Monthly Archives: August 2019

August 2019 Make-Cation: bead embroidered applique on silk velvet and jeweled bugs.

Bead embroidery pillow and work in progress by Suzanne Forbes Aug 1 2019I started my second Make-Cation of the year on August 1.

Bead embroidery work in progress by Suzanne Forbes Aug 1 2019As a self-employed artist, I don’t really have the concept of “not at work”; I work, on some level, pretty much all the time.

But there is a type of creative work that feels like play to me, and that is bricolage and decoupage and textile art.

I had an assortment of projects planned, and started with embroidering a commercial floral applique to a silk velvet pillow cover I got at H&M for five euros.

I used my largest embroidery hoop to hold the applique to the pillow cover while I stitched it in place and then added oodles of beading, Swarovski crystals, and embroidery. I used a fine silver embroidery thread to stitch the applique down; it took a very long time!

Bead embroidering, the slowest possible art, makes me feel dreamy and relaxed.

You stitch the applique down and then cut away the excess netting with tiny scissors, which is super gratifying!

Bead embroidery bug work in progress by Suzanne Forbes Aug 30 2019For some reason I stalled out on this bead embroidered moth on pink velvet a while back.

I was feeling unsure about the technique I was trying for its ruff, with bugle beads layered into a 3D effect. I did another six hours of work on it, finishing the ruff, adding pearls, crystal beads, resin flowers and metallic thread, and I feel more confident about the style now. It’s still not finished, but it’s coming along.

And I also “uplifted” this little metal bug clip.

I used gold wire to stabilize its acetate wings and then jeweled and microbeaded the hell out of them. Please ignore my grimy nails – it’s charcoal, not dirt!

I had several other projects I was planning to get done on this make-cation, but unfortunately I came down with bronchitis on the 10th and then it turned into strep! What the even hell. Most of this month since has been resting and doctor visits. So I am home sick, posting the stuff I made 🙂

August 2019 Make-Cation: Bead Embroidered Insect Corset.

Bead embroidered bug corset project work in progress Suzanne Forbes Aug 28 2019 I know some of you have been wondering, where is the bug corset, Suz?

Bead embroidered bug corset project work in progress Suzanne Forbes Aug 28 2019 leftBecause of how much I like bugs (“Bugs are Nature’s jewelry! Put a bug on and you’re ready to go out!”) and how very, very many bug things I have made.*

And how much I like corsets and how many elaborate bead embroidered and embellished corsets I’ve created.

It does seem like a natural match! But for whatever reason, it hasn’t happened – UNTIL NOW!!!!

Bead embroidered bug corset project work in process Suzanne Forbes Aug 28 2019Oh dear heavens, bead embroidery is a time sink.

Bead embroidered bug corset project work in progress Suzanne Forbes Aug 28 2019This is a commercial corset with a lace overlay, and at this point I have put about 150 hours into embellishing with bead embroidery, appliques and metallic thread embroidery. I watched two seasons of “Colony”, a season of “Lucifer”, and a season of “Supernatural”.

Shockingly, “Supernatural” gradually recovers its footing in season 11, after some bullshit fridging in Season 10 that just about made me give up.

But season 11 has representation, diversity, fan service, precious cameos (I yelped with joy!) and the focus on family and Dean being kind of an idiot that I love.

Bead embroidered bug corset project work in progress Suzanne Forbes Aug 28 2019 bottomThe bugs are commercial appliques I’ve been collecting for a while; they are coordinated by using colored Sharpies to tint areas that are too bright or plain white. I sewed them on with plain black thread, then used many shades of metallic thread to integrate them with the glittering beads.

I estimate there’s another forty-fifty hours of work to finish this project.

Since I have strep throat and I have to have surgery on my knee in September, I should have plenty of time. If the cat lets me! Morgan le Fay had surgery on a melanoma on her ear and is SO MAD about the cone of shame.

I just need to choose some shows to run in the background. Supernatural season 12 is on Amazon Prime here; after that I gotta figure out some other options. “Lucifer”, in Season 4, has descended into “Will they/won’t they” hell (ha ha) and I am just about ready to start skipping episodes based on spoilers. Or I might just bounce over to “Legends of Tomorrow”, which is so good and so gay and so weird and so dumb.

*Bug stuff, some of it:

Bug footstool

Bug Mirror

Embroidered Bug

Bug Bricolage

Mauve Moth Embroidery Shadowbox

Bead Embroidered Moth Shadowbox

Mantis Shadowbox and more

Collage with butterflies and snakes

Bee bricolage and cicada shadowbox

Moonlit Moth with real Mohair fur

Grasshopper Golden Jubilee carriage

Hideous Insect Gothic Rococo Mirror

Articulated Mantis OOAK doll in translucent FIMO

Jewelled bug and talk about insect themes in womens art

Bead embroidered beetle

Making is my medicine Moth embroidery

Beaded embroidered pink grasshopper

Beadwork spider for Halloween

Glitter grasshopper and beetle frame

Horrifying rococo insect OOAK doll

Horrifying Victorian insect OOAK doll

Bead embroidered beetle

Jeweled flies and cold porcelain moths

Fauvist mantis embroidery

Jeweled mantis on wire armature