Blue Dagger Kumihimo Necklace

I'm struggling to come up with a name for this necklace. The design is Pipalicious from Prumihimo but used daggers instead of pip beads. It is a short  necklace so it should sit as a collar. The daggers have a cool grid design and came from Stitch'n'Craft. This is a project that will bring back happy memories. It was my travel project on a trip to Japan earlier this year and pretty much all the braiding was done on the bullet train.

Wrap Bracelets

Wrap bracelets have been on my to do list for a couple of years. My first attempt wasn't successful because the semi-precious stone beads I used were too heavy for the leather cord. Last year when I spotted the Beads Direct Make It Break project was a wrap bracelet, I thought I'd have another go. The kit included tila beads, seed beads, waxed cotton cord and a Swarovski button for the clasp.

After watching a couple of videos which suggested holding the cord under tension, I pinned the cord to a block of  polystyrene foam, which I had covered in calico. This helped a lot and effectively gave me a third hand. As the bracelet got longer, I moved the start of the bracelet to the back of the block, so I was always working in a comfortable place at the front of the block.

There was enough supplies in the kit to make 2 bracelets, which meant I was able to make 1 for each of my girls. It was a relaxing project to do - I may try making another one in the future.

Hearts for Manchester and London

I grew up in Manchester and my parents still live there. I also have 2 teenage girls so the situation is waiting in a theatre foyer to collect the girls after an event is a very familiar situation.  So it was with disbelief and great sadness that I read the news about the terror attack in my hometown. When I heard about the #AHeart4MCR project I was inspired to create this bead embroidered heart. The deadline for the Manchester heart drop was a bit sooner than I expected and I knew I wouldn't get it finished in time.

A new call for hearts was raised by #AHeart4LDN after the London terror attack, so I decided to change tack and make machine embroidered free standing lace hearts for the London drop. I used designs from Kinship Kreations, which stitched out beautifully on Brother machine. As recommended  I hooped 2 layers of water soluble stabiliser which made the result quite stiff. I thought this would make the hearts more robust so it was probably a good thing, as the hearts would be hung out on the street. I embellished them with hot fix crystals for a little bit of sparkle and posted them off.

The heart drop in London was yesterday and I was delighted to see a twitter post with a picture of one of my hearts. I have no idea who the recipient was but the fact that she was happy to receive it made my day. This success spurred me onto finish the bead embroidery on my own heart this weekend. Now I just need to work out how to mount it. My original intention was a simple stuffed heart but I think it would look better as a flat heart with a covered cardboard backing to give it a bit more support.