Jewelry for Coronation and me

The other thing, besides gardening (see A great day for gardening), that I did yesterday after getting the wonderful news that I don’t have cancer (Good news!) was to make a ton of necklaces. Forty-four of them for Coronation, actually. 😛 And that’s not counting what I will be making for our new King and Queen, which must be kept secret here for now. 😉

Then I made another two necklaces just for me.

The only down note to the day was coming down with a bad cold. That has meant the canceling of going to the Grand Tournament of the Unicorn today with Slany and Uilleagg (mka Sheryl and Dan Barringer) and of having a late lunch tomorrow with Terry, Kristin, and Flora (see Jewelry for Flora). I was really looking forward to both things. But you can’t do everything! 😦

The 44 necklaces are to be “Thank You” gifts to the bards who will be performing at the Bardic Circle I am coordinating for the Spring Midrealm Coronation on May 5th, about which I have posted ad nauseam, mostly in regards to making new garb for it.

I will have many necklaces left over, of course, but some are earmarked for the Bardic Circle performers in the fall at our Marche of Tirnewydd’s big annual event, Red Dragon. I’m going to coordinate bardic circle for it, as well.

And I’m thinking of giving students in my upcoming classes, including “Women in the Viking Age” at Coronation, a necklace PROVIDED they stay till the end AND fill out a student evaluation form. (See Post-event reviews are in!). Yes, I’m something of a dragon myself. 🙂

The Thank You necklaces are two diameters (2 mm and 3 mm) of satin cord in two lengths (20 in. with fasteners and 34 in. over-the-head), to accommodate people of different sizes. The pendants are “bronze” Celtic symbols and trees or “silver” trees (and one “silver” Celtic symbol).

Here are the necklaces I made for myself:

A third necklace is waiting to be finished. I’m not sure yet whether I will simply put the moth pendant on a chain, or make a beaded necklace from it along with some old beads I have on hand. I regularly dismantle old jewelry of mine (or that of friends who donate to me) and recycle the beads and the findings into new pieces.

Finally, here are some of my favorite beads in my stash. I’ve been collecting metal beads for quite some time. Last year I made a necklace from some of them, and some small real pearls, for our Baroness Melisande de Marmande, which Mistress Halla of Mugmort presented to Her at Pennsic.

Here are the metal beads that I still have on hand, both oldish and newish:

That serpent biting its tail toggle clasp is huge, and it is my favorite fastener. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike before I use it.

Finally, a look at the mess I make of my table when I’m doing jewelry:

At the end of the table, under the counter, I have actually reorganized my fabric and sewing stash:

Of course, some sewing projects manage to escape organization, such as my Coronation smokkr, or Viking apron dress, which is in the midst of being hemmed. It is crowning the absolute worst disorganized bunch of stuff in my house: paperwork and bills. Ugh!

Well, I have never claimed to be a great housekeeper! 😛

By the way, I was thinking last night when, as so often, I couldn’t sleep because of the severe pain I suffer from, that I hardly ever mention the fact that I do indeed suffer from constant severe pain. Although I did post about it here on my blog last year (just search under the category “Pain”). And the pain has gotten worse in recent months, alas!

The reason I bring it up now is that while I was very recently suspected of having bone cancer, I wondered if that was what was causing the pain. And thinking that cancer could be the cause made it much worse!

Now that I know that I don’t have bone cancer, I’m eagerly awaiting an attitude adjustment, and hoping that the pain level will recede a bit, from 9 or 10, to 8 or even 7. That would be grand! ❤