a day in the life of the gilded bee: December 2009

Thursday

..{new butterflies}..

Happy new year! Happy new decade! Happy new butterflies!

{peach/chestnut}

{orchid/chestnut}

{lime}

{golden yellow}

{dove/cherry}

..these little pretties are currently being featured in a treasury on Etsy..

{cocoa/cherry}

{chartruese}

{canary}

{butter yellow/cherry dotted}

{wintermint/chestnut}

http://www.thegildedbee.etsy.com

{Winter Hats}

I've been making hats like mad lately. I wear them quite often. More so in this {frigid} weather.

This one is made from corduroy remnants {always perfect for hats and flowers}

grosgrain ribbon, a little peach rose, vintage forget-me-nots and black seam binding on the edge of the brim.

I made this flower with some lovely vintage stamens.

This is the hat that I was wearing yesterday. I made it on Sunday. I love the way it turned out. :)

It is made from chocolate wool felt+a big burgundy rose+raspberry-green ombre velvet leaves.

This was made from an upcycled wool skirt, and hat. I posted a grey cloche before. After that posting, I absolutely wore it to death. I didn't fancy pitching it, that's not really my style, unless totally neccessary. So I cut it up, inverted the material and composed a large flower for this hat.

This is one of my favorite hats. I've been wearing it quite a lot this winter. It is blueish-greyish-teal wool felt that I appliqued with the same material.

I like the lining too. ;) All of these hats that I've posted have linings~I just didn't take the take to post them.

I saw a hat in a Victorian trading co. catalog: it was black with a big cluster of gorgeous velvet violets. I have adored that hat for a while now... so I thought that it was time to create one. This hat is made from black wool+some lovely purple velvet violets that I found on ebay.

Wednesday

my vintage winter coat

It has been snowing liberally. It is white, brilliantly so, and I think that I crinkled my face up quite a bit during the photographic process.

The flakes were so perfect that I thought that I might have my sister take some pics of me in my new hat.

This is my winter coat. It is vintage and woolen and a little big {which is perfect, as I'm always layering}. Quite heavy and warm. It came from the lovely C. of Cassiesattic.etsy.

The hat+scarf+coat that is under the wool coat are handmade by me.

Tuesday

herbed muffins+black tea

I made black tea and herbed muffins for lunch, both were rather good.

So I thought that I would share the recipe.

I topped this one with some raspberry jelly.

Monday

the shortbread tags

Finally! I'm getting some of the new goods into the shoppe.

{shortbread tags in cinnamon}

{shortbread tags in peach}

{the shortbread tags}

chestnut+mint+bon bon pink

peach+citrine+licorice

pastelle blue+French blue+cinnamon

{shortbread tags in mint}

{shortbread tags in French blue}

I love all of these tags. I'm trying to think of more things to make/gifts to wrap with them.

http://www.thegildedbee.etsy.com

Sunday

the pumpkin pie coat

I made this coat at least several weeks ago. I've just been procrastinating/busy.
This color was rather tricky to photograph, all colors with strong red/orange elements can look almost neon in hue/wash out the other colors around them. I took extras of some of these shots and weeded out the odd looking ones. Think of pumpkin pie, or nutmeg, and you will visualize this color.

This was my very first time making a coat like this. Until this project, I hadn't tried doing a (faced) lapel collar like this. I chose a pattern that looked like a good beginner project (it's a new look by simplicity pattern~I don't remember the number). I have an ornate, really long, Edwardian style pattern that I wanted to make, but I thought that I should do a "muslin" of something similar to start with, before digging into the French cotton fabric that I'm hoarding.

This material is from the "bargain" stack of remnants of upholstery fabric at a local store.

It's corduroy (it think it's a blend, I don't really know :)), it doesn't feel soft enough to be 100% cotton, I have some of that too, I could stroke it till the surface went bald.

The buttons are vintage, cherry red and have a matte surface.

I got them from a local antique shop.

The one bone I have to pick over this pattern: it isn't lined. That wasn't included in the pattern pieces, and I was not going to attempt drafting one myself. Every now and then, after I've had a little sew-a-thon, and I'm feeling cheeky, I'll try to draft a pattern for something-from scratch.

They are the most terrible failures. I usually end up recyling the fabric into something else.

Sooo, I purchase patterns. :)

I hand-sewed the lapel and hems, that took a little bit, but the result isn't bad at all. I pinked the edge of the front dart and pressed it down (as I sew more and more~I become more attached to the iron, it makes everything lay properly).

I'm not short (5,8). Nor do I have short arms. On the contrary. That is one element that can be annoying when I purchase vintage coats made for petite people, the sleeves are usually at least 2 inches too short. So on this pattern, instead of folding up the whole cuff allowance, I just did a 1/4 inch rolled seam.

I was a little alarmed at the amount of "slashing" that was involved in the collar/lapel area. I was totally plastered to the directions, hoping and praying that I would not slash the wrong seam.

This pattern was easy enough that I will be making more of these coats soon. :)

I have a bunch of lovely Japanese patterns that I can't understand. Maybe when I get a little more experience with coat making, I'll try some of them out. :)

Saturday

Cranberry Mascarpone Parfaits

We are certainly having a white Christmastide. We were to walk over to my Grandmas (we live on the same road~~the road was totally drifted in over a thick glaze of ice) for the usual exchanging of parcels and I wiped out beautifully. Ug. I want my chiropractor. I'm rather glad I didn't do any serious damage, it would impair my crafting abilities.
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Today I've making more packaging for the shop, more freebies (I love getting these, so of course I always send them ;)) to send out with orders, more goods to list (I also have some serious flower overhauling to do, and new posies+colors to list), cleaning and doing laundry (I always clean on the weekend), plotting new projects, and wishing I could cram in some sewing :)
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I thought I would share one of the recipes from our Christmas Dinner:
For dessert: Cranberry Mascarpone Parfaits

1. Combine in saucepan:

* 1 c. water

* 1 c. honey

* tiny pinch of salt

Bring to a boil.

2. Add:

* 12 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries

Reduce heat; simmer until thickened.

Remove from heat. Cool completely.

3. Combine in bowl:

* 1/4 t. fine sea salt

* 16 oz. mascarpone cheese

* 1/2 c. honey

* 1/2 t. grated nutmeg

4. Layer cranberry sauce and mascarpone mixture into glasses.

Serve. ;)

.*.*.{I hope that you all had a sweet Christmas}.*.*.

Friday

velvet+headbands

I have been drooling over this article for some time now:
http://afieldjournal.blogspot.com/2009/11/frills-and-flowers-and-buttons-and-bows
the complete tutorial for the lovely headbands is here:
http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/diy-wedding-headbands
My projects aren't as ornate as those. :) I'll have to make some more with more trimming.
These are Christmas gifts for my sisters...

Thursday

{the sweet shoppe}

we are in middle of a wild icy snowstorm... I'm very glad we're not traveling this year...
It's the right sort of day to wrap lots of gifts+drink home-made hot chocolate and hazelnut coffee+watch Christmas films

I've been making+wrapping a great many sweets and thought that I would document them before they are devoured...