Proud as a Peacock

I am pleased to announce that this week I finally finished my embroidered purse. I have named the piece 'Juno Moneta'. Juno, consort of Jupiter in the Roman Pantheon, is famously associated with peacocks and since I have made stylized 'feather' motifs using the oval and round cabochons I thought at once of naming the purse for her. Also it transpired that she was responsible for finances (holding the heavenly housekeeping money perhaps?) and that her temple was the location of the Mint where coins were struck. All in all an auspicious connection!

The completed embroidery just before attaching to the bag.  The unembroidered edge was trimmed once I was sure it fitted

I have learnt a great deal from making this purse, and finally used some of my 'good stash' of crystals and beads. The main supplies are a mixture of Swarovski (Navette in Sahara, Comet d'Or flat backs, and various bicones, mini beads and cupchain); Dichroic glass cabochons by Helen Welch; Semi precious stones (Green Goldstone, African Green Opal, freshwater pearls); Czech firepolished beads (mostly 3mm and 4mm) and pressed glass leaves; and Japanese seed beads in sizes 6 to 15.

Front of bag

Reverse of bag

Initially I intended to use Miyuki 468 mid-green iris as the background colour for the filling in around the motifs, but finally decided on Miyuki 335, cranberry lined peridot AB. This looks less exciting in the tube, but picked up all the blues and purples as well as the greens of the other beads. Also, because of the outer colour being transparent, the textural patterns of the rows seemed accentuated. I am using more and more colour lined beads in my work, as they definitely add interest. I used the 468 in the feathers instead where it looks lovely alongside metallic bronze. A late arrival in my palette was Miyuki 1017, a silver lined emerald AB, which now replaces the Matsuno version which I loved for its colour, but which was a little larger than the Miyuki 11s. I was sparing with this as the silver lining tends to dominate.

Many of the beads used in this project have been the gift of other beaders from around the world and the whole project has a lot of emotional connection for me. I am truly grateful for the gifts even if they were only words of encouragement, which gave me confidence to persevere with my own creative urge! I am proud as one of Juno's peacocks that I managed to do it!

Thanks to all who made this possible, and in the spirit of beady co-operation, I would be happy to answer any questions from anyone thinking of embarking on a similar project...

Festina lente...

Or as it is sometimes translated 'Make haste slowly'!

I feel this year is running away with me a bit, with the clocks changing last night Winter seems to be here (ferocious hail yesterday to add to the feeling).

I have been steadily working on the bag but it is not growing very fast. I ordered a bulk of the green iris seed beads I need for the background, but the darn things havn't arrived so I need to tackle the company and or the postal service.

This is it in its entirety and considering how much I've done, there is still a way to go on it. BUT I still like it which is a plus! I have also got a couple of little things I can do for a rest when I need to, and these are needed by Christmas so I do have to get on with them...

If my BlogPosts die down a bit you know I'm busy beading instead though, I haven't given up on you all!

Just keep beading...

I've done a tiny bit more on the bag: this is the 'back' facing side with a lovely marquise shaped green goldstone cabochon from Designer Cabochons. I thought it was great in this position as 1) it is quite big, and therefore covers more space, and 2) it is a low profile cabochon so doesn't protrude too much. Having sewn a large Swarovski Navette to the front flap, I realised how dimensional parts of the embroidery will be, since the height of crystals can be significant (but compensated for by the depth of the facets and the reflections)

The bezel is backstitched rather than peyote, and I have used peel'n'stick for a firm connection to the foundation. I used light bronze size 8 beads (Miyuki 457L) and green iris 11s (Miyuki 468) for the securing rounds. A favourite 4mm Firepolish (copper lined olive) from Yashma looked good around this and then I found some green iris hex beads so used them for a bit of texture. The leaf beads have been in my stash a long time and are green metallic, and I broke out the good stash with some freshwater pearls from Raphael Beads, my local bead shop. I'm happy so far (but there is still a long way to go). I coloured the foundation with some marker pens as the painted colour still seemed too light and showed a lot. I think I'm trying to camouflage the area I still have to fill!

Anyway I will save the front flap of the bag for a later post, but it is also coming along, albeit slowly. 'Just keep beading...' is my mantra, hopefully I will get this completed within a year!

Working on it!

'I'm (still) working on it' is my usual response to anyone who asks about 'that project you began in January etc...' Shameful eh? The one good thing is that I do usually resurrect said project so I can be at least slightly truthful when I say that!

People have been kindly enquiring about the health of my parrot embroidery and so rather than endure any Monty Python references I thought I should finish off the little bit of sky still remaining so I can at least once say I finished the embroidery part! Here he is and I'd like opinions on how to finish him off properly (I promise to try and do this in a timely fashion). My thoughts were to make a loose cover for a standard hardback week-to view pocket diary (so it could be transferred annually) but I'm not sure he'd be that hard wearing. Maybe a little frame would be a better option?. He is about 10cm x 5.5cm at the widest points, to give some idea. Other suggestions more than welcome!

 



I'd also like to show that I have made a start on my bag, although I may be shopping for more beads before long, as I think I might run out. I also need to work out how to attach the more pointy backed stones such as the emerald dentelles and metallic gold chatons I'd like to use. So far I have the Sahara navette and a green goldstone cabochon placed but not at all sure where to go next. Still this is the fun of bead embroidery, it seems to evolve!

 

 

We'll see how much progress I manage by the next time someone asks 'How's the bag coming along?' (Hint: the answer is at the top!)