Today is the reveal day for A Time To Stitch 3, Hosted by Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller. Now I should start by saying I am by no means a seed beader, I have played a little with partially beaded cuffs and tried quiet simple beaded beads but have always wanted to try real seed beading but have not known where to start, and this was a perfect place to start so huge thanks to our fab hosts!
Unfortunatly I did not manage to finnish any of my projects (I'm blaming the so nice I could not stay indoors weather we have had lately and the now walking around holding on to things and causing trouble baby), but I have learnt a lot. I thought I would start off with the sounds simple brick stitch....
These will eventually become a pair of earrings (hopefully by the end of the week) then before finishing off the second one like most people would, my short attention span picked up this....
I have had this one half done for ages but it just did not look quiet right so I started to brick stick the edge and finally it has started to look like what I imagined, but again attention span of a toddler and feeling alot braver I decided to start a Cellini Spiral, now this is the stitch I really wanted to try, it looks amazing and here is my attempt....
Well it's really about my fourth attempt and its still not right, I finally got the hang of the stitch but think I must have used the wrong size beads as there is not much of a dip to my spiral, any who feeling that I had not meet the challenge I decided that I would give Russian Spiral a go as it looked alot easier, and it was....
But half way through I decided I did not like the colours and moved on to the next thing!!!
I have learnt tons doing this challenge and have so much admiration for the people that have attention spans long enough to work with seed beads, it seriously takes sooooooo much time and patience, and I will master Cellini Spiral even if it takes forever (which with my attention span it may well do).
Have a great day and please check out what every one else has made....
Niki - I had a similar problem - couldn't finish my pieces because of work and weather (hey - those dogs need to go on walks right!?). But I LOVE the direction you are heading on all your pieces - I especially love the start of those brick stitch earrings!
ReplyDeletep.s. - sorry I spelled your name wrong earlier *Niky*!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNiky these are awesome! Like you I learned alot too and got a lot more familiar with stitches I usually shy away from. Very cool that you tried them all!
ReplyDeleteall great work on these stitches! I love where you are going with those earrings ... I hope you come back to those! And wonderful work on the bezel ... this is my new learning curve, so I'm hoping that I can make a go of it! and for a first attempt at Cellini ... that is pretty amazing! I can't tell you how many times (and hours) I spent trying and ripping it out! Your Russian Spiral is wonderful as well! you've definitely got the stitches down!
ReplyDeleteNiky, you had me giggling all the way through your post! Just can't wait til you finish those earrings, they are fab!
ReplyDeleteYes, if you use size 15's, 11's,8's, then a focal type bead, like a drop, 3 mm fp, magatama, etc., you will see the 'dip' in the spiral. I really like the colors you chose for the russian, they will look great around the winter holidays. You are such a talented woman, and I'm glad to see you headed into the seed beading area. :)
Niky I am with Shirley....giggling all the way through the post! My attention span is short too I think! I think a big congrats for trying and keeping at it is in the works. Go girl!
ReplyDeleteFunny! I have ADD too and it's caused by too many ideas and too many beads! You made some terrific starts. I love the bezeled bead! Your Cellini and Russian spirals are great. I didn't even give Cellini a try..Boo! I hope you continue with it!
ReplyDeleteNiky~I love your post for so many reasons...You didn't drop out due to unfinished work; you tried a few different stitches; you were honest; and you showed us your samples. It is what it is all about...Trying something new :-) I think your spirals are great, but being brand new to them, I will defer to what Shirley said. And I hope you do finish those brick earrings at some point...they are already well on their way to being wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing what you made.
ReplyDeleteI love the brick stitch earrings! And Shirley is right -- more variation in the sizes of your beads will make the spiral more wavy, but for your first time out, the added challenge of dealing with lots of size transitions was probably a good thing to avoid. The projects you did are all lovely, and I hope you do come back to the seeds and do more with them, because you obviously have an eye for it!
ReplyDeleteHi Niki,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above you did a wonderful job on what you accomplished and please do finish the other earring the one is gorgeous! Cellini is my favorite of the spirals and the trick to make it wave is using beads that are not similar in size. Like Shirley said start with 15's or 11's then 8's, 6's or other larger beads I have even seen this stitch using gemstone chips as the focal beads. The Russian spiral is gorgeous, but then I am attracted to that color palette and the fact that you used crystals in your piece. Thank you for participating and giving these stitches a try you are very good at it. I hope you will join us again in round 4.
Therese
I LOVE all of your "not quite done projects"! There is so much potential here! The earring design is FABULOUS - and I have to disagree with you - the color combination on your last spiral is ELEGANT! That would make an awesome bracelet or necklace!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and may have to steal your line "attention span of a toddler"! I can so relate....
Love the Russian spiral with bicones, but you're so right - if you don't like the color combination, it's hard to stay committed to a project. You have quite a few sensational starts, and the great thing about beads is they'll always be there when the inspiration returns!
ReplyDeleteLife intervenes some times. But, you have a good start on all the projects!
ReplyDeleteNiky, GREAT POST! I can totally relate to life getting in the way or not finishing a project because the color combo is not what you thought it would turn out to be, or my attention drifts to the next thing.
ReplyDeleteBut,I have to tell you that I LOVE the color palette of the Russian spiral, those bi-cones are fabulous!
Niky, I do agree with all the previous posts, your post it's so funny and so real! Even if I'm the opposite - when I fall in beadweaving trance I just keep going ... and forget everything else (until my hubby reminds me there are things to do ..., lol).
ReplyDeleteI think you absolutely need to finish those earrings as they look great! And you did just fine with all the other stitches! Hope to see some finished pieces in the future :-)
Niky I think you met the challenge even if you didn't finish your pieces. I think the idea was to try new stitches and you sure did that. I like all of your pieces. I hope you do finish one of them just for your own satisfaction. Working with seed beads can be challenging but it can also be very rewarding.
ReplyDelete