Beading Challenges

How time flies!  We spend our winter months in Yuma, AZ (for more on our travel lifestyle, see our travel blog at Traveling Square Dancers (we no longer are able to dance, but I kept the blog name).

I work quite a bit on crafts, but don’t always have time to write blog posts.

For the past year or so, I have concentrated on beading as my craft of choice.  Since last August, I have created several items for various bead group Challenges/BeadALongs.  Some are described below.

Seed Beads and More Challenges

As Administrator for the Facebook beading group, Seed Beads and More, I create and issue Challenges for the members.  As we are relatively a new group, with all levels of beaders as members, the challenges are still covering the basic techniques of working with seed beads.  When there is time, I complete at least one project for each challenge.

For the Loom Challenge, I designed this bracelet.  I later designed Bitty Bead earrings to match.

 

Another project that found its way onto my loom was this Hummingbird pattern by Celia Martin.  I loved watching it take form on the loom, but ran out of of the white Delicas.  I now have the beads, and plan to finish the mini wall hanging this summer.

This simple leaf and daisy anklet was made for the Challenge, Daisy Chain.

The Beaded Bead Challenge provided opportunity for lots of variety.

  

As I continued to play with pearls, they seemed to take on a shape of their own.

  

But these teeny turtles proved to be the most fun.  I gave the earrings to a granddaughter who loves miniatures for her birthday.  Look how they can sit on a penny, and only cover half the surface!

Details on my tote bag for the Embroidered Challenge project are in a previous post.  I also started a freeform embroidered bracelet that I have yet to finish.

A Diagonal Peyote Challenge had me playing with various Russian Leaves patterns.  One of my favorite beading projects is making Russian Leaves earrings in different variations.

 

Another challenge I had a great time with was Square Stitch, when I beaded this 3 D Lizard from a pattern by Jill Oxton.

The last Challenge before summer break was Herringbone.  Playing with a combination of herringbone and peyote, I came up with my Sand Dollar Earrings.

I combined the Seed Beads and More Herringbone Challenge with the current Seedbeadersters challenge of Color to use up what I considered my “ugliest” beads…some vintage mauve irregular shaped seed beads.  By adding blues and greens and adapting a pattern from Bead and Button, I created a bracelet that began to appeal to me a little as it developed, but would never have been a favorite.  A granddaughter visiting on the day I finished it loved it, so it went to a good home.  I did enjoy exploring the technique of embellishing as I stitched the herringbone background rather than adding it later.

Seedbeaderster’s Projects

I also participated as often as I had time in the Seedbeadersters (our sister Facebook group) BeadALong.  Seedbeadersters moved from Yahoo Groups to Facebook this year, and like Seed Beads and More, has grown rapidly in membership.

These two lattice bracelets were stitched as entries for the Seedbeadersters BeadALong in August.   The group administrator, Carolyn DeGroff, provided the original pattern.  I eventually added bar clasps to them both.  Seedbeadersters is the sister group of Seed Beads and More on Facebook.

This original design, Native Feathers,  in 2 drop peyote, was another challenge project.

Carolyn also provided this Mystery Bracelet Pattern for December’s BeadALong.  I love the finished project!

Bead Club Monthly Challenge

For one of its challenges, the Bead Club Monthly Challenge chose the Oglala Stitch, a new stitch for me to explore.  The stitch forms a ruffle and I loved working with it.  My first stitching with it resulted in a Christmas ornament, and the next a tighter ruffle barrette.

  

I made this CRAW pearl cross from a old beading book pattern for one of the group’s challenges.

The gifts I made for Christmas were also posted to the Bead Club Monthly Challenge, Holiday Inspiration.

I created cards to hold the ornaments from the pattern, Berry Wreath Ornament by Robin Cowart, for our grandchildren.

For my female co-workers, I usually make earrings.  This was my choice of patterns this year.  The first is from a pattern by Beading4Perfectionists for Beaded Bead Caps, and were very popular with the ladies.  The second, for a co-worker that likes larger, flashier earrings is Sassy Senorita Tassel Earrings by Off The Beaded Path.

January’s Challenge was the Chenille Stitch, another stitch new to me.  I created these earrings. The pattern creates a “bumpy” texture, resembling the bumps on the chenille bedspread so popular in earlier days.  The color combination I used on the left really caught the eye of some of my Texas acquaintances, who called them Bluebonnet Earrings.  The Bluebonnet is Texas’ state flower. I made several pairs to sell while in Texas for the month.