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?

Latest makes in beadweaving

Hi! I'd like to share my latest makes in beadweaving. All of them are designs by Ruby Lockwood - a talented Canadian lady that you might know from the YouTube as she has more than 150 videos just on beading. 

This teal and silver bracelet was made using the Roman Hugs and Kisses design. This is not properly a recent make, I made this bracelet last year for a blog challenge. More information about it can be found HERE.

With this one I entered the challenge Operation Tackle That Bead Stash last June. An earth tones palette had to be used in the finished piece. You can see all the entries HERE. Almost forgot to tell that this is the Evening Love design in case you want to look for it.

And this is the last but not the least. The Simply Simple Bracelet design uses the Pondo stitch. It is made with three main colours. 

Happy beading!

Prize from a Giveaway

Hi, lovely readers!

I've entered a giveaway from jewellery designer Diana Costa and I was one of the winners! When I knew about the result I felt so happy because the prize was to spend 100.00 euros in Diana's Etsy shops: dicopebisuteria and DicopeSupplies

Look what I got, besides these three absolutely stunning peyote patterns:
Infinity Stairs Peyote Pattern for Bracelet
Fly fly butterfly pattern for bracelet
Chevron peyote pattern for bracelet

 An amazing set of beaded beads in blue, gold and white tones, polymer clay beads in purple and green, and my first polymer clay canes

Perfectly made beaded beads and stunning colour combination for the clay beads

Thank you Diana. This is a prize made in heaven!

Azul / Blue

Fiz várias peças em azul, completamente por acaso. Umas para oferecer, outras não. Eu gosto muito de azul. Por que será que para tantas pessoas esta é a sua cor preferida?

I've made several pieces, all in blue, totally by chance. Some are gifts. I love blue. I wonder why there are so many people that have blue as their favourite colour.

Com esta pulseira participo no concurso de Verão de Diana Costa, uma designer de Barcelona.

This bracelet is my participation at the Summer contest hosted by Diana Costa, a designer from Barcelona.

Brincos em forma de triângulo.
Triangle earrings.

A última peça é de um livro. 

The last piece is from a book.

A Time To Stitch 5 Reveal

My Bead Soup Blog Party post is HERE. You're not late and the Party isn't a sprint. I'm still hopping the 8th BSBP too. 
~~

Hi! Welcome to A TIME TO STITCH 5 Reveal. A Time to Stitch is a fun blog hop hosted by dear Christine and Therese. Thank you ladies for organising all this.Today our beadweaving creations are revealed.  This is the fifth edition but just my second participation.

This particular edition is called 'The same but different'. A piece should be made and then change its colours or shapes in order to make two variations.

I've chosen a beautiful bracelet using SuperDuos that was designed by Justyna Szlęzak (Eridhan Creations) from Poland.

I've encountered some obstacles but all were overcame. 

For my first piece I had envisioned using orchid coloured SuperDuos, but with my lack of experience I had only bought 10 grams, which is not enough and I had no time to order more from the UK. So, I added some in pastel silver that I already had.

Initial bead soup: vega on chalk superDuos, opaque luster amethyst firepolished and satin silver glass beads

WIP: pastel light grey silver superduos added

Preciosa seed beads are smaller than regular 11/0 seed beads so I had to add more than I was supposed to when finishing the edges.

ORCHID Beaded Bracelet 

1st VARIATION: As I didn't have as many SuperDuos as I had planned, Twins beads had to come in and Twins are different as I was going to learn the hard way.

WIP: There are only Twins here and they are smaller than SuperDuos. Some 15/0 seed beads were added because the bracelet started to bend in a strange way. 

DAISY Beaded Bracelet

2nd VARIATION: For my third piece and considering my limited amount of SuperDuos, I tried to mix those with Twins and I was successful.

German brown pearls, dark bronze firepolished beads, dark blue picasso superduos (they look like petrol blue) and copper twins beads

WOOD Beaded Bracelet

This was great fun and I learned and practised a lot. 

But as this is a blog hop there are other people sharing their creations in their own blogs. Enjoy.

Hosts:

Therese

Christine

Participants

Kim

Maryanne

Lola

Dagi

Shirley

LiliKrist

Amy

Crystie

Sally

Cynthia

Bobbie

Karin

LizE

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Ana <-------- You're here.

Wendy

Mary H.

Jasvanti

Project Pinterest

Looking for my 'bead soup'? It's HERE. You're not the only one. I'm still hopping. 

~~~~
Welcome to Project Pinterest Reveal.

Project Pinterest is a fun linky party organised by Oksana of Oksana and Crafts blog. Thank you so much Oksana for hosting it.

I've participated before. You can see my 1st participation HERE, my 2nd HERE and my 3rd HERE. This time I've made a beaded bracelet. 

This pin is for a YouTube tutorial by Ruby Lockwood. This is my version of the Roman Hugs and Kisses Bracelet. It is made with Rayher glass pearls, Twins, firepolished glass and seed beads. I hope you like it.

É possível / It's possible

It always seems impossible until it's done. 
(Tudo é considerado impossível até acontecer.)
Nelson Mandela


Uma pequena homenagem a um grande homem, Nelson Mandela, que faleceu ontem. Imagens que capturei no Stand da África do Sul na FIL Artesanato de 2010. Todas as peças foram feitas à mão pelas artesãs da Cooperativa Sivusenkosi Arts and Craft.

A small tritube to a great man, Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday. These are photos I took in the major crafts exhibition (FIL Artesanato) in Lisbon in 2010. All the pieces were handcrafted by women of the Sivusenkosi Arts and Craft Cooperative in South Africa.

Trabalhos maravilhosos com missangas. As três peças da direita são gravatas.

Amazing beadwork. The three pieces on the right side are ties.

Malas elaboradas pelas artesãs da Cooperativa.

Handbags handmade by women from the Cooperative.

Cooperativa Sivusenkosi de Artes e Artesanato

Sivusenkosi Arts and Craft Cooperative

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!