Revealed! Beaded Butterfly IV

Now that I know the last (for now) of the butterflies has made her way safely to her new home, I can post her picture!





Here's the family photo!

Now---on to Christmas! I'm working on a series of three red and white ornaments. After I did Sue's red and white butterfly, I just had to make something else using those colors. They were just so cheerful. Unfortunately no pics this time, but a little preview is up in the corner of my blog.

Beaded Butterfly III

The latest to emerge.......

Beaded Butterfly II

I just have fallen in love with making these! I asked Hannah (my 14-year-old daughter) what colors to use and she said peacock. So this is what emerged.

Next to take flight will be colors of my choosing. Soft golds, cream and beige. Here's the progress so far. I wish I could keep working, but I'm off to grocery shop and get Hannah a haircut.

My First Pin!

I love when I get asked to make something I never have tried before. This time, Sue ( a co-worker of mine) asked for a pin for a Christmas present for her grandmother.

She didn't have a preference to shape and only told me she wanted it red and white. Hmmmm. Red is not a color I work with too often. Not sure why, just don't. So I went to work and collected a variety of red and white beads that I had and once I saw the various shades of red, I was pretty excited. Red is a fun color!

My first thought was a fan shape with some fringe, but when I ran that by Sue, she didn't seem to enthused. OK, how about a star? flower? random shape? butterfly? Yes! she liked that idea. Butterfly it is.

Well, this little pin came together so easily. The only 'problem' is that it is only about 3" across at the wing tips and about 2 1/2" long. Bummer, so many cute red and white beads that didn't make it on the pin.

I started with two red rings I got from Robin Atkins and worked my way from there. The butterfly body was done by putting down two bead foundation rows side by side and then covering those lines on an angle. It worked up nice and firm.

I used pellon covered poster board for the base. I placed the embroidered finish piece onto a thicker piece of peltex and then used ultrasuede for the backing. The peltex gave it such a nice cushiony but firm feel.

I'm so happy with the end result (but not with the pics! It was too dark outside, so I had to shoot inside, and the flash was overwhelming and without a flash the varying shades just don't get picked up.)


I think I saw a caterpillar creeping across my studio table - I have a feeling another butterfly will be emerging soon......