Use The Muse III... Transformer

Here is my entry for the latest Use the Muse contest. Since the results have now been posted, I can share full photos of my piece.

I originally made this style of bag for the last Beading for a Cure auction (that bag goes up for auction sometime next March by the way) and it is one of my very favorite pieces. I have wanted to make another ever since I finished the first one.



I love the colors in this Muse kit and thought it would be a good time to do another small bag. The deadline is a quite a bit tighter for the Use the Muse contest so I had make this bag smaller. This bag is closer to amulet size. The pattern is modified from one found in "Beaded Embellishment" by Amy C. Clarke & Robin Atkins

I incorporated leaf beads, treasured vintage sequins and fresh water pearls in addition to the kit components that were provided.



I started with a beautiful piece of fabric, matching the beads perfectly. The beading was completed on two separate pieces, each piece was then lined with gold Ultrasuede, then sandwiched together.



The 'muse' is the beautiful butterfly component which I anchored to the back of the bag.

The finished bag is slightly larger than the palm of my hand measuring just over 3 inches tall (not including the fringe) and 3 inches wide. The chain measures about 25 inches long, which is long enough to slip over my head. I named it 'Transformer' and dedicate it to a little boy experiencing profound change in his young life.

Head on over to the Use the Muse webpage to check out the winners as well as all the wonderful entries. Be prepared to stay awhile - there's a good amount of them!

Before you go - I'm having a drawing for a little orange pin - see the blog entry 2 posts down and throw your name in the hat if you are so inclined. Comments will be open until approx midnight eastern time tomorrow (or whenever I remember to turn them off ). I will draw a name sometime on Saturday.

Have fun!

BFAC Project for 2010

I recently finished my Beading For A Cure project and oh what a joy it's been! I showed the kit in my last post, so here I will share photos of the items I added as well as the finished piece.



First up, the additions. There are multi-colored glass cabs from the 1940's; tear drop vintage clear green glass cabs; vintage sequins in 2 different colors; 4mm Swarovski sew on stones in 3 colors - Olivine, Erinite and Light Sapphire. My added bead is size 8 sparkly green lined transparent aqua, which was only used in the handle/strap.



I was inspired by one of the projects found in "Beaded Embellishment" by Amy C. Clarke & Robin Atkins, the original project found in that book is for an amulet bag. I made mine quite a bit larger. It measures just about 5 inches at it's widest points from top to bottom and side to side not counting the fringe. The strap/handle is about 17 inches measuring from one side to the other. The dichoric cab added to the front flap was made (and gifted to me) by Noel.



There are a couple of firsts here for me... first time I made a bag, that was fun learning experience. I copied the pattern from Beaded Embellishment, but enlarged it quite a few times



And it was my first attempt at a Spiral Rope as found in "Beautiful Bracelets" by Jill Oxton



I was beading away on the front of the bag when an unintentional angel seemed to appear (to me anyway). This is also where I added the Swarovski sew-on stones as well as the wonderful Olive colored Rose Montees which were included in the kit.



All cabs were attached with a little bit of glue before adding the bezel. I beaded the back and front flap as one continuous piece. The front part of the bag was a separate piece. I basted paper to each piece as a stabilizer, so on the front piece where there are no beads - there is a bit of a crinkle sound from the paper underneath. I imagine as it is handled the paper will soften up and the crinkle sound will dissipate.



After each side was completed beaded, I added a lining of aqua Ultrasuede before I sewed the two pieces together.

My original intention was to add the lampwork bead to the bottom of the bag and have the fringe spread out from there. It didn't look right to me. Next I tried adding it into the strap/handle and again it didn't look right, so it found it's home dangling from the side of the bag.

Now, to give it a name...

As always - all photos are 'clickable' for a larger view