I've been working away this week on finishing a few more beaded cameos and just love doing these! The most recent ones are very 'formal' and I just love combining 3mm pearls with the seed beads. At some point in the future I'll make the tutorial available.
My current challenge is to actually complete a necklace that appeared on the front page of the recent issue of Beadwork Magazine! This was designed by Marcia DeCoster and I've chosen to do this for a couple of reasons. First of all the design truly appealed to me, and I'm making it in burgundy and raspberry tones, as I DO plan to wear this necklace! Secondly the fact that it is constructed using Right Angle Weave means that it was going to be a challenge for me, as I feel very comfortable with many other stitches, but just 'competent' with RAW! At this point I can honestly say I've learned a lot more about the stitch and DO love the flexibility and soft draping of the work. I am truly looking forward to finishing this and adding my own touches -- I can 'see' it all in my mind's eye. This is very time-consuming but I'm getting there!
I also have a few other projects on my plate and am looking forward to getting most if not all of these completed by the end of next week.
Meanwhile my inner designer has been working overtime and I have committed some of these thoughts to paper for the future! I made good use of my recent visit to the newly-opened Aunties Beads in Southlake, Texas by purchasing some wonderful delicas that were 50% off! Too many designs in my head and on paper, and simply NOT enough hours in each day to do it all!
Home again and busy with the beads and future plans!
Well it took a little while for me to get back to my poor neglected blog! I was happy to be able to bead away on the various flights to and from Ireland and felt my time was well spent. Many of the flight attendants on one flight came by to admire the work and ask questions and I enjoyed the conversations. I completed a herringbone rope and bead-embroidered pendant to match, and worked on a longer than usual spiral rope. I also completed a small RAW bracelet base, and will embelish that in time.
While in Dublin I managed to visit The Yellow Brick Road beadstore (as a beadaddict I think we develop our inbuilt radar!!) and was just thrilled to be able to purchase a beautiful clasp for a bracelet almost completed for my son-in-law. This is just SO neat and I hope to be able to find something similar here in the future. The young ladies at the Yellow Brick Road stay very busy and obviously love what they do!
The ball is rolling with regard to my teaching classes and I am SO excited about this. I have everything worked out for the first two classes and will look forward to starting in July. Having taught crafts of various forms in Ireland for many years, and sharing my love of knitting and canvas-work here in Texas over the years, I'm enjoying the thoughts of getting back to teaching again!
Today I'm thoroughly enjoying the company of our precious grandson, and am feeling truly blessed.
While in Dublin I managed to visit The Yellow Brick Road beadstore (as a beadaddict I think we develop our inbuilt radar!!) and was just thrilled to be able to purchase a beautiful clasp for a bracelet almost completed for my son-in-law. This is just SO neat and I hope to be able to find something similar here in the future. The young ladies at the Yellow Brick Road stay very busy and obviously love what they do!
The ball is rolling with regard to my teaching classes and I am SO excited about this. I have everything worked out for the first two classes and will look forward to starting in July. Having taught crafts of various forms in Ireland for many years, and sharing my love of knitting and canvas-work here in Texas over the years, I'm enjoying the thoughts of getting back to teaching again!
Today I'm thoroughly enjoying the company of our precious grandson, and am feeling truly blessed.
Working away . . . and preparing to travel
I've been busy on and off with a few new beading projects and am preparing now for a journey home to Ireland. Eleven hours of traveling! I have started a couple of projects and now that the design elements are all worked out and all that's left is the execution and finishing, I have packed my trusty boxes and have enough work to keep my hands and mind busy on the long journeys beginning this coming weekend.
I feel I have a 'foolproof' travel kit that suits MY needs! I know we are all different, but when I travel it's with some beadweaving work, and I usually take at least two projects with me. I don't like to 'design' as such when I'm flying or in the passenger seat of the car ... but I find that say a spiral rope or a bracelet base that I'm working on is an ideal travel-type project.
I actually use some nifty plastic photo-storage boxes that can be purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They come in a container with either six or twelve individual photo-storage boxes. (I also use these boxes to store my seed beads and as much as I can, I keep the beads in their original tubes ... the six inch tubes fit comfortably into the boxes.)
To get back to the 'travel kit' though I use a little Beadalon blue sticky mat that sticks to the bottom of the plastic box, and I have come to love these. The beads 'stick' to the blue mat, but are very easy to lift up with the needle ... there is no residue. The major advantage is that if you hit some turbulence and the 'box' is upset, the beads do not go all over the place.
I can fit my magnifying reading glasses, a small safety blade (tucked under the blue mat), necessary tubes of beads and thread bobbins. I take a little multi-tool in case I need the pliers to pull the needle through the beads. A few needles will stick quite nicely to the blue gel mat. Over the year I'll have a few 3-4 hour plane flights and one 'container' can keep me going for these hours.
These plastic containers are about an inch thick and measure approx. 4.75" x 6.75"
I can easily put one of these containers into my purse or slide it into my laptop bag or camera case, depending on what my hand luggage consists of. They seal beautifully and even the loose 15/0 seed beads that I so love remain safe and sound inside.
I have mastered the art of keeping this on my lap as I bead, and is SO easy to just close up if I need to put it away in a hurry.
This is MY solution and of course may not work for everyone -- but I thought I'd share in case this might appeal to someone.
I feel I have a 'foolproof' travel kit that suits MY needs! I know we are all different, but when I travel it's with some beadweaving work, and I usually take at least two projects with me. I don't like to 'design' as such when I'm flying or in the passenger seat of the car ... but I find that say a spiral rope or a bracelet base that I'm working on is an ideal travel-type project.
I actually use some nifty plastic photo-storage boxes that can be purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They come in a container with either six or twelve individual photo-storage boxes. (I also use these boxes to store my seed beads and as much as I can, I keep the beads in their original tubes ... the six inch tubes fit comfortably into the boxes.)
To get back to the 'travel kit' though I use a little Beadalon blue sticky mat that sticks to the bottom of the plastic box, and I have come to love these. The beads 'stick' to the blue mat, but are very easy to lift up with the needle ... there is no residue. The major advantage is that if you hit some turbulence and the 'box' is upset, the beads do not go all over the place.
I can fit my magnifying reading glasses, a small safety blade (tucked under the blue mat), necessary tubes of beads and thread bobbins. I take a little multi-tool in case I need the pliers to pull the needle through the beads. A few needles will stick quite nicely to the blue gel mat. Over the year I'll have a few 3-4 hour plane flights and one 'container' can keep me going for these hours.
These plastic containers are about an inch thick and measure approx. 4.75" x 6.75"
I can easily put one of these containers into my purse or slide it into my laptop bag or camera case, depending on what my hand luggage consists of. They seal beautifully and even the loose 15/0 seed beads that I so love remain safe and sound inside.
I have mastered the art of keeping this on my lap as I bead, and is SO easy to just close up if I need to put it away in a hurry.
This is MY solution and of course may not work for everyone -- but I thought I'd share in case this might appeal to someone.
Beading calms the nerves!!
I've written from time to time about the calming effect beading has for me. Well once again I've put this theory to the test, albeit unwillingly! Today my poor hubby was not feeling well when out working -- he was on a roof seeing to some equipment and it was 92 degrees here today! When he spoke of "tightness" in his chest, I was aware of the implications, and after phoning his doc, she said he should go to the ER for some testing. Needless to say I grabbed a tube of beads and my trusty travel box, so that my fingers could at least be busy during the time at the Emergency Room with him. I hate to have nothing to do, as wasting time (which is so precious to me) is something that does NOT sit well with me at all. I just started a RAW bracelet base that was soothing, mindless repetition but with a purpose to it, and so was once again grateful to the beads for calming my spirits.
Finishing what I've started!
After an Easter Weekend with ALL of my family in town and together for many meals (how cool is that?!) I did finally get to go shopping for some beads to add to and help finish the copper and cameo necklace. However, before I purchased the much-needed beads, I got back to finishing off a necklace for another of the Alphonse Mucha Cameos I created a number of weeks ago. I really love these and am delighted with the finished cameos! Who'd have known that working with the epoxy resin could yield such terrific results?!
Initially my thought was to work a spiral rope for this Mucha cameo, but I ended up using a new stitch for me, which is based on a simple Chevron Chain, but was
actually created as I worked with the beads! I am just SO pleased with the outcome. The necklace 'strap' is so very fluid and the stitch allows it to sit beautifully without having to worry about it curving around the neck. 
There is a lot of movement in the stitch! I think it suits the cameo/pendant which is ornately stitched around the cameo, but simply finished because of it's larger size. I am delighted that this necklace is now complete.
I also finished the copper and cameo necklace (I love it!) that was inspired by my 'Use the Muse' entry.
Over the weekend I picked up the bead-embroidered strip which was to be my first embroidered bracelet and decided, despite the fact that I felt I could have done SO much of it differently, to simply go ahead and finish it. I learned a lot from that exercise -- particularly where finishing and edging the bracelet is concerned.
I used a metal blank for the cuff and backed it with black Ultrasuede. There is still much room for improvement and I'm looking forward to my next bead-embroidered piece.
Initially my thought was to work a spiral rope for this Mucha cameo, but I ended up using a new stitch for me, which is based on a simple Chevron Chain, but was
actually created as I worked with the beads! I am just SO pleased with the outcome. The necklace 'strap' is so very fluid and the stitch allows it to sit beautifully without having to worry about it curving around the neck. 
There is a lot of movement in the stitch! I think it suits the cameo/pendant which is ornately stitched around the cameo, but simply finished because of it's larger size. I am delighted that this necklace is now complete. I also finished the copper and cameo necklace (I love it!) that was inspired by my 'Use the Muse' entry.
Over the weekend I picked up the bead-embroidered strip which was to be my first embroidered bracelet and decided, despite the fact that I felt I could have done SO much of it differently, to simply go ahead and finish it. I learned a lot from that exercise -- particularly where finishing and edging the bracelet is concerned.
I used a metal blank for the cuff and backed it with black Ultrasuede. There is still much room for improvement and I'm looking forward to my next bead-embroidered piece.
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