10 posts tagged “mermaid”
Capture your ocean dreams in this net wall hanging. The tutorial includes construction details, supply information, and design suggestions to construct your own masterpiece. Not into ocean theme? How about a Fairy Dream Net? Search for the tutorial at Artfire or www.bead-patterns.com (search for designer Busy Crow Studio)
I joined a doll swap at swap-bot, and my swap partner created such a wonderful unique mermaid:
The mermaid is now finished. Her tail is completely beaded, her fiber embellishment has been added to her waist, and she has a Grecian up-do hairstyle of glass beads.
The mermaid is now finished. Her tail is completely beaded, her fiber embellishment has been added to her waist, and she has a Grecian up-do hairstyle of glass beads.
This side view shows the completed mermaid tail and fiber trim, and the beginnings of her 'updo'. I have decided not to go with a traditional flowing mane of hair for this mermaid, because I want to keep her back visible. She will have a beaded 'updo' with tendrils framing her face.
To put beaded 'hair' on the Mermaid, I started by gluing on a felt fabric 'scalp', which the beads will be sewn onto.
The mermaid's tail is coming along, and with the small size of this doll, should be finished maybe by next week. At that point, I will start adding hair to her head. Now that the accent beads are embroidered around, the rest of the tail will have Toho beads and size 11 seed beads, I may decide to do free-form peyote to create some texture...
Often when I'm sitting doing bead embroidery, people will often comment that the patience it takes must be enormous. This is only partly true; it really doesn't take as long as you might think. It does seem daunting to see all the tiny seed beads sewn onto a form, but if you travel with your project and work on it during breaks or waiting time, it will work up quicker than you think. Since starting my Mermaid, I've gotten this far:
This is the plastic travel box that the Mermaid will live in until she is completed. I will only work on this project during 'travel time', that is, while waiting in a doctor's office, waiting in the car for my husband, etc. The box is packed with a folding pair of scissors, beading thread (Nymo), tubes of beads, the Mermaid, a piece of beading mat material, and a compartmented box. It all fits in, and the box is only about 6x5x2 inches. It can be packed into a suitcase, totebag, or even my large purse, if I wanted.
I will do bead embroidery on the Mermaid's tail....the beads I have chosen are glass seed beads. There are two tubes of solid colors (one metallic green, and one dark blue), and one tube of a mixture of colors and sizes.
When I begin to embroider the beads on, I like to start by outlining the accent beads first, and letting the rest of the design follow from there. I started by accenting with a row of tiny Toho seed beads, then a larger size 11 seed bead, and finally a row of blue metallic bugle beads.
