P.S. Missed sketchbook number one? Find it (and a description of the Sketchbook Tours), right { here } on my blog!

A red flower necklace-- perhaps brought to life by an Autumn Fairy? Handmade, of course, by moi. :)

Fair maidens dwell in fairytales. So do chivalrous knights, courageous children, evil monsters, magical creatures, and treasure chests. It's a world full of marvels, and once we've come out and returned to the real world, the stories remind us that every real thing is in itself a wonder and a marvel.

This post isn't supposed to be a rambling on the land of Faerie, however. I just wanted to let you know that I have made many new pieces of jewelry!

My last "big batch of jewelry" post was inspired by everything Elvish. This batch comes to you straight out of the dragon's treasure trove. Most were inspired by fairytales!



Blog readers may be familiar with this design-- it was my first attempt at some extremely complicated wirewrapping techniques. Named the Flower Garden, it was inspired by the sorts of gardens that are so beautiful you expect a fairy or a magical portal to appear!

New in the Shoppe-- Royal Necklace

During our unpacking process, I found a veritable treasure trove: a cardboard box full of my old sketchbooks!

I know that many of my readers have requested to see more of my artwork, so I got this brilliant idea to share my sketchbooks with you. Yes, you read that correctly.


You get to see every last embarrassing sketch that I have hidden away in the depths of my spiral-bound, bent-paged books.


Now, the sketchbooks are obviously just small samples of the artwork that I did. At first, all of my art went into my sketchbooks-- but I tore out almost everything that turned out decent and gave them to friends and family as gifts. That means that you will only be seeing the not-so-decent drawings!

As I got older and more experienced, I started to do all of my planned works-of-art on separate paper. I also developed a bad habit of drawing on everything from napkins to schoolwork, so many of my sketches never found their way into these books.

And so, my sketchbooks truly are sketchbooks. They aren't glamorous. They are sometimes embarrassing, because I tend to use sketchbooks (rather than journals) to let loose when I am upset. Some of them cover over a year or even longer, reflecting periods when I wasn't focused on art... and others represent mere months. Most are somewhat lame, others positively exciting. :)

But they are my art. They are a part of me. You can see me grow as an artist. You can watch my tastes evolve (although I think that every one of my sketchbooks has at least one drawing of a fairy or princess... some things never change!).

I've been able to locate 9 sketchbooks, and plan on giving you tours on all of them. :) I might even pull out one of my folders full of random artwork.

I found that it would be much, much easier for me to take videos of my sketchbooks, rather than scan each page. As I said in the video, just leave a comment if you would like to see any particular drawing in greater detail. :D

(And excuse the accent at the very beginning. I was being silly!)

P.S. Want to see more? As I post each new sketchbook, you will be able to find them on my YouTube channel, or right here on my blog under the label Sketchbook Tour!

P.P.S. I actually finished that sketchbook back in March or April. That's how long it took for the computer to get fixed so I could edit the video!!!

The preliminary sketch

In-progress painting

My friend Elizabeth (aka Elenatintil), has baby-size quilts for sale! (They also work as lap quilts.)

I would love it if you would check them out! At $35 for a handmade quilt, they are hard to beat... and I can assure you that they are all made with lots of love! Plus, you get to help an amazing young woman fund her college education. :)

Don't forget to check out her blog at: Confessions of a Seamstress

Blue Stripes

You will need:

• sturdy paper plates
• scrapbook paper
• scissors
• Mod Podge (or other decoupage glue)
• a bag of clothespins
• clock parts (buy a "kit" from a craft store, or gut an old clock)
• (optional) a washer and fingernail polish
• something to hang the clock from
• (optional) ribbon