SOMETHING NEW

Fastening agate slices to my fiber work has consumed me lately......

Bead jewelry artists often highlight cabacons or other stones in their work very succesfully.  This isn't a technique that has interested me much since I rarely wear jewelry.  The aging process has turned me into a cheap date....I'm allergic to any sort of metal touching my skin.

However, my fingers were itching to stitch and none of my ongoing projects were in need of handwork......so.....

...this little pin was born.  Instead of working on felted wool as I normally do, a heavy weight, non-fusible stabilizer was used instead.  It's the white you see in this photo....the embellished agate was placed on grey felted wool for photography purposes only. 

 This is how the back looked......  The stabilizer was cut about 1/4" - 1/2" larger than the agate.  The agate was temporarily attached to the stabilizer with a small amount of glue, then permanently secured with the beads.

The next time I will probably use a more generous amount of stabilizer to make it easier to hold during the beading process.

 Upon completion of the beading, the stabilizer was trimmed away.  Next, Ultra-suede was hand stitched to the very edge of the stablizer to cover and protect the threads.  And finally, a pin back was glued onto the stabilizer.

I'm linking up with Nina-Marie's "Off The Wall Friday"