Monday, June 23, 2014

Fobbed! A Fabric Fable-T is for Tuesday

Here you see some (operative word, some) of my scissors in their native habitat.This mug was made by a dear friend of mine, Dave, who called himself, Lost Guide Pottery. I cried when the handle broke, and smile seeing it sitting on my desk, tea-less and scissorful.
At the last Fiber Arts Alliance Meeting (FAA- find us on FB), we had  a series of mini demos by members, all invoving scissors in some way, and I was the ONLY demo-er who's scissors were
(GASP)
 fob-less!

I do a lot of art on the go , and could be carrying up to 20 scissors at a time, and I always identified them with just a piece of masking tape!
(shame and embarrassment)

As luck would have it, Suzanne of Quietfire Design,
asked me if she had sent me the paracord from the Prima Publishing event at last winters CHA.
I looked in the goody box she sent me and there it was!
Scissor fobs in the making!
This is what I had left after making the two fobs.

There was about 8ft of cord, and an instruction book, by Leisure Arts

subtitle
Everybody wants one.

I experimented from the book, ripped them all out and delved into the lanyard making canyons of my mind( and youtube) and came up with a design using what we use to call the box stitch,

added some elephants ,because I could, and some beads to hide where you stabilize the cord by melting it with a lighter.

My second attempt, I started with a knot stitch at the bottom- the book was helpful for this- and finished off with box stitch, beads and a worry doll.
(tell tail tape still in evidence!)


I can proudly enter July's FAA  show and tell with my newly fobbed scissors.

Did y'all make gimp lanyards as kids?
I had to laugh at this brilliant PR job using the pararcord.
It does go faster.

Just for fun, below is one of my favorite Billy Collins poems.

The Lanyard

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that's what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I , in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,

is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.
(no idea why this is all caps and too tired to mess with HTML!)
Comments and questions welcomed!

14 comments:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Gotta love the recycled use of the pottery tea/coffee mug. It looks like it really belongs.

Like the little boy in the poem, I had never made a lanyard, but I had heard the word, at least. Guess I've never seen one before, either. Of course, I tied a ribbon with a thread cutter around my sewing scissors, but I noticed last week it had come untied. So much for fobbing around (grin). Your new fobs are truly worth keeping AND talking about.

Thanks for sharing your broken tea mug AND your poem inspired lanyards with us for T this Tuesday. What fun.

Bridget Larsen said...

Yay I found some one else who is crazy about scissors like I am. I lost count after 20. I love how each one of yours has a dangle on it. I do have a knot book and may follow your lead
Bridget #1

~*~Patty S said...

What a great way to still enjoy that special mug!
Really great idea and such a fine variety of scissor fobs you created...
Happy T Day to you
oxo

Divers and Sundry said...

There are some mugs I can't part with even after they've broken, and I have several I keep pens and pencils in.
I'd never thought of making lanyard "tags" to identify scissors, but it's a great idea!

Ariel said...

This is something new to me. Thank you Robyn for sharing them here.
Have a great week
Susan

Krisha said...

Very cool! A scissor fob! What a clever idea.
Thanks for sharing
Happy T-day

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I just remembered I needed to answer your question about the flower on my cup (and saucer, too). It's a magnolia. Thanks for asking.

Darla said...

Great scissor fobs. The poem you shared is one of my favorite Billy Collins poems. Thank you for posting it. It has been awhile since I read it.

Denise Price said...

I've never heard of scissor fobs (I used to mark my scissors with nail polish), but your look great. I especially like the elephant charms and worry doll, because those embellishments add a personalized touch. Happy T Day!

Halle said...

Great re-use of a beautiful mug! I've never seen a fob on a pair of scissors. I guess I don't get out much. ;)
Happy Tuesday!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

What a fun way to "mark" your scissors! I made lanyards all the time as a child...as did my daughter. In fact, I still have one she made me on my key chain (she's 21 now). Glad you found a way to use the damaged favorite cup!

Nancy said...

A good mug should always have a 'spot' :)
I like scissor fobs, some people don't like them dangling around but I do :) makes them special. The poem is very touching, I have a small heart, made from those looms all the kids use, and it hangs on my key chain----most precious because my Grandson made it just for me :) and he doesn't easily give things away!
Happy T day :)

dawn said...

Hello and Happy T Day! Great that your using the mug still, if you can recycle something then go for it! Such cute cute scissors, have never seen a dangle on them. Love this idea, will have to ask my mom who is a sewer if she's seen them before.

Thanks for sharing and have a good week.

The grandmommy said...

Sweet way to use your beloved cup! I need really good scissors worthy of a beloved cup! The don't make them like they used to. Seems I am always stuck with one blade or some other way they turn in to other tools. Also, cant find scissor sharpener shops anymore.