interestingly the "fix things" category is the one that is the most difficult; most of the things that need fixed i.e. changed or repaired, are large jobs involving either an abundance of time or money or both. This is encouraging me to try and think of either smaller things that also make a difference, or of ways to break down those tasks into what my pal B call "chunkable chunks" For example, I need a garden space in the backyard, while this could be created by applying mass quantities of cash hundreds of dollars for raised planters, and loads of soil, etc; the smallest chunks could be my efforts to spread out the cardboard and mulch in the future garden space. The judicious use of my timer throughout the day will effectively forward all the goals, which is, after all, my purpose in the year-long SMART goals challenge...

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	2nd sports bra	*	bag to paper recycling
5	*	*	metal scrap to recycling
6	*	*	bag to Goodwill
7	*	*	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	paper recycling
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

:::

something to bring a smile to Monday morning...

taming the clutter bug

in which our plucky heroine continues to find her way out of the maze...

after spending four hours Saturday with K, the Very Messy Workroom begins to resemble the plan I have always had, that the back wall be a dedicated storage space for craft supplies and equipment.

The idea is that the workroom is not only intended as a studio for metalwork and enameling, and a place to teach, but also the space where when an idea demands to be made, that I will be able to simply reach for the suitable materials and tools to midwife that creation. Considering that I started with a house that had almost no storage infrastructure, that I am not a carpenter nor do I play one on teevee, and that I have some real challenges as far as access to resources, all in all girl is not doing that badly!

The righthand set of shelves will hold everything all sorts of useful things, from glue, tape, and wire, to needlefelting, fabric paint and dye, and weaving supplies and small tools; the labels are made of chalkboard cloth (like oilcloth) and stuck to the cardboard with doublesided stickytape. That way if I want to change the contents, the nice boxes don't get all visually cluttered. It was much cheaper to simply purchase a small length of chalkboard cloth than to either order chalkboard labels or chalkboard contact paper online. The yet unreconfigured lefthand set of shelves will hold metalworking supplies, beads and baubles, and exciting things like vintage enamel backstock and empty film cans (moar enamel storage). A small wooden bookcase or some small chest of drawers that is about 2 ft tall and 1 ft deep, to fit in the undershelf space would really be helpful...

Another eight to twelve hours should see the rest of the workroom in equally orderly condition, which will make teaching workshops later this summer a great deal easier. I have plans to also add a narrow standing workbench to the south wall, that will fold out of the way when not in use, and am thinking about ways to add more task lighting...

progress and planning and presents oh my!

in which our plucky heroine is much encouraged...

my dear online pal LuzClara just sent me two gift boxes with two dress lengths of handwoven wool: the gold and pale blue is from Skye, and the green stripey was woven by her mother! She also tucked in some Japanese textile bits, and the chorus line of wee little maneki neko beads... What an amazing treat!!! (I foresee some new wool apron dresses in my future, as part of my "refurbish the SCA wardrobe" project)

:::

In response to a post over on Stitchers Guild regarding sewing and the minimalist lifestyle, it seemed a good time to revisit my wardrobe... my ongoing goal is to have enough clothing to go for a week without running a load of laundry, so having eight "sets" of clothing would be both functional and generous. Have yet to get there, but when I recently made an actual chart of what I do have, the areas that are most scant become apparent!

#	TEE SHIRTS	KNIT TOPS	BLOUSES	DRESSES	PINAFORES	POPOVERS	SLIPS & APRONS	PANTS
1	grey cave horse	indigo/black layered	blue/multi hawaiian	cornflower ikat	medium denim	indigo nightsky batik	black knit embroidered slip	cropped black knit
2	bad girl black	black bleach print	black print lawn	black/grey polkadot	black lovechild overall	jordan almond leafy	*	*
3	grey floral neckline	black/grey crow	*	blue/grey ikat	black linen	cobalt linen	*	*
4	bang said max	black/grey stripey t-neck	*	brown japanese dogs	black vertical pique	blue microcheck linen	*	*
5	blue stripey cloud	black/white winter t-neck	*	*	grey corduroy	*	*	*
6	dk blue leopard	black plain	*	*	dk grey linen	*	*	*
7	brown acorn	brown celtic wolf	*	*	brown corduroy	*	*	*
8	black square lace	grey zip neck	*	*	grey chambray	*	*	*

bold is wearing out - italic rarely gets worn - lingerie, socks and shoes are not on the chart

Currently am refurbishing my everyday sports bras, once that is done, make some popover dresses, as that is my go-to summertime clothing, and true summer is but hiding in the wings... Second, some leggings/loose pants, as that category is almost entirely missing. Next, for autumn (so not as urgent) make some slip/dresses, and a few dresses. Somewhere in there, before the rainy season returns, get moving on the V1212 bodice/sleeve combo.

:::

Yesterday was the SCA demo at the Royal Rosarian shindig, which I had been asked to attend as part of the artisan village aspect of the local color we were there to provide. In response to the possibility of generating non-SCA customers, I made two pieces that referenced their logo design, a red rose over a golden crown...

While neither of these sold, alas, perhaps some of the business cards that did leave the table will generate an order in the future. And hopefully, neither of these two designs are sooo specific that they will not be saleable someday, or, at the very least, can provide design examples for future workshops

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread-winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	red rose heart pendant	backyard meadow mowed	bag to paper recycling
3	red rose earrings	half craftwall organised	bag to paper recycling
4	*	*	bag to paper recycling
5	*	*	metal scrap to recycling
6	*	*	bag to Goodwill
7	*	*	bag to Goodwill
8	*	*	*
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

thoughtful Tuesday

my newest underdress (slightly visible in the photo of our plucky heroine at the "dyeing with natural dyestuff demo" taken at Egils over Memorial Day weekend) needs to have sleeve bands added as reinforcement where the sleeve and body join, so decided to use some of the same slightly different shot linen (already used for the edge binding, lower cuffs, and hem bindings) decorated with a little embroidered leafy Laurel border.

The inner stem is just DMC cotton, but the leaves, and eventual outlining of the stem, are lovely hand dyed silk floss that my pal Maeva gave me years ago, that I had been saving for a special treat... my current thinking is that I should use and enjoy all my special things now, not wait for a "future someday"

:::

...indeed that is the most noticeable thing I have learned from my cancer journey, the notion that rather than saving things or experiences for someday, to take delight in using the objects every day, to do things now whilst enjoyment can be had, because in truth, someday may never come... I bless every day my eyes open on the bright world, and move forward into adventure and possibility that I can recognise and manage. Walking into the shadowlands has not make me foolhardy, but has shifted everyday fears to an exponentially different scale of measurement.

It has been a long strange trip since I was a young girl, and the trip isn't over yet...

media Monday and random progress reports

:::

Found the basswood threadwinders project that had initially been started as a contribution for a "Dirty Dozen Largess Derby", and while these are neither sturdy enough or lovely enough for that use, they are acceptable for my own use, as I can be careful not to crack the fragile basswood. Were I to try making these again for such a donation, would need to use a much sturdier wood, like oak or maple, which would necessitate finding some other wood source than the local hobby shops...

:::

Decided that having the backyard meadow mowed down counts as a "things fixed" even if I didn't actually do the mowing myself... I did go out this morning and (for my power hour task) spent a good chunk of time in the grey early coolness raking out some of the woodchips across the cardboard. A few days of that labor will cover the area intended for future vegetable annual garden with a nice deep layer of cardboard-n-chips, which will start to kill off the grass underneath, and will both look tidy and also make for less area to actually mow...

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	thread winders	SR silver chain	backyard yardwaste
2	*	backyard meadow mowed	*
3	*	*	*
4	*	*	*
5	*	*	*
6	*	*	*
7	*	*	*
8	*	*	*
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*

June SMART goal matrix

have started in on making a new set of sports bras, the old ones are worn to a ravelling, and while they are not as shapely as a more "constructed" garment, they are functional and more importantly fast to make, since I already have a TNT pattern. Long ago worked that one out, in a similar style to the ones made by Decent Exposures... 

At some point, would like to somehow frankenpattern the basic sports bra style with an underwire seamed cup, since I much prefer the shape of the ones I have purchased, but not this summer, too much else to get dealt with first...

:::

with gratitude for the efforts of Russ, and Amber, (both of whom brought over mighty weed wacking equipment and other tools) my backyard is no longer shoulder high meadow, but entirely passable! A thousand thank yous to them for their generous hours of labor!!

I ended up taking not one but two Benedryl, then stepping down wrong in a divot with my wonky knee... so 'tis a good thing that I wasn't running any power machinery. Did rake up some of the clippings from the weedwackers, and also thinned the apples that were covering one branch on the tree. Now there is room for hens. There were a surprising number of bumblebees, I hope that their nests were not overly disturbed...

Actually started on the next phase of the transform the yard project - which is laying down cardboard (saved over the last few years) and mulch in the area adjacent to the stupid deck, where eventually there will be garden beds. Decided that the combination of antihistamines and increasing warmness would be best served by becoming horizontal after a Very Quick Washup. I can continue the raking out of the mulch over the next few early morning power hours...

:::

June SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	*	SR silver chain	yardwaste branches & clippings
2	*	*	*
3	*	*	*
4	*	*	*
5	*	*	*
6	*	*	*
7	*	*	*
8	*	*	*
9	*	*	*
10	----------	*	*
11	----------	*	*
12	----------	*	*
13	----------	*	*
14	----------	----------	*
15	----------	----------	*
16	----------	----------	*
17	----------	----------	*
18	----------	----------	*