As well as my Bead Challenge entry, I have also finished a 'sort-of' UFO. I made myself a beaded name tag a few years ago, which all Bead Society members are supposed to do. I did mine in bead embroidery. While I was happy with the effect, I made a couple of major mistakes. Firstly, I measured my beading area to be the same size as a conference badge, which actually turned out to be too big. The badge is very heavy and drags on clothing. Secondly, I used much too small a pin-back on the badge, so it rarely hangs straight. I have to admit it's also a wee bit goth. So I very rarely actually wore my badge, and had been 'going to' do a new one for ages.
Anyway, last week I dragged out an old book of cross-stitch alphabets, and used that to make a square stitch name tag. Because square stitch is a grid, you can easily bead cross-stitch patterns using that stitch. I did make a couple of mistakes with it though. Firstly, I should have measured everything out before I started. The beading ended up being too long for its height, so I had to add some rows top and bottom. However, that meant I was cramming some beads with thread, and I actually broke a couple. This means there is a couple of gaps in the beadwork. They aren't too noticeable, but they are annoying.
I might try again next year sometime and see what I come up with.
The old and new tags are in this photo, so that you can see the size difference. The old one really is over the top!
We have just finished the annual Bead Society Expo [http://www.beadsociety.com.au/expo.html]. I am the Vice President and am one of the front desk people at the Show. For the most part it went very well. It’s exhausting being on your feet running for four days when you aren’t used to it! It’s nice seeing everyone enjoying themselves and spending up. It’s also really nice to see all the member’s work in the Exhibition and the Challenge – it’s inspirational but also makes me feel a bit competitive! Given that this is supposed to be the UFO year, I’m happy to report I found some beads to use on my UFO necklace. I also found some more Swarovski crystal rivolis for the big blue bling project, so hopefully there will be some movement on that UFO. Of course, I also bought some lovely new stuff, which will increase my stock of UFOS quite a bit! I purchased some lovely cabochons, gorgeous crystals and fabulous beads. It’s probably fortunate I was busy a lot of the time, otherwise I would have spent even more money …
It means that I’m really looking forward to some enjoyable beading though!
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