Dappled Air

My beading calendar for December 16 had the pattern for this Christmas star as earrings. I did not have the beads the pattern called for and decided to experiment with the beads I had at hand. I ended up with a 2 inch star that was very easy and simple to make.

My son and daughter-in-law gave me some beads as a mother's day gift. I was tickled pink. After sorting through the beads and taking them of the strings they came with, I had the inspiration for this necklace with green glass beads this past weekend. The black glass beads were also part of the gift and the silver beads came from my bead collection. I love the way the necklace turned out. It is about 27 inches long. Check out my market place with beadwork I have for sale

I love beading and making necklaces, but have trouble finding a way to display them to take great pictures. Then one day while looking for something totally different I came across instructions on how to make your own display stand from cardboard. Now I just had to check this out. After running into a few problems I figured out my own way of making it and I am quite pleased with the end result. You can find the instructions here . The necklace on display is called 'Belle of the Ball' and is beaded over an old key. It is for sale for $30.--. Email me if you are interested.

After the struggle I had to get my firefox icon pattern translated correctly for beads in Photoshop, I can totally appreciate the this free online site called Patterns for You . The site translates the picture or photo for the 'loom, brick, peyote or right angle stitch'. I haven't tried it yet and so cannot report more about it, but I will definitely give it a try and then report back. December 31/2008 I just tried to make a pattern and it did not work. Too bad, this would have been a great resource.

I came across this lovely link at Wide Eyed Wonderfuls with a lovely pattern for a Christmas tree done in paper embroidery. It is simple but the result is quite stunning. I followed the pattern and made a card and promptly sent it on to Switzerland before taking a picture, I guess I was in a hurry. Then I had the idea of working with the design in Photoshop and created a background for the card from that one tree, print it out and then embroider it. I went through a few version and still don't know which one I like best. First I left the tree to be embroidered unprinted, then I printed it like the rest of the background and finally I reduced the saturation. Then the embroidery part also went through a few version. First I had no sequins, so I used glass seed beads. Then once I got some sequins I had to give that a try.

Yes, it is this time of the year again and money is tight. So how about making your own gifts? My youngest daughter just voiced this sentiment and I suggested that she bake some cookies as gifts. Well, no sooner had I thought about it when I came across this article at "Get Rich Slowly" will a list of 34 ideas for home-made gifts. Being a crafty person, I have also accumulated a few ideas of my own for handmade gifts . I try to stick with simple and fun projects and sometimes integrate some recycling into them. Like this pair of little angels below

I was just informed that my beaded goddess bag was included in the great beadwork treasury at Etsy. It came as a total surprise, I am not quite sure what to say. I guess this means that it is time to add some more of my creations to my Etsy store . In the meantime all my craft creations are also available at the marketplace section of my Marlies' Creative Universe website.

I love to work with beads, but they have a tendency to run away on me. So I have experimented with various materials I had at home. First I tried paper, then a tray, then some felt. The paper was too slippery, the tray I did not like and the felt, well the needle got stuck in it when I tried to pick up a bead. Then one day when I was shopping I came across this cool shelf liner that had a slightly spongy and sticky feeling to it. It has a diamond design on one side and it plain on the other. I lost the label and don't know what it was called. It wasn't too expensive and came in various colors. I picked off white and cut a piece about 12 inches long, it is 9 inches wide and got to work. The first thing I noticed was that the beads did not slip around any more. So it looks like I have found my beading mat. March 2009: I found the label. It is called 'All purpose storage mat', 12" x 30" non-slip. On my searches around the web I came across this very helpful beadi...

What do you do when you are computer geek and a crafter at the same time, and are looking for a unique pattern? You figure out a way to combine both. This is what I did this weekend. I have been collecting icons and then it hit me that they would be the ideal way to get unusual patterns. Most of them are already small and quite pixelated. I found this Firefox icon on the left here and that gave me the idea. It still had too many colors, but by putting a grid over the design and then coloring in the grid in Photoshop I got a workable pattern. The result is the beaded Firefox on the right. It is worked in my version of the square stitch. I add 2 beads at a time, go back one bead, go back through the second of the beads I added and repeat. It looks ok, but something is not quite right. It was supposed to be square, but it is not. So I measured the finished design. It is under 2 inches wide and it 3 inches tall and realized that the the width/length ratio was 1:1.39. Back to photoshop, I...

Yesterday's mail brought me a pleasant surprise. A beading book called 'Mastering Beadwork - a comprehensive guide to off-loom techniques' just showed up at my home. There was no note or anything with it, just the book in a bubblewrap envelope from the States. I am tickled pink, but I am also wondering how I got the book. I vaguely recall writing a comment at a blog that was giving away a book, but which blog and when I did that is very foggy. A hearty thank you to whoever sent me this lovely book. So for me the holidays have started early this year.

I am still sorting and organizing my craft stash and came across these pony bead ornaments I made last year just a little too late for Christmas. So this year am ready and they are already available for sale . I also have instructions on how to make them on my main website . They are easy to make as they are made with pony beads, thick thread and a big dull, wool darning needle, so it is pretty safe for children to make. I had lots of fun making them.

After experimenting with beading wooden beads and plastic tubes I remembered that I had a container full of old keys that I just could not throw out, but never quite knew how to use. Well, that day has arrived and I had my bright idea that I might cover the key with beads and make a pendant. The orange key to the right is my first attempt and remains still unfinished. I had to figure out how to start the beadwork and what kind of stitch to use. Then I found this old car key in the mix of keys and realized that it is thicker than house keys and used small tube beads for the edge and bright red seed beads for the outline and larger seed beads for the center. I call it the 'heart key'. The latest beaded key is my 'dancing key'. I covered the key with green seed beads and wasn't too impressed with it. Then after looking through my beads I came across a tube of assorted beige beads that would look wonderful as a fringe. But how to attach the fringe? So I circled the key ...

Playing around with my beads and eye pins, I suddenly had the realization that I could make a stacked button pendant by using the eye pins to hold everything together. I had some buttons with only 2 holes that I gotten at the dollar store. First I stacked the button one on top of the other but it did not look right. So I took it apart again and added some glass beads before, between and after the buttons. It worked and I think it looks quite nice. Now for the necklace part, what was I going to use. Then I remembered that I had some green ribbon. Well, I might as well use a button as a closure also to keep with the theme. The necklace is about 21 inches long and the pendant about 1.5 inches. It is for sale here .

I am finally relearning the Peyote stitch in beading. I remember making coasters with short tube plastic beads as a child. Of course, at that time I did not realize that it was the peyote stitch. Recently I have come across some really cool beaded beads . That reminded me of the pumpkin person zipper pull I made last December. That was the start of me trying to cover wooden beads. I wasn't very happy with the result, something was not quite right. So, now I had something look at, beautifully beaded balls, to find out how I could improve my work. That meant taking a closer look at the peyote stitch and figuring out what a brick stitch is. Some more research online lead me to the idea that you kind of make girdle around the outside, the roundest part, of the bead in peyote stitch. Close that band to make a circle and then work in brick stitch towards the hole of the wooden bead. It seems I got the hang of it as you can see from the beads below.

Well, after making a little turtle with beads, I had to see if I could bead embroider a turtle without first drawing the design on the fabric. I decided to use a button as the center of the shell and then bead around it. I found that after I had sewed the button to the fabric that the design worked better when I glued the button down. I had found at the dollar store some plastic beads shaped like turtles and found them to be perfect to use in the shell. Hubby said that he liked the turtle without the background, but I kind of like the background the way it turned out. I had tube of mixed beads and just shook out a few and used them without rhyme or reason and am quite pleased the way it turned out. I am still not quite sure how to finish the design. So for the time being I just wait until inspiration strikes.

I discovered that I love bead embroidery and that combined with my love of recycling lead me to create these adorable beaded amulet bags. I found that I had a couple of shoulder pad forms, the thin foamy kind and was trying to come up with a use for them. I really liked the shape and then it hit me they would be great for amulet bags. So off I went looking for a design when I found the sitting goddess on my hard drive. I traced the design on a shoulder pad and started embroidering. Here is a link of my progress . Now that I had used one shoulder pad, I had to find a design for my second one. I wanted something different and ended up using the 'Solomon's Knot' design and created this very colorful amulet bag with an 8 inch beaded handle. Both bags are for sale.

I love to do bead embroidery and I love to work with paper. The problem with bead embroidery on paper are the holes. Pre-punching the holes leads to the problem that the holes don't match up with the beads. Then the other problem is how to get the design on the paper so that it won't show up on the paper. I found a way to do it by tracing the design on Glad Press'n Seal plastic wrap and then placing that on the paper. As it is low tack, it is easy to remove afterwards and does not leave any trace. If it get stuck between the beads, it can be cut and pulled out with tweezers. The little tree is the result of using plastic wrap. Check my other designs here .

On Wednesday I came across this cool crop circle from Switzerland . In the evening I set out to color the diagram. First I thought it was a flower but then as I was coloring it, it almost felt like a feathery starfish. It made me feel light and airy. Then yesterday I was drawn to use this design to work with my new big eye bead embroidery needle . Oh what a pleasure it was to use this needle. No more problems threading a tiny eye and using it was very easy. I am so pleased that I finally bought these needles. This is the first time that I have done something different than just coloring with a crop circle diagram. I printed the design on card stock and then used the printed design on the back to guide my embroidery on the front of it. I pierced small holes from the back and then connected them with the beads. Looking at the picture, I just realized that I did not print it reversed, so the finished design is no going into the opposite direction. I asked my husband what he thought of th...

Yesterday I talked about my new beading needles, there is only one problem with them, how to store them as they are 4.5 inches long? I did not want to go out and buy a special case or box. Then I decided I could make a case myself with materials I already had in the house. I used some large popsicle sticks (they are probably tongue depressors), wooden thin coffee stir sticks, old magnet business cards, some fun foam, wood glue, wire cutters, small saw and fabric markers. The length of the box was limited by the length of the tongue depressors after I sawed off the round ends. So my finished box is 5.25 inches long and 2.25 inches wide. The width is 3 tongue depressors wide. I glued 3 tongue depressors together and then glued 4 small pieces of the thin coffee stir sticks across to stablize them. The stir sticks are easy to cut with the wire cutters. Next I cut the tongue depressors to make the side pieces and glued everything together, again using the stir sticks as stabilizers. I glued...

Over the last year I have been drawn more and more to work with beads. I love to make necklaces and also bead embroidery, but at my age threading that very fine needle is getting to be a pain in the you know what. Then I heard about a needle where the whole needle is the eye, wow that sounded great. So on my last shopping trip I stopped by at Michaels Arts & Craft store and bought a set of 4 'big eye beading needles. The picture to the right is off the internet, the needles I bought are from www.beadalon.com. I haven't gotten around to try them out yet, as I first have to come up with a design to work on. I did a quick test to see if I could use it for bead embroidery and the needle went through the fabric very nicely. Now what design shall I use? The pendant to the left is made over ¼" metal washer. Check out my other washer pendants . Always on the lookout for more different beads, I found that hair scrunchies at the dollar store often had beads on them. The price w...