WIP - Non Jewelry Bead Embroidery Project

Welcome to another Monday everyone and Happy Halloween.  Hopefully your weekend was exciting, mine was productive.  So I guess that's good.

I've been working steadily on my beaded bookmarks and I'm happy to say they are finished.  Now I just need to get my butt in gear on her second project.  I can't wait to show you guys that one, it's pretty neat!

But I am also trying to get some projects done that are a little out of the ordinary for me and they aren't exactly jewelry.  See, I'm trying to get into one of, if not, the biggest art shows that WI has to offer.  People come from all over to exhibit in it.  It's called Art Fair On The Square.  And it's held around the beautiful state capitol building.

From Madison Magazine

Well, I'm actually trying to get into Art Fair Off The Square, which is held during the same weekend but is located Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard,  one of the streets that runs into the capitol square.  Art On the Square is very difficult to get into, open to anyone, and much more expensive.  Art Off the Square is only open to WI residents and is put on by the Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Crafts People.  Now, don't get me wrong, it's still extremely difficult to get into this show, but I feel I might have a better chance if I just have to compete against people from WI.  And every show I go to I hear over and over again, "Why don't you have a booth at Art On The Square?  Your work is definitely worthy."  Well, I guess the answer is, I'm too scared to apply, it's pretty pricey for me, and I know I will have a more difficult time getting in with jewelry.  I mean have you been to a arts/crafts fair recently, everyone and their mothers design some sort of jewelry.  It's an over saturated market.  So I thought if I could deviate away from the jewelry a bit, I might have a better chance.

So I'm working on bead embroidered pictures and other objects.  I just need to get a few items finished in time for the application deadline.  Then I need to step up my photography skills, that's a whole other blog post.

But so far this is what I have for my first embroidered picture.  It's not complicated, just simple for my first attempt, then I'll step it up a notch on the next one.

Hopefully I'll have a little bit of a chance, but I guess if I don't make it it will be a good experience for me and I can always try again next year.

Wordless Wednesday - Cielo Rusa

Simple Tote - Cielo Rosa

One my wishlist for Christmas this year!

Necklaces!

It's a rainy day here in WI.  The leaves are changing (we have a ton in the back yard) and the weather's getting cooler, I guess summer is really over.  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Today I just have a few necklaces to share.

The first is a ribbon necklace.  I made one of these one night about 30 min before a party because I needed a big statement piece, and I've gotten more complements on it then probably anything else I've made.  I don't take credit for inventing these, because I'm pretty sure I've seen similar ones other places.  

This necklace is made using some black ribbon, acrylic beads in purple, black, and white, rubberized purple beads (these are so cool) and some stone nuggets (I can't remember what they are off hand, I'll have to look again tonight).  It's big, bold statement piece, but still girlly.  I love these.

The next is a crazy one I made using that fuzzy yarn and my Kumihimo disk.

This yarn is really soft and a lot of fun.  I made myself a bracelet out of it as well.  I also made a smaller rope using embroidery floss.  I then added some glass beads, a few wooden beads, and brass washers.  I really like this one.  It has such a crazy side.

And the last one is one I made for myself.

I used this wonderful purple yarn for the Kumihio braid.  And then made a simple beaded focal tube.  I was going to make a few little beaded beads, but I was lazy so I just made one.  Again, nothing new or exciting (this idea has been done a ton of times before by artists much more talented then myself), just a simple beaded bead with a simple braided rope.  Just something pretty and soft I can wear. 

That's all I have for you today.  I'm hoping to bring back Wordless Wednesdays where I feature some of my favorite sells of hand made goodies.  Hopefully no one minds.  See you all tomorrow!

Another Pendent!

Monday, Monday. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was productive. Got some stuff done around the house, ran out of beads for my bookmarks, so I had to run to the bead store (and they only had two of the three colors I needed). You know, a typical weekend.

I didn't get a lot done in the beading relm of things, but I did get some sewing done.  I knew crazy, me sewing.  But I got myself a serger, and well, I've been a sewing machine, hahaha. 

But I do have a new pendent to share.  I'm in love with this one.  I'm a huge fan of color, but black and white is always so clasic.  And I adore the cameo.

I even made a lovely black and white Kumihimo braided rope for it using black fiber and white fiber that has a hint of sparkle.  I picked the white fiber up at one of the local thrift stores.  It's so pretty and soft.
 

This is the last of the pendents I made over the summer months.  I have a few other pieces I finished up over the summer that I still have to share, but no more pendents.  Hopefully these pendents will go over well during the show season.  I love how quick and easy they are to make, so I can keep the price down on these.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Have an enjoyable Monday everyone, see you on the flip side.  :-) 

Beaded Pendent

Happy Friday everyone! 

Oh yes, it's Friday!  It seemed like it couldn't come soon enough this week.  I've been battling severe migraines all week (just after getting over the flu, booo), but I slept in an hour this morning and I'm feeling pretty good right now.  Hopefully it will last and I can work on some projects tonight.  I'm currently making three more bookmarks and working on my first non-jewelry bead embroidery piece.  Can't wait to show you guys some of these.  

But until then I have some more embroidered pendents to share with you.  I was going to post some pictures of a black and white one, but decided that we needed something bright and fun this Friday afternoon.  So here we go.

 

This is one of my favorite ones I've made to date.  I think it's fun, bright, and funky.  I love the color combo, I think I might need to add a new favorite color combo to the list.  The bright pink and green go great together.  I thought about keeping it for myself, but I won't. 

It's on a simple white Kumihimo braid (I said I loved making these), accented with two large hole crystal beads.  I have been thinking about putting it on a colored cord, but I think the white works best, what do you think?

Well that's all I have for you today.  I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and happy creating. 

New Obsession

I have a new obsession.   It's super simple and it's really fun.  I can take it with me and work on it on the bus if I want (which is nice because my bus ride is 45min long).

What is it you ask?  Why it's Kumihimo. 

I have been so many talented artist making beautiful braids, that I couldn't wait to try.  I got myself a little disk.  I would love to have a one of the nice wooden stands, but I just don't have the funds right now.  Maybe some day.
  
But my little foam Kumihimo disk works great.  I can take it with me because it's small and can be thrown in my bag.  I have the nice plastic bobbins to hold all my fiber in place, so the strings don't get tangled in the bag.  And I made it's own little pouch so everything is together.  I can sit on the bus and get about 3-4 inches of braid finished, depending on the type of fiber I use.  It's perfect.  And the best part is I now have something to do during my boring bus rides.  See I get motion sickness very easily, but the braiding doesn't seem to bring it on like reading does.  Like I said perfect bus companion.

I'm also, for the first time in my life, really excited about all the different fibers I can use.  I've always liked fibers, yarns, ribbons, but never had a use for them.  Until now.  I now find myself looking at every type of fiber out there and imagining what it would look like braided.  It's a strange new obsession for me.

I've even tried my hand at making beaded braids.  This is perfect since I have no concept of crocheting or knitting.  I've tried, many a time, lets not get into that here.  :-)  I've made one necklace I'm keeping for myself and now I'm working on a second one that I might make a big beautiful pendent for.

It's so much fun.  I highly recommend it.  And if you don't want to buy a Kuminimo disk, there are a number of places on the we that show you how to make them out of cardboard, foam, or even a paper plate.  So you have no excuses to try this fun technique out.  

Now I'm off to work on some projects (I'm making two more bookmarks and a larger beaded tapestry) and get some things done around the house (plenty to paint). Take care.         

Some new stuff!!!

So, I finally cleaned out my photo tent and started shooting some of my new stuff.  And boy is the pile of things I need to photograph large.  So I might as well get started. 
  

Here is a bead embroidered pendent that I actually made at the beginning of the summer. It's my two favorite colors and my favorite color combo; green and purple.  I love the cat eye cab in the center, it gives it such a nice depth.

This is just a taste of all the things I've been working on this summer.  I have a few more pendents and my newest obsession, kumihimo!!!!   

Custom Order - Bookmark

I have finally cleaned out by photo tent.  Yup that is what my photo tent has looked like for the past month.  Stuff we didn't know what to do with was just piled right inside of it.  That's the only bad thing about it being in the extra bedroom right now.  But that's part of owning and remodeling a house, right?!?  And just ignore the walls in this picture, we haven't gotten around to updating this room yet.

But enough about the photo tent, it's all cleaned out and ready for pictures of everything I've been working on.  And boy have I been busy.  I have a whole bunch of projects to share with all of you.

And the first one is a custom book mark I made for one of my customers.  This is the third bookmark she has bought from me, and the second that was custom designed for her. 

She ordered this book mark over the summer after her father passed. She wanted something that would remind her of him. She designed this one herself, with each one of the elements representing something about her father. The plaid his Scotish heritage, the clover represents his Iris heritage, and the rosemaling (the swirls) represent his Norwegian heritage.  She plans on keeping it in a book that was very dear to him.

It's a simple, yet special design for her.  It took me quite some time to get it the exact way she wanted it, but she is very happy with it and I'm happy that she chose me to help make something so dear to her.

And stay tuned for some more goodies.  I have a bunch of them :-)