Repurposing an costume into a beautiful, lined and heavily beaded cape.
The painted designs on the fabric are what attracted me to the skirt, now a cape, in the first place.

a great view of the beauty of the material in an otherwise shoddy costume. It now has a collar ,full lining and is heavily beaded.

I cannot resist this image. It is a stunning piece of work whether you are walking through the garden or going to the opera.

The finished design showing incredibly beautiful, unexpected color changes...it really is like 'drawing with threads'.

One of my favorite watercolor designs of a partial sea shell. Changing the original color adds surprising & unexpected colors to this design.

...plus many other colors, blue, pink, orange and lime threads...because I knew she'd like them all.

...really pink bugs on an orange pointallist background. Luckily Cesca loves any color...as long as it's bright. Again fascinating color changes using photoshop.

...I thought I must be crazy to do this much work but it adds so much dimension to the art work. This mat is also bound by a delicious design (not mine alas) of stone work matching some colors in the red background.

another example of machine embroidery...this one was very complicated but using only one color on a complex background gave an interesting look

The design French Blue Lotus Tile made into a large table mat for the summer porch at Camp Sidney

A close-up of a work in progress on a new design from the French Wallpaper Collection called French Blue Lotus Tile

In a search for a different way to create, I have found machine (free-form) embroidery. the Koi Pond is my first attempt

Sonoma Strong is the first design produced by GLFD after the devastating fires of 2017. I chose to draw something restful and watery, drawing anything fiery was just too traumatic. Now for the first time this design will be in production!

My friend FloraLee gave me some exquisite pieces of clothing from her closet to 'embellish' as I saw fit!
This is a long, hand painted silk vest to which I have added two of GLFD's designs , printed on chiffon. My idea was to be able to see through to the background painting, much like a window in an aquarium. The jellies have been sewn with #11 beads in a technique I like to call 'painting with beads'.

The design of the hand painted vest was so strong, I decided to have my jelly design printed on chiffon, in order so 'see through it', like looking in a window. The partial image adds to the 'window' effect. The jelly is 'painted' iwith two colors of #11 Japanese glass beads.
There will be two smaller 'windows' on the front.
The background beading was inspired by a most beautiful Art Deco Birthday Card, a wonderful, moving ecard.

Michele, an amazing historical costumer, has added one of my pillows to her 'home away from home' when she is on the road, educating, enacting, even feeding the masses of the Viking (she prefers Norse). Culture

Here Katherine , tall and lovely, models the heavily embellished teal vest for us.

This vest looks as if it was tailored just for Katherine. Just look at her face, she thinks so too.

Embellishing the Gift of a beautiful, hand painted silk vest using #11 Japanese glass beads in a teal color.

My sweet daughter-in-law, still tired from her business trip to Hong Kong, found the panache to model the French jacket for me.

What do I do with all these test samples piling up? I decided to embellish them, with two of my favorite techniques, embroidery & beading. Here we have the embroidered 'Partial Shell'
with two different trims, two different backgrounds (do you recognize a Google gift bag in there?) and two different sizes and colors of beading. All the edges are beaded with chartreuse beads

Starting with a quilted jacket in light beige from a resale store, I added a larger sample of my design in cotton. The Lion's Mane Jelly has been beaded with two colors of Japanese glass beads, cut in half and sewn on to each side of the front of the jacket. Then lace and a funky trim, also a light beige, were added. Again, all the edges are sewn using salmon/pink beads.

a close up of 'painting with beads' #11 Japanese glass beads in this case.

This was designed to look like a Moorish tile. I have added lots of embroidery in cotton floss and rayon, and a lot of beading with #11 Japanese glass beads. The 'hairy' trim is doubled, the edging is bias tape made from one of my designs and the tassels are store-bought. The use of the 'hairy' trim is deliberate as I didn't want the work to look too precious, but rather as if It was just unloaded from a camel train. This large work measures 18"X18.5".

This is a close up of the beading and embroidery on the largest embellishment I have made to date.

One of the first 'embellishments' these Moon jellies are printed in a 'South Pacific Color' called 'shadow'. The jellies are embellished with #11 Japanese glass beads and some barrel beads in the centers. The smaller #11 beads lend themselves to the delicate design and subject matter. There is a colorful trim which picks up some of the colors in the other of my designs used as background...and beaded trim of course.

The start of embellishing for me, with metallic silver embroidery of moon jellies printed in a 'South Pacific Color' called 'coconut'. The metallic thread was very difficult to use, besides not having very much of it , so it's a partial embroidery, hoping to convey the depths of the swimming jellies. A beautiful trim in raspberry another green design and a raspberry design, all trimmed with larger raspberry and green Japanese glass beads. Green is my favorite color.

These wonderful 100% organic cotton Turkish towels, embellished with embroidery on all four sides are perfect for poolside, beach side or just stepping out of the shower on a hot sunny day. They measure approximately 33"X55", with more colors in process.

'Iris' a hand-dyed yarn by Artemis Yarns pared with a 'knitting bowl' made from cotton in the design 'Sylvie's Ocean in blue. Working independently we have created the perfect color match!

...in the design Seagreen Murex bg brighter...creating very soft yellow/green full length curtains

in the design 'Inside-a-sea-shell' Pink from the collection: 'Solids that Aren't Solid'

A new idea...table Toppers, this square one is in the design Pink Murex made in cotton.

The Queen Conch Sea Shell as Dinner napkins

the beautiful Queen Conch painted ob a background of sea fans and Asian plates

Water color painting of Calla Lilies on a muted celadon background with a 2-color pointallist design , also of Calla Lillies

a Sprout design with greenlotus (front panel in Wild Orchids turquoise-green stripe) and
gargoylestetry designs

an answer to 'white sheets' this design called Jellies Underwater Snow is taken from a collection called Solids that Aren't Solid

another design from the Solids that aren't Solid Collection...this is called 'inside-a-sea-shell' pink... in a a large tablecloth

Place mats and table runner in a watercolor design called Partial Shell in Turquoise from the new Watercolors Collection

the watercolor design Partial Shell in Turquoise as fabric for bed linens

The original Partial Shell design as fabric for bed linens

A large tablecloth from the design Italian Papers in Yellow from the Watercolor sCollection

Bed linens made from the design called Sea Fans. (look closely, there is more than one type of fan here)

A large round table cloth made from the bright and cheerful design called Morning Glories

A cotton Duvet Cover with pillow shams in the Arabesque-teal Collection

Bed linens made from the all-time favorite design called Sylvie's Ocean in Blue

A silk scarf that 'doesn't fall off'

Using 3 different designs from the Wild Orchids Collection in green to render this vest dress.

A rendition of 'baggy beach pants' in the design Blue Orchids from the Coastal Colors Collection.

A departure for me, working with photographs of beautiful hydrangea in my photographer's Westport garden.

A rendition of beach fashion using the designs from the Coastal Colors Collection, a bathing suit and robe in teal color ways.

The bathing suit done in the teal 'Murex' design from the Coastal Colors Collection.

A business called Bijou Sauvage Clothers from Houston, TX chose the design Sylvie's Ocean in blue and helped it's rise in popularity.

Two satin pillows in the original (green) and very popular blue color ways of the design Sylvie's Ocean and a Lovey in 'Minky' in the design Deco Mermaids in shrimp.

Arianna models a dress in cotton from three colors of the design Filitsa's Garden and other fabrics drying on the outside line.

Rendering of a vest in lavender, green and teal color ways of the design Sea Fans

Tilla's Grandma wanted to make her a dress from the soft Coastal Colors Collection, this one in lavender sea fans and the teal murex designs

Cotton shopping bags, ready for market in the designs Ali's Mermaid and Lion's Mane Jellies

Using the Koi Pond design in cotton I resized the pattern to fit smaller garments.

...also known as " I MADE IT!"

Another rendition of the vest dress, this time in the lavender Coastal Colors Collection.

A silk Sarapita (or small Sarape) makes a great addition , wearable in a number of ways,

Another rendition of fashions made from fabrics in the Coastal Colors Collection.

A gift to my daughter and her husband for hosting this year's, large, Thanksgiving Dinner, made from the design Fall Leaves.

An older design in in synthetic silk

...all created from the Arabesque-Red Collection.

Using 3 different, but very subtle designs from the Coastal Colors Collection

A silk scarf in a brown and pink design called Jane's Jelly Jam, at the gift shop in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Half Moon Bay, CA

A summer dress in the design Sylvie's Ocean in green (the original) and a beach dress in the design Sea Dragons in turquoise.

Repurposing an costume into a beautiful, lined and heavily beaded cape.
The painted designs on the fabric are what attracted me to the skirt, now a cape, in the first place.

a great view of the beauty of the material in an otherwise shoddy costume. It now has a collar ,full lining and is heavily beaded.

I cannot resist this image. It is a stunning piece of work whether you are walking through the garden or going to the opera.

The finished design showing incredibly beautiful, unexpected color changes...it really is like 'drawing with threads'.

One of my favorite watercolor designs of a partial sea shell. Changing the original color adds surprising & unexpected colors to this design.

...plus many other colors, blue, pink, orange and lime threads...because I knew she'd like them all.

...really pink bugs on an orange pointallist background. Luckily Cesca loves any color...as long as it's bright. Again fascinating color changes using photoshop.

...I thought I must be crazy to do this much work but it adds so much dimension to the art work. This mat is also bound by a delicious design (not mine alas) of stone work matching some colors in the red background.

another example of machine embroidery...this one was very complicated but using only one color on a complex background gave an interesting look

The design French Blue Lotus Tile made into a large table mat for the summer porch at Camp Sidney

A close-up of a work in progress on a new design from the French Wallpaper Collection called French Blue Lotus Tile

In a search for a different way to create, I have found machine (free-form) embroidery. the Koi Pond is my first attempt

Sonoma Strong is the first design produced by GLFD after the devastating fires of 2017. I chose to draw something restful and watery, drawing anything fiery was just too traumatic. Now for the first time this design will be in production!

My friend FloraLee gave me some exquisite pieces of clothing from her closet to 'embellish' as I saw fit!
This is a long, hand painted silk vest to which I have added two of GLFD's designs , printed on chiffon. My idea was to be able to see through to the background painting, much like a window in an aquarium. The jellies have been sewn with #11 beads in a technique I like to call 'painting with beads'.

The design of the hand painted vest was so strong, I decided to have my jelly design printed on chiffon, in order so 'see through it', like looking in a window. The partial image adds to the 'window' effect. The jelly is 'painted' iwith two colors of #11 Japanese glass beads.
There will be two smaller 'windows' on the front.
The background beading was inspired by a most beautiful Art Deco Birthday Card, a wonderful, moving ecard.

Michele, an amazing historical costumer, has added one of my pillows to her 'home away from home' when she is on the road, educating, enacting, even feeding the masses of the Viking (she prefers Norse). Culture

Here Katherine , tall and lovely, models the heavily embellished teal vest for us.

This vest looks as if it was tailored just for Katherine. Just look at her face, she thinks so too.

Embellishing the Gift of a beautiful, hand painted silk vest using #11 Japanese glass beads in a teal color.

My sweet daughter-in-law, still tired from her business trip to Hong Kong, found the panache to model the French jacket for me.

What do I do with all these test samples piling up? I decided to embellish them, with two of my favorite techniques, embroidery & beading. Here we have the embroidered 'Partial Shell'
with two different trims, two different backgrounds (do you recognize a Google gift bag in there?) and two different sizes and colors of beading. All the edges are beaded with chartreuse beads

Starting with a quilted jacket in light beige from a resale store, I added a larger sample of my design in cotton. The Lion's Mane Jelly has been beaded with two colors of Japanese glass beads, cut in half and sewn on to each side of the front of the jacket. Then lace and a funky trim, also a light beige, were added. Again, all the edges are sewn using salmon/pink beads.

a close up of 'painting with beads' #11 Japanese glass beads in this case.

This was designed to look like a Moorish tile. I have added lots of embroidery in cotton floss and rayon, and a lot of beading with #11 Japanese glass beads. The 'hairy' trim is doubled, the edging is bias tape made from one of my designs and the tassels are store-bought. The use of the 'hairy' trim is deliberate as I didn't want the work to look too precious, but rather as if It was just unloaded from a camel train. This large work measures 18"X18.5".

This is a close up of the beading and embroidery on the largest embellishment I have made to date.

One of the first 'embellishments' these Moon jellies are printed in a 'South Pacific Color' called 'shadow'. The jellies are embellished with #11 Japanese glass beads and some barrel beads in the centers. The smaller #11 beads lend themselves to the delicate design and subject matter. There is a colorful trim which picks up some of the colors in the other of my designs used as background...and beaded trim of course.

The start of embellishing for me, with metallic silver embroidery of moon jellies printed in a 'South Pacific Color' called 'coconut'. The metallic thread was very difficult to use, besides not having very much of it , so it's a partial embroidery, hoping to convey the depths of the swimming jellies. A beautiful trim in raspberry another green design and a raspberry design, all trimmed with larger raspberry and green Japanese glass beads. Green is my favorite color.

These wonderful 100% organic cotton Turkish towels, embellished with embroidery on all four sides are perfect for poolside, beach side or just stepping out of the shower on a hot sunny day. They measure approximately 33"X55", with more colors in process.

'Iris' a hand-dyed yarn by Artemis Yarns pared with a 'knitting bowl' made from cotton in the design 'Sylvie's Ocean in blue. Working independently we have created the perfect color match!

...in the design Seagreen Murex bg brighter...creating very soft yellow/green full length curtains

in the design 'Inside-a-sea-shell' Pink from the collection: 'Solids that Aren't Solid'

A new idea...table Toppers, this square one is in the design Pink Murex made in cotton.

The Queen Conch Sea Shell as Dinner napkins

the beautiful Queen Conch painted ob a background of sea fans and Asian plates

Water color painting of Calla Lilies on a muted celadon background with a 2-color pointallist design , also of Calla Lillies

a Sprout design with greenlotus (front panel in Wild Orchids turquoise-green stripe) and
gargoylestetry designs

an answer to 'white sheets' this design called Jellies Underwater Snow is taken from a collection called Solids that Aren't Solid

another design from the Solids that aren't Solid Collection...this is called 'inside-a-sea-shell' pink... in a a large tablecloth

Place mats and table runner in a watercolor design called Partial Shell in Turquoise from the new Watercolors Collection

the watercolor design Partial Shell in Turquoise as fabric for bed linens

The original Partial Shell design as fabric for bed linens

A large tablecloth from the design Italian Papers in Yellow from the Watercolor sCollection

Bed linens made from the design called Sea Fans. (look closely, there is more than one type of fan here)

A large round table cloth made from the bright and cheerful design called Morning Glories

A cotton Duvet Cover with pillow shams in the Arabesque-teal Collection

Bed linens made from the all-time favorite design called Sylvie's Ocean in Blue

A silk scarf that 'doesn't fall off'

Using 3 different designs from the Wild Orchids Collection in green to render this vest dress.

A rendition of 'baggy beach pants' in the design Blue Orchids from the Coastal Colors Collection.

A departure for me, working with photographs of beautiful hydrangea in my photographer's Westport garden.

A rendition of beach fashion using the designs from the Coastal Colors Collection, a bathing suit and robe in teal color ways.

The bathing suit done in the teal 'Murex' design from the Coastal Colors Collection.

A business called Bijou Sauvage Clothers from Houston, TX chose the design Sylvie's Ocean in blue and helped it's rise in popularity.

Two satin pillows in the original (green) and very popular blue color ways of the design Sylvie's Ocean and a Lovey in 'Minky' in the design Deco Mermaids in shrimp.

Arianna models a dress in cotton from three colors of the design Filitsa's Garden and other fabrics drying on the outside line.

Rendering of a vest in lavender, green and teal color ways of the design Sea Fans

Tilla's Grandma wanted to make her a dress from the soft Coastal Colors Collection, this one in lavender sea fans and the teal murex designs

Cotton shopping bags, ready for market in the designs Ali's Mermaid and Lion's Mane Jellies

Using the Koi Pond design in cotton I resized the pattern to fit smaller garments.

...also known as " I MADE IT!"

Another rendition of the vest dress, this time in the lavender Coastal Colors Collection.

A silk Sarapita (or small Sarape) makes a great addition , wearable in a number of ways,

Another rendition of fashions made from fabrics in the Coastal Colors Collection.

A gift to my daughter and her husband for hosting this year's, large, Thanksgiving Dinner, made from the design Fall Leaves.

An older design in in synthetic silk

...all created from the Arabesque-Red Collection.

Using 3 different, but very subtle designs from the Coastal Colors Collection

A silk scarf in a brown and pink design called Jane's Jelly Jam, at the gift shop in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Half Moon Bay, CA

A summer dress in the design Sylvie's Ocean in green (the original) and a beach dress in the design Sea Dragons in turquoise.