25.11.10 - 22.3.11 Mom present Inspired from the "Harmonious array" Necklace & Snivli's cabochon

The "Harmonious Array"necklace appears in Bead & Button magazine, February 2009, Issue 89, pp.36-39.

Once I received this issue and saw the necklace on its cover, I immediately knew I wanted to bead it for mom, but it took about 2 years to make it true. This beautiful necklace, also called "Renâitre des Cendres" was designed by Maria Teresa Ferreira. Maria has also a blog called "Piu Bella Bijoux", that you can visit here.

However, I made some changes and several adaptations as compared to the original design. For example, the length of all the necklace parts differ from Maria's necklace and are all shorter, especially the central donut. Additionally, I didn't bead the peyote+embroidery cabochon, but instead beaded a cabochon based on Snivli's Vintage Cabochon tutorial , in her worthy blog: Bead Fantasy. This is a great gift for the beaders community since this cabochon is so simple and yet so elegant, beautiful and impressing. I really appreciate Snivli's design.

As oppose to Snivli's tuto, I have used round 11/0 Matsuno and 15/0 Japanese beads only (with 4 or 5 mm faceted multicuts) and made some small changes in the last rounds to better adapt my cabochon in the beadwork.

I really recommend you to try it.

My modifications are as follow. Once you get to the upper part of the cabochon (2nd stage):

• Bead two herringbone rows with round Japanese 11/0 in color A.
• In the next row: *One herringbone stitch with round Japanese 11/0 in color B and then string 3A to be connected to the next herringbone pair. Make sure to have high tension during the work*. Repeat* to end of row and step up. You will also note the cabochon starts to sit in the beadwork in the end of the row .
• The next row is made up with *stringing 3 round Japanese 15/0 between the two beads of the herringbone pair from last row and stringing 2A in between the herringbone pairs*. Repeat* till end of row, making sure to pull tight all along the row.
• String 3 round Japanese 15/0 between each 15/0 picot from last row.

Giving this present to mom, I meant to thank her for all she does for me.

Well, it was worthy :-) to finish beading it since she was very happy to receive it.

19.3.11 Springy day at the Volcani Center

We had a beautiful afternoon in the Agricultural Research Organization - Volcani Center. Omer was busy working in the garden he had designed, while I was busy beading a necklace for mom.

That was a great occasion to take pictures of craft projects I have finished in the last months.

16-19.3.11 Vezsuzsi Celtic triangle

This beautiful "Boldog Hétfôt!-Happy Monday! " peyote pattern is kindly shared for free by one of the top beading blogs to my opinion. This is the blog of Vezsuzsi Gyongyei by Zsuzsi V.

Click here, if you are interested in a tutorial I've made for clarifying how to bead this pattern in peyote, assuming you know how to bead peyote triangle. Sorry for the quality, it was originally meant to help me record how to bead it, but I am glad to share it if it can help someone else as well.

1-8.3.11 Crib Sheets for Poupik

Right side of the fitted sheet (with a rescued mistake at the right top corner):
Wrong side of the fitted sheet:

Very difficult to picture with my camera.... This is my first sewing project! Yeii...

Omer showed me how to use mom's Singer Samba2 Machine from the eighties and it was such of a great help. I feel I have so much to learn in the sewing area, but don't find the time for it yet. It's been several years that I wish to have a good machine of my own with hem option. One day, I guess...

Anyway, this is a beginning. I hope to keep on, persevere and enlarge my sewing knowledge.

Some info about these sheets. I looked for tutos around the net, but finally didn't find exactly what I looked for, so I combined several tutos together

Purchased Blanket: 70cm x 100cm

Crib Matress: 86cm x 46 cm x 4cm

Blanket Sheet: Final measurements: 72.5cm Width, 98.5 cm Length, a kind of "cover" 14 cm from top with 1 cm overlapping (plus 4 velcro pieces along of 3cm x 1cm). I got the idea from this link: Bassinet Sheet Set Tutorial, which also demonstrates an interesting option for the fitted sheet, to sew the swimwear elastic directly to the sheet edge (also found in this link: DIY Cute Crib Sheet) and not as I did (inserting the elastic with a sewing pin into a sewn hem on the edges).

If I am not mistaken, I left at least 2 or 3 cm in each sides of the width and length in order to sew the hem. This means, the cut fabric was of ~79 cm on ~105 cm. A posteriori, not enough to fit exactly the blanket.

Very disappointed from the colorful fabric, which lost half of its color after the 1st washing machine!!!The same happened to the dyed bias tape- grrr...... it was such a beautiful color combination and now it is so fade.

Fitted Sheet: Very happy with the green cotton fabric, which seems of good quality, a bit stretchy and keeps its color quiet well.

Final size: 86cm x 49cm x 6cm

Fabric cut: 112cm(=86+26) x 72cm(=46+26) (4 squares cut on the corners of 13cm x 13cm, which you can also plan to be longer in order to have broader cover on the wrong side).

Tip: The following links where useful for that purpose, but I can't remember where or in which of them, you need to be very careful with the measurements. Some of the links contain mistakes, so be prudent before cutting the fabric. You can try to align the mattress on the fabric to mark where you can approximately cut the squares or draw a small scheme with the measurements and double check to see if it is coherent and logic.

Crib Sheet Pattern

How To Sew Bassinet & Crib Sheets

While there is a new link that seems promising, note that I haven't try it yet because it was posted after the sheets were already made: DIY Fitted Crib Sheet

Crib Bumper: (Not shown because it's unfinished, the ribbons are still missing) I caught such an allergy from the fabric. Apparently from the tones of dust it accumulated in the store.

and some more useful links in this subject:

• Dick and Jane Crib Set
• Vanilla Joy DIY Crib Bedding Part I: Crib Bumper
• Vanilla Joy DIY Crib Bedding Part II: Crib Flat Sheet
• Vanilla Joy DIY Crib Bedding Part III: Crib Fitted Sheet
• Vanilla Joy DIY Fitted Crib Sheet

As you can note, it's far from being perfect. I need a lot more practice on straight lines and it is prominent in the bias tape part. Practice, practice, practice...

There are several sewing blogs I have discovered recently which leave me with a giant open mouth. How do these mothers find the time? the energies? the endless creativity? the inspiration? the kindness to share their inventions, tips, every day lives and many more?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW

I am just speachless and wish I could do 1/10th of what they do.

Some of the blogs I am talking about are listed below:

Made - Dana Made It

Made By Rae

Ikatbag - Lier

Ric-Rac

בלוג הקישורים של יולי

תוצרת בית - עופרה והגר

Colargolet - חטיף קוקוס אדום

Sew Liberated

Juicy Bits

Light Blue Grey - Hetty

Anna Maria Horner

Sharon Rotem

אילאיל - עיצובים בצבעים

luvinthemommyhood

Made by Mamasha

DYI Maternity

Sew Dang Cute Crafts

Aesthetic Nest

Clever Nesting

The Sewing Dork

My longest year

Whipstitch - Modern Sewing