Tuesday, April 22, 2008

February BJP Page

My Quirky Queen of Hearts



We grew up in a generation of card players. My first work experience after graduating from high school was for a large bank in Cleveland, Ohio -- we played Hearts or Bridge at lunchtime and even brown-bagged our lunch to save time for card playing!


When I started sewing the piece of manufactured Battenburg lace to the background of this page, I realized I was heading for trouble. It was nearly impossible to get a needle through this stuff! Although I have several lovely antique pieces of Battenburg lace, I did not want to cut them up. So I had to rethink my original intent to bead the outlines of all that lace.

The end result was that I got really silly with the ornamentation of this page. Scrounged through all my sewing and beading supplies and even "borrowed" a few of my husband's antique keys. The large heart is an old Christmas ornament that I kept for my 17" fashion dolls. The amethyst hearts came from an old supply of craft items left over from our younger daughters.

The Queen's cuffs are peyote stitched tubes and her hands were done in peyote stitch as well. A large vintage amethyst rivoli forms her lower bodice.

All those amethyst hearts represent our six kids and our first grandchild. The large heart is for Jim, the love of my life. You can guess which key goes with which heart(s) . . .

6 comments:

Padparadscha said...

Very sweet ! And what a great tribute to your family !

KrispiS said...

I love love love it! It says sooooo much! Truly a great piece and wonderful used of Battenburg lace! The special touches for you queen of hearts are exquisite!

beadbabe49 said...

What a lovely piece! And wonderful how sometimes what we didn't plan works out even when the planned version doesn't!

Mary Timme said...

I meant to leave a comment and so finally am. I can see you really let out the stops on this page. What fun!

Timaree said...

Super! It looks like a queen of hearts and I like how you made her white. Usually you see her in red. Her hands and face and everything look wonderful. Great descriptions on these pieces too.

vivage said...

I absolutely love this image. The Q of H's is one of my favorite cards and you've done her proud!