Thursday, February 28, 2013


Here is the iguana with his back end finished. I never did find a better color for his lips so he is stuck with this "baby bird yellow beak" mouth. I so love the set of his head. He looks like an iguana with a real goal in life!
I started on the giraffe from the 2009 set. Am doing him in 15s so the spots show up smoother. Will try to get a photo of him tomorrow when you can see how that idea is working.
Went to Gualala Arts yesterday to pick up these two sumi-e which were in the "Suiseki / Viewing Stones" exhibit up through February. I felt the hanging crew gave the pair a lovely setting but am very glad to have these home again as they left our dining room very bare.

Monday, February 25, 2013

I was so tired last night that I crawled into bed at 9:30 - hence the bare undone patch on the back of iguana. I did look through the new 15s but there was nothing there that would come close to being a better set of lips for the beast. I think I need to make a new order. . .
At this stage I am already thinking of the next animal. I had promised myself I'd do the giraffe when the 15s came, and now I am wobbling. I always find it interesting how something in me picks the next one even when my head has no idea of what I want!
Sue and Karl were here so I gave one of the dark green fish to Sue for rescuing my orchid.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

This is not much to show for the past three days but I have, in my new spurt of wellness and energy, been cleaning house and went to Gualala Arts Center to see the Suiseki show. Both projects totally wiped out my beading time and evenings.
I am pleased how these two bead colors combine. I had my doubts and I am still not sure about the red eyes and the yellow mouth. Since doing the lips a new Fire Mountain order has arrived with a lot of 15s so I will be seriously considering whether to rip out that light yellow.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Even with the setting sun, this figure seems to be in a black and white photograph. Amazing how gray comes with the guy even when I try to brighten his life with beads. Also I notice the last three animals have finished at sunset. Five even days seems to be the time it takes me to bead one of the Teenie Beanie Babies - right to the hour.
Because Iggie the Iguana went to the Charter School silent auction, I felt I had to do another, so I started that last night. I also have the frog on the table at my elbow. Because they are both green I was tempted to work on two at once. Reminds me of the time when I was on amphetamines for dieting and found myself eating lunch and reading two books at once.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Having to do some catch up today as the internet server was down on Friday and Saturday. Here is the Teeger with his muzzle fuzz and whiskers. Again a 'late-in-the-day' photo. I still wonder if I should have put claws on him or if he is too cute for claws.
The Gorilla from the 2009 series. This nearly looks like a black and white photo. His fur is gray and I was not going to give myself over to a gray animal with all our sunshine. Then I remembered about the Silverback Gorilla so picked the white silver-lined 11s which always look too gray to be used as a white bead.
By last night he looked like this. I am using AB clear 11s on his hands and feet and that is what will go on that light belly area. He does not stand alone but needs to lean. That's an empty bead box under his butt. I followed the original line of the mouth and now I see how crooked it is! Perhaps we can see that as giving him character. Sorry about the lack of eyes but I really feel more comfortable adding those last.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Left and right side views of the A&W Rootbeer Tiger. I suppose an A&W Rootbeer stand could be seen as an Oasis - his beanie baby name. I only have to finish fuzzing up his muzzle today. I was so pleased with the look of the 15s on his nose I am seriously thinking of doing my next animal with them. The stripes would have come out so much more smooth with 15s. I do not know if could have another 5 days of that orange, though. In terms of how it makes feel, it is very close to pink. Yet, when I saw the ostrich, I really regretted not finishing the flamingo. Maybe if I can stand this much orange on my beading tray, pink is not that bad. Again, with this animal as for the Chihuahua, it seemed to take forever to do the underbelly and legs. I thought it was because I messed around instead of steadily beading, but this one too took especially long. Oops, I see he needs his eyes and whiskers. More bead tray lap time!

Monday, February 11, 2013


Again with the last sun of the day - thank goodness the days are getting longer! - I finished the ostrich. As you see he needs a prop to hold up his tail feathers.  In the photo it looks like his left leg is wobbly. Will take another look at it in the light of today. Otherwise I am very happy with him. I especially like the bits of fur the designers have put on these animals. It was not their intent, but the fur softens the hardness of beads - a feature I welcome.

Then I started on this tiger with the unlikely name of Oasis in the 2009 teenie beanie babies collection. To me he is Teeger, but as those orange and brown beads grow on him I keep thinking of the A&W rootbeer stand in Reedley California and he may end up as a rootbeer float. Hmmm. I haven't thought of a rootbeer float in ages! Nothing like beading to give one an appetite.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

The ostrich down to his last leg - to be finished. At this point he will not stand on his own two feet. I was thinking of giving him hips - thickened areas of beads at the top of his legs so they would not wobble, but I still do not think he will balance on two better attached legs. I thought of running wires up his legs but finished off the left one before I remembered I wanted to do that. So first job today is to try to find a good way to get wires up his legs. If it seems to work in the right leg I would tear out the beads that I needed to remove to get the wire up as far as I can into the leg and to attach it to the foot so it is stabilized. I have enjoyed the ostrich because I could use several different colors and even glass chips - which you cannot see here. I knew they would make him heavier and perhaps off balance, but I wanted him to have them no matter how he stands.

Thursday, February 7, 2013


I did finish this weird little monkey and somehow finished he does not look quite so terrible. Werner suggested the overlarge head could indicate a baby. If so, then why is he wearing a fez? I think there is something to understand about this creature that even beading does not reveal to me. I am glad to move on to
the ostrich. I decided to use the copper-lined clear beads because I liked the color and I wanted to use them. I had no idea that beaded together the color would come so close to the original. The head and neck were the same color as the feet. I thought of using chips to look like feathers on the wings but I wonder if those skinny legs could support the weight.
Remember when I ran out of brown beads doing the Chocolate Moose? Last night, while searching for pound boxes of browns for the ostrich, I found the brown beads I ran out of for the moose. The question for the afternoon is: do I cut off all the beads on the moose tummy and redo it with the right beads?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Here is Chips the cat with his new toy. When I got the box with him in it back from the gallery, I noticed he had flattened out so much. He was back to the original shape of the soft toy. I tried various ways of pinching his legs together to make him stand up, but nothing worked. Then I got the idea of putting his front paws on a ball, but I could not find any of my big round wooden beads that I could cover with beads. While looking for the wooden balls, I did find a bunch of bells. So Chip got a new toy and is in a mailing carton for Dixie.


Again I am beading a creature I really find ugly but seem unable to stop. I have other animals lying on the table begging to be beaded and yet I steadfastly stitch away on the Monkey with a fez (which really looks dumb). In addition, I started the lavender with only one vial of beads and have, of course, run out.  So the guy gets some pants out of the deal.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Pico the Pup is done at last. I thought I would be beading on him forever. The last two days of good beading did make a difference. I think I was not aware of how much time I was wasting with playing on the Internet. Now I am glad it is done and I really like how this animal fits in my hand.
I suppose there was some significance in finishing this chiguagua on February 2. My mother who raised chiguaguas would have been 100 years old today. Her favorite dog, called "Ruthie" for her sister, was just this warm golden yellow. I do not remember the pink ruff, but that could be a fault of memory.
It was late and still I wanted to start a new animal. I was very tired and hurting a great deal so I hobbled to the cedar chest, reached in and pulled this out - Fez the Monkey. After I started it I hated the inflated head - to make it toylike - and vowed not to finish it. Just now while photographing the pup I took the time to find other animals to work on. I will see if I go on with the monkey or if I can switch over to one I admire more.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

I think something mystical is going on with this puppy. When I saw how small he was I thought, "Piece of cake. This will be done in a hurry." Not so. I thought maybe I had 'wild'  away too many hours on the previous other two days. So yesterday I kept at the job (and had such a marvelous time!) and expected by bedtime to have finished the puppy. At midnight there was still the head and the ears yet to do! The only thing that I can figure out is that it is harder to get the needle in and out of the smaller spaces and it takes me longer to place it. Often I have to  make 'silent' or beadless stitches in order to get the needle to come out in the right place. It could also be that since this is so small I force myself to be more accurate. Any how this one will need at least one more day and perhaps two if the afternoon gets broken up with a trip to town. Oh, I almost forgot to show you the difference in sizes. See how many more beads are on the dragon? I love the way the dragon looks as if he is going to eat the pup who is totally unaware of the danger.

Friday, February 1, 2013

A really wonky photo of Pico the Pup from the 2009 series. But at least you can see where I have started on him. That nose definitely needs some straightening. I do not know yet if I will leave that pink fur ruff. It does go nicely with the ears but it is pink! Will try to remember with the next photo op to show this in relationship to the other animals. I much prefer the bead color to the fur color. Also I am not sure these dogs have eyebrows. . .