Tanya's Shibori Ribbon Blog Hop

Back during the February She Made hop, I was in awe of Tanya's piece and had never heard of Shibori Ribbon.  She offered to send me a piece.  And here I am, part of the Hop!  I wasn't sure what to do with it...it seems like embroidery is a good way to go with this ribbon and I am hoping to see lots of that today.  But I am not an embroiderer and after getting this in the mail and feeling how luxurious it is, I knew I couldn't start with this ribbon.  I did sew crystals all over it at one point.  Thankfully when I pulled them out of the ribbon to start over, there was no damage done.  I eventually settled on a choker.  I even used chain!  A rarity for me :-)  The metal end pieces that connect the ribbon and beadwork to the chain came from Cynthia.
The photos were taken by me...of me.  I did my best.
I needed the rainbow colors in the ribbon to pop.  I tried a few different ways to make this happen, but ultimately, I went with white pearls, black AB bicones, and black matte bugles and seed beads.
I am thrilled with how this turned out!  I will be getting more Shibori...I probably will not embroider with it (but you never know!), but I will use it like I use the reclaimed sari ribbon.  The accordion look that it has really excites me!

Thanks Tanya!  You are a wonderful hostess and were generous to introduce me to something new.

Tanya Goodwin's blog is A Work in Progress and I never miss an opportunity to see what Tanya has made.  She is one of the absolute best beadweavers and chain maillers out there.

Here is the list of Shibori Ribbon Participants ~ please take some time to see what lovelies they made :

Tanya 

Maryanne

Alenka

Monique

Carolyn

Mary

Catherine

Christine

Sharyl

Therese

P.S.  If you still want to sign up for A Time To Stitch 5 Blog Hop, click HERE.  

A Time To Stitch 5 : The Same But Different

Therese and I are hosting another A Time To Stitch Hop.  Please sign up here or over at Therese's Treasures.  We will need your name, e-mail, and blog address in order to put you on the list.

Sign ups for A Time To Stitch 5 start today and go until Thursday April 17th.
Reveal Date is June 17th.


This time :
            You will be taking the same stitch of your own choosing and make three of the same pieces with it, just changing up the main beads each time.  You will either change up the size, the color, the finish, or the shape.


Example :
           If I choose to make a peyote stitch bracelet, I will make one bracelet with size 15 seed beads, one with size 11 seed beads and one with size 8 seed beads.
OR
I will make one in red, one in blue, and one in brown.
OR
I will make one in red matte, one in red transparent, one on red iridescent.
OR
I will make one in seed beads, one in cubes, and one in peanuts.


The idea behind this Hop is to see how changing the bead can change the whole look of the piece, even using the same stitch.  It is fascinating how bead choices, as much as stitch choices, change the piece.  Hopefully this little experiment will broaden all our repertoires!

Sign Up today through next Thursday for this easy Hop ~ work with a stitch you are comfortable with, and have a little light fun this Spring :-D

Simplified Weaving.

I am making these bracelets when I am not  making Little Quilt squares or working on hop pieces.  Stitching these is a real pleasure ~ easy and stitches I enjoy.  I like the simplicity of the lines and colors.
Ladder stitch down the base, brick stitch lining the base, a whip stitch lining the brick.

Size 11 seeds in cream and light green, size 8 forest green beads, two buttons

Size 11 seed beads in black and white, size 8 steel color seeds, button

Size 11 beads in an olive iridescent and pink, size 8 in dark bronze, lobster clasp









Thanks for stopping in :-D

She Made She Made ~ March

Therese and I are here this month with another She Made ~ She Made!

This month's beads are from Therese's stash.  They include dark bronze fire polish beads, several agate rounds, and a beautiful Butterfly from Chinook Designs.

I made three pieces with these beads.

First up, a necklace:

Then a bracelet that I LOVE:

And another bracelet I did before I did the one I LOVE:

Let's run over and see what Therese Made!!!

Creative Continuum of Seven ~ March

Today is the Third of Seven dates from January through July we will be posting work we made with goodie bags other Bloggers sent us.  Alicia had the idea that we each send out six packages with beads or focals and on the 26th of each month we reveal what we made with a certain participant's package.

I am honored to be in this group of Seven...these ladies are a creative bunch.  

Participating in this Event and their Package Month and theme are : 

Monique of A Half-Baked Notion  :  January ~ National Gallery of Canada

Moi  :  February ~ Round and Round 

Sally of The Studio Sublime  :  March ~ Contrasting Colors

Therese of Therese's Treasures  :  April ~ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Alicia of All The Pretty Things (and the brains behind this lovely continuing hop :-D )  :  May ~ Seasons

Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers  :  June ~ SomethingOld/SomethingNew/SomethingBorrowed/SomethingBlue

Emma of A Polymer Penchant  :  July ~ not sure if Emma picked a theme but I would say, Beauty!

Sally sent me a mix of Czech beads from Arte Bella Surplus  and a focal from Kristi Bowman Designs.  I was hoping to make a bracelet, but as soon as I got to work with these beads, I knew what I needed to do.  And I knew that it had to be simple.

Earth and Sky Necklace

Thank you Sally...and thank you Alicia!

Next Month, Therese's Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds!  

Little Quilts

My Mom has been quilting since forever. I have attended quite a few quilt shows with her.  I have been an honored recipient of a few of her quilts.  And I have had challenge of making a couple with her too.  She is a very good, kind, patient teacher.  She has tried with me.  The fault is all mine.  I just am not at ease with a needle and thread unless there are beads involved.  The first quilt I made with her was a Star Log Cabin.  To help me along, she asked me to put a few beads on it.  My breaking point was that damn rotary cutter...I had to cut 144 triangles.  144!!!  TRIANGLES!!!  I swore I would never quilt again.  The next quilt we worked on was called Burgoyne Surrounded.  There were 100 pieces in a 12" square.  ONE HUNDRED PIECES in a TWELVE INCH SQUARE!!!  I was done after that.  Truly done.  Mom understands.  She still invites me on her quilt weekends and I bead and the quilters quilt and there is peace.  Cynthia came last year :-D  We had a great time!

It is no wonder some of these quilts seeped into my brain.  I sleep under 2 of them these winter nights.  They were bound to make an appearance in my beadwork at some point.  I am not sure if these designs are specific quilt patterns.  I think they probably are not.  Maybe someday soon I will take some actual quilt patterns and bead them.  Maybe I should start with Star Log Cabin and Burgoyne Surrounded.  Maybe you will join me?

On Monday, I showed you these Little Quilt Bracelets :

I made two others, because I wasn't ready to stop yet.

This one is a sampler.  I used the same 4 colors, but each square is different then the next.

I linked this next one as diamonds instead of squares.  I like it!  

I have a strong feeling these Lil' Q Bracelets will be showing up often in my stash :-)

Thanks Mom!!!

Beginnings

Back when I first became interested in beads, it was due to the many hours I spent as a child at museums in New York.  Whenever I was told we were going to the Museum, I would cross my fingers that it would be the Museum of the American Indian.  Sometimes it was, but not often enough.  When we went there, I would lose myself in the beadwork.  Simple colors, elaborate designs.  Simple colors, simple designs.  It didn't matter.  It was beads and it was all good.  These pieces were made last week and brought me back to where it all began for me.

I am starting a gallery tab with further information on each piece. It is time to expand the blog just a bit :-)

Brick and Ladder Stitch,
Old button from my Gram's stash,
Black Suede, jump rings (red beads from Liz at Bead Contagion)

Square Stitch, Stringing, button from Gram's stash, button hole idea from the Sunshine girl, red beads from Liz.

Flat Spiral,  red crystals from Liz, button from a button store (that I had no need to be in but bought a lot anyway!) in NYC with Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers .

Little Quilt Squares.
Peyote/netting stitch.
Jump rings, lobster claw clasp.

If you saw this on Facebook, it inspired a few more bracelets!  One I will show you now and the others will be here in a couple days.

I LOVE THESE!!!

Same description as the one above with black as the base color.















Thanks for stopping by :-)  Hope you have a great week and GOOD WEATHER.