Bracelets and Polar Bears

The mystery of the extra polar bear parts is continuing.  It really looks as if I cut an extra head gusset.  The toy only needs to have the head sewn on to finish.  I've decided to embroider the toy before I finish sewing it together.  There are a lot of silk ribbon in my stash.  I think a combination of ribbon roses and embroidery will be lovely.  The eyes though I'm not sure whether to use embroidery or glass.  A decision needs to be made before embroidering the head.  I'm also toying with the idea of using a large open embroidery style.  Swirling flowers and vines sounds very pretty.  Here is a book that I got at Christmas. 
http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Elizabethan-Embroidery-needlework/dp/0473036347/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342555762&sr=8-2&keywords=elizabethan+embroidery
It has some lovely embroidery designs that were interpreted from old British embroideries.  As much as I like the book I can't really recommend it,  It has a few flaws one it relies on almost one stitch, the chain stitch.  Also the projects are not that inspiring to me, they are cute though.  Then there is also the fact that sometimes you can only buy it from England.  I got mine through Amazon so it didn't have to travel as far.  It is also printed as a booklet instead of a book.  I'm still happy I bought it but it is not a major source for me.  There are so many other embroidery books to buy.

It has been a while since I had worked with ribbons.  My ribbon box was terribly messy and I had a lot of little scraps.  When I work on ribbon projects I take the scraps and put them in a box.  So today I made a project that I've wanted to make for a long time.  Today's project was a jacquard ribbon bracelet with ribbon flowers and crystals.  I first saw the bracelet in the book "Elegant Ribbonwork" by Helen Gibb.  Her books are wonderful and if you only buy one book on ribbonwork "Ribbonwork, The Complete Guide" is really fantastic. http://www.amazon.com/Ribbonwork-Complete-Guide-Technique-Trimmings/dp/0873497503/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342585016&sr=1-1&keywords=ribbonwork+the+complete+guide

The bracelet uses odds and ends of 1/4 inch ribbons up to 3 inches in length.  Even some of the thread I used was leftover from embroideries.  I decorated the bracelet with leftover crystals and machine lace leaves.  It was a bit difficult because of the size of ribbons used, even the jacquard base ribbon was under 1 inch in width and 8 inches long.  Definitely a challenge!  But what a great gift for a friend who likes Victorian things.

Ribbon flowers and Lucite flower beads.

Toggle end of bracelet.

Picture of the whole bracelet.

It was good practise for decorating the polar bear and one more item is off my crafting list!