Sept Done

All I got done this week was my Sept BJP piece, but at least it's done. Now I have the rest of the month to catch up on the rest of my work. The photo isn't the greatest, I forgot to take it during the day, so it's awful lighting, sitting on my cut-up kitchen counter. The crystals are for my daughters, watching them go back to school. The angel charm is for a miscarriage in the family, as well as the spikes in the lower left corner, my thoughts were spiky. The irid purple, navy and black worked out pretty well. Oct will be tricky - matte amethyst, lime green (limited supply too!) and turquoise 15s.

Gearing up for BJP

Well I've got lots of photos for the week, none of which have actual beadwork! I'm done gearing up for this year of BJP - I selected fabrics, planned my pieces, have all of my paper sewn to the fabrics. I have a picture of Sept's fabric and a cool raku leaf I bought. I'm doing a drawing to see which beads I will use each month. Since my storage cases have 7 lines, I'm using a deck of crazy eight cards, minus the eights. I draw 3 numbers to correspond to a bead - which case, which line, which space. Sept is trans AB purple, navy and black 15's. It has nothing to do with the fabric, which for some reason the buttons make me think back to school. I usually encrust my pieces, so that's ok - hardly any of the material will show.

The other pictures are of my workspace - a dilapidated student desk that had a painted, glued, sticky, dented top until we put a piece of laminate on top. We got the laminate at the ReStore (great place!) for under $3 and I have enough yet to possibly do the door and some edges. The shelf above is also laminated on top, and I made a "banner" of the sample pictures from Robin Atkins newest book to remind me of the different techniques. I just need to get an Ott light to replace my ugly desk light!

Split Salmon finished

I finished the split salmon bracelet this week. One side is go with the flow, smooth currents; the other is against the flow, swirly currents - like the salmon swimming out to ocean and back upriver. I like it, wore it part of the day Sat. The person who inspired it said it was too wide for her taste, I guess I like chunky stuff! Now to start my Bead Journal Project pages. I bought a raku leaf, more than I would normally pay for just a bead, but I know it is for my BJP, so it will be for me. My copy of Robin Atkin's newest book arrived, so I'm raring to go and see what I come up with!

Salmon bracelet

I had a chance to do some beadwork this week, finally! The lid for the CWC bowl is almost done, just 2 more strands of wire to weave in. The other project Ive been working on is a split salmon bracelet. I'm working on the background now. One side will be smooth lines, the

other side swirls (with or against the flow). The smooth side is almost finished. Hopefully this week Robin Atkin's new book will arrive, so I can plan a little more for the new BJP. My size is dictated by the area left in the middle of last year's pages, and I've decided to challenge myself with new color combinations and new stitches (which is why I need Robin's book!). I also received my bead order that I placed for the doll challenge, so that may start soon as well! So many ideas, so little time!

Story time

I don't have any new pictures this week - I didn't have time to bead. And then we got sick. Yuck. That's my story. I'm working on the doll's story for the doll challenge, so her story is sounding better. I want to do the story before I bead her so I include everything I need to. I'm starting to second guess myself on my idea (if it's right for the challenge) but I still like it the best, so even if it doesn't win, it will be a joy to behold for me.

4 Star General

The first picture is a ring I made using aquamarine and blue zircon Swark. crystals. The ring band is done using elastic thread, so it fits really comfortable, but I'm not happy how the top turned out, and the metal finish is already wearing off the beads on the band - it will get redone after a while, but it's cool to wear for now. The other picture is a pin that's in progress - it's for a town volunteer who has gone above and beyond. Someone said she deserved a gold star, and she replied she wanted four - so here is her four star general's pin. It's about 1"x3" on blue cotton fabric. The background in these pictures is the formica that will soon (I hope!) be covering my work desk - the surface now is covered in paint, sticker residue, you name it. I got the formica at the Re Store, where they sell recyclable building supplies, for under $3!

Doll Challenge

This is a bracelet I'm working on. It's a split salmon design. The fish are matte reds, the white is pearl, the background will be shiny blues.

What I can't show you is that I've started a doll for the Beaded Doll challenge. We're not supposed to show pictures of it, so you'll have to wait until it's done to see it. I'm really psyched about this, that I feel my skills and artwork are up to that level. Once my girls are back in school, I should have more time to work on it. The deadline is Oct 2009, so I should have plenty of time. I have so many ideas, I may need that long to decide what to do!