Double Infinity - August is done - What a trip!

Okay, i know i posted an almost finished copy awhile back, but now it's done and i've added it to Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235567@N07/3944902825/in/pool-871696@N21

For those who were wondering, the center is a pressed celluloid button which i fell in love with.

I must say i am really touched to have been involved in this project. I have definately learned to trust my creativity. When i look at those 12 4x4 squares on my wall, i am amazed at how i transformed some tiny glass beads into glimpses of my soul.

I'm thinking of beading button covers next time. You'll just have to wait and see! Bye for now...

Double Inifinity - JULY page finally done!

Okay, i admit - it's been awhile since i visited this blog. I've got a 7 and 9 year old and kind of got distracted with amassing a stash of Victorian celluloid buttons this summer. Now that they are back in school (yipee!) and i've got an amazing collection (!) I finished July's page in only a day! It is on a blue batik-like cotton which had swirls and dots all over. I used this really cool clear triangular beads lined in blue and a red hex bead to outline the swirls. The border is a row of crystal triangles topped with the red hex and white and blue 15's.

Since my father was in the navy, i though i should pay tribute to his service, so i went through all my buttons (!) and found 3 with anchors. Note i painted the blue last night - that one was all gold, but didn't seem to quite work.

I like this page alot and find it ironic that it looks so much like my September page which honored my mother. Seems i'm just a swirly gal!

BTW: My oldest was born in August so she told me it has to be the BEST one. I've already got an idea, and will get to work this afternoon. Hope to have it done soon.

Question: how long does this blog stay 'open' to readers since August was oficially the last month? I'm glad to be back but sad it's now ending.

Oh - here is a link to the Flicker site to see my page up close:
www.flickr.com/photos/30235567@N07/3874046371/in/pool-871696@N21

Double Infinity - Aprils up - just a little late!

ABOVE IS MY FIRST CRAZY QUILT BLOCK CREATED FOR A CLASS ON JOGGLES. LOTS OF BEADS!!

Okay, I know it's almost the end of May, but i finally finished my April piece a few days ago. My youngest came into my craft room and said "mommy - why isn't that done yet, you are always so on time!" Well, let's see, there was the embellished crazy quilt class i took on Joggles (see photo above - i just had to share it with you!!), and my 100 year old grandfather's passing to keep me busy. But i am already almost done with May, so i guess i've caught up! I started my April block with a lovely batik and used the flow of the colors to create an organic "Spring Blossoming". I really love the sparkle of the true cuts. Hope you like it too! Heres the link to get a better look up close. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235567@N07/3546596332/in/pool-871696@N21

Thought I might give up, but...

I'm restarting with something small - beaded buttons!
I hope Cindy who "warmed-up" with them and the participant from last year who did them won't think I'm a "copycat". I've wanted to play with beaded buttons for some time. Thanks to Ellen (http://dolliebead.blogspot.com/) for suggesting this.
Catherine
http://beadingbirdingandbellydancing.blogspot.com/

Thinking Ahead... and a Poll

I have put a poll up on the sidebar of my blog and would love to get your input. I am thinking ahead about what I might do with my 2008-2009 BJP pieces when I finally get them finished (embroidered cuff bracelets, like this one) and want some opinions about how to do it. The link I provided is to my blog entry where you can leave comments.

Thanks in advance!

Kassie

Starting February on the 1st!! Double Infinity

Well I sifted through my bead collection today and think i've found those i want to work with! My focal point is a red tatted heart i bought on e-bay. Perhaps i might add beads to that too....It will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like - check back to find out!

January block done - Double Infinity

My interest is growing in crazy quilts, so of course i've been working on a stash of fabric and fun things to use once i'm ready to begin that pursuit! I got both items (fabric and photo) early this month and they just seemed to be perfect for the New Year. Funny how things just work out :) So i went though all my beads (perhaps my favorite part!!) and got to work! I was not happy with the color intensity on the silk photo print (and since it is the first i've used, i don't know if they are all so soft) so i wound up beading the entire picture. My husband says "it's not done yet, is it? i don't see a thing!!" Well, it is done and it is a baby holding a bubble with 3 butterflies! I did the same picot edging on the photo and the piece itself using 11's which gives it a framed look. This is getting to be quite a bit of fun. Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235567@N07/3204099965/in/pool-871696@N21

Double Infinity - December page completed

Well I seem to be having some technical difficult getting a posting up today. Please see my piece here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/30235567@N07/3115938619/ and bear with me! I got the focal bead from Sculpted Window. You should check her out - very talented. There are so many cool little things on this bead - look at the crystal stalks and all the tiny details - just lovely. The bead reminds me of a Goddess Mother and who is the highest of all mothers in the eyes of Christians, but the virgin Mary? So I decided to use her as the focal point of my December page. I am also a mother of December - my youngest was 7 on the 12th!!! And also, the last time both my parents opened their eyes was while receiving final blessings from the church when the words "Mother Mary" were spoken. The rest of the piece just created itseld in muted metals and iris beads, with quite a few fire polished thrown in for sparkle. I just love the feathers, although they were hard to photograph. I took the bead to the fabric store and walked around 3 times before deciding on the sparly golden black knit. I simply put some black interfacing behind it before attatching it to the Stiff Stuff so it was easy to work with. Hope you have a lovely holiday season!

October's Golden page is done.

Well, i finished my October piece the other day and am really enjoying the process. My parent's were married in the month of October and the only anniversary they were apart was their 50th, so i decided to make it a 'golden' page. I found a really neat spiral glass sun, and even though it has a bale, i knew i could make it work! When I first put it on top of my chosen fabric, i know it was the right choice. Then i found some cool glass tube beads in the most amazing earth tones. I decided to use 5 of these for 'rays' - significant in 2 ways - the 5 golden rings (!) and the fact that there were once 5 members in my family, where now it it only me. I can feel myself learning to trust my instinct and even allowed myself to put sequins on the piece! I can even see myself using fibers one day! I guess i am evolving into a textil-ist (?), but don't worry, there are lots of beads on this piece too! I think my favorite part of the piece is holding it up to the sun. I used square beads for my border which are amber lined and then i used bronze delicas and a clear teardrop with a copper center for the 'fringe', so it really shines! I love how a piece tells me when it is done - take a look at the Flickr site and have a look.

Remembering Cindy

This is a bit off topic... but very much ON topic.

Many if us knew Cindy McCornack. Cindy once wrote a small book called Exploring Beaded Art Dolls which had instructions, inspiration, and photographs of bead dolls. She died three years ago of cancer leaving a huge collaborative project of beaded 'mystery panels' completed by many artists unfinished. After years of tracking down, constructing, and gathering the unfinished project we have now published the panels as postcard sets and have them for sale on Etsy.
http://rememberingcindy.etsy.com/

Only a few people knew what the final image was to be and now they are all together - all proceeds from the sale will go towards cancer research at the American Lung Association. As a group, we received many beaded works that were a part of Cindy's estate - there will be regular listings of beaded art dolls, beadwork pieces and supplies that were a part of this estate. All sales will continue to the end of the year and in January 2009, we will close up the shop and donate any remaining items to the Minneapolis Textile Center.

Please share this information with your friends, family and anyone you feel would love just a little more inspiration. Dulcey Heller has also posted a beautiful tribute on her blog:
http://www.dulceyheller.com/wordpress/remembering-cindy/

I just hope that these amazing panels will make a difference in fighting cancer.

September 2.0, A Spirit Doll

I'm making good progress on my September project 2.0. It's my first Spirit Doll, and I'm making it for a close friend. You can see it on my blog.

I don't know if I would have had the nerve to make a Spirit Doll before I started the BJP. So thanks for the inspiration!
Marty S
Crackpot Beader

Progress

September is rushing by, but at least I've been able to spend a little time each day working on September's piece. I am really enjoying the rhythm of this project. I usually try to work on it early in the morning (7 a.m. at our house) for 30 or 45 minutes, before the day gets busy. This is my meditative time, when I really appreciate the journal part of this project. I think about the themes I'm trying to illustrate and what is going on in my mental landscape.

I've adopted a few strategies. I have several books on bead embroidery and am trying to focus on a few pages each month, really learning the stitches and techniques I might have just glanced at before, thinking 'I get that'. But you don't really GET it until you do it, several times. So I'm really learning at a basic level.

Also, since I like to make lampworked glass beads, I've decided to incorporate at least one bead each month, and am trying different bezeling (sp?) techniques. I'm focusing on netting this month...who knows what I'll try in October. Also, I'm finding I don't won't to fill up my entire square (3.5 inches). I like the negative space, especially since I'm using ultrasuede and the colors are beautiful. This month my color is a light pear green.

Finally, a fun story. I was meeting a friend for lunch yesterday. Coincidentally, Susan, who has an exhibit of her 2007 project at Findings in October was there and stopped by to see what I was working on. I told her that her project had inspired me to sign up for the 2008 project! What a thrill!

I'm looking forward to October...theme will be circles.

Getting Started

It's great to see people starting and finishing their Sept. pages. For those of you who are not sure yet what size or theme you are doing, remember to check out the FAQS section on the homepage. Several participants from last year wrote in their experiences of working on the project.

Hello Everyone

This is my first post to the BJP08 blog and my first post to any blog. I have so much to learn about blogging. That sounds so funny to me, because I head up an IT department. When you do that, people tend to think you know everything about every thing computer related. Way back when I started, I knew most of the important stuff. Now, I hire kids who are a lot smarter than I am. But, enough of that.

In the way of introduction, I am a 54-year old making her way through life. I was married for 28 yrs, divorced, and now live with the true love of my life, Jeff.
I've been an artist/craftsperson for as long as I can remember, love being outdoors, reading, sewing, beading, knitting, crocheting, crazy quilting, cooking, playing with the neighborhood children, blowing bubbles, and cuddling with my minature dachshund, Wylie, and chocolate. I've lived all over the U.S. and in Italy. And finally, the day I do not learn something new is a wasted day.

I thought long and hard about a theme for my bead journaling. Ultimately, it came down to the questions I've been asked or have asked, an quotes that started contemplation and meditation on answers or responses. The contemplation continues and the answers change or elude me altogether. I thought the journal could help the contemplative process. Guess we'll find out. September's question is "What were you like when you were a child?" So I've gathered bits and pieces I still have from my childhood and we will see what comes out of it all.

Using Labels and Other Reminders

So - it's me again. Now that we are in full swing, I'd like to repost some info from Robin:


Labels
For this BJP year, I've already determined the acceptable labels for your posts. Please stick with these labels. It will take a few posts to get them all in the index. In this post, I've added all the months. If you post about your work for a specific month, you can use the appropriate month label for it.

When you post, click on Show all at lower right of posting box, and choose appropriate label(s) from the list shown.

The reason to limit the possible labels is because it's easy to get too many labels (confusing) or ones that are too long (hide the down arrow).

Hope this is OK with everyone. If you feel it's important to add a label, please ask Diane M. (our blog master) about it. Thanks!

Please note... there are too many of us to label posts with our names. Instead, please sign every post with a link to your blog, website or email, as I have done below.

Robin A.