Fool's Gold (a.k.a. ticky-tacky Christmas trims)

This is just a reminder that it's the season to hit the fabric, hobby and dollar stores for Christmas trims... Most of this stuff is ONLY available at this time of year... in fact lots of them have brand names like "Christmas Traditions." And near the end of the season it's at clearance prices.

This is my "Fool's Gold" drawer and it contains ribbons, braids, cording, rick racks, sequin trims and odd gold lace and tulle. I have another small drawer containing only cording of all sorts... about 20 different thicknesses and textures. Some of it REALLY looks cheap and tacky but once you start beading and embellishing, it can be spectacular... Also it can be antiqued easily with a little brown or black acrylic paint or antique gold paste. I do this A LOT!!!!! In fact I antiqued the gold braid I used on the tiny fan ornament.

This is the start of a piece I did this summer using gold work techniques. The circle has 3 different cordings and a braid... all couched. The dragonfly cutout helps me with positioning as I was using the wing to hide the beginning and endings of the gold stuff for the circle...

For me this was just an experiment with gold work techniques and I definitely want to do more... My favorite book is "Goldwork Embroidery" by Mary Brown and there is a wealth of information on the Internet...

This is the finished block for Leslie... The dragonfly wings are actually wide wired-gold Christmas gift ribbon with sparkly edges...dreadful stuff... I smooched the wire into wing shapes and sewed and trimmed the excess. In the upper right hand corner is the most gaudy ever gold rickrack but it becomes elegant when beaded with bugle beads... I love all the couching and it certainly carries over to other work... in fact I use some gold in almost every piece I do.

Get out there and hit those sale bins!!!!