Looming

Hi everyone!  I'm happy that you stopped by today.  I'm sure you're wondering what that title means.  It means that I took a bead looming class!  I know that doesn't sound like anything earth shattering to anyone, but it is something I needed to get talked into!  So, for me it was a shift in my thinking.  Let me explain.  I never liked bead looming.  For that matter, I never was very interesting in fiber weaving.  I've done lots of things with fiber and fabric, but weaving wasn't something that appealed to me.  I tried bead looming, but again, it didn't appeal.  To begin with, it's so flat and I love dimension.  It's flatness makes it uninteresting for me to work on.  But, last year I began to change my mind.  I went to a lecture and demo given by a bead looming artist, Erin Simonetti, at Bead Soup.
Erin's work is amazing.  She has been looming since she was a child.  The techniques she has developed are incredible and take looming to a new level.  No more perfectly flat pieces of beaded "fabric".   She creates all the designs herself, so each is original.  The lecture was the introduction to a series of classes she began teaching at Bead Soup.  But, I resisted.  I have so many things on my plate, or should I say on my work table, that I didn't need another one!  So, I watched what others created in the classes and admired the projects but I resisted!  Some of my friends told me I should try it and I resisted.  Finally, I decided to take one of  Erin's classes.  It was a small amulet bag that had a smocked front!  Smocking in beads!!  I used to smock.  I even made a couple of dresses for my daughter when she was a little girl.  But, smocking in beads was so intriguing.  So, I signed up.  This is what we loomed.

 

 

The front.

 

The back.

 

Detail of the smocking and fringe.

 

 

I developed my own fringe design and got to use the fantastic new dagger beads, which I love and have been wanting a project to come along so I could use them.  I replaced the silver chain Erin had used on top of the fringe with a spiral rope of silver beads and the last dagger I had in the middle.  And, I have a beaded chain pattern that I like so I used that for the neck strap.  But, the wonderful smocked beading and the charted flowers are all Erin's! 

 

I enjoyed the class and learning some of Erin's techniques.  I probably will never be a committed bead looming person, but I enjoy Erin's designs and so tomorrow I'm taking my second looming class.  We'll be making one of two designs for a Fall cuff.  I'm doing the leaf cuff which has some interesting techniques that only Erin could come up with.   And, I can't resist Fall themed projects of any kind and I love cuff, so I had to do this class!   It should be interesting!  I'll share when it's finished!

 

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 



 



The Muse

There is a young designer in Sedona, Arizona by the name of Scarlett Lanson.  Her work is incredible for her age.  She has decided that beads and beading will be her life's work and she is definitely committed to her goal.  She has a beading contest on her website, TheBeadersMuse.com, called "Use the Muse".  The contest is sponsored by Artbeads.com, which is a wonderful resource for beaders.  Scarlett sends you a kit of beads and crystals along with a component which she designates as the "Muse".  You can use as much or as little of the kit as you choose just so long as you use the Muse.  You can add anything from you own stash as well. The only other stipulation is that you keep the muse a secret until the winners are revealed on her site.  It's a great contest because anyone can enter regardless of their experience.  Scarlett's choice of bead colors is wonderful, and different every time.  You can also use any technique, beadweaving, stringing, polymer, anything as long as you use the muse.  The variety and quality of the beadwork that results is wonderful.

I had entered "Use the Muse 2" last year.  I had a lot of fun designing the necklace that I entered.  I titled it "Dusk in a Creole Garden" because I kept thinking of the courtyard gardens in New Orleans while I was working on it.

This is the finished piece.  While it didn't win I had a lot of fun with it.  I don't use blue very often, especially not the dusty blues which were prevalent in this kit.  The muse was the Lillypilly doughnut in the middle of the pendant.  That is where the inspiration for the title came from, which is the whole idea.  The muse inspires you and your creation!

I skipped Use the Muse3 because it was in the fall and that is always such a busy time around here.  But, I decided to participate in the fourth contest.  I just finished my entry this morning and I can show you a tease of what I did.   I can't show you the entire piece until the contest is over and the winners are announced on Scarlett's website.

I decided to use my very favorite technique which is freeform beadweaving.  I had a wonderful time creating this piece.  Instead of using freeform peyote I used a freeform netting stitch.  It was great fun, and I like having the two methods to choose from when I want to do freeform.  I think I'm going to name this one "River Bed" because the colors, and the way the beads flow together look like a dry river bed.  This time the colors in the kit were ones that I really like and I added some sage green beads to contribute to the earthiness of the composition.

Eventually, I'll be able to show you the entire necklace.  In the meantime, I have to go clean up the beads and plan the next project!  Thanks for visiting with me today.  Hope you're day is full of creativity!

Something new...

Well, for me  it was new.  I had never done an inside bezel.  I don't know if that's what it should be called, an inside bezel, but since that's what it is, that's what I call it.  This is the result.

This is my newest necklace.  It started when Kathy, who owns a great bead shop called Bead Soup, at Savage Mill in Savage, Maryland, showed me some pottery pieces made by another artist who has a shop at the Mill.   Charlene Randolph owns The Clayground and makes these great pendants, among other wonderful pottery creations.  A customer of Kathy's had taken one of the pendants and bezeled the inside of the hole.  So, of course, I had to learn how to do it.  One Friday morning we sat at the bead shop and Jo taught  Kathy and me how to bezel the inside of the pendant.  It takes some trial and error to get the correct number of beads for the inital ring of beads.  Each pendant is hand made so the diameter is different for each one.  But, when you've determined how many beads will fit, you just begin to peyote stitch the bezel.  I ended the peyote with a picot stitch.

Once the front of the bezel is completed you fit it into the hole and work from the back side to complete the bezel and keep it from slipping out.  This pendant had a small hole in the top so that a wire or thread could be inserted up through it.  I used that in the finishing to attach the pendant to the necklace.  Once the pendant was finished I decided I would use it as the closure on a covered cord.  I had the perfect batik fabric in my stash and I used that to cover cotton cording.   I finished the ends with peyote tubes and firepolished crystals.  I stitched a peyote tube for the bar and attached it to one side of the necklace with a ladder stitch tab.  I then used the small hole in the top of the pendant to attach it to the other side of the necklace, going through a firepolished crystal to keep it all in place.

I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I love the idea of a bezel inside a doughnut or pendant.  It was fun to work out how to put it all together.  Because I used the fabric tube for a necklace it's very comfortable and light weight. 

It's always fun to learn something new and to add to your store of techniques. 

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful day creating and maybe learing something new!

Fusion

I've always loved fiber, fabric and beads,  and the more color the better!  I started this adventure in creating doing needlepoint.  Gradually I moved on to crocheting, knitting, quilting, counted cross stitch and beading.  It didn't take long for the desire to combine all these wonderful things began to take hold.  The first thing I thought of was needlepointing the front of a vest.  I never have done that, although I still might some day.  I think I'd use even count fabric rather than needlepoint canvas so it wouldn't be so stiff.  Eventually, I began making jackets knitting the back and sleeves and using fabric for the fronts.  The black one is the first one I did and it's still my favorite.  I also made one with linen yarn and fabric (the second picture), which was published in the Salon section of Stampington's Belle Armoire.   

When I began making knitted jewelry I used beads and buttons as I told you in my last post.  But, soon I decided I had to use some fabric and possibly needlepoint canvas.  The first idea I came up with was to knit I-cords and make a pendant and bail out of fabric.  I decided to make folded fabric flowers and attach them to a base that I made from Timtex.  I fused silk fabric to  the Timtex  and stitched the flowers down with beaded centers. I also added leaf beads in between the flowers.  I fused the same fabric to Timtex for the bail.  Then I was left with unfinished edges!  Well, I decided to bind the edges with narrow bias binding.   I used the sewing machine to stitch the binding to the Timtex first and then turned it to the back and stitched it down by hand.  For a closure I picked up the ends of the I-cords on knitting needles and began a single I-cord,  knitting for about 3 inches.  I did this on each side.  I then cut triangles from the same purple silk that I used for the flowers and stitched them into a bell shape.  The bottom photo shows the closure.

  

Shortly after I finished this necklace I saw a posting about a wearable art show in California called Creative Expressions 2008.  I had never heard of the show, but I decided to send in photos of the necklace just for fun.  To my great surprise it was accepted!!  There was an opportunity to sell the piece, and so, once again, just for fun, I agreed to put it in that category.  Shortly before the show closed I recieved an email from the curator saying a collector of art jewelry had purchased the necklace!!  To say I was both humbled and thrilled at the same time is an understatement!  It was a wonderful experience!

Having used fabric, knitting and beads in that first necklace, I decided to make another piece and use some needlepoint canvas as well as knitting, fabric and beads!  I had this wonderful knitting ribbon which had gold leafing on the ribbon.  It's an interesting ribbon to knit with, but so cool I couldn't resist.  I knitted the i-cord and a flower which I  attached to the colored canvas with a dichroic button made by my friend TerrieVoigt (see my last post for a link to her website).  Once again I used Timtex as a base.  I covered it with a piece of gold lame fabric,  which is something I often did when I made needlepoint Christmas ornaments. When you aren't covering the canvas with solid stitching it looks nice to have a color or some glitz showing through the canvas.  I then covered the lame with the blue needlepoint canvas which I had stitched with a needle lace pattern and scattered beads.  The flower was stitched in the middle of the the circle.  For a backing I covered Timtex with a piece of the lame and hand stitched the two circles together.  I then stitched blue and green lentil beads to the edge.  I made the bail the same way I had made the other necklace, except that I used needlepoint canvas, and stitched an interlocking web pattern and scattered some beads on it. Once again, I lined Timtex with lame and covered it with the canvas.  I finished the edges with narrow bias binding made with a hand marbled fabric I had gotten at a quilt show.  I didn't want to leave the ends of the I-cord plain (life is too short not to embellish is my motto!) so I made stuffed tubes and attached them to the ends of the knitting.  I then used the lentil beads to create a collar around the top of the tubes where they attach to the I-cords. 

Both of the necklaces were really fun to create.  The ideas evolved as I worked on them.  I don't often have a completed design in mind when I start a project.  I just have a general idea of what I want to do and the materials I want to work with, and I go from there.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But that's all part of the fun!

Hope you enjoy seeing these pieces and thanks for visiting!