Catching Up!

It’s been a good week with absolutely gorgeous fall-like weather. Comfortably warm days and cool nights have been a welcome relief from the oppressive heat that visited our portion of the Midwest daily over the past few months! Finally, having had the energy to clean and put my studios in some semblance of order, I’ve been able to resume work on the fourth bead-embroidered brooch in the “Marine Life” series. This brooch design has been modified and differs from the previous three…smaller matte Daggers as well as Dragon Scale beads are used giving it more of an anemone-like appearance. Since starting this brooch, I’ve been taking process photos and recording the steps for a tutorial that will accompany the design. It’s very close to being finished and as I’m working on the last steps now, I wonder how other beading enthusiasts finish the backs of their work. With bead embroidery, there are visible stitches that attach a backing to the beaded piece of which I’m not particularly fond. I like to hide the stitches that line the back edge of my bead-embroidered work…notice the exposed stitches on the left half of the brooch back compared to the bead-camouflaged right half.

I’ve always thought the back of a piece of jewelry should be well executed so it looks neat befitting the long hours and hard work that have gone into the creation of the piece!

These photos are the final steps in the tutorial…I’ll show you the front of the piece as soon as the tutorial is finished and beading kits for this limited edition design are ready to list! Stay tuned!