Monday, March 8, 2010

Pirate keychain thingy


I'm not really sure what to do with this thing, it's just a little too big to be a keychain... Made after a part of this pattern.

Lizard keychain


I didn't choose the best background color for this keychain, so the lizard motif is barely visible. It's a little better with the light from behind, but without flash the picture became a bit blurry. Pattern from this book.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Lovable Beaded Creatures


"Lovable Beaded Creatures"
By Anja Freese, German original published in 2001
Available on Amazon

This is the 17th beading book I've bought, but the first one in English :) The book has patterns both for beaded animals and some jewelry, like brooches and woven bracelets, though that last section is by far the smallest part. One thing that puzzles me a little is that there is a pattern for a lizard brooch, but there is no picture of the finished item...


The pattern and the picure of the finished animal are shown together on the same page(s), so you don't have to look back and forth in the book. A genious thing about the patterns in this book, that I can't believe no one else has done, is to put a number next to each row that indicates the number of beads in that row. That means you don't have to count the beads, which is especially practical when the pattern is all one color.

All the animals are three-dimensional, and all the patterns are colored. Some of the patterns are:

Bear with honey pot
Owl
Weasel
Fox
Mole
Baby seal
Poison arrow frogs
Octopus
Killer whale
Angelfish
King penguin & chick
Swan
Hummingbird
Anteater
Kangaroo
Butterflies
Cobra
Guinea pig

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Perlentiere Natürlich Schön


"Beautiful natural beaded animals"
By Torsten Becker, published in 2006

Available on Amazon

I believe this is Becker's first beading book, and I think that shows in some of the animals. I'm not saying that some patterns are poor, but the animals in his latest book (from 2008) are a bit more developed, and in general more exotic and unusual.

The patterns are collected in a removable booklet stapled in the middle of the book, and all the patterns are colored. Some of them are:

Stork
Frogs
Collie family
Spider & web
Turtle family
Killer whale
Dinosaurs (Stegosaurus & Tyrannosaurus)
Parrots
Elephant
Fish
Moose
Cobra

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Tiny turtle


Free pattern found here.

Black Widow spider (2D)


The original is made using a different beading technique than I normally use, so I made a few changes to make it look right. Free pattern found here.

Rainbow lorikeet


Modified the colors a bit and changed the feet to make it more like a parrot, with two toes pointing forward and two pointing back. Pattern from this book.

Harvestman


Not even a true spider, but still gives me the creeps... Just look at those legs! Pattern from this book.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Hamster


Not really sure if this is a hamster or a guinea pig. The book says guinea pig, but I think it looks more like a hamster, so that's what I'll call it :) Pattern from this book.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Bee-eater (2D)


Based on the hummingbird pattern in this book.

Blue Tit (2D)


Based on the hummingbird pattern in this book.

Colorful fish (2D)


Pattern in this book.

Seahorse (2D)


Pattern from this book.

Frog/toad (2D)


Pattern in this book.

Great Tit (2D)


Based on the hummingbird pattern in this book.

Tiny crab


Pattern from this book.

Chaffinch (2D)


Based on the hummingbird pattern in this book.

Llama in progress


Pattern from this book.

Barn Swallow (2D)


Based on the hummingbird pattern in this book.

Petits Animaux en Perles

"Tiny beaded animals"
By Marie-Claude Burel, published in 2005

No longer available


My copy of this book is a downloaded version (shame on me!), because the original became unavailable just this Christmas. I had it in my Amazon shopping cart, but when I finally could afford it, it was gone :( If it ever becomes available again I'll definitely buy it.



Like the other book by the same author the layout is very practical, with the pattern/chart on the same side as pictures of the animal. The animals are presented with scientific names and a few facts, and they are sorted by class/type, like reptiles & amphibians, birds, rodents, insecteaters, etc.

Contains 30 patterns, some of which include:

Viper
Frog
Snail
Mouse
Squirrel
Hedgehog
Bat
Fox
Skunk
Raven
Blue tit
Pheasant
Rabbit
Deer
Wild boar

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Treefrogs (2D)


Modeled after pictures of real treefrogs. Based on the frog pattern in this book.

Poison dart frogs (2D)


All these frogs are modeled after actual species of poisonous frogs. Based on the frog pattern in this book.

Scarab beetle (2D)


The scarab is the blue beetle to the right. Shown here with a ladybug and an ant, because this is the only picture I took before giving the scarab away to a friend. Based on the ladybug pattern in this book.

Beaded ladies




All the ladies are based on the same pattern, the original is the Witch in the third picture, the rest are my own adaptations.

Tufted duck (2D)


The head is supposed to be black or blue, don't know why I made it green, and the wings should be darker as well... Pattern from this book.

Advent wreath with candles




Pattern from this book.