I Hereby Declare This Blog... Re-Alive?

Snow White cuff

Finished at last! Snow White is ready to make her debut. I edged her in sky blue beads for a touch of something blue. I would really be delighted if someone wanted to wear this for a wedding, but I would still be tickled if someone wore it any ol' day of the week, you know?

Here it is being modeled by my left arm. I have my camera to thank for making me look so tan, I can promise you that this is not the case. Thank you camera!

And here is my newest project! My stepmom requested a peacock-feather pendant, and I thought it was a great idea! I've decided to make an extra for the store. It will have fringe on the bottom when it's finished. Last night I handed it to Mr. MythicalAntiquity and said, "Can you tell what this is?" He gave it a long, slightly panic-stricken look before asking, "A cherry?"

That's right! A cherry. To be fair, he followed that up with, "Like a black cherry?" I'm not sure who's to blame here. Maybe it doesn't look exceptionally peacocky yet, but I certainly don't see a cherry. I thought it was a hilarious guess.

I am still alive...

I swear, I am still alive! We are all moved in and our tiny new house is busting at the seams. All of my fabric, art supplies, beads, sewing gear and crafty things are put away and ready to get to business; Etsy stuff is being sorted and readied for photographs, and beading will ensue tonight. Which means, with any luck, that I should be able to post pics tomorrow of some wrapped-up projects!!! I hope!

Also, I've been considering subscribing to Netflix so that I can have some form of entertainment for the countless hours spent working on jewelry. I've tried listening to music, but sometimes that's just not enough. "Watching" (really just sort of looking up now and again) movies helps me spend more time happily beading, though it does mean it probably takes me longer to do the work. The issue is that I'm a multi-tasker. I don't like to do just one thing at a time, and I like to be doing something with my hands almost constantly. This means that I try to read books while cooking and eating, read books in bed, read books while beading (don't even try, doesn't work) and listen to music while painting and drawing. I really do read a lot! Aside from movies and music, though, are there any other ways you keep your mind and hands busy at the same time? I feel like artistic purists out there are going to say "just concentrate on what you're doing! No distractions!" -- but really, that's so much easier said than done.

Ideas are welcome!

A Brief Hiatus During Which You Should Enjoy This Puppy-Sized Entertainment

Well, in all of four days we'll be moving back to Oklahoma (we've been living elsewhere for a summer internship); until then, we'll be packing, cleaning and cross-country driving! So I'll be away from beading and blogging for a bit. I thought I should do a quick update before we leave and I am incommunicado- but mostly I've just been dabbling. The image above is the start of an experiment in raised beadwork, inspired by Lynn's (BeadingHeartArt) Tuscarora Tuesdays.

I also went bead shopping, where I clearly was stuck on cool colors, although that was entirely unintentional. The ropes of beads were a gift from my very sweet Mother-in-law. I've already started putting these beads to use as:

BAM! Beadweaving trial-and-error. I've never tried this before, either, and it's been fun- I'm definitely not doing it super-perfectly by-the-book, though. I just wanted to see if I enjoyed it by trying a simple project first! It's been very different from bead embroidery. I don't like following directions! I actually have a fine arts degree with an emphasis in printmaking, and that was the one thing that caused me so many problems. I'm not very process-minded or orderly and I hate prep-work. I don't even like to follow recipes exactly! So beadweaving may be a serious challenge.

Also- the gradations in that photo are what the necklace really looks like, it's not the lighting. It goes from bluey-purple to pinky-purple.


NOW! On to the puppies!

(Handsome) Henry
Henry is really more my baby than my husband's. He basically acts like a toddler. I have no idea if he'll outgrow that as he gets older.

(Dangerous[ly adorable]) Zilla
Zilla was named after Godzilla- I realize that this photo makes her look like a sweet little darling baby, but she is completely insane. She plays rough, isn't scared of anything but precipitation and treats Henry like any older sister treats their younger sibling. She's a daddy's girl.

Now I know you're thinking, Oh my gosh! Are they always that adorable and normal-looking? And the answer is no. They are hardly ever normal-looking or -acting, even. And they love to fight (they really are like kids, biting, nap time, sibling rivalry and all). Let's look at some of their scarier faces.

Devious

Terrifying

Note the demon-fire in her eyes
(click photo to enlarge)

I especially like Henry's dumb face in this photo

That's right! Even with her leg in a cast, Zilla is vicious. Don't underestimate.
You've been warned.

Snow White Sneak Peek

Whew! Snow White's been giving me a bit of trouble, but it's been fun to do some embroidery. I love making little needle-woven flowers and leaves, so I just had to add some! I'm afraid the rose does still look a little background-y to me, though I did something between threadpainting and satin stitch to puff it up. After deciding that wasn't enough, I cut it out to use it as an applique, used another piece of fabric between the rose and the cuff for a bit more height, and finally attached it using a blanket stitch. I'm planning to edge it in a baby blue (for the marriage-minded, maybe? A little something blue?). I'm not one-hundred-percent sure what I think about it yet. I don't think I'll know until it's done.

Dracula Meets His End

Dracula cuff

That's right! Finally, Dracula is finished. Well, mostly... I'm still finishing the edging, but that should be over quick enough. I'm going to be posting it on Etsy tomorrow!

The next project, I've decided, will be Snow White. I plan to start with an embroidered rose in the center and work my way out from that. I'd like to use a long-and-short stitch/ thread painting approach for the rose, but I think that a padded satin stitch would be nice, too. It's going to need to be a bit puffy- I'm a little worried about the height of the embroidery versus the height of the beadwork. I don't want to rose to feel too much like a background when it should be the center of attention!

Really, no matter what I may say about which stitching techniques I want to employ it's only going to end up being a sort of free-handed made-up thing. Technical shmechnical!

Beading and Embroidery Inspiration

Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette-
Marie Antoinette, 1938

I was able to watch this movie just yesterday, and while I'm not planning to review the film here, aside from some artistic liberties with historical accuracy and a slightly (if not seriously) biased take on Marie Antoinette's character, this movie was wonderful! And really, I couldn't care less about those things anyway. It was awesome. The best part for me, though, was definitely the intricately embellished wardrobe! Just breathtaking.

So I thought I would share some images from the movie. If you can catch it playing, you should watch it!

Spoiler alert! This man is clearly a bad guy! Look at that makeup! Yikes! And lots of frippery. How very courtly of him.

One of the biggest surprises to me was Norma Shearer's transformation during Marie Antoinette's imprisonment- by the last scene of the movie, she looked almost exactly like Jacques-Louis David's pen-and-ink drawing of the Queen on her way to the guillotine. You'll have to trust me on that; I couldn't find a still of it.

Now, don't get me wrong, Tyrone Power made an excellent love interest for Norma Shearer's Marie Antoinette, but if I'm going to watch a movie from that era, I have to remain loyal to the hunkiest hunk around:

That's right. You go Gregory Peck. Handsome devil! But only 1940s Gregory Peck, after that he's a little out of my age-range. I'm just going to picture him as the lead in every romance novel I read from now until forever.

Note: If you made it to the end of this post, you'll probably realize that it was only loosely related to beading, and mostly an excuse to post a photo of the handsomely handsome Gregory Peck. My apologies (kind of).

Dracula cuff should be finished tomorrow! I'll make a real post soon!

Dracula continued and a CRITICAL PSA

Dracula
Almost done! It's been such slow going though. I'm blaming it on the dogs. I think it's because I spend all day letting them in and out and trying to keep them from digging (and barking at the neighbors). When they are inside, they rough-house and slam into me! See! Not really my fault.

CRITICAL PSA!
Don't let your laundry pile up! This is what happens! You pull it out of the dryer and avoid folding it for an hour or so, turning your couch into an amorphous blob of fabric. Can't tell where the laundry is on this couch? Neither can I. It's taken over. Instead of folding it, I drew a picture of it. Then I folded it.

Dracula in progress and some unfinished business

Dracula cuff

Please note that every time I think "Dracula," I'm thinking it in my best Transylvanian accent. And following it with the laugh from the Count from Sesame Street. With that in mind, here is Dracula (One Dracula! Ah!Ah!Ahhh!)! I think it's going pretty well! Unfortunately, this is version three, so it took a bit of work to get to something I was happy with. I thought I'd share the unsuccessful versions, just for kicks:

Versions one and two of Dracula- version two even has white embroidered fangs! I told you so! I thought it started to look like a badge. That wasn't the goal. So these two became rejects, and I decided I needed less contrast to keep it from looking cartoonish- no whites or silvers.

This is just a big pile of stuff I've started but haven't finished. I know that the gold cuff on the mid-left looks almost complete, but what you can't really see in the photo is that it's wonky. I may finish it just so I can wear it, but I wouldn't sell it. It's not up to snuff! The silver thing on the upper left was the start of a tiny bib necklace, but I never could decide how to finish it. The rest were set aside either because they started to look wrong (the white one, lower right) or because the inspiration evaporated.


I hope that seeing the things that haven't worked out has been as interesting as seeing works in progress! I know that I love to see others' work in all stages of completion and success.

Dark Forest finished!

Hansel and Gretel's Dark Forest

Finished! Finally! It feels like this one took forever. I really like how the fading sky looks on the side view, though I'm not sure how easy it is to tell that the white beads around the treetops are stars! I hope that it's obvious. This one just looks so great on! I really want to make another similar one for myself now.

Next up will be Dracula, but I've started it twice now and disliked it both times. It's hard to straddle the line between wearable and hokey; Dracula-inspired and goth. I started one version with embroidered fangs, and while they looked like fangs, it also just looked silly. I also tried to embroider black scrollwork, but oh my! It didn't look right and it would have taken forever. I think it may just have to be the colors that are inspired by Dracula (blood red and black) and that the pattern is a bit masculine.

I've also got sketches of several other cuffs, but don't know which one is next on the list- I'm in the planning stages for Feejee Mermaid, Hephaestus, Rapunzel, Snow White and Medusa.

Dark Forest in progress, Midas finished!

Hansel and Gretel's Dark Forest cuff

Coming along nicely! I still haven't decided whether or not to outline the trees... but I was thinking maybe a metallic silver would be nice. We'll see!

Midas cuff

Totally finished, ready to be put online! I'll be putting both of these on Etsy when I finish Dark Forest. I've got so many others in my head that I'd like to work on (and more than one actually started, of course!)