Two Geishas Cross Stitch WIP

It has been a while since I updated this blog. I have been working on this cross stitch on and off for a month now. This is from a cross stitch kit called Two Geishas designed by the famous cross stitch design Joan Elliott. This kit is not really available in craft stores. I ordered it online from abullrun . Look at the Oriental section of Cross Stitch kits if you go to that website. I personally like oriental designs in cross stitch and my favorite designer is Joan. So you will see me doing lots of her cross stitch designs. The last one I completed was Dream Dancer/ Spirit Dancer designed by Joan again. Dream Dancer is more a Native American maiden dancing with her traditional blanket wrapped around her. Now you have guessed it out by now that I am her fan. :) Dream Dancer took me close to seven years to complete. I am a very slow cross stitcher. This was very much a stop and go project for me. I bought this as a cross stitch kit from the craft store. You may find it here in U.S. in craft stores if you are lucky.

You can see it framed and hanging in my home:

Beaded Crocheted Trim

I have been making samples of beaded crocheted trims using the patterns listed in the book "the Beaded Edge" by Midori Nishida/CRK Design. 
I made slight modification from her design :

Gold and Ecru Tassel

The gold and ecru tassel is completely handmade except for the wooden bead in the tassel head. I used DMC 100% crochet cotton in ecru and DMC Perlé as yarns for making the tassel underskirt, the bullion fringe over skirt, the ruff and the cording. The tassel head is crocheted beaded bead.

Closeup of the crocheted beaded tassel head, the ruff and the bullion fringe

Tassel cording closeup

For the tassel cording, I used the kumihimo braiding technique with seven strands using gold and the ecru yarns. I like the way it turned out.

Pom Pom Tassel

I just finished making a tassel made with variegated wool yarn to adorn the tassel neck and the skirt is made up of pom pom balls.These pom poms are handmade and felted. The head is made of wooden finial that is painted with black acrylic paint. The tassel can be hung by passing a ribbon through a screw eye pin inserted at the top of the finial. The neck of the tassel also has crocheted beaded flower edging. Here is a close up:

I just listed this pom pom in My Etsy Store.

Update on August 8 :

Linking this to the weekly story in Patty's blog:

Red Corkscrew Crocheted Tassel

Welcome to my crafting blog. I have a watercolor painting blog at Art Pearls but that is a blog exclusively on my paintings and I don't want to mix in my crafting works over there. I occasionally take breaks from my painting marathon to indulge in crochet, knitting, cross stitch, and sewing. It seems to be a cycle I am involved in and I just can't seem to break free of it.  So while my painting blog is taking a break , you can see me here. Hope you will enjoy reading about my crafty endevors as much as I create them.

I just finished crocheting this tassel using corkscrew fringes. The beads have been crocheted into the tassel cap , neck fringes and at the end of the fringes.It seems like I have grown to love beaded crocheting. Here is another view :