Bead Embroidery (& birds)

Today I am going to show you some bead embroidery & a bird. Bead embroidery is very similar to regular thread embroidery, except you use beads! The one on the left here uses amazonite in the middle with turquoise & pink fire polished beads with the seed beads.

This is an orange agate on the right, I got this pattern from a beading magazine & liked it so much I copied it exactly. It's not my colour though so usually languishes unworn..

 These earrings on the left use chalcedony in the middle with just 2 colours of seed beads & czech drops. These will be for sale if I ever get my etsy shop up & running or get a stall organised. I have to stop giving pieces away first. My last pic is the rarely seen Koel (this is where the random comes in). Note the blue eyes, I thought it was a redheaded raven but this guy has flown all the way across Australia to try & sneak his egg into an unsuspecting nest. Cuckoo! There's one that sits above my driveway & the night call echoes all night. There's a few around now, at least 3 calling to each other. The currawongs do not like it one bit, they wake up & interupt their calling.  I also wanted to point you in the direction of one of my classmates blog', she has some good tips for photography, I have one daffodil blooming on my balcony so I may try some of her tips. Go here for the bee busy blog. 

 Hello! Today I wanted to show you something I've been working on for almost 7 years, on & off. It's the Dragon cross stitch by Joan Elliott. I got the pattern from her book, Bewitching cross stitch. You can get the book (a 2nd hand copy, it's out of print) or you can go to her site and order individual chart packs here. She has many to choose from and if your worried about starting such a big project, just remember you can take your time with it! I like the idea of an hour a day but sometimes life just gets in the way plus cross stitch can get a little bit tedious and I have to make some jewellery. In fact, I've barely touched this for the past few years but I am determined to finish it. I was working on the face last night. My last pic shows the wing, those holes are spaces for beads & glitter thread will go over the top to make scales. I stated the moon in light blue but unpicked it as it didn't pop enough. It can be disheartening to frog stitch (ripit ripit) all your hard work immediately after you've done it so I put it aside for a while then when I come back all I see is the mistake & I've forgotten the hours of work. & it is hours. cross stitch can never be sold for the price it deserves, it makes me sad to see cross stitch at 2nd hand shops. work like this is truly a labour of love and I fully expect this work will one day hang in my great, great, great, grand daughter or son's living room. Just a note on materials- when i started this I had a choice of 2 floss brands, Sullivans & DMC. I got what I could in DMC then the rest in Sullivans, there is a big difference in quality but not in price to these 2 brands, the only thing stopping this being a family heirloom could be those poor quality Sullivan threads, they just don't have the same color & lustre. When  it comes to art & craft, buy the best materials you can as it reflects in your work.