Tis the Season for Hints and Secrets

Marsha's Mandala Pillow (detail)
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

For those who like to blog about the gifts we make for family and friends, 'tis the season for keeping secrets.


Which is to say, 'tis the season for bloggers to not have much to post about lest we prematurely reveal what's inside those holiday-wrapped packages! Fortunately, even in the midst of the holiday season other gift-giving occasions occur. When a dear friend from Italy visited recently I had a sudden desire to make jewelry to send home with him for his wife, also a dear friend, who wasn't able to make the trip with him this time.

"Before" photo of Mari's necklace
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

I'd not made any jewelry for a looooooong time. The tools felt clumsy in my hands and I kept remembering components I'd neglected to get when I went to the bead store: crimp  beads, for instance, and crimp covers. (I made a special trip back to the store for the crimp beads, but not for the covers.) When it came time to photograph the jewelry, I realized I'd lost the knack of finding exactly the right background and lighting to get the shots I wanted. But I'd also recently learned how much fun one can have with adjusting a photo via imaging software, so I fooled around with exposure and saturation settings and came up with what I think of as something  equivalent to the Before and After beauty makeover features found in magazines (see photos,  left and below).

"After" photo of Mari's necklace
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

Here are a couple more glamor shots:

Mari's necklace focal point
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

Beads on Mari's necklace
photo by Nita Lou Bryant 

Marsha's Mandala pillow fabric transfer applique
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

Another dear friend recently had a birthday so I made what I call a mandala pillow for her. I drew a mandala of her first name, Marsha, on paper then made a fabric transfer of it. This I appliqued onto several different backing fabrics, sewing around and around it, until I finally found one that seemed right for the pillow. (See photos at left and below.) 

Marsha's Mandala Pillow
photo by Nita Lou Bryant

With regard to what I'm making for holiday gifts this year--and what I'm excited about making more of in the new year--I can't really say much without giving away secrets. But I will leave you with a hint and a promise. The promise is to reveal all once friends and family have had a chance to unwrap those gifts. 

For now,  happy holidays and here's wishing every one of you a happy new year creating whatever it is you love to make. For me, that means things that are sewn and photographed and worn and played and sung and read and eaten and--

well, you'll find in the list below your hint:

lemongrass

cinnamon

juniper

ylang-ylang

red mandarin

lavender

sweet fennel

geranium

ruby grapefruit

lemon

lime

wild orange

 chamomile

flax seed

orris root

atlas cedar

See you in 2012!