St. Petersburg Chain

I had a another beading workshop on Monday night. This is my work in progress-- isn't it nifty? The stitch is a double St. Petersburg Chain, and the bottom of the pendant is going to have lots of beaded fringe when I'm finished getting the length of the chain to where I want it. The focal bead is Labradorite (my current fave!) and I actually got some of the blue flashes in the picture. The seed beads are size 11, and it takes 3mm Swarovski crystals. I picked light sapphire satin since it goes well with the labradorite. This is a neat project, but its pretty intensive since you have to make half of the upper side, then the other half, and then work on the lower halves separately. I have a ton of respect for beadweavers; it takes a ton of time and work!

In other news, I'm trying to make my own light box so I can take pictures whenever I need to and not wait for a sunny day. The convenience will be good, but I will miss showcasing parts of my garden! (Which looks awesome this year!!)

Oh Look! Turtles!

Just a quick update while I'm felting these cute little guys. I love making these turtles! They are so darling and easy to make. I'm going to leave some of them plain, some of them are already pretty fancy with their racing stripes, and some of them are going to get a little bling of their own. The unembellished ones make great baby gifts, or one of the ladies I work with think they would be good dog toys. I think they would be sturdy and safe enough for that, but I don't want to know if you're using them for that purpose.

In other news, the bead class is tonight. I'm actually pretty nervous about this because Christie (my neighbor and partner in crime) and I went to the guest artist's trunk show last night which was being held during another one of her classes. The teacher totally b***hed this poor woman out for not knowing some of the stitches real well! The reason why I'm worried is because this beading technique is something I've been dabbling in, but just for simple bracelets, and I have never done Peyote or Brick stitch before. So, Christie has christened the teacher the "Wicked Bead Lady" and I hope I do okay in this class. Fortunately, I don't think there's a test at the end!