New Beginnings

Long time since I posted anything.. 

For those who don't follow me on Facebook, I have moved from the USA to Australia ~ Long story, but I had to move closer to my children, and so here I am.  I live now in Murwillumbah  in the far north of New South Wales, just south of the border with Queensland, and the famous Gold Coast.

None of my art supplies or my dolls are here yet, but the crate that holds all of my beads and other art supplies, as well as my dolls, has made landfall & all being good and well, it should be here in the next week or so.  It first has to be cleared through customs, I hope they manage to get everything back in the crate, as Joe and I packed it pretty tight ~ had to be to prevent things from sliding around while it was out there on the ocean.

This is 'The Keeper of Faces'  she is my first Art Doll made using assemblage & she was so much fun to make that I want to make more.

Her body was made from a small drawer, this allowed me to attach her head over the drawer pull, she has 'barby' hands which are attached with wire to small pieces of dowel and beads that form her 'arms'.  Her legs are polymerclay over dowel for strength.  Of course I had to use beads, and I had such fun gluing her beads on that it was hard to know when to stop.  I guess I will be doing more of this kind of beading LOL

She has a story, and it's attached to her back

I added 'LIFT' arrows so that she can be picked up without touching the beaded areas ;)

Before I set off on my newest adventure in life ~ moving back to Australia ~ I managed to finish a couple of UFOs that had been sitting for a long time.. 

The first is 'Mother & Child' I like how she she sits without the need for a stand ~ I weighted her bottom end with lavender seeds..

The question here is......   'Do these beads make my butt look big?'

 This guy is Joe's Polar Bear...  He was a labour of love, a gift for a wonderful gentle man, enjoy him Joe  ♥

 I have a few beads here, I and might pull them out tomorrow and see what happens, my hands are sitting idle and I don't like that!!

♥ Valentine's ♥ Heart ♥ for my Honey ♥

I'm a member of ABeadStory a group my friends Cyn & Dot created for those of us who love to bead embroider.

The challenge for this month was of course a Heart & so I started with the thought that my heart would be in a frame like my BJP Under The Sea series.  I was wrong ;)

As I sat beading the other day, Joe sat down & started cutting up an old pair of jeans which he'd finally admitted had too many holes - he uses them for rags out in his shed.  He came over & put the small coin pocket on my beading table.  As I beaded on my heart, the tiny pocket caused my Muse to get excited, so we (my Muse & I) went & got the back of the jeans & picked the pockets off them. 

The heart is embroidered on fabric that I backed with several heart shape layers of  felt to give it shape. I started with a heart shaped piece of Paua Shell from New Zealand, which glued on before I beaded around it.  I used mainly matt black czech 11s along with a variety of sizes & finishes in black, to create texture along with a sprinkling of red & blue/green to spice up the black.  There's some Hematite too, to add good energy to the heart.   I cut a slightly larger heart from red fabric & stitched both to the pocket, poking a little fiberfill behind them before I finished sewing them down. 

Red embroidery thread & a few tiny flower beads topped with sparkly red beads finished this off.  I used cardboard covered with denim  to back the pocket & used copper wire & beads to make a funky hanger for my ♥valentine♥ for my honey♥

Joe loves it ♥♥

I do love it when my Muse takes over because then I really bead outside the box!!

Two little dollies

My dear Mother's younger sister Norah, celebrated her 80th birthday earlier this year, this is her with my Mother on Mum's 90th in 2007

Aunty Norah fell recently, not once but twice and has fractured her spine near the tailbone, which I imagine is awfully painful. She has always kept in touch via letters no matter how far from home I have roamed & so as I was writing to let her know that I am praying for a full & speedy recovery for her, I realized that I should make her a wee doll to cheer her up.

So here is Norah's healing doll she is just 5 " tall..My Girlfriend Frankie turned the big 40 on July 30th so to mark her middle age -snigger- I made the 'Lordy, Lordy Frankie's 40' doll..

I do believe this one is clickable so that you can see the details & yes she is on a lean LOL that is because when I hot glued her to the base I didn't hold her straight -oh well ;)


Looking down from above

The Beaded Rock - the timely end of a UFO

I am not going to admit how long this has been sitting around as a UFO but it has been a while & some of my friends may have seen it in person at a certain event here at the beach ;)

It began life as a 2.5"x 2" rock which I beaded over using peyote stitch & then the fun began, making tiny sea anemones.. I added lots of embellishment using tiny shells, pearls, drop beads & lots of tiny fringe/stacks.

I have taken pohots from all angles so you can see all the fun details..

FULL FRONTAL
FROM THE RIGHT

FROM THE LEFT

BACK SIDE

FROM ABOVE

I hope you enjoy this piece, it sure was fun to make even if it did take me a long time to finish LOL

Layne's Legacy - Beading For A Cure

Layne's Legacy is an annual beading challenge dedicated to raising money for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Association in honor of Layne Shilling, a member of the online group All About Beads, who lost her battle with colorectal cancer in November 2002.

The premise of the challenge is simple: participants purchase a kit which contains a variety of beads. Each kit is identical. At least one of each bead type must be used in the finished project and the beader can only add one other type of bead to the project (but as many non-bead items as they wish). The completed works are as varied as the beaders who created them. from the website of Layne's Legacy

Although I frequent All About Beads, I did not know Layne but felt this was a cause worthy of my time.

My favorite methods of beading are bead embroidery & 3D sculptural bead weaving, so of course my piece combines the two..

Here is Dragonfly Dreaming:
The area inside the frame measures 5"x7" & the dragonfly is 5" long with a wing span of 5"

This is the kit that we all started with..

Small beginnings - I stitched a line of size 11 beads down over the lines of the branches

I covered the line of beads with whip stitch, using a combination of beads from the kit & leaving space for the art bead to sit.

The body is done, size 15s make up most of the body - My added bead type are the size 15 purple. Size 11s round out the area where the wings & legs attach & then 8s for the head. I also put a piece of wire into the body area & tweaked it just so, causing the tail to lift slightly & then added a blue Swarovski Crystal to the tip of his tail

I covered the head area with black/purple 11s adding a mouth & the 2 large rose montees for his eyes, here you can still see the 8s in between the darker 11s

To get the right scale for the wings I printed out some dragonfly wings that I found online - I forget where ;)

The wings were made using goldfilled wire & I guess it is a version of square/brick stitch but as I made it up as I went, I am not really sure. When finished they were each about 2 1/2 " long and would not sit as I wished them too, they were too floppy & we all know dragonflys do not like floppy wings..

Finally I resorted to painting the undersides with Mod Podge - 3 coats before they were firm enough to sit above the rest of the beadwork.

Here he is drying his wings after the 3rd coat

I also added some swirly green sequins over the 'leaf' area on the fabric, here is a close-up of the Art Bead & some of the embellishing.

Close-up of the dragonfly, you can't see from this angle but to make his legs, I added black beads from the kit to where the wires from his wings came out on the other side of the body. The wires pierce the fabric and are secured on the back of the fabric.
Bird's eye view, allowing you to see the 3D effect of the dragonfly

I used a light tent in full sunshine to get my photos - if you photograph beaded stuff, one of these is a must - my Tide Pool at the top of my blog was also photographed in my light tent)

Here is a photo that Joe took while I was taking photos, I think it's kinda neat, so I included it for your pleasure.

This piece, along with all the rest of the wonderful creations will be acutioned on E-Bay next year - I will post here when that is ready to go live..

A Medly of Mermaids

I just wanted to share a pic of my merry mermaids.....

HELP! They have taken over my chair..

No prizes for guessing what I have been doing with my time this past week ~ grin

Making Mermaids

I got the urge to make some mermaids this week, so I have 2 down & who knows how many to go LOL

I made this gal first & she is pretty slim & 11" tall - I think she needs a few more curves, don't you?
This one took some fiddly sewing but I like her shape a lot more, she is 10" tall..

Of course they will both end up with beads, at least that is the plan as it stands now ;o)

My MIL gave me a bunch of fabric when her home was being sold last year & this is from her stash - perfect for mermaids in my opinion

Sunday update

Update on Nancydoll

She's getting there & still smiling thru all the poking she's getting in the process. I gave her a crystal (2mm) ear-ring to add a bit of BLING.

As I bead this doll, I have my sister much in my thoughts.. Nancy used to be a hair stylist & does Ballroom Dancing & she made her own costumes for that. She is a very accomplished Woman & always looks good. She power walks to keep fit & her dancing also helps to keep her slim & flexible

She is on extended holiday near Perth, in Western Australia, helping her DIL out with the children, while Phil (my nephew) gets settled in a new job out in a mining town a million miles from nowhere...

September BJP

OK this is it, no really, I mean it...

My theme this year is 'The Women in my life' & starting out for September is my oldest sister Nancy, who turned 66 this month.. Happy Birthday Nancy dear!

Nancy is now the matriarch of our family as we lost our dear Mother last December



I used the freezer paper method to transfer Nancy to plain white fabric & treated it so that the ink would never smudge (at least I sure hope it won't) I learnt a few things in the process - don't we always - Like fiddling with the contrast to make the picture darker so that you can actually see it when it is printed out LOL

My pages are 'dolls' that are 6" tall & fit into a milk bottle lid, which will be weighted before the doll is glued into it. I plan to use the Women in my family, including my dear Mother & a few special friends to make my 12 doll pages

This is my progress so far....

I have to tell you that when I told Joe (dh) that I was going to paint the milk bottle lid black, he informed me that it is not possible as the paint wouldn't stick.. Well telling me that something won't work is like a dare, so I Mod Podged the edge of the lid & then painted it & guess what? It worked LOL

2008 - A new beginning...

This year has started out with my sisters & I saying goodbye to our dear Mother, , who passed away in her sleep on the morning of 31st December 2007.

Mother was just 4 months short of her 91st birthday, she had lived a long & happy life & had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord & Saviour, which has made accepting her loss much easier for me. Still, her going has left a hole in my life & that of all who knew & loved my dear Mother.

Eva Isabell Tucker (Dolly) 1st April 1917 - 31st Dec 2007

Silly Women that we were, we forgot to get a photo of us all together before my sister Colleen returned home to Nelson, after Mum's funeral. So, I have 2 photos of my sisters & I to share with you..Isabell, Colleen, Nancy Ellen

Isabell, Nancy, Ellen, Anne

I flew out of Portland Oregon on Dec 31st (remember we in the US are a day behind NZ) & 'WOOSH' flew right thru Jan 1st, arriving at 5 AM on Jan 2nd in Auckland, where my son Stephen was waiting for me.
So, I missed New Year's Day totally but that's OK, & despite the heartbreaking reason for my trip, I enjoyed being with my family & spending some quality time with my sisters, in New Zealand's warm, summer weather.

My sons Garry & Stephen with me

I arrived back home Tuesday, 15th Jan & although it is cold & wet here, I'm mostly glad to be back -part of me wanted to stay down home in NZ.

I am trying to finish the BJP page I started in November & here is my progress so far..

Time has not been my friend with this project at all, maybe I started with my pages too big but I am going to try & finish them all by June

Of course I can never do just one thing at once & am also taking part in a Beaded Mask Challenge, organized by Heather & Debra from The Beadin' Path http://www.beadinpath.com/content/blogcategory/15/13/

I got the felt attached to the mask itself before my trip to NZ, so now I need to get some beads on it

I first wet the felt, then stretched it over the mask to mold it to the shape of the mask. Once it had dried, I used a fabric adhesive to glue the felt to the mask, which left it flexible enough to stitch through.

A false start

Well I've been at a standstill with my pages which has been frustrating.

I want to make 3D beaded art quilts so I got the fabric I thought I needed & off I went.

But when I started on my 'first' page I realized that even tho this has a kind of 3D aspect to it, this is not what my mind's eye saw.

Although it doesn't show in the picture, the mermaid & seahorse are attached with a felt backing, so that they are raised slightly but not with the effect that I wanted to achieve.

Also, I was going to have my journal as a book with the pages attaching to the left of the beaded page & that no longer appealed either.

Today I checked out my friend Grace's blog & was encouraged to name my journal, thinking that would aid my Muse who seems to be in hiding at the moment - Thanks Grace

So now, I'm working on a new start with a new slant & hopefully I'll have something to share soon