Then Suddenly It Came to Life

A few months ago, I was reading the Etsy forums and I came across a delightful post. Another Etsy seller (Natasha) was starting this blog project called "Thursday Sweet Treat". The basic plan was that each Friday she would post a theme and then on the following Thursday she would post what artists created based on that theme. I followed for a few weeks and finally decided to participate. Since then I've submitted many pieces and have really enjoyed see how other artists interpreted the weekly theme. In addition, Natasha has shared interviews with other artists, support, and inspiration. 

So... this weeks theme was "Then Suddenly It Came to Life". She asked us to take our favorite childhood book to life with one of our creations. I chose the book "Magic Friend Maker" by Gladys Baker Bond. The story begins with a lonely girl in a city neighborhood who longs for a friend. She finds a friend after sharing a special stone she's found. The girls share many fun times together, often playing with the rock, the "magic friend maker". When the owner of the rock must move, she shares the rock with her friend so that the magic can work all over again with a new friend.

In the story, the girls discover that the rock changes color when they put it under water. The piece of abalone I used for the centerpiece of the cuff reminded me of that stone. I created the cuff around the abalone's colors and the colors from the picture on the front of the book. The one little girl wore a green dress and the other a purple one. The bead embroidered cuff is embellished with seed beads, Swarovski crystals, pearls, glass beads, and bugle beads. I used black ultrasuede on the underside of the cuff.