Making chainmaile

Making chainmaile
Originally uploaded by fyrefantasy.

Another shot of the cat helping me.

Current Projects

I started a new painting of a woman holding flowers today. I was working on it outside until about 10 AM when the temperatures skyrocketed again. I think it was 100 degrees today. The whole state is under an energy alert notice to avoid brown outs.
I'm also beading a mermaid on my loom, but I don't have the color for the arms yet so I had to stop until I get some.
I finished the 'Dead Men Tell No Tales" beadwork but now I have to decide if I want to turn it into a necklace or a hatband. It's going to be hard to read wrapped around a neck.

I got the roving I ordered from Etsy, so I'll be able to work on my felted juggling balls tomorrow. They are ready to go through the wash again, and then I can start adding colors.

Pocket Shrines

If you are an artist who makes pocket shrines, I started a flickr group for us: http://flickr.com/groups/pocketshrines/
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to make any yet. I think I did make two but I don't know where I've squirreled them away. Anyway, if you have some, post yours, and I'll make some when I get time.

4th of July

We drove by the Indian Store today and it was closed for the 4th of July. It would be nice if they'd put that on their answering machine message now wouldn't it?

Anyway, I ended up getting the red seed beads I needed at a Michaels. So I've started working on the fringe for the Sundancer doll. Now I'm really enjoying it.

I also picked up at Michael's some animal print clay beads for a future project. And I got some little star shaped, heart shaped, and flower shaped wooden boxes to paint and sell on Etsy.

Tiki Garden

Tiki Garden
Originally uploaded by fyrefantasy.

One of my photo montages.

sundancer beaded spirit art doll

sundancer beaded spirit art doll
Originally uploaded by fyrefantasy.

The photography really doesn't do it justice. I'm about halfway done with the beadwork, then I'll sew the edges closed, add a bit of stuffing and then add the fringe.

Sundancer

I'm taking a break from beading to let my eyes rest. I'm taking some advice from the aforementioned website to do the fringe last so I don't get all tangled up in it while I'm beading everything else. The fringe is probably the most fun, so it is definitely hard to resist not just going for it. I'm happy to be making good progress this morning. I definitely need to add some beaded items to my etsy store at http://www.pigglewiggins.etsy.com. I haven't put any up there yet but I know I have some stashed around here that I need to post. Especially the felt pin dolls.

Beadwork

Every now and then I'll run across a website that reminds me of a long forgotten project that I meant to do. I was looking for a new beadwork project to show off on Flickr, and I ran across this site: http://www.flameweaver.com/ that tells how to make a beaded doll with a polymer clay face. Now I've done beaded dolls and I've made faces and by some miracle I knew exactly where they were. And there I was, off on a new beading project, dying to use those faces I had made years ago. But as I sat down and went through one bin of beads, I came across a bone sun face that I decided to use first instead of the women's faces. The creative process can be distracting like that sometimes. Anyway, I went with some soft suede and started the doll. I had forgotten how tedious beading through leather is. I'm guessing it will take twice as long as if I'd used fabric or felt. The good news is it will probably last twice as long too.
As I was working on it, my boyfriend told me the Indian shop at Hobby City is going out of business, and I know they carry a full line of seed beads in every color of the rainbow, so I plan to go check out their sale tomorrow (if they are even open on a Mon.). I haven't gotten to do beadwork in a while so it's good to be working with it again.