Bead Journal Project in progress, January

This is January's work in progress, photo taken on the road. Yes, I do get lots of beadwork competed while John is driving. This clearly shows the layout and design of the little pregnant "goddesses" that have become the vehicle for my beaded project. The outline is printed on a new water soluable product called Tranfer-Eze. Best used for stitching projects, I thought it might give my pieces a bit of uniformity...at least at the start...We'll see where they end !!!

The two Goddesses represent my two sweet gals going through their pregnancies almost side by side. my daughter is expecting in July, then my daughter-in-law is expecting in September! We are calling them our twin cousins! So, mirror imagery came to mind first, then the white light for the "light of my life" or the "light of the universe" that these two babies represent. These will be our two first grand-babies! The cabochons are actually hand made glass by BeadStarr, the flash of rainbow color are the result of dichroic glass. The bead embroidery is laid onto Stiffy Stuff, next pieces will be in color since I have gotten packs of Nicoloe Campanella's beadbacking. Lots of white beads from my stash, mixed into a bead soup of various of shades and surface finishes were used for this piece. More to come soon! This is great fun...just finding time for it all is the challenge.

Dragonfly Pendant

Oh the wonderful world of buttons! This beautiful button was found by chance at a vintage button trunk show...much like the one at Monica's Quilt and Bead Creations on til Sunday, Feb 26th.

How different this piece became after I changed out a large bead and inserted this vintage button. In a class taken with Jaime Cloud Eakins, one of the foremost authors of bead embroidery, I created this small pendant, a feature in her newest book, Dimensional Bead Embroidery.

It was a fun piece to make, in part, I think, of the use of those bugle beads. Boy, did they cover the area quickly! After I had finished, I found the button so then the challenge on how to change it since the backing was complete. One of the reasons I make these pieces with lots of new threads is so I can change something later. So glad I had done the same here! I knew the other old bead and surrounding bead trim were each on their own thread line. If I cut one section away it wasn't going to interfere with the neighboring beads. The biggest threat was the backing, but since that was in Ultrasuede I knew it was going to be easier than leather to stitch through. Very happily I set about to change my old bead into a new button and I think it improved the piece exponentially!

Come to Monica's and see tables full of wonderful Vintage Buttons and Beads this weekend!

Get inspired by a cute button bracelet made by Starr and stay for a free "Make & Take"!!!