Starting to bead

I have had a nasty cold all weekend and hardly touched a needle. But I did mange to get a bit of stitching done on my latest beaded block.
I just about have all of the applique placed on the block and I was anxious to get started beading. I started with a beaded feather stitch. I can already tell I am going to enjoy beading this block. By joining the seams with the embellisher they are flat and easy to sew though. I may have a few bits of frayed seams but that does not seem to be bothering me as much as I though it would.
I am really pleased how the flowers in the top right turned out. The beads and branches gave them a nice look. That flower in the lower left is another story. I am not happy with the stem I just added, it is more of a shiny leather finish and just shows all of my stitches way too much. I will be switching that out. Here is my messy clutter that I am working in. I try to bring up from my basement studio just what I need to work on at the moment, but through out the day that slowly grows.

Do you see that book on the top of the stack? It is one of my favorite bead books. It is Designer Bead Embroidery by Kenneth King. It has much more of a clothing embellishment direction to the beading rather than adding beads as a quilt embellishment. So if you are looking for a bit of a different direction and ideas for beading this is a great book to add to your collection.