small stitches, small steps

I posted this morning to a couple of artsy groups where I've been very much a lurker of late.

Inquired of burleyphotos if anyone had any images of performers skimming off opera length gloves. I need some references to work into my "de-gloved" flayed anatomy sketch.

Posted some Sweeney Todd costume links to the Yahoo ICG List, and rambled on a bit in a reply to another post about the possibilities for Steampunk character costumes for non-mech-tech geeks.

Started working on my Martini pasties yesterday! First, I got the base sized out and did some trial and error beading to decide what I wanted. I'm not sure how they will stand up to time and wear, but stiff felt makes a great base for embellishment work. Then spent about three hours hand beading about 2/3rds of one 2 and 1/2 inch roundel. There is something to be said, time wise at least, for pre-strung sequins and just gluing them down, but I adore hand work. Stitching down each sequin individually, with a tiny seed bead at it's center. I also played around with arrangements for stringing the crystals and beads for the center dangle; I think it's all going to look quite smart when it comes together.

This set of pasties is an "onions and olives" motif, intended as a gift to Dirty Martini. It would be quite fun to do a whole series of "Cocktail Shaker" or "Garnish" designs--orange slices and cherries, cocktail umbrellas, etc.

Anyhoo, it's not much but at least I'm doing something creative and that feels good to me.

Think I'll go do some more beading for an hour before it's time to go to work.