Dec BJP

Finally got a picture of my finished Dec BJP! I think it looks pretty tree-ish. The side view is to show how the ruffles stick out. The left side of the ruffles are tacked down, but not the right. In order to have really curvy ruffles you either need to put lots of beads in between the posts or have a long line - short lines don't do much curving. I put the same number of beads in-between the posts in each row - you can see the bottom row is way more ruffly!

This is the pickings for January. I'm not sure about a subject yet - snow is what keeps coming to mind (It doesn't help that they are calling for more later in the week again!) but January is also about reflections on the past and looking to the future to me. I have a hummingbird feather that I'm fairly certain will make it into this one. I know I need to sit with myself a bit to find it's voice.

I put the crocheted pieces on my green man necklace - all it needs is a clasp. I was thinking magnetic, but it does have some weight so I think I'll put a toggle on it. I'm starting the straps for a silver and blueish piece I did at the same time, but am running into trouble. The thread I used isn't strong enough, and I've already strung the beads! It's ok doubled, and the beads fit, but I'm going to have a heck of a time with it, figuring out how to manage 2 strings. I've started doing a little bit as a Cellini spiral instead, but I'm not sure the 15's I'm using can take the string mass. I strung all the beads I had to make sure I'd have enough for both straps - it's quite the nice mess!

This is a teaser shot of the drawing I did to figure out what I was doing with my doll.

In general, I've been doing less beadwork than I could, but I'm not beating myself over that. I've not been sleeping well, and I'm hoping a check-up will have a simple remedy. I can't focus on beadwork when I'm tired. The girls have been enjoying the snow (which we've gotten more off, but now it's raining instead, until later in the week - more snow!) but until now it's been powder, not good for building much of anything. They've enjoyed helping Daddy shovel the driveway!

I really want to use some of my quiet moments this week to look at how far I've come artistically, and where I want to go, what I want it to mean in my life. The BJP has helped by making me have a concrete example of my beadwork throughout the year - how much will I have changed by the end of this one?

December Snows

I've finished my December BJP piece, but haven't taken a picture of it yet. I do have a pic of what it started as. The colors that were drawn were clear silver-lined bugles, red ab and orange beads. I added a wooden bead, 4 purple ceramic beads, a mother-of-pearl button and a blue star. The material is red and green swirls, very festive. The wooden bead is the trunk of a tree, the four ceramic beads represent my family growing up (orange and purple were my high school colors), the button became a tree star. I've done an off-center pine tree by making ruffles using the bugles and red ab - try to picture it, and see if it's close in reality when I post the picture!

The snow picture is of my front yard, with my oldest. It has since gotten more snow, drifted over, more snow, and they are calling for more snow over the weekend. The icicles coming from the roof are looking like shark teeth - the snow slides, so the icicles start angling towards the house, and another row starts to form in front of them. With all the snow the kids don't want to stay outside long, so we're getting a little cabin crazy. I did manage to finish the other green and brown crochet piece to finish my green man necklace, now to put it together. I've also worked on the doll some, I'm working on the back of the torso. I drew sketches of what I want to do, so I'm not working blind, and that actually speeds me up - otherwise I was spending a lot of time just staring at it, wondering if I was going to get the effect I want.

Hopefully I'll get another post by the end of the week - but Jenna's birthday is tomorrow, and then Christmas, so don't hold your breathe, you may pass out!

Dec BJP start

This is the start of my December BJP piece. The colors selected are clear silver-lined bugles, opaque orange and AB transparent red. The red is actually being used on the doll, so I don't get a break from that! The extra's I've picked are a wooden bead, either a gold or mother of pearl button, a star, a heart, some matte goldish 8's and 4 ceramic purple 8's. The purple beads represent my family. The wood bead will be the trunk of a tree, the button the top of the tree. I'm hoping to do a representative of a pine tree. We'll see - the colors aren't exactly conducive for Christmas!