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.

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.

Trying new things: beads

Hello, everyone.

Recently, between Pinterest and general looking around at the internet, I discovered Freeform Peyote weaving. This is a form of peyote weaving that doesn't involve patterns and doesn't involve charts and (theoretically) is spontaneous.

I don't know how spontaneous other people are, but I read some discussions and instructions online before starting. I paid attention to the suggestions on style, for starting out with, and looked at pictures.

Then I pulled out one of the several bags of mixed seed beads in the collection of supplies on hand, rounded up some little bags of various odd beads in compatible colors, and started. The main colors chosen, from a bag that looked like a textured brown mixture, were brown, yellow, and blue. As y'all can see in the pictures, I didn't go too crazy starting out. (It's a lot of work to frog peyote weaving--that means to take it apart down to the beads.)

Bracelet from front (catch not added yet)

Bracelet from back

Years of Bosses' Bead Bags from Fire Mountain Gems came together in this bracelet. (I always sort them out, feeling like it's Christmas, and often the seed beads in the mix go into a little mixed-up baggie all their own.) Accent beads: dyed freshwater cultured pearls, yellow cylinder-shaped glass clear beads, an aqua glass cube, a brown glass round (I think Indian) and a pale-yellow oval that might be glass or might be agate or might be some other pale-yellow thing with pretty mottling.

Not sure if it's done yet, or if it really, really needs fringe beads, or fringes, or ruffles, or just some more stitching to make it more of a cuff and less of a strand. But it is going to be set aside for a few days, as there is a dress cut out and ready to put together.