CabeWoman: December 2017

This year, I am participating in the Art Elements Blog Hop. I had grand ambitions...and then December happened. It comes around every year and all of a sudden its time to go to concerts and bake cookies and get gifts and then its Christmas!
Here are my two ornaments....

I wanted to learn how to make a beaded star. I've seen many on Pinterest with beautiful, complex designs and there is one with snowmen on it that I would love to make. So, I made a prototype, just to learn the stitch and how it all fits together and that's as far as I got right now. This pattern is from Diane Fitzgerald's book, called Shaped Beadwork and Beyond. My first beaded start still sits pretty on the tree, even if the design is slightly plain. I actually found another link on Bead and Button and another way to make these stars and may try it as well. Diane Fitzgerald's idea has you making five beaded components and then sewing them together. Bead & Button's idea has you making 10 beaded components and then sewing them together - which may be helpful if creating intricate designs on the faces of the stars.

My second ornament came from the idea given at Art Bead Scene blog. Why not make an ornament with all my favorite hoarded art beads? I really like these beads and had to have them but either found them too big for the more delicate or flat jewelry I like to make or too whimsical for the jewelry I make. But I love them hanging on the tree!
The art beads included are: a spunky cowboy pendant by Jade Scott (who no longer sells these), beautiful handmade glass beads from Loupiac, and an enameled copper bead with the saying "Less is more" from Blue Antiquities. Less is more is a phrase I keep trying to live by but find many challenges with. This wreath isn't in traditional Christmas colors because I'm planning on hanging it by my kitchen window to enjoy all year after the tree is down.
**The in between beads are pyrite and the wire was found on the ground after a nearby utility pole was getting changed out. I collected a whole bunch of one foot wire segments - not sure what kind of metal it is, maybe steel? It's silver colored and slightly hard.