December Already?!

I've been working on my doll, and doing some bead crochet for a necklace. I managed to finish the other leg for the doll, and make the armature for the legs. I am so looking forward to being able to put the body and legs together, and see her stand! The bead crochet is a nice thing to work on while I'm watching TV with DH - I can't do embroidery while I watch TV. It's my first attempt at a patterned crochet, using various sizes of beads from 15's to 8's. I bought a bracelet from Another Country for my sister's birthday, and it inspired me to try it.

The other picture is of my haul from Peacock & Periwinkle. Robin mentioned them in her blog, and it turns out they are next to the Boy Scout office in Everett, which I occasionally need to visit! The left side are cotton batiks, the right Dupoini silks. There's also a green felted wool and 2 cool buttons that I can readily see being clasps for freeform peyote bracelets.

My Christmas present this year is a new computer monitor. The old one is a 17" CRT, clunky and slow. The new one is a 19" LCD, thin and speedy and much easier on the eyes, since it can sit back much farther on the desk. Now I can really see the details in the pictures on everyone's blogs! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, and wishing you a Christmas season full of grace.

This is a piece of crocheted rope I made this week, as part of a strap for a pendant I've made. It's the first time I've done the crochet bit with a pattern and with different size beads. These range from 15's to 8's. I have the other half strung, just need to crochet it. That's one of the few beading activities I can do while watching TV - everything else, I need to pay attention to what I'm doing, and the TV just gets in the way. I used Gutermann top-stitching thread, and it works nicely, except for stringing on a needle to thread on the beads. The brown beads I used did not like the needle that was big enough for the thread - oddly enough, they are 11's, the 15's had no problem (also they are Czech versus the 15's are not). I'm slowly making progress on the second leg. I bent the armature for the legs from a wire hanger, and I'll need to open the sewing a bit more to get it in, so I'll probably do more beading now that I'll be able to reach it! I'd feel better if I could just figure out what to use for weight in her feet!

November BJP done

November's BJP piece is done - it's supposed to look like swirling winds, which we have a lot of this time of year. We also have swirling water, as this is the start of flood season, with a flood watch having already happened. The colors picked were 2 kinds of red and pearl white. I stitched black felt strips on the ends, and did not follow those lines with the beading. It's hard to see, but the beading bulges in places from the felt underneath, adding another element.

I'm still learning to use my new camera - the first picture isn't focused well, but the detail shots of the top and bottom are! I'm considering taking pictures of some of my stuff for art print - my friend Sue (see website here) made me some cards with pictures of some of my BJP pieces from last year. It's definitely cheaper than buying the actual artwork that takes a really long time to make, and it's another way to get something for your work! I'd like to get a really good picture of my split salmon cuff to sell as a print.

I've gotten behind on my doll - life keeps getting in the way! I'm hoping in a few weeks things will calm down again so I can make better progress. I'm also working on neck straps to go with some pendants I've made. I received one of Carol Wilcox Well's books for my birthday, and it was hard deciding which technique I wanted to use! What I have ready to start is a crocheted rope using different size beads for a curve, and a more complicated patterned crochet is probably looming on the horizon!

Halloween

I haven't done much beading these last 2 weeks. I've made 3 pinatas, a gingerbread haunted house, and had a Halloween party with 11 kids!

The gingerbread house was a first for me. I got it constructed ok, but when we went to decorate it I made the icing too runny. I was too tired to mess with it, so everything I put on it ran! It's supposed to be frightful anyway, and the kids had fun helping.

The pinatas turned out great again. This is the 2nd time I've made pull pinatas, versus bash'em ups. I don't like the idea of teaching little kids it's ok to beat anything! So the streamers are attached to the strips holding the bottom on, and one string is actually tied to the bottom, so as the kids pull them off, the bottom lets go, and out come the goodies! The one for our party didn't open, but it's easy enough to poke a finger in and pull it apart. The oldest kid there wanted to keep it, he might try and make a body for the alien chicken!

This is my first casting of my plaster bust mold. It stuck a little, I need to seal the plaster more, but it's ok - I'm going to put thin cardboard strips on the back stiffen it, close the neck area off, and probably put some expanding foam in the back. You at least get the idea that it's not flat chested! It's really going to help check the lay of my neck pieces without having to continually getting up to look in a mirror - I've already started using it!

I didn't finish my installment on the doll this month - I ran out of brown Nymo! So I should be getting some tomorrow (I ordered from CCBeads) - I have about 10 more hours on the leg to finish, then start the front or back. I need to get armature wire to start constructing her legs and torso, and I still haven't figured out a good small but heavy weight to put in her feet to give her ballast. Hopefully next week I'll have my BJP to share too!

Life-time To-Do List Got Shorter

These pictures are of the moon and sunrise over the San Juan islands. Wednesday I got to meet Robin Atkins - that was one of the things on my professional to-do/wish list! She was gracious enough to meet me at 7:30 am - the best time for me to take the ferry (why is it that every time I try to plan something, everyone else's world is already topsy-turvy?). After a scone and hot chocolate, we went to Lime Kiln Point so I could scramble on the rocks to peek in the tidal pools. Then I got to see her studio - it's amazing! Everywhere I looked there was something else that begged a closer inspection! Her work has a texture to it that gets lost in pictures - to be able to see it in person was wonderful. I'm working on the next part of my doll, so I did get some beading done on the ferry ride over, and a little at her studio - I could have spent a few more hours just looking at her work. The moon on the ride over was glorious, just calling me outside to look at it. The ride back the boat was vibrating a bit much to bead, so I plunked myself in a seat to enjoy the scenery, and saw a pair of Dall's porpoises! So I truly was blessed in every part of that journey (and that Sue agreed to get the kids to school for me!). It's amazing to me that, having decided to pursue something to an art form, one of the top people doing that art form lives so close! My life can be very hectic sometimes, but that day was just so awesome!

Crafty Strikes Again

So, I may not have gotten a huge amount of beadwork done this week, but I have been busy, and sick, and (how much whining can I do?).


This is my Nov BJP base, the bead colors that were chosen are 2 shades of red and pearl white - I'm going for swirling wind, which we tend to have a lot of in these parts.


This is a project I'm starting for when I need a break from the doll - it's African turquoise, I'll put it on black with probably lots of silver. The grey pieces are actually chipboard, I got a couple packs of them from a scrapbook store.


Ok, ugly mug time! It's very hard to take a picture of yourself when there's plaster hardening on you. Yep, plaster! I'm trying to make a mold, so I can cast (probably in paper) an actual "bust" to display necklaces and collars on. How will I know what it's going to lay like if I don't have something that I can check it on - especially for length? And let potential costumers see as well? It needs to be lightweight, transportable and cheap! So for $5 (I may have also used a coupon) I put gauze with plaster on it on myself. The mold is actually pretty good - I need to seal it so I can cast on it. I did not put the plaster around my neck, so I could peel it off, and then used a can the right size to re-create a neck. I cut the back of the neck while still flexible and patched it together. The mold is very light weight once dry. So once the 3 pinatas for Halloween are done, I'll try making some mini-mes!

Oct BJP

I managed to get my Oct BJP page done this week - finally something I can show! The chosen colors were matte amethyst, AB lime green 8's, and turquoise 15's. I picked out beads that went with the colors, and came up with "Things that go bump in the night" for a theme. The glass bead in the lower left has fringes around it, and the one on the right has little picots on the bottom, and fringes with sequins on top. It was fun to do, especially since I've been using only a few colors for about 24 hours of beadwork, and now I'm going back to that project. Next months colors are 2 shades of red and pearl white - all 11's.