Egg.xactly....

I've finally gotten from the paper and pencil stage to actually putting beads around the egg!

It's an amazing thing.

As usual, since I'm not using delicas for this project (the price was a bit out of my reach), the first 2 rows had to be done twice. Even though the average number of beads per inch is 16, its too random to actually be able to just do the math (16 beads per inch times 14 inches around at the widest point), string up the beads and go.

The second time around (after adjusting on both sides in the blue field) it fit perfectly.


Right at this moment, I think it looks rather like a hopsack dress with a gaudy belt around it.....but I know it will improve.

I had originally intended to give the brown paper mache egg a coat of white paint before I started with the beading, but I forgot to do it (forgot I even MEANT to do it until I was 5 rows in (actually 7 rows, accounting for the 2 frogged ones), at which point I said "FORGET IT!" So there you go....

I had considered trying to write out a pattern for this thing, but I've decided that if one is going to write patterns, one must use delicas so the results can be duplicated.

When I was looking for something else (don't you love serendipity?!) I discovered that I had a very small wood egg. I'm thinking about working over that one with size 15s in some sort of religious pattern and making it into a necklace. We'll see.


It has become obvious that I have committed some kind of Ticker/Blogger "faux pas" in that having put my count down to Nevada City in the body of a previous blog, I now can't figure out how to use it again.....NUTS! I can tell you that as I write this, there are 61 days to the Nevada City Teddy Bear Convention.

I began working on the third in the series of Toucans. This has been a fun series in that each bird is very different, and that this is the only animal we've made that we haven't given a name. The latest version has had some major changes made....the first two had one piece, completely black wings as well as all black tail feathers. The one I'm now working on has red on the upper tail and black on the underside. The outside wing has a red "shoulder" and a blue "tip". Quite different! Because of all the different colored small pieces, this one is completely hand stitched, so it takes a while to get him done.




There are now 53 arcs complete.

time to go get breakfast.....

work progresses.....

Finished up the pin that I was working on.

This is another of the ones made with the tiny size 15 beads. The dangling flowers were an experiment, and I still haven't decided if I like it. This one is a bit larger too, measures 2 inches wide by 3 1/4 inches tall from top to tip of the longest dangle.



and finished up the chart for the letters on the back of the egg.

Also did all of the necessary counting and calculating to start on that project today.

And just because I may from time to time in the process of working on the egg need a break from it, I got another bracelet all set up to work on too.





Nevada City is the first big bear show we do every year, and the count down has begun!

Yesterday I started doing the stitching on a new toucan.

I realized as I was browsing through the latest teddy bear magazine, that I've been making bears for over 25 years. I've actually been making stuff from my own patterns for about 25 years. Some of the other bear makers had Silver Anniversary editions last year. I'm thinking about doing a one-of-a-kind silver bear for the occasion, and perhaps some buttons printed on shiny silver paper to celebrate.

All that is sort of in the "I'm thinking" stage.





51 arcs done!

time to get moving....things to do....people to annoy!

of cake pans and graph paper.....

After all our cake escapades over the weekend, I decided yesterday to actually get a set of round cake pans.

We were in Walmart, and I was able to get the 2 big ones for a ridiculously low price, so I went ahead and got them. There will be more cake practice in our future!

The top pan is an official Wilton 6 inch wedding cake pan. The other pans that are available to me to use are 8", 10" and 12", but a 6" just feels like a better size for the top layer on the kind of cake we're planning for.

And then there are the two other tools.....a large, offset spatula, which is designed to make the frosting spreading a lot easier, and a tiny little brush for proper care and cleaning of the tips.....




And this is the chart that I worked on for about 3 hours yesterday.

Can you see the lilly? All of the background outside the blue lines will be blue, I decided I didn't need to color all of it in.

There are programs on the market that let you scan in a picture and they will program the graph, list the colors, etc., etc., but there is something organic about putting pencil to paper to create the graph.

I do use my computer to print the picture and then run it through again to print the necessary grid over it, but then I do this step which lets me "tweek" the shape and placement of the elements of the design if I want to (and I usually do).

Today I will finish up the graph for the lettering that goes on the back of the egg...it is in Cyrilic script and means "Christ is Risen", the traditional Easter greeting. This graphing shouldn't take so long, however.

Because I wasn't ready to start beading on the egg last night, I worked on another small pin in pink and chocolate brown....another sort of stylized heart shape that I plan to put a few "dangles" off the point of....we'll see how that works....I've also been thinking about creating a pin with something suspended in a center opening, but that design isn't clear yet.




Another arc done last night. 50 done, 46 to go!

Today I will be trying to get my daughter's taxes done. I'm still waiting for a form so I can do ours.

Time to get to it!

Bracelet done!

and its PINK!!

This is a first, I haven't done any beaded pieces this size that were pink, and I can tell you, it really jumps out at you!

Once again, I just used the matrix of the center stone to create sort of freeform patterning over the rest of the surface of the bracelet.

Pretty cool.

The next big beading project is a BIG paper mache egg that I'm going to cover with beads patterned with an Easter Lilly. There will be lots of charting and counting, etc., to prepare for this one. (So there may actually be some smaller stuff in between too)




And then there is this item.

DH says it looks like a sandal for someone with a big square foot.

This is an experimental knit cover for a Wet Swiffer. I knit this for my daughter who has one of these lovely "mop replacements", which means I did it basically having seen the thing once and making some drawings and taking measurements.

I'll be shipping it off to her to test then she can let me know if it is worth saving the paper where I wrote down what I did!

I think it looks pretty strange, but if it works, I won't be so worried about that part.




There are now 49 arcs done, on the downhill slide......

answers to "what is it" and other fun stuff......

Yesterday I was talking about the new silver pieces that DH was creating.

This one didn't get posted because it wasn't quite done, but I think you'll agree with me that it was worth waiting for!

Measuring 1 1/2" wide by 2" tall, this is probably his most amazing piece to date.

No, that isn't a reflection or a bad light on the leaf. After he got finished with this piece, he applied gold leaf to the uneven surface to create this effect!

And I love the curve and bend in this one too, it looks like a real leaf, frozen in silver and dusted with gold.

WOW!!


This is a quick shot of the bear that I finished yesterday.

After fussing with his feet A LOT!, I decided that trying to applique "yoyos" for toe pads with thick upholstry velvet on something this small was the height of insanity, and went with embroidery instead....

I do like the way he came out, and the fish that DH did for him is wonderful (third time being the charm here!)

Today there will be serious photo shooting and cropping and all, so I can get this entry for the 2007 ACE off by this afternoon's deadline (Ok, nothing like pressing the last minute here!!) But in fact, I hadn't planned to enter him until next month, for the February semi finals, but since the January deadline for submitting is today, I might as well.

We've already been talking about doing another entry for the ACE this year. The theme is the International Polar Year, so of course, polar bears are required here. I'm thinking maybe one on all fours, a bit more of the realistic look, since this guy is obviously a "character"!



Congrats Nancy, you got the right answer! Yes, yesterday's picture of red boxes is indeed wedding cake.

This picture was yesterday afternoon's adventure with cake. To read all about this adventure, click here (trust me, its a fun adventure!)

Because I spent so much time yesterday afternoon fiddling with bear feet, I ran out of time last night before I finished the beading on the bracelet. Hopefully today I can get that accomplished.

Meantime, today will include all of the usual Monday stuff....laundry, cleaning bathrooms.....

ONWARD!

A busy day in the studio.....

....mostly by DH, who went on a "creative tear" yesterday and created 5 (yes FIVE!) new silver pieces! (My part on these is basically to keep the paperwork straight and put on the chains -- sometimes putting together raw chain and a clasp for them)

So here are his new pieces:



This one measures 1 3/8" tall by 3/4" wide.

The stone is a natural garnet (just about the only natural stone that will withstand the "cooking" in the kiln that is required to make these).

This one is on a 20" chain.

I think this one looks like a little pocket book....a very "in" fashion statement just now.



This one is all silver, no stone.

He used his new dapping block set to give this one a curved surface (which doesn't show up very well in the picture).

I called this one The Daisy.

It is 1 1/8" in diameter, and its on an 18" chain.




Measuring just 3/4" in diameter, I named this one The Fish Charm.

It has a sort of rustic, textured look. Something different from a lot of his other pieces since there is no added embellishment.

This one is on a 16" chain.



Another 3/4" piece on a 16" chain.

On this one he layered the textured heart on top.

So I named this one the Heart Charm.




And this one, which I named the Open Heart.

This piece measures 1" by 1" and is on an 18" chain.

He was experimenting with an idea he has that will incorporate this shape with a stone suspended in the center. Now that one should be really interesting!

It will be fun to see what he comes up with next!




This is today's "What Is It?"


I'll give you all a chance to guess, then I'll see who's been paying attention!





The arcs on the quilt are officially half finished....good progress being made!

I can report that the errant fish has been completed without further trips to the frog pond (oh good, who needs a fish that croaks!) The bear has a face, but I'm still working on the appliqued foot pads....tiny little circles of upholstry velvet stitched to a curved, stuffed wool felt surface....what WAS I thinking....but I'll get it finished today (hopefully!)

One end of the pink bracelet is all beaded, and I started into the last quarter of the beadwork last night, so that piece will be done soon too!

As usual, lots of work happens with no discernable progress, then everything is done all at once.

So today I will try to get the new necklaces up on the website, and perhaps another bear or two....

time to get to it......

swimming upstream.....

and who knew this little part of the latest bear project would be so difficult?

This first fish is the one that DH so carefully painted...problem is, the two images (back side, front side) were not exactly the same size, and they had serious "undercuts" so it just didn't work out.....



Then there is this little "mutant".....notice carefully that there seems to be some problem with the back fin on his top side.....hmmmm

well, its obvious that I have looked at more birds (or pictures of them) than fish, since I couldn't manage to get the fins right

The third version is in the works. Its all stitched, and yes, the fins are all the right way (there's no chant like with doll making ... "thumbs up, thumbs up"), and its now waiting for the paint job.

Meantime today I hope to get a face and the other detail work done on the polar bear this goes with.

I worked some more on a new bracelet yesterday. It is about half finished.

Oh yes, and there are some updates on our website click here to check out the new pins and animals I added.





47 arcs done, one shy of half way

We're going to venture out in the cold today....need to get milk and corn chips and who knows what else.....

Major disappointment and a happy dance.....

Right about now I should be riding along in the van, headed East across Nebraska, headed to Des Moines, Iowa.

Instead, I'm here, pounding out a message on my computer keyboard....

We woke up yesterday morning to more snow (nice picture from outside my front window here) and the forecast of still more snow to come and some truly frigid temperatures.

I spent most of yesterday being bummed out, unpacking everything and generally grumping around the house wondering if we had made the right choice to cancel our trip.

Well, this morning I'm sure we did. The news has been full of reports of accidents and problems with highways closed because the anti-ice stuff that they use on the roads just isn't effective at 18 degrees BELOW ZERO!!!!

{sigh!} But now it won't be until after our April bear show (so, sometime in May, I guess) that I can take my jewelry anywhere .... which kind of takes the wind out of the creative sails.

On the up side, however, I was notified yesterday that the on line magazine I had submitted things to used just about EVERYTHING I sent in! I don't get paid for these articles, but I'm hoping the publicity will get us an order or two.

Click HERE to read the feature article about us.

Click HERE to read the article about the makeover of one of our bears (and check out the added google ads at the end of the article for a real laugh!)

Click HERE to read the story and get a printable sheet of the paperdoll bears I submitted

Click HERE to see one of our newest frogs

Click HERE to see Clem and Daisy





There are now 46 arcs done -- 2 more to go to be half way on the arcs.

I did work on a bracelet yesterday. This one is rhodochrosite and beads, and its coming along nicely.

Not sure what I'll be doing today, probably working more on the bracelet and maybe working on updating the web page.

....into the fray.....

three more done....

Have been working on pins (its usually easier to sell these kind of things if there is an assortment for folks to choose from).

This one is entirely beads (those now famous size 15s -- I got in a new assortment of colors and its like having a new box of crayons!!).

It measures 2" each way -- kind of a fun, stylized heart.



This one measures just 1 1/8" by 1 1/4".

The piece of stone in the middle is jasper, and the back of this one has a lovely burgandy velour upholstry fabric on it.





And this one is actually a reworked piece.

Originally it was a lot larger and heart shaped on a silver chain as a necklace.

The rework included putting on a new combo style pin back that also has a loop to run a chain or ribbon through to wear the piece as a necklace. Nice touch (especially for a cameo).

This morning, while I was waiting for DH to get his lab work done in the doctor's office, I drew up another design to try out...I'm thinking about using pink and a kind of chocolate brown for this one.....probably will be an "on the road" piece.





That makes 44 arcs done. Yesterday afternoon I set up 17 more to take with us to work on in the car or the motel room at night.

We take off tomorrow to head for Des Moines, Iowa, to do the HeArt Fest show. We have never been in that area, but we hear this is a good show....we hope it will be.

Time to get moving, I need to pack and get everything ready to go so we'll be ready to load the car in the morning.

new finished objects...

It's finally done.

Figuring out the necklace part was the most difficult, and I'm still not sure I'm totally happy with it, but we'll see what kind of response we get on it. I can always take it out again and redo that part without damaging the bead embroidery.

So much for doing a smaller piece that would be less expensive....NOT! I've got over $50 in raw materials in this one, so the price is still $200.



This piece came out great!

Notice the lovely suspended angle picture ... I used one of my new display pieces and it worked just fine (I was a little concerned about the big bracelet on what appears to be such a small support, but its obviously well engineered).

I have the pin that I was redoing finished too, but I haven't done the paperwork yet, so pictures of it will be coming soon.



After weeks of walking around in my socks in the evening, I decided that my feet would be warmer and the socks would last longer if there was something between the socks and the floor, so I knit these lovelies.

The internet is a great thing....this pattern was a free download, knit flat on size 7 needles with a double strand of knitting worsted weight yarn.

The odd coloring is the result of "lets use what we have on hand", and I used the dark brown until I ran out of the little ball I had, figuring that the rest of them could be the tan with the green. While I was finishing the first one, I found another piece of a skein of dark brown, so the slippers actually do match....totally unplanned, as I didn't care if they did or not.




There are now 43 arcs done....we're getting close to the half way mark on the arcs, then its on to the squares that go on each end.

Today is laundry and de-Christmasing (we're close to done) and working on last minute jewelry things.

Onward!

Happy Stella!

Yup, she's a much happier girl now!

Notice the "nose job" is complete (and there's even a hint of a smile!).

And Nancy was right, she's much less cranky with her new homespun wool sweater vest. A big improvement (you'd be cranky too with such a short hair cut after 6 weeks of SNOW!!)



I finished the beading on the malachite bracelet last night (I can tell I worked on it for about 2 hours straight -- my wrist is a bit sore this morning)


Today I will get the backing cut and start putting it all together.

Yesterday the new bracelet display pieces arrived, and they are wonderful. Small, light weight, yet they hold the bracelet up for better viewing and I will have a place to put a little card with the individual prices (there's really no way to tag the bracelet itself without leaving sticky stuff on the piece -- ICK!)

A new pin design popped into my head last night too, so I hope to get to that one as soon as I finish the piece I had picked apart for rework.

The first attempt on the necklace for the fringed piece was a failure....on to Plan B.




There are now 40 arcs done for the quilt. Wooo hooo!

We're off!

working hard at ??????

Yesterday was one of those days where I was busy all day, and I haven't got a thing to show for it.

Part of that is because we spent a long time working on taking down the remaining Christmas tree that is up, and when you carefully put each ornament into the box it came in (and a good number of them older than my daughter), this process takes a while.

I did get the last heart all picked apart in preparation for redoing it. I hate picking things out....maybe its the frogs that abound (can't you hear them saying "Rip it! Rip it!") or just that I don't like going back to a project once I have classified it as "DONE". If I wasn't so stingy with the raw materials, I would just chuck the whole thing, but NOOOOOOOO, I pull out and return every little bead to the "raw materials inventory" then start over. {sigh} Sometimes all that accounting training comes back to bite you in the butt.

The other piece that needs picking will not be "revived" -- it has to be totally scrapped because the technique I used to attach some of the embellishment didn't work out, and it can't be repaired. I'm trying to think of this as a creative opportunity....I get to design a whole new piece for the bigger pieces of material....but I'm still bummed about it.

After knitting a sample to determine the guage with the homespun on the needles I had at hand and doing a lot of measuring, I began Stella's vest last night. I've worked it up as far as where I have bound off for the arm holes, now I'm trying to figure out exactly how I will create the right shape for the back of the vest. No doubt there will be some "picking" before I get it finished, but I am pleased with how it is going.

About a week ago I had submitted a "blurb" and a couple of pictures to an on line magazine in an attempt to have our work considered as a feature in a future issue. I did it as a lark, thinking it was going to be just another writing exercise. Silly me! Yesterday I opened my email, and there was the full fledged interview form for us to fill out, attach pictures to and return to them by Monday. They are going to feature us in the February issue! YIPPEE!! So, I did spend a lot of time yesterday afternoon writing answers to the questions. This morning I will let DH take a look at the printed out version so he can make his own notes and comments before we send it off. All of this of course means that I should make some effort to put some new stuff on our webpage before we leave for Iowa. AAARRRGGGHHH....just what I needed! Ok, being featured is good tho', I'm really excited because it is a first.

Work progresses on the bracelet. I probably will finish the field beading today (baring any unforeseen projects that jump ahead of it). I'm at the "want to have it done" stage, which is a good sign that it will be finished before we go.

We are forecast to have yet ANOTHER weekend of snow .... I'm SO ready for it to go away .... and very cold temperatures again. Today is supposed to be the warmest day for at least a week, so we will be venturing into the storage shed today to pull out everything that we will need to take with us (hopefully we will avoid freezing our fingers and toes by doing it today.)




Oh yes, there are now 39 arcs done. I'm going to have to spend some time before we leave getting a whole batch ready to work on for while were gone.

time to go get busy, maybe tomorrow there will be something to take a picture of!

...and another...of a couple of things...

I got this piece reworked too.

Like the pink one, I think it looks better as a pin, and it is adding to the new line I will be unveiling at the Des Moines show. Hurrah!

I have one more piece to pick apart, and it will take a bit more work since I'm also going to change the shape of it and put a dual use back on it so it can be either a pin or a necklace. Picking work to commence today so I'll be ready to put it back together when the supply order arrives.




In a comment (thanks Nancy!) it was suggested that Stella's attitude could be improved if I at least knit her something that was wool.

I have a "stash" of hand spun, hand dyed yarn that I did a few (ok, 20!) years ago, and I figured I might as well use it. So these are the two I picked out to knit Stella a vest ... nothing too flashy, just warm.

Her nose, BTW, has been picked out and redone with a more sedate gray and I think she is much improved for it. Pictures to follow when I get the knitting done!



When we travel anywhere farther than 5 minutes to the local grocery, I take something with me to work on.

Yesterday's trip to Costco gave me the time to finish this blue and green square that I will be sending along to Squares4Survivors (along with 4 others) today.





There are now 38 arcs of the quilt done.

Time to go....things to do, people to annoy!

One done....

I got one of the pieces finished last night.

This measures 2 inches across by 2 1/4 inches tall. I did it with the new 2 bead edge, and I think it looks so much better than it did as a necklace.

I got the red piece all picked apart, so I hope to have it finished by the end of today.

We spent time taking down more of the Christmas stuff yesterday. We're down to the family room tree and then the usual clean up.





One more arc done....that's 37.

Today we're going to our closest Costco to get RX, Kleenex and the other "bulk" stuff we get there about once a month.

time to get with it

Rework.....

When we did our inventory at the end of the year for taxes, there were a few pieces of jewelry that we pulled out for reworking.



This is the first of those items to be redone.

Originally this was strung on chain with just a few of the black and crystal beads, and it just didn't display well.

Yesterday I took it all apart and created this more substantial necklace that I think looks a lot better.



And this is the second piece.

This one had just been on a silver chain, which looked ok, but I felt this could be a more "unisex" piece if it had a little bolder looking necklace.

The colored beads in this are a sort of rainbow finish glass that were given to me by another crafter at a show during the fall season. When she gave them to me I had no idea what I would do with them, but when I put them with the black cube beads it just fit this piece.

The next projects are to take apart 3 heart shaped pieces that had also been necklaces on chains, and make them into pins. Pictures to follow!

I'm working on ideas for an accessory (scarf, vest) for the sheep. I tried out a purple "fluffy" yarn for a possible scarf last night, and after about an inch of knitting vetoed it as "too fussy". Now that the DH has chipped away the ice in front of our storage shed so I can get in to it, I'll be looking for some other yarn to make the item out of.

Work on the quilt continues. I finished another arc last night.




Time to get something done.

something finished ... and almost finished ...

Meet Stella II

Now here is a sheep with a lot of attitude. I think her cantankerous mood is due to a small identity crisis .... I made her out of a silk and alpaca blend fabric ...

Who knows, she may just spit....

I haven't decided yet if I really like the sort of mauve colored nose ... I may yet pull that out and replace it with something more sedate -- like a steel gray. I'm letting her sit and glare at me while I think about that.

She also might need a sweater vest....after all its cold and she has a fresh "hair cut".




And I finally finished all the fringe on this piece.

Now its on to figuring out what to use to create the necklace part. That may take a day or so.






I finished 4 more arcs the last couple of days.

My routine is totally hosed this morning.

When we got up the house was cold -- like 52 degrees, so I had to call for someone to come and repair the furnace. Fortunately, he came right away, and because I had given him such an accurate description of what was happening, he had the part in hand when he came in the door. The repair took about 20 minutes (the ignitor on the electronic started had "blown up" -- it just looks like a looped piece of flint, and it is a fragile part, so it doesn't take much to damage it) and cost just under $200...OUCH! But as I sit and write this, I'm hearing the happy sound of the furnace running -- which it will do for a while just to get the house back up to our tropical temperature of 62.....meantime the dog is roasting herself in front of the fireplace....and she really like the repair man (who has 3 labs of his own).

Time to try to get something done.