I've been obsessed with bead embroidery from the very first days while involved with cross stitched and a Mirabella kit called for beads to embellish the tapestry. That was it! I was hooked from that day on, but I don't think I can only do bead embroidery forever so I always am trying out new bead weaving techniques and sometimes they do find their way into my bead embroidery projects. Not this time. I just wanted to let my brain go and go totally bead embroidery all the way.
I belong to several beading groups on Facebook. One of them is called Beader Without Borders. We are a group of beading enthusiast from all over the globe. This month there is a Spring Challenge where you are requested to make a piece using
this picture as inspiration. It is a beautiful picture of a Spring bouquet from a garden. I also wanted to try out some of
Nicole's Bead Backing to construct a soft bracelet from. She had all these lovely colors to choose from, and I was immediately drawn to the yellows and oranges along with all her new shades of green. If you are familiar with NBB, then you'll be pleasantly surprised. It is similar to Lacy's Stiff Stuff, but it comes is a rainbow of colors. Personally I feel that it is more durable that LSS. When I try using LSS, the warmth of my hands make the fibers ball up plus the fact that you have a bright white background. Many bead embroiderers dye the LSS with Rit dye, but even that does not help the durability of the fibers. Yet, NBB not only is already dyed, but it withstands the warmth of my hands and does not pill up nor does the ends fray as does Lacy's Stiff Stuff. Okay enough with my selling pitch.
I used the yellow Nicole's Bead Backing along with assorted beads from my stash. I left some of the yellow showing through as I thought that gave it a more warm and Spring like look. I did use Ultra Suede for the back as I was afraid that prolong exposure to skin might break down the NBB fibers plus it is more porous and absorb sweat further causing breakdown. For the edging, I wanted the bracelet to have more of a flower petal look, so I did a modified herribone edging. When I finished I used snap as closures. It does feel good on the wrist and is nice to look at. I do think that the only thing I would have changed is that possibly I would have used the green NBB to match the challenge photo a little more. But hey, doesn't matter as now I have a garden bouquet to wear on my arm. Perfect.
I've tried the NBB with brooches. I've been wanting to make an owl brooch for a long time. Plus, I'm trying to come up with a possible project for 1 Stop that might attract students. This is my first try. I wanted to have sequins make up the breast of the owl, but this doesn't really match what was in my head so next time around, I'll use bigger diameter sequins. I like the project, but it needs a little tweaking before I can present it to Lisa for a student project.
And then naturally...the end. Scottie Style! Frodo loves Spring. Our back yard is a bird hatchery with about six sitting nest. At times it gets very loud as those tiny little nestlings are very noisy. We have Robin, Starling, Wren, Cardinal, and I do believe there is even a Dove nest. Frodo is always watching as the birds fight off his mortal enemy Mr. Squirrel and has Arwen beside him as his side kick. Love Spring!
