Bead Embroidery and a Few Short Subjects

Beaded Moth ~ Pin (Brooch)

Thought you might like to see this beaded moth pin I made for one of my special quilting/beading friends this Christmas. It's mostly size 15 or smaller beads. The wingspan is slightly under 1.5 inches.

Beaded Button Earrings


My other best quilting/beading friend got these for Christmas. I made them using Dritz half-ball cover buttons, size 24. The button form is 5/8 inches in diameter, but after beading the fabric and covering the form, they are slightly larger. I removed the button shank from the form before covering and then stitched a circle of Ultrasuede on the back side using the picot edge stitch. You might want to check out my tutorial on making beaded buttons here and here.

World Beads ~ Book Giveaway ~ The Winner Is....


Ta-daaa, drum roll..... Ane Severine!

In my previous post I reviewed Beading with World Beads edited by Ray Hemachandra. Sixty some readers commented! Thank you so much for telling me about your own world beads. I really enjoyed reading about them!!! I wish I had 60 copies of this book to give, as everyone had such good reasons for wanting it.

As Peggy commented, "In a sense, I have thousands - maybe even a million - "world beads" - Czech seed beads! And Tohos - Japanese seed beads." She's right! In that sense, all of us own world beads.

Using a random number generator, the winner is #26, a comment by Ann Severine, who said, "The world beads I love most are 10 small milleflori cylinder beads in blue and red. I never thought about making a necklace from them. But now I'm looking forward to seeing this book for inspiration, whether I win or purchase it. How nice for you to inspire us to look at our old stuff we haven't paid much attention to for a long time." Congratulations, Ann!!!

I'll be reviewing and giving away Marcia DeCoster's new book, Beaded Opulence, in a week or so. Watch for it!!

Bead Journal Project ~ January Progress Report

No pictures yet. And I have to admit, I'm a little behind, a little afraid, a little unsure.... For this, my third year participating in the BJP, I decided to practice collage. I admire my sister-in-law, Julie's, collages and the work of so many other artists. Yet, I've never felt I had a grasp of how to mix it all together.

This is my year to play with it, practice, try it on for size... beads, fabrics, papers, paint, fibers, ephemera, rubber stamping, lettering... bring it on... all of it. Yes, but how? Do I hear some of my former students saying, "Just do it!" Yes, that is the way. And I must remember my mantra, "It does not have to be perfect!"

Well, I've worked on it some, but am far from finished.... It's my first of 12... Hope they'll get better and easier. I'll take and post some pictures soon.

Ribbon Question + MOP buttons!

Click on the picture to really see the lush colors of these silk ribbons. Aren't they just the yummiest?!

45 yards in all... 25 different colors!!!!! I bought them at Nancy's Sewing Basket on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle (WA) a couple of weeks ago. Nancy's is a fabric store that's been in business for about 30 years selling fancy fabrics. If you are in the area and love silk, it's a must... They may not have as many different bolts as some shops, but oh my, every one of them is simply luscious.

The other two main attractions at Nancy's are their their button wall (I go NUTS looking at so many beautiful buttons) and ribbon room (a whole, large room devoted entirely to ribbons of all kinds, including I'd estimate about 80-100 colors of silk ribbons... Akkkkk, be still my beating heart... I go NUTS in there too)!

Below are some mother of pearl buttons I bought at the same time as the ribbons. Again, click to see details. You'll be noticing them on my beading soon, that's for sure.


These ribbons and buttons make me happy! They are paint on my palette!

My only question is this... Does anybody have a good method for storing the ribbons???? They're all relatively short pieces of 1-3 yards. I thought of winding them on floss bobbin-cards, but I don't want creases in them.

My next post will be about my brother, Thom's recent visit and the beaded piece he's currently making. He found some hand-dyed silk ribbons at Nancy's that make perfect seaweed. I'll show you in my next post soon!

Beads, Buttons, Hearts...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last year for my February Bead Journal Project, I made a Valentine for Little Robin. If you'd like to read more about it, see this post.

This year, guess what I'm doing... a Valentine for Big Robin! I got a late start this month and haven't gotten much done yet. This is how it looks so far.


I'm inspired to write this post by visiting Pat's Bird Nest on the Ground blog and seeing her lovely heart quilt in today's Valentine post and a charming heart-shaped door decoration in an earlier post. Like Pat, I frequently use hearts in my work. I doodle hearts... always have.

Below is a little wall quilt, Grandpa's Gifts, I made about 15 years ago. It's a tribute to my grandfather, who was a collector of many things including buttons. A favorite childhood memory is of watching him compare, sort and label items in his collections... especially the buttons.


My brother and I inherited his button collection (which was actually started by HIS great aunt in England in the mid 1800's). Some of the buttons were on cards, carefully labeled in my grandmother's distinct penmanship. Others were strung on a long wire, maybe 20 feet of buttons, many of which are pretty awesome!

I can't recall now what sparked me to make a quilt using some of the buttons. While making it, I remember thinking a lot about my grandfather and his personality. He was a superintendent of schools (Amador County in California) and before that a math teacher. He placed a high value on education and knowledge. A little gruff-seeming, he did not let us talk or play near him when he was working. He would, however, allow me to stand quietly next to his desk and watch. Despite his exterior reserve, I always felt cherished by him... and loved him in return. You might think of this quilt as an abstract portrait of him... cool exterior, warm inside.


This is a picture of him. Charles H. Atkins. Maybe later today I'll find, scan and post a picture of him and my grandmother, Martha Tompkin, taken when they were courting. They're so cute and the photo is so appropriate for Valentine's Day. [3 pm note: I looked for that picture for three hours and didn't find it. I give up for now... rats]

I've been thinking about the heart shape as a symbol. Here is a brief, but fairly good description of it. I want to know more about this symbol and why I am so drawn to it... a subject for further research and contemplation.

In the meantime, may we all have a wonderful Valentine's Day... May we be well-loved... May we open ourselves to as much love as possible!

Bead Journal Project... A Few Thoughts

Well, first I have to hang my head in apology about not posting for so long. Family health issues and various obligations have gobbled up my energy (and creative flow) for the past 2, almost 3 months.

The only thing I've beaded during this time is the header for my blog, which I then turned into a little, quilted wall hanging just in time to enter in our County Fair. I'm not experienced with hand quilting (which is obvious if you click to enlarge the picture and examine the stitches), but enjoyed sewing this piece very much and will probably work on getting more skilled at hand quilting.


Bless the BJP and everyone posting their plans, goals and excitement about getting started... It's catching! I'm starting to feel myself being lifted from the doldrums by all the enthusiasm! I'm almost to the point of checking out my fabric stash and bead boxes... Almost...

Another thing improving my spirits and pushing me toward the track again is what Lunnette Higdon-Hertel did with her BJP buttons from last year. Since she isn't into digital, I took the picture and am posting it here. The buttons are fastened to the cards with toothpicks on the back so that they can easily be removed and pinned to her sweater, hat or purse. She intends to frame them as a group... the cards will hang on "pegs" so they can be removed. Clever, huh.. and don't you just love her calligraphy?!

Totem Animals ~ Tigers!
(Part II ~ Continuation of August 30th post)

Mary Preston is an artist who has always had a very unique and passionate relationship with animals. When I first met her in 1990, she was well known for her wearable arts - coats and jackets stenciled and embellished with animal forms (as shown below).

After getting an idea for a jacket, perhaps from a commission or inspired by a certain fabric, Mary always consulted the library for information about the animals - their behaviour, appearance, habitat and habbits. She then drew each animal and, from the drawings, cut stencils. Her coats and jackets had a magical quality and a great deal of "animal energy."

As her interest in animals, animal symbology and animal mythology grew, Mary began to study under a local Huichol shaman. She wanted to learn the methods used by these native peoples for contacting and speaking with animal spirits. After being tutored for several years, Mary is able to journey into a different world (called the lower world by the Huichols), where she can meet and converse with animals.

She is able to journey for another person and to speak with their totem animal. Let's just suppose that she is doing a journey for the purpose of meeting your totem animal. (This could actually happen... contact me for referral information.)

The journey requires that she fast for at least 8 hours and prepare herself emotionally, thus beginning the shift in her cognitive process. After several brief rituals, Mary starts each journey by imagining herself in a safe, pure and natural place, generally walking on a beach. After a while an opening occurs and she enters the lower world, where she asks politely to meet with your totem animal. Then she waits, observes, asks questions and avails herself to whatever appears.

She may see many different animals while in this trance-like state. When she has seen a specific animal several times, she will ask if it is your totem animal. She must see this animal at least four times and get confirmation from it that it belongs to you before returning to the real (or in Huichol terms, middle) world. Immediately she makes a written log of the entire journey, so as to keep track of all the nuances and details, which she then passes on to you.

Although it is not a business, Mary offers this service to those interested. If requested, she will also construct a likness of your animal, and costume it as suggested by her vision, including any companion animals that appeared to be associated with it. The doll image at the beginning of this post is the likeness she made of the animal she met while doing a journey for me ~ a Siberian tiger with rabbit, bear, otter, mouse and fish as companions. Here are two more pictures of him.

According to Mary, this is my totem animal - not necessarily my birth animal, but a very strong presence in my life at the time of thejourney she did for me. I find this quite amazing, because tigers have always held a great fascination for me. Always at the zoo, I've headed right for the tigers. At age 11, with my very first camera, a little Brownie, I took pictures of the tigers when we visited the Zoo in San Francisco on our summer vacation. I still have these pictures, sad as they are (because at that time the tigers were housed in bare cages, unlike habitat areas many zoos have nowadays).

Here are a few more recent ways tigers have shown up in my life.

A decade or so ago I was in Rathdrum, Idaho, and happened to hear about an animal rescue program that was open to public visit - Noah's Exotic Wildlife Shelter (no website). Somehow I found the place, which turned out to be a private home with government-approved animal enclosures at the rear of the 5-acre property. Glenda York and her husband, over the years had assumed the care for animals that were no longer wanted or needed by their owners (tigers and lions) or wild animals that had been injured or abandoned (bob cats and cougers).

Glenda took me out to see their brood, and there was Olivia, the most beautiful tiger I'd ever seen! Glenda showed me how I could put my hip against the heavy chain link enclosure so Olivia could strop or rub against me. I also put the top of my head against the enclosure, and felt/heard her gentle snuffle snuffle as she investigated my hair. Later I wrote the following poem about this experience.

EYE CONTACT
making eye contact
with a 300 pound tigress
nose to nose
deep yellow eyes
hers
and mine brown
held together longer
than comfort prefers
brain wanting to disengage
from experience
wanting to analyze my reactions
what reactions
there are no reactions
only the experience of it
of eyes meeting eyes
blinking
and meeting again
blinking
and meeting again
brain still working on it
still trying
to make sense of it
or maybe
looking for magic
on another level
wanting
a spiritual handle
a deep meaning
to be revealed
from this eye contact
where
in this time
we are inside
each others heads
I in her cage
she in mine
or are we
I don’t know

A few years later, I returned with a camera, and took this picture of Olivia.



I keep in touch with Glenda, and send her donations whenever I can to help with food for Olivia and the other big cats. They operate on the edge, with donations from people like me, their own personal work income, local restaurants which collect and give table scraps, road kill from the country, volunteer veterinarian services, etc. Yet, for twenty years they've kept their big cats well fed, healthy and contented, while at the same time providing valuable education and opportunities to visitors.

This is one of Olivia's whiskers, as compared to one from our cat...

Do you remember the needle-felted rabbit from the previous post, the one I made in a class? Well, the next day or so I made this needle-felted tiger mask.



Long before Mary journeyed for me, while on a bead buying trip in China, I learned about tiger shoes, lovingly made for Chinese boys and thought to bring strength and courage into their lives. As soon as I heard about them, I was determined to find a pair. Here's what I finally found in a small antique shop in Shandong Province (along with a couple of other tiger things from my studio).



Here are two special tiger buttons in my collection. Both are hand done using scrimshaw techniques. The fist is Japanese, done on bone. The second is by an American artist, Diane Schefferly, done on mother-of-pearl.





Have you enjoyed being with tiger energy during this post? Even if you take the concept of totem animals with a grain (or even many grains) of salt, I believe that observing, learning about, and finding a way to assist an animal that seems special to you is something that circles back to you in a very positive way. Thank you for taking this little safari with rabbit, tiger and me!

Totem Animals

I've been interested in the concept of totem animals ever since I was a kid and learned about totem poles in school. The teacher told us about a belief common to many Native American tribes that when each individual is born an animal spirit comes forward as a life-time helper and guide. Of course I was very curious as to which animal might have come forward for me.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I feel that having a totem animal guide is not in conflict with Christian beliefs, unless it becomes a form of worship. I have friends who consider their totem animal a "higher power." There must also be some who don't accept the idea of an animal guide. What are your thoughts and feelings about it?

Whenever I mention "totem animal" to anyone, they always ask how they can know which animal is their guide. One way suggested by Ted Andrews (who wrote Animal Speak), is to look at your past, especially your childhood.

What animal were you most drawn to in books?
What animal was first on your list to see at the zoo?
What animal story appealed to you most?
Did you ever have an imaginary animal friend?
Have you saved any childhood animal doll, picture, charm, etc.?
What animal have you collected?
What animal has shown up consistently in your life?

My favorite book as a child was Marshmallow, written and illustrated by Clare Turlay Newberry. Meet Marshmallow below. I still have my original childhood copy of this delightful book (which has totally fallen apart from constant reading), as well as a copy I bought on eBay (which is less worn).

And here is Marshmallow with Oliver, who wasn't so sure about the advisability of adding a bunny to the family, but who by the end of the book was completely won over.

Here is a poem from the book, which I could recite as a child from memory.

A bunny nibbles all day long.
A bunny doesn't think it's wrong.
He nibbles mittens, mufflers, mops,
He only pauses when he hops.
He nibbles curtains, lamp-cords, shoes,
He only stops to take a snooze.

Sofa pillows, ribbons, rugs -
He takes a mouthful, then he tugs.
Galoshes, boxes, books, and string -
A bunny nibbles everything.

Here are a few of the rabbit buttons I've collected in recent years.

And here are some of my more special rabbit buttons - scrimshaw on bone - made in Japan.

Here's just a few of the many rabbit things I have in my studio.

When I took a needle felting class about 6 years ago, here's what I made.

Here's a beautiful little quilted rabbit wall hanging made for me by a dear quilting/beading friend. It hangs in my studio above a picture of myself at about 3 years old.

I've always been drawn to rabbits. I am upset to tears (and financial contributions to PETA) by industry's use of rabbits for testing cosmetic and household products. Until recent years, I collected rabbit things without even realizing I was doing it. Could these things be an indication that rabbit is my totem animal? According to Ted Andrews, the answer is yes.

If there is an animal that has shown up consistently in your life, you might want to look it up on this site and check out what Animal Speak has to say about it. Also watch for frequent signs in the next couple of weeks. Did you open a magazine and there was a picture of this animal? Did you look at birthday cards for a friend, and the first one you picked up was of this animal? Were you suddenly aware of this animal in an ad during your favorite TV show? If you get signs such as this, it's further confirmation that this may be your totem animal.

At this point in my life, I'm fairly certain that I have two totem animals - one is my life guide, the other showed up in my late 40's. I will share some more about that in my next post.

PS. Click on any picture to see it enlarged. Look in the comments to this post for my reply to your comments.

Puget Sound
Bead Festival

If you can't make it this year, put it on your calendar for next year! Hands down, this is my totally favorite event of every year, and it's right around the corner. Just a week and a few days from now, I'll be up to my ears in beads, glorious beady people, and the nicest host and hostess one could ever want.

In July each year, the Bead Factory sponsors the Puget Sound Bead Festival at the Tacoma Convention Center in WA state. What began in the early '9os as a bead bazaar, a gathering of bead sellers and buyers, has evolved into a fabulous 4-day event with many top-notch teachers and a huge bazaar.

Despite the size of the event, organizers, Vicki and Mark Lareau, manage to make everyone feel comfortable with their seemingly tireless personal attention to details. For example, every class room is equipped (at their expense) with an Ott Light for every work station. This is a fantastic advantage for beading students... no eye strain here. Also their friendly staff are conveniently stationed and available to all participants to answer questions or solve the occassional problem.

Now, if you aren't already itching to jump on your magic carpet, think about this: the Tacoma Convention Center is walking distance from the Museum of Glass, where currently they are featuring a full-scale exhibition of beadwork by Joyce Scott! Joyce is a prolific, internationally known bead artist. Her work always generates an immediate, strong emotional response. Although her work is widely published, it's well worth seeing in person.

The pictures in this post illustrate the 4 classes I'll be teaching this year: Techniques of Bead Embroidery, Bead Embellished Spirit dolls, Woven Treasure Bracelet and Beaded Buttons.

Will you be there?

Buttons vs. Beads

A couple of posts ago I promised to reveal the answer to the question posed about number of bead books vs. number of button books available through Amazon. The simple answer, which surprised me, is this: Buttons = 1500; Beads = 1200.

However, the simple answer is rarely the whole story. Let's investigate further! Until recently the noun button referred to ”any small disk or knob used for fastening, as on a garment or shoe.” In fact, that definition is right out of my 1984 Webster’s Dictionary.

Sometime during the past century, political buttons, the kind that pin to your jacket and say things like “Vote for Joe,” became popular, and in recent years collectible as well. Now if you search eBay for “buttons,” you get more political buttons than sewing buttons.

Even more recently, we began to see what I call push buttons, which are little graphics used on websites and blogs to give viewers an opportunity to choose an action (rollover buttons, radial buttons, etc.). Recently I searched the word button under Google - Search All Blogs, and got a gazillion pages of blog listings, nearly all of which were about designing “push buttons.” In fact the first listing referring to sewing buttons wasn't until page 9 of the listings.

Fortunately (for my sanity) a bead is still a bead is a bead. Not true about buttons. A “sewing button” is not a “political button” is not a “push button.” And that takes us back to Amazon. Out of the first 20 titles resulting from searching button, 13 are not about sewing buttons. Out of the first 20 titles resulting from searching bead, all 20 are about beads as we know and love them. Ah ha! Doesn’t that change the answer to the original question?!! Yup, bead fans… there are many more books in print about beads than about sewing buttons.

This is of special interest to me, because in 1985, when I first began my beaded pathway, there were no books in print about beads... not one! I found two pamphlet type books in a used bookstore, one about Native American loomwork beading and one about beaded flowers made on wire. Now, just 21 years later, beads and beading have become so popular, that there are more than 1200 titles available, which include not only books about many different beading techniques, but the history of beads and bead collecting as well.

For pure inspiration, one of my favorite books is 500 Beaded Objects... a book which prooves beyond a doubt that beading has come into its own in the world of art as recognized by galleries, museums and collectors. And, by the way, I just have to add one little brag... that's my piece on the cover (Rosie, the Uncaged Hen)!

How to Make
Beaded Buttons
(part 2)

~

Please see Part #1 for the first steps in making a beaded button.

~

Cut both paper and fabric around the outside circle.

Moisten the outer edge of paper slightly, and tear it away. Do not try to remove the paper from under your stitches.

Sew a small running stitch around the outside edge of the fabric.

Pull the running stitch and gather the fabric into a cup. Place the button form inside the cupped fabric. Pull the stitches tight and knot to secure the fabric around the button form. Then snap the back on the button. Voila!

Here are a couple more beaded buttons I've made recently. They're a grand project to do during meetings or while watching a movie on TV...

How to Make

Beaded Buttons

~

Hope you don't mind staying with buttons for one more post. I get a lot of email messages asking how to make beaded buttons, and so I thought it might be nice to show you some pictures. I do teach this as a workshop; and it's one of the projects in my book, Beaded Embellishment. So here I won't go into how to do the bead embroidery stitches. I'll just show the button construction part.

Start with a 3.5 inch square of printed fabric backed by acid-free interleaving paper. Draw the fabric cutting template from the button-form package on the paper; centered inside that circle, trace around the metal button top. (I always use Dritz half-dome button forms, the kind that you snap together with your fingers, not the kind that requires a squeezing tool.) Baste around the inner circle to make a beading guide. On the fabric side, fill the area inside the basted circle with bead embroidery.

Your work will look like this on the front side...

...and like this on the back side.

Now I can't get any more images to upload.... frustrating! I'll start a new post... see above.

One More
Favorite Button
with Wings!

Isn't this one grand?! I've been asked the value of the buttons on Grandpa's Gifts (see previous post), and by that the person asking means "monitary." I don't know the answer. They're priceless to me, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Tomorrow I'm going back to the subject of Spirit Dolls... See you then!

Button Quilt
Grandpa's Gifts

~

I made this wall quilt as a memory piece about my grandfather, Charles Atkins. It looks like him... very warm on the inside, with a cool and composed exterior. I remember standing behind him, watching him work at his desk, either paper work (he was Superintendent of Schools in Amador County, CA) or working with one of his collections. His (and my) favorite of these was an extensive button collection started by his great aunt in the mid 1800s in England. He adored sorting, arranging and labeling these buttons. While I watched, I remember making up stories about the buttons - who had worn them - what type of garment - how had they come to be in the collection? Grandpa was a quiet guy, and I was required to be quiet when I was around him. I knew him more through his collections than through direct interaction with him. Yet, I somehow knew he had strong regard for me. This quilt tells our story.

The fabrics are Dupioni silk. I sewed the buttons on the quilt with a knitting "ribbon," tying them on the back side. To quilt around the heart shape, I used red thread to make a beaded running stitch. Here's a detail showing how it looks on the top.

I'm having unusual luck with uploading images today, so I'm going to try to add pictures of my three favorite buttons on the quilt. As you can see, both Grandpa and I loved winged things! The button with three flowers is a "perfume button." The wearer would soak the fabric interior (brown velvet, in this case) with her perfume. Sounds romantic, but possibly it was a practical measure to cover the odors likely present in clothing that was not often washed. OK, so one of the winged buttons wouldn't upload... look for it above in my 2nd post for the day.