Spring Reorganization

It's spring and my fancy turns again to reorganizing my little home studio. It seems that things just seem to pile up during the winter and then we head into spring and I look around and realize it's time again to figure out if the way I have stuff organized still works for me.
Last week, I went through one of the bookshelves and sorted enough paper to throw about 5 lbs of it away...mostly just things like old notices of exhibits, old postcards, copies of articles I've read and won't need to reread...that sort of thing. It didn't make a real noticeable change in the look of the bookcase, but I felt a lot lighter, lol! (thank goodness our local garbage company also recycles!)
This week I took a look at a couple of large 39 drawer units that I had my "larger" beads in. Now, for me, anything much bigger than a seed bead is "larger" and since I'm not doing a lot of stringing (which is what I mainly bought the larger beads for), I had to ask myself if they needed to be so readily available and taking up so much room? I decided it would be a good time to sort through them and see what I wanted to keep and what I could let go of now. And I ended up putting the ones I wanted to keep in a much smaller lidded tote and the others are in a bag waiting to go to a local church rummage sale. The table they were on looks a lot less cluttered now and the things that I do use frequently are right at hand. (Can you tell which is before and which is the after photo?)
Today I'm going to get the fabric ready for the april bead journal and maybe a few more beads put on the primavera piece. I find that letting go of old stuff energizes me and sometimes clears blocks to inspiration.

A Few Beads

Put a few more beads on this piece before I set it aside to get the april bead journal going...fabric first, as always and then I'll see what leaps out at me from my collection of vintage embellishments.

Two days into spring...

and I'm getting the outline of primavera...I sure love this particular yarn a lot...it comes in many color combinations and the thick/thin texture of it works well for me.

Beginning

I started Primavera yesterday...the first photo is about an hour into it and the last is about 3 hours...the whole piece is 4x12 inches and I'm hoping to do 4 of them...starting each one on the equinox or the solstice of the season.
The leaves have an irridescent finish, but it doesn't seem to show unless you get in real close.

Primavera

It's Spring and the azaleas are beginning their first bloom and our thoughts have been turning to what has survived the winter and what needs to be replaced in the garden. We also have plans to turn more of the "lawn" part into paths or beds. I say "we" but it's really my dearest husband who does all the heavy work and I just help out with placement and the occasional mowing.
I've also been thinking it's time to find out if I can sustain a larger piece or two in between the bead journal and whatever jewelry I make. I'm contemplating a piece called "Primavera" that I would begin today and finish before june 21st...the pastel colors of spring are calling to me this year.

Done

The Winter Trio is done...next up will be the Spring Trio, of course, starting with april next month.

Almost

finished....as soon as I add the nailheads or beads to sew the middle hand to the back. The largest hand is cut from the same fabric as the first, smallest hand...an easy way to visually tie all the pieces together.

And...

Another couple of hours into it...I like to document my process as I move through a piece. I also seem to see it better on the screen, than when I hold it in my hand...and can tell when something is or isn't working in it.

A bit of progress...

a little further along...I'm using size 13 charlottes in a copper iris which doesn't show at all in the photo and I don't think it would even with better light. My little lumix just isn't up to the subtleties of the beads...but you get the general idea.

(don't forget to spring forward tonight...)

And Yet Again...

After two days of looking at the hands, I realized the abalone chip just wasn't working and somehow I'd forgotten to put in the march hare, lol! As soon as I changed the piece it started talking to me again, so I think I did the right thing for it. Not something I do often, but the occasional slip does happen.

To begin again....

on this month's bjp...I've added a dyed abalone chip, the usual vintage nailhead fingernails and a jadite garden spirit...a bird, I think....and now I'm looking for the beads and bugles and whatever else calls to me from/for this piece. I'm definitely thinking about gardens, especially quirky ones like elspeth thompson is featuring on her new blog, Gardening Against the Odds HERE.

Another Pin/Pendant

I finished the next pin/pendant...this one has a copper face, MOP piece, horn rondells, roses montees, vintage nailheads, coral rondells and tiny bugles along with the charlottes and true cuts (if we're still calling size 11 charlottes, true cuts)...and is backed with ultrasuede and a pin/pendant finding.
Today I'm going to start my march bjp, but I'm not sure how far I'll get...and tomorrow we're going with friends to see Alice in Wonderland...looks like fun!

March BJP

I think I've found this month's fabrics...a very spring green coming out of a muted green/tan/rose/brown pattern that reminds me of the dead leaves that the new green shoots come up through. Spring has come early to the coast this year, but that also means spring rains are here. Just one of the conditions that allows us to have the myriad greens we have year 'round. Fair trade if you can take the rain and even better if you love it!