Category: Gallifrey One

New Line: Beaded Needle & Scissors Case Patterns

So as soon as the Gallifrey One Art Show was over, I hit the bead board running, mostly to distract myself from the shocking news that Gallifrey One conventions will only be with us three more years as Founders Shaun Lyon and Robbie Bourget are retiring the convention and it’s insanely successful Southern California run.
The first thing I finished up among my UFOs (unfinished objects), was a piece that didn’t get done in time for the art show – a scissors case patterned after the Cassandra Tapestry that sold so well last year. Cassandra had the distinction of being the only piece to make it to auction in the short time I’ve been creating art for Gallifrey One’s fannish community and I couldn’t be more happy and proud of her – even if she is a little shallow and one-dimensional
After pondering what else would make a good, wedge-shaped piece for a scissors case, I ran the idea past my Tardis Tuesday chat group. They confirmed my first thought – that a slice of pizza would be the PERFECT next project!

Like all of my crazy ideas, this one mushroomed into not just a scissors case, but a matching needle case – one that was long enough to hold beading needles – AND have a cute little pizza-slice charm attached to the outside!
Now that it’s done and in my Etsy store, I’m already planning my next needle & scissors case project…hmm…I wonder what it will be…🍉🍉🍉
The Pizza-Themed Needle & Scissors Case Pattern Set can be yours. Check it out in my Etsy store here.

April 23, 2025
Gallifrey One 2024 Art Show Preview by KC Dragonfly and TisforTardis

February 21, 2024
Post-Gallifrey 2023 Art Show & Etsy Store Sale

What a fun and amazing Gallifrey One we had this year! The convention was back up to full attendance numbers (it sold out back in fall last year) and there were so many amazing cosplays! I want to give a shoutout to the Gallifrey One Photos Facebook Group for everyone’s photo dumps. Dennis and I knew we didn’t see everyone’s costume while we were there the three days, but wow! You never realize how many you miss or only saw once until you see all the wonderful pics in this generous group! If you love Doctor Who cosplay or just miss going to Gallifrey One, I highly recommend joining them.
So, with no sales last year from my last-minute art show entries, I changed display tactics when I lucked out and got the very last table display space for 2023. It made all the difference. I sold 5 out of 12 pieces, including;
Bracelets – 7th Doctor, I Love Doctor Who and my two newest creations; the LAX Marriott Carpet and Dalek “Bumps”.
Pen Wraps – LAX Marriott Carpet
Here are the pics for these newest goodies:

LAX Marriott Carpet Bracelet v 1.0

LAX Marriott Carpet Pen Wrap pen v 1.0

Dalek “Bumps” Bracelet v 1.0

Dalek “Bumps” Pen Wrap v 2.0

Post-Gallifrey One Art Show Etsy Sale!

Since my only copies of the Dalek “Bumps” Bracelet and the Marriott Carpet Bracelet and Pen Wrap sold, I have a few other goodies on sale you can take advantage of at 25% off right now;
11th Doctor Matt Smith “Bow Tie” Bracelet
5th Doctor Peter Davison Bracelet
Crack in the Universe 11th Doctor Bracelet
Dalek “Bumps” Pen Wrap v 2.0 (coming soon!)
Or, if you are a beader, you can snag the patterns for the;
Dalek “Bumps” Bracelet v 1.0
LAX Marriott Carpet Pen Wrap v 1.0
The Dalek “Bumps” Pen Wrap and LAX Marriott Carpet Bracelet patterns will be up later today and I’ll update this post with the links as soon as that happens.

February 26, 2023
Gallifrey 2023 Art Show

Hi all, just a quickish update to let you know I am in the Gallifrey One Art Show! I literally got the very last table space before they sold out the show completely and boy, am I grateful!
I have a few new awesome bracelets & pens to unveil AND if you are at Gallifrey One and want to see what a full view of the I Love Doctor Who, Red Dwarf & Star Wars logo pens look like, check out these videos:

I Love Doctor Who

Red Dwarf

Star Wars

February 16, 2023
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show & Wrap Up

Four days of fun, followed by con crud
It’s hard to believe it’s only been weeks since Gallifrey One 2019 ended. It seems like so much longer! And, as has become an unfortunate tradition in the 28 years Dennis and I have attended this wonderful convention, we both caught con crud. Hence in part why this update is so late. (<== picture me laid out flat for TWO DAYS from work, looking like this Gally carpet-worshipping fan I found on Twitter) The nasty little bug came and almost went TWICE, so I went and got antibiotics for it Monday.
It was once again a fabulous year of amazing entertainment, the highlight of which was the ribbon collecting war between Catherine Tate and John Barrowman. Barrowman, being the shy guy he is, came out on stage Saturday in a dress in an exploding tardis print in vibrant yellows and blues. Catherine showed him up the same day, demonstrating how long her ribbon trail was. She had a helper hold it on stage and went out into the audience trailing the end – which was easily two-thirds of the length of the ballroom! As you can image, her bragging about it being longer inspired all sorts of hysterically rude comments from John. Makes up for missing all the other programming outside the main ballroom!
What Next?
After all the sales have been tallied up and the thank yous done, I kicked into high gear. Even as con crud was trying to slow me down, my brain was non-stop forming plans for what to do next. While all the beading for the Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show was fun, it was also hard work towards a purpose. After a couple of years away, I really want to get back into jewelry full time and this time have more fun doing it. Yes beadwork of this intensity is hard work, but it’s work I LOVE. And when you love what you do, REALLY LOVE what you do, burnout doesn’t exist. When I finished the 5th Doctor’s bracelet, I jumped straight into beading 13s necklace without a single day’s break. When it was apparent I wouldn’t finish it in time, I went back to bracelet ideas and did one for the 11th Doctor.
I even set aside my fanfiction writing for a month because the beading bug wouldn’t let me go. And while I also dearly love creative writing I never regretted my decision to trade one fun project for another for a time.
Now the real work begins
So where – you might ask – am I going from here? Forward and up and never looking back. I can’t bead fast enough, there aren’t enough hours in the day to fuel this bead machine monster Doctor Who fandom has created. The beadwork for a new 5th Doctor bracelet is done – and it is a vast improvement over even the one that sold at the convention. See for yourself. The top one is the 1st version, the bottom bracelet the one that went into the auction (and sold).
Happily my rows were straighter and neater, there was less of a wobble to the overall bracelet and I fixed the orientation of both question marks so they face each other. It always bugged me they faced the same direction in the original design. And if ever there was a sign that doing what one loves is what we are meant to do in life, then improving one’s technique is the proof in the pudding!
And it’s beginning to show
It amazes me how much repetition and getting advice from experts can make a difference – and how fast it has manifested. This third version has really come so far in just a few weeks that it has me absolutely tickled. This is by no means the final product. That will come as I work on it this week. And I cannot wait to show you wonderful folks the finished product!
Stick around and as River Song said, “You watch us run!”.

March 13, 2019
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update part four – final
Thank you Gallifrey One!

Gallifrey One has always been one of the best local conventions and it gets better every year. This wonderful lady (on the right) made the show for me when I came in in the morning after the auction. She said, “I regretted not getting the 4th doctor lariat scarf. Will it be available after the show?” I smiled and said, “I’ll sell it to you right now. Just pick it up and take it and the bid sheet to the checkout gals and it’s yours!’ I gave her tips on it’s care and feeding and to make sure it stays secure as it can be a slippery bugger. She was kind enough to take a pic with me and I thank her for it and wished her many happy years of ownership.

I had the great fun of speaking to many art show visitors that morning/afternoon. Thank you each and every one for taking the time to stop by, admire my work and have a chat.

The Final Tally

All in all, we sold half of the value of the items we brought to Gallifrey One 2019 – a great ratio of sales for an artist. There was one or two artists that didn’t sell much (there always are). We all have our off-years and it is so unpredictable that sometimes it feels like a game of chance. For me, pieces sold that surprised me and others didn’t that were also puzzling. Here’s the final tally:

Sold –
- 4th Doctor Lariat Necklace
- 5th Doctor Bracelet
- 11th Doctor Envelope Necklace
Didn’t Sell –
- 11th Doctor Bracelet
I had expected not to sell the Envelope Necklace because it was a rather obscure piece. You really have to be a fan of 11 and remember the episode and I guess they did. It got three bids and came close to going to voice auction – two more bids would have sent it there.

If you Didn’t Get a Piece…

Not to worry! People seemed pleased I am opening an Etsy store for patterns. And I have a surprise in store for the store in the next blog post, which will be a grand opening update. It will make them and our fans quite happy. Stick around as that announcement will be coming very soon.

A Final Thank You

I want to thank the art show El Heffes Elizabeth Klein-Lebbink and her significant other Jerome Scott. We have known you two beautiful people for decades now and you are the best art show mavens in the biz. I always get a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart when I see these two at a con and that feeling grows every year. I warned them to expect me next year and indeed also at Loscon Thanksgiving Weekend back at the same hotel. Sorry, Liz, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily. No more hiatuses for me!
February 19, 2019
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update – semi-final

Hello Gallifrey One!

The Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show was fabulous and so much fun to do! Thank you EVERYONE who purchased art pieces from me. Everything that didn’t sell is available for purchase TODAY. So, if you were outbid or didn’t get a chance to buy, stop by and browse! You will also get a SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE COUPON towards purchases in our new Etsy store, T is for Tardis, opening tomorrow!

TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE. WE WILL UPDATE THEM AS SOON AS WE KNOW FOR SURE WHAT THE HOURS ARE BUT I WILL BE AT THE CONVENTION UNTIL CLOSING, SO TWEET ME AND WE’LL ARRANGE A MEETUP.

February 17, 2019
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update part three

On our way

We are finally on our way to Gallifrey One 2019. It feels strange after over a month of doing beadwork on bracelets every day to not have a bead project in hand, beading and ignoring everything else around me.

I miss it already.

Is that weird? Not when you’re addicted to doing beadwork like I am and have been doing it for so many years. When you do something this intense and it’s something you don’t love, it’s easy to get burned out. Me, I’m already going over ideas for my next art show which hopefully will be for a My Little Pony convention up in Northern California. Of course I’ll stop once in awhile during the panels to pay attention to who’s on stage and hang out with my sister and brother-in-law. But there is always downtime when I’m hanging in the lobby and people watching. Those are the times it’s I sit and sketch out what I want my next project to be.

And now what you’ve all been waiting for

The 13th Doctor Bracelet

The 5th Doctor Bracelet

Tarot & Angel Deck Divination Bags

February 15, 2019
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update part two

Table Display Signage

As I mentioned in a teaser earlier this month, I went shopping for lettering for a new name for my Doctor Who-themed creations in the Gallifrey One 2019 art show. Creating the new logo last week took more time than I had expected due to planning, measuring, gluing and painting. After the bulk of the painting and gluing was done, I went back to beadwork. Still, project pieces were slowed down because they were worked on in between touch-up coats of paint and lettering adjustments. Once the logo pieces were finished, I made a scrabble game out of the letters and posted it on Twitter. Alas, no one guessed the name I had done too good a job of mixing up the letters!

The final touch to the logo display was one my husband provided, creating a table riser to lift the lettering slightly above the level of the table so it would stand out better.

Beading on the Go

I keep my client company at my job while he watches t.v. – a lot of it. Luckily this allows me to sit and bead a few hours each day. Because I bead there and at home, my carrying case has gotten more and more portable. I hated this see-through, plastic carrying case at first. I didn’t want everyone to see what I was carting around, but later I grew to love it as I could easily see its contents as I packed it the evenings. In the pursuit of the life of a bead whore, it has become one of my new, best friends.

My second best friend is a wooden bead board that divides different colors of beads into organized sections. I was wary of using it at first since I have knocked over a seed bead tray or two. You only do that once, then learn to use cases with lids the rest of your days, believe me! After years of being very careful, I was now tempted to try this new sorting tray I discovered years ago at the Pasadena Bead & Design Show. It was just too cool to pass up, especially after the creator personalized it with a dragonfly on its cover.

Still, it sat for a couple of years until I decided to bead the 13th Doctor’s shirt stripe into a lariat scarf. The tray easily holds all 11 colors where I would have needed two of my usual, round plastic cases. Two cases would have been fine except the pattern for 13’s scarf requires I use one bead color at a time. Because of that, I needed all colors open at once, rendering the lidded cases useless.

Next time – a preview of our newest beaded designs to premiere in the art show.

February 13, 2019
Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update

The Push is On

With a mere week and a day to go until Gallifrey One 2019, the push to get done is on. I’ve finished up the final large project jewelry piece and might have a few works-in-progress to showcase. Brick stitch is a long, slow process, but was necessary on the bracelets because of the detail in their designs. They helped me get back up to speed, but too fast at one point caused me to backtrack & rip out 11 rows to fix a mistake. On the other side of the coin, the lariat necklaces are created with peyote stitch. While they are much longer, the stitch allows me to bead up to six rows at a time.

A New Look

This past weekend saw me also start work on the signage for the tables. Sunday was spent at Michaels and Jo-Ann’s gathering together lettering and supplies for the stand(s). I had a clear idea of how I wanted it to look on the table, but didn’t work when I actually made it. I painted the letters while watching cartoons and the Kitten Bowl, wondering how to fix it. With my husband’s help, another idea worked out even better.

I will be showing under the name “Time Siren”, but the table will sport a new name for a new Etsy store. Once I have the store created, look for it to be officially announced here, along with its new name.

February 6, 2019