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The Miniature, Setting & Pearls
11-3-04: Poopy! The frame I ordered is actually a bit too small for my taste for the miniature, as you can see below, but I'm not real disappointed, because I really want to use Saragrace's idea of embedding it into the fan handle. So, I should be starting the fan base no later than next weekend now that I know I will be incorporating the miniature. Still, the frame is cool, I'll have to figure how else I can use it, at $5, it was worth the chance it wouldn't fit anyway. Miniature notes will now be moving to the fan page.
9-17-04: Nothing new has actually happened on the miniature yet, though I did order a frame that looks like it could work out well from Mott's Miniatures, a doll-house supply vendor, go figure. I just wanted to document SG's awesome alternate suggestion, that I may end up going with anyway, it's such a cool idea. If we don't like or can't find the frame, I might incorporate the miniature into the handle of the fan, which is probably more appropriate anyway. I've already gone on record as saying I don't believe QEI allowed her portrait to be painted showing her wearing any miniatures, I just really liked this one. So who knows, maybe it will end up on the fan anyway, then.
9-14-04: Oops, I almost forgot to put in a quick picture of the pearl rope I re-strung with little freshwater pearls in between the larger ones. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but it shows up really well in person. I even still have some of the larger pearls left. I didn't knot in between each one, hopefully I won't have cause to regret that later!
9-9-04: A quick scan of the major portrait artwork of Elizabeth doesn't show her wearing any miniatures, I'm sure that would have shown a bit too much favoritism! However, I couldn't resist this miniature of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, by Roland Hui, that I got on clearance from The Tudor Shoppe. It appears to be based on the c.1564 portrait showing the Earl with the dog, and I think it is very striking. I am currently looking for a fancy miniature frame to put it in, and we'll pin it somewhere with a nice wide ribbon. Sorry the picture is so fuzzy, there'll be better ones once I finish the setting.
For the pearls, I'd like to do at least a single long rope, and I want to restring them with alternating small pearls like the ones seen below. Fortunately, we picked up two long ropes of glass pearls in a bridal supply shop while we were in LA shopping for the fabric. I've already cut one strand apart for the cinques, I'll finish those before I start restringing the other, in case I have to get a different strand for that. I need the cinques to match! I already have some 3 mm freshwater pearls I can use as spacers.
