little things

Remember the beads I bought at the Knitting and Stitching show? Well, I put them to their intended use this evening to finish off some dragonfly wings. Thing is, they were the wrong size! I was trying to be so good at not buying beads (my first love) that I rushed the purchase.

However, I am extremely proud of myself for not succumbing to all the pretty glittery strings and sparkly vials of beads that surrounded me. Very proud indeed. You see... I have to confess I am a bit of a magpie. OK, more than a bit. I have had to check myself on more than one occassion in grown up company for exclaiming "Ooooooh SHINY!" or "SPARKLIES!!!"  with a slightly mad gleam in my eye and a dazed grin on my face when something sparkly catches my eye. Can be very embarrassing. Still...

Anyways, the dragonfly. About two years ago I bought some of Eliza McClelland's beaded tapestry kits. I am ashamed to say that I never finished them. Unfortunately, I don't think Eliza has a website, but if you google her you will find some of her things around. Eliza is an actress who took up beaded embroidery as a way to pass the time in the waits between sets and while sitting in dressing rooms, on tour etc. She appears at many craft shows  (yes - she was at Ally Pally, sorry I didn't get time to talk to her again). Eliza also gives talks on beaded embroidery - and her talks are wonderful. So here are some pics of two projects in progress 

You can see where the beads are too big on the dragonfly wing on the left. He's also missing a leg...but only because I haven't got that far yet! (Does kind of look like he's waving doesn't it, or putting his hand up in class"Miss! Miss!" ) The butterfly is almost finished (see where just ONE bead is missing in his body? Just need to think of what to do with it when done - I was thinking of a book cover.

I also made up some quick flowers ( I just wanted to play with my new buttons!) while I was waiting for my computer to fix itself

And here are my granny squares in progress: I decided to stick with the grey after all and so far am working on every colour combination with a yellow centre. Then I'll make a batch in every combination with a red centre, and so on before stitching them together.  

I have read through and corrected more typos than ever tonight - it's just one of those days I think;  so please excuse any outstanding errors. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be a bit more with it :-)