July is late and was a bit of a challenge for me. I sprained my wrist and although not my dominant hand, I found that I still couldn't bead. Perhaps if I had a "third hand".....you know, one of those clip things....but I didn't, so decided to put my playthings away until the pain was gone. Surprisingly, healing took longer than I thought it should, but it's good now, so life progresses!!
During my vacation from beads, I dreamed up the raspberry/lime colour scheme. Not a new one to me, but one that I find particularly refreshing, even though I'm not really a "pink" person. I even visited a couple of bead stores to beef up the stash. Did I really need to do that? Definitely not, but it seems to be a ritual I follow with these journals, so who am I to stifle the muse? The distressed, metal "7" is actually a new charm that my sister found in Michaels (she sent me more than a few packages of charms, so you'll be seeing more of these lovely mixed media treasures in future projects). The silver owl is from my stash and this section also showcases a paper clip, a little bit of sequin waste (thanks, Mary Anne!), a millifiori bead, from a string I picked up years ago, a new lantern bead and an abalone shell button (one that's apparently way too shiny for a good photograph).
The squished and naturally distressed metal button was gifted to me from my friend Kaite in Australia ( she picked it up at the side of some road). The white one (enhanced with a bit of Guilder's Paste) is from the family button box.
Another wee giftie from Kaite -- the top of an old knitting needle. If you check out her blog, you'll realize that knitting needles are something very precious to her! Clever Kaite! I would never have come up with this idea in a million years!!! Of course, in my defense, I'm not a knitter.......
My vintage button pick for July!! Also a little "Love" charm that was part of a swap package from someone a while ago. I confess that I have no idea who sent this particular package, but it contains some lovely things that are certainly fated to appear in future bead journals. If it was "you", my apologies, but if you let me know, I'll credit you on the blog.
The finished piece!!! I started out not liking it very much, but it grew on me during the process and I find that I'm really quite fond of it now! It seems that every time I'm away from beading (or anything else artsy) for a while, it's a huge chore to persuade myself to get back into it. Does anyone else experience that same effect? I think it's a sulky muse!!!! What do you think?
My normal rogue, range of stiches including back, stacked, flower and bocce/boucle stitch.
The background for August is already painted, so I expect to start on it soon....................stay tuned!!
