Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer Project

A fellow member of the EtsyBeadWeavers Team, Susan of Clinckscales Arts, encouraged all group members to participate in Jeanette Shanigan's project "Bead It Forward" - Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer. Susan will be collecting all the squares and photograph them. She's also trying to get Etsy Admin interested in publishing an article about the project on The Storque. Let's hope that Etsy will agree to help.

The original guidelines are to make 4 beaded squares in any beading technique - 1 for the quilt to be made by Jeanette and 3 more to pass forward to three other beaders, to encourage them to participate in this project. I, and I know that a lot of other members of the group as well, have decided to contribute all the squares to Jeanette's quilt. That way she could make bigger quilt and hopefully, raise more money for this important cause.

OK, so here are my 4 squares:-
The first 2 are done in peyote stitch

The third is done in square stitch

And the last one is embroidered, using Cat-Eye heart beads

If you would like to participate as well, please visit Jeanette's site for more details.

Yin & Yang - Complementary Contradictions

The theme for this month – Complementary Contradictions, was picked by me, after winning the July challenge with my Roses in the Night Sky bracelet (Thanks again to everyone who voted for me!).

Yin and Yang are the Chinese symbols of harmony, as they are opposites that complement each other. If you would like to read more about this symbol and the Chinese theory, please visit this page of Wikipedia.

At first I wanted to create a pendant of the traditional, rounded symbol, using rocailles. But later I decided to use the black and silver Aiko's that a very dear friend from the U.S. has sent me. They are very uniformed and perfect for peyote work, so I then decided to design the symbol in straight lines and create a bracelet instead of a pendant. I also used 24k gold-plated Delica beads. The closing is also representing Yin & Yang - two straps in opposite directions and colors.
I have spent about 3 hours working on the 'body' of cuff and additional 2 hours of work on the closure... ;) I really like how it came out.

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I now realize that it has been more than a month since my last post.
I have been so busy and troubled lately. Unfortunately, I have some family 'issues' and health problems. I hardly find time to bead (I still haven't finished the embroidered cuff), but when I do find some free time to do my beadwork, I really enjoy it! It allows me to take a break from life, so to speak... I hope this period of time will pass quickly, as well as the health problems, so I can get back to my beading routine... I really miss the days (and nights) when I was able to finish a work almost every other day!... :)

Almost Finished

I am almost done working on this embroidered cuff. Of course I have to attach it to a backing material – Ultrasuede or genuine leather – I haven't decided yet. I am also not sure yet what kind of closure to use. But those are the easy part, arn't they? :)
I will post the finished cuff when it's ready, and after my photographer is back from his vacation (this not-so-good photo was taken by me with my son's camera ;).



Right after I will finish this embroidered piece, I am going to start working on embroidered squares for Jeanette Shanigan's beaded quilts project “Bead-It-Forward” Breast Cancer Donation Project. The theme this year is "Heart". Check out Jeanette's site and see the finished quilts she makes using beaded squares. You might want to take part in this project.
I am happy to participate in this project for this important, good cause and I already have an idea of what I want to make. I just hope that this embroidered work will be finished before the dead-line…

New Bracelet

This is my new peyote bracelet. I used metallic Delica hex seed beads. Unfortunatly, the photo does not show their true colors and how they sparkle! The button is beadwoven by me and it acts as a clasp.

Work in Progress - Embroidered Cuff

Among other things that I have been busy doing lately, I am working on this embroidered cuff. The first photo, taken on mid July, shows the first steps of the work. I have drawn some lines to help me follow a rather geometric pattern I had in mind (anyone has an idea of how I can erase the pencil lines without ruining the stiffed material? Regular eraser won't do..), but as I finished the center part, I decided to make something else and worked in a more free pattern. The other photo was taken a few days ago. There's still much to be done before it's finished (and I still need more practice..).
I don't know why, but when I'm working on an embroidered piece, I have to take breaks and work on other things. It's not that I don't like this kind of work, on the contrary – I have realized that bead embroidery is a wonderful way to express myself, but somehow, it requires more patience… I hope to be able to work on this cuff this week and finally finish it.