WIP - Crow on Yellow 052313

I worked a bit more on the crows feet last night and started this side of the branch it is perched upon. 

Today it's all about finishing the app, which is taking longer than I anticipated simply because as I go through my old natural dye nots I find myself adding more plants and more categories about the colors, fastness, etc.  Phew... that was a long sentence! 

It's starting to look like a bird!

WIP- Crow on Yellow 052213

Crow body almost completed.

My crow had a red spot, so I decided to preserve this bit with some rose to reddish coloured beads.

Detail showing the contrast between the black matte beads, black beads, and irridescent beads.

A Few More Beads

Shaping the wing.

Lilacs

The neighbor's daughter brought me a huge bouquet of these lilacs, he's 94 and they came by to do some yard work for him.  The heady smell of lilac now wafts throughout the house.  Not much in the way of studio work today, it's the rush to get the gardens planted before the rain falls.  Check out my other blog Survival Kitchen, linky in the right column, to see what we've planted.

I was Beading Away

finishing the crows tail and now working on it's underbelly...

 

One view of the tail feathers in matte, iridescent, and shiney black pony beads.

 

 

Another view of the tail.

 

And... then I realized I forgot to finish the wing!  Other than this minor mishap it's coming along and beautifully.

 

WIP - Crow on Yellow 0514713

I need to finish the left side of the crow, and then the small piece in the lower left hand corner, and then it's off to finish the right side of the piece.

Closer detail of the beading.

Beading Resumes

Was starting to make mistakes so decided to take the rest of the day off from writing and started beading instead.  Am working on the branch portion now, trying to integrate it as part of the whole piece.

More bead soups, this time greens, browns, and brownish purples so as to look like an actual branch in my crabapple tree.

Ok I know I've shown this last one before, multiple times actually, but I sooooooo love this color combination!  The only colors that make me even more happy are sage greens, purple sages, and golden greens.  It's hard to explain... except to tell you to go hang out on the open prairie in the fall.

Natural Dye App Update

The new natural dye app is taking way longer than I had anticipated, I thought I would be done with it this afternoon but that isn't happening.  The good news is I discovered, thanks to my best friend Brenda, a much better way to present the app that will make it compeletely searchable, so the experience for the end usuer will be enjoyable, instead of a headache!