bead journal project - day 4

i was too busy at my 'day job' on thursday and friday to bead - sigh - i did get to spend most of today watching sappy movies and beading - i figure i have a few more hours and this puppy will be done and i can go on to the next page which is really a good thing because i'm tired of pink and white.

bead journal project - day 3

bead journal project - day 2

bead lust

I joined the 2007 Bead Journal Project that began the first of June and have just finally gotten the time to work on my page for this month. I've always admired beaded embroidery but never done more than just a bit of embellishing here and there on other projects and thought this would be the perfect way to learn techniques and to see what I like and don't like - beads that are easy and difficult to work with - basically just play around with a purpose.

I decided early on that I would probably get bored working on a 'normal' geometric shape so decided that my pages would be heart shaped. My friend Mei is making house shaped pages and I didn't think that I knew anyone else who was participating until I found the 2007 Bead Journal Project Blog this morning.

In any event, I began my first page last night. I decided to do each monthly heart in a colorway indicitive of that month and for me, June = brides and brides = pearls. My friend rhonda reminded me that the rose is the flower for the month of June so my inclusion of some rosy pink beads was appropriate (good thing, I was getting bored of white and ecru after the first half hour).

My goal is to work 3 hours per evening and to finish this first heart page by the first of July - My initial plan was to work in red, white and blue for July but I think I've decided on a 'tropicana' vacation theme instead - My 2nd goal for this project is to work all of the pages with beads I already have and not to purchase anything new - that goal however, will probably not last long.

So here is day one -

I thought I'd make a bracelet

but things got out of hand - at least I can look at the charms this way - I think eventually the chains will get sewn onto a bag

just a little promo for my sweet children

flower pot jewelery

i made some jewelry for my fuschia basket
she's so happy now that the birds are scared away from her

buttons buttons

I've rekindled my button lust - Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing with Grandmaw Lolas old Hills Bros. Coffee tin of buttons. Never one to be wasteful, when clothes wore out or got too small the buttons were cut off and put in the coffee tin and the rest of the item was generally cut up for cleaning rags. I've got my own button can these days, a big cookie tin, and find it very relaxing to rummage through the buttons looking for just the right one for some project I'm working on. Melissa McCobb-Hubbell hosted a button card exchange on ArtErratica where we created 'vintage' button cards to exchange - I really enjoyed making these tiny little cards.

Continuing on with this 'pretty' phase

I decided to actually 'use' some of the supplies I have around here. So I broke out a big pot of glue and started gluing - I made a little flip book of these sweet spring collages - I like this one the best.

Wait - there's more

I've been fiddly around with making 'inchies' of fabric - my first two attempts were horrid - but I think I like these enough to send them off the the ArtErratica exchange. It really helped to start by making a 'sandwhich' of fabric and light weight batting and tacking it together with some free-motion sewing - it helped a LOT - giving my something of some substance to work on. I 'cheated' though and glued the embellishments on rather than sewing - I just didn't want those messy knots on the back of the squares.

So much for keeping this up to date

I've been busy with little projects that haven't amounted to very much. I participated in a 'birdie' swap project and once again found myself making 'pretty' things - perhaps I should just resign myself to it - at least for a little while. I made this fun banner ala Pam Garrison - I saw some of these from the class at ArtFiberFest and kept meaning to make one.

I also made my swap partner a little bird dangly and a little sweet button nest that I tucked an egg planted with impatiens seeds into.



In return I received a box full of wonderful supplies and treasures. I haven't participated in a one on one like this in a very long time - It was a fun thing to do.

Hands are the exit of spirit
When the spirit flows from the hands, it is called "labor." From nothing, the hands start to create wonderful works of art. The hands are the exit of the spirit. The movement of the hands embodies human longings and human beings are formed by the work of the hands. The hands create forms that never existed before, and this art of creation is uniquely human. That is, human hands carve an image of the individual out of vacant space. Humans recognize the level of their own spirit by looking at what they have created with their hands. That is, the hands enable the spirit to emerge as works of art, and it will reflect what is in your heart. As a result, what is in your heart shows in your work, and the hands will reflect what level you are, sometimes joyfully, sometimes sadly.

I've decided to devote this blog totally to art and related topics. I'm currently attempting to devote more time to the studio, even if I'm not working on something 'serious'. I've lost the joy I once found there and am determined to find it again. And so, this part weekend I just puttered and made something fun. I'd purchased a kit from Terry Tyson at the very first Artfest (7 years ago?) and it's sat in the drawer marked 'needs assembling' ever since. I used Terry's basic idea and morphed it using materials I had around the house rather than the materials provided in the kit. The arms and legs are made using rubber stamps from Catherine Moore's Character Construction and the face (which Charles insists looks like Bobby Hill) is from Invoke Arts. This was a fun little project.

the one thing

that i learned at artfiberfest was to do what you love and use the things you love even if those things aren't the 'in' ones at the moment.

duh

where does it come from?

the process of creativity has been the topic on 'the creative life' list - an interesting topic and one that i haven't put a lot of thought into in relation to myself.

but - i put one brave foot forward and posted to the list

"the creative process - the inspiration - i think that for me, it is difficult to really tell where it comes from - i work in fits and spurts - there will be a dry spell for weeks and then suddenly, as if from no where, a large body of work will come spewing forth - some of it not so good, but some of it quite wonderful - i fill up the waste bin quite often with the 'not so good' things.

when i try to pinpoint 'where' it all comes from, i think it mostly comes from observation. i tend to be pretty quiet and very observant - i am constantly making little sketches that are more impressions than anything else - brief wisps of images that somehow all gel into something else - eventually.

i try to keep the bits of paper that i tend to accumulate on bulletin boards but they seem to flow out onto every empty horizontal surface - looking over the computer monitor there are newspaper clippings and postcards and pictures torn from books and magazines and photos that i've taken taped to the wall - along with things like an old rusty miniature lawn mower - (i've had a preoccupation with things with wheels lately) and a very organic looking souvener fan someone brought me from samoa

so the creative process, for me, is something that happens when all of the textures and images and tastes and smells combine and magically transform themselves - i wish that i had a more concrete way of saying that - that somehow i could figure out what happens so that i could replicate the process and 'make it happen' on command - but thus far i haven't been able to make that happen. "