Waaayyyy back in 2008, I took up pyrography (woodburning) and in a short time had a blast making about a half dozen plaques and other items I gave away as gifts. I decided I wanted more of a challenge and took it into my head that I was going to make my mom a portrait of her dog Bear from a photo she had sent me. A challenge is putting it mildly. Right off the bat I made a mistake transferring the outline I’d be working from and left a burn mark on the plaque that I had to try and sand out, then disguise. I also found out that subtle shading was a lot harder than bold lines, and I eventually got so frustrated with the project that I set it aside. Since I never finished that one, I felt guilty doing any of the easier pieces I had been enjoying working on, so that was the end of me doing any pyrography for nearly three years.

Recently, I decided it was time to buckle down and finish it. And I did!

It’s not quite how I pictured it in my head before I started it, but it did turn out fairly decent and my mom loved it. I’m now free to go back to woodburning other projects, though I don’t think I will be trying out any more photo portraits any time soon.

I did also finish that beadwork piece I was making:

and got it sewn onto a collar:

I tried to get the loom warped again to complete a second collar design, with my original, wider ladybug pattern. Even though I now had the correct thread, it didn’t go any better than the first one and (once I’d untangled and salvaged all my expensive beading thread) I decided to just buy another loom. I was intrigued by one I had seen online that uses a technique that produces four finished edges – no snarl of warp threads to deal with at the end – and bought one off eBay.

Within two days I had my new Versa-Loom and was off and running with a small sample project (to learn the new technique before getting into something complicated) using some really pretty beads I’d bought years ago and never did anything with…

That piece became a bracelet for Joy.

Having gotten the basic hang of working with the Versa-Loom, it was back to ladybugs. One problem I ran into, which was more noticeable with my wider pattern, was that even though all my beads were 11/0, the green was a different source than the other colors and slightly smaller, which made the rows a wee bit uneven (hardly detectable in the finished pieces, but it annoyed the crap out of me) so I’m looking forward to having them gone… at the same time, I didn’t want to waste them. I am now almost finished the original ladybug design which will go on a 1″ collar. I am not sure what I am going to do with it since it’s not really Paddy’s style but I had a ton of beads in those colors to use up, and really wanted to see my original design in a finished state. The smaller one I made for Gwen lost a lot of the detail of the head and antennae of the bugs.  I am going to be using delica beads from this point on, which are a lot more uniform and come in a huge variety of colors and finishes.

I have some great patterns I found online and more ideas for designs of my own, and am having fun with the beading. It doesn’t involve a lot of setup, unlike sewing (since I still don’t have a place to permanently set up my machine) or worrying about pets snagging power cords and burning themselves (or me burning myself) as is the problem with woodburning. It’s something I can sit, anywhere, and do as much or as little at a time as I feel like, and the process is very calming, almost meditative.

One thing though, I don’t think I will want to see another ladybug for a long time after this.