Bee's Brilliant Beads

Last Sunday I went to a workshop with the fabulous Bee of Chain Creative. The topic of the day was bead crochet and we learned how to thread the beads into a pattern and crochet them up into a rope-type affair that we could then turn into a bracelet. I have to admit it took me a while to get the hang of it. Then when I did, I realised I'd threaded the beads wrong, and I hadn't time to finish my bracelet. Oh and when I got home I realised I'd left my only 1.5mm hook at Bee's so I had to order another one (good excuse to buy some nice new Clover hooks!). But last night I finally got time to sit down and finish it, and here it is.

Here it is on my arm.



I love it! I have lots of spare beads from when I ordered the wrong size and they're just lying around, so now I have a good use for them. I think everyone will be getting one of these for Christmas :-)

Agnes from MrsG Knits was at the workshop too and she's posted her finished bracelet on her blog, go and have a look. Hers is very professional-looking!

Oh and here's a little toadstool brooch I needle felted, just because I felt like it.

A digital drawing (abandoned)

I have been dabbling with this for ages. It's a tutorial from Corel Painter magazine. It looks nothing like the version in the magazine. And now I'm bored of it. It's not exactly the most interesting subject matter. So now I'm posting it here, and that means I don't have to work on it anymore and can do something else instead.

(If only I had time to sit down and learn it properly... I have such a long list of arty stuff to do when our house move is finally over.)

A very nice Saturday!

Yesterday I took a break from ebaying and headed out to the Kent countryside, home of Bee from Chain Creative, who taught me to crochet a few years ago. Bee has a lovely house with a fabulous garden, and in the summer she holds workshops there. Yesterday was a felting day, and five us (plus Bee) got stuck in and did some messy wet felting, crocheted a pear doorstop to felt in the washing machine, and best of all, we learned needle felting. I've been wanting do learn this for ages and ages and I wasn't disappointed!

Unfortunately most of the things I made aren't finished yet (I have to finish crocheting the pear, and the felted fabric I made is still drying) but I'll post some photos when it's all done. However I did manage to make two little brooches with the needle felting, and here they are!



I'm so addicted to this, it appeals to my love of all things cute and quick to make! It's so cool that by taking bits of unspun wool, like in the photo, and stabbing them repeatedly with a sharp needle you can turn them into 3D objects. I think I'll do a Moomin next...

Thanks Bee for a fab day, a yummy lunch and for introducing me to yet another crafty hobby!