Throwback Thursday - 2005 Part 6

Today I'll take the Wayback Machine to look at projects made July and August 2005:

WhimZi Rose

Just Nan came out with a new line of small designs in 2005. This WhimZi Rose was a freebie offered on the designer's website to help kick off the new line.

I decided to stitch it using DMC floss rather than the silk fibers called for in the chart. I finished it as a birthday card for my niece.

Inside, my card reads:

Hope you have a 

Bloomin' 

Great Day!

I designed the card myself, using card stock and specialty papers from my crafting stash.

Freckles
Business Card Holder

After finishing the beading correspondence course earlier in the year, I started sniffing around beading websites to see what I might try creating next.

I found this giraffe amulet pouch pattern on bead-patterns.com. This site has beading lessons, many free patterns, and a plethora of inexpensive downloadable patterns. This was one of the latter. The designer called him "Giraffe," but I call this guy "Freckles." I think my name fits better.

This beaded piece is done in peyote stitch. The original pattern incorporated more colors than my piece -- his spots were red, green, blue and orange. It was all those colors that actually first caught my eye. But I wanted to use up some of the Delica beads I already owned on the background, so only bought beads for the giraffe ... and didn't purchase the correct beads.

My background beads have a lot more sparkle than the giraffe beads. The yellow, brown, orange and black beads have a matte finish. The background beads are lined in silver. But it makes for an interesting effect.





Since I wanted to make this pattern into a business card holder instead of an amulet pouch, I had to alter the pattern a little. I left the width the same as the pattern, but added more red and green beads to lengthen it.

Originally, I thought I would do the back of the piece in one solid color, but it was so much fun to do the pattern on the front, I decided to repeat it on the back.

The one thing I'm not totally sold on is the way the sides are stitched together. I used a neutral grey beading thread (the only color I had on hand). When I sewed the sides together, the grey thread was visible. It's tidy, but not so pretty. I tried a couple different bead techniques to cover the edges, but they didn't look right either, so I decided to keep it simple.

I'm quite pleased with the outcome of this piece. I like the idea that it's cute, it sparkles and it's useful! Eleven  years later, I still carry this beaded beauty in my purse to hold my calling cards. It's held up remarkably well.

Jig of the Ladybug

My niece Cheryl finished her degree in Physical Therapy and took the medical boards/exam so that she can practice. I made this little ladybug card for her to wish her luck on her huge test. 

My niece worked so hard and did a great job in school! Now she's been a practicing physical therapist for over a decade. I'm very proud of her. I made the card to let her know I was rooting for her. I used some overdyed floss and star charms to give the ladybug extra pizzazz and personality.

It appears that after these stitched items were finished, I didn't complete any counted cross-stitch for another three months! Instead, my records show I did some quilting, a large latch-hook rug project, and a crafty ornament. I'll blog about those in my next editions of #throwbackthursday.