Ever since I began creating custom beaded dog pins and pendants, I have learned about many dog breeds which I had never heard of before. One of them is the Wire-Haired Pointing Griffon. A customer had sent me a photo of her dog and I immediately began working on a sketch. Once we agreed on the design, I cut out a felt foundation and stitched on the dog’s tiny glass nose.
Then, I went back to the photo to observe all of the dog’s colors. I learned that one of the color names used to describe the Griffon is ‘liver’. Liver is a dark brown usually referring to the color of said organ. This particular dog has a whitish coat with a liver-brown head and patches throughout. Some of these dogs have larger brown patches, but this one just has a few small brown patches peaking through her white wiry coat.
Next, I looked through my bead stash and found the colors I needed. I used a mix of Japanese size 15 matte gray, transparent crystal, white, and a few different browns. I stitched short rows of beads in the direction of the dog’s hair until the entire piece of felt was covered. I alternated colors and remembered to include those brown spots.
For the second layer of beadwork, I alternated between clear and crystal lustre AB using a khaki colored thread. (Thread color makes all the difference here.) I carefully spaced out my tiny layered fringes so that you can still see some of the undercoat peaking through. I also used a couple of different browns for the fringe on the dogs head as well as the ear. After I finished the second layer of beadwork, I stitched on the Ultrasuede backing and my piece was complete. Now this dog has a glass bead embroidered coat! 
If you have a Wire-Haired Pointing Griffon, please feel free to share a photo on my Facebook page! Back to beading!
