Mermaid's Revenge Choker and Sponge Bob....

Today's entry is going to be a bit twee!! First off, lets do the good news!

I was rummaging through pieces of coral and shells I had collected in Aruba when I found this. A piece of coral with odd colours that inspired me to do something odd with it. I created the choker band out of pink metallic fabric machine embroidered with a scalloped design. I then played around with pink coated wire and made swirling links to attach the coral to the band. The choker closes with a pearl and loop made from knotted thread.

I think this choker is fit for any rambunctious mermaid making her way in the world!

It is available for sale in my store here.

And now on to the not so good news... depending on how you look at it. I was informed by my office today that I am going to receive additional training in April to work with Nickelodeon Character Costumes... Now in some ways this is a good thing. It is a new skill for me to learn and I will be able to put Nickelodeon on my Resume. However, I fear I will be cleaning kid's puke off Sponge Bob... which is not so good! I didn't sign up for slime and kid's snot, that's for sure. Right now it i probably best to focus on the positive ;-) So yay for new skills! Bring on Dora and Sponge Bob.... where they are going to fit in the dressing room I will never know!!

Oyster Bay Necklace and Relocation??

I found this little shell in Aruba and loved its strange colours. It inspired me to juxtapose materials when making it into the centrepiece of a necklace. I experimented with wire-wrapping, making looped links to hold the shell along with wrapped pearls from Germany in harmonising colours. I then lengthened the necklace with sea grass coloured hemp.

I think this piece is delicate and subtle, emphasising the bold colours of the shell itself. Let me know what you think!

This piece is currently available for sale in my shop here.

On a personal note, I’m thinking about relocating. With my cruise line phasing out my production company I have been looking for a new job, maybe on ships, maybe on land. I’ve applied for a few things back in England but I have a friend in Tennessee who might be able to find me something…. I’d just have to work out work visas and stuff. Anybody have any advice they’d like the share? I’d much appreciate it! - Leave me a comment!

Sharing the Handmade Love!

Geisha Cushion Cover by Sara Mahoney

In this post I wanted to share some of the Handmade Love! When I get home from my current contract (10 weeks to go!) I want to start having a regular blog post dedicated to showcasing handmade items that I really like. Let’s call this my first one, inspired by my good friend Sara Mahoney.

I hand embroidered a dress for my friend Sara (see my blog post Sugar Skulls Dress here) when she was on the ship with me back in November. In return I just received my birthday present from her…. A hand embroidered cushion case with a Geisha on it! Now the Geisha is poignant to us as we worked on a show together called Garden of the Geisha, but Sara also knows I love Ed Hardy stuff, and his Geisha design is one of my faves. Isn’t she gorgeous! I have it hanging on the wall of my cabin right now, but when I get home I am going to get a cushion for it, I can’t wait!!

Company Of Wolves Necklace by Hoolala

On to my second plug. It’s Euro Week on Etsy this week as they open their European Office in Germany. Even though my items are currently being shipped from the US, I am actually a European Etsy seller, being from England when I am not on ships. I decided to have a look around Etsy for fellow British sellers and stumbled across Hoolala. In particular I found her Company of Wolves necklace. This is going to be my birthday present to myself (my birthday is on April 10^th – remember the date!) as it has my favourite quote from said movie incorporated into the necklace – Sweetest tongue hides sharpest tooth. I am in love! Hoolala has many other amazing creations in her Etsy shop so check out this fellow British artist!!

Sea Gypsy Necklace

This piece I’m keeping for myself! I found the central shell slither on a beach in St. Kitts and knew it had to be made into a necklace. I felt like the Goddess had placed it on the beach just for me ;-)

I gathered together pale hemp thread and wooden beads to begin with, but then I had the thought to use glass beads as well. I wanted to use several strands of hemp to make a thick cord, but it also meant that I could string the smaller glass beads I found in New York onto a single strand. They then fell between the hemp cord, partially hidden, which I really liked.

I wire-wrapped the shell with white coated wire, making quite a chunky top which I liked with the size of the shell piece. I decided to call this piece the Sea Gypsy Necklace as I feel I am a bit of a sea gypsy. I travel around on different oceans seeing different places but never settling. This piece reminds me of the pull of the ocean, the curl of the waves and that for now, the sea is my home.

Don't forget to go check out the Salvaged Mutiny Store that is now open at http://salvagedmutiny.etsy.com

Store Now Open!! and Tiger Fish Bracelet

The Salvaged Mutiny Store is officially open! Visit http://salvagedmutiny.etsy.com to see my items. Buy something, add one to your Etsy favourites or just leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you!! But now on to another craft for National Craft Month… an item that is currently for sale in my store here!...

While in Burmuda, I visited the Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. I also visited the summer event Harbour Nights where locals played music, offered food and sold their wares. There was a lot of hand made jewellery there and I picked up a lot of good ideas. On the way back to my ship on the ferry I designed a bracelet around one of the fish I saw, the Tiger Fish with its brown and white stripes. I found an ethnic style centrepiece and used a tri-band fastening so I could have three stripes working their way around the bracelet. I think my jewellery making skills are really coming along!

My Boots Are Made For Walking!

Alongside showing you my crafts, I promised I’d write about ship life. My current news is a good example of that. The economy has finally hit my profession. I think I mentioned that I work for a production company, not directly for the cruise line I work on. The cruise line dictates what shows they want us to do… and now they dictate how our cast is made up. My production company is expensive (relatively) so the cruise line has decided to phase out my company in favour of cheaper in-house production. They are also bringing on a new show. This means one of our shows has to go, and also 5 members of my cast have to go too. We have a month left together, then we are cut down from 18 people to 11. It’s going to be interesting rearranging these shows around such a small cast… I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

On a brighter note, yet another craft to show you!! I found this tutorial on UrbanThreads.com about how to make a pair of boots out of a knit sweater and ballet flats…. I wanna do that!! Instead of a knit sweater I used an old robe made out of fleece, so I had to adapt the process a little.. but here are my knee-high purple plaid boots! I love them and hope you do too!!!

Finally, I was super happy on Sunday to see that my favourite Costume Designer Sandy Powell won an Oscar for The Young Victoria – she’s one of my costume heroes!! Yay for Sandy!!!

National Craft Month! - Winter Wonderland

March is National Craft Month! I'm going to try to put up a few of my crafts this month, so here is the first...

After reading an article in Bell Armoire Jewelry by Cherie FitzSimons-Orr about her Vignette necklaces, I was inspired to make a twisted wire necklace of my own. I had some white and silver wire and was motivated to use a white and diamante flower earring I picked up in Bar Harbour. With a winter colour palette and a frosted flower I made my Winter Garden necklace. I enjoyed making it so much I want to produce a seasons set, one for spring, summer and fall as well. It will be an ongoing project as I collect together the beads and accent pieces to make them. So keep an eye out. But for now, enjoy my winter offering!