After 2 years I ~finally~ finished a necklace project taught to me at BAM. (Come to find out I needed glasses with LOTS of magnification.)

The necklace is based on a Byzantine necklace, dated C.E. 500-700, found in Cyprus. To make I had to cut short pieces of wire, make a loop, wrap the end around the 'stem', thread on a bead/pearl, make another loop, etc. Making an end that has nothing hanging from it is a LOT easier than making them while trying to balance an additional loop in the mix.

Thank you, HL Avelyn Blakenye, for sharing your knowledge and talent with the rest of us!

The Making of My New Tent - The 'Front Door'

I've been kicking around ideas about how to close the 'door' of my tent ever since I decided to go with the wattle and daub design. A zipper makes a lot of noise and would definitely distract from the image of opening the door of a house. Tying and untying straps didn't feel right either.

Someone had suggested using magnets as closures, but after pricing earth magnets I decided that was too cost prohibitive, but the overall concept of using them stuck with me. Then the other day it finally hit me - velcro. While it will give a modern sound when being opened the act of opening the door will be fairly fluid, much like opening a regular door. Closing it will take a moment to line the flaps up properly, but I think will work well. For a safety factor at night I will be including ties on the interior flaps so I can tie my door shut at night.

The over all design is a flap on the outside of approx. 4.25" width (the opening side door jamb) with a 2.5" wide privacy flap behind it where the loop Velcro will reside. On the backside of the outside edge of the other side of the 'door' I'll sew on the hook part of the Velcro.

To open the door you will have to reach behind the 4.25" flap, grab the edge of the 'door' and give a pull. Easy peasy.

When closed the baffling will give excellent privacy and should give very good protection against wind getting in or opening the 'door'.