Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Dog exasperation and Potter jewelry

The dog that ate the garden has now eaten our sewing counter. Yes, eaten it. He pulled all the drawers out, scattered the fabric and gnawed T-Rex bites out of the wood. He's lucky the sewing machine didn't fall on his head.

In other news, M and I have realized that we have just over two weeks to prep for Azkatraz, this year's Harry Potter convention, where both of us are delivering lectures on the formal programming (she's something of an expert on participatory culture). We also both have vendor booths booked and I'm selling one-of-a-kind House-color jewelry.

I swear there has never been such a challenge to my creative abilities as trying to come up with unique, interesting designs when limited to four color schemes.

There's an equal problem in that I have to come up with roughly equal numbers of each (that's Gryffindor red and gold, Slytherin green and silver, Ravenclaw blue and bronze, and Hufflepuff black and yellow, for those not in the know). There are a LOT more interesting ways to combine blue and bronze than black and yellow. Also, the shortage of yellow beads -- not only at craft stores and small independent bead stores, even at some of the nation's biggest wholesalers -- is at screaming-and-rending-of-hair levels. Not to mention that pale translucent yellows look green next to bright orangey ones and that only highly specific greens read Slytherin once put together and I've been using lobster/spring clasps so much that my fingers are literally bleeding and don't even get me started on the fact that I can only find phoenix pendants in silver ...

You know what? I think I'll go make something in purple and white and bright copper to ease the mental pain. Possibly followed by a nap.

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