For the love of animals...

If you know me, you know I am passionate about animals. I am a firm believer in rescuing animals from shelters as opposed to buying from breeders. If you do a little research, you will see there are pure bred animals available at most, if not all shelters (Humane Society estimates 25% of animals taken in are pure breeds). Shelters, Animal Care and Control, Rescues - they are all maxed out. Resources are scarce and budget cuts continue. If you can - do something today to help homeless animals. Shelters always need volunteers and various supplies and food, there will probably have a wish list on their website.

I'm also a firm believer in spaying and neutering pets as well as TNR (Trap Neuter Return) for feral and stray cats.

I think you would be too if you understood how many animals are put to death in this country and the manner in which it is done. It is estimated that 3 to 12 million pets per year are killed (depending on the source of the information). In THIS country, the United States - shameful, pitiful, and in my opinion - embarrassing. The animals are "humanely euthanized" which is rarely humane. They are often dragged to the death room to be injected and in many states are even gassed in groups - still - in this day and age.

I do what I can to help. Besides all my pets being rescues from shelters, I try to support rescue organizations and those that support rescues. One of those if Pennies-4-Paws, a non-profit fund raising for many organizations in need. If you use Facebook, they have a page there as well.

Please... please if you have pets, make sure they are spayed/neutered - for anyone that cannot afford it, there are many organizations in the U.S. that are low cost. Many areas even have programs in place that assist low income families. There is no reason or excuse to have pets that are not spayed/neutered.

The ornaments and pins you see here have all be donated to Pennies-4-Paws for their fund raising efforts to help our furry friends in need. Here are a couple of other favorites of mine: Shadow Cats Rescue; Best Friends Animal Society; No Kill Advocacy Center; The Grace Foundation of Northern California. All have Facebook pages if you are so inclined.



First up is a bone ornament. The "bone" is ceramic and was created by Fire and Fused. I glued it to yellow colored bead backing by Nicole and added glass beads in yellow/gold and purples.



I added a Czech glass heart bead at the top of the ornament and backed it with mustard colored Ultrasuede



It measures just over 3 inches wide.



Next is this brown bone is embellished with a combination of blue and brown beads as well as vintage sequins.



It is backed with chocolate brown Ultrasuede



A heart... for cats - this ceramic heart was also created by Fired and Fused



The heart measures a little big larger, 3 1/2 inches across and a bit weighty with all those glass beads



Czech and Japanese glass beads have been added as well as these glass cat face beads and a metal bead of a cat with one paw up.



Larger metal round beads were added to the fringe with carved garnet heart beads



Then backed with red Ultrasuede.



It was hard to part with the raku cat by Lisa Peters, but I have had it for a couple of years and I think it will server a better purpose in raising funds for cats that need help rather than sitting in a box here just because I like it.



It is embellished with sequins, a Swarovski crystal and glass seed beads.



It has a beautiful ceramic heart charm (also created by Lisa Peters) hanging from it.



I made this one into a brooch/pin. I thought it would look great worn by a cat rescuer.



Last in the group is this cute poodle pin.



It is embellished with vintage sequins and various glass seed beads.



This heart charm is one of my favorites by Lisa. The colors are amazing!



This one is backed with dark gray Ultrasuede

Another ornament

Just before the year ends! I could not resist, this is the last snowman/woman cab I had on hand. I had these little 3mm Swarovski crystals I have been wanting to use as well. This is another cab by Eljay, I guess it might be time for me to stock up.

The outside edge is a stitch found in Beading Around Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin. The camera does not capture the sparkle of the crystals.


All beads are Japanese size 11/0 and 15/0

I have a confession...

Remember the last giveaway... the beaded ornament with a Snowman on the front? Well I am embarrassed to say that after I made the original post to give it away, I could not find the ornament. I searched high and low - every where the cats just might have stashed it in the off chance they actually got a hold of it. I still could not find it. At that point I was searching my memory... did I give it away already? Did I hide it so well that I just could not find it?

Rather than stress out about it too much, I thought I would just start on another one, hoping the original ornament would turn up. Thankfully I had a couple of extra snowman cabs and quite a bit of time on my hands since I took a few days off work for the holidays.

I confessed to Helene earlier today and she was so gracious about it. I am hoping it turns up at some point or I figure out what I did with it.

I must say - I do enjoy beading these up. The bezel is even count peyote stitch and the outside is a twisted edge as found in Beading with Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin

We have a winner...

I took the names for the beaded Christmas ornament drawing with me to my son's house yesterday and enlisted the help of my grand kids in picking a name. I'm happy to report that Hélène H is the winner. Helene, please send me an email through my profile when you get a chance - I need your mailing address.

I have also added a short video of the drawing for those that might like to see it.

A little background on the video - I set my camera up on a tripod and my son, DH and daughter-in-law were all sitting in front of us as I filmed. Neither of my grand kids are at all shy!

Walking through a Winter Wonderland...

My goodness - snow, snow and more snow! I was on the road for a few days and ended up driving through some areas of Indiana that had amazing amounts of snow accumulation!

The roads were clear and dry on my drive to and from Northern Kentucky. If I could I would personally thank each and every one of the road crew members in both states. They did an outstanding job of managing the snow/ice on the roads.

I am now back in the comforts of home and just starting to bead again. In the meantime, I ran across this cute little ornament I made last year. It is a porcelain cab from Eljay and the first one like that I beaded around. The edge stitch is one I found in Beading With Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin, it is backed with red ultra suede.

Would you like it to be yours? If so, please leave a comment by midnight Eastern time on Friday (December 21). I will draw a winner on Saturday, and post it sometime that night or on Sunday.

Sending you wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a stress free holiday season!

Christmas ornament

'Tis the season...

You know I enjoy beading - I'm also fond of instant gratification with my beading at times. This ornament provided that, quick, fun and I think it will look good on a tree. It is about 2 inches around with lots of red and some green beads. I used seed beads in sizes 8/0, 11/0 & 15/0. The porcelain cab came from Eljay, and I'd link her, but I can't find a link. If anyone knows Eljay and has the link to her site, please let me know. I've purchased some nice cabs from her - seems it was through a picturetrail site.



Perfect for today as we are under an ice storm warning through this evening. A great day to stay indoors, get cozy and BEAD! Maybe put on a little Christmas music and sip a warm beverage.

I hope you're having a good day in your part of the world.

*** Updated to answer a question ***
The question:
Please tell me how you finish the back side of this and your pins/brooches so neatly? It looks as though you might glue the felt/ultrasuede onto the back and then do that last row of beading on the outside to catch the very edge of the red backing fabric with the stitches? Or do you cut the backing a little larger than the back of the piece, and then bead and trim off the excess? Thanks if and when you have time to share any kind of info

The answer: I'll start from the beginning - I glue the cab onto a (usually) square piece of stiff felt backing; complete all the beading I feel is necessary then cut around the cab/beading leaving a small margin - you want to make sure you don't cut through any of the existing threads. Next I grab a piece of ultrasuede that is a bit larger than my backing and glue it on. If I'm making a brooch out of it, I will glue the pin back on first. Sometimes I will also glue down a piece of poster board onto the back of the cab backing first for a little more stabilization (it should be a bit smaller than the backing - not all the way to the edge). So, now picture a sandwich, on the bottom is the cab (laying on it's front side), next is the stiff felt backing, next is the poster board if needed, next is the pin back (if making a brooch) and last is the ultrasuede (with two small holes cut into it for the pin back if needed). Also, note - when gluing everything down - do not let the glue seep towards the edges if at all possible. Getting a needle through glue is no fun.

The ultrasuede will now need to be trimmed (because I used a piece that was a bit bigger than the cab backing all the way around) to match the edge of the felt backing. Once that matches, I begin my edge stitch. I use the basic edge stitch described in 'Beading with Cabochons' by Jamie Cloud Eakin. Using this edge stitch you stitch the front to back while the bead lays on the edge with the hole pointing out so you can add other stitches to the edge if desired (such as did with the pointed edge).

I hope that helps and is not too confusing!