Those duck wings look better in the photo than they did in the lamplight of last night. That is the effect I wanted. The nearly transparent glass chips allow the yellow of the original wing to show up as the color but the shape of the chip, outlined in AB glitz, adds depth and interest. What you are thinking are eyes are actually the eyebrows. Have not yet found the perfect bead for the beady eyes of a duck. Go figure! Need to check on duck faces. I thought the nose holes where in the beak. . .
Happy New Year to you!

Quack the baby duckling has the job of cheering me up and keeping my hands busy. Good luck with that one, Duck. The fabric on the tops of the wings has a longer nap than the rest of the creature. I may have to use larger beads. I am hoping they will look like feathers. Will try it out in the sunshine of a wintery afternoon.
Big news scoop. Smoochy the Frog sold on my Etsy site. I had no hopes of selling any of the entries there, so this is a lovely surprise and huge gratification. Am almost eager to get the holidays over so I can mail him out!

Finished Steg yesterday. I see now there was no way this could have been made into a dragon! He is actually kind of sweet and in real life looks as if he is leaping when he is balanced on his tail. I do like the variation in the direction of the rows on his back leg. I see I need to get to buying more glass chips. I used every last of these and was holding my breath the whole way. Just hobbled to the studio to see if I had any but found all of the chips too had gone to B. Get to go shopping! after I get all the rest of my web work done.
Started on Quack the baby duck in the evening. Was surprised at myself that I was able to so easily make changes in the design. He sits in the grass with eggs around him. I had had such a rotten day with new meds so I was thankful for any positive changes.

Steg looks like he is running away! I want to made something different on his back legs and not yet sure what it will be. Maybe have the rows go sideways? I am now thinking of something blue; maybe lapis chips on his spine ruffle? This is the only one of the animals beaded to Christmas music!
Got lots of praise from my kids for the animals I gave them for Christmas. A good warm, fuzzy feeling. My granddaughter, Caitlin, who is getting her Masters in Psychology told me how she was able to help one girl with nervous hands by teaching her to bead! What a lovely thought.

Meet Steg the stegosaurus. I started him yesterday afternoon, partly because I still have the dream of finding an animal I can make into a dragon. However I seem to lack the drive to try the wild stuff to make him into something other than what he is. Maybe it is Christmas coming, lots of pain because the new meds are not working, or just the need to relax and enjoy beading whatever is under my hand.
Vicki came by to discuss the new necklaces she is working on so I hoped it would inspire me to return to jewelry. No luck. I even gave her the Beadwork magazine Werner had gotten for me. Just sitting here looking at this, I got the idea of working on two of these at once. One I could do the calm stuff and on the other try out the dragon ideas. I need to start with the head as I form it into the elongated dragon face.  Hmmm. . .

The lion is now a beaded lion. I still need to fix his groin problem and I feel he needs a red heart. Maybe as a necklace? Or maybe not. Last night as I was preparing to make the necklace, Bu the cat jumped up on my bead tray scattering stuff everywhere. I am most concerned because I still cannot find one of the needles. I do not wear shoes in the house and am very afraid of stepping on it. Hopefully it flew into the drawer or another tray.
Back to the lion. I love how the new paper for the photo set up works in the indirect light. Maybe by losing my usual set up under the window, which depends on direct sunlight, is a good thing and is showing me the way to get better photos.
Time to find a new animal to bead!

I wanted you to see the original color of the lion before I got it all covered with beads. Yesterday I tried to find an image of the original Boyds creation but there were none. I bought this one in Gualala in 1998.

You cannot see it here, but the ears and the body are of a slightly darker yellow, which I think will relieve the eye from too much of the other yellow. I see I do need to tear out and fix that goofy that occurred on the right groin. Interesting that the lion had this bead foul up exactly where it seems I have torn a muscle. Maybe if I redo his leg my own will be less painful! I will try anything at this point, including voo-doo dolls as lions.

Birdie Bear is in his new home with Caran. The dear lady refuses to wait for Christmas to open her packages so here she is first to report in that a bear has arrived in her life. I love how she gave him the company of her nephrew's drawing. I was thrilled to learn she preferred to keep him at work where she spends more of her waking hours. I wish the two of them a long and happy life together!
I am still working on the lion. He really soaks up the beads! I tried to find any of his cousins online and found nothing. Am beginning to wish I had photographed him officially before beginning.

Work goes on even when the photo set-up has gone Christmassy on me. With a bit of sun today I am trying to get an official portrait of the Garcia bear. Tomorrow we have appointments at the Doctor's so I am trusting that we will have energy afterwards to take the bear to Sus. Got to find help with my aches and pains. Beading on the lion and listening to Christmas carols keeps my mind off of them - until I try to stand up or walk.

Here is the lion I am working on now. His exaggerated nose reminds me of the Beanie Baby hound dog's muzzle. This beast has movable arms and legs so I need to keep moving the leg to make sure the beads are not stopping the movement. I cannot believe how happy I am when working on these stuffed animals. I was thinking back to my girlhood and remembered that my bed usually had twenty or so stuffed animals on it. I thought nothing of the work taking them off at night and replacing them in the morning. Even after I had children I still kept a stuffed animal on the bed. It was a huge, 3 foot long tiger we called Unga. I had gotten her cheap after Greggs in Lima had used her as decoration for Christmas and my Aunt Evelyn, who worked in the glove department, helped me buy her. Went online looking for Unga and here she is on ebay  Thanks ebay for keeping the memory alive!

The guitar arrived so I was able to finish the Garcia bear. I had forgotten the possibility of putting a strap on it to hold it in place. I thought I would have to sew down both arms to secure it. The little instrument was accurate right up to having tiny metal buttons for the strap. So I beaded one in purple and lavender beads which I then sewed in place. The ability of the strap to hold the guitar in the right position works for this miniature as well as the real thing. The guitar is a bit too big but since the bear is a caricature, I feel it works. Am very eager to give this to Sus to see what he thinks of it. The whole venture as many of the same feelings I had when I made toys for the kids for Christmas and then found it hard to wait to give them something I was very excited about. It is too cloudy today (another storm on its way in to us) to take an official photograph. Besides I took down the backdrop and put the Christmas tree in its place. In December the sun comes in at such an extreme slant there is not enough light for a whole photograph. I'd rather look at a tree than work waiting to be done.

No picture, no work. It is so very rare that there is a day that I do not bead, unless really, really sick, that the event deserves a note in my bead blog. Yesterday after grabbing the news on Google, I somehow ended up in You Tube and found out they now have complete operas. Over two hours of  performances I never would have otherwise seen. It all came in without delays to load, beautifully streamed, images as sharp as any DVD. I was amazed. All for free. So I watched three and one-half versions of "La Traviata" in one day.
First was a French production with Christine Schaffer. Her voice is marvelous but she seemed unable to move any thing but her hands. She was not sexy from behavior in spite of a tiny perfect figure. French sets were awful and the costumes were worse.
Next was an English production from Covenant Gardens with Renee Fleming. She had the body and the movements (from the waist up - when will opera costumers realize that in those huge dresses half of the actress's body is unable to emote) of a courtesan, and the looks. The sets were gorgeous and opulent and set in the 1850s. This version alone closely followed the original score so it was easy to image that this the premier performance except the soprano was TB-thin.
After watching half of this again to show it to Werner, we dug out our DVD of the 2005 Festspiel version with Anna Netrebko and Roland Villezon and we could not stop looking until the last note of joy. This is still my favorite version. The voices, the set, the ideas, the theater - all were just right.

Here is Bronty wearing her green glass slippers and wanting to meet you! The attitude of this little animal was a delight to find each time I picked it up to work on it. After finishing this, I returned to making the Santa Claus with a fuzzy bead beard earrings and now have three or four pairs. I did take the lion from under my monitor and laid it on my bead tray so I can see what I will do next and to give me encouragement that fuzzy face Santa earrings are not my complete future.

Isn't she charming? I love how her head is turned in question. I made a new discovery with this animal. I did the belly first. It is my least favorite section so it usually gets done last. By doing it first I could maneuver the legs outward and flat as I work. None of that bending the needle to do armpits.
Did you notice her diamond necklace? I have no idea why I stopped working, went to the studio for those time Swarovski crystals to sew them down under her chin. Perhaps it was because a few days ago, while putting away the crystals I discovered a tube of these very tiny crystals and wondered how I would ever use them again.
I just went to the gallery to pick up one of my animals. I have decided to give them to my children as Christmas presents  - oh joy - a beaded gift from mom. . . I saw that only two of the Christmas earrings were left so I imagine that when I get Bronty here finished I should go back to making Santa Claus earrings.

Ah, the lion is done. Doesn't he look  ready to pounce? That hair is really wild. When I took the last of the plastic bags off of him it was ruinously flattened. Without thinking I grabbed up Bu's cat brush and whoosh! there was this. What I forgot to show you in the photo is his lion-hearted chest. As I was finishing up this very last section, I suddenly got the idea to add a red heart and it fit in perfectly. I think I had hearts on my mind as on Friday my oldest daughter, Heidi is having a heart ablation. She is a lot more calm about it all than I am.
When I finished and was searching for the next animal I kept feeling I had made this decision but could not remember what it was. So I started this brontosaurus with the hope I could make him into a dragon but his face is all wrong. He has such a sweet attitude that I do not think he has the spirit to be dragon material.

Now, at my computer in the light of day I see the lion from the Boyd's collection that has sat beside me for over 15 years. I wanted to give him a beaded life. Maybe next time! if I can survive the days of not having him by my monitor.

The way the lion leans it looks as if he is enjoying getting his back scratched with a needle. Normally I do not like to follow the spine with the bead rows (it is hard to maneuver the needle at the neck and often at the tail) but this guy's butt is so cute I felt I had no choice.  I will show you when I get it done. Never have I had to use the plastic bags so long but between catching the mane fur and the ears and the pads on the front feet, I am very thankful to have found this way of keeping them out of the way of the thread.
The shipment of my latest EBay win arrived so now I have 7 of the dinosaur animals which I am hoping to be able to make into dragons. I tried making a dragon with the seahorse but it had no legs. I thought of beading legs but gave up on that idea so I am glad to have these. There are also a couple of camels in the box. . . a beaded nativity set?

That pink on the flamingo stopped me so much yesterday that I actually tore up and redid the butt on the Ronald McDonald clown before going back to it. I really hate cutting apart a finished character so I realized how much more I was hating that pink if it could bring me to this job.That gave me the courage to set the flamingo aside and let myself go with this lion. The great thing here, on a 2000 animal, is the fact that they used a smooth material for the body. That is so much easier to bead than it was fighting with the plush on the Garcia bear. However that long fuzzy mane was problematic until I resorted to the old plastic sandwich bag trick. I did not want to stick it down with tape for fear of pulling it out. I feel the bead color is better than the fabric color so I am happy to relax with this beast. A rainy day and the highway is closed because the Garcia River is flooded so I can sit by the fire and bead on a happy lion that gives me courage and happy thoughts.

So the Bird Bear is done. You can almost see the tiny blue bird insignia on his chest. What you cannot see is the better way I did the butt. He sits up right. The Ronald McDonald bear does not. I am thinking of redoing it. Ah if only we all could get a repair butt job!
Thanks to the visit from Sue on Sunday and her suggestion, I am starting the flamingo. I cannot believe I am exposing myself to more of this terrible pink color! After seeing this photo I am thinking that the transparent pink beads are not really strong enough to compete. At this point it looks like a flamingo disease!

Absolutely no beads were used or harmed in this project. Thirty-three members of the AHAforum wanted to make an anthology of their work and we did it! The book did cut into my beading time on a few occasions so I am especially delighted to have this done. Since this is my brag-spot blogspot I can say out loud how marvelous I find the cover. That is the work of my hands. About 15 years ago I was on a roll with this kind of painting. When the guy who was supposed to do the cover pancaked on me (well he did offer a design with three big sperm on the cover and refused to remove them) I dug into the old files and found this unused painting. I loved finding the whimsical characters drawn in among the muck.

The new wings arrived so I gave the evening to the angels. Made a whole tray full of these until I ran out of stars. Maybe I should back up and explain. Last summer when Bill Elmore came to me asking if I would bead limpets so he could glue them to beach rocks. His plan was to do this so kids, and parents, would find these little treasures and have the surprise and fun we used have when we found a penny on the sidewalk. I got the idea of making these angels to be tossed overboard into the sea. When I found out much plastic junk is already floating out there, I changed the plan to plant these in open places on land. Sus at Gualala Arts Center did a whole bagful for summer school and Art in the Redwoods. Recently I sent some to Caran in La Jolla. She was so delighted, and eager to place them with the help of her girl friends. Then she got the idea of making her own gift in a little box. I think we could call this the World Crackerjack Box Project. We are treating our everyday environments like the Crackerjack boxes with the little prize. The plastic boxes are about 1 x 2 inches and just deep enough to hold a teardrop pearl angel.

I am slowly getting rid of that terrible pink! It took a couple of tries before I found the best purple for the pants. One that looked perfect in the tube was too gray next to the yellow and another kind of beads proved too big. I really do like the Preciosa beads. This color gives the feeling of tweed which I find very good. With the rows of beads it seems like tweed corduroy.
Yesterday I revamped my Etsy site. I took down all the jewelry and posted as many of the animals as I could. Have more to do. I also realized that I have not done big photos for many of the latest ones. I tried to photograph them but the sun comes in at such a slant I have about 15 minutes of good light. As Vicki pointed out, it is good to post a new page or two each day, to catch people watching the new items. However, I wanted the page to feel Christmas-like with all the animals and it does.
I had sent some of the guardian angel project boxes to Caran and she was inspired to do some of her own. That excites me very much! She seemed pleased with my angels so I am eager to see what she does.

I decided there was too much pink and yellow on this fellow so I am giving him red rubber boots. I had two rows of yellow done before I changed my mind, but it looks like a cuff and will be helpful in separating the the colors. Here it looks almost golden on the boot but it is the same yellow as on the face. I enjoy seeing colors shift as they are paired up with other colors.
I am pleased with his face even though his smile is more human than bear-like. I do love those tiny glass stars for eyes. I think I ordered more. Today Vicki is busy with the Festival of Trees but surely some time this month I will get my order. This guy will take several more days. Am thinking of using 8s on the scarf so it looks like those knobby knitted ones.

After doing the long rows across the back of the Garcia bear, the arm went so fast that I was as done  as I could be (I need to see the guitar to see how to finish the elbow) and I had not yet thought of what to do next. I have no idea why I picked this one. He is called Birdie Bear and on the chest was an ugly cartoon bird on a bit of plastic that was sewed down. On the clown bear I worked around it but here it seemed just too ugly to remain. So into the bag it went with the tush and ear tag. I am thinking of either beading in a bird on the spot or attaching a small bird made of glass or stone. I do not understand the significance of the muffler but it is sewn in securely so I will keep it. I doubt my pink beads will repeat the hotness of this pink. We will see.
On a whim, I weighed an unbeaded bear and the Garcia bear. Unbeaded a bear weighed 5 ounces. Beads add exactly another five ounces.

After I shut down most of the computer stuff I realized that the photo I posted yesterday did not really tell the story. It looked so much like an earlier photo. So I took another one. Here you can see the backside. Late in the afternoon I got tired of doing butt work and started on the arm. It is not done so it is not worth a new photo today. Am 'after a holiday' tired and I have already spent so much time today on the anthology. Need to bead to get myself back into rows of color.

Just a bit on the butt and the right arm to do on the Garcia bear. I have found that on the regular sized beanie babies, the plush is too thick and has a tendency to fluff out between the rows. On each row I have to run the needle down the channel to push it down under the beads. Bummer. That means I will not being another of these 10-inch beasts that take forever. I am pleased with the hint of mouth in a smile that I got here. Those bears have way too much chin which makes one miss the mouth even more.
Ah, yes! it is Thanksgiving and time for me to get off the computer to celebrate. One of the things I am thankful for is the discovery of beading the teenie beanie babies. They have given me so many hours of pleasure. Thanks to you, too, for following the journey. May all who read this be blessed!

For waiting for photos you get two today. That sounds like an equation in algebra.  I wanted to record how close the colors on the backside are to the beads. I am using Preciosa's copper-lined clear and the slight pinkish, brownish hue is exactly right. Also that right arm has almost no color changes in it at all. Hm. . . I may have to invent a tye-dye pattern. Because the left arm was in such a dark green, I decided to ignore reality and go with this lovely olive green that I love. On the top of each bead is deep gold glow spot. I have been mixing Preciosa 11s with other size 11 from Dynamite and the smaller Preciosa bead is much better in the way the beads nestle together. The bigger beads crowd and pop up no matter how carefully I place the rows.

Having done the back of the head, it now holds up properly and the bear looks a lot more intelligent. You can barely see the Jerry Garcia hair-do. That happened by accident. When I got to the top of the head, I had started beading at the neck, there was a gap where the rows did not meet. It was so hard to get the needle in and out between the ears I was at my wit's end. Then I turned to my old technique of the three-bead picot and while searching for a color, I remembered the photos of Garcia in his later years when his hair had gone white.

This photo is already several days behind how the bear actually looks but it is the best I have. I'm pressing hard to get the book on the life of AHA Forum done and off my desk. It seems that when I finish chasing its errors at the computer there is no time for photos. However I do have time to bead! The legs are done on the front side, that other ear is now pink and orange and I am delighted with the bead colors I have found for the backside.

Yep, I made the editorial page of Bead & Button! My project is the magazine's Christmas present to its readers. This is quite an honor so I am boasting today! You can go to it on the web.http://bnb.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/Projects/Free%20Projects/2012/10/A%20star%20is%20born.aspx  I see they say it has been up since October 22. I guess Bead & Button does its Christmas shopping early!

This news eclipses the progress on the Garcia bear which is going forward - slowly as this is a full-sized animal. The good news about that is  that it is easier to work under the chin and ears on this size rather than the smaller Happy Meals creatures.

Vicki got stars in her crown today. After staffing the gallery all day (and making several sales) she took the time to gather up all tof my stuff that had accumulated in the back room and delivered it to me. She even gave me compliments on the cheese I had brought to the opening. Thank goodness Jody had bought too many packages of the cheese so I was able to share some with Vicki. Having her here allowed me to give her the ornaments I had made for the tree to be donated by the bead group which means I do not have to go to the bead meeting and hobble around in front of friends. She was also kind enough to offer to sell my beaded animals along with her things which saves me the huge job of setting up at Festival of Trees. I felt so relieved and elated to get all these delivery jobs taken care of, and the package for Fire Mountain with the snowman done, that I finished up the gold star I was working on and, with great jubulation! started beading on Sus's Garcia bear.

I hope the judges at Fire Mountain see this as "interesting' and not as an example of bad beading. At least the piece looks less raggedy with the holes filled. Ran out of room with the word 'snow man' and ended up with the phonic version. The little pile of snow by the snowman circle is a marker so they get the snow man turned correctly. On his base are two little snow piles that 'key in' to position it absolutely. Repaired the torn off mitten (what ever did the folks at the gallery do to this?) and got the wand to keep its crystal on straight (more glue and a needled down the center) and now need to pack it all up so it goes out on Monday. It has to be in Oregon by Nov. 20th.
Last night I returned to making stars. Vicki wrote that they may want some for the tree for the Festival of Trees. The animals call to me and at any moment there are going to be flying beads as I toss the star-making tray into the air and liberate myself.
Have gotten a couple e-mails from persons doing them from the instructions in Bead & Button. So far I think the instructions are correct. Not everyone can read!

There is no picture today. Yesterday I finished up so many little jobs. Got the stars ready to take to the gallery, finished up the Christmas tree earrings and sent them off to Bethel AK, organized beads for the bead meeting, and finally started to prepare the Visiting Snowman to send to Fire Mountain.
If I were a true crafts person I would make a wooden base with spindle supports for the snowman and the tree but I am not. I felt that no matter how securely I sewed them to the snowy base, they would part company during transport or during their handling in the FM photo studio. I realized I had to find someway so a stranger could easily reassemble the work if I sent it in three separate parts. Originally I had left holes in the snow section so I could either make or hire someone to make a supporting base. Yesterday as I was sewing the holes shut I got the idea of beading in the word 'tree' and 'snowman' so it would be clear where they go. Looks very nice! I don't feel so bad about not having other skills.
I even got an idea how to make a 'snowdrift' with part at the base of the snowman and part on the snow surface so the snowman will have to be positioned perfectly for it to fit together. Today the whole thing is wrapped in a plastic bag so I can handle it without destroying the little animals already sewed down and looks like nothing at all.

How is this for being appropriate? Bring on the clowns. It is election day! and I finished this last night. All the time I worked on it I hated the eyes so at the end of the job I took some time to find the best ones. Somehow a red-eyed clown felt like he was a drunk. I really wanted to use some small glass stars in gold but could not find them anywhere. These were also used on the seahorse and I think I have no more. Time to make up a new order.
At the Holiday Bead Extravaganza Lena bought five of my stars but needed to have one a different size so now I am making stars. When I get a special order I lose all my self-confidence. I am unable to made just the one that was ordered, but need to make several in different sizes and bead colors to make sure the customer gets exactly what she wants.
Today I found out that of the swags / tree chains mine was the first to go. Now Vicki wants to make a tree of swags for the Festival of Trees. Good thing I had so many crystal beads left over from the "Edge of the Cloud" piece.
Saturday when they called from the gallery asking for more Christmas tree earrings I wondered why I had so many tucked away. That was not like me but I was happy to be able to supply them. Today I found out why I had stashed those tree earrings. I had them listed on Etsy and today one pair sold. I hope the customer will give me the weekend to either get a new pair made or find a pair yet unsold in the gallery.
Sunday, when I went in to pick up the snowman piece, to get it ready to send to Fire Mountain, a friend came in and started shopping. We were having so much fun trying necklaces on her, making choices, running back and forth, it was only when I got home did I realize my left knee was not enjoying the day as much as I was. Hobbling around with a cane now. Happy to sit and bead instead of taking out the garbage.

Here is Barbara Fast inviting  you in to see the show "Holiday Bead Extravaganza." She is even holding out a glass of wine for you. Behind her you can see the new case we got to display our jewely in. One probablem - my necklaces are so thick, so full of stuff that they can barely get the glass doors to open and shut. One necklace had to be displayed elsewhere.

Here is just one side of the show.You can see the Christmas tree that has my stars on it. Under it are all my beaded animals. The beaded swags on the tree were made by members of our bead group. We are donating all the profits from them to the local Theater. The event was well attended and I had several sales. In fact in the morning before the show officially opened Brenda called to say all my beaded Christmas earrings had sold and did I have more and could I bring them? While we talked a woman bought and paid for a pair that was still in my house. I got to meet her in the evening and she had brought a friend who also bought a pair. Even though there were stars and star pins, as well as all the suncatchers on the tree, people missed the net and asked where it was.

Here is the Ronald McDonald clown bear that I am practicing on. Only as I finished the head did I see his nose is not on straight after I had covered with red beads! That ugly rubber stripe down his tummy is, I think, supposed to be a neck tie. Will make a real beaded one and try to get that ugly stuff covered with yellow beads. The clown picture on his chest is vinyl and ugly so I am thinking of beading a frame around it. This is from the 2005 series and the natural world had passed away.
Stopped by the gallery yesterday where Barbara and Vicki were making great progress. However when I got out the camera there were mild screams of "We aren't ready yet." so I put it away and got no work in progress photos for you.
Does the lack of a mouth on these Beanie Babies bother you? Ah, you have other things to worry about.

Done! He looks better than I thought he would. I wish I did not want to do one in yellows and wine-reds! I found out today that Vicki bought the other one at CHAC. She was there installing the bead show and decided she had better buy it before the show opens. Knowing an animal is 'gone' makes me want to do it again and here I was avoiding the urge to do the new colors. I hope this project, below, keeps me off the idea of doing a crab again.

I wanted to start on this bear, the Garcia bear, made in honor of Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. It is advertised as being tie-dye.  David Susalla asked me to bead it (to add to its present worth of $19. on Ebay)and I just did not feel up to starting in on some one's loved pet so I am doing a small one  to learn the best way to go. I wanted to photograph the bear in his original colors and then there was this attack on the photo shoot set-up. Tomorrow I will show you the practice bear.

Lots to do getting ready for the show on Saturday but before  I forget I wanted to show how great the spiny back came out on the lizard. He still does not look like a dinosaur but at least he is a more interesting lizard.
Last night as I finished the legs of the crab I would think, three more to do, only 2 and 1/2 more. two done and one to go and at the same time another part of me was wonder what the next crab would look like in reds and yellow. Some days I wonder who lives in my mind? A glutton for punishment?

Just got the news that the Visiting Snowman made finalist in the Fire Mountain Seed Bead Contest! The letter with the good news went astray and returned to Fire Mountain so only today did Susan Phelps send an email. Just yesterday I gave up hearing from them and let Barbara carry it off for the big bead show that opens this Saturday.

Yeah, I made the poster.
And yeah, I am back to beading crab legs.

Adding the golden under color really added a lot to this poor animal. The thin thigh area let the leg make that amazing twist. It was 12:30 last night when I got this far and was too sleepy to make a decision about whether to do the dinosaur back. I can make it off-animal and try it on before sewing it down. Maybe I should make a whole Halloween 'costume' for it. . . At this point it seems finished and I could live with it as it is. Since I still have the greens on my tray I may go back to the crab to see if my new idea for the tops of the claws work.

I wish I liked this little lizard better. If this was 1992 and I was boss of the division creating these animals I would be sending the designer back to Google images for a better look at lizard legs. However even though  head is poorly made it engages me. I created the bug-eyes by using the biggest fringe beads I had and then making peyote stitched rims around them. Still the head structure does not flow around the eye sockets properly.  I have the head and tail and one leg beaded on the underside which makes that color easier to take. If I get a quiet afternoon (no phone calls) I have hopes of finishing him. Last night I did consider making a zig-zag spine as dinosaurs have. Maybe if I made him into a dinosaur, something no one has actually seen, he will be more believable.

Last night I was so tired from too much typing that I felt I simply could not go on with the crab. I had three more of the legs done but that done was done so poorly I found myself reading instead of beading. However beading relaxes and restores me while often reading lets me lie down but whips up my mind. So I reached blindly (the sun had set and I was too lazy to turn on another light) into the box of new animals and my hand found this lizard. It was copyrighted in 1993 but used in the 1996 collection. I had not seen it before so was glad to start a new animal and even more happy to find it so straight forward to bead. I found the colors on the original to be totally weird so that gave me incentive to change them with beads. I had a lovely evening working on this and was so clear and rested that this morning I saw in my mind how to get the tops of the crab's legs done. I really hate to 'give up' on an animal, so I was relieved to find out that I only need a change to open me up to the solution. Next time I will not waste time with calling myself "Quitter," and a few other choice names.

You can count Claude the Crab's legs but there is one more! Last night I did one of the back legs (I think the one with the yellow spot) and it looked so bad after it was finished that I celebrated the midnight hour by taking it out. That means I have done three legs and still have eight to go. Math was never my best subject.
I had gotten a box of my latest auction wins on Ebay ($15.01 for 50 animals) and was very tempted several times to toss this crabby crab aside and dig into the many new animals. Chocolate the Moose and the raccoon bear call to me as surely as chocolate can call me from the fridge.
I reclaimed my cedar chest (Werner had used it to store kindling) and have put all my animals in it. How good to find them smelling of cedar instead of the various homes where the packages had been stored.

Bad cookie? Halloween nightmare? Trick or treater's bad joke?
It is Claude the Crab! I did his tummy in white pearls and his back in glass chips and am now working on the front pincher. This, at least, shows how I tame the many protrusions of these animals as I work on each leg. I use tape on the parts before they are beaded but never use tape on the glass beads as it can leave them sticky. I cannot believe I have started another 10-legged animal. These have to be done on the animal as they are very ingeniously formed. The scanned color of the greenish beads is closer to my imagination than the beads looked to be in artificial light last night.

Before the first rain of the season on Sunday I was able to photograph the seahorse. I love how this came out. The glass chips on wing and head seem so perfect and the eye, a small pressed glass star, seems inspired. Even while touching up the photo, I found this pink cloud happening. So why when this animal can manifest so delightfully do I have to also, in the same week, made such a dud as this below?

I thought I was doing a repeat of the seahorse and this fish came out so weird. Every time I have tried to do these fish, my color sense just swims away. At this point I am debating whether to cut off all the offending colors or to just do another fish or even, give up trying to bead a wiggly fish.

A Monday morning and I am in serious catch-up mode. Saturday I did make it to the Beads N' Beyond meeting, mostly because I wanted to be there for Barbara Fast and to get in on her project of making bead garlands for the Holiday Bead Extravaganza at CHAC. Since I was able to pick up the work "On the Edge of a Cloud" from Gualala Arts Center and strip off the beads, I had lots to work with. However someone had purchased these silverish stars so when the meeting was over and no one else had taken or used them, I globbed on to them. Saturday evening was given over to stringing beads. At the meeting I had done one garland and wondered why it took so long to do. Was talking slowing me down that much? At home I figured it out! When I string beads like this I use one of those big-eyed 4 inch needles. It is so much easier to scoop up a bead on the flexible needle than to pick up each bead, turning it while searching for the hole and trying to noodle the fish line through it. I wished, afterwards, that I had photographed the garlands others were making. Theirs were colorful far beyond just green and red. Will try to remember to photograph the display so you can see them all.