Update Update Update!

I have to make sure I get an update picture for my Red Victorian lady!  Her she is....21 rows in one month.  That means it will take about 15 months to get her finished.  That's a long haul!

 

Cats and Crafts

So, I tried to get a progress picture for the Red Victorian Lady bead Tapestry I am working on.  Our cat Merlin had other ideas:

First there was this....

 Then there was this...

 And finally there was this....

  
Eventually, I was able to get this update picture...

 I think Merlie just wanted to be on my blog today. 
So here he is!

Another Craft Bites the Dust!

I think I'm going to have to change my statement that there has rarely been a craft I didn't like.  I keep coming up with crafts I really won't ever do.  One is making resin jewelry...too messy.  The second I have discovered is spinning yarn.  I got a drop spindle and watched several You Tube videos on how to spin yarn on a drop spindle. Well, given that I have little hand/eye coordination, the whole process of spinning yarn was really frustrating.  Since I think I have enough hobbies, I'll just pass on spinning.

Our cat Merlin is rather happy about this decision.  I have lots of wool roving which I meant to spin.  Now, I am in the process of making felt balls out of the roving for Merlin to play with.  Sprinkle the wool felt balls with a little catnip and Merlin is in happy cat land!

I keep changing my mind!

I convinced myself that I should use my 32" Mirrix loom for tapestry when I found one of my photographs that I just want to weave.  It's a picture of a church in the piazza of a small fishing village on Malta.

Malta, by the way, is the coolest place to visit. It has 
history from the prehistoric (Stonehenge kinds of structures) to WWII.  Fascinating place and the people are ultra-friendly.  I loved visiting there and could have spent another week roaming about.  

The name of the little fishing village where we stayed is called Marsaxlok.  I highly recommend staying at Duncan's B&B if you go to visit.  Here's a picture of the church on the piazza in Marsaxlok.  

It will be a challenge, but worth it, I think!

VIctorian Lady Beaded Tapestry Update

Just running a bit behind with blogging this week.  I like to do my updates about this tapestry on Sundays and my bead embroidery on Thursday.  Gives me time to make progress.  It's amazing how committing to a deadline of blogging twice a week on specific projects moves those projects forward.  

 There are now 14 rows done.  There were 297 rows when I started.  At this rate, it will take me more than a year to finish this piece.  But, I'm not in a hurry.  

In other beading/weaving news:  I've decided to discontinue the two bead projects I have on my 32" Mirrix loom and go with my original plan to use that loom for fiber weaving vs beading. I'll have two bead weaving loom projects going as soon as I finish warping my 16" Mirrix loom.  My Victorian Lady Tapestry is already on my 22" Mirrix loom.   I love Mirrix for bead weaving, now I want to see how the looms work with fibers. 

The Story of A Bead Embroidered Collar

As long as I'm doing progress postings for my Victorian lady bead tapestry, I decided to also do one for my newest bead embroidery project.  

I am beading a collar for my mom.  She has enjoyed some of the pictures of bead embroidered collars that I've sent her and expressed a wish to have one for herself.  Here is my beginning:

 I measured the neck of a dressy t-shirt to get the shape and size of the collar.  My mom's favorite color is green, so I chose malachite cabochons  and green-dyed mother of pearl beads. 

I arranged all the components until I was happy with the balance.  I didn't want too much symmetry, but didn't want chaos, either.  

I am starting the beading with the biggest component the large center malachite cabochon. The beads I am using for the embroider will vary in size from 6's to 11.  I rarely use anything smaller.  I don't like teeny tiny beads.  They are hard to sew through and sometimes break in the effort. 


I use Lacy's Stiff stuff as the beading foundation and I color it to match the main color of the components and most of the embroidery beads.  In this case, I am using a green sharpie.  Some times I use acrylic paint.

I use C-Lon thread.  C-Lon comes in lots of colors and doesn't fray even after several passes through beads.

Check back next Thursday for an update!

  

Looms

I've been fiddling around with looms, tapestry or beading looms to be exact, for a couple of years now.  You can see in this picture my 32" Mirrix loom.  And Boo boo, my late crafting companion.

 Neither of my present cats really cares about my crafts, or how much time I put into them, really, like Boo Boo did.

I actually have three Mirrix tapestry looms.  The 32" for which I need a special easel stand, a 22" which I use for medium bead woven projects and the 16" which I use for smaller projects.  I really meant the 32" to be a loom for making fiber pieces.  But, then I realized I could put TWO projects on that one loom and then go back and forth between the projects.  

Right now the 32" is up in my craft room because the stand is really big and it takes up lots of floor space.  I like to do my bead weaving in the living room.  I may make room near my HUMONGOUS Navajo rug loom, which I don't even have warped, to put my 32" loom with its two projects.

More looms later this week!

Anatomy of A Beadwoven Tapestry

I am going to be sharing the progress of a bead tapestry I started on 28 May.  

This tapestry is 12" by 19.8" and I have 10 rows put in so far.  The design is a woman in a red Victorian dress.  The original image is from a Dover book about Victorian fashion.  I altered the image with my bead software.  I redrew the face and the trim and shape of her dress.  It took a long time to get something I liked and would work for bead weaving.  Below is a picture of the progress I've made so far. 

  

You have to look really carefully to see that I've finished her foot and very hem of her skirt.

This is what she will look like when she is done:

 

Check back every weekend for progress reports!