PATCH's new creations

NEW ITEMS on our ETSY shop BLACKPATCH

CRAZY ABOUT KNITTING n CROCHET

BLACK got into the knitting and crochet craze again. This time, she'll try to work on getting her stitches better before exploring crocheted brooches, necklaces and other stuff.

BLACK's moment of inspiration

After a long long while, BLACK finally attempted a more complex necklace. 
Brooches, step aside!!

Some Things New!

 

New ideas, new designs, new crafts......they always take time...

Every piece carefully thought through and put together.....

Rings -  subtle yet speaks so much of one's personality and individuality!

A fresh attempt on a new creation! A mini journal to pen the goods and bads...   

             

How best to complement Some Things New than our new gift wrap style! =)

Round Wooden Brooches of Domestic Pets!

Hand drawn with Ink, painted with Acrylic paint and sealed with Matt Mod Podge

https://www.etsy.com/listing/108747436/animal-wooden-brooches-in-red-yellow

 

 

Once again.... another Dual length owl necklace creation!

Following the previous dual length owl necklace in Oct 2011, Blackpatch once again designed and handcrafted another dual length silver owl necklace! Tapping on the same concept, Blackpatch experimented with another handmade pendant.

Some may think that since this is not the first "2-in-1" dual length owl necklace that Blackpatch created, it should be a breeeeeezzzzze. But nope... it never comes easy as each piece presents its own challenges. :) This time, Blackpatch created a pendant that is "lenghty". This brings several questions such as what is the optimal length? should the chain be attached to the rings or should they be allowed to run freely through the rings? etc etc....Trivial considerations, one may think.... but when it comes to handicraft, it's the trivial things that need consideration.

Unique handmade pendant - an adorable little silver owl 
with random wire "weavings" around

After some trial and error..... staring at it over the weeks.... (yes Patch has that habit of literally staring at the "raw crafts" for ideas), and surprisingly some application of Physics is useful in times like this .. Blackpatch finally got their latest dual length owl necklace ready!

The use of a unique black plastic accessory to enhance the look
 - Angular patterned on the front and flat on the back
(so pendant lies flat against the chest)

Still sticking to the basic colours of silver and black, Blackpatch wanted this chain to be yet another everyday wear. Not just ANY everyday wear, but one that is one-of-a-kind and totally handcrafted. This being the only piece made, it is assured to be the only piece out there. :)  

Check out the below on how the chain can be instantly transformed from a long chain to a short necklace.

  

To view more photos of how it looks when worn short and long, or to find out the size of the pendant and the length of the chain, do visit our Etsy shop at Etsy Shop : 2 in 1 Owl necklace Long AND Short

Plushies!!

If you've not already noticed, Blackpatch has been experimenting something pretty new and different lately! Check out the shop and you may notice that Blackpatch has been adding some "colours" to the shop. =)

Well....Black has been soooo into plushies these days. The plushie puppy key chain, plushie kitty key chain and just today.... plushie kitty brooches! All totally handsewn! Amazing! 

In fact, Patch too is using one of their very own handcrafted plushie key chain. Simply adorable! Who ever says there is an age limit to having a cutesy accessory? No... there is never a limit to bringing out that fun loving side of you.  

These are all handsewn and handcrafted so they are all one and only. :) They not only can be used as key chain, it serves also as an adorable bag charm. Check out the below!

And if you have those bags that have the inner side zip pockets, these plushy key chains / bag charms comes in exceptionally handy. One clip can be used to attach onto the zipper, the other key ring can be used to hold your keys. So no more worries about losing your keys inside your bag anymore!

The Language of the Birds- Brass long necklace

The Language of the Birds

- Folk tales from Russia

Somewhere in a town in holy Russia, there lived a rich merchant with his wife. He had an only son, a dear, bright, and brave boy called Ivan. One lovely day Ivan sat at the dinner table with his parents. Near the window in the same room hung a cage, and a nightingale, a sweet-voiced, gray bird, was imprisoned within. The sweet nightingale began to sing its wonderful song with trills and high silvery tones. The merchant listened and listened to the song and said: "How I wish I could understand the meaning of the different songs of all the birds! I would give half my wealth to the man, if only there were such a man, who could make plain to me all the different songs of the different birds."

Ivan took notice of these words and no matter where he went, no matter where he was, no matter what he did, he always thought of how he could learn the language of the birds.

Some time after this the merchant's son happened to be hunting in a forest. The winds rose, the sky became clouded, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared loudly, and the rain fell in torrents. Ivan soon came near a large tree and saw a big nest in the branches. Four small birds were in the nest; they were quite alone, and neither father nor mother was there to protect them from the cold and wet. The good Ivan pitied them, climbed the tree and covered the little ones with his "kaftan," a long-skirted coat which the Russian peasants and merchants usually wear. The thunderstorm passed by and a big bird came flying and sat down on a branch near the nest and spoke very kindly to Ivan.

"Ivan, I thank thee; thou hast protected my little children from the cold and rain and I wish to do something for thee. Tell me what thou dost wish." Ivan answered; "I am not in need; I have everything for my comfort. But teach me the birds' language."

"Stay with me three days and thou shalt know all about it." Ivan remained in the forest three days. He understood well the teaching of the big bird and returned home more clever than before. One beautiful day soon after this Ivan sat with his parents when the nightingale was singing in his cage. His song was so sad, however, so very sad, that the merchant and his wife also became sad, and their son, their good Ivan, who listened very attentively, was even more affected, and the tears came running down his cheeks."What is the matter?" asked his parents; "what art thou weeping about, dear son?"

"Dear parents," answered the son, "it is because I understand the meaning of the nightingale's song, and because this meaning is so sad for all of us.""What then is the meaning? Tell us the whole truth; do not hide it from us," said the father and mother.

"Oh, how sad it sounds!" replied the son. "How much better would it be never to have been born!"

"Do not frighten us," said the parents, alarmed. "If thou dost really understand the meaning of the song, tell us at once."

"Do you not hear for yourselves? The nightingale says: 'The time will come when Ivan, the merchant's son, shall become Ivan, the king's son, and his own father shall serve him as a simple servant.'"

The merchant and his wife felt troubled and began to distrust their son, their good Ivan. So one night they gave him a drowsy drink, and when he had fallen asleep they took him to a boat on the wide sea, spread the white sails, and pushed the boat from the shore. For a long time the boat danced on the waves and finally it came near a large merchant vessel, which struck against it with such a shock that Ivan awoke. The crew on the large vessel saw Ivan and pitied him. So they decided to take him along with them and did so. High, very high, above in the sky they perceived cranes. Ivan said to the sailors: "Be careful; I hear the birds predicting a storm. Let us enter a harbor or we shall suffer great danger and damage. All the sails will be torn and all the masts will be broken."

But no one paid any attention and they went farther on. In a short time the storm arose, the wind tore the vessel almost to pieces, and they had a very hard time to repair all the damage. When they were through with their work they heard many wild swans flying above them and talking very loud among themselves. "What are they talking about?" inquired the men, this time with interest.

"Be careful," advised Ivan. "I hear and distinctly understand them to say that the pirates, the terrible sea robbers, are near. If we do not enter a harbor at once they will imprison and kill us."

The crew quickly obeyed this advice and as soon as the vessel entered the harbor the pirate boats passed by and the merchants saw them capture several unprepared vessels. When the danger was over, the sailors with Ivan went farther, still farther.

Finally the vessel anchored near a town, large and unknown to the merchants. A king ruled in that town who was very much annoyed by three black crows. These three crows were all the time perching near the window of the king's chamber. No one knew how to get rid of them and no one could kill them. The king ordered notices to be placed at all crossings and on all prominent buildings, saying that whoever was able to relieve the king from the noisy birds would be rewarded by obtaining the youngest korolevna, the king's daughter, for a wife; but the one who should have the daring to undertake but not succeed in delivering the palace from the crows would have his head cut off. Ivan attentively read the announcement, once, twice, and once more. Finally he made the sign of the cross and went to the palace. He said to the servants:  "Open the window and let me listen to the birds." The servants obeyed and Ivan listened for a while. Then he said: "Show me to your sovereign king."

When he reached the room where the king sat on a high, rich chair, he bowed and said: "There are three crows, a father crow, a mother crow, and a son crow. The trouble is that they desire to obtain thy royal decision as to whether the son crow must follow his father crow or his mother crow."The king answered: "The son crow must follow the father crow."

As soon as the king announced his royal decision the crow father with the crow son went one way and the crow mother disappeared the other way, and no one has heard the noisy birds since. The king gave one-half of his kingdom and his youngest korolevna to Ivan, and a happy life began for him.

In the meantime his father, the rich merchant, lost his wife and by and by his fortune also. There was no one left to take care of him, and the old man went begging under the windows of charitable people. He went from one window to another, from one village to another, from one town to another, and one bright day he came to the palace where Ivan lived, begging humbly for charity. Ivan saw him and recognized him, ordered him to come inside, and gave him food to eat and also supplied him with good clothes, asking questions: "Dear old man, what can I do for thee?" he said.

"If thou art so very good," answered the poor father, without knowing that he was speaking to his own son, "let me remain here and serve thee among thy faithful servants."

"Dear, dear father!" exclaimed Ivan, "thou didst doubt the true song of the nightingale, and now thou seest that our fate was to meet according to the predictions of long ago."

The old man was frightened and knelt before his son, but his Ivan remained the same good son as before, took his father lovingly into his arms, and together they wept over their sorrow.

Several days passed by and the old father felt courage to ask his son, the korolevitch:

"Tell me, my son, how was it that thou didst not perish in the boat?" Ivan Korolevitch laughed gayly.

"I presume," he answered, "that it was not my fate to perish at the bottom of the wide sea, but

my fate was to marry the korolevna, my beautiful wife, and to sweeten the old age of my dear father."

The Legend of the White Rose - Short silver necklace

The Legend of the White Rose

Blackpatch : Chanced upon this interesting tale about a beautiful princess, the goddess of the forest and the white rose....

Long, long ago, lost in the mists of time, there was a beautiful young princess who went by the name of Mareena. One day she stole away from the castle guards to go to the forest to collect some wild red roses to decorate the table for the evening meal. The red rose was the symbol of her father, the king. Bouquets of red roses were customary additions to the table setting during the evening meal in the castle, but since insects had damaged the roses in the castle garden, there had been no roses to liven the evening meal for many weeks. Since today was the king’s birthday, the lords and ladies of the kingdom were going to surprise the king at the evening meal with a special play. Mareena wanted to do something even more special, so it was for this reason she had sneaked away.

Mareena was walking down a rarely used trail, looking for roses when she heard some rustling in the bushes off to her right. She stopped and peered intently into the bushes, but could see nothing. Very frightened, the princess turned around and started walking back to the main trail, but before too long she realized that she had taken the left fork instead of the right. She was lost! The rustling in the bushes continued, following behind her, slowly coming closer. All sound of movement stopped; then a series of long, low growls began. Mareena completely lost her nerve and began running in a panic, not knowing where she was going. She reached a clearing in the woods, looked around, and saw nothing. Feeling safe, her heartbeat and breathing began to slow down. Just as she felt that she had escaped her pursuers, hideous growls and snarls began - she was surrounded!

Suddenly, a pack of gray wolves burst into the clearing, and ran in a circle around Mareena, yipping and howling in glee. The circle became smaller, then smaller still. Then the largest of the animals gave a sharp bark, and all the other animals became quiet, sitting on their haunches with a hungry look in their eyes. The leader of the pack stared at Mareena with hungry red eyes. Rabid froth dripped from his mouth, and Mareena could swear that the wild animal was sneering at her. Without warning the leader howled and sprung at Mareena, preparing to sink his filthy fangs deep in her throat. Mesmerized by terror, Mareena couldn’t move. In horror she watched as the giant black beast seemed to fly through the air toward her. Just as she was ready to faint from the horror, a brilliant white flash appeared out of nowhere. The beasts, stunned, were knocked to the ground. The leader of the pack, infuriated at the interruption, swung around, ready to destroy whoever had the audacity to interfere with his feast. A soft white glow began in the treetops, formed into a ball of light, and slowly drifted to the ground. The beasts were confused at this turn of events, so they formed-up behind the leader, ready to face this potential threat to their territory. The ball of light slowly faded, and in its place stood a beautiful lady dressed in shining white garments. The leader leapt into the air toward the lady in white, ready to destroy this human who entered his domain with such impudence.

The lady in white watched calmly as the beast rapidly approached, and when he was within several feet of her, she slowly raised her hand. The beast was knocked to the ground! Terrified, the cowardly pack panicked, and ran off into the woods.

Mareena slowly got up from the ground, and stared at the woman. The lady approached Mareena, and asked her if she was injured. “Nothing serious, thank you” she said. “But who are you?”

“I am Diana, goddess of the forest, and it is my calling to protect all those who enter here with a pure heart and unselfish intentions. Though you acted without thinking of the danger you may have been in, your heart was in the right place. I will now send you home, and will give you a token to remember that, whenever you are in my forest, treat all things with love and kindness.”

Mareena became dizzy for just a moment, and the next thing she knew, she was at the front gate of the castle! All around her soldiers and ordinary citizens were prepared as if to go somewhere en masse. When she appeared, all gasped, and grew quiet. Her father, the king, pushed his way through the crowd to his daughter, and with tears in his eyes, hugged her tightly. He told her that once the castle guard discovered she was missing, he organized a search party, and they were just preparing to leave when she appeared as if by magic. Mareena told him of her rescue by the forest goddess, Diana. But she seemed confused for a moment, and the king asked her what was wrong. Mareena said that Diana was going to give her something to remind her that all living things should be treated with love and kindness, but her hands were empty. The king smiled, reached up and plucked a beautiful white rose that had been placed in his daughter’s hair. 

The king turned around, faced his subjects, and raised his hand for silence. A hush fell over the crowd, and the king said, “On this day, my daughter was saved by a power greater than any of us. I make a proclamation that, as of now, the red rose, which has been a symbol of our kingdom for generations, is here by replaced by the white rose, which will symbolize our respect for the land, rivers, rocks and trees. From this day forward, let no man waste what has been given to us for stewardship, and to treat all of nature with understanding and love.”

From that point on, the kingdom led a blessed existence. When she became of age, Mareena married a handsome young prince from the neighboring kingdom. Of course, the church was filled with white roses. And some said that, even though the day was bright and sunny, a special white light seemed to hover over the couple as they said their vows.

- written by Joe Knight