Treasury Tuesday - Myriad Mermaids

It's Tuesday, CQers, and that means Etsy Treasury Day! This week I bring a collection of mermaids, specifically with an art nouveau slant. Enjoy!

'Fathoms Below' by exordium

A myriad display of mermaidia, featuring jewelry, art work and costume/accessories.

Fantasy Art Rubber Stam... enchantedgal $10.99	Mermaid spoon bracelet koreanahenness... $100.00	Turtle Mermaid Print - ... aurella27 $8.00
Daughter of the sea No.... UpBrass $56.00	Nouveau Mermaid - 8x10 ... SEMillustratio... $10.00	Siren song - art nouvea... gardensofwhims... $48.00
Mermaid necklace parisi... che655 $8.00	Turn of the Century Art... sweetheartsinn... $9.99	Art Nouveau Mermaid Rin... maryberard $200.00
s157 Art Nouveau Mermai... wwwvintagemerm... $7.00	Silver Ox PLated Art No... dimestoreempor... $3.75	s222 Art Nouveau Mermai... wwwvintagemerm... $7.00

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Thursday - Klondike Krafts

Continuing to designate our blogging days, Thursdays will be given over to Klondike Krafts.  Klondike is Bonnie's nickname for Grady (even she doesn't know why).  Grady will demonstrate his mad craft skills with projects especially suited to our younger CQers.  Today we're going to start with an easy one.

Grady is a big fan of adventure and fantasy movies.  Swords, shields and armor are some of his favorite things.  So today, Grady is going to show you how to make a shield out of the lid of a pizza box.  Projects like this are a great way to recycle cardboard.  We actually cut off the top of the pizza box whenever we order pizza now (when it's clean) so that we'll have it when we think of a new project.

Materials:
Clean pizza box lid or other largish piece of cardboard
2 strips of cardboard (we cut the folding sides of the lid)
Markers or other means of decorating your shield
Scissors
Heavy duty tape of your choice (We used packing tape because we had it, but duck tape works great)
A grown-up to help with the cutting

Instructions

1.  If you're using a pizza box, cut the side flaps off and set them aside.  These are the parts that fold down and tuck into the lower portion of the box.
2. Draw the shape you want your shield to be on the side printed with the pizza logo.  This way, there won't be any lines on the side you decorate after you cut it out.
3. With an adult's help, CAREFULLY cut out your shield.
4. Tape the 2 cardboard strips to the back (logo side) of your shield, being careful to leave room for your hand and forearm to fit through.  We found that putting a piece of tape across the end of the strip and then a piece of tape across each end of tape helped it to stay in place.

5. Now for the best part: Decorate your shield!  We used markers for this one, but we're going to use paint on the next one.  We also talked about finding a picture of a lion (Grady's favorite device for a shield), printing it out on card stock and making a stencil.  We'll let you know how it turns out!

Next week we'll show how Grady used a strap from an old backpack to be able to wear the shield on his back while he's out on those long quests.  Stay tuned!

~Ellie, Maitresse de Crochet
~Grady, Master of Craft Artistry

Wednesday in the Works - Alice's Wonderland Tea Party Gloves

It's Wednesday, ClockQuirkians, and I have deemed Wednesdays to henceforth be known as "In the Works" day--the day when we will post about our works in progress, in development and under construction.  This week I want to talk about fingerless gloves--a favorite subject of mine.

I adore fingerless gloves.  Looking at them, wearing them and especially making them.  I've made some pretty ones before from a nice pattern I found here, but what I had in mind this time required writing my own pattern.  Eek!  I'd done that before on other projects, but this was more complex than, say, one of my amigurumis.  These gloves would require a thumb gusset and an opening for the thumb, a motif worked into the mesh and a vent at the wrist so that they would be easy to get on and off.  I'd used buttons for my previous gloves and had carried that over into my ruffle cuff patterns.  But I wanted a more open, flared wrist this time.  What to do?  Experiment, of course!

Trying things out and unraveling them when they didn't work was tedious, especially shaping the thumb gusset, but what really took a lot of trial and error was working the motifs into the mesh as I came around each time.  The 'A' was difficult, but I'm pleased with the result:

With the motif worked in and the thumb hole worked out (after many tries), the main of the glove was done.  I wasn't sure I liked the shape, but decided to go ahead and add the blue edging anyway.  What a difference it made!  It was just what I pictured.  There's a lesson learned!

For the other glove I decided to honor the Mad Hatter himself with a hat motif.

It's coming along nicely, but reversing the pattern for the right hand has turned out to be slightly more complex than I would have thought, presumably because you crochet from right to left no matter where the thumb hole needs to be!  I'm working it out though...

So keep a weather eye out for Alice's Wonderland Tea Party gloves in the Exordium shop, CQers, and have a very merry unbirthday!!

~Ellie, Maitresse de Crochet

It's Tuesday, and that means Etsy Treasury Day! Today's treasury is all about dragonflies. I have always admired these, but when I heard them referred to as "warriors from the treetop provinces" in Bridge to Tarabithia, I fell irrevocably in love. I also know nerdy science things about them, like the fact that they spend most of their lives in the nymph stage, which is far less pretty, and that they can't walk; their legs are made for landing only. Enjoy! ~Ellie, CQ Maitresse de Crochet

'Dragonfly: Warriors from the Treetop Provinces' by Tweely

A collection of dragonfly art to wear, share and add flair! Tweely is a member of the ClockQuirks family.

Opal Dragonfly Locket R... Steampunkitis $45.00	LILY LOCKET Necklace wi... CharmedValley $32.00	Emerald filigree dragon... MarilynsNewVin... $36.55
Miniature Delightful Dr... twigcrafts $7.00	Friendship Necklace , T... EdieBaron $55.00	Brass Compass Art Deco ... sandrandan $25.00
40x30 Blue on White Dra... scarlettgraywo... $1.87	Pink perfume bottle wit... snorklegranny $25.00	Dragonfly Ornament Sun ... tinfoilhalo $40.00
Pretty Green And Bronze... thisbeadsforyo... $24.00	Colorful Dragonflies Pa... PlayfulColours $59.00	Art Nouveau Dragonfly B... sandrandan $24.00
Fused Glass Dragonfly E... fusedelegance $38.00	Baby Blue Stained Glass... BerlinGlass $49.00	Dragonfly Moon Bracelet Silverdragonfl... $165.00
Dragonfly-print nataliestaffor... $20.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Tuesday Treasury - A Compass Rose by Any Other Name

Tuesday is Etsy Treasury Day (or will be from now on), and that means showcasing the work of fellow artists. These beautiful compass and compass-inspired pieces are sure to appeal to your inner adventurer. Enjoy!

'A Compass Rose by Any Other Name' by exordium

A collection of compasses perfect for world travelers and lost souls.

Finding Direction Neckl... LeClairRoseDes... $30.00	Themed "Not All Wh... LittleGemsbyJa... $48.00	Golden Compass Wax Seal... PlumAndPoseyIn... $66.00
Steampunk Nautical Chun... AGothShop $27.00	The New World art penda... thependantempo... $8.95	Lost At Sea 4- necklace... DesignzByCathe... $42.00
The 1912 Collection: 41... SteampunkSweet... $15.00	Vintage Nautical (VN9)... TerraNovaJewel... $5.99	Steampunk Time Traveler... magickfetish $225.00
Omage to Dorothy and To... Swirlsbyelisa $95.00	Lost in Paris Necklace trinketsforkee... $7.50	Trinket Toggle Necklace... tuulastrinkets $20.00
Which Way are You Going... SiblingStew $18.00	Wine Charms Set - 6 - S... CanoodlesJewel... $12.00	Sunshine Crackles - Mem... CustomCrossroa... $20.00
Compass Rose Original P... JoyGoldsteinSt... $65.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house