Hobby Lobby has Simplicity sewing patterns on sale this week for ninety-nine cents each, so I accompanied my mother and younger sister yesterday and Mom and I went there while Laura was at art class. I got four costume patterns and found some ribbon suitable for costumes that was in the Christmas section for 80% off.

We went to the bookstore Borders afterwards. I got Ivanhoe, which we have, but I wanted my own copy. I also got two books that were 50% off – Lord Hornblower, one of the Horatio Hornblower books that the TV series is based on, and C. S. Lewis and Narnia for Dummies. I’ve started school back and it’s seriously shortened my pleasure reading time, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to read them, along with all the other books I want to read.

Other than that, not much has been going to blog about. I’m struggling with a lot of things so if you’re reading this, please pray for me.

Have an amazing rest of your life!

- WM

I made this handflower (note their very real existence: http://www.blackprincearmory.net/store/flowersetc.php ) over the past two or three days.

Granted, it looks better on an eczema-free hand I enjoyed making it, but I got a little impatient with all of the changes I had to make to perfect the fit. I’m pleased with the finished product, though.

God bless you.

- WM

I spent a large portion of the day (the part I didn’t spend sleeping and writing and walking) creating jewelry out of the gold and silver rings I remembered seeing in our stash of jewelry-making supplies. I was inspired by my research on the creation of chain mail (though I was looking mostly at the creation process of vests and hauberks).

I made three pairs of earrings, a bracelet, and a necklace, as follows.

The bracelet:

Closeups:

On my wrist:

The earrings, in order of creation:

The last pair of earrings I made after the necklace to match it. The necklace took me two to three hours and more than three hundred gold rings. If I made another, I could do it in a shorter amount of time, since I know a lot more about what not to do (and what to do).

 I would have posed in the necklace so that you could see the drape, but I would look like a homeless person who robbed a jewelry store in my current ensemble.

Have an amazing day.
- WM