bjp0414 - greyed down but still delicious

April was a strange month! Grey and dreary, as it took it's sweet time deciding, if it wanted to be part of winter or spring. A few bright days, made it easier to bear, and I kept busy enough, to chase those doldrums away! I'm sharpening my skill set, and filling my artistic toolbox with even more techniques to share. Like I really needed to do this? Well, yes I do, if I want to keep up with trends, and improve my jewellery making skills. I'll continue to focus on fibre, mixed media and intuitive bead embroidery, but I suspect that jewellery making, will eventually be called upon, to help pay the bills. LOL! Now back to my bead journal. Evening and weekend workshops at BeadFX, with both Stephanie Dixon and Gio Paz, allowed me to ignore the weather outside! Beaded wire crochet, Basic Wirework skills (I needed remedial help, as I've forgotten so much) and a wire bead pendant are some of the new/old learned projects and techniques. I promise details. and more than a few photos, in future posts. The focal, on my BJP, is a resin piece I made, early in my explorations with that medium. Also included is a small wire bead, and a very teeny bit of beaded wire crochet. I started exploring the world of EBay in April, and have included a few vintage jewellery bits, from my first purchase (lots more in future BJP's). Ohhh.....I'm thinking that I'd better watch myself, because EBay could be very addicting! Not to mention the exchange and shipping rates!!

Peyote, back, stacked, bocce/boucle and flower stitches, all shine in this little leaf. I was also, happy to use my new Czech O and Triangle beads, purchased earlier in the month. They make an interesting addition to my stash and you'll definitely be seeing more of them in the future! The triangle beads are shown, standing to attention, on the outside of my bezel. They were originally lying down, but they 'clicked their heels' and stood up straight, when I decided to bead underneath them. Not quite what I had originally intended, but an interesting texture, just the same. Isn't serendipity wonderful? Also, do you notice the droplet of water at the bottom of the leaf? That was a last minute addition, and I must confess to loving it to bits!

wrists and fingers and twining around

Dear bloggers, it's not that I don't love you, but I get so involved, that I forget to write! I'm probably, at least three posts behind, but hope to chat with you again, later in the week. April was a busy, learning and refresher month for me. I took a few evening and weekend classes at BeadFX, but I'm only going to discuss one of them, with you today. I seem to be getting deeper into jewelery mode,so I'll show you two fibre cuffs, I made before starting to play with something entirely different. The first is a felted cuff, made in a class with Dawn Liu-Smythe, who's easy humour and casual teaching style, made for a very pleasant day. The second, a sari silk cuff, hand stitched on water-soluble stabilizer, and then embellished with hand embroidery, and freeform beaded netting. I dreamed it up, after last weekend's spending spree at The Creativ Festival, as I just had to justify those $$'s with a possible class sample! Nothing's firm yet, but I'll keep you informed.

My next foray into fibre, was a result of a blog post about Scrap Fabric Twine, that I found somewhere on the internet. A great little stash buster, very easy, and also quite addicting. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I do seem to be twining fairly regularly. Dare I say that I'll make it a daily task? Probably not, but weekly is a definite possiblility! Of course, my next challenge will be finding something to wind it on, while waiting for inspiration. I know that my friend Kaite in Australia is planning to coil baskets out of hers, and Sue in Arizona, may wrap a chubby doll (LOL!). My ideas = a total mystery!

If you're interested in "twining", please play along, and share your results in the comments. As usual, more later.......