Amazing What You Can Do With Beads!

This is a beaded garland that I finished up about 3 weeks ago.  It just sold at the local gift shop.  It's approximately 4 feet long, with a mix of brightly colored beads spun on craft wire.  The embellishments range from french beaded flowers to Swarovski crystal dragonflies and lots of stuff in between.  It's a great way to let your imagination loose.  The woman who bought this is using it on her Christmas tree this holiday season and then will use it in her sun room, looped and swagged in front of the windows so the crystals catch the light.

French Beaded Rose

This little fleur is actually huge. It's got five layers of petals. The interior is AB gold miyuki 11/0 seeds and the outer petals are a mix of AB gold, maize, light brown and matte cream. I had to use two floral wires, bent in half to support the weight of the flower, and a ton of floral tape. The stem, which you can't see, is finished in green ribbon. I was going to add leaves, but I felt that would be gilding the lily (or rose, as the case may be!)

French Beaded Flower - My first one! YAY!

Well, I was asked to teach Victorian and French beading recently. I can do Victorian, but I'd never done French, so for the past two nights I've been teaching myself. Last night I worked on just getting the technique right. Thank GOD for a bead spinner! Tonight I started at around 11:00 PM (it's now 3:40 am) and finished up at about 1:30 a.m. I'm tired, but I accomplished my goal and now I just have to finesse it a little. The leaves are too small for the flower, but overall, I'm happy.