So I was Thinking....

 And Had This Idea...

 I shared this picture the other day on Instagram(link to my Instagram is on the right in the sidebar under links)...I love this picture, even though I absolutely really do 100% hate seeing my reflection or having my picture taken. 

I was filming my casket for YouTube and was just vegging out staring at it and saw myself there. Immediately I thought of the early ones, and how absolutely awesome it would have been to SEE who made them~ who's reflections those mirrors had projected for so many years. It's been a few years since I made this one, but I still look basically the same, so I printed this picture out and it will forever live in my casket. 

I hope my fellow caskateers will do the same!

Another Wedding &...

Another Finish!

Three weddings in less than thirty days.....I certainly hope my youngest isn't planning to get married anytime soon. My son Josh got married this weekend~ such a beautiful wedding! They say a family tree grows over time...I feel like ours has exploded all at once, but in a good way. 

I also wanted to share this beautiful finish from one of my students! Frances is in my Gum Work, The Art of 17th c Gummed Silk class that is currently running. It's not even over yet and she has made this stunning dome top casket of her own.

I am just so proud of her! I love her colours and design~ and that the three flowers stand up along the top like pretty little jewels on a crown.

Making and working with gummed silk is so much fun, once you start you can't stop! If you are interested in making your own, you can click the link above to find out more about the class.

I hope you have a great week ~Happy Stitching!!

Beads & Baskets

 My 17th c Inspired Beaded Basket 

Offered this week is a peek at my beadwork basket I made back in 2013, hard to believe it has been 9 years since I made this. Check the notes for the video, I have a link there to the actual 17th c basket in the Corning Museum of Glass's collection that was the inspiration for my basket.

I hope you do something today that not only puts a smile on your face but makes your heart happy too

XOXOXOX

17th Century Beadwork AKA "Beugle Works"

 Applying Learned Techniques to Different Projects

Over the next few days, I will be shooting a number of videos of different things I have made using the techniques I teach in my 17th c beadwork class, Beneath Thy Poft Oak.  So many marvelous things can be made using the core techniques from class~ change the beads... the pattern...change the colours and BAM! you can make some new something of awesomeness!!!  Today I will share a peek at my Padded Mirror Case. While I no longer offer this class specifically, I do still sell the pattern and figures for it. The surface work, three-dimensional berries and leaves, and clothing/figural work are all covered in the Beneath Thy Poft Oak class. I think the only thing not covered in this piece, is the making of Kings Crown, and the covered watte acorns. All of the beads on this piece are antique, which adds to its perceived complexity. As well, note that all of the beads are NOT the same. There are big ones, little ones, and metal ones....there are cut charlottes, and large bone beads (the berries above the Queen). There are opaque, transparent, satin, and greasy glass beads. For a proper 17th Century impression in your beadwork, aside from the colour palette, the more variation in materials you can glom on, the better!

17th c Beadwork Class

Beneath Thy Poft Oak, 2022 Registration Open

 Registration is now open for my 2022 running of Beneath Thy Poft Oak, The Art of 17th c Beadwork. Spaces are limited so if you are interested, you can learn more about all the particulars and/ or enroll here. You can also click the tab at the top of the blog page here for the Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy to see all the classes currently offered. 

 It's hard to appreciate any beadwork in a flat photo, so I made a video for you. I will have more videos in the coming days of other beadwork projects that can be made using the same techniques that I teach in class....my padded mirror case, beaded basket, and of course my beaded casket~ I hope you'll check back!

 

My Summer Rollercoaster

2 Weddings in 3 days & a Finish...

Oh my golly this year has been a handful.  I am still trying to get back to my olde self.. I just feel like I got on some rollercoaster from hell and can't get off. A week after I got my staples out we were off to Durango Colorado (a trip my husband had planned for a year and would not let me out of). About a week after that Pip and I drove up to Washington to see my parents. A week after we got home from that, our oldest daughter got married!

Two days later, my middle daughter got married! School starts here on the 9th of August, so I am actually really looking forward to some quiet days. Would that be possible? I sure hope so. I don't have the energy I used to have, and feel honestly like I just want to sit and cry my eyes out for about a week, about what I don't know, and then maybe go to sleep until January of next year. I'm just worn OUT. 

I have been working on backorders in between all the happenings, painting aLOT, and on my lacquering days and evenings managed to get the center panel for the INSIDE of my short flat top casket finished. I dressed her like one of my dollys~she wears real pearls and real garnet jewels, and I am very proud to say, she has a head of my own hair. I am super pleased with how she came out. When things settle maybe ill post about her in more detail, or take a little video.

I hope you are finding time to get some stitching done & enjoying your days XOXOX

Super Honored

 My 15th Consecutive Year Selected for Early American Life's Directory of Top 200 Traditional American Craftsmen

Words can't express how much it means to me to have been selected again this year for the 2022 Directory. THANKYOU to the judges for choosing my dollys to accompany so many other talented artists' work. I really do love making dolls.

You can find the Directory in the July/August 2022 Issue of Early American Life Magazine.  It's hard to believe 15 years have passed. It seems like an eternity, and at the same time, no time at all. I have made so many dollys over the years. I remember each and every one of them. Every so often, I end up really regretting selling a doll. I need the money so they do their part and happily travel the globe....the whole time though, I really miss them.

I was elated recently when a dealer contacted me that she had bought a large collection of dolls and several of mine were included. I could not wait to bring my Wrestling Heart back home, as pictured above. 

Marta also made the long journey from Virginia to Colorado. I almost cried when I opened them up, kindred spirits from so many years ago that I have missed so much! They have so many stories to tell the girls here of their long and marvelous travels~ the endless chatter has not stopped since they arrived! 

I am currently sculpting the figures for the 2022 Poft Oak beadwork class. Once I get those finished, I will hope to get some dollys in the ETSY shop later this summer!

Happy Stitching XOXOXO