Brown metal frame, no mat, deep spacers to keep the glass (actually acrylic) off the beetles. Ground fabric is dupioni silk, on cotton substrate. I was initially worried about the light fabrics not being able to support the metal threads; it turned out ok.
Really happy that I didn't buy any supplies - though at time tempted! The last beetle was the most difficult, partly because I don't have the correct weight threads.
Contemplating frame now...
I was almost ready to order the kit from Jane Nicholas before I realized that the instructions and templates are in my beetle book, and the kit only has supplies. I had the brilliant idea of using my stash, making substitutions for the metal threads that I don't have. I'll see.
I printed the templates onto tracing paper and basted it on the fabric. I've been using this technique for a while; it takes more effort, but the basting thread can be removed in the end with no design lines left behind. I use 100 weight fine silk thread for the basting.
I've finished two beetles, the second one is quite difficult to do, and substitutions made it twice as hard!
Debated between a gold second mat or the blue one; settled on the blue. My framer would cut the mats with reverse bevels, so there is no distracting white edge around the mats. I picked a frosted gold metal frame.
Finished and waiting for my ordered frame. I thought this would be more difficult than Poppy, but surprisingly it was not as hard. Made a couple of changes: one of the petals was stitched with long-and-short stitch silk, instead of chain stitch with passing thread. More significant change was using DMC's metal mesh. It really turned out well; I finally had a use of the DMC mesh that I ordered when it first came out years ago. Next project is Jane Nicholas's Beetle Sampler.
Thought this would be an easy one - wrong! Finally finished. I used koma to help stitch the filigree leaves. I also simplified the main flower stem by using grecian twist instead of laying on cut purls, so much easier. I used thinner edging for the flower petals - same gold thread as the leaves; using pearl purl per instruction was too harsh.
Next project is Shades of Blue.
It looks gorgeous! The photo does not do it justice! Now to figure out the framing, and considering the next project...
Only things left are the spangles! This is a beautiful piece, very 3-dimensional. I did not do a perfect job, but it's still gorgeous to look at!
I missed one Grecian stem to the second flower before, and had to stitch it today. I was able to sink both ends using the scotch tape method. So please that I had to stop to jump around a bit.
Alison Cole's Goldwork Masterclass book arrived a couple days ago. There are some discussions of the Tree of Life project in that book! Didn't realize that, or else I would have been very apprehensive to attempt it. No wonder it was so difficult!!
Today's progress. I think it's more than half done, without major boo-boo's. Keeping my fingers cross.
Progress so far. Worked on the Grecian stems and decided that I would not follow the instructions. Sometimes I would succeed in sinking the Grecian by wrapping scotch tape around the thread to make it into a point, and pulled it through the hole I made with the awl. In other places I wasn't able to do that and had to separate the plies in order to sink the thread. Not separating the plies made for a better stem.
Decided to put an edge around the pomegranate - purl edging covers up a host of sins, probably a sign of bad stitching! I forgot to save a gold bead for the snail's head; briefly thought about unstitching one but it's too dangerous - all the beads may fall apart! Will have to come up with something else.
The pomegranate element was a minor disaster. I tried to stitch the miliary wire per the instructions, but it turned out SO bad. Unfortunately the kit only came with one sufficient length of wire and I couldn't restitch, having ruined some of the loops. Besides any more restitching and I would have also ruined (badly) the gilt smooth purl. So I left out the purple couching altogether. I did pile on the beads to cover up the bad edges. I tried to turn the beads so that the holes are not visible, but some of them are not turned the right way. I may try to fix them later (or I may not, it's amazing how a bad job would improve overnight by itself!) All in all not the greatest work...😞
Working on Alison Cole's Tree of Life. Every element was difficult; even those that I thought I knew how to do. I was most worried about the grapes - kid leather wrapped pebble beads, as the instruction indicated that I should do the middle ones first such that the mistakes would be covered by the adjacent grapes. I was very surprised that the grapes were not that difficult; and I enjoyed stitching them! Now working on the pomegranate - the tip didn't turn out great, but the first try was much worse! I kept re-measuring, re-cutting and re-stitching the gilt smooth purl, until I realized that the ragged edges could be covered by the "seeds" strategically, and progress was much faster.
Having gone for quite a while, surprised that this site is still available. This is Susan Casson's Tiny Turtle from Inspirations magazine, with minor modifications. I did not glue sand onto the background, and the turtle pieces were stitched on a separate backing and then attached, giving it more the 3D look. The shell padding was such that the smallest felt pad was on top (contrary to the usual method), giving the shell the bumpy realistic look.
I am now working on Alison Cole's Tree of Life Goldwork. I was pleasantly surprised that the delivery from Australia to the US was ok during this time.
