FINALLY! A blog post!

 It has been a while since I have posted anything. I have been on a reading kick and not stitching much. 

However, I do stitch a little at my Tuesday meetings, and finished something!! WOO HOO!!!

It is meant to be finished in the hoop, but I may turn it into a pillow. 

I purchased this kit because the dog in the window reminded me of our yellow lab, Murphy.

It is an embroidery kit from Stitched Stories. It was a great kit. Plenty of thread, two needles, the hoop and clear instructions. I would purchase from them again. 

Surprise!! More Beading.

 In the summer of 2013, I took a class at the Rocky Mountain Region Seminar in Grand Junction, Colorado. The class was called Three for One because we got three projects in one class - two beaded beads and a necklace. In class we created two beads as practice for making the necklace. The top photo shows the beads I made (in 2013).  

The necklace project was in my bead project box I am trying to whittle down.

I guess my practice 9 years ago paid off because I did ok with these beads!!

The top one has a coffee stirrer in it to help keep the holes positioned correctly for stringing. The stirrer was too large for my smaller beads, so I just used a twist tie.

Here is my final result! I am very pleased with it. Now I just need to find an outfit to go with it!!

Also in my bead project box was this cute little pin kit.

That is all for now, next time I may report on some stitching!!! I have a project on a deadline and should get back to it.

Super Duo Zippy Wrap Bracelet

This design is from Harlequin Beads and Jewelry and was a Jan. 2018 project from my local bead club that I found in my bead project box. It calls for different colored beads and is called "Superduo Metallic Amathyst Zippy Wrap Bracelet". Designed by Ramona Brummet. I used from my stash, so it is more copper and turquoise than amethyst.

I used a copper button my mom purchased in Arizona during a summer vacation trip from Calif. to New Mexico. I was almost 5 that summer. We went to Philmont ranch where my brother and dad did cub scout stuff. I learned itsy bitsy spider and how to swing myself on the swing. I suspect my dad was getting tired of pushing me on it all the time!!  I also came down with heat exhaustion and the doctor told me to wear my hat all the time. So, I did... inside and out, night and day!

Back to the bracelet. It was very easy to make, but a bit fiddly since you have two strands going at once. I would increase the length of soft flex wire it calls for, I could not get it to wrap three times around my wrist. The instructions are for a 7" wrist, mine is 7 1/2" But, it looks good wrapped two times, so I am happy with it.

Now to see what else is in that bead project box.......

Beaded Bargello Pendant - Finished

 I finished the pendant. The necklace part was a very interesting two needle ladder stitch, and the fringe is a basic fringe with a twisted bugle. Now I just need to find something to wear it with!!

It is made with a three-bead brick stitch, so this helped it go a little faster and I was able to get it done in good time working in the evenings.

You can find more information about this pendant in previous posts.

Beaded Bargello Pendant

On this post: Still More Beading, I told you a little bit about this Bargello Pendant that I decided to take out of by bead project box and start working on. It is a three-bead brick stitch project, so it increases in size rather quickly. You start at the widest part, and it is about three and a half inches wide. 

Here is my progress so far:

It is from the August 1998 issue of Bead&Button magazine. Designed by Carole Collier and I believe it is in her book Three-Bead Brick Stitch: Necklace Expressions, Seven Fabulous Projects for Intermediate to Advanced Beaders.

Originally, I had all my beads, except the silver set up on my Bead Butler (not sure if you can find it anymore).  

I enlarged the chart on my computer and printed out the legend. I wrote letters on the legend next to the colors that match the letter I wrote on my tray. I also cut out the little color squares from the legend and put them in the bead slots. This only works for a project with 6 colors, this one has 7, so the other is off to the side on my bead mat.

I decided to experiment and got out my Bead Buddy Save 'n Go mini and a piece of Velux (from an old blanket). I used my Big Shot and a circle die to cut circles in the Velux fabric and then glued it to the inside of my Save 'n Go mini. I can now do a project with 12 colors!! So far, it works GREAT!! I can close it and the beads do not move around.  I do remove the legend before I close it to make sure I get a tight fit. Not sure that matters, but better safe than sorry. If you are not familiar with the Save 'n Go, it is made by The Bead Buddy and comes in different sizes. It is hinged with a squishy bead mat on both sides (lid and bottom), so when you close it all your project parts stay in place. 

That is if for now! Take care.

Still More Beading

 I dove back into the beading box and found another project I picked up at a show from i-bead.com. Sadly I do not see it on their website right now, but they do have lots of other nice things!!

It is called Pearlicious and designed by Any-Loh-Kupser. It was not too hard and I finished it in an evening.

It came with a snap clasp which I have never used before and she gave a hint on how to attach it to the end so it would lay flat. I will try to explain. You string beads then run it though the clasp and string the same number of beads before the clasp and the tun it though the center bead of the bracelet, but you go in the bead the same direction the thread is coming out. You do this again on the other side of the clasp. Your thread should be coming out of the center bead of the bracelet in the correct direction to do this. Reinforce by going through all the clasp joining beads three times. Then repeat this process with the other half of the closure. Hope that made some sense, but her directions are copyrighted so I had to tell you in my own words.

I dove back into the beading box and found a necklace that may take me a little while to finish. It uses brick stitch, but for each row they are stacked three high. This will be new for me. The project is called Bargello Pendant by Carole Collier. I am doing it from the August 1998 issue of Bead&Button, but I think it is also in her book "Three-Bead Brick Stitch: Necklace Expressions, Seven Fabulous Projects for Intermediate to Advanced Beaders".  Which a quick google search just now found it here on Amazon. I could not tell if this necklace is actually in the book, however. I do not get any kickbacks for sending you to Amazon, just saving you all a google search step.

This photo is from the magazine. I am doing the colorway on the right and substituting Delicas for the Toho Antiques, so my purple will be more blue, but I think it will look fine. Here are my substitutions in case you find the pattern and want to get going. 

A241 sub. DB1308

A705 sub. DB361

A461 sub. DB 47

A566 sub. DB 567

I do not recall where I got these numbers. I have had this project in my box for at least 15 years since I know it was originally brought up in my bead group in North Carolina.

I will try to post some progress photos as I go along. I did get the foundation row and a little bit of the next row done before I went to bed last night.

More Beading

I seem to be in a beading mood. Yesterday I was going through by bead cupboard and found a 12" square box with bead kits I have purchased over the years. Quite a few years. I decided to try and whittle the box down a bit and worked on this bracelet called "Hugs and Kisses" by Debby Rea Taylor and Amy Loh-Kupser. You can find it here on the i-bead.com website. Scroll down and look for Hugs and Kisses; the sample shown is in blue and gold. I bought this at a show and was able to get a kit with the beads. It was very easy to put together. I used the extra crystals and made earrings - there are no instructions for this, I just made them up using the basic steps for the bracelet.

It uses 6mm fire polish crystals and size 11 seed beads. Instructions include making the closures. One end (left in photo) is a kind of button made with crystals and the other end is the loop to go over the button. 

Now to go back to the box and see what else I can make!