Still More Beading

I am on a roll with clearing out my beading kit stash.

All are kits from Potomac Beads.  All were fun to make, and I learned a few new stitches in the process.

Sunrise Eva Brcelet. I had never used EVA beads (the angled white beads) before.

Denim Cubed Bracelet. This used the St. Petersburg stitch which was new for me.

After Dark Leaf Necklace.

Beaded Barrel Bead. 

Pie Shop Bracelet. This uses PieDuo beads. A first for me.

Happy Beading!

More Beading

 All are kits from Potomac Beads. Fun to make!

Pie Shop Bracelet. Enough left over to also make earrings.

Colonial Crystal Bracelet

After Dark Leaf Necklace. Enough left over to make earrings!

Clover Halo Earrings. I have never used Halo beads. Fun.

Turquoise Chain Gang Necklace. Enough left over to make a bracelet and earrings too.

Just a cute doggie. Carry on!!

Happy Beading!!

Catching Up Part 2

First, a little beading. I tried some kits from Potomac Beads. I did not work on them right away and these two are from the May box. Terra Flora Bracelet. I had enough to make an extra square that became a pendant.

These are Picasso Rivoli Earrings. I have never made a bezel before, and I am not sure I want to again! Maybe a little bigger one next time?

Journal book cover that I designed using a pre-purchased journal. 

I taught my local club how to make a biscornu. This was my teaching piece to show how to create the shape.

This is yellow lab. I do not recall the designer. It was originally a 40 count silk canvas kit, which my eyes did not want to deal with, so I did it on a smaller-count evenweave and converted the silk colors to DMC or anchor.

That is it for now!

Kaleidoscope Triangles Completed

I finished all 24 triangles for the kaleidoscope. Next class is April 18, when we will start to assemble the flat triangles into the 3D item. Stay tuned.

That is all for this post.

Happy Beading!

April Fundraiser Update + Beading

I have been working on my stitched project for a fundraiser over on Facebook to benefit the American Cancer Society. 

It is a very fun stitch so far. I love the fabric, which I think came when I ordered the instructions. I want to find out for sure because it is nice to stitch on. I will get back to you if I find out. Currently, only the chart is available on the website as a .pdf.

In the meantime, Saturday, I took a class (day one of three) to make a kaleidocycle with beads. It will make sense when I show a finished project. It needs 26 triangles (6 of four types). Below shows all four types and one that I have finished all six. 

It took away from my cross-stitch, but the start of the triangles is a bit tricky and I wanted to get a lot done in hopes I will remember the start and get all 24 done by the next class in two weeks.

Happy Stitching (& Beading)!

Some Beading

I pulled a few kits from my beading box and finished them. This is the focal point for a necklace. It is a Mill Hill Kit (c) 2002 called Beaded Flower Necklace.  It was interesting to make and a bit fiddly.

 Then I pulled out Bracelet with an 'X'. (c) 2002 by Rypan Designs. I purchased it at a bead show many years ago. I uses 8/0 beads and crystals. It does call for two needles and it was one of the easier two-needle projects I have done, and I would make it again.

That is all for now!!

Now For Some Beading

I pulled this project out of my beading box with kits and gave it a go. It is Intermediate Spanish Knot Bracelet I purchased at Bead World in Phoenix, AZ. They have a website. I am not sure if they still sell this kit, however. 

I have not done much macrame and I am more of a beginner than an intermediate, so I had a little trouble figuring out the knot. I found this youtube video that was VERY helpful.

I can't wait to wear it!!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!

Some Beaded Bracelets

Yesterday I took a class offered by my bead club (Don't Worry Bead Happy, and learned to make this fun wrapped bracelet by Off the Beaded Path in North Carolina.

I chose colors from my stash and made a two-wrap bracelet. Opens were given to make it wider and longer. It was very easy and fun to make and I learned a new Peyote technique using super duos.

Apparently, it got me into a mood to bead, so I picked a project from my bead box and made this Garden Path bracelet.

It is a kit from my local bead store:  Bead World called Turquoise and Bronze Garden Path Bracelet. It was a complete kit and lots of fun to make. It was not very hard but warning, it is a two-needle project. I have had this kit for a while, so not sure if it is still available. 

Happy Beading!!!

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! 

In a Beading State of Mind

Last Saturday and today I took beading classes from my Don’t Worry Bead Happy Club here in my community. The first class was a combo peyote brick stitch flower bracelet and is on the bottom in this photo.

Today I made this Pretty Posies bracelet show on the top in the photo.

Below are links to these  projects. I am posting this using my iPad…..hope it works.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/861486224/brick-and-peyote-miyuki-bracelet-pattern

https://jillwisemandesigns.com/patterns/pretty-posies-bracelet/

A Little Beading and A New Project

 My local bead club decided to try a zoom meeting and suggested a project to work on. It was fun and more of a get together to chat and bead than a learning class. We all worked on the same project. This was the first time zoom was attempted and it looks like the club will keep it up as an open beading event twice a week. 

The project we worked on was 3D Peyote Squares by Kelly Dale of Off the Beaded Path. It was a lot of fun and as you can see I did quite a few and played around with colors a little. I made them into earrings and a necklace! This project used No. 11 Delicas.

The "chain" for this necklace is a spiral rope using No. 11 seed beads that matched the Delicas.

I also have an update on the Maria Antoni Sampler, progress as of August 26:

A little closer up here:

Last June I took advantage of an opportunity to get a limited edition kit commemorating the journey of the Mayflower to America. Designed by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread, it honors the Women of the Mayflower by listing their names in the sampler.  I am doing it on 40 count (the smallest I  have ever stitched on) because I loved the fabric color choice for that count. It is kind of mottled. I ordered my kit from Sassy Jacks Stitchery in North Carolina. I knew the owner when I lived in NC.

The kit arrived a couple of weeks ago and came in a nice box and included a cute pilgrim needle minder, a label for the back when finished and framed, a ring to hold threads and a card to put on the ring to mark the project the threads were for. Of course the fabric, threads and chart were in the box too!  

It also had a bonus chart and some fabric to use as backing if we wanted to make the bonus into a pillow, along with finishing instructions to get the best use of the fabric. It is a reproduction of the page of Mayflower passenger William Bradford.

Since 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower, the general idea was to start the Sampler on September 6, the day the Mayflower set sail, and finish the sampler on November 11, the day the Mayflower landed in Cape Cod. It was a 66 day journey.  

Since I am doing it on 40 count linen the finished size will be approx. 6 1/4 inches by 21 inches. Here is my progress so far:

I will be doing this with lots of lighting and magnification!! I am looking forward to it since I love history and this combined with my love of stitching! 

Happy Stitching!!

Beading and Working Outside

I have a multitude of crafty things I like to do, so retirement suits me fine! I am doing ok with this Corona virus as far as having stuff to do goes, but I miss my Club socialization!

I primary dabble in  paper crafting*, beading, embroidery/stitching and quilting. With embroidery being my first love. I live in the desert and it gets a bit dusty, so in order to stitch outside I need to clean the surfaces or take out a big towel to cover stuff. Depending on what I am working on that works fine. But it does get a bit windy sometimes and that adds to the challenge.

The easiest thing to work on outside is beading. On nice sunny days I can sit at the table on our patio and work on a project. My mother in law visited from Iowa in February and she liked to sit outside and read. I joined her with my beading and got this bracelet done:

I liked this idea so much I picked up a beading Work in Progress (WIP) and now am working on this necklace.

*I have a blog for my paper craft stuff: www.PlaysWithStampsandInk.com

Hang in there folks and wash your hands often!

Beaded Bracelet

I took out some time in my week last week to attend a class offered by my local bead group and finished this very southwest looking bracelet on Nov. 30, 2016.

It was fun to make and includes two holed tiles and super duos. I have never used two holed beads before (and I do not mean a hole on each end as two holes - it has two holes on each end of the bead).

I have worn if a few times and got some nice compliments. I may make another in a different color.

I think that covers it for now, I am doing some Christmas gift stitching and can't post any of those items until after the 25th, so stand (you may also sit) by!

Display Case Plus a Little of this and a Little of That

I have been doing a little bit of this and that lately.

 First is a card I made for a beader who is moving away. :(

I finished the stitching on this in 2014, but just now finish finished it into a flat fold. The hat fabric is what I used for the finishing. I hunted through all my stuff and can't find any information on the designer, I will keep looking and do an update - unless someone knows and can tell us in the comments. I think Lizzie n Kate, but not sure.

I have a fair number of "smalls" that I had in a bookcase with glass doors, but we did not move it with us to Arizona, so I had to figure out something else. Well this is it! The first photo shows two of the display cases on a bookshelf and there is room for one more. They open from the top and you can see the clasp to "unlock" and open the case. It has two dividers and it is meant to be hung on the wall. Basically what I am using as dividers is meant to be a shelf. I removed the saw tooth hanger from the back so not to scratch the shelf.

 Below are photos of each case with my small items in them. All items were made by me except the mailing envelope in the lower right of the bottom box. I lined all the wood with acid free material so that none of my textiles is touching wood.

I got the cases at Michael's a couple of days ago with their buy one get one free sale. It is called Studio Decor display case and they are 8.625 inches by 5.125 inches on the inside (according to the label). I almost did not see them on the bottom shelf in the store with all the other shadow boxes.

I got in the beading bug and finished a couple of items I have had since I lived in North Carolina and we moved in 2007!!

I must apologize for this one's orientation, I keep rotating it and saving it, but it will not sit up straight!! It is called Peyote Pendant for Donut with Netted Rope and is designed by That Bead Lady at  (www.thatbeadlady.com). 

Finally this a kit I bought and is a Red White and Blue version of a project in the August 2000 Bead and Button magazine called Abstract art pendant by Beth Stone. It uses different sized beads and combines peyote and brick stitch in places and was quite fun to make. I may make a beaded necklace to hang it from, but for now this rat tail cord works.

I think that about covers it for now!!