More jonesing for spring

Today we went to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and looked at pretty landscaping.



They even had a hobbit hole, and all the plants were native to New Zeland:



There were shiny things:





And art:







They had an activity for the kids, where they had to fnd a coconut hidden in every one of the 25 garden displays.

Some were easily spotted.



Others were camouflaged:



Upon completion of the hunt, the kids were presented with sunflower seedlings.  We're already plotting where they should be planted.

There were several displays I could happily imagine myself relaxing in:





And there was whimsy for all different kinds of folks:





Afterwards, there was tasty brunch at Dahlia Lounge, and now it's cuddle time.


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New life to old wings

I made these wings over a decade ago for a succubus outfit, and they've been sitting on top of a stack of boxes in the corner of my sewing room for ages.





I've been planning on using them with this outfit, but the years haven't been entirely kind and they were starting to come apart in some places.  The framework was still sound, though, so I decided to just recover them in new fabric.  (They were originally done with a pair of queen-sized black pantyhose.)

I had some stretchy velvet left over from a previous project, an opera cape.



And it worked out beautifully on the old framework:



I'm still going to do something with the tips, maybe sculpt claws out of clay.   The dress will have two sets of grommets for lacing so I can wear the harness underneath, because I always like to make my life more complicated!

The dress body is 90% assembled - there's no good reason why it isn't further along except that I've been lazy.  That will be rectified soon, though.  I promise.



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Getting in gear

Here's another style of earrings that I've remade several times, each just a little bit differently, remade again and listed in my Artfire shop:

Steampunk Gear and Golden Pearls Waterfall Earrings

Steampunk Waterfall Earrings Freshwater Pearl and Antique Watch Parts:

And as an added bonus, some more pearls:

Peach Pearl Knotted Necklace Rope Length with Matching Earrings

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One for you, two for me

I went to the bead store a few weeks ago, looking for just the right strands to compliment two pieces I've been given.  One was a jade pendant carved in the shape of a dragon that my daughter gave me for Mother's Day last year, and the other a carved vintage sale that my husband got for me for Christmas, in collaboration with his father, who runs estate auctions in New Orleans.  (He also is a wonderful artist - check out some of his work here.)

For the jade piece, I found some jade beads of almost exactly the same shade, as well as some miniscule freshwater disc pearls that had been dyed pale green:


Jade Dragon Necklace by *dbvictoria on deviantART

Here's a closeup of the pendant:



Next, the citrine:


I got some faceted citrine beads and accented them with rounds of red lava, for color and texture contrast:




Citrine and Red Lava necklace by *dbvictoria on deviantART

And while I was there I also found some amazingly bright and cheerful orange, yellow, and hot pink pearls, which turned themselves into this:

First Touch of Spring - Orange, Yellow, and Hot Pink Pearl Necklace



Today is bright and sunny and beautiful, if still a bit chilly, so my hankering for springtime is increasing in leaps and bounds.


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And now I'm embellishing the accessories

I'm finally done with the outfit I've been posting about the last few weeks.  Well, almost done.  99% done.  I still have to sew a clip and a couple of hooks on to the scarf, but everything else is done!  (For me)

I had an assortment of old jewelry, bracelet, anklet, and necklace, that I took apart so I could use the bits as decoration.





I started out with these cuffs:



And added ivory coin pearls and cobalt blue freshwater pearls in between the bells:



The cuffs are now closed with laced silver elastic cord, so I don't have to worry about trailing ribbons getting caught on partners' buttons when dancing.

I have a limited number of the coin pearls, so for the cincher I stuck to just the blue pearls:





I also made a pair of earrings, and then put some of the bells back on the bracelet along with more pearls to make a headpiece, and put together a pair of earrings to match:



I'm trying to decide whether I want to do the same embellishment along the top of of the gaiters like I've done on the top of the cincher.  Time will tell.


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Accessorizing again

This weekend I did a little embellishment on the cuffs I made to match my outfit for the upcoming Steampunk Exhibition Ball.

Here's the outfit again:

And here's the cuffs, now that I've added pearls:


Silver Cuffs by *dbvictoria on deviantART


Next up, pants for the husband.  Yes, he really does need pants.



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