2nd October page done before midnight

those things that go bump in the night

Home from ArtFiberFest

None of my projects are completed and my bags aren't unpacked. I did want to write this down though before I forgot it -

And the day came when the risk to remain in a tight bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin


EDIT: ArtFiberFest was wonderful - it was quite small and intimate, like ArtFest used to be in the way back olden days (I crack myself up). Anyway, it was great. On the opening night, Teesha provided us with little packets and taught us how to make a funky quilt square - I became addicted to them and ended up making a whole book!

This is the back of it.
I made signatures of 140 lb watercolor paper that are sewn in - It is a big, fat, floppy book and I love it - +











My first class was happy hooking with Mary Stanley who is just a delightful person. I don't know that I'll ever do this again, but I've always wanted to learn and this environment was perfect for that. I made a little house











Friday, my class was with Kristin Steiner - I love Kristin - She creates the most warm and nurturing classroom environment in the world. This is the accordian book I made in her class.





The last day was a class with Pam Garrison - I was very tired by the last day. But I made this crazy quilt/wacky journal all the same. It's quite wonky and the fabrics really don't show true in this picture, but you get the idea.

My birthday was the Saturday of ArtFiberFest and my friend Suz brought me this yummy cake!

I had a great time, enjoyed doing nothing but playing with fabric and my friends for three days in a beautiful location but was very very very glad to be home!

Things that go bump in the night

I've been working on a 2nd page for October for the Bead Journal Project with a Halloween theme. It's fun to use goofy things and wacky color combinations (actually plum and poison apple green has been my favorite color combo since I was 16 and painted my bedroom those colors much to the horror of my parents),

I'll be at ArtFiberFest through the weekend and won't take this project with me so there'll be no more progress until I return. Usually when I return from art camp I am so full of new ideas that I've learned that I put whatever I've previously been working on on the back burner - I hope I can refocus on this page upon my return as I'd really like to finish it.

more hearts to take to artfiberfest as gifts

heart of the day

i'm making wee dangly beaded hearts as special gifts for people at AFF next week - here's the one from last night

You'd think I had enough with hearts but

I wanted to whip up a little something for a person that I did a 1-1 exchange with and I came up with this - how sweet - I think that I need to think about making some for valentine's day gifts.

The first October page is completed!

I've decided to prepare two October pages and then use whichever one is my favorite for the bound book - Here is the first one - I'm quite happy with it.

Un-stuck - Bead Journal Page - October day5

October page - day 4

i'm starting to get stuck - i'll need to ponder this page for awhile.

October Bead Journal Page - day 3

I'm not certain that I care for those large red navette sorta shaped beads but they are there now and I'm pushing through with the 'no ripping out' goal. Like many things, they'll probably be okay once I get other beads around them.

Walking a crooked path to love (and loving myself)

So the October "when I'm an old woman" page progresses. Robin talked about bead embroidery being therapy and initially I scoffed. Being a crusty, hardened by years of seeing the horrors humans perpetrate on one another ex-therapist, I saw little, if any, validity in her statements - until this piece. I suppose the first few pages I was busy trying to figure out what I was doing and with this piece I was able to just bead without thinking about the process and put more thought into the actual content of what I was beading. I worked until late into the night, until I couldn't see to thread the needle, I didn't want to stop - and when I went to bed all I could think about was the page and what it meant.

So here is the October page on day 2...

Beginning October

I have so many page ideas in my head, I really hope to get two done for October - maybe my journal pages will be double sided for each month? That would be pretty cool. October is my birth month so I have begun my "when I get old I shall wear purple" page. I've always loved purple and red together - long before there were ladies who wore those colors. When I wore a suit to work, I had a purple linen one that I would wear with a red silk blouse and red 3-inch heels (that would also be when I wore heels so you know it was a very very very long time ago. A particularly snotty woman at the office would always comment on my 'interesting' color choices to which I just would smile sweetly and say 'well bless your heart'. Now Southern women KNOW what 'well bless your heart' means but this woman was a Yankee so she thought that I was being nice.

I got up early this morning to start October before I came into the office. I saw some work done somewhere on the internet that had an interesting sequin application that I tried to mimic, but I didn't quite get it - Now I need to try and remember where I saw that piece so I can go back and look at it again as trying to do something from memory obviously isn't working. I still do like the glimmer of the bit of sequins and I am following the 'don't rip out' method so we'll see how it goes.

The other thing I worked on this weekend were these 'inchies' for a swap. I'm just not getting the 'inchie' thing - but they are done and in the mail and I've made a mental note not to do inchie swaps anymore. They sort of remind me of sea creatures.