April BJP and May Sale

I've been looking at this month's bjp and haven't been able to see anything else to add to it, so I guess I'll declare it finished.
The face and blue leaves represent both flower and sun this month....the three birds are freedom and wildness....my hand is reaching for the freedom the birds have in living moment to moment without thought for tomorrow or next year....I'm trying very hard to do the same....enjoy and celebrate the joys of each day without too much dwelling on tomorrow.

Also decided to have a 25% off Mother's Day Sale of all the items in my Etsy shop....the link to it is on the left sidebar. The sale runs from this friday, the 1st through Mother's Day which is the 10th this year.

The Good News...

Well, the good news is that I actually made something this week...a box (with feet!) and a book, actually, at a class at our yearly paper arts festival. The instructor, Pat Grass is wonderful, very calm and easy to follow and her kits are awesome....only her extremely excellent kits make it possible to make both a book and a box in a little less than 6 hours....that was a good thing, because at about the five hour mark my back started hurting and I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the box in class, but I did! I still have some work to do on the book, so I won't show it yet.
And I couldn't resist these two photos of sumi and oliver...very typical poses for both of them as ollie is a little contortionist and sumi can be very serious while she's trying to establish herself as the top cat in the house...

Spring

We're in the middle of several sunny warm days so we went out and I took a few photos...one of some kind of fruit tree (I think) and of a ground squirrel who lives in the rocks on the south jetty here in newport....hope wherever you are you're also enjoying the spring weather.

Hey!

Sorry to be so long between posts but I've been doing more reading than beading lately, so don't have much to show here.
I have been playing with wire and pearls and made a couple of dragonflies that I'm hoping to put on next month's bjp, and I made a couple of birthday cards for friends using my landscape photos, but that's about it.
Here's my sumi, who has been keeping me company lately...I'm afraid to open my keyboard, I bet there are millions of cat hairs stuck in there, lol!

Found It

As soon as I found the abalone birds, I knew what the overall design was going to be....and with so much going on in the background fabric, I decided a simple hand would work much better than one with it's own pattern. Not quite done yet, but close...

It seems hard to believe we're already 2/3 of the way through this year's bjp!

Seeking Inspiration

After an early start, I'm finding myself at pretty much of a standstill. So I thought I'd look through some older, unfinished pieces and see if I could get moving...I found these two hands from a couple of years back and they seem a good metaphor for my life right now as I'm reaching for peace and good health and more sun and most of all, for more time. Neither one will do for this month's bjp so I'll have to find the right fabric and make another one for now...

Spring

It's days like yesterday that remind me we are heading for warmer, or at least sunnier, weather. I like mixed weather days with showers followed by clearing so much more than the days that are warmer but the clouds never break all day. But we bought some veggie starts yesterday...lettuce, cabbage, snow peas and that always perks us both up as it reminds us of the yummy salads we'll have in the summer.
And maybe today I'll put a few beads on a needle....watching the world on a string documentary has certainly been inspiring!

A Bit Early...

but I've been working so slowly, I felt I better strike while the muse was beside me!

March BJP Finished

Looks finished to me, although the lens really flattens the image- it's much more 3-D than you can see...plus I've got the fabric for april all ready to go and am collecting bits and pieces to use on it.

I've been watching a 5-part DVD called World on a String all about beads...history, materials, how they're made, people, spirituality and current uses and trends.....I've only watched the first one so far but it's extremely well done and I'm so glad our local library ordered it!
Here's the website in case you're interested in having your library buy it or maybe you'd like to buy it yourself...it would be an awesome addition to your reference library!

Closer

I thought I might be done, but as I look at it I see areas I think still need some work...I'm closer to being done anyway, lol!
In fortune telling, the 10 of hearts means" Good luck, success. This is an important card that suggests good fortune after difficulty."

Almost There

I was hoping to have the march bjp finished by today but I'm not quite there yet...so here is just a shot of it in process, since it's been so long since I've blogged.
I haven't stopped working but I do find I'm putting more time and energy into lifestyle and diet changes to facilitate my health...I expect in another month or so I'll have that all down pat and can get back to a more regular schedule of making art!
In the meantime, thanks for your patience and I hope you'll still drop by when you can!
I've still got my long blog list that I visit but I'm not commenting quite as much right now.

BJP and Sun

Last week we had 3 sunny days in a row and that's pretty unusual for this time of year....it wasn't terribly warm but it wasn't icy either, so I went out and spent some time photographing the river and bay...even got a bit of work done on this months bjp.
I also made a small herringbone flower earring but haven't been inspired enough to make another one, so I may take off the earwire and just use it in one of the bjp pieces. Looks more interesting from the back than the front to me.

March BJP

I think this will be my fabric for march...I love the colors and the combination of spirals (which symbolize the whole birth-life-death cycle) and flowers seems just right to me. I'm still pondering 3-D flowers but nothing has actually insisted on being done yet...luckily, I have time for it to come out.

Scan Results

Just wanted to let everyone know that the results of my scans show that my breast cancer has metastasized to my bones. As soon as he got the results, my oncologist put me on medication to block the hormone receptors since my cancer is hormone positive, which means it "feeds" on hormones. Hopefully, the medication will keep the hormones from getting to the cancer and keep the tumors from growing. Right now we're both cautiously hopeful that the medication will be effective and I'll be around for a few more years anyway. I'm also keeping in mind that there are many fine researchers working on new cancer therapies and there may be something even more effective just around the corner. In short, I'm staying positive and hopeful and as long as I have the love of my family and friends and the support of my wonderful medical team, I'll stay that way.

Started working on my march bjp and I'm thinking there might be some herringbone flowers...haven't done off loom work in a while, but the new issue of B&B is tempting me!

February Finished

Well, I never did find anything more to do to the february piece, so I'm declaring it finished. I'm gathering the fabric and pieces today for the march piece....I see even more green popping out all over the garden this week so I strongly suspect green will feature heavily in march's journal.

On Hold

Sorry I haven't posted this week but I seem to have put my life on hold while waiting to get some test results...I hope to hear from my oncologist today and then I'll be able to make some plans and get back to doing some stitching/beading/photographing...

New Trails

Well, I stitched nine of these little squares into 3 sets of 3 and am wondering where I'll go next with them....this is all so new to me that I feel blocked, but I know it's exactly the feeling my new beading students have....there are so many directions to go that it seems overwhelming to choose just one. So I'm telling myself just what I tell them...just choose one and if you don't like it, rip it out and choose another one....tiny, baby steps.

More Pirates

These are the pirates who have "boarded" our little mobile...now they're all off to a hard day's work.

Bits and Pieces

Lizz, of Red Dirt Mother is giving away a darling carved bunny on her blog if you leave a comment about your favorite spring tradition...I left mine (visiting nurseries for new plants), how about you?

I've been thinking about spring too as we're seeing lots of buds on the trees/bushes and small green spears popping up all over....so my wallpaper for my computer this month is a photo of our backyard and porch taken last september.

I picked up some bits and pieces of heavy decorator fabric years ago and unearthed it yesterday to pick it apart and see if I could reuse it...still pondering but I do love some of the fabric...reminds me of some carpet designs and the little moon face at the top has captured my heart.

Pirates!

This weekend is the Seafood and Wine Festival in town and a couple of pirates have come to visit...luckily, they're friendly!