Fa la la la LPA...

It has been a Lisa Peters Art kind of season in my house of late. I worked on a couple of pins/pendants to help with a fundraiser benefiting shelter animals (see post "For the love of animals") in November.

After those were completed and sent off, I worked up a couple of pieces to send back to Lisa - a ring using one of her wonderful little flower cabs and a poodle brooch/pendant.



The tiny flower cab has a hole in the middle, I started this one by anchoring the cab to a small piece of Nicole's Bead Backing with a 6mm Swarovski margarita crystal bead and a 15/0 seed bead.



I use a small about of E6000 to secure the edges of the cab to the bead backing material and added size 3mm Swarovski bicones in between each of the flower petals



Green seed beads were added around the outside of the cab and crystals



I used gray Ultrasuede to back the piece, first cutting a small hole it in it to fit the pad on the ring blank through. I add a tiny dab of E6000 to the pad of the ring blank and attach it to the back of the beaded flower cab, then let dry. The ring blank is adjustable, so it can fit a wide range of sizes.



Once dry, I whip stitched the Ultrasuede to the bead backing on the cab using blue charlottes.



And there you have it... a pretty little ring - perfect for every day or a special occasion!



How about a little poodle cab pin/pendant with a heart??? Double win! Some time ago, Lisa sent me two of these cute little poodles, (click on any of the images to see a larger, more detailed view). I glued it down to bead backing and started by adding vintage sequins around the outside. The sequins are anchored by dark red seed beads, then outlined by those same pretty red beads.



The poodle is edged with cream colored seed beads with a dangle of red seed beads, a couple of cream colored seed beads, a red garnet heart, then finished with a beautiful heart bead by Lisa Peters.



It is backed with tan Ultrasuede and has a brass pinback with bail so it can be worn at a pendant or a pin/brooch.



Lastly, Amy at Bead & Glass Boutique had a Facebook contest using LPA components. Each participant was sent a kit. We were instructed to used most of the kit and any thing from our own stash we wanted to add. I received a beautiful cab with a faint leaf pattern on it.



In addition to the cab, there were these beautiful tubular beads in a turquoise color and square glass beads in a reddish color. To the kit I added turquoise/raku colored seed beads and vintage dark gold seed beads salvaged from an old beaded cap found in an antique store.



Also added - size 8/0 gold seed beads, size 15/0 gold seeds beads used in the bezel and in the edging and 6mm topaz Swarovski margarita beads used in the dangle. There are 5 size 3mm Swarovski bicones in the bezel for a little extra sparkle (two in the top corner and three in the bottom). The edge is something new to me. It is called Side Petal Edge and found in Dimensional Bead Embroidery by Jamie Cloud Eakin - a fabulous book by the way and one I highly recommend you add to your collection if you enjoy bead embroidery.



Tan Ultrasuede is used as the backing with a pin back including bail for use as a pendant.



Not sure yet what all the new year will bring me in the way of beading inspiration, but I'm hopeful it will be a creative year filled with lots of projects!

For the love of animals...

If you know me, you know I am passionate about animals. I am a firm believer in rescuing animals from shelters as opposed to buying from breeders. If you do a little research, you will see there are pure bred animals available at most, if not all shelters (Humane Society estimates 25% of animals taken in are pure breeds). Shelters, Animal Care and Control, Rescues - they are all maxed out. Resources are scarce and budget cuts continue. If you can - do something today to help homeless animals. Shelters always need volunteers and various supplies and food, there will probably have a wish list on their website.

I'm also a firm believer in spaying and neutering pets as well as TNR (Trap Neuter Return) for feral and stray cats.

I think you would be too if you understood how many animals are put to death in this country and the manner in which it is done. It is estimated that 3 to 12 million pets per year are killed (depending on the source of the information). In THIS country, the United States - shameful, pitiful, and in my opinion - embarrassing. The animals are "humanely euthanized" which is rarely humane. They are often dragged to the death room to be injected and in many states are even gassed in groups - still - in this day and age.

I do what I can to help. Besides all my pets being rescues from shelters, I try to support rescue organizations and those that support rescues. One of those if Pennies-4-Paws, a non-profit fund raising for many organizations in need. If you use Facebook, they have a page there as well.

Please... please if you have pets, make sure they are spayed/neutered - for anyone that cannot afford it, there are many organizations in the U.S. that are low cost. Many areas even have programs in place that assist low income families. There is no reason or excuse to have pets that are not spayed/neutered.

The ornaments and pins you see here have all be donated to Pennies-4-Paws for their fund raising efforts to help our furry friends in need. Here are a couple of other favorites of mine: Shadow Cats Rescue; Best Friends Animal Society; No Kill Advocacy Center; The Grace Foundation of Northern California. All have Facebook pages if you are so inclined.



First up is a bone ornament. The "bone" is ceramic and was created by Fire and Fused. I glued it to yellow colored bead backing by Nicole and added glass beads in yellow/gold and purples.



I added a Czech glass heart bead at the top of the ornament and backed it with mustard colored Ultrasuede



It measures just over 3 inches wide.



Next is this brown bone is embellished with a combination of blue and brown beads as well as vintage sequins.



It is backed with chocolate brown Ultrasuede



A heart... for cats - this ceramic heart was also created by Fired and Fused



The heart measures a little big larger, 3 1/2 inches across and a bit weighty with all those glass beads



Czech and Japanese glass beads have been added as well as these glass cat face beads and a metal bead of a cat with one paw up.



Larger metal round beads were added to the fringe with carved garnet heart beads



Then backed with red Ultrasuede.



It was hard to part with the raku cat by Lisa Peters, but I have had it for a couple of years and I think it will server a better purpose in raising funds for cats that need help rather than sitting in a box here just because I like it.



It is embellished with sequins, a Swarovski crystal and glass seed beads.



It has a beautiful ceramic heart charm (also created by Lisa Peters) hanging from it.



I made this one into a brooch/pin. I thought it would look great worn by a cat rescuer.



Last in the group is this cute poodle pin.



It is embellished with vintage sequins and various glass seed beads.



This heart charm is one of my favorites by Lisa. The colors are amazing!



This one is backed with dark gray Ultrasuede

Fun loving Free Spirit...

Free Spirit is the last doll in the Trash It Out doll swap. Sending her off was bittersweet, sweet that she is going home after several months of travel, bitter because I'll miss looking forward to my visits with these amazing creations.

Six of us participated, myself and five incredible artists including our host - Monica Magness of GirlGoneThreadWild. This was an amazing experience, educational, emotional and above all else... FUN!



Free Spirit arrived pretty much complete by my definition. I made some jewelry for her and her companion to wear and deliver to her owner.



I started with a two small clay cabs, a rectangle with "LIVE" on it and a cute little heart. I acquired these pieces as a participant of The Best Little Bead Box earlier this year. I believe they were created by Fired and Fused.



In my rush to get her packed up and ready to head home, I neglected to take measurements of the pendant. I will guess it's about 3 inches around. Not including the loop that attaches it to a neck wire.



I used fresh water pearls, Swarovski jet bicones, vintage sequins, glass hearts and seed beads in various sizes.



It is backed with rose colored Ultrasuede.



I made the heart into a small brooch/pin. It also has several sizes of seed beads and is backed with the same rose colored Ultrasuede.



One thing I forgot to take photos of was her journal. The journals that accompany each of these dolls are entire separate, detailed amazing works of art. I'm sorry I did not take a photo of the journal that goes with Free Spirit.



Next blog post will be about my doll and her arrival home. I have not yet opened her carriage (the box in which she has traveled all over the US), but will do that in the next day or two. I want to have the time to savor every moment of the experience.

Reminder - all photos are clickable for a larger view.

Beautiful Marwa...

The latest doll in the Trash It Out round robin is Marwa - and not only is she a vision of beauty, the first thing I noticed as I opened the box upon arrival was the amazing smell that escaped the box before I ever laid eyes the doll.



Marwa belongs to Sandy - her name is of Hindi origin and means Sweet Marjoram - a fragrant herb. Heaven is what came to my mind when I first saw her...



Check out that cute bee in her bonnet



She came with this book of herbal recipes and other healing remedies. The book is a work of art with page after page of wonderful recipes/messages in an amazing array of colors.



Above are the pages I added to the book (Monica - do you recognize the heart up in the right hand corner?).



Marwa had a secret garden added while traveling. I didn't add anything to the garden at her feet, but it is a marvel to behold.



I did add a little bag of fresh herbs - picked from my garden - attached to one of her arms - that's in a photo further down the page.



As you can see - her backside is just as pretty as the front with a big bow and lots of layers in her skirt.



In her hands she lovingly holds a big heart to which I added a big glass lady bug.



And a bird button by Debbie Mumm with a final touch of red and black glass beads in a picot stitch around the edge of the heart.



I happen to have a beautiful clay cab on hand by Golem Studios with a blue bird on it - it at just seemed to go with Marwa. I was lucky enough to see their work up close and personal this past June at the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee. The beaded piece is pinned to the doll and can be removed and worn. (Just below the bird is the small bag I mentioned earlier with some fresh herbs).



There are glass beads in several colors and small Swarovski crystal bicones around the outside edge to add some extra sparkle.



It is backed with red Ultrasuede.



Last is the small journal that travels with the doll - besides the Imagine A Woman poem seen here, I noted the items I added on another page.



Only one doll left to work on before each of our dolls come "home". This has been an incredible experience for me - so many good lessons learned and to be included such awesome company is just a giant bonus!

Each photo is "clickable" for a larger view.