PEACOCK CUFF

Got a bit carried away with this one! I was given some peacock feathers and this is the result. The cuff looks quite exotic, but it's virtually impossible to wear without damaging the feather. It's destined to stay an ornament.

MORE INSECT MAGIC!

These gorgeous orange tip butterflies (Anthocharis cardamines) have been over-wintering in safety, protected from the unseasonal snow. It's a lovely sunny day and so far 9 males have emerged and gone back into the garden. A few more to go, then it will be the turn of the females who come out a bit later. 

Butterfly about to emerge

Here I come!

Settling comfortably to dry their wings

Nearly ready

Out in the garden among the primroses

APRIL BJP CUFF

This month I wanted to celebrate the glorious cherry blossom - it's on its way at last!

I bought the little bee in British Columbia over 10 years ago. I've been waiting for the right place to put him.

Been beading like mad. Rita the rhino is 10" x 8" (too big for a cuff unfortunately). She's covered with all kinds of sizes and shapes of beads and some vintage pearl buttons. She's displayed on a box canvas covered with dark blue material.

March BJP




OLLIE THE OWL PUTTING ON HIS BRAKES TO AVOID A CRASH LANDING!

Well .... basically I just fancied having a go at an owl.  My school badge was an owl, the symbol of Athena the Goddess of Wisdom.  March is my birthday month - perhaps I'm supposed to be a wise old owl by now?? I've certainly had a few lucky landings by the skin of my teeth!

The original idea was an owl with its wings closed. Then I saw a great photo of an owl coming into land (yes, I know it might have spotted a mouse, but I'm ignoring that possibility!).

I sketched out the shape and got rather carried away. The piece is bigger than I had intended. If I'm honest, it's a bit on the large side for a cuff and you can't see the wings properly round the sides.

Still, I loved creating it and tried to capture some of the different textures of the feathers with a variety of stitches.

I may well take the owl off the cuff and turn it into a little wall hanging with a twig (something like the last photo). Alternatively, it would make a great feature on my fleece gilet/vest, which is a similar colour to the background. I'd have to make it easily removable as I don't think it would take kindly to going through the wash!

[PS I've been wanting to bead in browns and blues - thanks for the inspiration Susan (S)]

FEBRUARY FROG PRINCE!

Well, it is Valentine's month and you have to kiss a lot of frogs, don't you??

The thought processes behind this cuff are somewhat convoluted. February for me is dominated by visits to the dentist. Before Christmas I crunched on something rather hard in my breakfast cereal and broke a tooth and the filling dropped out - great! Repair involves root canal work and a crown. Bit of lateral thinking - dental crown....frog prince's crown! 

The green material represents a lily pad and I wanted it to show through and look 'organic' and crinkly (but maybe not that crinkly!) I had ideas of doing a separate froggy but then decided to embroider him in, peering over the top of his big crown. He's camouflaged as the main focus of the cuff is intended to be the deep green rivoli representing his pond. The rivoli is bezeled onto the material with peyote stitch and has rings of beads built up round it. The embroidery is wiggly backstitch, stop stitch and a leaf design to give the impression of weeds and greenery. I'm pleased with how the double picot edging to the whole cuff turned out.      

Nearly finished

His posh rivoli pond

Fun to wear and a great talking point

SNUG AS A BUG - January BJP cuff

Here's Dozi Dormouse tucked up in her nest with lots of goodies in case she wakes up and feels peckish! She's surrounded by snow and frost but is nice and cosy. She represents how I feel at this time of year. I much prefer to be warm at home and see the snow through the window! Luckily we haven't needed to go out for the last few days so I've had plenty of time to finish my January piece.

I used 15s for the mouse (and black thread for a few whiskers) and wove beads round and round to make the nest. The food stores are embroidered with 15s, 11s, bugles, crystals, beads that look like berries and picasso beads which look like nuts. I've scattered leaves all over it. The 'snow' is embroidered with a variety of clear, white, pearl and silver beads and I've added a fringe of bugle 'frost' at the centre. The base is grey ultrasuede. I stuck the back piece onto the aluminium cuff, used clips to hold the embroidered front in place and then joined the two together with a brick stitch edging. Before closing the cuff, I lightly padded the mouse so she has shape and texture.   

I actually remembered to take a photo while the unfinished piece was still flat!

The cuff is light and comfortable to wear

Nut store (picasso beads)

berry store

Out in the garden, but she still looks snug and warm

Real snow!

BJP ALL 12 MONTHS

Linda's completed spiral looks so fantastic that I wanted to see what my efforts over the last 12 months would look like together. I wonder how many hours of stitching went into them? Lots of enjoyment anyway. They don't make a cohesive unit, but the shape is roughly the same and I've ended up with a variety of little creatures. 

There are some great ideas for 2013 projects hatching - it's going to be a inspiring beading year!