138 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
smoothly on the drawing-board, and then it is ready for 
painting. 
The illustration given of honeysuckle is pretty, on car¬ 
dinal velvet or velveteen, as a border for a table scarf. 
The colors necessary will be flake-white, chrome-yellow, 
chrome-orange, chrome-green, burnt sienna, Vandyke 
brown and sugar of lead. Squeeze from the tubes to the 
palette a small quantity of each of these, then mix four 
shades of each color. Begin with the chrome-yellow, 
which is for the flowers. For the first tint take a small 
portion of the yellow and mix with it two parts of flake- 
white with a very little sugar of lead. Mix these thor¬ 
oughly with the palette-knife. A second shade is made in 
the same manner, with a little more of the chrome-yellow 
and less white; a third one still deeper by adding a very 
little chrome-orange, and the fourth still deeper with more 
of the orange and a little of the sugar of lead in each 
shade. This is for the flowers. Sienna is also used for 
the deepest shadows, where a petal may be turned over. 
A slight particle of this is taken in the brush and softened 
and blended in on the flowers where the light and shade 
meet. 
The leaves are executed in the same manner. Four 
shades of green are first mixed on the palette with the 
knife, the lightest shades made by mixing in flake-white, 
adding less white for the deeper shades, and for those still 
darker a little Vandyke brown may be added, and, as in 
the yellow, sugar of lead in each tint. 
The painting may now be undertaken; fill the brush 
well with the lightest shade of yellow—a No. 4 brush is 
good for a medium-sized flower—and draw it over the 
petals, covering, or rather painting and shading one petal 
at a time. Do not let the paint form a ridge on the edge 
of the flowers or leaves. This must be avoided all through 
the work, as a heavy outline is not to be desired. After 
having covered a petal with the light color shade it grad¬ 
ually to the centre with the darker tints, or follow the 
copy as closely as possible should it be a colored one. 
When applying the deeper shades, do not lay them on 
thickly as the first coat has been given, but only in suffi¬ 
cient quantities to blend in with the lighter shades to pro¬ 
duce the required depth of color. Shade as if selecting 
and working with the different shades of embroidery silks. 
The green leaves are painted in the same manner, ap¬ 
plying the lightest shades first, the deeper ones as already 
described. 
The stamens are but one line done with a fine brush, 
and these do not require to be stroked with the pen. 
When laying on the colors, the brush should follow the 
lines of the flower or leaf, as this also helps to produce a 
better effect when it is stroked with the pen. The leaves 
should not be veined until after the pen has been used. 
Too large a portion of the design must not be attempted 
at once, for the paint may dry too rapidly, thus preventing 
the stroking, which is a peculiar feature of the work, and 
for this the Kensington pen is used. It is composed of 
of four steel points set in a metal frame and mounted 
on a handle. They can be obtained for twenty-five cents 
from any of the art embroidery or needlework shops. 
When one flower or leaf has been painted and shaded, 
stroke it with the pen, which is held as an ordinary pen or 
pencil, drawing in broad spaces the four points over the 
work, and in narrow ones the side, which will bring but 
one point upon it. Draw it from the centre of each 
flower, or the middle of every leaf toward its edge, always 
bearing in mind that the strokes should follow the texture 
of leaves and flowers, and thus be in the same direction 
that stitches would be taken if the design were embroi¬ 
dered. If the first stroking does not sufficiently give the 
appearance of embroidery, go over the design a second 
time, and let the pen sink through the paint and slightly 
touch the surface of the velvet, taking care to keep from 
dragging the colors so that they form a ridge around the 
edges of either leaves or flowers. 
The pen is also used on the thick stems to give' them 
the appearance of stitches in embroidery, therefore draw 
it over the painting to give this effect. 
When the painting and stroking are finished, lay the 
work aside to dry, and, when it has become perfectly so, 
the leaves should be veined. For this a darker shade is 
used and one line of the brush is only required for each vein. 
Should more light or shade be wished, when the design 
is dry a bristle brush is used, and with it the desired tint 
is lightly drawn over the place wdiere it is required. 
A little practice with the pen is the most important part 
of Kensington painting, and it would be well to begin 
with a small design. The work is interesting, and when 
well done is very beautiful, for it closely resembles an ex¬ 
quisite piece of embroidery. M. E. Whittemore. 
% _ 
Coffee-Pot Holder. 
qpHE materials required are two rather small steel 
1 needles and half an ounce each of two harmonizing 
shades of single zephyr ; pink and blue are very pretty. 
Cast on seventy-nine stitches of blue, and knit across 
plain ; then knit back seventeen stitches of blue, then nine 
of pink, nine of blue, nine of pink, nine of blue, nine of 
pink, and the remaining seventeen of blue. Continue this 
back and forth till you have six ribs on the right side; 
then change and put the pink where the blue is, always 
having the seventeen stitches on the edge, blue. As you 
carry the wool; from one block to another underside you 
will naturally hold it a little tight, and this gives the blocks 
the raised appearance, and^when changing the colors be 
sure to do so while knitting across on the right side, that 
the loops may come on the wrong side. Continue this 
till you have eight blocks, then bind off and double the 
ends and gather as close as possible as far as the blocks 
are, and put on each end two small tassels of the wool or 
of ribbon. M. W. 
Strips of eider down flannel, four inches wide, cro¬ 
cheted together with fine saxony wool, of the same color, 
in open-work pattern, through which satin ribbons can be 
run, makes a very pretty blanket for a baby’s carriage. A 
border of full shells should be crocheted around the edges. 
Perfume sachets are made to resemble soda crackers. 
Perfumed cotton is covered with cream-colored silk and 
caught together where the dents in the cracker would 
occur; a faint brownish tint is given to the edges with 
water-colors. 
