Bead Embroidery Obsession!

After years of sticking my fingers in my ears and saying "la, la, la" whenever anyone mentioned bead embroidery, I have finally succumbed! And of course, I am completely obsessed. Some of my Facebook friends finally convinced me to have a go and I am so glad I did. It is really not as complicated as I thought it would be and so versatile. At the moment, I am still exploring circles, you probably already know that they are a favourite of mine.

Peacock Earrings

Purple Daisy Dot Hair Clip

Happy beading!

Sarahx

Tackling the Bead Stash - My May Goal

Over on Operation Tackle That Bead Stash blog, Clair has introduced a new monthly feature to encourage us all to use up those beads that have been languishing in our stash's. I had a rummage and came across my little stash of Spellbound Bead kits and pulled out this one, which I bought at the Welsh Bead Fair about 18 months ago, so it really is about time I made it! I did start but square stitch is so slow, so I abandoned it.


My kit is in teals and brown's, perfect for the summer, so I am going to try and finish it this month. You can keep an eye on everyones goals etc in this post http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.com/2011/05/bead-busting-monthly.html

Happy beading!

Sarahx

Quick Project Idea - Teal Blossom Headband

I am growing out my hair at the moment and have been looking for ideas on how to dress it up a bit, particularly headbands. I wanted something right now though, so have been ransacking my craft supplies to come up with something that I could make myself. I found a length of black grosgrain ribbon and wondered how I could dress that up a little bit.

I eventually remembered that I had a spare teal blossom motif left over from when I was making up the kits and thought that would look pretty, so I gathered up some supplies. I used approx 42 inches of ribbon, a blossom motif, some size 11 seed beads and nymo beading thread.

I wanted my motif to be asymmetrical, so I measured 16 inches from one end of the ribbon and stitched on the motif using doubled nymo. I then back stitched on some seed beads for add emphasis.

And that was it, done! Easy peasy, now all I need to do is make sure I get my roots done before I take another close up of the barnet!

Happy Beading!

Sarahx

Reflections Bracelet Tutorial on OTTBS

Hey gang,

Just in case you haven't seen it, I have posted a new free tutorial on the OTTBs blog today. I've had this beautiful Swarovski crystal ring for a couple of years and really wanted to use it. After a few false starts I decided simple was best and created this pretty bracelet.

Happy Beading!

Sarahx

http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.com/2011/04/reflections-bracelet-tutorial.html

Beading Kits for the Spring Blossom Pendant!

I am very excited to announce that I now have kits available for 2 different colourways of the Spring Blossom Pendant! I have been dreaming of selling my patterns and kits for years and it so exciting to finally have started down that path! http://www.folksy.com/items/1627265-Beading-Kit-Spring-Blossom-Pendant-Pink-and-Green-Colourway?shop=yes http://www.folksy.com/items/1627381-Beading-Kit-Spring-Blossom-Pendant-Teal-and-Turquoise-Colourway?shop=yes

Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Happy beading!

Sarahx

Challenges aplenty.

I was listening to episode 1 of the Bead Circle podcast earlier today and Mandi was interviewing Nancy Zellers. One of the things they discussed was participating in beading challenges/competitions in order to grow as a beader. As a member of Operation Tackle That Bead Stash, I participate in a monthly colour challenge and I know how fun it can be to work with a palette that you may not choose yourself, I thought that I may spread my wings a bit in the next few months and try a few other challenges and as if by magic, 2 came up in my blog feed today, so I thought I would post about them and have a little look around the web for any others I could find.

Ottbs April Moodboard Colour Challenge http://tacklethatbeadstash.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-moodboard.html

Art Bead Scene's April Monthly Challenge http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-monthly-challenge.html

Andrew Thornton's Weekly Word http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/2011/04/weekly-word-reflect.html

Bead Maven's Bead Soup Mixer http://beadmavens.blogspot.com/2011/04/bead-mavens-bead-soup-mixer.html

Margie & Me Colour Challenge http://labellajoya.blogspot.com/2011/04/margie-and-me-hollywood-glamour-and.html

I think that is probably enough to choose from right now! I am particularly drawn to Andrew's weekly word challenge as I find it harder to bead to a theme than colours, so I think that will challenge me more, I'm not promising anything mind as I am not even halfway through my OTTBS April challenge yet!

Happy beading!

Sarahx

New Beading Podcast

I knit as well as bead and I'm totally addicted to knitting podcasts. They are just the trick to get me through a mountain of ironing or to drown out the sounds of a busy office when I am trying to concentrate on some analysis work. I have always been a bit puzzled to why they haven't taken off quite so much in the beading world, I have even contemplated doing one myself but a) I don't have the time and b) I have a strong welsh accent and talk at the rate of knots so I may be unintelligible to anybody who lives more than 10 miles away from me! So I was really excited today when The Lone Beader tweeted about the Bead Circle podcast! It is pretty new, only on episode 2 which I have just listened to. I enjoyed it and hope there will be many more! Go check it out, http://beadcircle.com/