Current Project (hahahahahaha, ok, one of several...)

So while I wait for myself to get around to re-adding the 'pearls' to my Laurel's Court Baronness Coronet, I'll show you the other things im working on. In addition to this being "The Year Of the Demo" for our local groups, (including everyone going german as we'll be demo-ing at the German American Festival this year) I have a subtle personal project to work on my accessories for a proper (bwahaha, me? proper? you jest.. or just want me to be the right color? #heraldjokes) I acquired last year a more correct/thinner green belt, studded with rabbits and acorns of course (mine and my laurels charges). But my current "small-mole-stitching" project is the St. Birghitta Cap : )
omg i lurv ur hat! ^_^ oh hey i totes made it myself betch!

.. right. so.
There are WAY too many patterns out there for me to bother showing exactly how im making it, it's too redundant, and i have no interesting/new theories on how any of it works.
  This chick was great!

My problem is i hate things around my neck, they make me claustrophobic. (seriously.. i even cut the collars off my t-shirts.. ) So instead of a wimple, or the ties, or whatever, this hat would be awesome, and makes a great base for pinning veils or whatnot.. y'know.. when i FIND my veil again.. or make a new one.

I will tell a few things though,
I'm using aprox. 2 9 x 12 rectangle of IL20 for you fabric-store junkies, (thats a 3.5oz linen for everyone else) and a strip thats abour 2-1/2" wide and as long as i could manage.
so far i have curved the top corner and finished that edge. these two curved edges will become the center seam, once i run a spaced herringbone stitch doen between them. it will look like this.
Well.. hopefully it'll look like that. i may be doing this in a vehicle on the way to Blackstone Raids this weekend.. we shall seeeee...

After that the bottoms will get gathered, i'll stitch the whole mess to the long ties, fold them over, loop 'em round my head and ta'dah, it's a correctly styled hat that ISN'T my polyester tea towel.
BAMF.

hopefully.

YIS - Gwenllian

So then this happened

And then I finally entered my regional A&S Fair on 4/12/14.. now my laurel can lay-off.. of course, the next event she saw me i was reminded to repair her coronet that was nearly destroyed in a trip to and from Caid.. but.. i digress.

I Started by Grinding my own enamels. i used lampworking rods because they came in a variety of colors and were readily available.

I decided just gong to town on them in a motar/pestle would work.. and it totes did!

There are also records of heating the glass until red hot and then quenching it, this shatters it so that it will break more easily.. it totes did : )

I then cut small bits of cloisonne wire to match my design, this is a test of patience and OCD. for reals.. 

The Wires are then places on the base with a layer of clear enamel and fired to adhere them to the base

 The colors are then wet-packed into the cells, and fired until they fuse -

The process is repeated until the glass comes up over the edges, it will then be ground smooth, and placed in a bezel wire surrounded by pearls, oh hey, kinda like this.. (pic to follow)

And then you get judged by awesome people, who have way more faith in you, and make you feel awesome, and that you do good work, and then you clean up your docs and piece and take it to kingdom A&S!!!!!  

and stuff... im not dead yet, sorry y'all...

YIS - Gwen