Cutting and Ripping.

(Is this 'Sting' I see before me?)

Apart from working at school and keeping the home rolling along, I have been playing with my 'new' old sewing machine. My brother, who is a Lord of the Rings tour guide asked me a while ago if I'd make a Fellowship cloak, so that his tourists can get into character while posing in the locations where parts of the film were shot.
 So I had a go. I followed some instructions from a LOTR fan site, and here are the results.  I was given permission to use these lovely peoples' pictures.

LOTR fan all dressed up on location.

I also made the Elvenleaf clasps, from fimo and silver wire. It is sewn on, and a hook and eye takes the strain of the closure. It was great fabric, but there was only so much of it. I thought the cloak turned out nice, although a little short.

Small sample of books for ripping up.

I also prepared a new batch of vintage papers for my packs that I sell for artists to use in collage etc.
Yes I rip up old vintage books. (stop crying you librarians out there!) . It's fun ! These books were all heading for the dump, and now they are going to be part of someone's art.

Piles of Pages.

Many people have been frightened by librarians and teachers and parents to be extra careful and respectful of books, so they just can't do this. A mental block. But I've gone and sinned for them, and now it's much easier to rip, cut, glue, paint, glaze, layer, stamp and even burn the paper further.
 Some of the paper is very old, like 80 +years, and has lovely old fonts and staining and foxing.
I have used dictionaries, encyclopaedias, chess, shorthand, music, storybooks, foreign languages etc.
It does mean I have to have a large stock, but I'm a natural 3d generation hoarder, so that's not a huge problem. I have a lot of kitchen cupboards not in use now...
(oh, stop rolling on the ground with laughter! )

Long hood on my elven cloak.

I really wanted to make a full size cloak, but was unable to find the right colour fabric in an affordable price. However I found this deep turquoise wool blend. Which is proving to be impossible to photograph, and I have really tweaked these as it is. It must be Elven Magic as Sam would say.

Embroidered with Oak and Hollie leaves.

I lined the long pointed hood with light blue satin and added an embroidered border of oak and holly leaves in a shiny deep blue. 

Again I made an elvenleaf brooch, this time white-silver coloured. The cloak has a wonderful drape and heaviness to it.

Silver and white ivy leaf brooch.

Another happy fan.

And it's already in use! Which pleases me no end!  Happy Birthday JM.