Vintage Inspired Bead Embroidery - The Beginning!

I made a bead embroidery piece a couple of weeks ago for a feature in a magazine (Coming soon!) and decided that I fancied making another in a similar style.

I found a cabochon from a broken piece of jewellery which was a small portrait of a girl in sepia tones decoupaged onto acrylic.

I found a piece of board to use as my backing stiffener. It's a piece of hardboard whcih was the base of a jewellery stand I bought on ebay. When the stand arrived in the post it was smashed to bits bit I managed to salvage the unbroken base.

Next step was sketching out a rough design.

And choosing a colour palette.

Then getting started!

More to follow when I've got some more completed! I still haven't decided what the final item will turn out to be. Any ideas?