When Good Projects Go Bad

Sometimes when you start a new project, it's done with the best of intentions. You want it to be just as beautiful as the picture in the book, but something goes wrong and you're at a loss for what went wrong.
You try and fix it, but it's just not happening without pulling the whole project apart and starting again. As it turns out, my own Waterloo is this little beaded triangular box, that didn't quite hold up.

 Bit of a mess, don't you think? Well, the first time out is bound to have some bugs.

I'm BACK!

I've been away for a while, but now I'm back. It's been a rough year and my creative muse took a short walk, but things are looking better and I've started beading and painting again. I recently learned embroidery beading, but I'm not sure I like it-too many open spaces and it tends to be rather tedious. I like the gratification of seeing something made of peyote, herringbone or right-angle weave develop into a fabric. Embroidery just feels heavy too me, but we'll see. I'm not ready to count it out just yet. Pictures to come shortly.

Beaded Hummingbird

I finally finished the beaded hummingbird with only a few minor glitches. I found that the modified square stitch had a tendency to leave gaps that the cotton stuffed into the body would peak through. With a little patience and time, I worked back through the holes and did my best to tie up loose ends. Overall, I think it turned out beautifully! As a finishing touch, I wired it and a beaded orchid to a miniature grapevine wreath and my mom wrapped the outer edge in ribbon. She was quite pleased with it! I am looking forward to trying it again, or maybe ordering another pattern from the author's website. She has a wonderful owl that I can't wait to try!

Something New, Something Different

Well, I've spent the last month trying a variety of techniques with only limited success. The african helix thing was a little harder to wrap my head around than I originally anticipated, so I've set that aside for the time being while I try something else. I've always wanted to try doing some sculptural beadwork, so I've started work on a beaded hummingbird from Bead and Buttons "Beaded Critters".

The beaded hummingbird is done with a modified square stitch in a circular fashion very similar to the work I was doing with the doilies which was done with circular netting. Then the body is stuffed with polyfill (which was an interesting trick!). I am about three quarters of the way done and have finished the body. I am working on the tail now. It's actually gone pretty quickly (roughly a couple of hours a day for about two weeks now) compared to the doilies. I've made a few errors but overall I think it looks pretty good. I'll post a picture once it's done.

In addition, I've started work on a new mini tapestry, also done in square stitch, that I am converting from a beautiful Celtic cross stitch book by Barbara Hammet called "Celtic Art in Cross Stitch". It's called the "Greedy Cat" and was originally inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospel illustrations. I love Celtic artwork and this one reminded me of one of my cats, so I'm giving it a go. So far I'm pretty pleased with it. I've altered the coloring a bit to my own tastes, but love the way the general piece is turning out so far. I'll be posting progress pictures shortly.

Speaking of doilies, I've added pictures of the two that I had been working on over the last few months. The photos don't really do them justice, but overall, I was pretty pleased with the results. And hey, as long as their new owners like them, that's all that matters, right?

Survived the Holidays

Yet another holiday season has come and gone (whew!). I ended up redoing the doily for a third time. The ruffling looked really pretty and I got a lot of compliments on it, but it wasn't working for me as a Christmas gift. I'm going to keep playing with it though. It's a feature that holds promise.

The necklace I did for my sister-in-law was done on the spot. It was done entirely in amber, copper, and navy blue beads. She wore it for the rest of the weekend, so I'm guessing she liked it. Always a plus!

I'm "doilied" out at the moment, so I am working on an african helix cord at the moment. Tricky business. I'm not really happy with the way it's working at the moment, and it looks like I may have to pull it due to an error at the beginning. Urgh...Got to love the learning curve!

My Own Design/Christmas Cheer

I've been working hard this season preparing Christmas gifts for a few of my closest relatives. I have yet another doily in the works; this time mostly of my own design. The season must be having an impact on my psyche, because it's definitely taken on a wintry, snowflake like feel than the previous designs. The primary colors are my usual pearl white (semi-transparent), cobalt blue (opaque), and rainbow blue (transparent with pearlized finished). I've also added a hint of gold that gives it an almost elegant finish at the center of the piece. It's all done in 8's. Unfortunately, it appears that one of the beads (the cobalt, I think) may be a little off in size, so I'm seeing some ruffling. Hopefully, that will disappear (it usually does) as the piece continues to grow.

In addition, I have some earrings and a necklace in the works. With only one more week before Christmas I am feeling the crunch. Ugh... Time to start burning the midnight oil!

Jupiter's Moons

I just finished one of my rare stringing projects. I was inspired by a project I saw in the December 2007 Beadwork magazine called "Geisha Necklace". Its flat coin pearls reminded me of some flat glass beads I had picked up not too long ago at Hobby Lobby. They are a wonderful swirl of yellow and orange that reminded me of storms of Jupiter. It was one of those "clicking" moments where suddenly disparate beads (that had been bought for previously unfinished projects) instantly belong together. I had some wonderful 4mm fire bicones (yellow turns to orange), an assortment of pewter spacer beads, onyx polished chips, onyx rondelles, and a large lava medallion. It turned out really cool! It reminded me of the lava flows around Hawaii's volcano or the explosive nature of Jupiter's moon, Io, so I named it "Jupiter's Moons".