Friday, December 27, 2013

Not a beading project, but it does have beads. Bu's Christmas mouse. Again I thought he was too old for Christmas present. While gearing up to open the European family's gifts on the 24th, Bu was under the tree pawing through the gifts for a whiff of catnip. So we stopped everything while I made this mousy. Thank goodness he went back upstairs while I worked. The he heard us rattling papers he came back down, still half asleep.
.He picked the nicest ribbon for his own and then gave me this stare to say, "Is this all I get for Christmas?"

"This is the best you could do?" 

In the evening he sat among the discarded papers waiting on either more gifts or a better mouse.

Monday, December 23, 2013

I have been working on this Kangaroo for several days but my days have been shorted, not only by the early sun sets, but the long afternoon naps I take after working on proofing books. That job is not yet done and here is Christmas breathing down my neck. Maybe the next few days will be more relaxing so that I can bring you more bead progress.
The dentist just called and said he wants to pull Werner's tooth today. Yikes!
Good news! The dentist found all the pain was caused by a high spot on the fixed tooth that howled every time Werner bit down on it. A bit of drilling and polishing and he is home pain-free. My Christmas present!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I think I have reached the end of the purses. The one on the right I had started and then felt the colors were too awful so I ripped it all out. Then I was so pleased with the new attempt that I started on the last one I had. As you can or cannot see the colors are not working on this one. I tried to buy more from Fire Mountain - thinking it was easier to buy new ones than to rip out all those beads, but evidently they have stopped stocking them. GOOD! Maybe I can stop making them. I really do not see good enough to be doing cross-stitch with beads. However, every time I see Mary she has a new story of someone who has admired her purse.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

With the photo shoot set-up given over to the Christmas tree and the sunlight coming in so low I had to go on a search for a place to photograph the finished Howlidays Dog. Just minutes before the flower shop delivered  a lovely bouquet from Hans and Carol I tried to get a shot of him and the Christmas tree but it was too dark and the sunshine too splotchy. Splotchy. Now there is a word I do not use often. . .
Last night I used up all my angel wings and plastic boxes to make the last of surprise finders - keepers gifty things. Now to find someone willing to hide them around town.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Forgive the silence. This full-sized beanie baby took some time.Plus I have often been too tired to bead all afternoon and evening.Mailing out the calendars made from photos of the animals has taken a few afternoons, also.
I got my FM order and the pounds of white beads so I can work on Howlidays dog again. I cleaned out the photo set-up so for the next couple of weeks it will hold our Christmas tree instead of beaded animals waiting to be photographed.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

I  bead every day, until deep in the evening, but it seems I get so little finished. So I am glad to report that the book worm made the trip across the room to the photo set up today. I got a couple of dragons with the auctions a couple weeks ago and am eager to start them. I do not have enough of the white beads so I am thinking of doing one in golds since I have so many 8s of that color. Then I can use sequins on the spine and glitter for the wings. I am afraid the glass chips will make the wings too heavy.  Off to see what can be done with a beautiful summery day on the beading tray. Oh, Werner got me new recliner for Christmas! It is smaller so it fits me and the space in my beading corner better.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013


Taking antibiotics has slowed me down so that I take naps in the afternoon instead of beading. Also beading these full sized animals takes a lot longer. I did get the worm done but I see I do need to make the book so he stands up.A book that size will take at least a couple of more days. I wanted to at least show you the worm. Before I knew that I would need to make the book I started on this.

The Howlidog - a dog for the holidays. I am going to run out of the white beads soon. Thank goodness the month ends soon and Vicki will be doing another order. I beaded on ear on the underside first and found out it gets too stiff. So I started the topside of the other ear. I am hoping that removing a few rows on the underside of the first ear will allow it to hang down. It is hard to believe that the red beads on the ear are the same as the purplish beads on the tail of the worm. I am glad I added the brighter pinkish beads at the very tip to draw the eye back to the head.

Monday, November 18, 2013

 Here is Topper, his proper name, in (well almost in) his box ready to go. Barbara stopped by and as soon as she saw him she whisked him off to the gallery. He is now being shown at CHAC in Point Arena.She also wanted to get some crystals for her ornament for Diane Naumann's new gallery Christmas tree in Gualala. She found what she wanted and gave me the idea to add a crystal drop to my old idea of the puff stars.

It took two days to make this. I was afraid the crystal would change the look of the star, but it really doesn't. I do like the the idea that the crystal makes the star shine in prism colors! I made this with 11s that have a glass basis but a gold metallic covering. I had accidentally ordered a pound of them so you will be seeing this bead again! Probably not on stars though. I was surprised how irritated I was while making this. As soon as the bead tray with the animal was back on my lap I felt calmer and happier. Too weird for words!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The giraffe is done! My biggest animal yet! Ten inches tall. I am so very happy with him. I just need to take a photo that does not cut off his hoof! I am so pleased when the original eyes work! They are better than buttons or beads.

I started on the big beanie baby worm last night, and today my eBay Magic the Dragon arrived. I did not realize Ty made a dragon (there is not a teenie beanie baby dragon - I made my own). I was messing around on my little laptop because I felt too sick to bead and I found not only one, but two and the second one had 2 unicorns with it. I am very happy with new animals on the horizon and the hope that the antibiotic may yet even work

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Doesn't he have an adorable face? I still need to do the muzzle and a few places above the eyes. Last night I was able to start up the fronts of the legs so I am hoping I can get to the body today. I am able to do these animals faster than I did a year ago. I would have to say practice, if it doesn't make perfect, it at least makes speed.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

#725 posting

The autumn sun was so bright on the photo table that I could not really see what the camera saw - hence the missing hoof. You can see the neck I did yesterday. I love seeing how the skin pattern translates into the bead pattern at the edges.
I just realized that this photo shows the beading on the inside of the legs more than the one above. At first I rejected this shot because of the overlap of the ears and the horns, but I see it does have value.

Monday, November 4, 2013

I wanted you to see the giraffe I am working on. You are going to be looking at this one for a long time since I am doing it in 11s so it goes very slowly. If you look very closely you can see the beads on the tummy. I have finally learned to start beading any animal on the tummy and under the legs first. That way I have the freedom to bend the leg aside in order to get the needle in the tight spaces on the inside of the legs. Then I bead the inside of the legs. Only giraffes make doing the neck so easy. If I had the energy I would go to the B & B preserve, on the edge of Point Arena to observe their 5 giraffes.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

I was reading in Art Dolls, the magazine Fire Mountain folks sent to me with their (our) ad on the back, and I saw that they have contest theme for their next summer's issue on mermaids. While wondering how to make a mermaid out of beanie babies, my glance wondered to the bookcase where I had this figure.I had made it several years ago while covering fishing lures.
 I think it is a diamerm - a backwards mermaid! Instead of having a human head and fish body, this has human legs and a fishy face! I took this shot to see if I can hide the plastic box she stands in. I am not good at retouching photos so I may have to hang her. It would be easier to retouch out a string rather than the box and all of its shadows. I had planned to make some kind of a spiny tail that hooked on to that loop on the lure but never got it just right. So here I hung a pendant from Judy Carr. She wire weaves and this piece looks a bit net-like. I am still thinking what would be best here.For Whom the Bell Trolls?

I did get the cat finished! Here he is with his whiskers! They add so much to the face.
I did start on the giraffe.So far so good.

Friday, November 1, 2013

The fuzzy polar bear with his icicle face and paw pads. Only as I was cleaning up my desk did I realize I had no picture of him. Now my Virgo soul can go take a nap again. I still have the tail of the Siamese cat to do. I started it last night by sewing from cat butt to tail tip but the beads would not lie flat so I ripped them all out, went to bed and plan to finish it today. I did get the purse done and I finally have an adequate method of doing the bottoms. It has taken me three tries to learn how to do them.

Thursday, October 31, 2013



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I should be working on a black cat for this holiday, but the reality is that I am just finishing the full sized Siamese Beanie Babie kitten. As you can see by the bit of butt and tail not yet beaded, he is brown. I would have had him finished by today but when Mary was here and saw the purses she liked them so much I started one for her. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fire Mountain put my snowman as their ad on the back of Art Doll magazine's current issue. What a lovely way to make a happy day for me. Seeing the dolls made me want to go back to making them. I suppose one could  see my beaded animals as dolls in a strange way. As it usually is, I do not really fit into any niche. I am happy today being in this one. Thanks to Arbel Shemesh the stylist, and photographer Scott Larson, at Fire Mountain for making the snowman (and me) look so good!


Monday, October 28, 2013


I did another purse without really wanting to do it. I see I did get more inventive at the bottom where there were colors I did not like. Still even my colors have a grayness that does not please me. Ling-yen was just here and she liked the purses so maybe I am in a super critical mood.

With the arrival of my Fire Mountain order I was able to finish the Prayer Bear. I had thought that sewing his hands and legs into place would be a problem but actually that job went quite well. I was even able to work on the cat part of the evening while a storm tried to blow down the chimney. Today the sun is back in full force.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

It finally dawned on me that the reason no one on Blogger responded to my pleas for help was because I was using Explorer as my internet connection. So here I am using Google's chrome and I see I can get around better on my blog-edit pages. This necklace above will be in the Holiday Jewels show at CHAC opening on November 9th. I should be writing up the article for the ICO but am, instead, trying to get acquainted with a new program.
Since I have been a bit under the weather recently, sewing beads on these little coin purses made in Guatemala have been undemanding work. All one has to do is make a cross stitch with a bead in it and if one looks closely you can see that I was not even able to do that! I was surprised how many beads such a little project took! You can see where I ran out of the green and substituted 6s instead of 8s. Perhaps I will get more creative as I go along and keep running out of beads. As I was looking closely at some of the other purses (I got 5) I can see where the original maker ran out of thread and substituted a near-matching color. That gives me encouragement to go on with these. I also think that I need to make the pattern bend to my will instead of trying to follow the yarn stitches.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013



The full-sized kitty cat is put on hold while I finish up some bracelets for the Christmas show at CHAC - Holiday Jewels. This is what I have so far.

And already my mind is inventing new sizes (I want to try four beads in a row) and new colors. I goofed with my order from Fire Mountain and have Amber AB 8s enough to bead a rug! But first I will finish up these that are already strung.

This is why I make so much jewelry when I do. I want to try out other ideas and colors and once my needle (or crochet hook in this case) is started with a project, it is so hard to stop it. Even though this small stuff makes my hands ache I cannot stop - yet.
A word above: Those lovely brass ends for the bracelets come from B'Sue's brass stamps on Etsy.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

The rhino in all his glory! I wish I had angled the body so his ears 'read' as ears and not mutant mushrooms. I do love his colors and think this is such an improvement over the original beast. I finished him at 11:30 so had no time to start the next animal but

I have this loverly polar bear! When these arrived, with all that fuzzy coat, I laid them aside thinking I would never bead these as the coat fur was too long to cover with beads. But as I found on the border collie and the cat, it works to just bead the smooth parts. And these go fast!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

This rhino is coming together so fast I thought I had better get a photo up of the original gray before it is all covered. I am really pleased at how the colors are working out on him. I feel the blues - as if he is in the river - are so much more exciting than his gray beginnings. One of the reasons I had not beaded him before was my reluctance to work in grays for a whole animal. Blues I can do! A rough week with the C.diff but the beading did go well!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I got this far on the Prayer Bear before I ran out of the amber AB 8s. Thank goodness Vicki did an order today so by the end of the week I cand finish. Last order I tried to order these beads and ended up with something else, so I am hoping I did it right this time.

Sunday, October 13, 2013


You are getting a report of the week as it seems I have been too occupied to add daily updates. On Thursday Barbara picked up the poster. As we were chatting I realized that the 9th of November was on a Saturday and not on a Friday as I had on the poster. I had used up all my printer cartridges so Barbara took the maimed posters home for Norman to fix by making labels of the word Saturday or reprinting the whole thing - which ever worked.

All summer Barbara had been asking me to give her more jewelry items and I said I was not making jewelry so had none to give her. Then she reminded me that she had returned a bunch of items last year before the holiday jewelry sale in order to promote the more expensive items. I had forgotten about the box and had never looked in it. Finally journeyed out to the studio and found gobs of things! So I spent two days checking these, refreshing tags and sorting them so she could find what she wanted for this year.

In the meantime I had started a bunch of crocheted bracelets thinking that would sell best at Christmas. So now I have these to finish up. I hate adding findings but here are 8 bracelets to finish. I love the colors of the rainbow ones and am slightly interested in making more of those.

Here is the Prayer Bear I had started on last week. I am now back to finishing him while I wait for bead caps for the bracelets. It was such a joy to have a big item, soft and squishy, back in my hand! That was such a change from the cramps in both hands trying to manage little stuff.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

This pup is from the BABE series. I know I said I would not bead any more of them but this dog had no eyes and looked so forlorn that I beaded the whites and left the fuzzy blacks. Gave him golden crystal eyes. At first I thought he was a husky but as I beaded him "border collie" kept coming to mind.
Barbara was here on Friday and picked up a box of new animals for the CHAC gallery and asked me to make a poster for the holiday jewelry show. So I had the fun of setting up this photo yesterday.
In the afternoon light the shot was less blue. This was taken with the little camera. I used the big Sony for the actual photo I wanted to use.

Saturday, October 5, 2013


This very furry kitten is from the BABE series. At first I thought I would be unable to bead it because it is so furry but the more I looked at it the more I thought it could be improved with some beading. So I did it. Another BABE animal that does not satisfy me.  At least it was quick. I am hoping some one owns a gray Persian cat and so they, and they alone, will find this a comfort.

Friday, October 4, 2013

The worm finished. I am not sure about that necklace. . .

It seems not to be such an item with the book. I am pleased that one can read the title of the book. It takes really sharp eyes to see it in the real. By stuffing the worm, it would stand (sit) alone but I prefer the idea that such a colorful worm is a book worm!

(the first word in this paragraph should be The necklace; again blogspot is unforgivable!)

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Quick look at the worm before it is finished. Actually last night I did get all the beads on the worm, even a red necklace! and then started on the book. Now I know why I don't make jewelry any more. It cramps my hand to hold the little pieces! I thought I would never get the book large enough so I could hold it easily and realized that my left hand is so used to the size of an animal that it cramps to hold just beads!
I did get 10 animals boxed up for the Dolphin in Gualala so that they can see if they can sell animals as well as the folks at CHAC. Werner was going to town to deliver them but is feeling dizzy, as he often does in autumn. Also he is taking an antibiotic for his pimples on his neck. Mary was scheduled to clean today but called in sick. It must be autumn.

Monday, September 30, 2013

I cannot believe that I posted no photos of this before I finished it. I think it a result of my disgust with the way the text tool here works. Enough bitching.
I love the color of these Precoisa beads! Have you noticed that I am now spelling Precoisa, if not right, at least differently. So the squirrel is done and I have started on the worm. I was getting so tired of beading in brown, gold, black and white so it is a really joy to work in primary colors. Also this is the first worm I have done since I started stuffing the animals. The worm is so much easier to work on when the sides don't wiggle. Hm, I just tried to go back to make a new paragraph and again it does not work. Will try to get a photo of the worm between rain showers. It feels very autumn-like here.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Just for the record I did finish the cow. You can see by the raised back leg that it is ready to tip over face first into the mud of the barnyard.



Then I did go back to finish the sheep. I thought that by extending the front legs the creature would stop falling on its nose. I used the ears off a McDonald's bear but it did not help. So I opened the back crotch seam, stuck in 58 cents and sewed it up. Even though it looks as if the sheep will sit down on its butt, if you touch it the beast will again fall on his nose.
I did search for a new blog machine and got so confused by the many sites that wanted to stick their hands in my credit card that I have returned here, with cussing,

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Deja vu? Now the cow falls on his face. I am hoping that more beads on his butt and a very tail will balance him out - I know it is not female - utterly no utter. Should be able to finish him today and then this is the last of the BABE series I will do.
Please insert "big" in that first line between very and tail. Will close to go seek a new blogger program.