July ~ My Cup Runneth Over

The 99% completed piece. I'll be mounting this piece onto that brown piece of suede and will add 3 beads onto the suede so it looks like the beads are falling off the piece. I'm pretty happy with it, my cup runneth over with plenty of things and beads just happens to be one of the things in my life. I could have done it with a small barrel but LOL, I thought a cup would read easier. I'm not going to mount my pieces until the 11th or 12th month because I want a whole cohesive piece instead of a mish mash (which for me will surely happen). Please click each pic to get a huge detail. :-)

I like this piece because it's the first attempt at a realistic portrayal of something. I mean I've done at least one other thing but it was still a bit abstract compared to this one. And it really made me think about how I'd show perspective. I also learned that if you use really dark thread (navy) with a really light bead (ivory) the bead has a different depth to it than if you use an ivory thread. The ivory beads on the front of the cup are sewn with navy thread. The very same beads are on the inside of the cup but I used a cream thread and they look much lighter, more ivory. I know I don't always like colored fabric underneath my beads (I use a lot of translucent beads) because it changes the color of the beads and sometimes I don't like what it does (when I have a specific need for a color). So I learned a lot.



This photo is to give you an idea how much height is in the piece. It's got texture because of it, well, and the beads spilling out of the cup give some texture to it too.



This is a pic at 50% so if you don't have the option of zooming back you can see how it might look at a distance. I wanted some perspective and I think I got it with the pointalism in the foreground table and the stuffing of the cup. BUT looking at it now I think I would have added some darker teal beads right above the table to help the teal fade into the back. I'd also bring the lip of the cup up so it is as high as the side of the cup. But overall, I am happy with it.

July update - virtually done

I decided this morning not to fully complete each page by sewing it to a backing fabric. Oh, I'll do each page as a beaded piece but I'm thinking I need to see the whole of the piece before I bind the pages.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with beading on the ultrasuede, but will I keep the idea of using different colors/patterns as the backside which will end up being the facing page to the next beaded piece. Or will I use a uniform backside that is a single pattern/color for all pages?

The update on the July piece is that it is 98% done. I think I"m keeping the band at the top because the added beads help balance it out so your eye isn't drawn right up to that band. The only thing I have left to do (besides putting it on a backing fabric) is to reinforce the gold front rim of the cup.

I'll do that today and then add the pictures.

And then start thinking about August page. Wheeeeeeeee.

July 3/4 complete

I've got about an inch and 3/4 to go before I finish my July journal page. I cannot find our digital camera either. So I have no photos yet.

So far, I am mostly loving the piece. I'm not sure about the background, I fought myself over it yesterday. I was going to have the beads run vertically to offset the horizontal foreground but I hated how that looked so I ripped it out. Seeing that I have this band of light blue with green accents at the top (brick stitch running horizonally) I might use that as a band at the top and change the brick stitch to vertical for the rest of it in a teal color.

Decisions decisions.

July 11th: I'm farther along than the title suggests, I couldn't find my camera for a few days (really, I still love my 15 1/2 yr old daughter who said she didn't know where it was but it turned out she took it and left it in the trunk of the car!). I had to keep beading so it's still a progression pic just farther along.

Here it is, a very tight piece. I'm probably not going to keep the band at the top, I was going to make a wallpaper type background but it so distracts from the teacup (and the contents that will eventually be added) that I made the background more flat. There is some dimension to this piece, the cup portion is slightly stuffed with batting. I have to build up the front gold edge so it matches the height of the front of the teacup. It looks best from about 6 ft away where the dimension looks pretty good. I just took a look at the post and you can't see the dimension, so note to myself: get pic that shows the dimension when the thing is complete. (isn't it awful that I have to post myself notes? Otherwise I'll forget!)



All of it is glass seedbeads in size 11, 12, and 15. I used brick for the teacup and wallpaper and backstitch for the tabletop. The finished beaded size will be 4 inches square.

July progress

I'm about a third of the way finished with my July page. A cup, some beads, a famous quote.

It's turning out quite dainty, something different for me.

I have the most difficult time beading asymmetrically. It takes real effort for me to do something that isn't equal on all sides.

Sheesh, this must be related to OCD. All things being even (good title for a journal page).

I'm also 100% drawn to beading in brick stitch instead of backstitch. I'm trying hard to incorporate more backstitching in my pieces. I love the look of backstitching but somehow brick sneaks in there in a big way.

I must take a pic tonight so I don't complete it; I want some development pics because lots of times what I plan isn't what turns out. LOL, and thats a good thing.

June - Totem

I decided to make a Bead Journal Project blog instead of using my Deviant Art page. It's too slow to load and is too unwieldy to upload.

It took me all month to make a decision on what to do for the June page and I started 3 different things. The first two were no-go. This last one stuck when I decided not to have a plan and just let it go where it wanted to go.

This is titled Totem. It's pretty small (the beaded portion) but thats what happened when it came to me that it was finished. It only measures about 2 1/2 inches long so it's pretty small.



A few weeks ago a friend read my medicine cards. I know I got eagle and owl and bat but I can't remember what other animals showed up. As I was beading my piece I planned on covering a 4 inch space beaded on the diagonal. But it didn't want to go there. The more I turned it to see what needed to go where, the more I liked the vertical layout of the beads. And then I saw eagle/owl/bat or maybe frog in it. But you've got to get far enough away to imagine the images on it, they are somewhat abstract. :-)

I cut it out of the square I was beading on (because it was on the diagonal) and plan to mount it vertically.

The title Totem came to me last night.

I used peyote, brick, embroidery stitches on this piece. The beaded fabric is faux ultrasuede. And I will mount it on the same fabric. I used a single pearl, a single hematite, a single plastic glowing bead, size 11 and 15 glass beads.

I finished this on the last day of June but as I look at it, mounted on the 4 1/2 inch sq piece of fabric it looks so solitary...so I am thinking I might add to the fabric. I'm going to leave it alone for now and see if the thoughts of adding more fade.

Also I've had vague ideas of how I will put my journal together but nothing concrete. Today I think I've decided on lining each piece but leaving the toop portion open (but finished) so I can slip a transparency journal page with my notes for each month inside.