Blog

The top photo are eggs made by Esther Olivari and the bottom is the class egg that I taught

The peacock is made fom cold porcelain, and deco clay which has been painted with spray paints . Each feaher is cut out seprately and fringed before painting. The class takes about 8 hours to complete. I had 5 students and all of them enjoyed the class. The next bird that will be taught is the white peacock in Dallas Tx

I have been working on a kit that I picked up some time ago.  It was a face , and so I decided that I would do something interesting with it.  I messed around and came up with this.  I hope that  you find it as whimsical as I do.

I also got  my beads from my partner in the Blog Hop.  Her name is Laura.  and she sent me some beautiful glass leaves that I can not wait to use.  I have a design in mind and I hope that It will turn out .  You will have to wait and see on that.

 

Here is the work space at the moment.  I am going to the Sacrament egg show. and I am getting some eggs ready to fly with me.

 

Hope you have a wonderful week and keep on crafting.

It is that time of the year again, when we start to get ready for the annual Blog Hop hosted by Linda Anderson .   So as I sit here and start to get all my goodies ready for my partner,  I can not but reflect on how this has helped to broaden my color horizons, make me new and wonderful friends from all over, and increase my confidence as a beeder.

So Linda,  I thank you for giving us the possibility to do this,  I know that it is not easy getting everything coordinated, and hoping that everyone does their part.   I will be posting this week my items that my partner will receive from me. and have them to her in the mail before the deadline.

 

From the bead board this week.  I finished up Miriam Shimon’s bracelet from the cruise.  It is done with sotache,  which I think I am finally beginning to master.  I can not wait to try and do a few things on my own now with this technique.    I am also interested in trying to make some more of Sherri Sarafini’s necklaces, and try to do something like that on my own.

I got to go on the bead cruise which is sponsored by the Palm beach bead society.  Seven days in the Caribbean and great ports of call.  We had 4 wonderful teachers aboard.  Betty Stephan,  Sherry Sarafini, Becki Haley, and Miriam Shimon.  All the teachers came with wonderful classes, and great kits for us to purchase.  ( we won’t divulge how much I spent.)

My first class was with Betty Stephan.  I have to say that I learned new techniques from all of my teachers and also learned new ideas that I could do with items that I had, and just never knew what to do with.  Second class was with Sherry Sarafini, and third class was with Miriam Shimon.  I greatly enjoyed my classes. and enjoyed getting to know the personalities of the teachers.  I would take classes from all 4 of them again,  no problem.

I managed to finish two of the classes,  Betty Stephan’s, and Sherry Sarafini’s

here are what they look like

I have really spent the last few weeks getting caught up on designs and kits that I had. I now have several new necklaces and earrings to wear.   I need to start on some bracelets next to even out the picture.

I have done kits by Sherry Sarafini. and Shelley Nybakke and designs by Beadsmagic.  I love all of them and how they turned out

I have been really working on the beading side of the business these past few weeks.  I have found several lovely necklaces that I wanted to do and have finally gotten most of them done.  Several of them were patterns from BeadsMagic.com that had been free.

I also finished up a Shelley Nybakke necklace and earrings called Detour from Normal.   This is a super fun necklace to make and I have it in a second colorway that I hope to get done this week.

Also finished the  Tuffet Lily Pendant  from Amee McNamara  ( Amee Runs With Scissors)   That was a lot of fun also.  I had never really worked with Soutache before, and now feel like I can incorporate it into some of my designs.

 

I finished the bead embroidery that I was working on,  and I also finished Jill Wiseman’s Dream Weaver Necklace that I had wanted to do.    I also managed to get another necklace started  that I am really enjoying getting done.

I have found that being in my new studio at the house is very conducive to getting work done, because I am able to shut out all the noise and distractions .    I can then give myself two hours to just concentrate on a project and Wow,  I am getting lots done.

I will be posting some of my egg work in the coming weeks as I get more and more of them done.

I worked on a cute necklace and bracelet  with charms that I had gotten in Washington State.    I added some Papua shells in colors.  I really love how it looks.

I have got several projects waiting on the boards.   A necklace by Jill Wiseman, and two other ideas that I hound.  I can not wait until I get to start.

I have getting some more bead embroidery done and right now I am working on this project.  It is to be used in a give away that I will be doing in Jan..  I will be with the Bead Society of Palm Beach Fla. on their third beading cruise.   I am looking forward to the teachers that will be on board.   I had wonderful teachers last year,  and had a wonderful time getting to meet and make new friends.

I have used a piece of gimp as the center piece, and then using size 15 delicas I am filling in the design.  After doing the design I will use size 11 seed beads up to finish the outside and add a fringe with size 11 and small shells.    Here is what it looks like so far.

I will show the finished piece next week.    I will also  be showing  an egg that I am decorating.  ( Maybe two).

Well.  I thought I should do a little slide show of a egg that I did some popotillo on.

In Mexico, straw mosaics are known as “popotillo art,” from the Spanish name for sacaton grass, Sporobolus, or popote de cambray. The art form has Precolumbian roots.   The grass is first hand-dyed.   Then the artist draws a design, which is then covered by a fine layer of “cera de Campeche,” a special type of beeswax. The straw is then cut down to workable sizes, sometimes as fine as a single millimeter in length. The artist then carefully presses the pieces of straw into the beeswax. When the design is finished, a fixative is applied to protect the finished work.

Popotillo  Beetle.

 

 

There are many designs which can be used to make eggs or jewelry, as well as  serving trays, pictures and other objects..  Please feel free to ask me mre about this wonderful art form.