Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January BJP progress II

Hello all! I've made a little progress since last week. To be exact, 4 hours of embroidery yesterday afternoon while watching Farscape on DVD. :-)

First of all, I want to give credit to the inspiration for the type of bead embroidery I'm using for this piece. Joanne Teague of ThistleDew for you has what I consider a unique technique of attaching beads to a base. I know techniques aren't copyrighted, but giving a shout out is always appreciated.

So, here's what I did......


Attach the beads one at a time along the center edge of the desired shape. I had a black like as well, so included that before doing the outer edge of the shape.


Outline the outer edge of the shape and begin to fill in the interior. Basically, coloring with beads! 


Look at the back! It looks totally different than the short line segments I'm used to.


This is as far as I got. It's more ambitious than I intended, but I like the results so far.

Things I've learned this time:

1. Joanne Teague is a wonderful artist.
2. I have no idea if this is faster than normal or not.
3. The back looks funky.
4. There seems to be much less shrinkage than normal for me. (It could be that I unconsciously kept the tension looser?)
5. Farscape is still amazing, especially if you're a Jim Henson fan.
6. You guys are great for commenting and giving support!


Friday, January 27, 2012

January BJP progress

Welcome to the wonderful world of Allison's Antics, where procrastination abounds and new ideas are constantly left in the dust! This should be the new tag line for my life. (Shame on yourself, Tamara.)

I can't believe it's been four years since my last attempt at the Bead Journal Project. Wow. Let's get started shall we.

First of all, you might want to know what I've chosen for my bead embroidered theme. Well, I wanted to go small-ish. I have been sorely neglecting bead embroidery for the last couple years and want to ease back into the process. Sooooo.......always with a usable end product in mind, I chose to do an Art Deco styled necklace each month with three pendants. Each will depict a portion of one of Henry Moore's textile designs from the early 20th century. I just love the patterns and have wanted to make inspirational pieces for quite some....months.

Here is the piece I chose as inspiration for January. Why not just start with my favorite and go from there, right?

printsforchildren.blogspot.com
My former piece made with this design in mind can be seen here.

Earlier this week, I began the first stages of my year long project. I made a template of my 36 shapes (one large and two small for each month)..........


Then I traced over the Henry Moore textile design above. Did you know Lacy's Stiff Stuff is see through enough to trace an image directly from your computer screen? I didn't. I opened the image in Photoshop and zoomed in several times to find a segment that worked with my shape.


Next came coloring! *still a kid*


Last, I cut out the shapes.


The plan is to embroider the shapes, while leaving some space horizontally to fold each shape in half and edge the sides. This might be easier to explain if I had gotten that far and had pictures to illustrate what's in my head. I fear I will start off the year a little behind. Hmmm....better get to work then. Anyway, they will be fabulous!!! And strung on....something......

Things I've learned so far:
1. I haven't embroidered much in the last couple years.
2. Despite attempting to start out small, I have relapsed into biting off more than I could chew.
3. I am almost out of Lacy's Stiff Stuff for other projects.
4. Henry Moore is still amazing.
5. Lacy's Stiff Stuff is see through.
6. Bic marker's could possibly have some ill effects on your senses. O.o
7. Manilla envelopes makes a much better backdrop than ratty carpet.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Two for Tuesday: Victorian Mourning

Hey look, I remembered!

All the Two for Tuesday sketches I've shown you so far have been from the same sketch book. And I found another one I think might interest my readers.

Victorian Mourning came about when I was planning on going to a Victorian craft show in Galveston, TX. I roamed around the internet for inspiration and came up with this design...


Early last year I got around to making the nickel silver centerpiece. Then I beaded it with black and off white seed beads. Who says plastic cameos aren't just as gorgeous as the real thing? The necklace is part of my senior exhibition and remains one of the most recent pieces I'm proud of.


Sunday, January 1, 2012

It Looks So Good You Could Eat It! Free Candy Beadwork Tutorial.

Really....you can eat it.

New for 2012! Edible beadwork! :-)

I have decided this year to take on a tutorial every week. This will be a huge undertaking for me, but I hope to have a good selection of patterns for sale, freebies, and magazine submissions by the end of it. Therefore, for the first Sunday of every month my readers (you wonderful friends who follow this blog) will get a totally, 100% free photo tutorial to work on. Personal use only, please.

Feel free to submit any images of your creations to vanishingpearl@yahoo.com. I will create a reader gallery (once I figure out how to do it) for everyone to see. :-)

Now, down to business.....

Beaded Gummi Ring

Candy necklaces. Your little niece bounding home on Valentine's Day, covered in glitter and stickers and childhood joy and enough sugar to induce a coma or two. C'mon, admit it: you've eyed them with curiosity, and then dismissed what essentially boils down to nasty sweethearts on a string.
For shame, crafty beader, for SHAME. You know better than that. Now, go get your little niece for some quality bonding time. Get enough thread for two, get a good spot on the couch, tap her on the shoulder, and steal some of that Valentine's stash when she looks the other way to make this necklace.

Materials:

Apple gummy ring (peach if you have different colored beads)

Green candy necklace beads

Coconut flavored Jelly Beans

Floss

Sewing needle (anything really that has a larger eye than a standard beading needle)

Scissors

Step 1: Attaching the floss to a gummy ring.

Make a loop with the tail of your floss using an overhand knot (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Make a lark's head knot around a gummy ring by passing the needle through the ring and the through the loop (Fig. 2). Pull, but be careful not to cut through the gummy ring. Too much tension may slice it in half. If this is the case, eat it, start again, and be more careful next time.

Fig. 2

Step 2: First Round

String two candy beads. Pass the floss under the gummy ring and back through the second bead.

Using this brick stitch technique, continue adding one bead at a time until the ring is stitched with an even number of beads. Pass down through the first bead, under the ring, and back through the first bead. The first round is complete (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

Step 3: Round Two

String one candy bead, stab a Jelly Bean  near one end (to make a drop), and string another candy bead. Pass down through the second base bead and up the third (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

Repeat around the ring

Knot and trim the floss.

Your beaded gummy ring is now finished! (Fig. 5)

Fig.5

Step 4:

Consume your delicious, sugar filled creation.

Don't forget to floss your teeth!