The Festival of Fools was a fantastic event, if I do say so myself. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and there have already been one or two suggestions that it should run next year. That's quite enough encouragement for me!

The above picture is that of the finished marbles! I wasn't able to say while I was working on them for fear of giving the game away, but they had been planned all along to be the prizes for the event. Unfortunately, one or two people mentioned that they looked more like candies than marbles, and looking at them in the picture above, maybe I should have thought to put warning label with them.

But I'm not too unhappy with how they turned out. I used charcoal for the black, chalk for the white and paprika for the red, all mixed in with shellac and painted on in three layers to build up colour. I then finished each marble with two more layers of shellac. Unfortunately, the surface I dried them on wasn't the best, so a close up peek at the marbles will show spots where the paint has peeled. Next attempt will be better.

Being able to sit down during the day is a sign of a well run event I'm told. So I used my "relaxing" time to finish off a beginners goldwork kit I got at Yuletide University just gone. The teacher, one of the most accomplished embroiderers I know, encouraged a freestyle approach, so I tried a slightly different technique with each "rose". The one of the left, the last I did typically enough, turned out to be my favourite, but I am happy overall with how the whole piece turned out. Now I just have to decide how to mount the finished item. 

And finally...

Don't I look fabulous! Never before had I realised just how damn good I could look in a low backed dress. Yes, yes, lets just ignore the fact that I'm being a hussy by wandering around in just my camica...
This picture serves an entirely different purpose though, and that is just how low the back of my camica is. Granted, it's exagerated for the purpose of this picture, but after it was taken I went back and examined the back of my court gown and yep, there's an area that is starting to get damaged by sweat and oils from my skin. I'm glad I've realised this now, as its put a new camica and finally getting around to making a partlet or three that much higher on my to-do list.