Mistress Jennie Crafts: Where Do I Go From Here?

So often blogs are started with a nobel new project, or an exciting adventure on the horizon. Readers are asked to begin a long trek with their writers, and bear witness to the ups and downs of the expedition. This is not one of those times. The truth is that I've been making and crafting and creating for so long, that I don't remember where the journey started from. There is no map on this trip, and certainly no destination planned. So instead of inviting you to begin a new quest with me, I bid you to join this odyssey somewhere in the middle, and together we'll see where it takes us.

Much of my crafting involves the jewelry, bookmarks, and other beaded baubles that I create for my Etsy shop, Mistress Jennie's , but I will also be posting about my other crafting endeavors like crochet, paper crafting, quilting, and cooking projects as the inspiration arises. As I also run the Harry Potter Crafalong and frequent HP themed swaps on Craftster, so don't be surprised if you see some of these projects pop up here.

And now, let us continue my crafty expedition...

Last month my fantastically talented friend Shannon at flew the coop created a beautiful Heart of Darkness Trunk for Alpha Stamps. She and I had a fun discussion about the romance of travel to exotic locales in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. While her project took her to darkest Africa, I longed for the glamour of Egypt in the teens and 20's. With Howard Carter's uncovering Tutankamen's tomb in 1922, came a craze for all things Egyptian in home decor, fashion, beauty, and Hollywood, which produced pictures like The Mummy.

When I create a new bracelet design, I usually start with the charms, but this time I created the bead pins first. I went with the colors and stones found most often in Egyptian jewelry; shimmering golds, bright turquoise, rich carnelian and beautiful lapis lazuli. When I found the gorgeous iridescent Czech glass scarab beetles, I knew I had to include them too.

The result is an eclectic mix of semi-precious stones and glass beads. After I had these assembled I moved on to the charms. I wanted to capture that early 'Tutmania' feel, and so included Tut himself, ankhs, Cleopatra, a croc from the Nile, pyramids, palm tree, Horus, a few Pharaohs, sphinx, Isis, a camel, the Eye of Horus and Nefertiti.