Wow January has gone by way too quickly. But guess what I’ve got for you guys!? That’s right, it’s a new video tutorial. 🙂 This time I demonstrate a technique of my own invention, which I am very proud of, called “Continuous Basic Frame”. Check it out below.

If you’ve purchased my Dahlia patterns, or my Hydrangea pattern, you’ve probably already seen this technique. (Though in some patterns I call it Continuous Wraparound Loops with Spokes, because at first I failed to realize that it’s just an upside-down Basic Frame. So I renamed it fittingly.) Let me know what you guys think!

This video almost didn’t happen. I was set to publish my first pattern of the year, which would have been Ivy. I was so excited to get it published, because it too uses a weird technique that I’ve not seen in any other pattern before, and I thought it was interesting and wanted to share. I had all the pictures taken and everything. But then one day, my baby was asleep and my middle child was at school AND my oldest son, who was/is sick with the flu, was asleep in bed. And it was daylight. A little thought popped into my head “This would be a great time to film a video.” And of course that thought made me really nervous, because videos are hard for me to do. I’m just not comfortable in front of a camera. “Just get the equipment out and practice filming.” So I did and it turns out I did a pretty decent job the first few times. That gave me the confidence to come back the next day to film more parts. And then it was relatively easy to piece together. I published the video Thursday night, which was very fortunate timing because my two youngest children started presenting flu symptoms, so I’ve been busy caring for them the past couple of days. (Which is why I didn’t get this blog post up sooner.)

I do want to apologize for one part in the video where it goes weirdly silent, then cuts to a new frame. That happened because I forgot that my alarms still sound even when my phone is on silent and it just so happened to go off while I was filming. So I edited out the noise, but had to cut out the part where I got up to turn off the alarm. And I really didn’t want to have to record all over again because I’d done so well up to that point.

Anyways. I hope you guys enjoy the video.

I also have a couple of project updates that I wanted to share, since I’m already here.

Firstly, I finished a custom order for a friend who wanted a beaded version of her wedding bouquet made into a wall hanging. This was one of the hardest assemblies I’ve ever done, and I’ve done some strange stuff. The hardest challenge was getting the stems to bend behind the flowers so they would be close enough to the wall. Flowers with lots of petals (like these roses) have thicker stems that don’t bend easily. So it took some creative arranging to make it work. But  my hands were still numb for a while afterwards because I did still have to bend those thick stems and it hurt. And it was heavy and had to be held for a while.

This piece has some white lilies made in some of my favorite beads – 2 cut satins, which shimmer like silk. There are yellow roses (a new pattern that I’m planning on publishing soon… ish), and some white Dendrobium Orchids, ivy, and some pale blue ribbons. I love these flowers, and I  love these colors. So all in all it was a very fun project.

What I’ve been working on since then is a personal project that will likely take some time to finish. I’m building a wall hanging basket for my baby girl, who just turned one. This piece is one that I’ve been planning for over a year. Pretty much since I found out I was having a girl. I still don’t know everything that I’m going to include in it, but I’ve got a basic idea of most of the flowers.
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This is the bead palette I’m shooting for. It’s a rainbow of pastels. The reason I’ve chosen so many colors is because my baby is the happiest little thing that has ever existed. She is full of joy and smiles and very rarely complains about anything. So I wanted a colorful palette to make it brighter and more fun, just like my Lily. Many of these colors are satin beads. The only reason they aren’t all satin beads is because I thought it would look overdone that way. A mix of textures always works best for a larger arrangement. It makes it more interesting and gives more depth.

So far I’ve made some blue Hydrangea and some lavender anemones. There will also be lilies and roses too. Along with some other flowers which I have not figured out yet. But I’ll start with what I’ve planned and see what’s missing.

Then I’m making a white basket to hold the flowers. 🙂

I’ll be back in a couple weeks with more stuffs.