Is anyone still out there? Update

Hello, to all my beady friends.  It's been a long time.  I've been away from beading for a long time now, but two of my projects will be coming up in a book that's going to print any time now called The Complete Photo Guide to Beading by Robin Atkins.  It is available at that link for pre-order on Amazon.com.  Hope you check it out and buy a copy for your bead library!

In the meantime, I have been going through some personal struggles.  I've had a lot of health issues related to my weight.  In March of this year I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.  Not good.  So I have been on a journey to regain my health.  I have been successful thus far.  My A1C levels (blood glucose average for 3 months) is almost normal, I've lost 47 lbs so far, my blood pressure is back to normal and my cholesterol levels are almost in the normal range.  I've got about 95 more lbs to go to get to my goal weight.  Along my journey I have learned so much about healthy eating and living with diabetes that I decided to start a new blog, Beating Diabetes and Losing Weight Along the Way.  In this blog I will be giving information I have learned from my Dr., my nutritionist and my research in general, as well as recipes and product reviews.  I hope you will stop by.  It could be very helpful or motivating to reclaim your own health, or even you are at a healthy weight how to stay there and some yummy recipes to try.  I'm going to try at least one new main dish recipe each week, take pics of the steps, give the ingredients, directions and nutritional information.  This week I will be making a honey and pecan crusted chicken that is both low cal and low carb.  I also hope you will tell your friends about it.  A diabetic eating plan is healthy for everyone, whether you have diabetes or not.  I hope you will stop by and drop me a note.

I hope all of you are well. 

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My daughter is awesome.  She's super smart, sweet, funny, beautiful, goofy, athletic, a good person with a generous heart and so so much more.  And, she's a beader!  I have to show you what she finished making today.  She beaded three tubular netting beads with 3mm pearls in the core...all by herself.  Sure, the thread got tangled a time or two and I helped her with that, but other than that she did them herself.  She is a very quick study.  Every so often I would be beading at the table and she'd come get her bead mat and project out and sit with me and just bead and be together for a while.  Sweet times.

There are 3 beads about 1" each, and then they are spaced with 1/2" metallite beads.  It's on beading wire with a lobster claw clasp.  It looks so cute on her.  She's very proud of herself, and so am I.  Here's Sara's project....

Way to go Sara!!!

The second thing I wanted to show you today is my newly acquired super duper Photoshop skills.  I thought I was pretty good at adjusting photos before, but now I am like a pro!  Thanks so much to Robin Atkins for spending an hour or so with me on the phone going through bunches and bunches of steps and settings.  I had to learn to edit my photos really really good for the step by step photos for the new book.  Here is an example of the drastic change I am now able to accomplish.  The first pic is the photo as it was taken in its original form.

Pretty kinda ick, huh?  Well, what do you think of the transformation in the next photo?

I can hardly believe the difference myself.  I showed it to my dh and he says, "Did you just use a filter or something?"  No!  It wasn't "just" a filter!  I had to adjust levels, colors, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, shadows/highlights, make layers, make the shadows disappear with the dodge tool, use the eraser tool (from large to very itty bitty), and i had to merge it together and then use the burn tool to finish it off.  So, no, it wasn't "just" a filter.  I did a lot of work to get it to look this way.  The book photos are looking great, too, but sorry to say I can't show you those.

Teaching a small group of ladies tomorrow how to make a bracelet (and of course Sara will be there, too).  That should be fun!

Ok, kids.  Wanted to pop in to let you all know I'm still here and haven't forgotten any of you.  I've been super busy trying to make pieces for the book, write instructions, get lessons in writing instructions, having the instructions tested, taking photos and editing photos.  phew.  No wonder I'm tired!  But it's a good kind of tired.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

My Project Is Done!!! :D

What does this little daisy clip art have to do with my newest project?  Not much, except maybe that I felt like my latest project really "blossomed".  And, hey, I think it's cute.

Ok, on to my project.  I felt so good making this necklace.  That's what I find so gratifying about beading.  I get to be creative, and it makes me feel good.  It's great therapy.  This piece really flowed for me.  I didn't have to think about it...it just came together.  No forcing it, no second guessing it.  You ever have a great project like that?  I hope to have many more because it was so utterly enjoyable.

The centerpiece is a cab by Beth Evans of Bellesanbeaus on Artfire.  She does amazing work.  It turns out this cab was a little bit of a mistake.  I had asked for shades of blue, but she mistakenly sent me shades of green.  And it's a good thing she intuitively knew exactly what I needed better than I know for myself because the green cab is PERFECT!!!  I also used Nicole Campanella's wonderful-to-work-with Beadbacking.  It's so easy to work with when doing bead embroidery.  You don't have to worry about backing your fabric with lacy's or anything else.  You just bead right on it, you can cut around it in the shape you need, and it won't fray or stretch.  And it's acid free.  PERFECT as well!  You can get Nicole's Beadbacking from her Etsy shop, Beadwright.

Another awesome thing is that I used everything from my stash.  The only thing I bought for this project was the clasp.  The little green cabs Beth gifted me.  That was so nice of her!  Again, she intuitively knew what I needed.  I also mixed in some orange, which is not a color I normally work with.  I find it a very difficult color and orange and I don't play well together.  But this week we called a truce, and look how the orange just shines with the green.  I love the orange lucite flowers that rest near the collar bones.  (They're a little higher on my "model" because he's only 11 and a little smaller than a person it was actually meant to be sized for.)  But Matthew was a good sport and jumped right up when I asked him to model for me.  He's kind of funny because he's in his underwear only and he was real paranoid that I didn't show his boobies in the pics. hahaha.  Kids are fun.

I've never made a necklace where I did bead embroidery and had to put the pieces together.  I wasn't sure how to do that.  Then I remembered the wise words from Robin Atkins, the bead embroidery goddess..."Just do it!"  I don't know how other people do it, but my way seemed to work!  Yea!

Enough, enough already!  I know...let's get on with it!  Ok everyone.  Here are the pics.  I realize that this probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's just stunning.  And I guess that's what counts.  Matthew doesn't want me to try to sell it, but he reluctantly said I could lol.  Someday it will find the perfect home.

I originally was going to call it Lush Green, but I just had the idea of Greenman in Springtime.  I've always loved the Greenman, so maybe it's fitting that I make a tribute to him.

Greenman in Springtime

Normally I take my photos in the daytime in a nice shady area to get the beautiful natural light, but I was too anxious to wait until tomorrow to show it off.  I also learned how to do a spiral rope for this necklace.  I was pretty happy with it.  It took the 3rd try to get the color combination I was happy with, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  You can click on the photos to see a larger view.  Isn't that face cab fabuloso!?! Comments anyone?

Amazing Free Resource...Check It Out!!!

Robin Atkins is an amazing beader, author, teacher, mentor, friend...the list could go on and on.  She has decided to no longer print one of her books, One Bead at a Time.  However, she has made this book available as a FREE DOWNLOAD!!! 

I highly recommend this book to all bead embroiderers, whether you are experienced or even just thinking about taking on this wonderful hobby.  For more information, please visit her blog, Beadlust.  Also, take some time to look at her website here as well for other must-have books. 

There is also a lot of discussion floating around out there about what to use for backing.  I buy my interleaving paper for backing from Robin, and you can look at her supplies to order some from her.  It is lightweight, acid free, and it becomes soft and pliable the more you bead on it.

This is a fabulous book, and I highly recommend downloading it to your computer for some valuable reading material!

What an amazing day!

Yesterday I had the best day.  I spent the afternoon having one-on-one bead time with Robin Atkins!  She was in the Phoenix area on vacation with her husband, and I live just a hop-skip away from where they were staying.  If you've never met Robin, I have to tell you that she is one of the warmest, kindest people I have ever met.  It was a lot of fun because not only were we beading, but she also had some great stories to tell. 

She asked me to bring all my embroidery work, and I had to blush a lot because she was so complimentary of what I had to show her.  She is my bead idol, and to get such praise on my work from her was like winning an Oscar! 

I met her husband, Robert, too, and although I didn't spend a lot of time with him, you can tell right away that he is a lot of fun to be around.  They make a great couple! 

I felt so fortunate to be able to sit with her for a few hours.  I learned a couple great beading tips along the way, too.  She was working on some spirit dolls in the most fun fabrics of vegetable prints to go with a towel and pot holder set.  They were pretty great!  Robin is such a talented lady, but more importantly she is just an awesome person to be around.  You can't help but feel happy when with her. 

I had an amazing day!!!

Robin Atkins