Native Beading - Beaded Strawberry

Today I was lucky to attend An Introduction to Native Beading at the ROM. This full day event was tied to the Anishinaabeg: Art & Power exhibit. As a group we were able to view the exhibit with our instructor, Naomi Smith of Black Tulip Designs. She was able to give us more details about some of the amazing beaded pieces on display.

Here are some pictures I took during our visit.

Details of a bandolier bag

Love the maple leaf on this bandolier bag

Beaded woman's hood

Beautiful beaded baby moccasins

Beaded Octopus Bag

Details of tentacles on octopus bag

Detail of the octopus bag

After our visit to the exhibit we returned to the class to start our beaded strawberries. Naomi's kits included all the needed beads and fabric. She had sewn together the fabric pieces for the body of the strawberry. We had to fill it with emery sand and sawdust and sew it close.

Empty Body of the Strawberry

Filled and Sewn Strawberry Body

Then it was lunchtime, yum!!

After lunch we learn how to attached the velveteen cap and embellish with beads.

Halfway around the cap with beaded embellishment

Once the embellishment was completed we learned to secure thread for the hanging loop.

Hanging loop added

 Secured a new length of thread and started to add the seeds to the body of the strawberry.

Halfway done seeding my strawberry with seed beads

 The last step is adding the tassels. Our kit included three antique basket beads for the tassels.

My finished beaded strawberry

 Here are some pictures of all the strawberries created during the class.

Overhead view of our strawberries

Another view of our class of strawberries

Thanks once again to Naomi, her helpers and the ROM.

Kaleidocycles

I have been interested in making a kaleidocycle for a couple of years. I found them as a paperarts project. I printed, coloured and made a number of paper ones. But after a few weeks of they would come apart.

I knew that there had to be a way of doing it with beads. It was just triangles linked together. I tried to figure it out but was not able to get my brain around it.

The amazing beaders at Contemporary Geometric Beadwork figured it out. The instructions will be in the upcoming book CGB Pattern Book. I have pre-ordered a copy and was sent the Kaleidocycle instructions.

So I worked on making one using the colours suggested in the pattern. Basic black and white for the triangles, blue and red for the seams, yellow, green and silver for the hinges.

For my second one I decided to use the same triangle design and change the colours. So the triangles are white with one of 4 vibrant citrus colours. The seams are all white and the hinges are silver.

My most recent one again uses just one triangle design and changing colours. I went back to a favourite colour palette, the sea anemone palette, in The Beader's Color Palette by Margie Deeb. I used two of the colours on each side and the rotate thru as you flip the kaleidocycle. I did not want the seams or hinges to stand out so I used crystal AB beads.

Here are the three finished kaleidocycles. The collage show each of the four sides. The Citrus colours did not photograph very well.

I am very pleased with these. I like to sit and twist them as I watch tv. I am going to work on another variation with the sea anemone palette. I want to have all four colours on each side, just in different places in the pattern.

Pearls Blog Hop Reveal

I started working on the pieces for the challenge shortly after I got the beads in May.

I started with this necklace. 

Using two different shades of the lilac and faceted crystals from the kit I added some silver hearts. The closure is a magnetic heart with crystal embellishment. This piece can be worn with the closure at the front or back.

Next I played with doing some sort of a netted design with the grey rice pearls but was not happy with any of the ideas. So I decided to do a simple ladder stitch bracelet using purple velvet Swarovski crystals on the edges. This is long enough to be worn as a double wrap bracelet or a choker.

Here are the blogs of this hop:

Our hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue
Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry
Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera
Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs
Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation
Ann Schroeder, Bead Love
Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design

Pine Ridge Treasures' Pearls Blog Hop

It has been a very long time since I have posted here. I have been sharing my beadwork on Facebook. I also had not signed up for any beading challenges or blog hops.

But recently Lisa posted on Facebook that she was hosting a Pearl Blog Hop. I decided that maybe doing it would help motivate me to create and post projects here.

So I purchased the lilac pearl kit from Lisa back in May. Here is what I got from her in the mail.

Stop back on Saturday to see what I have created with these beads.

Here is a list of all the blog participating in this hop.

Our hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue
Beti Horvath, Stringing Fool Jewelry
Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera
Gloria Allen, Gloria Allen Designs
Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation
Ann Schroeder, Bead Love
Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design

Spring Beading with Elizabeth

On Saturday my niece, Elizabeth, and I spent the day together. Our first project was an idea that I found on Pinterest. Jelly Bean bracelets would be a great snack to have for the movie later with her mom, Sandra.

I made a change to the instructions by doubling the elastic thread. This ensured that the needle did not come unthreaded. This was a fun, yummy but sticky project. Elizabeth enjoyed taste testing all of the jelly beans as we worked.

Elizabeth's Rainbow Bracelet

Sandra's Fall with a splash of Root Beer Bracelet

Elizabeth's Fall Medley Bracelet

Jo-Ann's Valentine Bracelet

The complete collection

Elizabeth did have difficulty piercing some of the jelly beans (white seemed the hardest).

After making these very sticky bracelets we decided to work with something more traditional. Using some of the blue crystals leftover from last year's bead soup challenge and coordinating crystals from my stash she made a Ladder stitch bracelet.

Lemon Blueberry Bracelet

After lunch I made matching earrings for her.

Lemon Blueberry Earrings

After Sandra finished work she picked us up and we went to see Cinderella and have dinner. The movie was great.

Happy Beading!

Checkerboard Blog Hop

It is reveal day for the latest blog hop hosted by Lisa Lodge. This one is inspired by the colours of a checkerboard; red, white and black.

I signed up for this challenge back last fall. Thanks goodness that I had a list of upcoming challenges post by beading table or I might have forgotten to get this done.

I have being playing alot of checker games lately. The student that I tutor as part of the Toronto Public Library's Leading to Reading program loves to play it on my iPad. We always play a game or two to end our session each week. During the week I play against the computer just for fun. We always play black versus white. But I love that Lisa included red in our kits.

Cultured seaglass and fire-polished crystals

I tried to mimic the alternating pattern of a checkerboard in my designs.

For my necklace I created small links of black & red beads and white & red beads. These were alternated with the large, thin black and white seaglass beads. I attached the seaglass sea dollar pendant with a series of jumprings.

Finished neckace

For the bracelet I went back to the basic black and white pattern. This time I used the large, flat free form shaped seaglass.

Finished bracelet

Thanks for stopping by and take sometime to hop around to the other blogs to see what my fellow artisans have greated with thier kits.

Our hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Toltec  Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Kathleen Breeding, 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Mischelle Fanucchi, Micheladas Musings

Becky Pancake, Becky Pancake Bead Designs

Kari Asbury, Hippie Chick Design

Susan Anderson, La Main Tresor

Kathy Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Ann Schroeder, Bead Love

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Margaret Pelech, Margaret Pelech's Blog

Lisa Prewitt Knappenberger, LiRaysa Designs

Annette Rivers, Mama Owls Mess

Carol Briody, A Beads Life

Miranda Ackerley, MirandAck

Marybeth Rich, A Few Words from within the Pines

Karin Grosset Grange (France), Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Katrina Scuderi Taylor, I Wanna Go Out

Happy Beading!

Pod Vessel

I started 2015 off with instructions from Julia Pretl for her vessels. She is working towards a new book with all of her vessel patterns. It was great to do another non-jewelry beadwork project.

Julia's original Pod Vessel

The vessel uses seedbeads instead of the delicas used for her boxes. I looked thru my stash of seed beads and selected metallic silver and navy blue.

I took the time read the basic instructions for making a four-legged vessel. It was helpful to understand how to read the pattern for the Pod design.

One of the four legs

Four legs ready to be joined up

Starting the body

Getting ready to add the tethers

Finished vessel

Another view

I am looking forward to making a second vessel as part of the Toronto Bead Society Bag of Beads challenge.

Thanks again Julia for another great project.

Happy Beading!