Big Al's Planet Beaded Baubles

Here, I have strung up a fun group of brightly-colored lampwork beads with seed beads and small embellishing beads.  This is available at Etsy:   http://www.etsy.com/shop/BigAlsPlanet 

Needle-felted beaded embroidery

This was a fun process of creating an image of a horse (titled “Freedom and Will”) with felting needles and then embellishing with beaded embroidery.  One of the beading techniques I used here was peyote stitch with a varying-sized bead to create more texture.  This piece will be published in Heidi Kummli’s latest book on animal totems in beadwork.

I made a notebook from a wooden book with white pages, which I coffee-stained before stamping and writing notes inside. For the cover, I cut two pieces of plywood, each 8 3/4″ x 6″. I then cut a strip 1 1/2″ wide from the short edge of one of these, pieces to use as a binding. I hinged these two pieces back together, and then drilled holes through the binding edge where the holes in the paper line up. I wired the pieces together, and then added beads and tied on decorative fibers. The wood was then stained and rubber stamped with twig (hand-carved) and leaf images (Stampin’ Up!), using Stucco and Verdigris ColorBox pigment ink.

Hand-Carved Stamps

I drew a wild horse on the face of a stamp carving block, and then used linoleum cutters to carve away the negative space.

Paper Mache Boxes

Using round and oval papier mache boxes with rusted tin tops, I layered ColorBox® ink onto the box lids and then sprinkled them with bronze Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel by Suze Weinberg. I then heated the powder and added more, reheating until I had a thick layer of molten powder, and then pressed pre- inked, hand-carved stamps into the powder.

Field Notebook

These animal images were stamped into a “field notebook” whose pages were coffee stained to create the look and feel of an old book.

Using round and oval papier mache boxes with rusted tin tops, I layered ColorBox® ink onto the box lids and then sprinkled them with bronze Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel by Suze Weinberg. I heated the powder and added more, reheating until I had a thick layer of molten powder, and then pressed pre-inked, hand-carved stamps into the powder. I removed the stamps, allowed the box lids to cool, and then painted the boxes with Pearl Ex powders, using a soft dry brush. She also used gold Rub ‘n Buff to highlight the edges. After painting the bottom of each box with a base coat of acrylic, I sponged on gold paint. Images may also be stamped on the box with Ancient Page inks. Ribbon or wire may be used to embellish these boxes. Small wooden pegs are used for legs on each box, which may be painted to coordinate.

I painted a cigar box with blackened bronze paint, and then applied crinkled tissue to the box with decoupage medium. I then lightly accented the surface with gold acrylic paint, using a sponge. Then glued wooden pegs to the bottom of the box in each corner, and painted them to match. I used suede matboard to create compartments inside the box, cutting her section pieces after deciding where to place the artifacts. I glued the matboard compartments in place, painting the edges to match the cigar box. I then made artifacts for the box, starting with Crayola®’s modeling foam to make faux teeth and a small horse. The foam, once dry, was rubbed with burnt sienna and raw umber paint. For the shards of sea glass, I stamped images with ColorBox pigment ink and embossed them with Verdigris Antiquities embossing powder (by Delafield), heated, and then rubbed with black and gold Rub ‘n Buff. For the manilla coin envelope book, I used ColorBox cat’s eyes inkpads to rub roussillion ink on the edges, and then collaged handmade papers and color photocopies of my own paintings on the front of each envelope. I punched holes in them and used bronze mini grommets to run a black wire through the holes to create a book. The miniature bottle contains a small photo copy of the my painting; it has also been embellished with wire Coffee-stained tags with handwritten notes complete the ancient “field box.”