The Lily of the Valley Doesn’t Know

According to those who know these things, Friday’s colour is green which is surprising.  I was sure it would be black. Green and I have a troubled relationship.  When I was a child I learned that it is bad luck to wear green, or at least too much green,  because the fairies consider it to be their colour.  No-one wants to upset the fairies.  Oh.  No.  You do NOT want to upset the fairies. So I don’t wear green (olive doesn’t count).  You think I go to far?  Consider – one of the regular customers of the  pharmacy in which I worked while at…

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Blue Collar & Cups

Hello again and thank you for joining me for this fourth edition of Lesley’s blog, “Annabel Lee”. The powers that be have declared that the colour of Thursday is blue.  Accordingly I shall show you a blue beaded, appliqued  and embroidered wristlet which I am working on.  I am deliberating on how to do the actual lacy cuff bit.  A detail of the wristlet-so-far is shown here with some beaded teapot & cup ornaments. I just cannot decide what to use for the actual lacy cuff bit of the wristlet.  My sewing assistant and I have hauled out the masses of…

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Purple Wednesday

Welcome to the third edition of my blog, Annabel Lee. What colour is Wednesday?  You may be surprised to learn that it is purple.  Quite obviously that means evening bags. So, in honour of Wednesday, here are a couple which I prepared earlier…. Many of the beads in this first little one are Swarovski crystal, one of my favourite things. The medium dark filling in the lace sections in the lower part are comprised of precisely 1,267,098 French knots. This second bag is a lovely soft bouncy embossed velvet netted beaded beribboned thingie. The Tarot card which I have chosen for today…

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I See Red

November 4, 2014 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | Annabel Lee, CRAFT, TAROT |

Hello again and welcome to the second edition of Lesley’s blog, “Annabel Lee”. The Tarot card which I have chosen for today is the Two of Batons, a card of movement, of course, being a baton.   It refers to a project which has commenced, but  which requires further work. Shuffling and concentration brought forth the Queen of Swords. Fittingly, Her Majesty points to  the uncovering of a  new path and finding satisfaction in what you do, while  an idea develops. So, today is a day of consolidating your work to date and waiting for the next step to be revealed to you. But do beware! …

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Annabel Lee, Miranda & Stevie

Annabel Lee, Miranda, Stevie, and Lesley (image by Stephen Reid)

Greetings and a warm welcome to  Lesley’s blog,  the part of The Varnished Culture which is girly, crafty and sort of ethereal.  Our muses are Stevie Nicks, Joyce Carol Oates  and Lily Cole.  Our poem is “Annabel Lee”  –  a poem by Edgar Allen Poe – Stevie  does an otherwordly,

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