Mountain Salt Studio

well - it didn't happen

2012-01-01T14:29:00.001-08:00

Didn't happen - didn't start - the big "D" overcame me - I'm sure that many of you are familiar with that. Not living life, but going through the motions - getting up (well most days), getting dressed, going to work - and then sitting and staring off into space the rest of the time - or farming pretend cows and chickens and other mind-numbing activities at that place where we click 'like' all the time.

I do think this is the longest time period that I have been depressed for the majority of the time - it's been 2 years - beginning when Scooter died in December of 2010 and continuing now.

But there is always hope - I find myself crying less frequently now - sometimes only once or twice a day which is a BIG IMPROVEMENT.

I have made some positive strides in the past year - I quit smoking - ! that's really big huh? and starting today I'm taking a diet Pepsi sabbatical. 90 days to see if I really do feel better without artificial sweeteners and carbonation.

I've been making attempts at art - I took several classes from the wonderfully sweet Suzi Blu These are really very good classes - I did enjoy them even if I didn't participate much. They have great instruction as well as being a bit inspiring without being so sweet that my teeth hurt. I took a few classes at Craft Edu that were great. I bought tutorials on Etsy and from Christi Freisen - they are all very well written and illustrated. I also started a workshop on the Strathmore website taught by Traci Bautista who is a very good teacher and lots of fun. I bought all the supplies and read all the coursework and went back to harvesting faux corn. I took a class at Scarlet Lime which was totally out of my personal comfort zone but I did learn a few things and actually did a little work -

not the best work but at least I moved a little paint around - but still the art supplies piled up - the work table became a store room - don't believe me? look at this

and so now it is a new year. I've signed up for this STITCHED! - have you heard of it? I'm so happy that I did. I met Alma Stoller several years ago at one of the ArtFiberFests (I loved those so much) - When I saw that she was coordinating this I had to sign right up and today is the first day and I am totally blown away at the quality of this project. IT IS WAY COOL - you need to go there and sign right up - okay maybe not if you don't sew - but you could LEARN TO SEW while you are there - that girl who won Project Runway didn't know how to sew and look at her! Anyway - looking at these workshops got me excited - E.X.C.I.T.E.D. - actually looking forward to something - and so, even though it is almost 3 in the afternoon and I always tell myself that I have to start things in the morning (which is an avoidance technique I think) - I'm going to dive into that pile of art supplies and even if I just shove everything into big plastic tubs ("containerize" it like the wackjob on Clean House said) - I am going to get a flat surface that I'm able to do some work on - and find one of the several sewing machines and one of the several irons and have at it -

and try to come back here and report in less time that I got to posting this.

The BIG NEW PROJECT

2011-05-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well - things really haven't gotten better. Sweet Sedgewick the Monkey cat died suddenly last week. The sad part of having so many sweet furry children is that they eventually leave us and take a big piece of our hearts with them when they go. We are down to 2 cats and 2 dogs at Casa de Enchy, the fewest fur children that have been in residence in recent memory. We won't be adding any new kids for a while - perhaps not at all. We'll see.

In any event - the BIG NEW PROJECT. When I was so sick in bed in January I had plenty of time to do not much more than think - and think I did. While I was thinking, I was also sometimes listening to the television - kinda. I was also really pretty medicated up. So in this medicated and extremely ill state, I partially listened to a documentary about some artist on the Ovation channel - which artist? who knows (I was sick remember?) But what I did catch was the notion of creating a 'meaningful body of work'. That phrase kept running through my head. Meaningful body of work. And I thought about my own art - and how disjointed it is - I'm made a lot of it, it really doesn't lend itself to the definition I have in my head of a 'meaningful body of work'. There are some pieces that might be termed 'meaingful' but the majority is rather insignificant.

And so I thought about it. I thought long and hard about where I wanted to go with my art - I thought long and hard about just stopping - selling everything off or giving it away and having a tidy, normal house - one that doesn't have an art studio in the living room. One that doesn't have drawers labeled 'bones and wee skulls' or 'large rusty bits'. I thought about that quite seriously. It was like I was at some sort of precipice - live/die; art/no art; go forward/stay where i am. I need to find a focus; a clarity in my work or I needed to just hang it up. I believe the term is 'shit or get off the pot'.

And so I thought about it - some more. Remember I had close to a month in bed fading in and out of dreamland - the fancy honey flavored cough syrup the doc wrote the prescription for; while it cost $75 after my insurance kicked in whatever portion they paid; did indeed give me some much needed rest and great dreams. And the month of my sickness was followed by the time I spent with Charles in the cardiac ICU. You have a lot of time to sit and think when someone you love is hooked to lots of wires and tubes. I thought and I thought. Maybe it was being surrounded by what seemed like constant death as well as my own self dancing on the brink for a bit there myself and Charles actually dying for a bit; but I kept coming back to the same place. Where did I want to go - what did I want to do? I KNEW that I wanted to create a 'substantial body of work'.

And so, I came up with "The BIG project". It's actually called "The Shrine Project". My initial plan was to make 5 shrines a month for 10 years. Yes, I said TEN YEARS. SIX HUNDRED SHRINES In that period of time I just MIGHT come up with a meaningful body of work - If I FOCUS - because through focus we find clarity. Ten years I thought to myself. Really? TEN YEARS? You'll be 66 then I thought. But then the little voice inside me said - you'll be 66 then if you do it or not. Yes indeed - I will be 66 then if I do it or not. I could be 66 and still thinking about where I wanted to go - or I could just go there.

And so begins "The Shrine Project". Of course I'm late starting it because my hands still don't really work - we'll they work, they just hurt all the time. And it's really not my hands, it my fingertips. Every minute of every day they feel like little bees are stinging them - we are working on a medication level to fix them - so far it has brought the pain down from an 8 to maybe a 6 - that is good - 8 was making me suicidal. But I also have decided that my fingertips may very well hurt for the rest of my life and I just have to suck it up.

I haven't touched an art supply since late December - just before I got sick. And not making art didn't make my fingers feel better so I may as well just go forward and see what they can do. They are going to hurt if I use them or not - I might have to adapt, use different tools, different media - but the joy of The Shrine Project is that I can use all sorts of different media and methods. I'll be setting up another blog or maybe a website and there will be an Etsy site to sell the shrines because there is only so much room at Casa de Enchy.

And so this past weekend I got out some supplies - I have to clear 4 months worth of flotsam and jetsam off the work table before I can actually accomplish anything but I have a plan. A minimum of an hour a night after work - no matter how tired I am because we all know that even when we are tired, once we start at our work tables we suddenly are refreshed. And that begins tonight - the day after Beltane - a good time for new beginnings.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for coming along for the ride. If you want to make some shrines with me I'll create a flickr site for us all. I won't hold you to making 600 though.

xx

enchy

It's been a very long time

2011-04-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

Life has been not so great but it's taking a turn upward so I feel I can write again. My beloved Irie died last October, followed quickly by Fuzzle the same month. Frida lost her battle with cancer in November. I had H1N1 flu in late December that turned into pneumonia - I was pretty much in bed for the month of January and then had a reaction to the meds or perhaps from the virus, I developed peripheral neuropathy in my hands - which means my fingertips have felt like bees have been stinging them since the 2nd week of January. In February my beloved Charles had a heart attack, from which thankfully, he has recovered. But the same week he came home from the hospital my sweet boy dog Zeke suddenly died. And my mother has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.

Things around Casa de Enchy have been pretty morose. But Spring has arrived (kind of) and the doctors are experimenting with new medications for my hands that haven't gotten rid of the pain, but have made it somewhat more manageable.

A lot of good has actually come from the trauma of the past few months. I've had lots of time to think about art - to plan a 'big new project'. I've developed a compassion and empathy for my mother and her illnesses after being so sick - pneumonia was horrible - terrifying actually, not being able to really breathe. It was awful. And that is how she must feel every day - so now I have an idea of what her life is like and I can be more patient with her. Charles has quit smoking (after 40+ years) and is eating better - he's actually eating vegetables every day! so while his heart attack was not something I would wish on anyone, it has resulted in positive change.

The 'big new project' is still in development in my mind but hopefully, if the meds keep working, I'll be able to start it soon. In the meantime, here's a photo of my newest doll!

Stay tuned.

Think different

2011-02-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

A new project

2010-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

I love taking classes at Joggles.com - I really do. I haven't taken one in a while and signed up for a poly clay class taught by Christi Friesen because I haven't played with clay in a long time and I needed to push myself into doing something new. At first I thought that perhaps this project was too complicated for me, but once I got going I had a blast. Here's what I made.

Pretty sweet huh? And it was lots of fun. Christi teaches lots of classes and I highly recommend taking a class from her if you get a chance. She also has some tutorials on her website - some are free, others are a nominal fee. They are great as well. Since I had the clay out I decided to try one. I made the steampunk bug but since I'm not a steampunk kinda gal, I just substituted rhinestones for the gears!

I'm working on the Luna Moth now. These are really fun little projects that are much easier than I ever thought they'd be. I can't wait for the next class.

back from the edge

2010-04-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been MIA - a rather deep, dark depression overcame me for a few months and I withdrew from life for awhile. But, the fog is lifting and I'm working again on some projects - YAY!

Last month was my annual trip to Artfest - my artgirl Sarah came and hung out at Casa Enchy for a few days around the event and we had great fun, including a side trip to the Mecca for all beaders - Shipwreck Beads.

As is always the case, there were good and not so good experiences at Artfest - most importantly I had a great time with my art girls at Camp Runamuckus and met some new friends and had a lot of laughs. Sure there was art mafia drama - there always is - I don't understand the point of it all - it reminds me of middle school antics. "I won't talk to you because she said that you said . . ." or "she stole my technique" or "that was my idea and she stole it". Folks, I've been on the round earth for a very long time and let me tell you, there isn't much that's new - sure there are some innovative uses of products and sure some people do some very clever things but paintings of sad girls with big eyes and titled heads have been in and out of vogue before and gluing a bunch of found objects together has been around for nearly half a century and when it comes down to it, I just don't understand why more people can't be happy to share and nuture one another. There are lots of women who I know have my back, who are willing and eager to share ideas and encourage one another - but then, there are the others.

It was one of the "others" that got me really thinking HARD about art and craft and who I am and who I am not - She said "I used to really admire your work but now that I know your politics, I don't like it anymore" - huh? I thought about this statement on and off for a few months - my politics? I thought a lot about my public self and my private self - about whether or not my private self should be kept a secret in order to be 'successful' as an artist. I know lots of people who present a pleasant facade at all times - they don't say anything controversial, they are all kumbaya and sweet - they post photos to their blog of beautiful little areas of their home made all soft and fuzzy with photoshop and never say a word about how they 'feel' about anything important (or perhaps they just don't think that there are issues that are worth mentioning) and that works for them but I don't think it works for me - I see too much in the world that is ugly and cruel and if it is my 'politics' to speak out about these things be they related to domestic or foreign policy and simply the way people I know treat one another, then so be it. My politics - particularly with regard to social issues and government are a vital part of who I am - and in turn, what I create.

So that's what has been on my mind as of late - big thoughts - big issues.
Anyway - back to Artfest. I took some fun classes - I didn't really learn much of anything but I did use materials I purchased years ago and never used so that's a good thing in itself.

The first day I took a tin working class with Liesel Lund who is an extremely kind hearted person and a great instructor. I liked her a lot. In this class I did learn something - how to use that little jewelers saw without breaking a bzillion blades. This is what I made - pretty cute huh?

The 2nd day I took Melissa Manley's class - I liked this class too - I particularly liked the way that Melissa explained some of the process - she reminded me of the Alton Brown of jewelry making - drawing little pictures to explain how the metal particles accept the solder - I love that stuff. I wasn't able to do the actual soldering in the class because of the height of the table set up and my arthritis issues but I watched Sarah a LOT so I think I'll be able to do it myself at home where I can set things up at a height that will work for me. This is what I made in this class - again - pretty sweet.

The last day was a class with Lynne Perrella that was interesting. Though I haven't worked with paper in years as I've mostly transitioned to fabric, I was drawn to the class description because of the bright colors and the technique used to apply them. Though we didn't have much time to actually work on our pieces, I got the basic idea of how some techniques were done and will apply them on a different substrate soon. My piece is far from finished and I don't think it will actually get finished because it was really just a learning piece - I might cut it up and reuse it bits of it elsewhere. But here it is. See - she's just rather floating in the air - I can forsee it taking several hours to finish her - she tacked up on the studio wall now looking at me - we'll see what happens with her.

This year, for the first time, I entered some pieces in the gallery show at Artfest and even though the gallery was only open for a very brief period every day, I even sold one. The theme this year was fairy tales.

So you may be thinking "yeah, yeah, yeah - where are the bead?" - they'll be back soon - I promise.

It's nearly November.

2009-10-28T11:53:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog (so much for my good intentions). We've been working on a tiny bit of remodeling of the house and taken over a great deal of my time. Charles textured the walls and repainted in the kitchen/dining room and I've been working on painting loteria card images on the cabinet doors and sewing curtains. I still have quite a bit of work to do but hopefully, it will be done by the holidays.
.
I suppose we could finish jobs more easily if we didn't have so many occurring simultaneously. We've been working on the studio as well and have converted one of the bedrooms into the supply storage/my dressing area. So we've been tearing up the last of the carpeting, laying tile, painting and reorganizing, purging and repurposing.

I've also been working on some little projects for C&T Publishing - here are a few of them:

The beads will be coming out again this weekend. I need to finish up the last bits of the Bead Journal Project pieces for this year and get ready for the coming round. Registration is now open for the third round of the project so get yourself over to the website to read the details and sign up!

July page continues

2009-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's been unreasonably hot in the Pacific NW - though I grew up in the midwest, it's been a long time since I've had to live in weather that is in the 90's with 50% humidity. Today the heat is supposed to climb to over 100 which would be a record for this area. I've been thinking about childhood summers spent in Michigan because of this heat and remembering summer vacations that we would take. Quite often we would go 'up north' to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where there were lakes and streams and waterfalls and, my favorite, tourist attractions. I have old photos of me as a child standing next to Paul Bunyon and Babe his blue ox statues, pictures in front of waterfalls and in parks full of cement dinosaurs. One of my fondest memories is the summer we spent at Grand Marais on Lake Superior and walking the beaches looking for agates and visiting places where there were old log slides into Lake Superior and the bowl-like look of the water with their concentric rings in various shades of turquoise, blues and greens. The rings were like the agates in a way. I spent the rest of that summer with my little toy rock tumbler polishing up stones we found on the lake shore. I wish I still had some of the souvenirs from those times - I do, however, have an old silver and turquoise ring with an oval stone quite similar to the one in the upper corner of my July page.

When I started working on the July Bead Journal Project page, I really didn't know where I was going. I hadn't beaded in June and was kind of 'stuck' and remembered what I'd read in one of Robin's books about just picking some fabric, picking and bead and beginning and that's what I did. Now the work is turning into the concentric rings of agates and Lake Superior. I'll have to see where it goes from here, but hopefully I'll finish this weekend.

Bead Muse Returns from Vacation

2009-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

It appears that my bead muse has returned from her extensive vacation. It's been quite a few weeks since I did any bead embroidery - it just wasn't in me. I puttered with other things but the beads were always in the back of my head. This past weekend as I was organizing some supplies I came across a small bag of various stone cabs and the bead muse suddenly flew into the room and I started stitching again. I'm not certain where this is going but I'm quite pleased with it for now.

The Bead Journal Project is nearly over for this year and a new round will start next January. If you are interested in participating, be certain to check out the website as updates will be posted there. There is also an announcement only Yahoo list that will post updates on registration times. If you would like to be added to this list, just let me know and I'll send you an invitation or go here and join.

I've had a 'little helper' in the studio lately. My baby dog Zakk feels the need to lay on one of the studio work tables so that he can look out the window. He takes over the two cat beds that are there (and the cats are soooo not amused). I think he is jealous of the big dogs because they can just stand at the window and look out but he is so much smaller than them that he prefers to get on the table. He cracks me up.

Missing: Bead Muse

2009-07-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

So the bead embroidery fairy seems to have left me temporarily and I can't seem to find her. I have, however, been sewing little fabric collage quilties. Here's another one. This one amuses me to no end. I don't know who the little girl is - I found her image in my 'stash' and loved the little smug look on her face. Someone asked what the number refers to - it really refers to nothing. I found that little ribbon on the floor in the 'art asylum' at ArtFiberFest several years ago and tucked it into my bag. It surfaced again when I was working on this piece. If you knew how much 'stuff' there is in my 'studio' (aka room of stuff), you'd know what a miraculous effort it must have taken for this wee ribbon to work its' way to the top of the heap, so I felt that it needed to be included (along with the odd green safety pin) in this 'badass' quilty.

Happy Birthday Frida (a day late)

2009-07-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

I worked on this over the weekend and meant to post it yesterday in honor of Frida's birthday. I'm working through the collage camp videos from KC Willis and learning so much new stuff (I love learning new stuff!). I have about 15 new fabric collages in various stages of completion - most awaiting treasures that are coming in the mail - rhinestones and vintage millinery flowers and hatchets - yes, hatchets - isn't that intriguing?

More later. . .

A very cool thing

2009-06-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

As I've written before, I'm participating in K.C.Willis' Collage Camp and Mixed Media Mania classes and am learning a ton and have lots of fun (finished projects coming soon, I promise). Well KC is beginning to offer Studio Retreats right at her very own Lipstick Ranch in Colorado. How cool is that? I'm starting to save my pennies right now because I don't want to miss out on this opportunity. What a great way to have a vacation - I can't think of a better one - KC provides everything you need - no schlepping the sewing machine and a suitcase of supplies across the country. I can tell you from personal experience, that can get to be a real drag. At the Studio Retreats you just show up and make art. Like I said before, how cool is that?

If you want to learn more just go here. Tell KC I sent ya'. And to temp you even more - here's a sample of her amazing work!

Paper and Fabric (and beads?) Oh My!

2009-06-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of the projects that I'm working on in that on-line Joggles.com class with Jane LaFazio. When I first started the project I got a little overwhelmed. Do WHAT? and then huh? - but I plugged along, following the directions (sort of), the whole time thinking "well this is a bunch of crap" and then lo and behold, when I got to the final step I liked it. This is fabric and watercolor paper and a lot of gel medium. I think that I would like to do this again but BIG and in just fabric with a lot of Steam-A-Seam instead of medium. I also think that this needs a few beads? What do you think?

May is finally completed -

2009-06-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

It took a good long while but my May Bead Journal Project page is finally completed and I can move on to my June page (though I doubt it will be completed during these last few remaining days in the month). I'm also participating in Collage Camp, taking a class with Jane LaFazio at Joggles and am getting geared up to participate in the shrine segment of Mixed Media Mania. My plate is full, it seems like all the sewing machines are running at once (oh if only I could really accomplish that) and the studio is a giant heap of fabric and trim and beads (with the occasional cat napping in the middle) so I should have something completed soon to share. There are numerous projects in various stages of construction and I need to simply sit down and finish them. I did finish the May page, so there is hope for me.

Speaking of beads . . .

2009-06-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

My old friend Kelly is an amazing jewelry artist. When I first started accumulating beads I thought I'd make jewelry but I just don't have the eye for it. I look at a pile of beads and wire and findings and say "hmmmm I wonder if I could somehow sew that together instead?", hence the bead embroidery came to pass. But Kelly has been making jewelry for years and she keeps getting better and better. I hadn't stopped by her website for awhile and when I did I was blown away, not just because of her great jewelry, but because of the amazing contest she is having on her blog. She is giving away her stash - yes - her stash. You know - those odds and ends that you have little bits of or you know you'll never use but someone else would love? Yes, those. Giving them away. Want to find out how you can win them? Go check out her blog - Silver Parrot.

Gone Camping

2009-06-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well my idea of camping - since 'roughing it' in my book is a hotel without room service, the thought of actually *camp camping* is the furthest thing from my mind when I think of a summer vacation. Instead I've discovered a most wonderful camp experience that I can enjoy in the privacy of my own home (or back yard if I use the laptop) Collage Camp! - how amazingly cool is that. KC Willis of Lipstick Ranch fame has opened an art camp on line - with videos and a community and your own page to post your work, you learn new things and have the opportunity to share and get feedback from all the other amazing folks that are there. We share tips on finding supplies and there's even a section on errors others have made so we can avoid them (like wait for glue to dry before you sew - I've done that one myself a few times). So, if you are interested in fabric collage, check it out.

KC also has some new mixed media classes starting as well - Altered Book Workshop, Altars and Shrines and Works on Paper. I'll probably be taking one or two of those later in the summer - they look amazinging fun.

I really encourage you to try one of the on-class class experiences. I learn a lot and really enjoy these experiences - in a different way than say going to ArtFest, but I learn every bit as much, plus there's the added advantage of working at your own pace and on your own schedule (and not wearing shoes - that helps too). With so many people facing financial uncertainty and not going on a proper vacation, taking one of these classes can be a relatively inexpensive way to have some special 'me' time. Plus there is the perk of meeting new people on line who share the same interests as you. Give it a shot - I know you'll like it.

In the meantime, my plate is pretty full. I'm taking another amazing class from Jane LaFazio at Joggles.com. I had such a great time and learned so much in the last class I took from her (even though I never finished my projects), I had to take another when I saw it posted. The first week was all about painting backgrounds for our little art quilts - I had a BLAST-A-RAMA! I love love love splashing paint around and dug out some stencils and stamps and played with those too. I knew there was a reason I kept so many of my supplies from the old rubber stamping days - you never know when this stuff is going to come in handy. Here are a couple of my backgrounds - if you want to see the rest, journey over to my flickr page

And of course last, but never least, the project most dear to my heart - the Bead Journal Project page for May is still in progress. It seems like I slow down the beading in the summer and summer has amazingly come to the Pacific Northwest. But I am plugging along on the May page and since I have a brilliant idea for June (okay - it's brilliant in my mind, we'll see how it goes), I have new motivation to finish May and begin June. Here's how the May page looks at the moment. Not much more to go and I can put the purple and gray beads away and take out something more colorful

2009-05-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

My Studio Wall

2009-05-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

We've been doing lots of renovating/redecorating at home lately. Charles has been out of work and between looking for a new job and practicing his guitar, he's been tackling chores around the house - boring things like re-caulking the bathroom and the windows and fun things (well fun for me) like texturing and painting walls. He even rebuilt my range and painted it black. His industriousness rubbed off on me and I've been doing a ruthless purge and organizing of the studio. While most of the projects aren't ready for viewing quite yet - one wall of the studio is ready and I'm so pleased with it. It features art from some of my friends and some of my own as well. It makes it a pleasure to step into the studio, even when I don't think I have the energy or enthusiasm to work. The wall makes me all warm and tingly - reminding of good times with friends and sipping on a cup of coffee and looking at the wall for a few minutes usually gets my muse fired up to get out the supplies and work - even if I only have a short time available. Like Martha would say 'it's a good thing'.

Slow but steady

2009-05-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've had a summer cold - or allergies - or something that has made it difficult to sit and bead - having my head bent down at 'beading angle' causes incredible sinus pain so I can only work for short periods of time. I've been working on the May Bead Journal Project page a little bit every day for the past couple of weeks and am finally nearing completion which is a good thing because I already have a plan for the June page.

And on to May

2009-05-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

I was stumped for the May Bead Journal Project page. Sometimes the most difficult thing is just beginning. I fondled many beads many times looking for inspiration, remembering what Robin Atkins writes in one of her books about just picking some fabric, picking a bead that speaks to you and sewing it on. But it just wasn't happening. Due to many forces the beads weren't singing to me - the only ones I gravitated to were dull, gray, sad little beads because my world seemed pretty gray and dull. And so, I brought out a little pile of sad gray beads and found the little slab of cut stone with some gray in it. Then I of course needed fabric and as I went through my stash I realized that I don't really have any dull, gray, sad fabric but I did find a fat quarter of some dull lavender and grabbed that. I set about to prepare my surface, pre-washing and ironing and tacking on the wool felt backing and began to sew the focal bead when I read the words printed on the fabric "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid". I hadn't really even noticed the print on the fabric before I sat down to work with it. But the words 'be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid' began to make perfect sense for this piece. I started with the knotted up, enclosed focal bead and then started to 'be bold'. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

My April ArtFest Bead Journal Page is done!

2009-04-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

And just in the nick of time, seeing as it's the last day of April - oh how I hope Spring really is on the way.

This page was a total departure from the norm for me and was a lot of fun - once I got over the 'it all has to be color-balanced' I had a lot of fun. As I wrote last time, there are many things on this page that were collected during ArtFest, so if they don't make sense to you - well that would be because they really aren't connected in any other way.

Now I'm off to think of what to do for May.

The Dogs

2009-04-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I'm owned by four dogs (well there are six cats too but they aren't quite so demanding). I've updated pictures of them on the sidebar. Irie is my old grumpy bossy girl. Every time I think she's on her last legs, she surprises me by chasing Zakk up the hill. Zeke is the same age as Irie, but since he extends very little energy (i.e. he's a slug) he doesn't seem quite as old. Zeke's best trick is laying down to eat and grabbing everyone's food bowls with his paw and pulling them over to him so he can finish their food as well.

When we got Mushu, my son and his wife were VERY concerned. She's a Tibetan Mastiff, Rottweiler, Pit Bull mix - they were certain she'd be quite vicious - she's anything BUT - she's the sweetest girl in the world and loves to be brushed and to snuggle up with you in bed. Like I always say 'punish the deed, not the breed'.

Zakk? well Zakk is another story - a wild boy - still not totally housebroken but are terriers EVER totally housebroken? He's very smart and very inquisitive and very cute and he totally loves Charles - they are two peas in a pod those two.

And that is the update on the dogs.

April Page

2009-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Every year I come home from ArtFest with all sorts of little treasures - mostly gifts and trades. I usually put them in a box and never give them another thought until I'm doing a major studio clean/renovation and come across the boxes and think "well I can't really throw this wonderful stuff out but. . . ". So I close up the boxes and put them back in the cupboard where they stay until I come across them again. This year I decided to incorporate some of my favorite ArtFest treasures into my April Bead Journal Project page. This entire page is quite a departure from the norm for me. Everything about it is pretty random - the color scheme, the 'theme', and again, as always, I don't know where I'm going with it. The orange button with my name on it was my name tag from the event. I cut the back off of it and did a rather free form peyote stitch around it. The square collage in the center is by Randi Feuerholm-Watts. She didn't come to ArtFest this year but participated in a collaborative project that I was in and sent her pieces along with some one else. The 'theme' of this years' ArtFest was "sea monsters" and I really liked Randi's interpretation of that. The slumped glass is from Nancy Drew (yes, that's her real name) and the little button with the painting of the girl is from Sunny Carvalho who taught one of my classes. The small beaded button is from a woman named Sage and all the little polymer clay women remind me of my friends that I only see once a year at ArtFest. My friend Suz made us all 'sea kelp' fuzzy knit scarves - the ruffle is symbolic of the scarf I chose in pastel colors.

I have a whole bag of treasures I gathered at ArtFest - It will be interesting to see how I incorporate them along the way.

March BJP page is finally completed.

2009-04-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

I have been sick with a bad cold that I brought home as a souvenir from ArtFest and have been stitching away on my March page which is now finally completed. I also have begun work on the April page - it's a real change from me, incorporating several fun items I received as gifts/trades at ArtFest as well as being another color combination I don't frequently use - orange/peach, light blue, lime green and brown - we'll see how that works out. But for now, here is March 09.

Home from ArtFest

2009-04-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful time, playing with all sorts of media that I don't normally play with and having some bead time as well. Thursday's class was with Sunny Carvalho and while the subject matter wasn't terribly appealing to me initially, I wanted to learn how to use the Genesis Heat Set Paints that she uses for her faces. It was a wonderful class and I even grew to like the little big-eyed girl when I was done. Sunny is an excellent teacher - I just wish the class had been two days so we could have gotten a bit more in-depth about portrait painting.

The second day of class I took another class from Karen O'Brien. I took a different class from her last year and really enjoyed her class and thought I could learn a bit more from her, which I did. The other great part of this class was sitting with my friend Lelainia Lloyd as well as meeting a delightful married couple. The four of us chattered away all day whilst painting and gluing - It was really a fun day.

My Saturday class was with Keely Benkey (previously Barham). Keely is the best teacher, bar none - My friends and I say we would love an ArtFest where it was 'all Keely, all the time' and this class was no exception. Though there were several people in the class who quite possibly had never held a beading needle before, Keely managed to have everyone work at their own pace. I'd never done bead weaving before, in fact, I must admit, I didn't even know the simply peyote or square stitch before this class, but I had lots of fun (with the help of my buddy Sarah) and anticipate using some of what I learned in future Bead Journal Project pages.

As much as I enjoyed myself at ArtFest and laughed until all hours of the morning and survived on far too little sleep and saw friends I only see once a year, I was happy to be on the ferry boat coming home early Sunday morning. And I'm already looking forward to ArtFest 2010!

by the skin of my teeth

2009-03-31T11:44:00.001-07:00

I managed to start the March BJP page during the actual month! This page is representative of St. Patrick's Day - the historic perspective of this day that is really a day of religious intolerance in many ways. The driving of the snake from Ireland being symbolic of driving out the old pagan ways. I'm trying to learn more about the world and so did some reading on the history of Ireland and its' long history of discrimination against the Irish people - both in their own country and when they immigrated to America - not all that long ago signs saying "No Irish need apply" were commonplace - can you imagine that happening now? Okay - enough with my history lesson - here's the beginnings of the March page.

I'm off to ArtFest in the morning for my annual battery recharge - lots of eye candy upon my return.

FINALLY!!

2009-03-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

February is finished - I don't know why it took so long but it did - Time to put all the beads away and start on March though I think that I may start April and take it to ArtFest with me to work on there.

still

2009-03-23T21:37:00.001-07:00

plugging away on the February page - I came very close to finishing it on Saturday - I sat and watched "A Streetcar Name Desire", "The Corpse Bride" and "Frida" while I beaded. I always cry at the end of Frida - you'd think I'd know she dies. Anyway, I beaded while I watched movies and long into the night but when there was maybe another hour or so of work to be done - I just couldn't go on. I was soooo tired. Hopefully I'll get some time after work this week to finally finish. Here's a photo of the 'scene of the crime' - the mess I develop when beading. I have a giant studio with tables and countertops that my beloved built for me but do I use it? NO! I work at a tiny tv tray table. He (the beloved) screwed a larger piece of wood onto the top of it because he got tired of seeing me work in such a small space.

This past weekend I also finished up with the seed bead organization. It is so nice to be able to actually *find* things and it's ever so much easier to put everything away when I'm finished. This process helped me to learn that I have far too many blue-green/teal beads and hardly any brown or gray ones.

Still plugging through February

2009-03-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on the turning in circles February BJP page - I've never been this tardy before - I feel like I work on this page all the time but it never seems to get done - I know I'm making progress, it just doesn't feel like I'm making enough progress. Hopefully the March page will go faster - I already have an idea for it but I don't want to start it until February is finished.

slow progress

2009-03-09T14:00:00.001-07:00

First off - let me say I am so tired of snow - It snowed again here in the Pacific Northwest, the place where it doesn't snow - remember? that's why I moved here from Detroit?

I've got too many irons in the fire - the Bead Journal Project, a class on Joggles.com, getting ready for ArtFest, a collaborative necklace project. . . and making slow progress on each of them.
Here is the work to date on the February Bead Journal Project page.

and updates on progress on 2 of the six projects for the joggles.com class - I'm so far behind on that one - thankfully my boss at my day job is going to Mexico next week so I'll have more free time. (yay!)

I really kind of like the back of the painted quilt - I might try doing something like this in the future - just free motion line drawing on muslin - pretty fun huh?

So that's where I'm at this second week of May - behind on a lot of things and just rather discombobulated - If I owe you a phone call or an email response, I'm sorry - I'll get to it as soon as I can - life is just rather annoying right now.

My poor neglected blog

2009-03-02T14:02:00.001-08:00

I have too many projects in process at one time. The class on joggles.com involves a different mini-quilt technique each week. Somehow my 'mini-quilts' have turned into larger projects and those coupled with my Bead Journal Project page, working on a couple of round robin projects I'm participating in, getting trades ready for Artfest and oh yeah, my day job that is 40 hours a week with an added 10 hours of commute time and I've really felt like I'm burning the candle at both ends. Hopefully, now that the days are longer I'll feel like working more when I get home from the office rather than just curling up with a good book. Speaking of good books, I just received The Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing and is really is a fun read and true candy for the eyes. Everything Kathy does is so bright and colorful. And she quotes ME in the book! What better recommendation could I give you than that?

Now on to the works in progress. I finished a second landscape quilt. It was really fun working on these and I hope to do a larger one in the future.

Another class project was a painted quilt - I selected my puppy Zakk as my subject (and no he didn't hold still, I used a photograph). The painting process was really surprisingly easy once I got the hang of it. The quilty is pinned together now, waiting for some machine (and possibly hand) quilting.

And yet another class project was a felt applique quilt - I got a little carried away with this one - la Catrina is very big - about 20 - 30 - Since this photo was taken, I've removed those pink leaf sequins, added a turquoise felt 'flounce' to the brim of the hat and a garden of bead and sequin embellished flowers - I'm thinking la Catrina might be done by the end of the month. After the surface is done, I'll still need to quilt her and finish the border. Now you can see what I mean when I said I got carried away with these projects - the class format was to do 8 x 10 inch sample quilts - I should have followed directions.

And last but not least is the little applique bird quilt - I came closer to following the size suggestions this time. I think I'll finish this one with some hand embroidery and free motion machine quilting - all in yellow threads. And maybe some shiny black buttons to finish it off.

Work also continues on the 'turning in circles' February Bead Journal Project page, though I've been remiss about taking in progress photos of the page. I'll try to do that soon.

So what have YOU all been making?

Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear comments and/or suggestions for my quilties.

something new

2009-02-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a break from the circles, letting my finger heal up while waiting for a leather thimble to come in the mail (who would have thought it would be so difficult to find one locally? certainly not me).

I'm taking another on line class at Joggles.com. I love taking these classes - they give me a sense of structure that I can still work on according to my own schedule. The current class is being taught by Jane LaFazio who is an amazing artist and the topic is art quilts. The first one was a 'landscape' quilt. This was the lesson that least appealed to me when I looked at the class description, but I'm really glad now that I went ahead and did the project (and of course I added a few beads).

February BJP page beginnings

2009-02-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been running in circles lately - can you tell?

Vintage?

2009-01-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

I love vintage glass beads, especially the flower shaped ones. I don't know what it is about the glass but it just seems different (it probably has heavy metals in it so don't put them in your mouth). One of my favorite time wasting habits is searching the net for vintage glass beads and herein is the problem. I think of something as being vintage if it is OLDER THAN ME which means something manufactured before the 1950's. I think we're heading toward antique status here rather than vintage but in my world, it's still vintage. Imagine my surprise when I pop 'vintage' into a search engine and find plastic - vintage plastic? plastic? that's not vintage - (now before you correct me please remember that this is my own personal world that we're talking about here) and these plastic beads aren't cool bakelite which is really resin and not plastic anyway - we are talking about things taht I found in my Aunt Elaine's jewelry box when I was a child in the 60's. NOT VINTAGE - (remember this is still my own private world we are discussing).

The same goes for the Melamine that they are now selling at vintage - it was ugly at Aunt Ruth's house and it's ugly now. My children (who are in their 30's) were so excited when they received a set of 'vintage' melamine dinnerware for their wedding - the pattern was the same that my Aunt Alice had with those mod little rounded triangle thingys - ugh. And the 'vintage rafia tumblers'. I saw some on eBay for $12.50 each. They used to give those to you at the gas station when you filled your tank (after they were done checking your air pressure, oil and windshield wiper fluids).

I suppose now I'm sounding like my Grandma Lola - remembering the 'good old days' - but that's not it at all. All I ask is that when searching for things that are 'old', I don't find things that were manufactured after I was born. Is that too much to ask?

Snow!

2009-01-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

I woke up to a snow covered world and stayed home from work and finished my second January page. I really need to learn how to use a thimble because one of the fingers on my right hand looks like ground meat.

Continuation of 2nd January page

2009-01-26T21:39:00.001-08:00

I'm really enjoying playing with all of these new stitches - It's taking a long time to do but I really do love the bottom portion of this piece - I'm so glad that I decided to do another January page.

progress on 2nd January BJP page continues

2009-01-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

and I'm still having fun!

January page - again

2009-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Robin Atkins new book Heart to Hands, I've begun a second page for January for the Bead Journal Project. I am having so much fun learning and experimenting with new stitches. Here's the beginning of the second page for this month.

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

I finished my January Bead Journal Project page over the weekend. It's quite a different 'look' for me - I feel like this month is all about change and as I wrote previously, there are a lot of changes involved in this page - change in needles, change in colors, change even in backing material, using metals - lots of change - some of it good, some of it not so good. I liked the new needles, didn't care for the tear away stabilizer backing and red, white and blue is still not my favorite color combination. Here is the finished page.

Arrggg!

2009-01-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

I tried something new this past weekend - a beaded doll. Somehow I didn't think it would be so difficult - boy was I wrong! Stitching around a 3 dimensional surface is a whole different ball game than simply stitching beads to fabric. I poked myself, I swore a LOT, I almost gave up but I decided to stick it out - even if the result was - well - funny looking. I'm proud of myself for finishing, even though I really wanted to give it to the cats to bury in their box. I still want to make a beaded doll, but I think that I will wait for either a class or have my friend Megan Noel teach me because 'do it yourself' dolls just don't seem to work.

And now - for your amusement is beaded doll #1 (she has hips just like mine)

New Year Beading

2009-01-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas and my son's birthday on New Year's Day due to the horrible weather conditions here on the actual day. While the kids were here I worked on a little 5 x 5 inch beaded square. While I was in Phoenix that last time I'd purchased a couple of small packets of mixed beads just because I liked the color combinations and then thought "well, what am I going to do with these?". The answer was this little square. It was really mindless and fun to do.

This weekend I started the January BJP page. Changes. There are lots of changes happening - a new year, a new president and new direction for this country. I thought I might make some changes myself so for this piece I used a different size of needle (I used short size 10's while I regularly use very long ultra thin needles; I used silamide while i normally use nymo; I used different colors of thread while I normally use one neutral color throughout a piece. I even used a different backing - a tear away stabilizer rather than my standard wool felt. And, I used a totally different color combination than I would normally use. This is inspired by politics and the upcoming innaguration as well as anything else. The larger metal piece says 'imagine' and the small pebble says 'peace'. The weather has been unseasonably cold and my arthritis has been bothering more than usual because of it so I've spent the entire weekend in the house beading. I am trying to slow down so that I can enjoy the process of this page more but it doesn't seem to be happening.

something silly

2008-12-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

After working for so many hours on the December Bead Journal Project page I wanted to do something relaxing and so I decided to make silly sock monsters - except I used baby sized socks. They just make me laugh - It also makes me laugh seeing Zakk the puppy try to sneak them off the sewing table. Rather than torture him with temptation, I've packed them up and shipped them out to surprise someone.

December page completed

2008-12-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

>
Being snowed in has had its' advantages as I finished up my December page this evening. I have an idea brewing for January but think I need to spend a day re-organizing my bead stash and I've not really put anything away in its' proper spot since this BJP began in September and it's difficult to tell what I have on hand.

How do you organize your beads? I've tried sorting by color, sorting by size, but it still seems like even when the beads are 'sorted' there is still a big jumble in each color drawer and I spend far far too much time finding what I want to use instead of actually beading.

Here's December completed.

December BJP page continues

2008-12-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

Still snowed in - this is getting very very old, very very fast. I broke out the size 15 beads this morning figuring that since I had so much time to work on this page, I might as well use them.

snowbound

2008-12-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

We've had quite abnormal weather here for the past week and I've been stuck in the house due to ice and snow which of course became the focus of my December Bead Journal Project page. It's still snowing so possibly I'll get this finished before Christmas. I never thought I'd WANT to go to the office so badly.

November BJP Finally Finished!

2008-12-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

This one took me a very long time - a page of conflict, it offered me lots of conflicts. I'm not very happy with it, but I'm glad it's done. I've started December and am back to my 'comfort zone' of cool colors.

Here's November

Still stuck

2008-12-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

I'm still stuck on my November Bead Journal Project page and have not begun December. I have this 'thing' about finishing a page before I proceed to the next month - a 'thing' that may have to be changed.

I have been working on some other projects - I took an on line class from Carla Sonheim that was very enjoyable. We made a fabric book and bag.

At the last minute I joined one of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' projects where everyone sends in 12 hand made gifties and the hostess swaps them out so everyone gets a package back with 12 gifties - Of course I joined this at the last possible moment and so spent a very long time working on projects that I thought would go quickly. I made felt hearts that I needle felted some fiber onto and then embellished with beads and sequins and added a pin back. They were really fun to make.

In other news, baby Zakk had a pretty significant urinary track infection but after spending a lot of money at the vet, he is back to his old speed racer self.

Mushu had to have a bit of surgery and since I spoiled her terribly upon her return from hospital, she now believes she should always sleep in our bed under the covers with her head on a pillow and should always eat human food fed to her by spoon. I've created a monster. (She's awfully cute though isn't she?)

Hopefully I'll get to my November page soon so that I can progress onto December. I haven't even begun to think of a focus on the December page, I'm so perplexed with November.

Slow going in November

2008-11-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

This page has me perplexed, but the whole month of November was pretty unsettling thus the November page is unsettling - well at least to me - there's lots going on, most of it in my head but the basis of the November page is opposition - colors (things/people) who should 'go together' but don't, just like orange and blue are complimentary colors but aren't quite complimentary on this page - the page is a little jarring to me - I think it needs a mirror - I'll see if I can find one.
Hopefully I can finish the page this week and move on to the December page and something a bit 'prettier'.

The Seven Tagger thing

2008-11-12T14:47:00.001-08:00

I found out today I've been tagged by the lovely CarolL and so here are my responses:
Here are the rules of the game :

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have 4 dogs and 6 cats.
2. I don't eat anything that swims.
3. I almost always have a digital camera in my handbag.
4. I am an only child.
5. My son is an only child as well.
6. I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up yet.
7. I am very happy with the results of the recent presidential election in the US.

And now to tag others - hmmm -

1.KiwiEllen
2. Sabine\
3. Cynthia
4. Theresa
5. cynjon
6. Paula
7. Freebird

beading on the fly

2008-11-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm in Phoenix once again tending to my mother. It's a horror what the airlines can do to vials of beads packed in checked baggage. Luckily I secured everything in zip-lock bags so I have some interesting mixes but no bead soup on the bottom of my suitcase.

I worked on the November page for a bit in the waiting room at the hospital today while my mother was having a heart catheterization. I could only work for a little while because there was just so much sadness in that room with people all stressed and doctors coming out to share not such good news.

An interesting thing here - perhaps it's everywhere and I just don't know it - when a baby is born at the hospital, the birth is announced over the intercom and brahms lullaby is played. It was charming the first few times - I don't think I'd like to work there though - perhaps you learn to ignore it.

And so mother is home now and we are experiencing a significant role reversal as now she is taking off her oxygen and sneaking out to the garage to smoke - she thinks she's fooling me. She's a grown woman - If having emphysema hasn't made her quit smoking, I don't think that I can accomplish it. I told her today that she was a grown woman who needed to make choices in her life - only she could determine whether or not drinking and smoking were important enough to shorten her life. If she felt that they were - then that is the route she should take. During the last few years of my father's life, he was miserable - he couldn't smoke his pipe, he couldn't eat the foods he liked, he had to eat foods he hated - everything was measured and calculated - I remember once I called him on his birthday and he said "I had fake eggs with fake sausage and toast with fake butter - I got half of a real banana though" - my father lived to eat - growing up during the depression was his excuse. But I often thought that if he'd lived 2 happy years instead of 3 and a half miserable ones - what would have been the difference. And that's basically how I'm feeling now with my mother. She has to make her own choices.

I think I've finally gotten her settled for the night so perhaps I can work on the beading for a bit.

Beginning November

2008-10-29T15:31:00.001-07:00

I've begun my November page a bit early, knowing that I'll probably end up doing my December page a bit late - it all evens out in the end. Once again this is a page that I have no plan for - Well I did kind of have a plan, but just like all of my other pages, it went out the window as soon as I sat down to bead. I don't know where the orange beads came from - suddenly they were just there and I rather like them there now that I'm used to them. We'll see where I go from here. I'm so happy that I decided on a rather largish sized page this year - it gives me more room to experiment.

October page finished!

2008-10-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

Earth tones are not my forte. In fact, I don't even own a pair of brown shoes much less anything else in those tones but October was a month of challenges and so I challenged myself with earth tones. I'm very glad it's finished. I grew tired of it long before it was finished. But as a person who often doesn't finished things she's not pleased with, I am proud of myself for completing it.

Slow progress on October

2008-10-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Life keeps getting in the way of beading but I'm making slow progress on October - beading when I get the chance to sit down for a few minutes.

And now for something completely different

2008-10-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

Are you old enough to remember when they used to say that on the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons?
First I'd like to thank all of the people who have been stopping by and writing such lovely comments about my September piece. I worked on it for so long that I started to not care for it myself so it really did wonders for me that so many of you enjoyed it. Thanks so much.

This year I decided to stretch myself with the Bead Journal Project - and so for October I'm working in earth tones - It's really difficult for me as I think you can tell by the rigidness of the beginnings of this page. I'm hoping that I can work some of 'me' in there while still keeping with the color pallette. I so seldom use these colors that I had to go to the bead store yesterday on my lunch hour to pick up some size 6 beads. Even the store had a limited selection! I managed to find some that I liked (like I could even think of going into a bead store and not find something!) and began work last night. I've half wanted to tear it out and start over but Robin's voice whispers in my ear saying 'keep going' and so here is the beginning.

September's page is finished

2008-09-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

September Storm at Sea 5 xx 11 inches - made with a sleeve in the back for hanging. I am excited to see all twelve of them hung in a row!

playing catch up

2008-09-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I've had some health issues that allowed me time to do some serious beading. I finished (gasp) the May Bead Journal Page - yes, another heart - the last heart. This one commemorating the marriage of my son and his wonderful beloved. The colors of the wedding were purple and green and as I did some beadwork for the wedding - (a beaded shrug and headpiece for the bride, and bracelets for her attendants) I had a LOT of purple and green beads left so this is where I went with this page. On the far right lower side of the page you can see beads in a 5 - 3 - 1 - 8 pattern. The wedding was 5/31/08 - it will help me to remember how long they've been married.

I also got some more work done on the September page - It's fun to use some of my 'treasures' that I've been hoarding - I think that every page this year will have some of those treasured pieces that I'm always waiting for the 'right time' to use - I had some lovely cashmere fabric that I was once waiting for the 'right time' to use - it got ruined in a flooded basement. Pretty silly waiting I think.

September Progress

2008-09-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

This is day four - I still don't know where this page is going - I generally at least have some sort of loose plan. This is an interesting experience.

My work space

2008-09-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Denise asked on her blog for folks to post pictures of their work spaces. Much to the disappointment of my boyfriend who built me an amazing studio with cabinets, counters and work tables, I work on a tv table. I also must put everything away whenever I leave the space for more than a minute or two because I have a puppy who loves to chew fabric and snatch my things to take to his bed and another dog who for some reason, loves to eat beads. But this is the set-up for today. There's a snap-locking file drawer next to the table where everything is stashed when I'm not working - it has more beads as well. I take out what I think I might use on a piece and keep everything in the box until the piece is done when I'll hopefully put everything back into it's color labeled drawer for the next project - I say hopefully because sometimes this just doesn't happen. When the Bead Journal Project ended for the past year, it took me a full day to find and sort and put away the beads that never got put away when the year was over.
Note the critical components - diet pepsi, remote control, magnifying glasses from the drug store that I wear on top of my bi-focals - it's quite an attractive look, I assure you.

Where is it going?

2008-09-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

The theme this year for Artfest is 'sea monsters'. I received my confirmation on Tuesday and it must have influenced my beading because I see some sea monster tentacles sliding into the piece. I wonder where it will go next.

Amazing Bead Artist

2008-09-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

I received an email this morning from a person with my same name. Now being named Diane Moore isn't that unusual - there are three Diane Moore's in the small town that I live in and we all go to the same vet. But to meet a Diane Moore who is an amazing bead artist? Now that is something pretty cool. So go check out her work - you won't regret it.

ps
her maiden name is Moore -

September Bead Journal Project

2008-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

I was stuck. I couldn't decide really where I wanted to go with the new year of the Bead Journal Project. Luckily I was involved in setting up the blogs and answering questions and fixing little things on them so I had lots of time to think about my page. Or maybe that wasn't such a good idea - thinking about it too much. And so yesterday, after re-reading Robin Atkins' book Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery one more time, I went through some fabric until I found one that said "use me!", and I went through the drawer marked 'focal beads' until one said "use me!" and I sewed it to the fabric and began.
And as I began to sew on more beads and shells and stones, the page began to come together. I really wanted a contrast of textures and I piled the pearls and crystals up next to the slice of stone (yes, it's stone, not bone as many people asked me).

Someone asked me where this page was going and to be quite truthful, I don't really know. The page is about the end of summer which is what September is to me. It's about the problems I've been having with my health related to my arthritis (that's where that bone-like chunk of stone comes in) and all sorts of other things that I haven't really worked out yet. There's still a lot of page to cover - the pages this year are 5 x 11 - yes it's large - I have a lot to say and I have a lot of large beads that I want to use. We'll see where it all goes.

September

2008-09-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

The new year of the Bead Journal Project is underway. It is really exciting to thing of all of the people in so many countries around the world working on the same project. I've been working on other projects but thinking of my bead journal size. I've decided to work in 5 x 11 inch rectangles situated vertically that will be sewn into a wall hanging at the end of the project.

I've just finished up a self imposed class on wool felting. I've wanted to learn for some time and finally just gathered up my books and supplies and had at it for the long holiday weekend. It really was fun and I plan to do much much more, perhaps even incorporating it into some of my bead journal pages.

Well this was pretty silly

2008-08-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

Roaming around on blogs of other BJP participants, I found this:

My Your Beady Name is: is Delica Miracle Bead.
Take Your Beady Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

What's YOUR beady name?

get ready . . get set . . . go!

2008-08-26T14:00:00.001-07:00

gather some beads

gather some fabric

sharpen your needles and condition your thread. I am so excited for this year's Bead Journal Project to begin I think my head will explode soon. I might just need to start a day or so early.

Wow - It's been a while

2008-08-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

The new year of the Bead Journal Project is about to start and I'm so excited to get going again - I won't be doing hearts again this year however, I'm thinking rectangles. I probably won't totally decide until I start this coming weekend.

The last few weeks have been filled with little projects. I finally finished the gypsy wagon I made for a swap. Unfortunately, I learned too late that one should make the container before they make the contents. I spent hours making and painting furniture that ended up being the wrong scale and not fitting into the wagon. Of course I think that might mean that I need to make a proper doll house now. (Maybe not) In any event, here is the wagon along with another photo of just some of the furniture that got made but didn't fit.

I also took several on line classes this summer, none of which I ever finished. Hopefully, I'll get to them sometime this fall when the rainy season begins and I'm not as likely to spend my time outside. One was a donoma stump doll that was very interesting to make. I took a class called 'the fairy catcher' where e were to make a doll holding a caged fairy. Unfortunately, all I got done was the fairy but

here she is.

While I was making dolls, I rekindled my love of making doll clothes and so acquired a Blythe and an American Girl doll to sew for. I really think this is going to be a lot of fun plus several of my friends have these dolls as well so I'll be able to sew gifts for their girls.

That's all from me until next week when the Bead Journal Project starts up again. If you'd like to read along, there are three Bead Journal Project blogs this year due to the number of participants, you can link to all of them from here. You can also subscribe to the posts from the same spot.

Tagged

2008-06-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Viviage tagged me for a meme. Click here for a definition of internet meme. If you've been tagged copy and paste the questions and post your answers in your own blog. Oh and let your chosen tagged peeps know they've been tagged.

Here are the questions:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Working at the same job I am now (a community mental health center). I was married, fully engulfed in doing ceramics to the point that I have a separate out building with a kiln, pouring table etc. and celebrating my son's graduation from the University of Washington.

2. 5 things on today's to-do list:

Apply another layer of papier mache to the project I'm working on in an on-line class.
Finish a report for work.
Pay the mortgage.

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Sour patch kids, pumpkin seeds, fruit

4. Things I'd do if I were a billionnaire!

Build a ranch for old dogs and horses and hire staff including vets to live there.

5. . Places I have lived:

Michigan, Southern California, Western Washington

6. Peeps I want to know more about:

Amber
Lisa
Carla

Good golly - I finally finished April

2008-06-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my April BJP page - yikes that took forever - hopefully the belated May page will be quicker and I can get to binding the whole thing before the project starts up again in September.

It's official - I'm a mother-in-law

2008-06-02T14:34:00.001-07:00

nearing the finish line

2008-05-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

The April BJP heart still isn't done. I'd forgotten how much work all the little details of putting together a wedding are and how time consuming it all is. I wouldn't trade it for anything though - it's been such fun spending so much time with the kids. The wedding is next weekend and then my time once again will be my own. I've signed up for 3 classes on joggles.com as compensation to myself for deciding my health just wasn't good enough to attend artfiberfest this coming fall and I'm really looking forward to them. Projects on the horizon include finishing the April BJP page, making the May page and then binding the hearts into a book. I'm also in the process of making a 3-D fiber/beaded gypsy wagon and possibly a project for the beaded book exhibition hosted by Beadwork Magazine. In the meantime, it was great fun to take advantage of a rare sunny day to take the hearts outside and take a picture of the 12 that are done all together.

I've just a bit more to finish on the April page - I've never had something go so slowly before - I just don't seem to have the interest in finishing it though I'm eager to start May.

Work continues

2008-05-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

on the wedding dress. It's not quite how I want it yet so I'll be going to the children's house to work on it again this weekend. I could probably finish it if I had it at home but I'm worried about the puppy somehow sinking his teeth into it so it stays safe and sound in a dog-free apartment. I did however get a picture of one of my grandkittens helping me sew last weekend. Also here is a shot of the beading I'm doing on the shrug that goes with the dress. The dress is strapless, the bride has many tattoos so we're using the shrug for some of the more formal wedding photos (like the ones that will be sent off to grandparents). The wedding dress work was quite frustrating this past weekend as the dress looked amazing until I hemmed it and then the hem was all wobbly no matter how much steaming I did - In the way olden days (who remembers this?) we used to buy little weights that we'd sew into the hem of jackets and dresses when we had this problem - the women at the fabric store looked at me like i was insane when I asked about them. So I've found some wonderful beaded trim to apply to the hem to give it a little weight - I'm thinking this will do the trick however hand sewing trim onto a bzillion inches of dress hem isn't my idea of a way to spend a Sunday afternoon but it's once in a lifetime - right?

i'm still plugging away on my April Bead Journal Project page. I've never been this tardy with a page before - I worked on it for a while last night and I'm thinking just a few more hours and it will be complete. Here's the work up until now. The women at Wynwood Beads in Pt. Townsend gave me those little white fish beads so I had to work them into the page somehow.

Mr Zakk the puppy is not getting very big which is a very good thing - in fact, he's much smaller than any of the other dogs. Of course he's only six months old but it doesn't seem like he's really going to grow all that much larger. He's getting better about not destroying too many things while we are at work but he can't resist my shoes and is determined to get to them no matter how securely I think I've stashed them - this boy can open closets and drawers! As I've said a million times, it's a good thing he's cute.

It's been a few weeks

2008-05-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

Since my last post. Upon return from ArtFest I suffered a flare of my arthritis and fibromylagia that - to put it bluntly - kicked my butt. Couple that with the wedding dress I'm making for my son's beloved and the regular ups and downs of daily life and I was left with little time to attend to my blog.

I am feeling brighter now (or perhaps it's that it appears that spring may have finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest) and have been working on the April BJP page. I decided to try something new this month and am attempting a landscape of sorts - the landscape being that shore at Fort Worden where ArtFest is held. The working title of this piece is "The Rocky Shore". I'm not overly excited about this piece as, once again, my fingers are not doing what my brain wants them to but I am plugging along because this project was really meant to be a learning experience for me.

The next Bead Journal Project begins this September and I encourage you all to participate. This has been the best learning experience for me, in the virtual company of a few hundred beading folks for support and advice. The information is here. Check out the rest of the website while you are there.

Hopefully I'll have a finished page as well as a finished wedding dress to share next week.

Home from Artfest

2008-04-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

I had a great time. I go mostly to see my friends and hang out but this year the classes were excellent as well which was an added bonus.

Thursday I took the Precious Metal Clay class. It was very interesting to me that it was so similiar to the low fire clay that I have worked with for years. I never do my best work in a classroom setting, but I really did enjoy making these charms. We also learned how to set stones and fire the clay both in a little wee kiln and with a torch.

Friday was the Icons class - It was very low key and fun - just mostly slapping paper and paint around. I sat with my friend Leilainia and that was the best part of the day.

Saturday was the Creative Characters day. I don't know if I was overly tired or what but the first part of this class nearly frustrated me to tears - I was ready to turn in my artist card but the teacher helped and suddenly a little light when on in my brain - If you ever get the chance Karen O'Brien is an incredibly wonderful and skilled teacher. I highly recommend taking class from her and would love to take another. After much gnashing of teeth and furrowing of brow I got this little painting done - It was really quite fun.

The dogs were overjoyed to have me home and I was happy to be back to my own comfy bed. Next on the agenda - a wedding dress.

p.s - There are tons more Artfest pictures on my flickr page.

On line classes

2008-03-31T12:59:00.001-07:00

I've been having just a wonderful time taking on line classes at joggles.com. I finished up my projects in the Funky Felt Pin class. These were such fun - here are a couple of my favorites - the rest can be see on my flickr site.

I also finished my third project in the Fertile Earth class - It is supposed to be a Canadian Thistle but my friend Suz thinks it's Christmasy. The central floral bit is deep purple rather than the fuschia color that shows up here.
I'm off to Artfest later this week and will have tons of photos and stories upon my return.

In other news, the Bead Journal Project is continuing for another year beginning this September. If you would like to participate, I'll have sign up information here later this summer. It really is a fun project with a supportive group of people - beginners are welcome - in fact, I'd never done any bead embroidery at all when I started last year. This project gives me just a wee bit of structure that I need to complete something every month without the stress of deadlines to mail something off to someone. So if you've enjoyed viewing my beaded hearts this year and would like to try your hand at it, don't be shy - join us!

New Projects!

2008-03-25T10:51:00.001-07:00

I've been busy with several fun little projects - the first being these 'funky felt pins', another on-line class with Susan Sorrell. Here are the bases of the pins - I have them along with some embroidery floss in a Whitman Sampler box sitting here on my desk at work just hoping to catch a few spare minutes to begin stitching.

I've also been working on Lesson #3 of the Fertile Earth class but haven't progressed very far - Here's the base of the piece which will eventually be a Canadian Thistle.

Artfest is next week! Here are the beginnings of my house trades - before and after flowers was the theme. So my 'before' flowers are paper because that was what I used to work primarily in and my 'after' flowers are fabric because that's what I do now - not very esoteric but it works.

Updated

2008-03-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

I just realized that I posted an 'in progress' photos of the pears - Here's the completed piece.

Stitching Away

2008-03-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working on my on-line class projects as well as getting ready for Artfest - why oh why do I always procrastinate, thinking it will only take a few minutes to find and gather up the needed supplies?

Here's the first project from the Fertile Earth class - fruits and vegetables.

And the project from the second lesson - flowers. Next on the agenda - fungus and weeds.

March Bead Journal Project

2008-03-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

March is roaring by - I'm late getting things posted because that sweet puppy ate the USB cord for the camera - TWO new ones came in the mail today so I'm back on track. The March Bead Journal page is completed. There are portions of it that I'm not happy with and other portions that I really like. I'm beginning to finish the backs of the pages in preparation for binding them all into an accordian style book when the project is over in May. I should probably be thinking of a cover.

ARRRRRRRRRRRgggggg!

2008-03-14T19:28:00.003-07:00

The puppy chewed up the USB cable to the digital camera - No photo updates until the new one arrives :(

It's a good thing he's cute!

March Stitches

2008-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

.

I've been working simultaneously on several project. The March BJP is finally formulated in my head and I cut the fabric and basted the stabilizer for it last night. I've been finishing up the 2nd project in the Sumptuous Stitches class but as is my nature, it is another one of those projects that has grown out of control and is bigger and more detailed than I ever imagined it would be. I do enjoy the embellishing though - the little hidden stitches and the sequins and beads. Here is the progress to date. Not the best photo in the world but you get the idea of where I'm going

.

I started the class with Susan Sorrell last week and am having a blast. I love her way of teaching - "here is how to do a technique - here is how I did it, these are the things that happened that I didn't like and how I worked with them - now go do it" I work best with those types of classes rather than the 'cut the brown fabric to 2 cm by 8 cm and glue it 45 cm from the edge of the green fabric'. My first project involved designing with a fruit or vegetable and I picked pears - After a rocky start, I came up with something I'm enjoying working on - of course once again the details are what is taking a long time but I think that I'll really like this once it's finished.

A close up of some of the detail.

I've also begun work on the wedding dress for my son's bride to be - it's going to be such fun as she is far from a traditional girl. Then there's Artfest in such a few weeks - My head is going to be so full of new ideas soon it may just burst!

It's hard work being a puppy

2008-03-08T19:32:00.001-08:00

On the horizon

2008-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

I was so disheartened when the Sumptuous Surfaces class was over, I quick like a bunny signed up for The Art of Embroidery - Fertile Earth with Susan Sorrell. Here is her sample for the class - pretty wonderful no? The class starts tomorrow - I can't wait - well really I can because March is going to be one busy month. I'm also registered to take Susan's Felt Pin class at Joggles.com that begins on the 18th of this month. And I'm off to Artfest the week after that AND I haven't even begun my Bead Journal Project page for this month - well, to be honest, I have started it but the idea in my head wasn't translating to fabric (again) so rather than fuss and fume, I ripped out the beading and am starting again.

My trades for Artfest are almost completed - I waiting for some supplies to come in the mail to finish my house trades - well camp trades. For several years I've stayed with a bunch of gals in one wing of a dorm that we call "camp runamuckus" - we generally do a challenge just amongst ourselves for Artfest - this year it's fabric flowers but since Nikki, the designated camp counselor, can't let us do anything the easy way - she's changed the challenge so that we are making TWO flowers for each camper - a 'before' and 'after' flower - let me tell you - that took some thinking on my part to come up with a 'before' and 'after' but I think I've got a plan - now just to wait for the supplies.

Top it off with being incredibly busy at my day job AND having electrical problems at home and I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants most days. Perhaps this month's bead page should be about biting off more than one can chew. The wonderful thing about on line classes though is that I can work at my own pace. I can read the lesson at the office on my lunch hour. I can work on my project a little in the evening and again early in the morning before work. I really enjoy taking 'hands on' classes but on-line is so much more flexible - at least for me.

A shop moved close to my office that will be offering classes - Krazy Kat Fiberhaus. I ran in yesterday to check it out and OH MY GOODNESS it was quite wonderful. They aren't fully stocked yet, in fact things were being delivered while I was there, but they are going to be offering classes! Just look at this picture of one wall in the shop - pretty wonderful eh? The shop is just a few minute drive from the office - I can foresee myself spending quite a bit of time there.

what my world looks like

2008-03-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

after too many hours over the beading table.

2008-03-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

the weekend's work

2008-02-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

I worked on this stitchery most of the weekend - it still has a very long way to go. And I learned that my mother is being released from the nursing home and returning home this week. All in all a pretty good weekend (If you don't count the vial of beads the puppy spilled all over the studio floor)

still catching my breath

2008-02-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

I did manage to sit down long enough to work up a design (in my pointed little head) and a color pallette for my next sumptuous surfaces project. My color palette came from my mother's home. My mother and I are polar opposites - she's a taurus - I'm a libra - how's that for starters? She votes for Team Elephant - I do not. My house is wild and bright and full of colors that don't match and her house is tasteful and color coordinated down to the dish cloths. These are the colors of my mother's house. Of course she lives in the dessert and I live in the forest so that probably is a big influence on our lives as well.

Last night I painted some linen to work on - It didn't come out exactly as I had hoped but then I was half asleep when I was painting the fabric and was using Dr Ph Martins Bombay Ink which I don't think was really developed for painting fabric - but it was what was within arms reach so there you go. I think it will work though.

I'm hoping to have long hours to stitch this weekend but the sun is shining which may necessitate a trip to the beach. I think the new little pup might enjoy that. Speaking of which - he's growing like a HORSE! and eating like one too and well - what goes with eating is horselike as well - I'm glad that my job isn't poop patrol.

Irie is getting better with the pup - She plays with him more now rather than just growling - Zeke on the other hand is being a cranky old man. It is such a joy for me to see Mu and Zakk just run run run together in the back yard. They are the best of friends which exactly why we wanted to get a puppy - so Mu would have someone to play with. Irie had to get a new collar which made her feel a bit better about having the pesky pup around. I call her "Princess Cupcake" now, but Charles continues to refer to her as Princess Heartburn.

Oh! And I did finish my last piece from the Sumptuous Surfaces class - and here it is. If it doesn't quite resemble the first go at it, it's because I started again on a larger piece of fabric that was much better suited to my arthritic hands.

February Bead Journal Page

2008-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

I finished my February page - it began with a mardi gras theme. I'd purchased some amazing fabric designed by Mark Lipinksi called Katmandu and the fabric just screamed out for beading. I wanted to experiment with building some 3D flowers with beads and sequins and this fabric seemed to be a good foundation for that as well.

And so the month of February is titled "life isn't always a carnivale (or patience is a virtue)"

February

2008-02-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

I started my February Bead Journal Page today - It's loosely based on Mardi Gras colorwise anyway. I changed up and did some regular thread embroidery on the fabric before I began the beading. I'm taking an on-line embroidery class and the first assignment is a white on white/neutral piece and I needed some color AND I needed to practice my stitching so this month's page covers both of those things..

Here's the beginnings of the white on white postcard sized piece.

busy as a bee

2008-01-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

I've just started the "Sumptuous Surfaces" course taught by Sharon Boggon on Joggles.com. The first lesson involved designing your project - a novel idea for me as I tend to just jump in feet first and paddle like a puppy. This weekend I've spent the majority of my time sketching and doodling, manipulating images on the computer and trying to come up with a 4 x 6 inch design for my first project. Initially I was at a loss - plan something? how novel is that? And once I had what I thought was a plan, the notion of tranforming it into a stitch pattern simply boggled me.

I visited a nearby shop this afternoon to collect some new fibers for the project. The first project is monotones - preferably whites/ecrus and those colors just aren't in my vocabulary and I really didn't have many 'fancy' fibers to use. I went to the Shibori Dragon - oh my! it took my breath away - honestly. There were such beautiful fabrics and threads and I didn't even venture into the knitting room. I purchased some silks, rayons, overdyed cottons, wools and one skein of thread made of bamboo. They also had wonderful little bags of scraps for crazy quilting, so I had to add a couple of those to my pile. These bags were crammed full of wonderful treasures - most too small for me to use in my style of crazy quilting (read here - use BIG pieces of fabric to accodomdate big and clumbsy stitching) but this is just what I have longed to have in my fabric stash for fabric collage pieces -

When I came home I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do and came up with this:

Now to wait until the next class on Thursday to begin. I think though that it wouldn't hurt to work up a little stitch sampler before beginning the class piece.

The new puppy

2008-01-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

is quite a joy - even though he loves to steal my bobbins of thread and vials of beads and though on two occassions i've found him with my pin cushion with the needles and pins spread out on the floor around him (it's a wonder he didn't get hurt) he still brings me a great deal of laughter. He is quite a sweet little one. Well, he's not so little anymore - he is growing and growing and we fear he'll be huge. I've been working on two quilts and a few more beaded projects but there's nothing worth posting a photo of quite yet - hopefully this weekend - but to entertain you for now - here's another picture of the little guy.

My latest diversion

2008-01-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a couple of new art projects, but mostly I've been playing with this little guy - a puppy is just the best thing in the world!

January Bead Journal Project Page - Completed!

2008-01-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

This afternoon when I came home from work the bead I'd ordered for the January page was in the mailbox so I quick like a bunny, finished the page. I guess it is rather unorthodox to embroider a full page while leaving a 'hole' for just the 'perfect' bead but that's what I did - I guess I'm pretty lucky to have found something - the 'perfect' bead would be the lampworked lentil in the center - made by an amazing artist on etsy. I'm happy to have this done - I may be travelling unexpectedly as I received a call today that my mother had fallen and broken her pelvis and was hospitalized. She lives in Phoenix so a visit would be a bit more than a 'day trip'. In any event, the page is done and I'm quite happy with it. It's much more sparkly in person.

January Bead Journal Project Page

2008-01-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Day one of beading
I've been sick with the flu for the past few days but spent a good deal of time working on my January page inspired by the Nutcracker Ballet - sort of a combination of dance of sugar plum fairies and dance of the flowers.

Day two of beading.

Hello 2008!

2008-01-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

I started and finished my December Bead Journal Project page yesterday. I had a vision in my brain - my memories of Christmas with those old funky ornaments that were bonuses for filling up your tank with 28 cent a gallon gas. Rows and rows of lights that were those old giant bulbs, not fiber optics or chasers or faux icicles. My memories of going to the nutcracker ballet every year. I had a great vision in my mind, but as sometimes (or oftimes) happens my fingers wouldn't do what my brain had in mind. I didn't like the page at all in the beginning but I wanted to try Robin's suggestion of just beading on, past the dislike for the page. So I didn't rip anything out and I just kept beading. I still don't 'love' the page, but I don't hate it either.

Happy New Year.

I have been remiss

2007-12-31T12:22:00.000-08:00

in updating this blog. I've been terribly busy at my 'real' job and though I made about 50 heart ornaments during the month of December, they were flying out the door too fast to take photos of them.
The biggest news is that our new dog arrived and he is so sweet. His name is Zakk.

I began work last night on my December bead journal page and hope to complete it this everning before the stroke of midnight. Hopefully I'll have a photo in the morning.

Happy New Year!

Fun Project

2007-12-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

This project was probably the most fun sewing I've had in a long time. You know when you just look at something and giggle with happiness? The wonky beady dangles on these pieces did that for me -

A bit more work done on the Fabric Frame class pieces

2007-12-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

This was a lot of fun though I still have a bit more to do. I really enjoyed taking this class on-line so that I could work on my own schedule and the process gave me a ton of ideas for other things.

I've been busy

2007-12-04T11:05:00.004-08:00

I've been making some beaded heart ornaments

taking 2 on-line fabric art classes

making more beaded dolls

and getting ready for this little guy to come and live with us.

thanks for visiting.

some free holiday fun!

2007-12-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Lisa Vollrath has once again created her wonderful Christmas Countdown with free pinrtable images - it's like a little present visiting her site every day to see what is new - check it out here.

Bad Blogger

2007-11-27T12:26:00.001-08:00

I've been a very bad blogger but I haven't been slacking off - just busy busy busy with fabric and beads. I've made a bunch of beaded dolls that will be listed on etsy just as soon as I can figure out how to make my photos look decent on that site - here's just a sampling of them -

I've also been working on the two classes that I'm taking a joggles.com. It is really a fun process for me because I can work according to my own schedule, though it does take a bit of self-discipline to do the lessons. I'm taking the Encrusted Crazy Quilt class from Sharon Boggon who is incredible even though you can't really tell from my feeble attempts. I am learning far more I think than I would have at a regular 6 hour class. Sharon really gives us a lot of information and it is great to have something to refer back to. I'm printing out the classes as they are posted and keeping them in a notebook. So far there are over 100 pages! That's how in depth she is at teaching the process of crazy quilting.

These two blocks are after lesson two - Because of the Thanksgiving holiday I haven't gotten to lesson 3 yet which is block embellishment. I am really looking forward to trying my hand at ribbon embroidery.

The other class I'm taking is Alma Stoller's Art Fabric Picture Frame class. This class is lots of fun as well though much freer than the crazy quilt class. Our first assignment was to 'make' some fabric - using either muslin we had altered ourselves or commercial fabric we were to cut it up and sew it back into a flat sheet that we'll use to make our frame. Being an over achiever, I had to do it both ways.

I'm behing in this class too and need to do surface embellishment with free motion embroidery which should be a lot of fun.

It's almost time to work on my December Bead Journal Project page. I have so many ideas spinning in my head for a December page - perhaps I'll do a page showing how fractured my mind seems to be in December.

If you want to see more of the beaded dolls, you can always check my flickr page to see what I'm up to. Thanks for visiting. It always makes me smile to check my site meter and see that people from all over the world have visited.

November Page

2007-11-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

I completed my November Bead Journal Page in 2 sittings so there aren't progress photos of this one. I started Thursday after work and finished it at 2 this morning. The past few weeks have had challenges and one of my not so great characteristics is that during times of challege, I tend to get rather stubborn (to put it mildly). And so the November page is titled "not everything is black and white" (or don't be a pighead). It didn't change my perspective on the world much but it did make a me laugh a lot and that in itself is a very good thing.