Beaded Beauty- Part 1

My trip to the craft store, although successful, was successful in a way I wasn't quite expecting. I went for 4 specific items: black rondels (I called them bicones by mistake on the previous post), gold seed beads, turquoise round beads, and thick black lace ribbon- not for the pashmina but for a different project that looks to be putting on hold again for a while. The only item I came home with, from that list, was the gold seed beads.

I buckled under the pressure of beads skidding across the floor, hand cramps while trying to collect them on my needle, and all in all the pain and suffering of trying to create works of art without the proper tools.

There's only so far a person can be expected to make do.

Bead tray!

And this one's real cool, too. Each of the little compartments around the edge has a lid to keep the little beads where they're supposed to be while you're not working with it. The planner board (the one to the right of the picture with the measurements on it) lifts off to reveal a foam pad, magnet (no more lost needles!) and a holder for a bobbin with thread.

It's so fancy!

I also decided to get myself a little special.

This is a beading loom. There are some designs you can do on a loom that can't be done not on a loom. I had one in the States, and I have a feeling it's still in my parent's house.

So why not celebrate the lack of materials to finish one project and a new goody with a new project?


 Why not indeed?

To start, measure how long you're finished product will be, add about 2 feet onto that figure, and cut your thread to that length. You will need one more thread than your project is wide.

So, for this project, a bracelet, I want the finished bracelet to be 7.5 inches. Therefore, I cut my strands to 32 inches.

The pattern I'm following calls for 17 beads wide, so I need 18 strands at 32 inches long each. Tie a knot in one end, split the threads roughly in half and hook over the nail head on one side of the loom.

Wind the thread onto the loom.











Tie the other end of the threads into a knot, split the threads in half and loop on the other side of the loom.










Now the loom looks like this.










Using a needle, toothpick, claw off a small crab, anything slim really, spread the threads out so that it's one thread per separator. Make sure the threads stretch across straight.








Cut another length of thread, tie the end onto your loom. Working one row at a time, thread your beads onto the thread following your pattern. Take the thread with the row of beads underneath the loom threads.






Work the beads one between each loom thread.











Take the thread back through the beads in the opposite direction, staying on top of the loom threads.

This is how the beads stay put, so take extra care to make sure the thread stays on top of the loom threads.




Eventually you begin to see the pattern emerge.

I drew this out on graph paper taking inspiration from a cross stitch pattern.

 When you run out of workable space on the loom, roll the ends over, keeping the rows of beads and loom threads straight.

You can make the piece as long as you want it to be.






It's a rainy, nasty, horrible day here today which doesn't leave a whole lot to do except work on projects and ignore the whining coming from the short people in the house. My hope is that will give me ample time to finish the bracelet today.

Update on the serge machine. Steve was feeling mechanically inclined so I put him to work. I was going to need the machine to work on my costume- before I changed my mind again and decided to wear something I already have in my closet. But, at least the machine is operational for the next time I need it.

Hippity Hoppity

Happy Easter everyone!

We're a secular house, so Easter means bunnies laying eggs, and roast leg of lamb. Yummy.

Last night the Easter Bunny paid our house a visit bringing too much candy, and hiding brightly colored eggs around the house filled with jelly beans and money. Since the big kids were still awake when the Bunny came, they helped find hiding spots for the eggs, meaning my son was the only child this year looking for eggs.

Of course, all the eggs were discovered before the big kids even woke up.

I'm still struggling to make peace with consciousness.

 I made each of the kids an Easter basket the first year I moved here because they didn't have any. That offends my American celebratory nature.

These are really simple to do.

First, go to your craft shop and look for cotton batting that's in tube form. I'm sure there's a real name for it, but I can't remember it right now, and that bottle of wine last night seems to have made google search not work as well as it normally does. Basically you're looking for something that's 2-3 inches in diameter, and fairly soft.

Then, pick out some scrape material. It can be any color, pattern, texture you want. There's really no limits on this one.

Cut the fabric into thin strips. Roughly an inch wide, but don't bother measuring. Like I said, these are really easy.

Starting at one end of the cotton tube stuff, wrap the material scraps (one strip at a time) around the tube. Make a stitch with some thread every couple of inches or so.

To form the basket, coil the material covered tube forming the bottom of the basket, then building up the sides. Make several stitches in each layer of coil to hold the basket's shape. You can either wrap the material around the tube first and coil later, or wrap as you coil. Totally up to you.

There are as many options for handles as there are people on the planet. Well, probably. I haven't tried to count the people or the handle options. It's an assumption based on the fact that I'm in dire need of a second cup of coffee this morning.

I went with a plastic purse handle for these baskets since their purpose was to hold Easter goodies for over active children, I needed it to be strong enough to cope.

This is the teenage boy's basket after the Easter Bunny came. I was going to share my son's basket full (the empty one up top is his), but it was involved in a sugar fuelled hit and run VERY early this morning. It's now almost 10am, and I don't think the older boy has even managed to crawl out of bed yet!

What's that you say? Skull and crossbones motif not very Eastery? Huh. Guess I shouldn't tell you that we're flying a Jolly Roger today.

Oh! And just for the record- yes, I did perform my motherly duty and ate the ears off my son's chocolate rabbit.

And the problems shall be 3, there shall be 3 problems

One of my favorite stores to poke around in is a local second hand shop called SaveMart. It's a giant warehouse filled with fabulous treasures just waiting to be discovered.

Not everything is fabulous, of course, and sometimes it's just fun to go laugh at some of the items. However, I can't tell you how many times I've come out having paid $6 for a shirt that still has the price tag attached saying $75!

Also, while thrift hunting, you're not always successful. For instance, my last trip was for the purpose of finding a waist coat and/or suspenders for Steve's Burlesque outfit for this coming Friday night. No waist coats. No suspenders. I did find a nice shirt for him that may or may not work for his outfit, a porcelain baby doll that has been dubbed the ugliest doll in creation (I quite like her, though), and a stunning pashmina scarf. I'm not telling how much I paid for said scarf because I haven't decided yet if I'm going to sell it or keep it for myself.

 As per standard, it had skinny little tassely bits at the ends. Not bad, of course. But I know, and you know, that they could be so much more!

So the first step is to tie a knot at the base of each one. I'm not sure if the material would unravel without these, but it's too gorgeous to take a chance!

I used a straight pin to help guide the knots as close to the fabric as possible.

 Next, cut the tassels off close to the knots.











Then, with my beading needle and a piece of black thread (or color of your choice), I tied the thread onto one corner of the pashmina and started stringing on the beads.

Black, gold, and turquoise is the color scheme in the pashmina, so I choose similar color beads to continue. I would have preferred wider spacing than this, but I'm following the knots where the tassels used to be.

The pattern I used was: 1 black bicone, 5 gold seeds, 1 turquoise, 5 gold seeds, 1 black bicone. At every knot, I pushed my needle and thread through the knot, into the edge of the fabric, back through the knot, through the black bicone, and started the pattern again with the 5 seed beads. Sewing through the knots should help to secure them, without the use of glue.

 Continue the pattern to the end of the pashmina.

I'll bet you're trying to figure out the title of this post, aren't you? Problems? There doesn't seem to be any problems. Let alone 3 of them.

And you'd be right. Up to this point it's a very easy project. But if everything were easy, we'd get complacent, wouldn't we?



Problem number 1: I've run out of the black bicone beads.
Problem number 2: I've run out of gold seed beads.
Problem number 3: I've run out of turquoise beads.

I've only done one row on one side of the pashmina. I still have the other side to do, and I'd like to do one more row, but with no beads, it really limits what I can do.

Luckily, it's Easter weekend, and that means SALES! I'm now heading out to the craft shop, which is having a one day sale today, to hopefully get some more of the beads I need to finish this stunning piece.

Of course, you know that if they do have the beads I need, they won't be included in the sale. Isn't that how fate works? Or is that just my pessimism? Wish me luck!

Taking it from hobby to career

Have any of you managed to take something you love doing, and made a job or career out of it? If so, HOW? At what point does it cease being that silly thing you waste time on and become something that is important to yourself and your family? Or are there some people who will always consider it to be that silly thing you waste your time on?

Once again, I have no project for the day. I have several in the works, but interruptions make it impossible to get anything done. Frustrations galore.

Black Velvet In That Little Boy's Smile

Approximately every 28 days or so, a darkness descends upon my soul like a shroud of death to anyone not bearing chocolate, flowers, and/or wine. I'm bloated, fatigued, my hair hangs limp and lack luster, and my skin is a battle field. Acne is winning. As a result, I feel ugly.

There is only one cure... well, there's probably several, but this is my choice: wear an outfit you look drop dead gorgeous in.

Years ago I had a boyfriend whom I still enjoy imagining burning in the deepest, darkest, furthest reaches of hell. He was one of the worse mistakes of my life, but, he had decent taste in clothing. So I still have a few of the items he gave me over the course of our suffering.

Meet the long stretchy black velvet skirt.

I've lost count of how many times I've wanted to wear this, but because it's fancy, but not fancy enough at the same time, I think I've managed to wear it twice. I've also lost count of how many times it's been put into the donation pile, but because it fits so well and feels superb, it's always found its way back into my closet.

Next week, Steve and I are going on our monthly date night to a Cabaret show, and this time we're dressing the part! My thoughts once again centered on the skirt. But, since the slit ends below my knee, it's not what anyone would call risque.

Even though it does make my butt look HOT!

 So with my handy dandy unpicker, I made that slit slightly higher while watching The Commitments. Great movie, even better sound track.

 This is my serge machine. Well, not mine, really. I borrowed it from a dear friend a while back and loved it so much I sort of kid napped it. If she asks for it back, I'll have to go out and buy one because it's just so useful.

Unfortunately, it's also dead. I need to take it into the shop. Really bad timing since I could really use it today.

 No matter. I've still got the sewing machine.

 First a zig zag stitch. This is what I would normally use the serge machine to accomplish.

 Fairly close to the edge.

 Now a straight stitch.

 At a medium length.

 Due to the nature of stretch velvet, I'm not bothering to press the edges.

That and I'm not entirely sure where the iron, or the board are at the moment.

So, I'm taking it really slow, and keeping the material as straight as possible.

It's not perfect, but I'm hoping that much leg, a push up bra, dimly lit room, and a lot of alcohol will keep most people from noticing the imperfections!

3,360 Steps

Half my daily exercise count, but much more tiring since it was done whilst chasing my son around Staglands. I'd promised him (and the Tooth Fairy did, too) that we'd go there this week. If you have no idea what Staglands is go here and cruise around. Basically it's a giant petting zoo. And my son, and me too, loves it there!

You may think that not a lot of time can be spent in such a place. You would be wrong. We can spend hours in the guinea pig and rabbit enclosure alone! And a chance to feed a horse, donkeys, sheep, birds of all sort, deer, goats, pigs.... Well, let me put it this way- he slept all the way home, via the butcher's shop, and I had to wake him up finally so Steve and I could go back out to the store to get tortillas for taco night.

Mmmmm.....taco night. The saliva drips just thinking the words doesn't it. If you don't appreciate tacos, a) try moving to a place where they're hard to come by, or b) if you grew up in such a place, try my tacos. You'll be forever enlightened.

Anyway, you may also think that having spent so much time out today would leave very little "creative" time. And you would be right! But I did take pictures today, because you never know where that inspiration will come from next.

 Geez! Let's hope not!

 I'm descended from a great bee whisperer (hi dad!). I had a group of children enthralled that I was feeding ginger beer to some bees off my finger.

I didn't realize just how much bees love ginger beer. But I suppose it makes since.

 The deer are really skittish. I needed the zoom lens to get any decent shots, but with my son, there's not a lot of time to change lenses. So these will do for the moment.

 Looks like velvet.

 This little goat loved to be scratched behind the ear, but once the camera came out, he turned very shy!










Even though he was quite photogenic indeed.

 I saw this lamp and had to back track a bit. It really reminds me of Steampunk stuff. Would love to be able to buy a miniature of this for a necklace or earrings!









Sometimes goats can be such divas.

All in all a good day. Not a heck of a lot of inspiration for the things I'm currently working on, but the bonding opportunity between mother and son should never be passed up.

Thank you for a good day, Boo.

Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints

The sun has come out to play today, but it's not really helping with my state of affairs.

First I started a new beaded bag, until I realized (5 or 6 rows into it) that the pattern is in brick stitch and I was doing peyote stitch. So now I have to undo the whole thing.

Then I decided to work on my gothasol. I cut the lace into a square to sew on to the frame, only to find out the lace is only one way stretch. So now it's too small to fit.

Then, day two of the school holidays has taken it's toll, and my son is in a really bad mood. Which makes the rest of the house in a really bad mood.

Not to mention I'm not actually feeling 100% today.

So, I think it may be time for a nap or a few games of solitaire.

Tomorrow is another day.