Back to Blogging!

Fell down on my blogging efforts while opening a new Etsy store to ply my hand dyed yarns and woven wonders 😄.   Btw, anyone interested can see my new store here:
Coyotedyeandweaving.etsy.com

What I want to talk about today is the way technology has impacted the way we use bead weaving patterns.  In 2009, when I started designing patterns using pattern software, I printed out the pattern in order to follow the rows for beading on or off loom.  Quite frankly that was messy.  The pages got out of order, went missing, fell to the prey of my cats or some other such event that made me spend time reorganizing, reprinting, etc.  It used up an enormous amount of printer ink and printer paper as well.

Three years ago, after witnessing one of my grouchy sessions about missing pattern pages, my husband, the ever talented software designer, suggested I find away to use my iPad to display my pattern.  The pattern was in PDF as are all my patterns, so it was not hard to find an app that allowed me to access my patterns on Dropbox and display them for use on my iPad.

I could have just used Adobe Reader, but I chose PDF Expert by Readdle, which is a free app.  Not only can I display patterns in manageable sections I can mark on the pattern, too.  I can mark off rows  I've done and make annotations on colors.  It takes a bit of time to learn, but once you get the basics down you can take your patterns anywhere without losing a page.  It is also saves $$ because not only is it free, but you won't deplete your ink cartridges or waste paper.

That is just one way technology has streamlined the use of bead weaving patterns, making our favorite craft accessible and very portable.

Progress in Monica's Orchid

I spent some of my Beading Monday working on a piece that is long over due: Monica's Orchid.
I added four rows which equals about 1/2 inch of beading.  I have 44 more rows to go. This will be my Beading Monday project until it's finished 

A Home At Last!

After 6 weeks of living in a hotel, we are finally closing on our new house in Placitas, NM!  The hotel is nice, but it is a hotel and hardly home.  I can't wait to be reunited with all my beads and looms so I can start creating again.

I will have a room to sew and bead and a garage to do my metal jewelry work, glass fusing and yarn dyeing.  It's like heaven on earth compared to the space I had in Hawaii and the mess I made from lack of space.  

I'm thinking about all the crafty trouble I can get up to and can't wait!

Traveling With Beads and Looms

I am in the process of moving from Hawaii to New Mexico.  I've actually been in the process since Nov. after I retired from my federal service job.  I've been long looking forward to retirement so I could pursue my passions and hobbies, one of the former is beading.  

I love beads! I string them, I use them in embroidery, as embellishments and I weave them both off and on looms. But as I said I am moving from Hawaii to New Mexico and I am traveling with beads.

It was hard to decide what projects to take.  I wanted to weave beads along the way and to embroider with beads along the way.  Finally, I settled on taking my 16" Mirrix Loom with my weaving of one of my photos of Caesar's Forum. 

I had all kinds of plans about how to transport my loom on the airplane with me.  We had decided to stop in Los Angeles and wait for my Mini Cooper Countryman to arrive and drive with our two cats from California to New Mexico.  Once I hit the ground in LA, transportation of my loom wouldn't be a problem.  But, how to safeguard the loom and my weaving during the airplane segment.  

I thought I'd wrap it in bubble wrap and carry it on the aircraft in a tote bag.  But wrapping a 16" loom in bubble wrap made the loom huge and heavy.  So, not that.  I thought I'd take it in a suitcase by itself.  But I had too much to take with me for what I believed would be a 4-6 wk stay in hotels in two states.  I had cat accoutrement to find a place for, too.  So, not that.  

To be honest, I ran out of time.  We were taking everything that wasn't shipped out in December, and it turned out to be a lot of stuff.  In the end, I shoved the loom with the weaving into a suitcase that had other odds and ends in it and took off.

I've just had time to unearth the loom and inspect the weaving.

There were a couple of problems, but they are easily fixed. In the very first row and the 6th row the beads shifted so some of the spaces between the warps are empty.  I will just run a thread through all the beads again to fix the problem.  Thankfully, the warp didn't come off or the beads break. 

The beads I am using were packaged like this:

I put one container stacked on top of the other and wrapped both together with packing tape.  A few of the beads from the top container escaped, but all in all, it was a good way to travel with beads.

Now, I am in a hotel in Los Angeles and this is what my set up looks like:

Further updates later on!

As Promised!

As promised....pictures of my two newest bead embroidered pendants.  All they need is a nice matching leather necklaces.  

I have been beading!

Really I have!  I finished all the bead embroidery on my Queen of the Masquerade Ball neckpiece.  I intend to attach the neckpiece portion this coming week when I take some time off.  I finished the Three Pink Muses bracelet, also bead embroidery.  Right now, I am finishing up a project using a beautiful Amazonite heart shaped cabochon all done in greens....my favorite color.  

Just looked at my photos, but can't find any of the above.  I guess I'll have to take new ones and post them in the next few days :)

New Pattern on The Beaded Cat!

Continuing to feed my need for Art Deco women's patterns, I made another pattern featuring a beauty getting ready for a night on the town.

This pattern is available as an instant download for either LOOM or THREE DROP PEYOTE.  

Most bead weavers are familiar with peyote stitch, and even two-drop peyote.  If you have never tried three-drop peyote, you really should.  It's even more supple than two-drop peyote and quick to work up.  

This is one of the pieces that I've done in three drop.  I like it better than the loom version. 

 

Digitization of The Beaded Cat Continues

Digitization of The Bead Cat on Etsy is continuing.  It really takes quite a bit of time, but I am checking every pattern to make sure patterns are up to date and available in all the stitches advertised. I think I'm on page 4 of 7 pages of patterns. 

 

The Beaded Cat Goes TOTALLY DIGITAL!

Been a LOOOOONG time, again.  I really am going to keep up with this from now on.  I want to post twice a month at least.  Today, I want to announce that my Etsy shop...The Beaded Cat...will be offering all patterns as instant digital downloads!  I have been emailing some of the patterns, but as soon as I am done going through all the patterns, I'll have every pattern in every version: loom, peyote, two-drop peyote, sometimes even three- and four-drop. 

I want to be sure every customer gets their pattern as fast as possible, and living in Hawaii, it's not always been possible.  

It has begun!  Stayed tune for more!

Spinning

I think I've become addicted to spinning on a spindle! I've begun to collect all kinds...they are works of art all unto themselves.   I'm getting much better at spinning consistently even thicknesses of yarn.  And I adore plying my yarns together to make pretty stuff like this: 

Been a loooooooong time...

So, I was going to start another blog to cover my spinning, weaving endeavors.  But, I decided I'm just going to roll all my adventures in art into this blog.  I am still beading...bead weaving and bead embroidery.  I started inkle weaving...weaving narrow strips on small inkle looms...a few months ago.  That lead to tablet weaving...using cards to weave more intricate designs on narrow strips.  Now I am spinning my own yarn with a drop spindle so I can weave that yarn on my peg looms.  

That's what you are going to see on this blog now.  I little bit of everything I do :)

Eye cabochons

For the couple of people who asked, I used the following tutorial to make my own eye cabochons: http://www.sunandmooncraftkits.com/tutorials

Look for the tutorial on making glass pendants.  I followed that but did not put on the bails.  You can find sheets of different eyes on Etsy.  Most are immediate downloads.  I use Sun and Moons glaze because it works better than regular glue, which I have tried, too.  Remember to use a laser printer so the ink will not run when you apply the glaze. If you only have an ink jet printer, you can seal the images by ironing the reverse side of the paper and leave overnight.  You can buy the glass cabochons from Sun and Moon or search Etsy for other suppliers.  There are lots of sources for them.

The eye cabochons are fun to make into earrings or pendants, too, without bead embroidery.

Happy New Year!

Well here it is: 2014.  Last year was a struggle for me personally, especially the last half.  Here's to a better time THIS year.  I'm not a resolutions person.  When I was I almost never kept them.  Why set yourself up for disappoint when you don't have to?  So, I have a few goals I'd like to work toward.  1. I want to learn how to use my new spinning wheel and spin beautiful yarn for weaving. 2. I want to learn to weave a fiber tapestry. 3. I want to work on more and varying bead patterns, most from my photographs or digital art.

My Etsy store did so much better than I anticipated!  Repeat customers were many and I had great conversations with so of my clients.  I am going to expand the number of bracelets I've woven and finished to start a line of finished jewelry from my patterns.

And so, I'm looking forward to a really great year.  Come join me on my journey!

Update October 2013

So, a bunch to update...the Red Victorian Lady is history...was never going to finish her.  I warped the 22" Mirrix loom she was on for two projects: a seahorse and a French coquette.  Pictures of those will be added later as they are on my laptop and I'm blogging on my iPad right now.  I'm going a to use my 32" Mirrix loom to weave a fiber tapestry...maybe with a few beads thrown in :) 

I'm also practicing spindling my own yarn to use in my weaving adventures.  If I keep at it. I may get myself a spinning wheel for Christmas :). That would be totally cool...spinning and weaving my own yarn.

Also, The Beaded Cat is now on Facebook.  I'll be posting the latest patterns and gadgets, techniques, tips as I go.

Sharing with your Pet

For the past week, I've been trying to get some bead weaving done.  BUT, I've had a problem because a certain black cat, whose name shall not be typed here so as to avoid conjuring him up from the depths of where ever he is now, has claimed the chair I use for bead weaving. He's a fickle little cat and claims favorite sleeping places at random.  He'll sleep in those spots for weeks and then abandon them to sleep somewhere else.  Last Tuesday, I planned to bead weave for a couple of hours as Bob was working late.  I walked from the living room to the kitchen thinking happily of spending time with my beads and thread.  On my way back to my beading space in the living room, a furry monster hurried past me and jumped into my beading chair, curled up and shut his eyes.  Little rat fink!  

I think there will be a lot less "first come, first served" in this house given a certain fur person's lack of sharing skills!

Oh, and in my last post, I said I might not finish the Red Victorian Lady.  Well, after staring at my progress and thinking of all the time and material that has gone into her so far...I am going to finish her.  Just not very soon...

 

Caesar's Forum Update

I restarted my Caesar's Forum project.  I decreased the number of colors of beads that I am using and the result is MUCH better.  And the best thing is that in less than a week, I was able to put in 9 rows. There are 135 rows in this one.  It's only 170 beads wide which is about 8.5".  It's about 9" tall.  

Here is what it looks like now:

Here's what it WILL look like when it is finished:

 So, you can see that the bottom shadows are well under way in my bead weaving.  Looking forward to working on this one.  I can do 2 rows in 45 mins, so this should go pretty fast.  

And sad news about the Red Victorian Lady....I think I am not going to finish her.  12" wide is too much for me to deal with.  I have to make too many changes on the fly.  It's going to take me forever to finish her and I'm not enjoying it very much.  

I'll find something else to work on besides the three off loom projects I have.


 

Caesar's Forum Tapestry Bites the Dust

My Caesar's Forum tapestry is biting the dust and I'm starting over.   That pattern was one of the the first photographs of a location that I made.  Since then I've learned a lot about designing patterns from those kinds of photographs.  I think there were too many different colors all scattered around which muddies the outlines of the buildings and makes the shapes unrecognizable.  
SO, I went back to the drawing board and redesigned the pattern.  I'm going to restart the weaving process.

Progress on the Red Victorian Lady

Finished two rows on the Red Victorian Lady...should have done 4, but I have a couple of extra days off this weeks, so I'll catch up and keep on track.  This picture represents my favorite past time on Sunday afternoon.

Little wine....couple of rows in my favorite lady :)

 

Red Victorian Lady

More progress on the Red Victorian Lady!  I have 245 rows left to do.  She started with 297 rows and she is 12 by almost 20"!   I thing she'll be the biggest work I'll ever do.  It's quite a chore.  But she'll be beautiful when she's done.

 

More Progress!!!

I have made quite a bit of progress on the Red Victorian Lady.  I added three rows to her since Friday pm.  I plan to do two more tomorrow. I'm down to 247 rows.  I plan to do a minimum of 4 rows a week until I finish her.