[The Taming of the Shrew:]

I'm in my second year of college and I took an Introduction to Shakespeare class this semester. I've always been terrified of Shakespeare, but the professor is phenomenal and I love, love, LOVE this class. It just so happens that my professor's birthday is next week, plus she has mentioned several times how our class is the best Shakespeare class she's had during her whole teaching career, so I took it upon myself to make her a charm bracelet reminiscent of our class. There are 3 charms for each of the plays we've studied in class, plus a couple extra. If you've read any of these plays, hopefully the charms will make some sense to you.

Le bracelet:



Charms, beginning at the clasp and going clockwise:
- 2012 (for our class, obviously)
The Taming of the Shrew:
- A sun/moon (for when Kate and Petruchio argue about what of day it is)
- Fork (when Petruchio starves Kate as part of his plan to "tame" her)
- Moneybag (since Petruchio married Kate for the sole reason of her dad having tons of money)
Hamlet:
- Saw (partially hidden)
- Hawk (one of my professor's favorite quotes - Hamlet is trying to prove he's not crazy and says "I can tell the difference between a hawk and a handsaw!")
- Skull (alas, poor Yorick . . .)
The Tempest:
- Book (Prospero's magic comes from his books!)
- Wine bottle (Stephano and Trinculo spend the entire play being drunk)
- Anchor (for the shipwreck that landed the whole lot on the island)
A Midsummer Night's Dream:
- Love-in-idleness flower (that makes all the potions)
- Lion (for the actors who won't dress up as a lion because "It might scare the ladies")
- Fairy (because half the characters in this play are fairies!)
Titus Andronicus:
- Piece of pie (for Titus' treatment of Tamora's sons, a la Sweeney Todd)
- Sword (so much violence!!)
- Hand (Titus' allegiance to the King . . . ouch)
Much Ado About Nothing:
- Donkey (for Dogberry, who wants the world to know he is a . . . well, you know)
- Masquerade mask (for the dance in the play, and the many lies and deceptions)
- Perfume bottle (Benedick wears perfume while trying to impress Beatrice)
And lastly . . .
- Greek comedy/tragedy masks (after all, Shakespeare wrote comedies and tragedies!)

Charms were a combination of Hobby Lobby, Watchus, and Beads and Charms. I bought the chain, the clasps, and the jump rings separately and put the whole thing together. I can't wait to see my professor's reaction when she opens the box.

President's Day weekend (Feb. 18th!) is opening weekend for our Ren Fair here in AZ, and the first time I've been able to go in several years. I'm pretty excited. Anyway, while digging through my closet and stalking thrift stores to make a fairy costume, I have run into the issue of how to keep warm. So far my costume consists of a long-sleeved t-shirt, a pillow case (to be converted into a peasant-ish top), leggings, and something that vaguely resembles a skirt, to be made like one of those no-sew tutus. But I don't think that's going to be nearly warm enough, especially my lower half.

Also, I am severely lacking in sewing skills. I don't own a machine, and my hand-sewing is mediocre at best. I don't know if I could actually make a decent cloak. So . . . HELP, please?

SUPER cute. The design is pretty and the comics were a great idea.

As far as places to wear it . . . ComicCon seems like the obvious choice to me.

I've tried the pencil hold, but it feels incredibly awkward when I try to crochet that way. Holding my hook overhand works best for me, and I've done everything from afghans with my giant Q hook to gloves made with thread and my size 7 hook. No problems whatsoever.

A friend of mine announced about a month ago that she was engaged. Yay! I immediately began making plans to make her a wedding afghan, figuring I'd have 8-12 months to finish the massive project . . . but no. She's getting married the first weekend in September . . . OF THIS YEAR. D:

So I'm looking for something else I could make for her and her fiance' that would still be meaningful like an afghan, but not require nearly as much time. Ideas/suggestions, please.

So I'm a super-nerdy Auto Tune The News fan, and I want to make a turtle fence bracelet . . . but I am having issues about how to make the fence part. Ideally, I'd like to have something like this:



But I can't seem to find the pointy picket-fence-shaped beads, so I would also settle for something similar to this:



(I know it's not made out of beads. Shush. You get the idea.)

I am at a loss on how to recreate this though. I can't do peyote to save my life, and I can't find the picket fence beads . . . anybody have any brilliant ideas on creating a fence-like pattern?

(And this is a very silly bracelet, I'm making it with plastic turtle beads. So elegance is not necessary, it just needs to resemble a fence. )

DONE!! Should be sending tomorrow or Friday. It is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Especially since I just sorta made it up as I went along.

Since I wasn't sure how many Guildies are roaming the Craftster boards, I was originally playing with the idea of proposing a general 'webseries swap' (which would thus include the broad scope of series out there. e.g. the Legend of Neil, Dr Horrible, the LXD, the Bannen Way, Lonelygirl15, Dorm Life, etc.), or even an 'internet phenomenon swap' (including things such as AVPM, Auto-tune the News, the Potter Puppet Pals, and even memes such as "Double Rainbow" and "Forever Alone", etc.).

Aw man, I think I would die if I got an Auto-Tune the News craft. That would, like, make my life. XD.

So, Guild swap first, Internet phenom swap second?

YAY! I am super-excited. No school tomorrow, so I should be able to finish yours and send it off in the next few days.

Sorry for disappearing, I had a major assignment due for my photography class last week. But this should be an easy week, so I should be able to put on the finishing touches soon.