Saturday, November 14, 2015

the magic of beads!

Willow Queen is finished! There were a few curls and even a small leaf I forgot to stitch, so I took care of all those omissions and added the finishing touches... beads.

LOTS of beads!

 

It's a little hard to see, but the darkest beads have a pretty purple iris effect (mostly deep purple) and they're actually very shiny. And the long green beads are especially reflective when tilted under a strong light. I had to stop and back up to check out the light shining off them as I walked past the coffee table earlier!

As always, Mill Hill beads are a bit hard to work with since the quality isn't very good, but I was able to pick enough good beads out of the packs for a nice result. Some of the long blue beads have black marks on them, which is pretty annoying. :/

I have more than half of all the beads left, which is a bit of a surprise! There are two bead colors that call for two packages, and I didn't even open the second pack of the long green beads. I did have to take about five from the second package of purple beads, but if I wasn't so picky about what I use (and didn't lose so many in the couch), I bet I wouldn't have busted into that second pack either!

I really hope the new Mira release is more of this pixie collection...

19 comments:

  1. She is FABULOUS! Congratulations on your finish. After the deliberation of the background fabric I think you definitely chose the right one. I hope you're very proud! :)

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    1. Thank you Rachel! I think so too... a busier fabric would have been too overpowering for the colors in the beads, especially the blues. I love how she came out!

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  2. Lovely finish, how frustrating about the bead quality though!

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  3. She's beyond wonderful! The beads really made her. I like the use of the tube beads, it's kind of different. Well done!

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    1. The beads made a huge difference! She was all boring and brown, then BOOM, all these additional colors and shine. :D

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  4. She is beautiful - congratulations!

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  5. This is one of my favorites. She is beautiful. Congratulations on your finish.

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  6. Congrats! She looks amazing. The beads took her to the next level of stunning.

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  7. She's beautiful! I get what you mean about the MH tube/bugle beads, not happy with the length of the ones I got for Persephone. And I think "beading" should be in the dictionary, with the definition being something along the lines of "the point in time where you discover whole areas you didn't stitch or backstitch"!

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  8. Wow! she looks amazing.... I wasn't sure about these when they came out but seeing your Willow all stitched and beaded is making me think again!
    Well done on a beautiful finish :o)
    Hugs xx

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  9. Beautiful fabric, stitching & beading!! Well done!

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  10. Stunning !
    The beads gave her the wowfactor
    Beautiful chosen fabric
    What mira will be your next ?
    Greetings from rainy Holland( good stitching weather :)

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  11. She's beautiful! I love the pixies, I hope they make more as well :)

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  12. Beautiful work and huge congrats!

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  13. Willow looks gorgeous, the beads really do finish her to perfection. I can see why those bugle beads need to be perfect too.

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