Update on the little ghosts

 Hello, everyone.

This is a small update on the cute little ghosties I mentioned the other day.

As y'all can see, they acquired a friend. He's a bat, also a freebie at Kreative Kiwi. He didn't come with eyes, but I thought he looked incomplete. Fortunately, in the bead stash there are some Czech seed beeds that go with the "Happy" letters.

I added little ribbon loops to each dangler and stapled them to a 3/8" black ribbon. The bat has two ribbons. 

I suppose that they could make a vertical door hanger if the ribbon arrangements were different...can't leave them outside in the weather for very long, though, as if it gets rainy the mold will attack the cotton fabric.

I wonder how they would look done in an outdoor type of fabric? One could skip the little pockets on the front--a door hanger wouldn't have any likelihood of having something tucked into the pockets. I only included them because my Sewing Club sister had done hers that way and it looks like little aprons or skirts to me--if the pockets weren't there there is room for a small BOO on even the little ghosts fronts. 

DD2 thought that the collection needed more bats...actually the bat pattern has different sizes of bats in it, some without the letters as the design is too small, others larger than this 5x7 one.

Bead key chains

Hello, everyone.

Like a number of the other beaded bits and bobs lately, these are heading into the "consolation prize" baskets for a fundraiser at church.

The angels were bought recently, on sale at Fire Mountain Gems, and some of the split rings were picked up at Wal-Mart the other day. The bails are mixed seed beads, woven in brick stitch. (I used my fave 6 pound Fireline for this.) The red and white bail is #8 seeds. The others are a mix that is mostly #11s in different colors.

The key chains are quick to put together and I'm hoping they'll be popular.

Bead stash usage: another purse charm

Hello, everyone.

This is another purse charm, all bits from stash. The colors are in a springtime theme.

As with the last one, the catch was in that three-pack at Hobby Lobby. Most of the beads were from Fire Mountain Gems--some in their Boss's Bead Bag which is a random mix. (That used to be really fun to go through but the last time, some years back, it was less exciting. Still really useful, though.)

There are 5 strands strung onto 6# Fireline. I used a wrapped loop to connect the strands to the catch inside of the cone finding. Two of the strands were designed to provide balance to the other three, which have accent beads up and down the strand, so they're just plain old mixed white/clear seed beads.

I tied the bottom bead of each strand thoroughly, strung it to the right length, and held it in one of those little spring type bead holding clips. When all 5 were strung, I tied them to the wrapped loop, dropped the cone finding onto the wire, and made another wrapped loop to connect to the catch.

A Beaded Hairpin (more stash usage)

Hello, everyone.

Today's picture is another hair pin. It began as one of the bridesmaid hairpins, but the work was coming out too dense: the little branchlets too close together. Fortunately this was discovered before the whole hairpin was constructed. The densely twisted piece was set aside.
Today it became a hairpin by itself:

Interested viewers may note that this time the background is more friendly to the project. (They may show up well in person on black, but the photo of that was not so good.)

Teardrop faceted bead plus bead cap for the top bud, assorted faceted glass and pearl beads. The smallest perle beads are 3mm Swarovski beads, left over from another project some years back. The top pink bead is a 4mm Swarovski bicone, accompanied by a couple of simple 3mm fire-polished faceted glass round beads.

More Bead Play (also uses up Stash!)

Hello, everyone.

I have to give a hat tip to the Russian ladies on Youtube for this idea. They have uploaded bunches of twisted-wire work involving beads for hair, bracelets, whatever.

This is a bridal-style hair pin. A young lady I know thought that her ladies might like to have sparkly bits to tuck into a braid for The Day.

The beading actually grew like Topsy when I started working on it, I think the original idea was the daisy in the middle and maybe three or four beads sticking up, but one thing led to another and here we are. It uses up a number of crystalline faceted rounds and bicones, and some teardrops, some pale pink ones, and some seeds and various sizes of perles and even some cultured actual pearls. (The teardrop shaped ones on stems.) Also an assortment of bead caps.

The twisting has to be done carefully, I actually gave some of the wire metal fatigue by twisting too tightly and it broke. Who knew that could happen? But if y'all are thinking of doing something like this, now you know.

Beads mostly from Fire Mountain Gems, some from Hobby Lobby, wire likewise. Hair pin from the pile in my hair stuff! Rhinestone in the flower from Fire Mountain, it's a montee from a pack I got years ago to replace a lost rhinestone on a sweater. You never know when extra bits will come in handy!

Stash Busting, Beads Edition

Hello, everyone.

There is a lot of stash around here, as has been said before. I saw a number of seed bead bracelets on Pinterest and watched a video or two and got inspired to see what I had to work with.

I did say, lots of stash. (Sadly, repeating that phrase doesn't use it up. One must actually make things to use it up!)

Lots of seed beads are included--size 11 Dynamites, size 15 Rocailles, assorted odd bits and pieces, they all went together into a few bracelets and a necklace.

Three bracelets and a necklace

What I'm learning: yes, there is a handy video about braiding the strands. It's trickier than it looks, especially toward the end of the braid. Y'all will note that only one thing in this group of projects is braided.
Using the bails that don't open or adjust in size with seed bead strands is only sort-of possible. It's surprising how thick a strand of the tiny beads is!
The little cones at the end of the strands are working with a wire-wrapped loop to hold the strands, it's the only way I could make sense of it. Also the tigereye bead on the necklace is on a wire work piece. It's fun and peaceful to wrap the wire around the pliers to make things.

Another bracelet

I was happy to be able to use up some of the odd bits from "assortment" bags that have been gotten from Fire Mountain Gems over the years. Also to find homes for some of the assorted saints' medals that have accumulated.

Bead embroidery color play 3

Hello everyone.

This is a little update on the scallop shell.

As y'all can see, the #15 pink rocailles are almost filled in. They look better alongside the ivory colored perles.
Next after these are filled in, the base of the shell. The best matches in the stash are either 3mm Swarovski perles (left over from the wedding dress a few years back) or some #11 Opaque Rainbow Cream Delicas. (That is a lot of words to spell out ivory, isn't it?)
It may become a brooch in the end. It might even get some dangling fringe! But it's too soon to commit on the final finish.

Color play: bead embroidery edition

Hello everyone.

Today, to get in practice for posting from the Camino, a small exploration of colors in a bead embroidery.

The piece is a scallop shell, being sewn onto a bit of, I think, Peltex.
Beads used so far: some ovals inherited from my late MIL and pink, excuse me, rainbow cream soda translucent #11 Dynamites that were bought from Fire Mountain Gems.

Several other candidate beads are nearby.

Heart fidget, 3rd progress report

Hello, everyone.

This is a progress update on the heart fidget. More elements have been placed and the filling of the background has commenced.

The white circles are mother of pearl beads. Their framing rows are 15 count rocaille beads. The background on the left side is mostly the 11 count transparent red seed beads. The contrast in color between the left and right background is because the rocaille beads have an iridescent finish on them. The beads are overall pleasant to touch and run fingertips over--which is really the whole point of a fidget in my opinion.

A book that the Christmas angels brought me, which is very helpful with thinking about these things, is Bead Embroidery Jewelry Products by Jamie Cloud Eakin. (The link goes to Amazon, but it may be available in your local bead or craft store. Along with the goodies beads to make the projects!)

Heart fidget, 2nd progress report

Hello, everyone.

As I'm trying to keep posts short enough that busy people can read them, there will be several smaller reports on the heart fidget.

Also, after the first photo, I switched from the phone to an actual separate camera.

Moving along with stitching, and many of the beads pose for a picture in their boxes and bags.

The back side.

If there had been plans to bead embroider this heart to begin with, there would have been a different stabilizer used I think. (I do have some Lacy's Stiff Stuff and also some similar feeling stabilizer that is used for hats and such. But didn't think of it until later!) One learns as one goes, they say.

Another fidget

Hello, everyone.

It's been a shockingly long time since a post here, sorry about that.

This is an early progress photo of the newest project in process. It's a fidget and it may be just itself, or it may be appliqued onto a mat. The jury is still out on that.

The major accent on the right is sewn down and netted to stabilize it. Pearls are going in along the left side. There will be more added! And if I am running out of steam, at the end of the beading I'll just make and attach a vinyl backing and put a bead edge to hide the seam. It's being sewn sturdily enough that a person can fiddle it in his hand without the beads all flying around loose. (Well--it's intended to be sturdy enough not to come apart.)

Scraps of pet screening were added on the back for additional strength. Various sizes and shapes of artificial pearls, red seed beads , clear iridescent seed beads in the netting on the large bead, Fireline 6 pound test line. The red spotted ones on the top left are saucer shaped (rondelle shaped?) pearls with a red #11 Japanese seed bead on top of each one.

More in a later post, it's getting late here.

A small beading post

Hello, everyone.

It's been very busy--even though I thought things would settle a bit after the angel party, it's only held on High Level since then. But--to my personal amazement--the United States Postal Service is not only very busy but according to my email they're working 24 hours at this point. (God bless them!) The last package is supposed to come to me today...halleluia!

This little picture is from my very first experiment in freeform peyote stitch, It's a bracelet.

The seed  beads were part of a mix--mostly browns with some accents--and in the end I was not enthused about the "mixy" look. The strands of the mix I tried just never seemed to work out. So when I decided to try out the freeform style of peyote, I pulled by color from the dish of mixed beads and added accent beads into the weave as y'all can see. (Dyed freshwater pearls, glass beads, and I think a piece of agate.)

The freeform weaving is fun, and with a limited palette of colors it works, but it does require a lot of creative decisions to be made all along. Whether you enjoy it or find it a burden to do that many decisions is probably related to whether your life outside the bead bowl is frenetic or calm.

Most of the beads were from Fire Mountain packages--I like to get the Bosses Bead Bag assortment just to see what's in it--and over the years many interesting things have appeared. Lately, however, they've gone to having a lot of different assortment packs and the Bosses Bead Bag is more fillers and small bits of findings. There is often a dusting of seed beads in the bottom of the bag, though, and many of them have turned out to be Delica types over the years. Thus the brown color assortment that turned into this bracelet!

Just in case it gets too busy tomorrow to make a post, I wish for all of y'all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. (If you're Jewish, a happy Hanukkah.)

It's been a very busy week

Hello everyone.

The busy isn't finished yet, either.

I did get some Christmas prep done around the house, though.

I recapped the Pinterest idea that was tried last year--added a couple more balls--and it still looks good. (I love a way to use up some ivory tulle!) As there is a picture in the post from last year, and I hadn't made a "save for web" version of this year's one, y'all can look at the photo from last year. It's pretty much the same, and hanging from the same light fixture too.

 Below the hanging collection of gold balls, a table runner that was made last year and something new. The greenery is two pine picks from Hobby Lobby, with a few of the fair sized collection of itty-bitty ornaments we have. The dangling blue and cream star was made from instructions in Bead and Button magazine December 2010 issue (goes to a back issue sale listing), using Delicas and 15 count rocailles and a cabochon instead of the suggested rivoli center. (Those from Fire Mountain Gems.)

The green version, which is on the other side of the little "tree" on the table.

There was also a white version made, but the photo didn't come out. It's on the main tree in front of a light bulb, and the light illumines the translucent beads wonderfully. In person. The camera looked at it and decided to focus on another thing entirely! Oh well.

As the busy time is not over yet--got to finish little gifts for my little angels before their party!--I will cut this post off here.

An experiment with a spool

Hello, everyone.

As most people who sew know, thread spools get emptied. I just can't bear to toss them without trying to find a use for the cylinder shaped cores.

Beginning the weave. You can see that the pattern was for
odd count flat peyote. 1 row less would have been a better idea.

Below, a picture of the weaving on the spool:

A neck chain for the shell pendant

Hello, everyone.

As mentioned a few days ago, there has been a project to get the bead-woven shell element back into use.

Thanks to this entry on Pinterest, and a careful study of the beads available in-house (that means stash usage) a neck chain was woven and put onto the shell.

The lobster-claw catches are on the front, not in the back. It means adjusting the routine when adding it to an outfit, but that way the chain can be completely detached if there should be a reason to do so.

Beads used: silver bugle beads from the craft store, silver-lined 15-count rocailles and blue 11-count Delicas from Fire Mountain Gems. Strung on 6 pound Fireline. (I love working with the Fireline!)

Beading, re-using a piece and using up stash

Hello, everyone.

Y’all may remember the peyote-stitched shell image that I had made and hung on a purse in 2014…the purse was just the right size (too small for a lot of junk) and I liked it a lot. Unfortunately, it became dilapidated over time, and I had to get a new purse. The new one has no place to hang the blue shell dangle.

So the shell, after being cut off of the old purse, has been sitting around in the assortment of bead things that need to be dealt with. 

A new project: Bead weaving

Hello, everyone.

The beginning of the Advent/Christmas season is here. Along with the other kinds of activities of the season (gift making, gift shopping, gift wrapping, gift giving, baking and so on) there are sometimes ornament exchanges: everyone brings an ornament to the party, and leaves with a different one than she brought.

This was a challenge, even though it didn't take months to make. There is a double layer bow on the top, there is three-drop peyote weaving all around the middle, and it took three different needles to find one that would reach from the bottom of the spool to the top to add the dangle and hanger arrangement.

The components were from stash all the way. The beads, if anyone is wondering, are Japanese seed beads (Dyna-Mites size 11 in ruby red translucent, iridescent emerald translucent, and rainbow clear translucent)  in the weaving, Preciosa Fire-polish for the green faceted rounds, and a crackle round from either Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, or possibly JoAnn. The dove is left over from wedding decorations a few years back. There is a flat round pearl bead on the bottom, which was from Fire Mountain but I don't remember much about it except that it was part of the large collection of ivory colored beads bought in case DD's wedding dress might need them.

Finished the Crystalline Wheat Chain necklace

Hello, everyone.

As you can see, I got all excited and named the stringing pattern. (How else ya gonna remember which one it is, right?)

The heart was inherited from MIL a few years back.

I think this is an encouragement to go monochrome on at least some of the beading. (Okay, okay, the freeform piece wasn't even close to monochrome. But the Dutch spiral bracelet was at least closely-related colors.)

A new bead stringing design

Hello, everyone.

I was inspired by a photo of a diamond necklace in the paper the other day. The shapes and colors were graceful and balanced and I wanted to try and make something like it.

an homage to Chanel, in glass

The original, metal settings and gems, looked like it would be stiff and not drape. This version, owing to the difference in media, will drape very nicely. (Size 11 Japanese seed beads and Magatamas, strung on 6 lb. crystal Fireline. Photographed on the reverse side of my Kindle.) I'm thinking that as the chain for a pendant it would be lovely...maybe I'll use up those filigree-leaf pendants inherited from MIL a few years back...

And it's going to be over 100F every afternoon this week. (38C for my metric zone readers.)

Beading progress

Hello, everyone.

As y'all may remember, I started exploring freeform peyote the other day. The bracelet as was didn't seem complete, so more has been added.

Front side of bracelet

Back side of bracelet

As y'all can see, the basic color scheme is still in force.  Aside from the addition of some purple-lined pale blue seed beads, that is, and some clear seeds and some blue-green ones that looked more blue when they were first added.
The yellow focal was put in with the very first strand of beads, and when the hole got too full of thread (smoke colored Fireline) to run through it again a bridge was added underneath and every time along the side it gets another row of basic, plain peyote stitches. Other bridges have been added to hold the various off-center accent beads. The weaving is inclined to ruffle a bit and this may be a tendency to encourage. (The ruffling is caused by both the bridges going around the outside of accent beads and by the use of different sizes of seed beads in the weave.)
At any rate, that's the progress on this piece so far.