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.

7 comments:

  1. Tamara,
    Best wishes on your monthly projects. Love that print and looking forward to seeing the finished piece.
    Therese

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  2. Love the project. I am with Therese, the print is great and I am looking forward to seeing the finished pieces. I have followed the BJP for a while.

    I think a flat fold might be tricky or uncooperative, so allow me to make a suggestion: fold the piece over a tube (I am thinking drinking straw size) and use that tube to accommodate the "strung on....something......" part of your design.

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  3. Fantastic project idea! Thanks for the tip on Lacy's Stiff Stuff. I never would've guessed!

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  4. Hello KJ! Welcome. I think you're right. Curved would be a good idea. I'm hoping that I don't end up with tension so tight that the edges shrink and refuse to match up when I'm ready to fold it over. I'll find out on Monday I guess. Thanks for the input.

    BackstoryBeads, I was out of printer ink and figured this would be the best way to transfer my design. Oooohhh, I wonder if you can run Lacy's through a printer? Need to find out someday.

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  5. Awesome design and project... I totally LOVE how you're using the Moore's textile desings, but definitely making them your own. I also love the juxtaposition of the angular shape with the curved design elements. Wow!!!

    Question... How do you color the stiff stuff?

    Another suggestion for the fold is to use copper or silver tubing. But definitely bending it around something will help. If you use an edge stitch to join the two halves, slight differences won't matter.

    I can't wait to see how these look beaded!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Robin! I'm flattered you're commenting on my blog.

      I used Bic markers. I didn't have the right colors of Sharpies on hand. I wasn't sure where my gaps would be in the embroidery, so I wanted to make sure there was a colored background to complement the beads.

      I plan to edge them in black with brick stitch. It's my go to stitch for edging embroidery and should give the shapes a clean edge.

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  6. Very cool idea! This will be fun to watch.
    Marty S
    Crackpot Beader

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