Beadie Update

Probably my last update for 2011!  Boy, time does fly!

Finished an embroidered cuff which I really, really love and which has made it's way into my considerable collection of embroidered cuffs.  I haven't been able to relinquish any for sale yet.  I've given my mom several, but no one else has one.  I put so much time and imagination into them, I can see anyone else wearing them.

Here's my latest:

 I love the focal piece and just had to use it.  I added my own glass cabochons and a bunch of beads from light lavender to dark sparkly purple.

And I finished these bracelets.  They are plated blanks that have Swarovski crystal rhinestones glued into them.  Easy, not too much imagination, but pretty.

I don't plan to have anymore updates for a couple of weeks.  Happy New Year!

Updates!

I have a couple of updates!  The first is that on Saturday my mom took a whole bunch of my jewelry to a craft fair near where she lives in New Hampshire.  She reported that she and a friend a great time selling the jewelry.  When I was at Mom's in Oct/Nov, she asked me to make lots of crystal jewelry: earrings and bracelets mostly with a couple of necklace/earring sets.  That was a really brilliant request because almost everything that sold was crystal.  

I use only Swarovski crystals because there isn't anything that can come close to the quality and sparkle.  AND, when we lived in Germany, I went a couple of times to the factory where they make the crystals.  The showroom just knocks your eyes out.  

At the end of the day, Mom hauled home significantly less jewelry and $274!  Not bad.  As long as she is having fun, it's great; the money is just icing on the cake.

And now for an update on my Red Victorian Lady:

 I'm making slow, but steady progress on her.  I have 256 rows left to go...I'm shooting for late 2013/early 2014 for her completion.  

And last, but not least, an update on the bead tapestry of Merlie that I've been working on:

You can see the beginning of the definition of his nose which is pointing to the right.  This tapestry was 97 rows long and I have 48 left to do.  I expect to be done with this in early 2012.  It's less wide than the Red Victorian Lady and I can do two rows on this one in the same time I can do one row on RVL.  I guess that's why I am drawn to working on it more than the RVL.

My Jewelry Storage/Display

This is how I store and display my jewelry.  I don't buy jewelry anymore, I make and wear my own.  I'll never see anyone with the same necklace, bracelet or earrings as I am wearing.  I like that!

 

Update on Red Victorian Lady

For those following the Red Victorian Lady....here's a picture update:

I

I'm up to 258 rows.  That means she's got 40 rows in her.  Much more to go, but I am enjoying the process.  The colors of red, rose, orange blending together to form this lovely lady is really exciting!

Merlie Immortalized in Beads

Since Merlie is so enamored with my bead weaving, I decided he deserved to be immortalized in beads.  And being uniformly dark, he makes an excellent bead tapestry subject.

I took this picture:

And made into a bead pattern.  It's much smaller than the Red Victorian Lady.  It's only 6x6 and is 91 rows long.  I think there are about 71 rows left to do.  I can do two rows in this tapestry in the same time I can do one row on the Red Victorian Lady.  This is what Merlie's Tapestry looks like now:

 

Update on Red Victorian Lady

I worked a bit on the Victorian Lady.  She has 263 rows left to do.

Update on Red Victorian Lady

Here's an update on the Red Victorian Lady.  Not going as fast as I would like, but I think she's looking quite good!

 I think that she now has 31 rows in her. 266 more to go!

Update on Red Victorian Lady

Time for an update on my Red  Victorian Lady.  She's moving right along and I am enjoying working her!

And I want to share my first finished bead embroidered barrette:

 I used a gorgeous vintage rose cabochon and lots of seed beads in reds and pinks.  Threw in a couple of red Swarovski crystals.  I'm offering the barrette in my etsy store:  www.thebeadedcat.etsy.com

Coming Soon to The Beaded Cat on Etsy!

I'm adding bead weaving supplies to my Etsy store!  With the week, I'll be offering beading needles, felted pin cushions, and bead weaving books.  I'm excited to be expanding The Beaded Cat from patterns and finished bead woven jewelry to beading weaving supplies.  Currently, I am looking for a wholesale source for good quality, low cost looms. 

Stay tuned for updates on my current projects!

Updates!

As I promised, here are updates on all the bead projects I'm currently in the middle of.

First, my Red Victorian Lady:

Only added one row this week.  She's my priority this week.

Second, my photograph of Caesar's Forum:

5 rows to date.  It's quite a bit smaller than Red Victorian Lady.  Just a bit relaxing after the challenge of the Lady.

Third, my bead embroidery projects:

 The top piece is going to be a barrette.  That's a vintage red rose bead in the center. There are also Swarovski crystals which you cannot see very well.  


The bottom piece is a beaded collar for my mom.  It's done in green....her favorite color.  Malachite cabochons, dyed mother of pearl beads surrounded by the prettiest green seed beads I could find!

My new weaving buddy!

Months ago I posted this picture:

This was my best bead weaving buddy.  His name was Boo Boo and he was a Oriental Shorthair, a cousin to the Siamese.  He was 13 yrs old in this picture.  Boo died of cancer about 18 months after this picture was taken.  Boo always raced me to my chair when I made time to do bead weaving.  It was like he read my mind and got to the chair before me.  While I did my bead weaving, he laid at my feet and purred.  I've missed him terribly since he died in early February 2011.  In mid-February,we adopted a 5yr old black cat from a rescue organization here on Oahu.  We named him Merlin and he's a very important part of our family now.  I moved my big 32" Mirrix loom from my craft room upstairs back downstairs to work on a couple of new projects.  Merlin likes the loom and it seems he's going to be my new bead weaving buddy.

     

                      

 

Check back tomorrow for updates on the Red Victorian Lady, the Caesar's Forum and my two bead embroidery projects!

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!

Current designs

I wanted to post a few new designs currently available at www.thebeadedcat.etsy.com