Lost and Found

Dear Mrs Foggy,

Blimey, its been a while, hasn't it? I don't know where the time went since your nuptials. It was very good of your Boxed Brownie to send us his little paintings over the aether, although our Brownie is now sulking and has eaten several daguerrotypes in protest (including the one of Mr Mesmer's cravat pin). I have confiscated his gin in retaliation and attempted to convince him that his images will be much more in focus without it. Funnily enough, he won't believe me.

To prove I did do some creative stuff in between then and now, these are some earrings I made for a Canadian friend of ours. She's a very talented jewellery maker herself and over the years we have whiled away many a happy hour in the bead shops along the street the Queen of Canada has designated specially for that purpose. I found the lovely little crystal butterflies on a shopping trip with Miss Emilly, and the little silver hearts. The main challenge was finding some nice posts that weren't for pierced ears. All in all, I think they worked quite well.

And then there was something for Terry; she likes purple and again, she's a very talented jewellery maker (its always a bit nerve-racking making something for other designers, but we all have our own unique style and no-one's sent anything back yet!). Its very simple, just another of those lovely circley bits the Prof found in the circus basement when dismantling the old Babbage Engines.

Last, but by no means least, this necklace was for Miss Emilly, to go with the earrings that I made for her when I was 'sperimenting last summer. I made the ribbons a bit long, but seeing as she's rather handy in that department, she soon sorted that out to her satisfaction.

Life at the Circus since then has somewhat got in the way of making pretty things, but now its the off-season I'm hoping to get the sketch book out again (and the power tools). I even dutifully sorted out the big pile of stuff I'd accrued over the last year, so I pretty much know where everything is and even what I have! Except for the little light bulb things that Miss Emilly gave me; I've no idea where they are. I suspect the Brownie, but he's denying everything and its not as if Snorty would know what to do with them.

Best be off, I think I can hear George chasing the Prof around the workshop. He's a good lion, most of the time, but he does get bored easily and I don't fancy having to give him another bath if he gets in amongst the dye vats again (although he did rather suit that shade of purple).

Please give our love to your wonderful hublet, and ta-ta for now!

F.

Coppers and Computers

Dearest Emilly,

I do hope your polar trip is progressing well. The post-butterflies have complained a bit about the cold up there, but they think that the coloured lights are very pretty, like the shimmer in their wings in fact.

We had a bit of a party in your absence and while the Prof was pootling about preparing the moonshine and the nibbles, I thought I'd better make some more things for the little gift-shop.

First up is this little item, or "Green Machine" as we've decided to call it. I know you know a bit about the future and these strange things called computers. I believe that some of our current compatriots call them Difference Engines. I haven't had the heart to tell them that the ones I've seen in the future aren't steam-powered. Still, if you take a nice big hammer to them, there are some very pretty things inside. It would be fun even if there weren't pretty things inside; you know me and hammers!

The Prof says this piece is called a hard disc reader head. I know it doesn't look like a head or like it can read, but I thought the ribbons and the little beads made it much more presentable to the library types, particularly Sir JJ and Miss Homewood (and I don't think it would be interested in Sir JJ's secret stash of very nice whisky, unlike some of his other readers. Hic!)

Anyway, its available here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33224817

And then there's this one: Time Flies. Not all of the bits of clock we got from the Rummage Man were in tip-top condition; even though I felt a bit sorry for this watch-face as its seen better days, I still think its very pretty. Its such a lovely colour under that enamel; maybe true beauty does lie within?

The shiny circular piece the Prof assures me is a hard disc spindle thing. No idea what one of them does, but its got some very useful holes in it for putting ribbons through. And the little dragonfly liked it so much when he came to see what I was doing, he asked if he could stay.

Its available here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33225023

Some of the other reader heads that we recovered from more old computers the Prof found in a wonderful yellow boaty called, I believe, in the local parlance a "skip", weren't as pretty as the one above. In fact, the only pretty thing in them was the copper coily; not only is it a very pleasing shape, there's a class of butterflies called Coppers, or Lycaenae.

Well, if there's butterflies involved (however tenuously) you know I'm your Pixie! So I snapped them out of their ugly surrounds, polished them up and added some pretty Chinesey beads and a few cogs for good measure.

They're next to the candyfloss at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33225252

There is one other piece of jewellery that I've made, but this one has sort of already been commissioned (along with three more pairs). At a different point in the future I found these natty little glass tubes. They had a rather boring wire in them, but I managed to pull the caps off a few and soon remedied that. I've called them "Blown a Fuse", although the Prof looked at me really archly when I did and muttered something about "more like a gasket...". Do you think I should have words with him, Em? Or was he making another odd Circus-type joke, do you think? (For odd, please read not funny)

I await your answer as to whether or not Snorty and I should take him in hand. Give my love to Mr Worthers

Fuschia