bjp 2014 - leaf pile

I'm happy to say that I've actually finished my 2014 BJP series! No, I haven't blogged about the last three yet, and I don't do resolutions, but I will promise to post the missing ones, in the next few weeks. At the end of every season, leaves do fall, and what better way to show them, than in a nice, fat, pile! No raking required, but I expect that they will eventually end up, displayed in some orderly fashion, on stitched bits of muti-coloured fabric. It's hard to catch them, and they will blow here and there, but I hope to be able to corral their their 2014 whimsy, in one safe, or should I say, sane place!

Now on to 2015! For those of you, interested in joining the Bead Journal Project for 2015, open enrollment closes on January 5th. After that, you'll need to wait for December. The BJP is on Facebook, and all you need to do is to "Join". Yes, it is a year long commitment, but only one bead per journal is mandatory. The shape, the type of beading,and anything else is entirely up to you!............................................................................................... I wish you all a happy, healthy and creative 2015!

bjp 0614 - flying in circles

Why is it, that time flies so fast, that it seems you're spinning in circles? One day, warps into the rest, and very little gets accomplished.....sigh! This bead journal is all about the passing of time and the use of unconventional objects. Found objects, gifts from friends, watch parts, glass nuggets and vintage components, are mixed in with new beads and the odd houshold treasure. Nothing is left out, and all will be used to mark the passage of time. These are my memories, and although I may not remember the individual stories, I will remember my treasured items, as the years progress. It's good enough for me! How do you plan to leave your mark, for future generations? A clean house, is not enough! Promise me, that you'll take some time for yourself....

I won't need to buy vintage jewelery components for a while, as I won a bid for a nice bag of them, from a seller on EBay. Of course, lessons learned are a)the exchange rate, and b) that shipping is expensive. I have promised myself to only bid on exceptional and/or very light items, in the future. LOL! Nothing unusual in my stitches, just the regular posse of peyote, back, stacked and boucle/bocce/moss. I love the warm colours, the watch parts and the bezels in this leaf! It was actually finished early in July, but bad blogger that I am, I just didn't get around to writing about it until now. For those of you that are still doing this, how do you manage to keep up? I do have good intentions, and still love the process, but time evaporates, and all of a sudden, my blog post is two months late. Boo, hoo to me!! Yikes!!! The bad news is, that I haven't even started on my July bead journal....soon, I promise, soon......but then there are class samples to make.....don't worry, I'll find the time to squeeze it all in, somehow........

bjp 0314 - thirsting for spring

When depressed by the weather, my thoughts often turn to watery daydreams, and my colour schemes to blues and greens. Heavily influenced, by memories of growing up in Vancouver, I keep returning to these colours!.........Now back to this month's BJP! A study in blue/green, with more than just a hint of delicious temptation!

For me, this has been quite the winter for exploration, and you can see some of the results in this section. Handmade cabochon (mine), topped with a dash of free-form peyote and a vintage button.

Shells, hand embroidery (Spider's Wheel stitch), a family button jar find and one of my old favourites, the ruffle stitch. The stone was picked up on the beach, the day before another big dump of snow!!!

Barnacle stitch and more of the ruffle!

Don't ask me which type, but this shape was actually traced from a leaf that I collected outside in the fall. There were large, small and medium leaves, but all shared the same elegant heart shape. Stitches involved are peyote, free-form peyote, back, bocce/boucle, fringe, stacked, barnacle, ruffle and flower stitches. This piece makes me happy, as do the warmer temperatures! There's hope that spring is finally on it's way!.........It was actually completed a couple of weeks ago, but I just didn't get around to writing about it until now. I intended to post to the blog, but with all the excitement about finishing another piece (not BJP related), it completely slipped my mind. More blue/green goodies in future posts! Oh, I almost forgot.....I had a blast, teaching my first "Beading Without A Net - Intuitive Bead Embroidery" class at BeadFX in March. Next class on May 30th/June 1st!

bjp 0114 - in the pink

Well, January is a funny month! You'd think that I would find it depressing, but no I'm feeling "in the pink" and am looking forward to all the exciting challenges 2014 has to offer. Change is not always good, but I've decided to embrace mine and enjoy the new experiences. I'll stick with my leaf series, but probably end the year in September. That makes me happy, because it means that I've already completed my first three pieces (due to a late start in 2013). Yeah!!! I'm well on the way to accomplishing my goal. All that being said, let me introduce my January leaf!

I'm teaching my first Paper Bead workshop at BeadFX on January 26th, so I thought that it would be a good idea to include one of the first ones I made. It makes me happy, it's pink and white, and fits my theme (recycled paper from an old needlework pattern book). The shells are from an ugly old necklace of my Mother's, the buckle from a discarded watch strap and the sparkly earring, little butterfly and various metal bits, from my swap stash. I love these little goodies! I don't always remember who gave them to me, but they are still very special and precious. Most have flown to Canada, in various swaps and trades from all different parts of the world. It proves that people are very generous, and our world is united in a love of sparkly stash!!!!

In this section, you can see the bottom of my focal, more of the earring, and a few old necklace components. And now the full piece! Tada!!!

The focal is a fabulous vintage button, and one of those gifted to me by my sister at Christmas. She knows how much I love vintage and she happened to find the button in a very cool knit/coffee shop in Sault Ste Marie, ON. I should remember the name, but I don't, but do remember that it has "Motley" in the title. I really should remember because a) I visited the shop before it opened, and b) I may be able to teach some workshops &/or sell some stuff there in the future, and c) it's owned by my brother-in-law's, nephew's, wife. Sheesh! I promise, it's only a momentary loss of memory. The name will probably pop into my head soon after I publish the post. Stitches used include back, stacked, boucle/bocche and peyote. The leaf shape was traced from one I collected in the fall. I have no idea what tree it's from. Oh, one more thing.....pink is not one of my favourite colours, although I do like the duller tones! I chose it because of the focal. More later.......

bjp 1213 - icy cold

As 2013 comes to a close, so does my leaf series for the same year. Oh, don't worry, I'm not done with the leaves yet, and may continue them in 2014 (after all, I only made three). But perhaps not formally, or should I say solely as the BJP. December was cold, we had snow and we had ice.....boy did we have ice! I'd like to say that the colour scheme was a result of said cold, but really, it was mainly influenced by the focal cabochon I had chosen. Well, did I really choose it, or did it choose me as a result of the weather? Who knows? Who ever knows? Do I sound slightly wacky?

I love this blue!!! I made the cab in an Ice Resin class at BeadFX in Toronto (taught by Malliga Nathan). You'll probably be seeing more of these cabs in the future, as I made tons and have plans for making more in 2014. A few more detail shots and then the big reveal!

The regular posse of stitches, including back, peyote, stacked, fringe, flower and boucle/bocce. Interesting bits include vintage and not so vintage buttons, old key, broken cufflink from the family button box, component from a deconstructed necklace and a little tiny puzzle piece (that you can hardly see, because I covered most of it up). Now onwards and upwards!!! I wish you all a happy and healthy and creative 2014!

bjp 1113 - dark and delicious

The leaves have all fallen from the trees, but are still alive in my imagination. I've given a nod to Mother Nature and painted my November leaf with the colours of the season. Sinfully rich, red, gold, bronze and rust, with just a touch of orange for contrast. The dark purple was a result of choosing the shell at night, in a room without proper lighting. I thought that it was either bronze or dark gold!!! But as I like to say, embrace the imperfections and then go with it! Someone once told me that if you don't like an element in a piece, add it a few more times, and all will be well! So I did exactly that and I think it works!!! Red and dark colours seem to be almost impossible for me to photograph properly, despite taking photos outside on a couple of different days. I just couldn't fully capture the lush, richness of the piece. Perhaps a photographic lighting course should be one of my 'must do' activities for 2014. Nah! Sounds too technical (at least, right now), so I think that I'll just embrace my own personal "imperfections"! All that being said, I think that 2014 will be a year of exploration, beading and paper. I'll try to fit some stitch in too, but probably in conjunction with other media. As I've mentioned previously, I just love my techniques!

Now more about the leaf! I started out with a rusty bottle cap that I found on the ground quite a while ago. I liked the band of red, so wanted to include it as the focal. Also included are a variety of beads from the stash, bugles (standing up this time), and a few bits recycled from old necklaces. The beauty of those old pieces, is that they just give and give and will end up in many future projects. But I digress! Stitches used are my regular posse of peyote, back, stacked and boucle/bocce stitches. For a texture boost, I also added a strip of Robin's ruffle stitch. There's not a lot of room in the leaves for me to go really crazy, but I still like the direction I'm taking, even though it forces me to be a little more conservative with my choices. No promises, but I think that I'll take this series into the BJP for 2014. An unexpected bonus of being a BJP participant, is that it has trained me to think in series. That will be a big help, if and when I submit my work to galleries. They do like cohesive series!!! I wonder what December will bring? By the way, here's a clue to my next post:

beads and a paper bowl

I'm developing an intuitive bead embroidery class, so thought that I could combine it with my totally neglected 2013 BJP series. I loved the process and the original intent, but life and work got in the way this year. Now that I've been gifted with more time (I'm no longer working), I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to dust off my original plan. I wanted to make 12 leaves of the same size and shape and turn them into a necklace. Well, now I've got a new plan! The necklace would have been weighty, just a bit distracting and impractical to wear. Now I'm more attracted to the idea of making different leaf shapes and turning them into individual pendants (that I'm more likely to wear). I'm not sure how many I will make, so will only commit to the last three of the 2013 series. I don't want to work backwards, so I say onwards and upwards!! The backing is Lacey's Stiff Stuff and the piece contains a lovely stone cabochon (some type of turquoise), a mix of beads, crystals and pearls, old jewelry findings, button, watch parts and a copper spring (that I wound myself on a very small knitting needle). This leaf is 1 1/2" wide and 3 1/2" long, so you can see that I could not go as wild as I like to with my embellishments. Stitches used are back , peyote, stacked, flower and bocce/boucle. I'm very happy to be back in the game again and cannot wait to start my second leaf. I have not had any journal type thoughts yet, but if I continue for a while, I'm sure that the leaves will start whispering.

Now on to the second part. I made another bowl a couple of weeks ago, but never got around to posting. It's made from Gelli Printed tissue paper, teabags (on the inside) and skeleton leaves (craft store ones). The tissue was too thin and left the bowl a little unstable, so I needed to strengthen it with varnish. I'm not sure that I like the shiny look, but I do like the bowl and love the marks that were made with the Gelli print. In addition, I find the colour scheme to be quite soothing.

The chicken is in the pot and the sun is shining. I think it's time to play for a while........