Beading Back in Time Blog Hop Challenge Reveal

Here I am, a little late to my own blog hop.  Lovely life got in the way yesterday, but everything is straightening out now.

I've shown some progress pics in my last few posts, but I thought that with my reveal, I would talk you through my process a bit more.  Here is my starting point:

This cheap plastic hadrosaurus just makes me smile.  I love the unusual color combination and patterning on her, so I decided to run with it.  After all, we have no idea what color dinosaurs were!  And today's reptiles come in all colors of the rainbow, right?  So why can't hadrosaurs have been cream, gray, and orange?  

 When starting an encrusting freeform like this (freeform stitching over an armature form), I usually find it easiest to create a harness out of beads first.  This divides the armature into manageable sections of beadwork.  In this case, I also added some Czech pressed glass trilobite beads, partially to continue the spots on the hadrosaur patterning, and partially because I just love the detail in that mold.  And it continues the theme nicely, don't you think?

The first two sections I filled in were the main belly sections.  They were both relatively large sections, and I also knew it would be more difficult to bead in between the legs after they were covered with beads.  Beads just love to catch loops of thread, and as I'm using beige thread on a largely light colored project, it's easy to miss when that happens.  Next I filled in over one shoulder, around the neck, and up one forearm, including the grey mitten coloration on the "hand".

Next I stitched up and around the head.  I knew I wanted to maintain both the original pattern and smile of the plastic dino, and add some texture with some Czech pressed glass spikes.  When I got to the eye areas, I had a bit of a dilemma.  For me, seed beaded eyes never look quite right, so I stitched in a couple of vintage German glass drops, and a bit of surface embellishment to make eyelids.  A bit bulgy looking, but fun, I think.  Then I started working down the left side, continuing to follow the painted pattern on the armature.  At this point I also decided that there was an awful lot of cream, so I added a bit of grey freckling to break up the color a bit.

You can see the freckling a bit better in these pictures of my progress on the left and right sides.

And here is my progress up to now!  I *might* have bitten off more than I could chew this month.  All of my stitching has had to occur in my lunch breaks at work, on Wednesdays before my yoga class, or on the weekends.  I always forget how long a project like this really takes, when you don't have the time to sit and bead for long periods of time.  I still have to finish both hind legs, the tail, and the last bit of belly between the legs and tail.  But that just means I have to make another post, right?  After all, I know you need a beauty shot!  And for some reason I don't feel right taking one of an unfinished project...

Please check out what all of my beady friends have done with this challenge!  I know a few people are running behind like myself, so if you don't see their post now, do check back later!

Co-hostess: Lindsay Starr of Phantasm Creations

Co-hostess:  SherriStokey of Knot Just Macrame 

KellyRodgers of Beadin' Black &Blue 

MichelleMcCarthy of Firefly DesignStudio

CarolineDewison of Blueberribeads

MelissaTrudinger of Boho Bird Jewellery 

SueKennedy of SueBeads

Stephanieand Chris Haussler of PixibugDesigns 

JenCameron of Glass Addictions 

JeanWells of Jean A. Wells ArtisanJewelry