usedtobeljs

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.

denise posting in

dw_news

Hello, friends! It's about to be December again, and you know what that means: the fact I am posting this actually before December 1 means

karzilla reminded me about the existence of linear time again. Wait, no -- well, yes, but also -- okay, look, let me back up and start again: it's almost December, and that means it's time for our annual December holiday points bonus.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

( The fine print and much more behind this cut! )

Thank you, in short, for being the best possible users any social media site could possibly ever hope for. I'm probably in danger of crossing the Sappiness Line if I haven't already, but you all make everything worth it.

On behalf of Mark, Jen, Robby, and our team of awesome volunteers, and to each and every one of you, whether you've been with us on this wild ride since the beginning or just signed up last week, I'm wishing you all a very happy set of end-of-year holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, and hoping for all of you that your 2026 is full of kindness, determination, empathy, and a hell of a lot more luck than we've all had lately. Let's go.

anne_d

Two more Books by Hand Box kits. The one on top is, obviously, a different style with a tray insert. The one underneath is the paper and bookcloth from a box-with-lid kit and bookboard I cut myself. So it’s a little wonky because I’m not good at bookboard cutting yet.

kazzy_cee

On Thursday, we went to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to see their Pirates exhibition.

The exhibition covered the myths, legends and reality of pirates from the 'golden age' of piracy in the late 17th and early 18th century, right up to piracy in the present day. It looked at the images and the modern interpretations of pirates as well as how they have been portrayed on stage, screen, in novels and have even influenced fashion.

It was a large exhibition, and I took a LOT of photos, but I've tried to pare it down to the most interesting things that caught my eye under the cut (FYI - it was all very interesting!).

( Read more... )
We learned a lot of pirate language on our way through the exhibition
Maroon - abandon a victim on a deserted island
The black spot - A piece of paper with a black mark used as a death threat
Jolly Roger - a pirate flag
Fire in the hole - a warning that a shot is going to be fired
Barking Iron - a large pistol
Give no quarter - show no mercy in a fight
A spyglass - a telescope
Sail ho! - a ship has been spotted
Prize - a captured ship
Freebooter - Dutch word for a pirate
Filibuster - Spanish word for a pirate
Corsair - French word for a pirate, especially one from North Africa

There is a lot of extra information on the website for the exhibition, including the pirate myths here.

It was a really in-depth exhibition and we learned a lot. Well worth a visit - it's on until 4th January next year.

anne_d

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.

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Reading

Yet more shiny things

Look! I remembered to post before December started this year!

More Boxes

'Tis a trip about pirates, me hearties!

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