BEADS! with Needlepoint

One thing leads to another, it seems, and there is seemingly no end to the possibilities for design and enhancement of needlepoint with the array of fibers, metallics, and sparkling beads we have available now - almost non-existant 25 years ago. My own little Journey of Discovery into this realm only began about 12 years ago when I started designing painted canvas again, after a sabbatical of almost ten years of doing knitting design and painted accessories. One of the first things I had to try, of course, (like a crow who loves shiny things) was BEADS!. I bought lots and lots of beads - and then had to figure out what to do with them. Finally, after several years of playing around and experimenting, I had enough stitched things and techniques worked out to put them into a book, which became part of my series of WorkBook/The Coloring Book. A few months ago, I decided to resurrect this thing and put it onto my new web page, but looked at it, and saw Old, Obsolete, and Boring - as I have, in the last two years, been so inspired and motivated by the images of the art crazy quilters I found through the Wonderful World of blogging. (Allison Aller primarily) I started over, learned new computer skills fast (but with dummy type difficulty), and here it is! Finished!! and hopefully more interesting and informative than the first one. I have attempted to create/replicate "fabrics" in needlepoint, and have used beads for decorative effects where I didn't want embroidery - great effect! This reminded me of a project that almost became a UFO and relagated to the bottom of the box - but now I think I will dig it out and begin the embellishments - after a few more beads, of course. You can see clearly on these close-ups the great effect of working beads into the background, creating a very decorative "fabric." Now I need to get back to the embellishing - but already have another design project on the table, with beads and fibers and metallic braids and ribbons selected. What a JOY!!