A Gift for Shari

Some people you meet you like right away. It is especially easy when that person does kind things for others. The first kindness was a gift for Harv. The second was for our community. She makes it a point to make us smile and enjoy ourselves. And it is always a pleasure to see her with her parents, the love is obvious. This is Shari and Shari collects elephants. And Deb makes bracelets...as gifts for people that she admires...but never with an animal within!


And so I start and restart and restart yet again. Darn that part that sticks out on the back leg...pretend it is a kneecap and move on!


See there is a stick out place on the picture I was working from...however it was created as a crochet pattern and bead weaving is just a bit different.


Miss elephant is done...well as done as she is going to be...now what?






The indented area is because I shifted from the black 11 Delicas to a 15 round bead. It worked well as I did not want the back of the bracelet to be as wide. I tried other options and ripped ripped and ripped some more.



The closure is a black snap that I found at my Mothers last summer. Smaller than the ones on the Flamethrower bracelet but also vintage.



Viola! Finished! It is not the most perfect elephant, but it sure is a one of a kind gift. Thanks Shari for being such a neat person! (Oh I will leave it on your doorstep before I leave for Las Vegas!)

New and Different!

Well this is a little different for me and has been sitting around waiting to be finished since forever. I did the Cellini Spiral months ago but did not want the whole bracelet in it.
http://www.tarnhelm.com/NeedForBeads/Cellini.htm However I was stumped about what I did want to do. I simply changed to my standby Russian Spiral. I used only the smaller two sized beads. The 11 and 15 and it made the bracelet more flexible. The bead at the end is a piece of turquoise that my sister in law gave me when her daughter made her a super necklace. The loop was a little large so I modified it to be arrow shaped and that seems to help. The first time I wear it I will know if I really did correct to too large opening.

I now only have one long time on deck project and it is with square Swarovski crystals and tiny gold beads that I am making into peyote rings to hold the open square crystals. I think it will have to be a gift as I would need one more crystal to make it large enough for my wrist.

It will have to be someone very special as it takes forever to make the darn rings.

Now for the fun stuff...My daughter Jessica and her kind husband Michael and baby boy Jay took me kayaking with them today. I absolutely had a ball. What a great couple to include the old lady and I am the one that make the baby cry...awe. How fortunate that they have 3 kayaks. I do recall that Michael mentioned that he needs to sell one of the kayaks...could that be a hint????

Pics and Tips for Russian Sprial Pattern!

So You want to learn the simple weaving that makes Russian Spiral both easy and beautiful. I will try to help with a few pictures and some tips that I have gathered in the last year or so. These are the tips that help me. You will come up with some of your own as each of us have a little different technique of putting needle to beads to create this pattern.
(Click on the pictures for a closer look!)


First decide on the color and combination of sizes you wish to use. I would recommend that you start with two distinctively different colors as well as two different sizes. The smaller size should be the two beads in a group that calls for one large and two small repeated throughout the length of the bracelet or necklace. My selection here is larger lighter green and smaller darker. They are 11/0 for the large and 15/0 for the small. You may wish to start with an 8 for the large and 11 for the small if you think it will be easier for you to see where to insert the needle as well as a faster finish! (I always suggest that you use a good glass bead so the sizes are more likely uniform and the final product is worthy of the time you will spend.)


I am using 4# Fireline fishing line and I get mine at a sporting good store rather than a bead store as the product is the same and the price is about half! I start by threading a #10 or 12 needle. I use one light (11) and two dark green (15) beads three times on the thread.


I leave about a 10 inch to 12 inch tail of thread ( to attach my finding when I am finished) and tie a knot to form a circle. I run the needle through the next small bead to the knot and carefully pull the thread through. Careful not to tangle the thread as I have about 2 to 3 yards on the needle and it is single strand sewing/weaving.


We are ready to weave now. If you are right handed you will work from right to left or counterclockwise with the needle. If you are left handed you will work from left to right or clockwise. Place one large and two small beads on the needle and insert the needle in the first small bead beside the large to your left on the circle of nine beads.. It will take a little manipulating of the needle and bead to get it inserted. As you add the three beads each time you will insert the needle in the next small beside large working around the circle. After you work the first three groups you will have a spiral that is flat. Continue to do another round in the flat as that will help keep your place make certain you are working only in the outter most round and adding the three beads and inserting the needle into the first of the two small beads beside the larger working left.


I hold the work between my thumb and index finger to keep it flat as I draw the thread through carefully...tangles do happen and take some patience and two needles to get undone sometimes.


When I have a total of 27 beads added in a flat spiral, I am ready to tighten up the work and bring it into a tube of woven work. I hold the tail end of the thread around my little left hand finger and start to tighten up and draw the beads around to form the spiral tubular look. It takes a little work to align them so that there are three large as you look down on the third round of beads. I tend to squeeze them with my thumb and index and roll the beads back and forth to help align them...confused? It makes more sense when you are doing it than reading honest!


Notice the three large beads visible on the top round.



It makes for a finer product if you keep your work tight. I do the rolling of the beads as I apply pressure to the end of the thread to continually tighten up my work. As you bead this pattern it will get better each time until is it all very uniform and snug and lovely!



It is time for the boring part of continually adding the three beads and weaving them in as you build your bracelet.



Where did that end come from and why did I not photograph the process and the stages. Stupid that is why. I forgot and well what can I say? However I do both ends exactly the same so when I finish off the bracelet I will do the step by step of attaching the findings. (fasteners)

A quick comment about the SS Flamingo that is attached. We are the Flamingo House and thus my signature charm

When the bracelet reaches approximately 6 1/2 inches long I make my final round. The final round I do as one large and one small only three times. That is 6 instead of 9 beads for the final round. I snug the up tightly and insert the needle through a few more beads in the round and knot it securely.

.

Next step is the same as I did for the attached toggle. I start with a large bead, a small, a second large and a second small. Then I run the needle through a quarter inch of French Wire. (French wire is available in gold tones and silver tones in real or not metals. It is really a coil of thin metal that is a protection for the thread so the findings do not wear on it.)


I finally add the lope end of the finding in this case a heart shape in sterling silver, then I thread the needle through the small bead again. I add the second leg of the holding by adding another large bead, another small bead, and a final large bead...four beads each side of the leg if you count the shared small one right before the French Wire was added.


I knot this leg to the top of the bracelet on the opposite side from the first leg. I then run the needle through 4 or 5 small beads down the bracelet and knot again. I do that again so there are about 3 holding knots. I then run the thread a few more beads down and then trim off the thread and I am DONE!

Flamethrower Final Edition...I think!

How long did I work on that bracelet and why did it take so darn long you ask? Well, it was a lot of beads to sew together. It probably took between 50 and 70 hours. And I do have a life you know...kind of!




The snaps were part of the "finds" from my parents house last summer. I am thinking that Mother used the other two on something years ago...the price was 10 cents for the pack!

Rain Rain Go Away - Enough Already

I know, I know, we need the rain! I am so spoiled by the sunshine. When it is not here I complain.

The rain brought some welcomed guests to our pond. They had not been here in a long time.
I took the picture through the bedroom window as I did not want to disturb them.

The Wood Storks


In the last week we have had some other feathered visitors. We have been hearing them call "Bob White" for weeks and have seen a pair about a block from our house. I do not think this is the same pair we had seen but who can tell. They were busy eating near the back door.

Bob White Quail


Now these visitors kind of worried us. We checked each others pulses and they were fine. It was a hot day and both had a drink from the pond and a rest under the maple tree and then flew away. Not before he checked to see if she was interested in him. She said "No"!

Turkey Vultures


Did you think with all this bird watching I was not beading? Well you are partially right. I do lots when I go to Arts and Crafts at the Club on Tuesday mornings, but not so much at home or it would be done by now.

I did do a darling white Russian Spiral bracelet for a friend. That meant not working on the Flamethrower. (May rename it "Sunset" what do you think?)

The needle below shows a mistake that I found on Monday night. I am not sure if I will tear out and repair or forget it as it is almost impossible to find. One of fringes caught two others. I cannot tell if the thread caught around the two or if I actually ran the needle through beads.

What would you do????


Hope your day is a sunny one no matter what the weather!

Fringe Fringe and More Fringe!

The fringe is going to take forever but it is growing on me! Each fringe has 13 size 15/0 beads. I am using two colors for each peyote base color.



As I begin the 5th color of fringe.

On to fringe color number six...orange.




This close up gives a little feel for how many fringe sections there are already. Worked on the orange at Arts and Crafts at the Club on Tuesday. It is almost time to start the next color.

Speaking of color...could I ever create something in beads to rival my favorite orchid in full bloom?

Double clicking on any picture should enlarge it. Enjoy.

Flamethrower and More

The sun's flame in the sky is more beautiful than anything I can create.





However I continue to try!

Back to Bead Heaven - The Flamethrower

For the longest time I have been envisioning a bracelet with colors ranging from bright yellow to crimson.



It is only the beginning and already I am seeing the end product...kind of.



This seems like a slow process. I did manage to take it along to Arts and Crafts to share with the other crafters that live in my new community.



This has been a long ordeal and I have just begun with the fringe. I have a few more colors in the 15/0's that I am using for the fringe. I am not certain how I will blend them all. I think it will definitely end up a Flamethrower!



Keep posted I will update as the colors change. (Does this sound like the ad for Bealls Outlet?) No time to work today...Happy Easter and I am off to cook and bake to try to dazzle the family.

House in Florida to Sell NOW!

It seems like all we have done is move and clean out houses this past year. Now that we have moved to DeLand, we have to sell our house in Orange City. It is by far the most fun house I have ever lived in. I love this house.
It is a 1995 Jacobson manufactured home. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. There are more cupboards and built ins than anywhere I have ever lived. The closets are large with sliding doors. The master bedroom's are mirrored.
There are ceiling fans in all the rooms even in the kichenette/dinette area.(whoops not in the baths and kitchen only exhaust fans in them)
The whole front of the home is a Florida room but it is not a built on it is within the home itself. The home measures 26 feet wide by 56 feet long. We had a new shingled roof put on two years ago. There is a built on very large sun deck that is a screen room. There is also a car port and an attached shed/golf cart garage.


Yes I had the biggest flamingos.


Queen sized sleeper sofa that is new and is being sold with the house. It is in the dining room/library/den/computer room adjacent to the kitchen. Sofa stays with the house.


View from the sleeper sofa room to the living room/Florida room in the front. The sofa leather recliner coffee table and end table also stay with the home.


Guest room. Bed does not stay.


Masterbedroom. King bed does not stay.


View from the front room through the kitchen. Sky light in kitchen and master bath gives wonderful natural light. The refrigerator is a year and a half old, dishwasher is less than a year old and the stove is 3 and a half years old. The 4 bar stools also stay with the home.


The master bath has a jacuzzi garden tub and also a large walk in shower with seat.

The home is in the Country Village 55 + retirement community. It is a great community with wonderful people. There is an active HMO with many activities. The pool is heated and great. There is also a hot tub at the pool. There was a golf course at the community but now you have to drive about 4 miles to the closest course. The community is rental lots and it is well maintained and the yard work is supplied. Garbage is collected twice a week and the yard waste from any bushes or trees is picked up once a week. There are about 400 homes in the community. It is adjacent to a RV park. It is about half way between Daytona Beach and Orlando. About 35 minutes to the beach and 50 minutes to Disney.

I almost forgot to mention that there is a laundry room when you enter from the screened deck. It has oodles of cupboards and a washer and dryer that stay too. The airconditioner/heat pump is about 4 years old.

If you want to live in this house it will cost you $63,000 for the home plus lot rent only 342 a month. It is a super house. It makes you smile!

Russian Spiral Bracelet in Brown and Cream

On my way to finishing a bracelet in Brown and Cream to match a necklace and earring combo I had made nearly a year ago. However it is a little different and I wondered how it would look together. Now I think it doesn't look quite like I wanted it to.



You tell me! It is a reverse. What you say? Well the necklace and earrings are made with Cream 11's and Brown 15's. The bracelet is the opposite. It is Cream 15's and Brown 11's. Hey it will be far enough away it will not clash completely I would say. It may draw attention as our eyes do pick out things like this, right? So it may be dramatic instead of a clash.

I will finish it and if it is not what I want to wear with the necklace, I will give it to Jessica. She wears a lot of browns lately and will need it. I can make it to fit me snugly as she has much smaller wrists than I.

Tomorrow I am going to the Bead Show (yeah!) It is the place I took my first and only lesson. I have been a Beader for a year now. Thank you Candy for going to the Bead Show with me a year ago today. Since then my daughter Jessica, also my dearest friend, has made her first beaded bracelet. She is going to be great. No bead weaving for her however. One in the family is enough I guess. She is going tomorrow and we are going to love it. Also to add to the fun, my Sister In Law, Candy and her daughter Amy are going. Does it get any better than that???


Jessica's First!

May I gripe a little? Again! I am still waiting for the furniture company to get back to me but they guarantee that I will be happy when my cork board is fixed. I sure hope so, as I really like the furniture style and do want to add two more dining room chairs and maybe another bookcase and bedside table! They do not know that of course. If I do not get results with them, a friend in Indiana is right by my side to see that American Signature Furniture gives me the service I deserve. Thank you Carol for offering your help...will let you know if I need you to do some research for me.

The next picture is for you. The Hawk is a visitor to the pond behind my house. "My Lake". He stopped by two days ago to welcome me. He was a morning visitor. I think he is a young Red Shoulder. There are several hawks in the community. There was a Bald Eagle I saw one time, so he may have just been passing through. Love Raptors!



He was sitting about 15 feet from my dining room window. Carol and I both like Hawks. I bet she would love to watch the pond with me for a day. There was a Wood Stork there most of yesterday. Hope he has no baby to drop here. There was a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret that visited several times...hey maybe they were not the same ones. Who would know? There are several ducks that are here then gone, too. There is a Belted (?) Kingfisher that is neat to watch. He perches for a long time in a tree and then swoops done into the water.



The Wood Stork.
He is pretty flying, showing off his black wings. However, he has the ugliest of heads. It looks like a vultures. No feathers!

Off to start my day, tomorrow it will be almost 8:00 AM instead of 7!