07.18.08
Linda’s Starfish
Linda's starfish
I had some upholstery fabric that reminded me of the rocks in the tidal pool. That fabric became my background for the front and back of my postcard. I also had some red beads that I knew would be perfect for the starfish. They were, but it took awhile to get them right. I tried putting them on randomly, but the arms of the starfish looked diseased. I also tried putting the beads on in a row the width of each arm, but that didn’t look right either. Finally, I tried couching them lengthwise on each arm and that worked. She really looks like she’s moving in the water.
I used spiderweb stitch, French knots and a modified stitch from shisha embroidery for the barnacles. I tried making up my own stitch for the shells on the top right. I wanted them to look sort of spirally. They didn’t turn out the way I expected them to, but I liked the way they looked, so I left them on.
The picture had a couple of places where some white foam was on the surface of the water and you could still see what was underneath. I wanted to try that effect, so I put some white organza in two corners and left the edge unattached so you could look underneath. I even folded the organza on one corner to try and make it look thicker in one place.
Something was still missing, so I added pearl beads randomly. I even put some in the barnacles. That was all that was needed.
