Fyre, companion to Pele, Goddess of Volcanos

Many of the beads that were put on her during the round robin were falling off, due to thread that was literally rotting. It looks like regular cotton thread, and I think the beads that were used had sharp edges, and cut through it til the thread gave out.

So, off with the old, on with the new.

Her fabric patterning cried 'Fire' to me when I made her, so am working with that patterning to showcase the different aspects of fire, some helpful, some harmful, but all just fire in its many glories and colors.

I hope you enjoy watching her 'grow'.

WOW, Whew, great to be back!

Nothing like opening your computer and having it not wish to turn on.
Then getting home, and finding your area is part of a large DSL outage.
WOW.
Am I an internet junkie or what?
Yes, I took the spare laptop down to the front of our friends' deli, and got online with their wireless cable hookup, thank goodness.
But uploading pics and such was more than I could bear, in the extreme heat we are experiencing, as well as while trying to fend off the flies that found me more interesting than the old, spilled ice cream from the shop next door!
So, a few updates.
The retreat was so very relaxing and fun.
Made things, haven't done pics of them yet.
The ladies had a great time with their fish, and are still working on them.
I am sending the extras to Mexico, so some lady beaders there can have fun learning bead embroidery.
Do have some pics of things I worked on while having no internet- does wonders for letting you just sit and bead!
Next post....
Hope you all are well, beading happily, and staying either cool or warm, depending on where in the world you are!
I missed you all!

OK, I can't stand it anymore LOL!

We have a Beaders Retreat in Tennessee, at a friend's home on the lake near White Pine. As I absolutely love bead embroidery, I thought it might be fun to find a way to teach this to newbies. Folks seem to like my beaded, stuffed dolls, but those can be intimidating, even in a 5 inch form. Less than that in size, and you have to work to get in detail, if you are the type to get stuck on making things look 'real'.

So, came up with a simple fish pattern, stuffed and flat (the flat is fabric, attached to Pellon 70) with a basic line pattern drawn on that can give ideas as to what stitch might work there. Of course, I would encourage them all to 'color outside the lines' and put whatever stitch THEY feel they want in that area.

All the fish are stuffed, the flats are connected, so onto the designs.

Of course, I had to do examples for them to fondle, as that is what fires us up-being able to hold a finished product and imagine ourselves doing it.

Here are some photos of the fish for the class, and the examples. I am still working on the second half of the 2 piece cuff, and will work diligently so that I will not only have it to wear, but can post a photo of it later.

Click on any photo to make it full-size.

I WAS going to wait til I had them all done, BUT just couldn't wait any longer!

Enjoy!!

'Fake' Chinese Bloggers

Found yourself being 'hit' by 'Chinese' bloggers in your comments section?
Set your comments to being moderated.
And know that many of these are not Chinese at all, but just pretenders.
Case in point- http://isaacjensen85.blogspot.com/
was one hitting my blog with so-called ancient wisdom-nothing to do with my blog.
His blog was removed- report those blogs that seem suspicious or spamming.
This is a recent post he tried to put on, but I removed
我們老得太快，卻聰明得太遲
and here was his blog name
惠萍
If you went to google translate, you got
'We're too old too fast, but smart too late'
Wow...are you not impressed?
Do these folks even have a life?
If you clicked on the blog name, and watched the toolbar, you could see the isaacjensen85 address come up first, then it would switch.
First clue that this was anything but a Chinese person.
Thank goodness Google listens when we complain about spam.
And there should be no question about why I have all comments moderated first by me.
Get a Life, Isaac Jensen, wherever you are- you obviously have creative leanings, so why not use them for something beautiful or inspiring, instead of annoying.

Single Bead Crochet at last!

It took the 'make a bead ladder for the first row' to get this to work for me- talk about painless! I also made certain my bead ladder was tied securely with the tail to the working thread, so it wouldn't pull open as I began the first actual crocheted row.

To my chagrin, the galvanized beads I chose lost their color after I had completed only one inch of crochet....sigh. Pull off beads. Hunt through all tubes and remove all but the new, permanent finish galvanized beads (those go to the thrift store, or maybe just over the mountainside into the wild woods, for the fairies), put the new PF beads on, redo.

Ahhhh, THAT is how it is supposed to look!

Now, to teach myself to crochet with a bit less tension LOL!

We LOVE our Earth Fare Grocery Store!

Great organic fruits, veggies, flours, nuts and dairy- much of it local, including milk in the glass bottle :-). Online coupons, plus now through the 22nd of July, get rid of your HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) products like jellies, pnut butter, soft drinks and salad dressings by turning them into the store (even if they only have a little bit left in them!) for full, new containers of Earth Fare products that are not only good for you, but taste great!
And meats that taste like they did when I was a kid....not like ash and cardboard!
If you live in GA, SC, TN or NC, check out an Earthfare near you, and find yourself eating better, tastier, and less!!