Almost forgot the most excellent news! Sus at Gualala Arts called yesterday to ask if they could keep "Cloud Edge" up beyond the closing of the "Living on the Edge" show! He liked the work and liked seeing it high above the foyer and wants to keep it there until someone has a show and asks to have it taken down. Forgive me, but this feels so good especially as the piece got no ribbon and not even a mention in the Beads N' Beyond emails. The others had to take their pieces home and I get to keep my work in the gallery. This is the fifth piece I have shown at Gualala Arts Center that they have kept up beyond the show it was entered into originally. Probably a record. Sorry B.; I just had to brag! It takes some of the dents out of my self esteem.

Looking for something easy to do as my courage drained away from the big embroidery piece I started edging these cabochons. At Christmas I had gotten several brass stampings with no idea of how to use them. I just liked their look. After seeing how good the butterfly went into yesterday's work, I began laying the newly bezeled stones on them. Voila! instant hanging possibilities and a nice change of texture and materials. To the bottom one I want to add a triangular copper stamping which I have just ordered from Brenda Sue' Boutique on Etsy.

PS

The top one to the left is not placed straight. It needs a quarter turn for reality.

Why can't I start with simple? Suddenly this is what I wanted to make with the bead embroidery. I have the feeling I am sewing myself into a painted corner. How to make this into a necklace is going to take some serious engineering!
Now I just need to get this under control. I had planned to take the blue beads up and around the butterfly. Now looking at the scan it helps me to re-see the work and what it needs. Maybe a darker blue - almost black. Or maybe just the blue between the antennae?
This is the creative journey that excites me so much. It is more important than the finished product. Not always the best attitude as finishing up the journey and making it appeal l to others is another can of worms and skill set.
This piece scared me so much that I have glued together a couple of fairly simple cabochons in similar patterns so I can work through simpler problems. Ha! I do love the combination of brass work and cabochons. All stones can be monotonous.

It must have been magic. As I was putting away some stacked up disorganization in the studio (Barbara Fast is coming by today) I "accidentally" found this paua shell donut! Imagine that! Could not stop myself from making this. I love making the 1/2 diamonds (so like in making the stars) and sewing them together. This 'donut' is even bigger so the winged bail is huge. Am wondering if I should embellish it. Hm... Now looking at the photo I see again my feeling that this simple pattern makes the bail 'too big' and yet I do like the lines as the top clings to the 'chain.' Am wishing to release my "embellish to the max" spirit on this one.

In checking back on my blog I took another look at the bail from Etsy. This time I made a better sketch and was able to copy it accurately. I found that the bigger it is, the more graceful it appears. It is almost 2 inches wide and the hole is very big for a donut.So I made this one with a very simple chain to not detract from the upward soaring line of the bail. I just strung delicas with a square bead every ten beads and then kept going back and forth with strings of 11a and 15s until these holes were filled.

Basically this stone was not a donut but one of Fire Mountain's clasps. I do not think I have any more stones with a hole in them. So this is the end of this idea at the moment.
The Ultrasuede arrived and it is so much thicker than that which Sheree had given me so many years ago. I must devise a new way to use it. Have a star cut out and will try it today. Also glued a stone to a piece to see how using it to back a cabochon works.

Trying to duplicate my inspiration from the work I found in Etsy yesterday I discoved that if the donut is too big the bail gets really, really BIG. So I made this take off on the idea. I made a modified diamond shape where the two small ends meet in the middle of the donut. It looked rather bare so I embellished it. Then seeing what I had used in the embellishment, I went on to make a spiral chain to match.

I was surprised how together the necklace felt even though there was no planning or fore-thought - I just followed my feelings of what the piece needed. To have it turn out so well was a huge boost to my self-esteem. I especially appreciated that since a member of the bead group talking to me on the phone, expressed an opinion that left me speechless (at the time). She was talking about an upcoming show and said, "but this does involve you as your beadwork is of such inferior quality." Two days later and I still have not formulated an adequate reply - except to make this necklace!

Yesterday at the bead meeting I taught several how to make this stuffed star you have seen here before. I wrote up instructions and hope all will be able to continue when they get home. I know how hard it is for me to learn something new in a group, but if I am home alone with the project it makes itself. May that be so for them! We did have a lot of good laughs. My take-home quote was from Kathy: "Thou shalt not weigh more than thine refrigerator."

Then today while trolling Etsy I found this interesting bail on this piece. I realized it is made from four half-diamonds that are sewed together in a different way. I really liked this idea and I am eager to try this out today.
Do have a star on my tray that uses up the last bit of my chamois. All I have left is the new piece of Lucy's stiff stuff that is scaring me stiff! I just cannot make friends with that stiff white stuff.
At the meeting Susan told me the star that so inspired me is at the local dress shop and that they are made in China! Anyhow Sus liked the California colors in my star as seen in the photo below and let me give him one for his sweater which also had all the colors in it.