Unintended Consequences

Who knew that there'd be unintended consequences when I started my online bead business?  I guess there is the potential for unintended consequences in everything you do.  However, most times, these have a negative connotation.  I'm happy to report the exact opposite this time.  I've made many new friends all over the country and internationally.  One new friend, Ellie seems more like a long time friend than a new one.  She has been very supportive of my new endeavors and is always available for my emails.  She is also a very talented artist in many mediums. 

Here you see where she stitched together leather hide and incorporated a photograph to make a wedding gift for a very neat young couple.  She used a copy of a photo taken at the Pendleton Round-up in 2007 by Hubbell copied on to canvas photo paper.  The pillow is leather and all hand laced, no machine sewing at all!  If you look closely you can see that beads were added as an embellishment along the seams.... 

Here is the finished pillow.

Here is how it looks on the back side.  I'm sure this will remain a treasured gift for years to come....

Ellie is also an accomplished bead artist.  She made this bracelet. She used the Flaming Cuff pattern out of Bead & Button magazine for this one.

Below is some of her loom work in progress.  She used a pattern that I created using my Bead Creator software.  I just did this as an example of what the program could do and she loved the pattern.

And here is the finished bead work.  

She is leaning towards another pillow for the final resting place of this wonderful piece.  I especially like the shadow under the horse.

She also does wonderful off-loom work as well.  This Kokopelli amulet bag was made using a pattern by Theresa Flores Geary in her "Native American Beadwork" book.  It  features twisted fringe along the bottom.  Very nice!  

Here is an adorable Ladybug Amulet Bag!  She got the pattern from Dawn Dalto / Blue Bear Beads on the internet.  She made a change on the strap putting the ladybugs on every other diamond instead of a single red bead in the center of each diamond as shown in the original pattern.  This was a gift for her granddaughter who loves Lady Bugs.  I'm sure she loves the bag as well!

One of her upcoming projects is a beaded piece using this photo to create a pattern of this lovely rose.  She intends to apply this to a black leather purse.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!


Thanks so much Ellie for not only sharing, but also for being my friend!

Happy Beading!

Betsy