No good comes from tidying the stash - bead mishap

A friend was looking at one of my beaded goddess dolls and admiring some of the beads, she thought that they would make a nice pair of earrings. Good friend that I am I thought I will have a look and see if I have any of them left and send them to her. At the same time I decided to have a bit of a sort and tidy of the stash. Truly, no good comes from this. Unfortunately, I dropped the very large box of beads. Beads everywhere! I picked up the larger beads but scooped up a great many seed and then vacuumed the rest. I now have a container of bead soup rather than beads carefully organised by colour. It could have been worse, with every container breaking. I was, however, able to find the beads she liked in three different colours and that is why I have a stash!

This is the Beaded Goddess.

Her face is made from polymer clay using a commercial mould. I tried to give her an antique finish but she just looks like she has severe sun burn and peeling skin

and from the back

detail of her bottom - the desired beads are the large triangular ones

a close up of her perky bust and a her heart

Here are  some of the other beaded ladies that I make. These ones hang on a wire from the top of the head. They look great in a window with the sun shining through them.

This one is a simplified doll - made to use the last of the large red beads that form her body.

beaded angel used to decorate a Christmas gift for my daughter in law Rachel

Rusty Basket

For the past year I have been picking up rusted metal things. This usually happens as I walk into town or to my local coffee shop for my morning heart starter. The amount of stuff to be picked up is amazing. I have brought it all home and sorted lots of it into collections such as nails, bottle top, wire and my favourite find the bristles from the street sweeper. I mostly use these finds in my ecodyeing and when teaching a class in ecodyeing I need lots. More about this process in another post.                                        

street sweeper bristles

some of the nails sorted by size

bottle tops

Recently, I was asked by a friend to make a handle for a wire basket. She thinks that the basket was originally a cover from a vent to a septic system at her mother's home. Having studied the basket I felt that rusted metal would compliment the the old and worn metal appearance. 

The basket waiting for decoration

My next step was to sort through the rusty stuff and put together a selection of things that could be used. I do a lot of work in front of the television and find it difficult to watch television without a project in my hands. A couple of very happy hours later I was able to pack up the mess and admire the good use of all those found objects.

a selection of wire and rusty bits

The finished basket used up quite a bit of the scrap wire which was twisted around the handle much as you would find a creeper. Bolts, bottle tops and a piece of rusted tin were attached in a type of flower and bow arrangement.

The basket hanging in the apricot tree

close up view of the handle and top of the basket

The basket has gone back to the owner and is hanging in her garden.