July Research Day

Tomorrow we are having a gardener come in to create order out of our helter-skelter lawn and overgrown back yard. This is all part of the plan to make our house even more wonderful looking, to attract buyers. I don't want to see all my lovely weeds cut back and so on, so I'm going to run away from home for the day and do some research for my July page. By "research," I mean looking at lots of pictures, art books, and galleries, and spending a lot of time in our beautiful main library downtown. I'm also going to go into the Button Emporium, which is very close to the library, and see if I can find one or two exceptional buttons to put onto the page (or maybe a future page...?). I know I said I didn't want to buy anything new for this project, but I have very, very few buttons of any kind, so I'm making an exception. I'm hoping that by the time I get back, all garden work will be done and I can just be in awe of my beautiful new yard. And ready to start my July page.

Not July Yet...

I didn't want to stop beading. But I'm not ready to start July just yet, as there are so very many things to do first. So I put this together for a pin or pendant to wear to an event that I ended up not going to. My husband likes it this way, and I do too, though I also like it sideways, with the green beads on top. So I don't know exactly how it will end up. I'll finish up either late tonight or sometime tomorrow when it's too hot to do anything else. it looks kind of simple this close up, but it's designed to look better from a distance. Also... sequins do not scan well at all I found out.

Done!

I'm essentially finished with my June page! It's different for me, for sure, but I guess it was time for a change.

It symbolizes, for me, growth, change, movement, beginnings, the sudden appearance of miracles or disasters (different sides of the same coin...), mysteries. I really have a lot to think about now! Overall, though it feels like a very optimistic piece.

I've no idea what to do for the July page, but I think I'll just put on a bead I love and go from there.

So, I'm starting to close in on the end. How did that happen? I'm now reluctant to pick it up-- I don't want it to be over! Of course, I can always start July, or work out a journal cover... I didn't think I would be this close to finishing so soon, though. There are still days left in the month.

Page 1 - Part 3

I was able to pick up a little faster than I thought, and added some art deco water. But then our power went out, and I found that beading in the dark is not so easy...! I may even finish this week, though probably I'm getting way ahead of myself. I do know I won't be working on this much today. We live unfortunately close to the local raceway, and there are big noisy cars running around in circles about a mile from here. They are LOUD!!!!! My husband and I are going to run away to find a quieter neighborhood where, hopefully, houses will be for sale in our price range. We do not want to settle close to the raceway again!

BJP Page 1 - Part 2(?)

Well, here I am. It's very easy to bead myself into a corner, and I'm doing just that. I get to a point where I could logically stop, yet there are also dozens of possibilities where the piece could go on-- where it wants to go, maybe. Will I stop at the vertical line I've drawn, or keep going? I don't know if I want to keep the blue line around the left side. Among other things. So it's time to put it aside, and not look at it for a day or so. The indecision will resolve, and I'll know where to go next.

Earlier This Year...

Here's an example of how my work usually looks. It's called The Cradle of Stars, based on deep sky photographs from the Hubble Telescope. I'm usually going all over the place, with swirls, spirals, many colors, lots of movement. This is the last beaded piece I did before the BJP, I think I completed it sometime in January. Again, it is inexpertly scanned. One of the things I'll be getting better at over this year will be scanning--I hope. Of course, now that I've posted this, I can't cheat and pretend I did it for one of the upcoming months. D'oh!

Work In Progress - First Page, Pt. 1

Here's the first part of my first page, inexpertly scanned. Oddly, though my life is presently out of control in many, many directions, this is the most quiet and well-mannered piece I have ever done. I'm not sure what that's about, but it's interesting.

I started out with the green spiral bead, and it grew from that. I'm not sure whether it will stop at the left-hand curl, or keep growing out toward my thread border. I'm thinking to set a page size, and then mount the beadwork on that, so that the "live" beaded areas can vary a little in size within that framework. That way I don't have to be completely consistent as to image size, just in case the image wants to be larger or smaller.

It has been very calming and sane-making to stop and bead a few minutes every so often, and so far I'm making good progress. We'll see how it goes as things get more intense on the house front...