Beading at the Beach: 6/1/09

6/29/09

July BJP

Just picked out the fabric for the july bjp...I'm thinking "earth" this month and that always makes me think of alive and growing things so this bamboo batik seems just right...the lighter colors of spring are still here in some of the flowers but the deeper summer colors are coming up.
We have some dear old friends visiting and the weather is just beautiful (even if the wind does just about knock you off your feet on the headlands), so we've been out and about a lot.
Tomorrow I'll start pulling open drawers to see what might work with this month's colors and theme.

6/22/09

June BJP

I was going for things that are lighter than air...then I decided I'd try to portray my hands reaching for bubbles, but the bubbles turned into memories, so now I'm reaching out and touching many memories of the past...not just the distant past but also recent things like a visiting deer in our garden and a beautiful sunset last week and a drive through the wild rhododendrons in the woods...I'm focusing on creating beautiful and peaceful memories this summer to last me through the winter...

6/21/09

Summer Solstice

Wow, summer solstice and father's day all in one! hope everyone has a great day whatever you're celebrating!

I'm giving the father in the house a yard of dirt...gardeners sure have funny wishes, lol!

I've been doing shaped pieces from the diane fitzgerald book and having fun, but it's just playing now so I'm not posting any photos yet...

Here's another of the little ATC's...they seem to draw out another type of creativity entirely from the shaped pieces...not too surprising since the shaped pieces have to be done just so, and the ATC's and other bead embroidery is totally improvisation, at least the way I do it!

6/17/09

Books

Local friends who know how much trouble I'm having with inspiration have been sharing magazines, books, websites and giving me small treasures in the hopes something will click. I'm looking through some older Ornament magazines and finding some wonderful color combinations I would not have thought of and just getting jazzed up in general.

Two books have been especially wonderful...Robin Atkin's latest book(a gift from a friend), Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery, and one I just ordered (having seen a copy a friend owns) Diane Fitzgarald's, Shaped Beadwork. The last one really surprised me (and I owe a great thanks to my friend gail who shared it with me!) since I haven't done any bead weaving in at least 6 months, which is a real record for someone who started out doing nothing but the peyote, RAW, and herringbone stitches!

So now I'm planning some larger bead embroidery pieces and some small shaped pieces that might make earrings and bracelets for one or two of our local galleries.

I've got my fingers crossed...

6/14/09

Lizzy

A little bone lizard creeping toward some red coral flowers with a keishi pearl leaf...

6/12/09

Owl

6/10/09

What ifs and Sage

I was going through some bits and pieces of beadwork yesterday and found this face I'd beaded around and then set aside....I found some fabric that I'd cut up earlier and hadn't used for the basho piece last year and the face looked just right on it....I sure am enjoying couching down the yarn on some of the pieces...there's something so very satisfying in it.

I also found out that the closest place to buy (in person) the DMC cotton perle thread I'm using is portland...I can hardly believe it! We have towns of 50-100 thousand closer but none of them have a needlework shop that carries the perle cotton....lots of them carry the embroidery floss but that's not what I'm wanting....weird! So it looks like I'll have to order it online...I guess it's a viscious circle...the local shops don't carry stuff, so people buy it online and then the local shops go under and you have to buy it online.

Oh...and a photo of our jerusalem sage in bloom...we planted it last year but this year it's really taken hold!

6/9/09

Depression and Gratitude

A couple of days ago, Pam, of Of beads and other things, gave me an award and I've been trying to figure out how to respond ever since.
It's not that I'm not grateful for the award and I'm certainly grateful for every day I wake up and draw a breath, but these last few months have been more challenging than I've wanted to share here (not that you aren't all very supportive because I've had nothing but kindness and warmth from your comments) mainly because this blog is where I come when I'm feeling good enough to write or to post photos of the few small things I've been able to do and I did not want it to be where I talked about my metastatic cancer...BUT, the fact of the matter is that I'm in a daily battle with depression and what that means in my case is that getting anything creative done is like trying to run while standing in mud up to your armpits...it's a struggle.
So getting awards or passing on memes or writing about gratitude...or just writing at all is sometimes almost impossible and usually a fight I lose...and while I really want to honor the intention of the folks who pass these things on to me, I just cannot really participate in the spirit I'd like to...
I hope it's okay to say, thanks, but no thanks? I think anyone who has or has had depression will understand...I hope everyone else does too because this blog is my link to normality and I would miss you all so much if I offended you.