Relaxing at the eleventh frame lounge....

So I think the pin is done.

And the 'I think' part implies just a touch of uncertainty.

You be the judge:

My friend Linda suggested that I could always add other items later if I sensed she needed more splash. I never considered that this could be an open-ended process, and Linda's suggestion was very freeing.

Also freeing was deciding on her name. My friend Erin suggested Matilda. No longer being referred to simply as 'the bowling pin lady', she has a name. I think she looks like a Matilda, don't you? Here's another angle:

This is more of a side view. Not unlike myself, Matilda has a generous lower half, but my ... assets ... aren't quite so sparkly. One more photo shows the view from the back:

Matilda was my first bowling pin project. And I'll keep working on one pin idea or another, if I can keep a decent stock of broken jewelry. There was a time that big bags of jewelry were available cheaply and in profusion at thrift stores, and either the market's gotten hotter for such things or people aren't giving their old jewelry to Goodwill or ARC like they used to. It's rare to find a bag of old jewelry any more, and when I do, it's usually out of my price range.

So I may have to branch out. My friend Angel suggested a mermaid pin, using colorful painted seashells as decoration. Maybe a pin covered in broken plate bits.

And then we have the couples idea. I'm thinking an older couple.

Lots of ideas are brewing, and I already have an order for a Virgin Mary pin.

God knows I have the pins - four cases of them - in my garage.

The projects are lining up in my head like, well, bowling pins.

It feels good to create something sparkly, quirky and beautiful that's made completely out of discarded items.

Some folks may think the bowling pin lady's kind of gaudy, eccentric and tacky, but therein lies her charm.

Am I talking about the bowling pin lady or myself? Hmmm.