Beaded 2 Bless

My little break from beading didn't last long at all!  I had volunteered to teach a class at the first ever Bead Heaven Bead Retreat at A Day Away Retreat  in Boyd, Texas (just a hop on the farm to market road from me). The ladies  were disbelieving of how far I drive to spend time with them on Tuesday evenings. It does take all of 45 minutes to get there but the route is very easy and worry free. They had a little trouble with the backroads (they are fortunate the roads  were paved)  but that was not an issue for me since I grew up on them.  Kids in the area are often accused of "burning up the backroads" after they get their permits. There is alot of nostalgia for me that goes hand in hand with these tangled country roads  but I digress....lets just save that for another time. I taught a beaded toggle and loop and Geri, the owner of Bead Heaven in Watauga, provided kits for the ladies free of charge (the class I offered for free as well). T...

I have been busy doing other things that do NOT require beads. I am taking a break. There has been a bit of cleaning going on and a whole lot of sewing and knitting. I made a hat last year that was a ski cap with earflaps and sent it to my Father in Law and it was confiscated by my nephew with the promise of making another to replace it. I just finshed the replacement... I figure it is just in time for the cold weather too. I took a gamble and glanced through a  knitting magazine and found the cutest squirrel and hedgehog pattern that I fell in love with. I decided I better try my hand as something easier to get a feel for making a plushy before I tried one that turned inside out to be another critter. In this same issue there was a pattern for a little owl.  Being fond of the gray variegated yarn I used for the ski hat I thought -- why not? He is sittting on a quilt I am re-tying and is very patiently waiting for his other foot. He has been waiting all day... maybe he will...

Possibly the cutest Megaman I have ever known! No, of course I am not at all biased.

 I am trying to finish a Megaman costume for my son for the Fall Festival- he really wants to win the costume contest. Here is a photo I am using as a guide. So far I have the basic suit with the arm bands- no gloves (you can't unwrap candy with gloves on!) and I made a pair of spats for the boots, but I need to sew in the fasteners to keep them on. I taped a plastic bag on my son's head to make a form for the helmet but no fabric mock up yet. There are the ear "muffs" to make, the helmet, epaulets and a few other little details- like painting the white zipper navy. I have also decided that is will be a long cold winter and I am shoveling out the contents of my house so that there is lots of room for me to climb the walls. It is always sad to see the warmth of summer disappear. I even cleaned a window in the kitchen today and I just wanted to stand at the sink and look out that shiny clear glass it was a bit cool to really want to go out. My next goal is to get the re...

Never heard of such a thing? Be careful googling it... I got an eyeful myself.  I guess that is what happens when you like odd things. This one is very tame and I think I have hit upon a design I want to revisit- I am talking of this one not the eyeful. I started on this the Sunday before Bead Fest Texas. If you really know then you would  know I  just had to have something uniquely me to wear. As the commercial says, "Nailed it."  It took 6 days to  bead those little cogs and  to create some larger ones with an interesting shape (just to see if I could do it).  To make the corset, I used the same geometry application to draft a pattern for a neck corset as you would for an underbust. It worked and it gave me an exquisite foundation to sew all the cogs. There are a total of 33 cogs! A few of them are stacked on top of one another for dimension. There is a necklace design  like this only without the neck corset  brewing, I can feel it.  ...

Sometimes you hear the all familiar,   "Mom come help me, I'm stuck!" You never know what you will see when you arrive. I like to set my laundry basket at the end of the couch until all the wash is dried and then I take over the couch with a folding party of one. My youngest also likes to use this same place to plug his DSI into the power strip....  What happened this time was priceless.   I wished I had realized I could use the video button while he was flailing his arms and legs trying to get out.  Instead, all you get are these still photos. I just watched as he figured out how to get out by himself. I laughed so hard because it was funny and  he really knows how to put on a show. Each one of my kids have one night a week that they do something without the other. He insisted that he wear my latest creation...   After a year long break, we are back to Scouting on Monday nights. He  is a second year Webelo scout and I am v...

A friend of mine, Carol-Anne, designed this bracelet and handed me the beads to bead it. It is called the "Queen's Crown Bracelet".  I imagine the Queen of Hearts would love to get her hands on this jewel.  Carol-Anne  trusted me to test her instructions and I found them to be very well written and illustrated! WAY TO GO, Carol-Anne!  It was such a priviledge to stitch this and of course it always great when you get new beads! It took me several days to finish it but even my son had to try it on. While I was making it I would look over at him,  he was supposed to be doing schoolwork.  Instead,  he would be staring at me, mezmerized by the color and sparkle. I did add a few bits here and there but the overall design is definitely true to her instructions. Her design lends itself to some great variations.  I have seen a couple from her and her first students that were just stunning. I used this peyote cirlce  ins...