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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

White Lilac Tutorial - Too Stubborn to Quit and Proud of the Results

OK, this one was a huge challenge!  I am very proud to announce a new tutorial in my Etsy shop.  I have been asked for instructions for making my Lilacs more often than anything else in my repertoire. So, in this, my year of learning to write and illustrate, I decided it was time.  Please help me welcome "White Lilac."


I have not made kits.  There are myriad possible colorways, and my Facebook research informed me that people would prefer to use their own beads and choose their own colors.  So the beads I used in making this model are given, along with brief advice about choosing your own colors and beads.

The tutorial is 48 pages, and includes 122 diagrams, (if you count each step I illustrated separately) and over 10,000 words.  It will take around 25 hours to make this necklace.

You will learn to make the individual flowers that combine to make the blossom.


You will learn to assemble them on a supply unique to this work, and available in my Etsy shop 
for $1, and with the purchase of the tutorial I will refund your shipping to almost anywhere in the world.  You can't make the project without it.  


You will learn to make two sizes of three dimensional heart-shaped lilac leaves.


You will learn to make a supple, fringed Triangle Weave Yoke 
to support the lilac blossom and leaves.


And finally you will learn to make a floating connection between the blossom, leaves and yoke that  allows the finished work to fit any neck, and has the potential to be a choker or V necklace.
You can find the tutorial here, in my, Etsy shop, and I hope you will check it out.  For the first week of this listing, (through April 12th) I am offering a 20% discount on the tutorial, and everything in my shop as well.  Just use the coupon code WHITELILAC at checkout to get your discount.

This has been a tremendous learning experience for me, and the next time I approach a project this substantial, I will be armed with many new skills.  I have contemplated both starting over, and giving up many times.  But I believe the tutorial is descriptive and enabling, and that we must all move forward from where we are, rather than backing up endlessly.  

So I pass the baton (or maybe the branch?) to you.  I hope you will give it a try and let me know how it goes.  It is challenging, and labeled as an advanced project.  Like me, you may need to be too stubborn to quit.  I hope you'll be very proud of your own results!

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your beautiful work!
    Greetings,
    -Eva Maria

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  2. Congratulations on this accomplishment!! Next month(after the bills are paid) this is on my must have list! The leaves are amazing!!

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    1. Thank you Elisanne! A version of those leaves is one if the first things I designed, nine years ago. With a few additions and variations along the way, I still use them all the time. I am pleased you like them!

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  3. Congratulations Marsha! The design is truly beautiful and having just started trying to learn to illustrate myself I know how hard it is so I am even more impressed! You will be my inspiration from now on when I think about illustrating...and then go and bead instead!

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    1. Regina, you have some breath-taking new work to show for that beading, and I would be proud to stand in those shoes any day. I just know I learn fastest when I absorb myself in the work. Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I am one of those persons who asked about using your design- only I told you I was going to steal it! You were very polite in your response. I never did use your idea but it was certainly inspiring. It seems I should spring for the tutorial.

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    1. You owe me nothing KJ! LOL! As always your reading and commenting is appreciated. And I am always happy to believe my work is inspirational. Thanks!

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    2. Well, I just purchased the tutorial. Thanks Marsha. I have no idea of when I will find the time to make it- but that is the story of my life.

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    3. Oh-mi-gosh! KJ, it is a bit of a full meal, that project. But making the little flowers is a great TV commercial project, after the first couple. I am honored. Thank you!!!

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