#2 On Its New Mistress At Last!

My dear pal Poochie sure took her own sweet time sending me these photos of herself and her Gold Band of Fiery Sapphire & Onyx Chips!

Here she is wearing #2 with one of her favourite little white dresses by Thakoon or Doo.ri for Gap, I think.

Poochie is so clever with putting things together! I like how the line of the necklace follows that of the dress (she apologises for the tan lines, though).






















Further proof of her clever-ness here, clashing the prints on #2 with the stripes on her t-shirt.

I'm very happy to see #2 getting along with its new friends from Poochie's wardrobe. It will soon get another baubly friend as Poochie has just ordered another commissioned piece. Whoopeedoo!

Golden Dragon On A Cloud Of Pearls (Sold)

#12 - Golden Dragon On A Cloud Of Pearls.

A piece so Oriental that I'm sure Empress Dowager Cixi (the "Empress Dowager" in The Empress Dowager's New Jewels) will approve.

She might like how I've worn it with a vintage kimono for added Orientalism too.

It's pretty obvious how this piece got its name - Golden Dragon from the exquisite piece of scale-y blue and gold brocade, and Cloud Of Pearls from the slightly iridescent Japanese cloud-print silk. The stitches that join the "gems" are in "gold" to match the scales.

They are not my usual Marimekko fabric but they are equally special. Maybe even more because I've used up whatever I have of both and I don't think I'll be able to find them again.

I like how both the piece and its name conjure up images of some high-flying sword-wielding Chinese maiden in a kung-fu flick but it looks great with Western garb too.

SOLD!

#8's New Owner

I like photos of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels with their new owners.

It's one tiny request of mine that I hope future owners will accede to because it is really nice to know where the baubles that I've painstakenly handstitched have gone to, see their new friends and home, and the many ways that their new mistresses wear them (photos without heads are welcome too if you wish to remain anonymous).

"Paging for pals in Singapore...owners of #2, #4 and #5...I'm still waiting for you to send yours!"

Dreamer from the style blog, AusStyle, has put my pals to shame...





















All photos of Dreamer from here

That's her with Random Sprinkles Of Gems around her neck - she received them yesterday and I got the photos today!

And not just one!






#8 is not exactly a CheungLik/Wear-And-Tear piece that she's wished for on her illustrated Post-it fashion wishlist but this Melbourne high-schoolgirl has a knack for turning everything she wears into cute golden-ness, including fabric "gems".

For Sale: Pink Tourmaline Dream (Sold!)

This is the eleventh piece from The Empress Dowager's New Jewels, the pink sister to the Aquamarine Dream in the same Dewdrops setting.

Photo from here

Like her blue sister, Pink Tourmaline Dream is inspired by the clever pixellated Stolen Jewels by Mike And Maaike that I've admired for a long long time.

The glittery pink "gems" are cut from this piece of Marimekko fabric that I was extremely lucky to find. I think it's a discontinued print because I can't seem to find it on their website anymore.

And pink tourmaline is believed to be the Empress Dowager Cixi's favourite gem - she is the "Empress Dowager" in The Empress Dowager's New Jewels. What luck! She loved it so much that she bought them in large quantities from a mine in San Diego and had them shipped to China in the late 1800s.






















SOLD! You can see the "jewels" on their new mistress here.

For Sale: Dewdrops Of Rubies (Sold!)

Finally! The very first piece of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels that's for sale...now that some of my pals ("guinea pigs" and honest critics) have been sent their "commissioned" pieces!

Catalogue item #10 - Dewdrops Of Rubies.

You can wear it short.





















Or long.

Or to one side. Even as a belt.

The "rubies" are cut from this cute 100% cotton heart-print soft-furnishings fabric from Ikea. Not the usual Marimekko fabric that I use but just as pretty.





















SOLD!

Check-Out Counter

Here are the boring bits of information that you'll need should you decide to make a purchase:

Postage & Handling:
~ Australia:
- AU$6.00 (Regular Parcel Post with no tracking service)
- AU$8.00 (Express Post with tracking service)*

~ Asia:
- AU$8.50 (Airmail)
- AU$18.00 (Registered Airmail)*

~ United Kingdom:
- AU$11.00 (Airmail)
- AU$23.00 (Registered Airmail)*

~ United States:
- AU$9.50 (Airmail)
- AU$20.00 (Registered Airmail)*

* I hate to have to say this but once the item is the mail, the postal service takes over and I, technically, will no longer be responsible for it so the tracked/registered options are recommended for peace-of-mind and to prevent misunderstanding, should the package go missing.

Payment Method:
~ Australian buyers - Direct transfer into my bank account (preferred) or PayPal
~ International buyers - Paypal only

Please email me at likklegirl@gmail.com with queries or if you would like to make a purchase (yay!).

Thank you for visiting! xx

Aquamarine Dream

Catalogue item #9 - Aquamarine Dream.

The Lennon connection is purely coincidental. Only realised it as I typed that last line.

Photo from here

I'm a big fan of Mike and Maaike's line of Stolen Jewels so I was really over-the-moon to find this pixel-print piece of Marimekko fabric!

It was so small that I was lucky to have gotten the sparkly pieces of "aquamarine" out of it.

I'm keeping the Dream!

Random Sprinkles Of Gems

#8 - the most time-consuming piece to-date.

The seventeen pieces of tiny "gems" were pretty fiddly to cut and sew but I wanted to try out this new "setting" which I have not got a name for yet.

It took quite a while but I'm really happy with the result. Might try making a larger piece with more strands for more drama mama-ness.

This is named Random Sprinkles of Gems because instead of colour-grouping them, I literally sprinkled the "gems" on my work bench, according to size, watched them form a pattern as they land and joined that pattern.

The Marimekko fabric from which it is made also added to the random-ness...

...I was left with the green and blue bits on this after I used the mustard and black squiggly bit in the middle for Cascading Tiger's Eye...

...this was what remained after I made A Gold Band of Fiery Sapphire & Onyx Chips.

I'm a little sad to see both these pieces of fabric finally used up because Marimekko doesn't make them anymore.

Edit-to-add: See the "jewels" on the new mistress here!

A Delicate Cascade Of Peridot

The seventh piece and I'm still having fun with the Cascade setting after having tried it out on Cascading Tiger's Eye.

This time, however, I've cut the "gems", the very pretty green "peridot", smaller and kept them in a constant size throughout, except for the tiny drop at the end.



This is the Marimekko fabric from which the circles of "peridot" were cut - the Marhaba by Ilkka Suppanen first printed in 2006.

Edit-to-add: See the "jewels" on their new mistress here!