Beaded Forest

Christmas Komodo!

I finally finished the project I've been working on furiously for the past week or so...my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards run by Softies Central.  It's a Christmas Komodo dragon.  You ask, how did I come up with such an idea?  Well, I mentioned the awards to David, and asked for a suggestion.  The first thing that popped out of his mouth was "Komodo dragon," so I said why not?  I found some cotton quilting fabric in a Christmas tree pattern that reminded me of scales, and got to work on creating a pattern.  It's been quite a process!  I started out with him standing straight, but decided on the body curve...that was an undertaking right there.  And figuring out all those different legs, the claws, etc. has taken me a long time.  I was starting to get nervous, because tomorrow midnight is the deadline for entering!  I would have hated to get this far and not finish on time.  But I did it, and now my guy is posted on the Holiday Softie Awards Flickr page for viewing by one and all.  Here's a couple of pics of him; for some reason the uploading is very slow tonight, so I'll post a few others later:

Scrap swap package received!

I just got my scrap swap package from Meredith of PaperDollyGirl, and it's great!  There are some wonderful scraps with petite little prints...the kind of thing missing from my collection that I always realize I need!  Perfect.  Also included was a great Halloween fabric, some lovely ribbon, a Martha Stewart Living magazine (with some really yummy-looking recipes!), a postcard of a beautiful Gee's Bend quilt, and an adorable little patchwork pouch Meredith made...she says she tends to use these for knitting notions or jewelry.  And I've got plenty of both!  Again, just perfect!

Thanks so much, Meredith!

Downward dog done!

After about a gazillion prototypes, I finally finished my Downward Dog pattern, and here is the finished product!  I'm so pleased with the way he turned out.  I'll be making up the pattern to sell it, so keep an eye out here for more information on that!

Turkeys!

Granted, it's not the best picture...it's through the window, since if I opened the door Harry would go racing out to scatter them (his favorite sport!).  This time of year, the wild turkeys traipse through our back yard almost every morning.  They're such wonderful, peculiar birds.  Last year, someone started feeding two tom turkeys at my job.  They established themselves quite quickly, and, similarly to Don Quixote and the windmills, decided that the passing cars were their enemies.  They stood in the middle of the road, gobbling like crazy, pecking at car tires as they passed.  Many times I would see an indignant blue turkey head right outside my window.  Eventually those glory days had to pass, and the turkeys were whisked away to some sort of sanctuary (or so we were told).
Anyway, click on the picture and maybe you can get a better view of these turkeys, who have never thought to peck a car tire in all their little blue-headed lives.

Second beading class

Today Kathy and I taught the second session of our beginner beading class at Rockland Center for the Arts, and here are some of the creations!  We focused on multiple strands today, among a few other things.  Everyone is having a lot of fun, although many were too shy to have a photo of more than their hand!  One more session to go, and then on to the intermediate level...

Sugarloop

I got these great prints a while back from Bernadette Sipkes of Sugarloop's Etsy store. Aren't they wonderful?  She uses a gocco printer to make these prints, and I love her style!  I've got to find some nice frames for them, and then I'll hang them around the house.  Check out Bernadette's great blog too. 

Swap partner

I've had such a nice correspondence with Lee Ann from Oregon, my swap-ee.  Check out her blog, and her shop at Etsy...she makes the cutest aprons, lovely vintage-look scarves, and totes, too!  Here's one of her gorgeous lace-and-linen scarves.

New skirt

I made another skirt with my pattern from the Sew What! Skirts book, this time using a sheer chiffon in two colors with a lining underneath.  Here's a close-up of the fabric:

Both colors have itsy-bitsy vertical stripes, which add a lot of texture (click on the picture to see the stripes better). I'm happy with how it turned out!

I made one big mistake though: the previous skirt I made from the book was a little too big, so I made this one a bit smaller.  A bit TOO MUCH smaller, as it turns out.  Oh well, another incentive to lay off the chocolate! (Darn!)

Harry complains!

Harry, at times, has a lot to say.  Here he was telling me to stop taking pictures and go outside with him.  Quite persuasive, don't you think?  

Sewing day

Today I got together with my friend Barbara to do some sewing.  Despite Barb nearly slicing her finger off with a rotary cutter, and my stabbing myself with a seam ripper (plus a few too many Mallomars all around), we managed to have a good time.  In the picture, I'm holding the teddy bear arm I just finished, and Barb and her daughter Alyssa are showing off Barb's first-ever quilt.  I think she's done an amazing job!  And Barb's younger child, Matt, did a nice job of taking the picture (after implementation of a makeshift tripod and a little coaching).  Thanks for the fun time, guys!