Tiny Pin/Pendants Go to the Wall

A friend suggested making my tiny hand pin/pendants even more attractive to buyers by framing them so they could be wall art when not being worn. This seemed like a good idea so I found some tiny frames I like (5.75x4.5) with a 3x4.5 inside dimension that works so well with the small size of the hands. I used some more of the amazing non-woven metallic paper to cover the background and some foamcore to support the piece as it hangs.
I'm really liking the looks of them and an working on a small gallery tag to go with them.
What do you think?

Edited to add a small earring I also framed...

September BJP

Finished and hung on my studio wall with the other eight...wow, this year went fast!

And more....

A bit further along with the pins, plus a photo of the sunporch this afternoon and a pair of cases I did...one for scissors and one for a package of needles.
I'm also working on some simple frames for the pins and some earrings I've made, but more on that tomorrow.
Seems there will have to be some more mowing done this month!

Bits and Pieces

I've added a few beads, bugles and charms to the three pins and finished the september bjp, except for the framing.
I think this description of one of the things the dragonfly symbolizes is the one I most love and thought of while finishing the piece....

Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment
The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis.

This ability lets you live your life without regrets like the great dragonfly.


It's raining today but supposed to be sunny next week, so I'm waiting until then to take some photos of the clean and warmer sun porch.
I'll also be starting my autumn piece, Herbst, and the october bjp. Photos next week on those as well.

Fantastic Giveaway

I don't usually go for give-a-ways, but this one is too fantastic to miss...and if you do any kind of fabric work, especially quilting, this will rings your bells too! The blog is Millie's Quilting and she is giving away a GO cutter, a die cutter for fabric. For me, I could cut out circles en masse and they'd be perfect to use with my bead embroidery. The winner also gets 3 dies, so you can start playing immediately...what fun!
Thursday was my sweeties birthday, so we drove over to the valley and had lunch with a friend...we were also able to have our little place pressure-washed and we've about finished weather stripping the sun porch (maybe I'll start calling it the sun room if I can use it longer in the year!), so we hit the ground running this Fall season!
Gallery sitting this weekend, so I'll have some more progress photos of the little pins I'm working on and I'm looking for the fabric for my autum wall hanging (haven't got a name yet) and finishing the september bjp so I can cut out the hands for october's bjp....whew...I hope I have enough energy for all that!
Did I mention it's sunny?

Slow Indeed

I love the slow cloth movement...gives me permission to go slowly and not feel I have to put out so much all the time...and this is the first time I've worked on three at the same time...not sure it's working, but will see how it ends, I guess.

This Weekend

The weekend has been all rain and wind, which tends to make me sluggish, so I am starting two more small pin/pendants...they don't take as much time as the larger pieces, so are easier to get going on.
Next week we're going to add a bit of weatherstripping to the porch and then see if the small space heater we bought will keep it warm enough to work out there until it gets really cold. I'd sure like to have the extra light to work by and with the end wall being all glass, I feel almost as though I'm working outside...

Edited to add: Since bloglines (which I used to follow blogs) is closing at the end of the month, I'm moving as many as I can to google follow, which is the one I have in my sidebar for following this blog.

September BJP Begun

This month is started with a tiny face given to me by a friend who makes them out of clay and then paints them, plus a dragonfly I made of freshwater pearls and artistic wire...I found this wonderful site that tells about the symbolism of the dragonfly and it really speaks to me as I feel myself drawing closer to death and whatever transformation that may bring.

Finished and Done

I think they're both finished...the little hand pin/pendant is for sure...the summer piece, verano, probably is but I've got a couple more weeks to look at it and something else might speak up...you never know...;)

More Summer

Today was one of those special summer days where it's sunny but the wind is just a breeze instead of a force that blows tons of sand in your face, lol...
So I did a bit of mobile beading and took a few photos while I was out and about...
A photo of newport from yaquina head and a photo of yaquina head from newport and then a photo of a blue heron in the bay earlier this evening...
I'll post the beadwork when it's done...

Rain, Sun and Sweetpeas

Well, the weather is still up in the air, lol....skies cleared up late yesterday and this morning I see blue again, but it's not as warm yet. The sweetpeas have outdone themselves this year and are still growing...the window to our dining ell is about 6 feet off the ground and the flowers are a couple of feet higher and would probably be covering the window except that the wire they're supported by is only 5 feet high.
The bracelet is finished and the fabric cut out for the september bjp. I still have the summer wall piece to finish and I was playing with some paper clay and have to paint those pieces too before I start on the journal page.

Indian Summer or Autumn

I'm wondering this morning if we're going to have an indian summer or if autumn is making an early apprearance. By the fog I see outside in the tops of the big doug firs, it looks like autumn, but it's pretty warm outside and could easily clear up in a couple of hours and get as bright and sunny as yesterday was...one thing for sure- it's a time of year when the weather report is as often wrong as it's right. I love it!
I think I'll finish this bracelet today and then decide this afternoon what I want to start on next. It's already a week into september and I haven't chosen my fabrics yet so I might just do that....or it might be so sunny that I take a drive up the river and sit on the dock and watch the water go by...
Oh...this little thing is the first piece of bead embroidery I did about 10 years ago...the impetus for it were the two carnelian-looking pieces in the middle. They had no holes in them so to use them I had to use embroidery instead of the off loom weaving I had been doing....and it's been an adventure ever since!

Delicas

When I first started doing beadwork about 20 years ago, I began with the peyote stitch. First beading around tiny perfume bottles (ironic) and then I discovered the japanese delica beads which were not the donut shape of most seed beads but a machine manufactured cylinder bead. What that meant was that it made the most wonderful regular and flowing bead fabric when using the peyote stitch. I must have made several hundred of these bracelets (all my own designs) and sold them in local galleries for many years. As time passed, I moved on to other stitches and other techniques but I still like to work with the delicas occasionally.
My plan yesterday was to start a bead embroidered pin/pendant but when I saw these beautiful colored delicas, I knew I had to start another bracelet...I don't usually title my work, especially not simple bracelets, but I'm calling this one, "going back to her roots"...and these 2 inches took me almost 2 hours...NOT a fast stitch, especially with such small beads!

September

I wonder where the summer went, lol! Too fast, but I'm still hoping for a nice indian summer in september and october-we'll see.
Here is the right angle weave bracelet finished and shown on my wrist for pat...don't know if you can tell but it's three beads deep, so it's a pretty sturdy bracelet but still with a lovely flexibility.
I'm also working on the summer piece, as I've got almost 3 weeks before it needs to be done...and am starting a small hand pin/pendant, just to warm up for the september bead journal.