Harvest Moon

I finished this second moon yesterday...
I'm finding they take about 3 hours from start to finish, not including the making and baking of the moon faces themselves. I'm also going to be making some sun faces from the same artist, Maureen Carlson...the company that puts out the molds is Amaco, if anyone else is interested in playing with them. I owe Bonnie Anderson a big thanks for turning me on to this artists' face molds!

Egyptian Moon

I was so intrigued by Bonnie Anderson's Man in the Moon,
I had to do one too...except I don't usually do just one of anything...so I've got a whole series coming very slowly down the pike...this first one is called, Egyptian Moon...

At My Desk

My desk
is rather neat today...you can see the black support cuff lying next to the monitor...I'm still beading, but just a bit. My surgery for the carpal tunnel is Nov. 29th for the right hand and two months later for the left, so I don't think I'll be doing any christmas presents this year, unless they're strung...
Anyway, my desk is huge...my son gave it to me when he moved into a smaller place. The left side is all beads and fabric (in the drawers under the desk and the right side is mostly business, computer and digital camera supplies along with my 3-in-one printer, scanner, copier. I have a miniature cat collection on top of the bead drawers and a tiny bunny collection on the base of the lamp...this 9x10 room and the walk-in closet is my studio and where I spend the better part of my days. I do love working at home!

Face Swap

These are the two
face pins I received in the swap...the man in the moon by Bonnie Anderson and an unnamed face byMieke Bronckers...

Photo Day

I'm taking today
to photograph all the bead embroidery I have here in the studio...I've been looking for a gallery that specialized in fiber arts, but now I'm going to get serious about it! None of the galleries that carry my jewelry are really knowlegable about beadwork or any of the fiber arts really, so I'd rather not put my bead embroidered work in them.

Class Bust

Two faces..
several months ago I was approached about teaching a couple of classes at a day-long workshop put on by my local bead shop. I was happy to be asked and decided I'd teach how to bead around a face bead...yeah, the face swap came along a month or so later and the synchronicity blew me away...

anyway...I beaded a couple of faces (made by a friend of mine) and put them in the shop as class samples....as it turned out no one signed up for that class which was just as well, since by then the carpal tunnel made beading problematic!

But it got me to thinking about beading and teaching and what a small subgroup of beaders I belong to - people who not only have the patience to spend 50+ hours on one piece but actually love to do it! There isn't really any kind of beading I don't like to do (well, maybe loom work..;), but starting a piece of bead embroidery with some small idea of where it's going and then just following along until it's finished is one of the major joys of my life.

And that's number one on my list of 5 weird things about me....I'm still tying to find the other 4!

2 Fish

These two fish
are finally done and going to the gallery next week....I'll put a silk cord on them and they'll be ready to wear...their purchase price will go into the gallery's scholarship fund for art students since so much of the public funds for the arts have been cut.
The faces got sent off on friday for the beaded face swap...I love surprises and can hardly wait to see the two faces that will be living with me...

Face Swap

All Done
with the 2 face cabs I'm doing for a swap...not as much beading as I usually do, but I figured it was pretty good for someone with carpal tunnel in both hands! The faces are polymer clay from a purchased mold, the beads around them are tiny nailheads with a small swarovski crystal at the top...they have ultrasuede backs and a pin/pendant finding...

Greens

Color choices...
Robin's blog, Beadlust, has gotten me thinking about my color choices...I'm realizing I use a lot of greens...and then I looked up from the computer out one of my studio windows and saw this....well, duh...looks like I'm echoing my environment! Also, I live here in Oregon because I love greens and blues (and greys too) and that's what we have a lot of, especially here on the coast!

I also realized, after talking to some other local artists, that in the winter...when it can get a bit dreary with many days of rain...we all switch to brighter colors, as if to add some cheer to our lives and studios...

Little bits

A few small UFO's
I'm getting a number of my smaller UFO's done...I can work on them a short time and take a break and still finish them in a day, since most of the work is done...makes me wonder what took me so long!

Totems

Totem animals
are being discussed on robin atkin's bead blog, beadlust, and it reminded me of one of my earlier bead embroidery pieces...it was a study in mostly whites and it had a small MOP button and bear and I called it, Land of the Midnight Sun or Polar Bear's Journey...robin also did a post on polar bears which is what brought this to mind in the first place...now I've dug it out I think I'll see if it can finally be finished!

Not Quite Dones

UFO's
A few small things I've been working on that are in various stages of done/undone...

another amulet done...

finished!
This has been a fun challenge for me...thanks so much!

Finished

The Amulet is done...
I managed to make a couple of tiny wire attachments and then beaded the edge of the back opening....the bag is two layers of ultrasuede, beaded together along the edge. The necklace has small clasps on both ends of the softflex, so I can use it for several pieces in that color grouping...

Picture This

Just a shot of my workspace
to keep me encouraged while I continue my battle with carpal tunnel and keep my mother entertained (she's visiting from Washington)...in the meantime I'll be checking out all my favorite bead blogs...thanks to you all (and you know who you are...).

Amulet

Mostly Done
Just have to add the necklace...usually I do that before I add the edging, but I thought I'd try it the other way around this time...

Still Amulet

Ready to finish...
The beading on the front is done...there is a small carnelian asian figure, a swarovski flower crystal, some vintage beads and bugles and a few 3mm nailheads have joined the carnelian, amethyst, green garnet and yellow jade bits...the dark purple she's lying on is the ultrasuede I'll be making her backing and pouch from...

Amulet

Day 3 or 4

bead-a-long

Guardian Spirit Amulet Bag
Here is the beginning of my amulet bag...she has a bone face cab that I've bezeled with charlottes and 3 cuts...embellished with tiny carnelian ovals, green garnet faceted drops and amethyst cubes...the cotton fabric I'm beading on has the same colors as the gemstones, lavender, orange and mossy green...

August Challenge

About Face...
I've just hit a brick wall with the tortoishell piece, so I'm putting it aside until inspiration strikes...in the meantime, there's an august challenge on this blog....
http://bead-a-long.blogspot.com/
even with carpal tunnel, I think I can finish a 3x3 amulet bag in a month!
Playtime!