BJP 2013 ~ September Ta-dah

Beading a Helenium for my September leaf caused me to inspect the flowers closer.

The way the centres develop is fascinating as they start with a brown dome across which waves of yellow pollen spread until a sphere is created. I love beading a bead and knew the same technique would work well as a centre. I just used a felt bead and covered it three quarters of the way.

I decided to needle felt some background flowers before adding bright red beads for the petals.

The final addition was a picot edging.

The branches are filling up and I've got some fabric for the background but apart from embroidering the stems I'm still not sure how to add the months and names of the flowers. Any ideas?

Perhaps a border or tags, printed or sown. Well I have a few months to play around :) Happy days.

BJP 2013 ~ August Ta-dah

April's butterfly cuff definitely inspired this month's leaf. We have a buddleia bush by the back door which attracts butterflies throughout the summer. I chose a Red Admiral to try and bead.

 A variety of different sized beads were used to capture the buddleia flower in the background.

So what do you think?
 

I can't believe that I only have four more leaves to go.

BJP 2013 ~ July Ta-dah

This month was started then sat around for a while because I couldn't quite visualise how to do what I wanted ~ a wildflower meadow or herbaceous border. Then inspiration came in some beads from a broken necklace Mum had held onto from an Aunt.

The blue beads washed up a treat.

The differing sizes of the same flower were just perfect for grouping into clusters and soon I had my wildflower meadow and herbaceous border.

Definitely the most colourful leaf so far.

 

My August leaf is already finished so hopefully will follow shortly.

BJP 2013 June ~ Ta-dah

June is when our iris flower next to the pond. They inspire me to draw, paint and to pick up my camera. They have a page in my garden scrapbook.

We have had a heat wave here in England in July but when I took my photo in June they were covered in raindrops.

When I started to work with felt I made a felt picture but it just sat in a box with other felt picture experiments until I had the idea of using it as the base for my June leaf.

I didn't want to cover too much of the felt so started by outlining the petals and then added a beaded edge.

Not so much beading this time but I like the blend of the felt and the different coloured beads.

On to July!

BJP 2013 May ~ Ta dah

May is about remembrance for me so the forget- me- not was the starting point followed by apple blossom.

My sister passed away from cancer on the 18th May 2009 and her birthday was the 1st of May. We shared a love of flowers and gardens so when I walk around the garden in May I love seeing the drifts of blue forget-me-nots. The garden we grew up in had two large apple trees and the apple blossom in my garden always triggers many happy memories.

So on the leaf are forget-me-nots and apple blossom but it wasn't until after I had finished that I smiled at the border I had done. You see May was the month Mum moved after fifty years in the same house. Some of the furniture and 127 boxes were moved to her new bungalow. I watched boxes being packed, loaded and unloaded and then we set about unpacking them all. Now doesn't that border look like boxes? Totally unintentional I just thought the colour of the bugle beads went with the background felt colour but now when I look at the leaf I see boxes. The leaf will always remind of Mum's move and the best thing is now she lives just around the corner instead of nearly 200 miles away and she is happy settling into her new home.

BJP 2013 April ~ Ta-dah

When I started my tulip because the shape was simple I thought I would finish it in a couple of days.

 In truth I would bead a petal and then undo it as the colours didn't work or the beading looked messy. Simple ideas show up mistakes! The colours on the tulips in the garden just blend so beautifully the beaded version was always disappointing. I think if I had more colour choice of the tiny beads I would have found it easier. But after much trial and error I think I have something I'm happy with. I wonder how I will feel about it at the end of the year? In contrast to the stop start nature of beading the petals the bugle bead border was a breeze and I like the random mix of colours.

And for you April I have taken a photo of the first four leaves on my rough sketch. Still not decided on background material and whether to add words. I do love Linda's words and thoughts she includes in her art.

 

I'm really looking forward to catching up on everybody's blogs with a cup of coffee after being away and planning for my May leaf.

Being away at the moment is going to my Mum's house from which she is moving  after 50 years. As I mentioned last time I am looking at my family history and was delighted to find an old family bible in a drawer. By old I mean published in 1625 and with names and dates going back to 1704. Couldn't resist including a couple of  photos.

Happy beading :)

BJP 2013 March ~ Ta-dah

In our garden on March the first, St. David's Day, there are always the first few daffodils to be seen.

I just needed to work out how to make a daffodil trumpet.

The first ones were too thin, too tall and too fat.

But one was just right.

Ready to take centre stage on my leaf.

Next was beading around the centre.

I love the way things evolve and the half circle fans that appeared just seemed to fit so well.

The view from the side shows the daffodil trumpets off.

And finally my finished leaf is a celebration of my Welsh roots. I am scrap booking my family history and I am now back to around the 1750's. I love solving the puzzles and finding out about the stories of my ancestors lives and although I was born in England and my husband and children are English I still find myself cheering on the Welsh rugby team just as I did as a child with my Welsh parents.