So I tried to do a non-traditional cat and the war continues on the legs. These ended up being far too realistic in color, but not pattern. By looking at a photo of the previous Warrior Cat I was able to change gears on the face. I have absolutely no idea where this cat is going. All I can do is ask it what it wants to be when I have to make change in the beading colors or pattern.I must say having the belly solid feeling is a great help even in holding the animal. Sewing only these Precosia beads is so much nicer than using 8s with the many exposed edges to hide. These seem to slip in perfectly beside each other. I have the impression that I sew more precisely with these beads. It all takes longer, but the pleasure is greater. The photo shows the result of about 18 hours work.

A photo of the beaver from the other side so you can see the 8s on his back and tail. What you cannot see is the tiny patch on his tail that I need to finish. Already my mind is racing toward the next animal. I have a white cat on the table that is already padded out with cotton on which I can see colorful possibilities. I never know until I have the animal in my hands which one will be next.
Yesterday I boxed up 9 more animals and left a note for Barbara. I hope she will find time to pick them up and take them to the gallery this week. She is so busy with the show at Gualala Arts I will easily forgive her if it does not happen. I am aiming my heart to go to the opening on Friday, even with some remaining red spots on my face and hands and no new haircut.
I have been cleaning up my desks and the studio since getting A Dictionary of Haiku off to the printers for a proof. I am amazed how much pressure I had put on myself with that book. Perhaps my beading will improve in inventiveness with my light as balloon feelings.

What a difference a day makes - especially when it is two days and both were good. At first I did the eyes with the amber 11s but that did not look right so I ripped it all out and used the tan pearls. They pick up the light and bring another color. The nice thing about doing these larger animals is the fact that they come with glassine eyes and real plastic noses.

What you can't see here is the arm I did with 8s. They were too big so they just did not bend enough. However I can use 8s on the broad back and back of the head. I found that if I used the needle to push the plush under each row I could cover it with 11s spaced very close together.

Introducing you to the Mountain Beaver of Point Arena. I love his cheeky grin! What you cannot see is the great new brownish color of Precosia beads - it is like a better root beer. It is on the bottom of the left foot. Unfortunately it is too small to use on the brown part of the animal as that fabric has a higher nap so it needs the 8s. I can use the regular rootbeer there. Thank goodness the paws and feet have the lower napped fabric. I do not know if you can see the extra glow the golden amber beads have on that creme color when compared to the same beads on the dachshund's brown. The dog's coat is  made from a slightly lighter shade of brownish tan, but you can easily see the difference in bead color.

Finished the dachshund last night. You will notice he is even wearing dog tags! I had thought of making him a red beaded leather-like collar but decided on a chain. Then I found this ball chain as is used in the military for idenification tags.
Afterwards I started on the beaver - Point Arena is the only home of the Mountain Beaver which is on the endangered species list - and started using these same golden beads on the cream chest. I was amazed how much better the color of the beads is with a light background. Will show you tomorrow.
While deciding whether to do a white cat or the beaver I was surprised how small the miniature animals are compared to the full sized ones. I had the feeling I could do one of the little ones in a couple of days since I have done the big ones in the same amount of time. The difference is the bead size.

I wanted to let you see what was happening on the photoshoot set-up while I was not looking! I got such a laugh from these two. Fake camel shows real camel how to do the splits while keeping his cool. Even having pink feet does not stop him from showing off.



Real camel with his new blanket. I had figured out a complicated bird's eye pattern for it but then found out it was too complicated for size of the beast. I love how the white beads in the blanket (the same white as on the fringe) looks camel-colored. I have had great fun in doing this pair. I learned alot which is always 9/10s of any thrill for me in artwork.

On Wednesday Werner went to Vicki's to pick up the new order from Fire Mountain. Here are the AB amber 8s I was missing. This puppy is really getting heavy! I noticed that my wrist was aching by the end of the evening. When I first started on this, I was very unsure about the idea of covering him with beads, but now as I look at the unfinished parts I am even more delighted with the beads. I see I did only one ear inside. I was eager to get to doing the body and skimmed right over that. As I get older I find myself letting things slide that I do not enjoy doing or want to do and just go for the good stuff.

I found out the name for this guy is Hamburgler, not hamburger as I thought. Changing his name does not correct my mistaken idea of how to do the stripes. The original had a red necktie but I wanted to pick up the blue lights in the white beads so I grabbed a tube of blue beads instead.. I see a bit of the original black nose shows through and gives him a very tight lipped mouth. I think I just learned where to add a mouth if I want to do that. I had been putting the mouth down lower and it was rather weird - more like a wrinkle in a double chin!

Here is Humphrey II with his hump nicely padded up and out. I learned something here also. Often I have been unhappy with the way the beads laid on the belly. I could pull the fabric taunt to bead it but when the animal stood up that loose belly area would make the rows of beads go wonky. If I would open the animal and pad out the body, those lines of beads stay firm and straight even when it stands. Big improvement! Thanks Bead Universe for that tip. Here you can see how much better I did the nose / mouth part of a camel.