process of petrified wood pendant ....

 seems this piece is taking me longer than expected,  wish I had more to share with you all but ...
I managed to stay true to my choice of focal :)
 I always have a soft spot for polished petrified wood,  it has a real earthy feel to it,  something beautiful without alot of dazzle or glitz ;)  the beads seem to be guiding me in doing the embroidery  on this pendant / pin.  
  











   

Time  is ticking , and I am running a bit behind schedule :) , hoping to make the deadline for the Etsy Beadweaver's November Challenge.  I have started a spiral rope for this challenge and am not sure what direction I am taking it , maybe a necklace or lariat,  if  things go right I will incorporate the petrified wood focal I have chosen.

I am pleased with the colors,  different browns and gold seed beads, 4mm firepolish amber colored glass, and  4-5mm dark chocolate brown cathedral glass beads. So far the rope reminds me of indian corn or maze, perfect for fall. Well atleast in my eyes :) I have done a few more inches than what is shown here , believe I measured the rope at 14" so far,  I definitely have a ways to go .

At the moment Smokey is overseeing all that I do , he tends to stay close when I am under the weather , so to speak, especially if food is involved:)     On another topic I have to mention how great the Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild is doing , now we have a blog , facebook page, and a group on yahoo,  and we have started voting for the very first bead fest  theme ;)  check out the blog here: http://www.etsybeadembroideryguild.blogspot.com

BEAD SALE !! Agate Pin

Big bead sale tomorrow at StringBeads in Chico, CA. , I have been to another one of their big sales and I do tend to save money when the seed beads are 40% off  .     Not to mention all the other goodies that are on sale.   I am hoping to get there before noon,  I know buying beads can be cheaper online ,   but hey 40% off is just as good and no shipping, plus I get to examine them personally,  I don't like spending money on seed beads that are not quality. Happy Bead Buying To Me!

here is a couple images of my agate pin I finished up this week.  Sometimes its good to take a step back and make something you can finish in a shorter amount of time,  that does not mean the quality is less just the piece is not so elaborate, thats how I look at it.  I chose a freeform cut agate  I polished myself, somehow this makes it more interesting :) keeps my attention . Which is definitely needed.

I embroidered blue size 11 seed beads around the agate , using a silvery white size 12 and size 15 translucent white to do the bezeling securing the stone in place.

I hope the images are clear enough on your screen as they are a little out of focus on mine :)  In finishing the pin I decided to use a spiral rope twist to give the stone a little extra flair  and texture ;)

In doing this pin I thought of the Trinity River, I had imagined a fast running current and imagined the agate was a large stone among many with large waves crashing into them , as if they were in a hurry to get some where..

                                                 the pin measures 1 1/2" by 2 1/4"

I am not one to do alot of cooking when I get up in the morning, I stick with coffee and the quick glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast, its fast , no mess. What more could you want?     What about a simple way to make a bead emrbroidery collar pattern? I decided to give this a try.   I just traced the can on some paper ,

 cut it out and checked to see if it fit correctly , retraced onto the embroidery surface and presto instant collar template,  then I glued a freeform piece of petrified wood as a focal point.  So far so good...

Here is a close up photo of the petrified wood I have chosen, I like to use stones/agates that I personally polish. 

I can't do any beading so I guess rearranging them will have to do. I have decided to group them by color, quality, size, delicas, czech, toho , etc.    At the moment they are kind of a mess:)  , their just thrown in the tool box , that must change:)   I think being organized when starting a piece is a must for me, I don't like to open a drawer and find different kinds of beads mixed up, left over beads usually end up in the 'Bead Soup' drawer , a must if you bead regularly :)

                                                                                                                        

Ahhhh, yes the drawer I seem to over look, filled with more seed beads than I have tubes for , not a problem if I didn't put all of them into plastic containers.  Happy Beading !

Halloween 2010

 neice Amelia and nephew Jacob

Raining Seed Beads...

Its time for the rainy season again, fall is here and the leaves are changing colors and falling off the trees, real pretty.. till I am in the middle of my yard raking up leaves.... yuck.  Rain has a way of making me depressed :(   ,  if it wasn't for college football and Halloween I would hibernate like a bear through winter. :) .     I found this little peyote seed beaded  purse  I had made when I first started beadweaving,  the memory of making it kind of helped bring me out my depressed mood :)  Even then I could not follow a pattern , just techniques, well thats my take on it, your thoughts?  

I have shown my picasso cuff before but its time to vote for the Etsy Beadweaver's October Challenge , so go check out all the beautiful work this group has done and vote for your favorite between 9th and 15th. 
http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com
I must say I am rather happy to be apart of the new Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild,  our group is growing and very dedicated .  Last night I discovered I was in the EBEG team treasury curated by Chris Maj (beadn4fun).
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/OTIwNjAxMHw4NTM3NzI4MTg/bead-embroidery-wearable-art

No beadwork to share with you today, hands are a bit stiff from using a thick suede leather as an embroidery surface :), so I am taking a little break from my beading,  if I am lucky I will be able to leave the beads alone for 3 days.  I am still brain storming about a collar I want to make.  Figured it was about time to introduce my energetic border collie Brodie. Always full of smiles and ready to play catch :)