A Time To Stitch 8

Hello and welcome!

Today is the reveal date for A Time To Stitch 8 blog hop, hosted by wonderful Therese and Christine. Thank you ladies for organising this event. And the theme is 'What's your bag?'

My bag is an amulet bag. Let me introduce you to Floral Grace. The most beautiful amulet bag I've found. I have made it from a kit. I think it is so practical to find all the beads, the pattern, and all of the materials in just one place that I couldn't resist to order it from Jencel, an online bead shop from the UK. It is a Sheila Davies design. 

For those not familiar with the meaning of an amulet bag, I'll explain. 

Amulet bags are originated with the Native American tribes and they are generally worn at heart level. In ancient times, they were used by Native tribes to carry herbs or things to ward off evil spirits. They were also used to carry prayers for loved ones. If you have a family member or a friend who is going through a tough time, you can put prayers in it for them. Also, if you have small gifts that others have given you, you can put those in the bag. Gifts of love are thought to hold the energy of love for the recipient of the gift.

Today, most people wear amulet bags as jewellery, like I do. Amulet bags can be made in any stitch you want, one bead at a time. Mine is made in netted stitch and it lacks the usual fringe. I've made a change to the decoration and the strap was done in a more solid daisy chain.

I've used everything from the kit except for the Nymo thread. It had a beautiful light blue colour but since I've discovered the advantages of Fireline I don't use any other thread.

There is a lot to see and admire in this blog hop. So here's the list of participants. Enjoy!

Therese

Christine

Jenny

Bobbie

Ana (you're here)

Amy

Cynthia

Karin S

Maryanne

Liz

Lori

Paula

Jasvanti

Dagi

Kim

Kepi

Samantha

Alicia

Motidana

Becky

Sources:
http://sacreddreamsbeadyblog.blogspot.pt/2009/08/what-is-amulet-bag.html
http://www.victoriancrochet.com/tipstricks.tpl?cart#What%20is%20an%20Amulet%20Bag?

A Time To Stitch 6 Blog Hop Reveal

Hi! Today is the reveal of A Time to Stitch 6 Blog Hop. This is the 6th edition of the blog hop organised by Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller. A big thank you to the hostesses.

This time the objective was to use a graphed chart, a word chart or a picture chart for creating our beadwoven piece. You can read more about it here.

After I signed up for this challenge, I searched for a beautiful peyote pattern for a bracelet. I am attracted to small geometric patterns like those designed by Diana Costa (Etsy Shop), Anna a.k.a. as Anabel (Etsy Shop) and Carol Dean Sharpe (Etsy Shop). These are my favourite designers in what comes to peyote bracelet patterns. 

Nevertheless, when I laid my eyes on the Crazy Paisley from Fusion Beads, I said to myself, this is the one I'm going to make. As my bead stash is limited, I had to order new beads which eventually arrived, but then came Christmas and Christmas gifts. After that, I couldn't find the ordered beads anymore. They have gone astray. 

Printed instructions with bead list

So, plan B had to come in. Last year I had heard about Bead-It-Forward project and I had decided that I had to donate something to this charitable programme in favour of breast cancer research.

I have made two squares and I plan to make two more.  If you are reading this and you are interested in participating too, you can read the guidelines here.

Each year there is a theme and this year's theme is Animals - Wild About Finding a Cure. You can create your own patterns or use the ones already available. There are several I love but the one I chose (the two-drop peyote bunny pattern) was, by coincidence, designed by Therese. I have used the word chart instead of the graphed chart which was a surprise to me because I think I am a visual person more than a word person. Don't tell anyone but I've spotted some mistakes when comparing the two squares. I'll be remaking the flawed square this weekend.

I can't wait to see the creations of the other participants. This is the list. Enjoy!

1-Therese Frank  (Host)    

2-Christine Altmiller  (Host)

3-Cynthia Machata

4-Samantha Wescott

5-Karin Slaton

6-Wendy

7-LizE

8-Dagi (Kokopelli)

9-Lola

10-Paula

11-Karin G.

12-Becky Pancake

13-Ana Cravidao <---- you are here

14-Alenka

15-Debbie (Kepi)

16-Nelly May

17-LiliKrist

18-Sally Russick

19-Maryanne

20-Kim

21-Amy

O que tenho feito/ What I've been doing

Hi, lovely readers! 

I haven't been making much. I've been exploring Etsy where I have a shop now. I've been getting familiar with the way things work there. 

Some time ago, I made a peyote bracelet in pink, purple and grey colours for the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash August challenge.

This geometric pattern from Diana Costa is so beautiful that I've made two bracelets in a row, one in blue and one in pink. You can see the blue version HERE.

I've joined a beadweaving challenge for January 2015. It's called A Time To Stitch 6, as always organised by the talented Therese and Christine.

I really look forward to it. It's great fun. It will be my third time participating. You can read about my first participation HERE and my second HERE.

Be happy!

Brincos de missangas / Seed bead earrings

Descobri há alguns meses que gosto muito de missangas e dos trabalhos que se conseguem fazer com elas. Estou no entanto a começar a aprender as técnicas de entrelaçar missangas com fio. Aprendi a fazer o ponto tijolo (brick stitch) e tenho já uns trabalhos concluídos. Nas minhas pesquisas na internet, descobri o blogue de Yasmine, em língua portuguesa, donde fiz os meus primeiros brincos índios. Vejam aqui as instruções em português e também em inglês que esta blogueira fez o favor de escrever e de partilhar gratuitamente.

I discovered some months ago that I love beadwork with seed beads. Nevertheless, I am a beginner as I am learning the many different techniques. So far, I have learned brick stitch and circular brick stitch. While surfing the internet, I found Yasmine, an Italian blogger who writes in Portuguese - my native language. At her blog, I saw some Indian/Native American earrings that I wanted to try. Check out here for the instructions in Portuguese and in English that Yasmine has written and freely shared with us.

Mais tarde, fiz um outro modelo de brinco em três cores diferentes: preto, vermelho e branco.
After, I made an another design in three different colours: black, red and white. 

Um outro modelo também tradicional da bijutaria tradicional dos índios norte-americanos é este em forma de pentágono. Não foi fácil mas vale a pena.

The next pair is a traditional Indian/Native American design too. Pentagon shaped, it is not easy to make but your effort is rewarded.

De todos, qual é o vosso preferido? Vou adicionar todos estes brincos à minha loja que podem encontrar na outra página deste site. Aceito encomendas para outras cores. Boa semana a todos!

What's your favourite?  I'll add all these earrings to my shop that you can find at the other page of this website. I accept custom orders. Have a nice week!