December BJP 2013

No 12. I've had such fun creating these ATC sized beaded flowers. I hope to mount them on to a board. Just have to think about the background. This month I have chosen a Pansy using Delica beads. I can't remember what this type of beading is called but I drew the pansy and then beaded in circles over it. I wasn't happy with the couching so went back to beaded back stitch.

BJP November

Another of my favourite flowers is the Billy Button (Craspedia Globosa), we have lots of them growing outside my window at work. (I work in a portable at the back of the main buildings) These bright yellow balls bobble about in the breeze and can be mesmerizing (back to work Marj!). They are native to Australia and New Zealand. They can be hard to get hold of as seed as I haven't found any to plant in my garden. I think I will have see if I can take a cutting.

BJP September/October

The last of the state flowers is the Tasmanian Blue Gum Eucalyptus glololus Labill which of course, is the state flower of Tasmania. The flowers appear singly on the leaves. October's flower is one of my favourites, Geraldton Wax, a leggy bush/small tree which is a native of Western Australia but grows throughout Australia. I have always had them in my garden in Victoria. They come in several shades of fuschia, pinks and all white.

Felted beagle

Hi again, have just completed this beagle which I'm quite please with although it could be better. I followed a tutorial by Elena Lliv. She gave an excellent tutorial in pictures so it didn't matter that I can't speak Russian. I tried to register to thank her but I could not work our the security code so eventually gave up. I really appreciate every opportunity to improve the needlefelting. We had a public holiday on Wednesday so was able to get stuck in. My husband says she looks like a 'Sally' so that is what she has been name. Now I really must get on and get back to my beading.

More Needlefelting

Hi everyone
I've spent some time getting more practice at needlefelting and not so much beading in the last month or so. I worked some more on the owls  Jeanne Harlan-Marriott and have created 2 figures. 'Bob' I made from one of the many faces I discarded for the Santa. I used the video Kay Petal's Craft Alive for the Santa and for the pumpkin. The videos are marvelous for seeing the project from start to finish

'Bob'

ATCs to date

I have been asked to post all ATCs together so for Amy, here they are. Unfortunately, I can't make them sit in a row, so I inserted them into word and saved all as one jpg before uploading.

August BJP

The Waratah Telopea speciosissima is the state flower of New South Wales and flowers from September to November. I haven't done it justice as they have a spectacular dense head of crimson individual flowers with toothy leaves. This would have benefitted from a 3-d effect by working over a padded base, but I am committed to keeping all of these ATC size pieces fairly flat.

July BJP

Apologies for my tardiness, I was away for part of July/August visiting family in Paraburdoo which is in Western Australia; and still trying to get back into things. So much going on. I've just come back from a weekend away with Embroiderers Guild - we go to a school camp twice a year  for lots of stitching and beading and substantial meals, all catered - we just do the washing up. It was wonderful - I needlefelted for most of the weekend, but a group of us made fabric bowls out of fabric covered cotton cord.
Here is my July BJP - a Cooktown Orchid which is the state flower of Queensland.  I will have to get my skates on and start the August BJP, only a couple of days until September - how the time flies.

Cooktown Orchid



Dyed cotton cord with crochet edge



Fabric covered cord with button



Fabric covered cord with crochet edge

Owls need a bit more work

June BJP

Hi everyone
June's BJP is a Sturt's Desert Rose (Gosspium sturtianum), the floral emblem of the Northern Territory. It is named after Captain Charles Sturt who was the first person to collect this species. The flower is associated with a cotton plant. The petals can be pink, purple or maroon. Another common name for it is the 'Darling River rose'.

Beaded Dragon

Life has been very hectic both at home and work so have spent what time I had beading this dragon which is for my granddaughter Haley's 19th birthday coming up soon. I had a lot of trouble with the wings, trying different methods. beaded fabric were too floppy, I thought the fast to fuse between silk too bulky and settled on organza/vlisefix sandwich with a thin wire sandwiched around the edge. Only a little beading on these so that they would sit up. I used plenty of Swarovski's on the chest and underbelly to satisfy Haley's love of bling.

BJP May

This month I have chosen Sturt's Desert Peal which is the floral emblem of South Australia. It grows on a creeping plant and can be found in different shades of red. The base of the flower is either a deep purple or black.

Sturt's Desert Pea

Spring Swap Doll

Whoopee! I received my swap doll from Sherry today. She is a beautiful rainbow. Here are pics of both.

April BJP

Hi everyone, I have chosen the State flower of Canberra, the Royal Bluebell Wahlenbergia aloriosa as my April BJP. It flowers from October to March with flowers up to 2-3cm on long slender stems. It measures approx 6 x 9 cm (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Thought you might be interested in looking at this beadwork by Margaret Lee http://margaretlee.com.au/gallery/bead-embroidery/index.html She specialises in Japanese bead embroidery and uses size 15 and 12 beads. It looks like she uses delicas as well but it's hard to tell from photos.

Polymer Clay

I moulded some faces on the Labour Day weekend.I finally painted and varnished them a couple of weeks ago and thought I had ruined them by spraying with too much varnish. They were horribly tacky. Luckily, bought some Liquitex at the paper craft show I went to last weekend. I had tried re-polishing a couple of faces but that didn't help. The next stage was to try and sand the varnish off as these are my best faces yet. I was dreading the sanding, so my friend Phyllis suggested the Liquitex. Great results, no more tackiness. Here are the faces I made. This is about the 5th lot of faces I've made in the last year and my painting techniques are definitely improving.

Beaded Art Doll - Shoe Challenge

I finished my shoe challenge. It stands 2 1/2" high by 4 1/2" long. I didn't think I would make it but the extra weekend for March has helped a lot. I seem to have found more time anyway. Hope you like her.


Lovely fabric to start with

I found these square millefiori beads at a market stall selling junk (someone's treasures)

Right side



Ready for the heel





Spring is born



Left view of heel



March BJP

This month I have used larger beads to create my 9cm x 5cm picture of a Kangaroo Paw, backing it with ultrasuede. The 11s I've used for the background are rather too dark as they overshadow the stems. I used 3mm bicones for the stems and rounds and bicones for the flowers. The Kangaroo Paw is the State flower of Western Australia and, has mostly all red or all green flowers.

Needlefelting

I've been playing with the felting needles this week, I'm determined to improve my technique. I tried another armature, this time a dog which is rather a sad little thing, black isn't the best colour to use when you are learning.  You can just about make out his eyes which are 3mm beads. I didn't have any black core wool so used white and then used merino to cover. This proved a mistake as the merino fibres are just too long to blend in well on such a small doll.

I also made a couple of Kay Petal characters, Pixie and puppy. I'm pleased with how Red the dog turned out, I really worked hard with the finishing needle and I think I have done a good job except perhaps the feet could be a better shape. The pixie is a cutie. You may be interested in looking at the work of Bea Brodka, a Polish artist who, like Kay Petal,  is truly inspirational. Now I really must get on and finish my BJP which is waiting for a backing and finishing off.

Doll Swap

I'm taking part in a doll swap with the Beaded Art Dolls Yahoo Group. I will be posting my completed 'Spring' doll to my swap partner Sherry,  tomorrow. We have a public holiday today(Labour Day) so I intend spending the day painting some polymer clay faces. I've been trying to make time to paint these for ages. I can't post a picture of the doll until 1st April so I will just show a couple of tasters of what is to come.

Bead Group
I had a lovely day on Saturday with my bead buddies from the Embroiderers Guild. Glenys showed us some gorgeous beaded fabric swatches she had been given to make up into a crazy patchwork bag. Phyllis and I gave a show and tell on the supplies we bought on our visit to Easybeads in Seymour. Christine has a huge stock of Czech hanks and Fire Polish as well as a good range of Japanese seed beads. It took us an hour and a half to get there but it was lovely to see and handle the beads before we bought them.

For February's Bead Journal Project I have embroidered a Common Heath (Epacris impressa). It has a profusion of trumpet like flowers all along the stems, often tipped with white.There are several colourways of this plant but the pink is the emblem of my home state of Victoria.

Time Diffference

Because of the time difference, the blog insists on saying it is Friday 22nd when in fact, it is Saturday 23rd at 9.12 am. I don't know how to change the date. I will investigate further.

Free Form Peyote Blog Hop - The Big Reveal
I have taken part in Karen Williams and Mandi Ainsworth's Free Form Peyote Challege. I have done any free form for at least 10 years so I was a bit rusty. Here is what I came up with. I used some tiger eye as a base and attempted to create a colour scheme to match. Thank you to Ary'dell Hotelling for her 'how to' on creating a snug fitting loop for the clasp that has no gaps when fastened. I may have hidden the donut in the centre a bit too much I think.

Beaded Art Doll

Here she is. I finished late last night and am quite pleased with the result. She actually stands on her own two feet!


'Broadway' Beaded Art Doll Challenge



Beaded Art Doll - Hat Doll Challenge - Top



Beaded Art Doll - Hat Doll Challenge - skirts