Nancy's Bead & Misc. Blog

Beaders Muse II - Big Reveal

2009-08-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well the results are out. What lovely work. Check the link on my prior post. Here is my project. Every entry is posted separately with the story behind the piece.

It is better in person. This is a total departure from what I would normally do, but I really like copper. The colors selected for this Muse were colors I would select on my own. So that was fun.

Please check out the site to see some lovely work.

Next time, I have a crochet project to post and maybe some pictures of Juno and the other dogs and other beading projects. It has been awhile. Nancy

The Beader's Muse

2009-07-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I entered the wrong address for Scarlett's blog. Here is the correct one:
http://www.thebeadersmuse.com/
Nancy

The Beader's Muse

2009-07-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hi, I am still out here if anyone stops by. I have been busy with life for the most part. Some beading, some knitting, some crocheting, lots of reading, but mostly working!

Anyway, I am writing now as I joined Scarlett Lanson's The Beaders Muse II contest. I just submitted my piece. I wish all that joined good luck. As soon as we can post our muses, I will post mine. It was a fun and educational experience for me. I did some different techniques for me and used some different materials. I also learned from taking the pictures and submitting them. I need to read up more on how to use my spiffy camera. I got a Nikon D60 for Christmas and have taken over a thousand pictures with it since then. It is a great camera. I need to select some and post them.

Please check out Scarlett's blog.

If you are a BJP person I pretty much stopped. I hope sometime I will get back into my pages. I enjoyed that too.

Thanks everyone and have a great day, Nancy

Tree of Life - Autumn

2008-10-26T18:34:00.001-07:00

Hi, this has been my weekend. Not only did I finally get my pictures on my computer and then post them on the blog, but I finished my October page. This is called Tree of Life - Autumn. Wikipedia says the tree of life has to do with immortality. I am not going for immortality, although we all do that through our art, I just liked the concept and it seemed to fit this month. The tree of life is another symbol I have always liked. When I doodle trees are one of the things I always doodle (along with flowers.) Wikipedia also mentions the tree of life in science as describing the relationships on earth from an evolution standpoint. It is a very old symbol. I am just going to think of it as meaning we are all interrelated. I think our work on the Bead Journal shows us that.

I used another technique from Robin Atkins book, Heart to Hands, Bead Embroidery. That was the tree trunks on page 8. I almost used the twisted lines as a border but decided to go with the beads the way I did. I had the bead soup beads from a leaf necklace I made a year or so ago. I kept them together just in case as I liked the colors all together. There are at least 10 different colors of beads in there.

I neglected to mention for my September page that I used Robin's bezeling technique from the same book on pages 52 and 53. I have seen similar techniques in other books. The thing that Robin talks about that worked for my page was the advantage of this technique on cabs (or items to bezel) that are not uniform. You probably can't tell from the picture but the bezels are ammonites (nature's spiral.)

Have a good night everyone, happy beading and in case I do not post for awhile please vote on November 4! Nancy

Here are my pictures, one with flash and one without:

BJP and other updates

2008-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, the computer is cooperating so I can get pictures up. I have pictures from 2007 BJP (March - I have written about this before, but this is my CA page.) I now have 8 pages so I can get them on the 2007 Website. I also have my September page for 2008. It is titled New Beginnings. It refers to the new BJP year and also spirals that mean rebirth.

This page was to be oriented another way. When I finished it, the way it is in the picture was what spoke to me. In fact this picture was taken another way and I turned it to get it to look like it does.

Some information on spirals from the website http://symbolic-meanings.com/2007/10/08/meaning-of-spiral/:

In terms of astrology, mysticism and myth the spiral translates into meanings of spirituality and rebirth.

In terms of spirituality, the spiral symbol represents the path leading from outer consciousness (materialism, external awareness, ego, outward perception) to the inner soul (enlightenment, unseen essence, nirvana, cosmic awareness).

In terms of rebirth or growth, the spiral symbol represents the consciousness of nature beginning from the core or center and thus expanding outwardly. This is the way of all things, as recognized by most mystics.

I have been questioning the meaning of a few things the past few months and also trying to get into yoga and healthier eating, so the spiral and its meaning is very appropriate for me right now. It is also a symbol I have always been attracted to.

I am also posting several pictures of Juno. She will be one on November 3. These were taken in September and October.

Been a long time again...

2008-10-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I have been beading and finally have 8 pages for the 2007 BJP so I can post on the web site! I also completed my September page for the 2008 BJP. However, we have had computer problems so I can not post my pictures just yet. I will keep at it though! Check back in a few weeks.

Happy beading everyone, Nancy

Ooops

2008-06-17T20:31:00.001-07:00

Forgot to add one very important thing, I used Robin Atkins' new book Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery in my current page in particular the part about running water and the bumps on page 65.

Been a long time - new page

2008-06-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time. I have been checking everyone's pages for the 2007 Bead Journal Blog and on the Internet site. A few weeks ago I was inspired and started my newest page. Of course I thought it was for November, it had been that long that I forgot I had November. So this is either January or March. Unfortunately I am sort of stumped, or blocked as the saying goes and want to move onto other projects. I am also putting in my most recent project. From a class with Rachel Nelson-Smith. It is a bracelet called Rachel's Bead Nouveau.

And a new Juno picture. She has really grown, about 60 #'s now.

Anyway, back to my page. This page has been in the back of my mind since I moved to CA, before I had done much of any bead embroidery. I was coming back from my first bead retreat (the first Beads on the Vine) and looked at all the lovely gold hills in central CA and told myself, I need to try to bead them. That was 7 years ago. And I was going to do it on leather. Well life intervened along with many other beading projects, knitting, etc., etc. I determined to bead it for this project however. I even drew a picture of it last year thinking it would be November.

That is inspiration #1, #2 is a picture from a stitching magazine that was almost exactly like what I envisioned. (Stitch from the UK) and #3 is pictures I have taken from flying in a small plane. I am trying to capture how the hills look from the air. Finally #4, since receiving Margie Deeb's new color book I have been trying to pay attention to color and how a picture can be represented in beading.

Here are a few pictures.

First time at the beach, she really loved it! I will post more on my photobucket page too. Juno is 7 1/2 months old in this picture.

And my bracelet. This took me about a month and I just kept at it. The base is peyote and the rest are different components. There are a couple of buttons with beading around them. I had a lot of fun with this project.

Happy beading everyone, Nancy

What's new

2008-03-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Not too much new. I have worked off and on on a bracelet. Almost done. I am catching up today on downloading pictures from the camera to the computer and then the web site with Juno pictures, so I thought I would post a few here.
Disco has the eyes!

Play time for all.
Juno sure loves to pose!

And gee, what a surprise for me, pink and purple flowers.

Have a great holiday everyone.

February page

2008-03-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

I also want to mention that I have three brothers too, but for this page for February it fit more with what I was thinking to represent my two sisters and myself. One of my sisters also celebrates a February birthday.

February, dogs

2008-03-08T17:36:00.001-08:00

I neglected to mention one important thing about my page (see below) and that was I also included a dog charm to represent all the dogs I have loved and have shared my life. Nancy

February

2008-03-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been so long! I now officially consider myself a behinder. I did not think it would happen, but work, a puppy and time will do that I guess.

I have not even been looking at the rest of the groups pages that much, so I know many nice surprises await me.

I am done with February finally. I finished most of it February, so that was good. It is personal for me as February is my birth month, the faces represent me and my two sisters. I am a Pisces, hence the fish (as is my boyfriend,) purple is my color, I love pearls, crystals and buttons. The buttons (there are two) are both antiques. I really love the material, I had other material planned, but when I saw this material, that was it.

Some pictures are of the page in progress and the final one is the page completed. I also discovered the color of the material looks more like it does in person when taken using the flash.

I also include a picture of Juno taken on the day I am posting. She has grown, about 40 pounds now of pure puppy! Enjoy everyone. Nancy

Juno

2008-01-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, no bead pages for awhile now. I hope to start in February. I am posting pictures of what has been occupying a lot of my time. Juno our Shiloh Shepherd puppy. She has been with us three weeks now and is 11 weeks old. The pictures are from today and when she first came home with us. I am also adding the link to other pictures I have posted online. See below. Juno really likes to pose too.

Juno

Bead it Forward - Pay it Forward

2008-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy month so far, with lots of extra work, and a new puppy (pictures to come) and hardly any beading. So no December page started, nor January. I have a feeling February and March will be very busy for me.

I also want to mention (better late than never) that I was introduced to the Pay it Forward idea by Bobbi of Beading at the Beach who saw it from Jacki of Beading Gram. I am offering three pins (face or sayings) to the first three people that respond and commit to sending three pieces of their handmade work to another three people. There is no timeframe, you just make the commitment and let your three people know your time frame. So the challenge is on, respond to this post. Good luck!

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T20:23:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone. It has been awhile since I posted. I worked on Christmas gifts this month and have not even started my page. One gift in particular reminds me of my pages so I have included that picture.

I want to say again how much I have learned this year (beading and blogging,) and how thankful I am that I joined the group, I feel I have grown in my beadwork and have this project to thank. Thanks to Robin for being our sponsor, for all in the group for posting and commenting on everyone's and all of the incredible beadwork out there.

Here is the gift I mentioned.

November page and how it happened

2007-11-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to do a page with some knitting on it for awhile. I finally settled on the colors and yarn and started searching for a pattern to make a swatch from. I wanted something that was open. Turns out I was journaling again. The page reminds me of a trellis with a door knocker or portal (window) to another place.

I found the pattern in a book called The Prayer Shawl Ministry put out by Leisure Arts featuring Lion Brand Homespun Yarn. Although that is not what I used. I picked out the yarn (Curious Creek Oban in Plum Thunder and Glacier Lakes) as I had wanted to use both colors for awhile and the two colors are usually the ones I go to first (purple for sure, and normally turquoise but blue works too!) The yarns are wonderful to knit with and feel really good.

The book talks about the meaning of the colors which happened to be my birth month color (purple) and also my boyfriend's ( blue.) The colors mean: purple - wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity and mystery; blue - stability, trust, loyalty, faith, truth and tranquility. All good words. Prayer shawls are made as a gift for healing (people pray while making them) or for protection or for celebration. I picked this because I liked the pattern and a new friend I met in Phoenix on my recent trip there got my interested in the book too. But it turns out there was a deeper meaning for me behind it. And I will take all three reasons for why prayer shawls are made.

As far as the beads go, I wanted to do another rivoli with the lace (netting effect) to it and while looking for the rivoli came across the square and decided it needed to be on my page too. I seem to go from a more complex page to a more simple one, but I like that.

I am posting a picture of the material on my page, a picture of the swatch before I covered it and a picture of the completed page. I also put together all six of my pages and took a picture and am posting that too.

I can not sew straight for the life of me, if you look too closely at the page with the material only you will see what I mean! Good thing my stitching to get my material on my backing is mostly coverd up. The colors on the completed page is a better reflection of the color of the yarn.

We traveled across the country last week to TX and saw the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I am posting a couple of pictures from there too.

Finally we have another foster dog, Cookie, so I have a couple of pictures of her. She came to us yesterday. She is a real sweetheart. If the organization did not pull her from the shelter she would have been put down, however the organization I belong to has a great realtionship with the local shelters so they will always know about German Shepherd's that get into the shelter system and that should never happen. Still breaks my heart though and while it is so hard to foster a dog and then loose her, that reminds we why we do it. And they always go to good homes.

Happy beading, and knitting everyone. And Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

Grand Canyon

Sedona

Quote I like regarding dogs

2007-11-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading a book called Dog Years by Mark Doty. There were a couple of quotes in there about dogs that I wanted to quote here. They are both from the same poem: The Housedog's Grave by Robinson Jeffers

I've changed my ways a little, I cannot now
Run with you in the evenings along the shore,
Except in a kind of dream, and you, if you dream a moment,
You see me there...

I am not lonely. I am not afraid. I am still yours.

The last line of the poem says it all about loosing a companion be it animal or human.

Here is a link with the whole poem: http://www.sarbin.com/otis-n-jake/stories/housedog.html

October page

2007-11-12T18:42:00.001-08:00

Finally, I am done with my October page. I had a lot of fun doing this one. Truly felt like I was journal beading. The colors matched the season and also my mood. And boy did the beads talk to me. I have done beading in pink and started adding orange the past couple of years, but yellow (not counting amber or gold) is really new. I think part of that has been inspiration from one of the Curious Creek yarns I like, Sunrise on Daffodils. (See the link to the right if you want to check it out.) I have included some in progress shots, and some close ups. This piece was very hard for me to photograph, so the pictures do not do it justice. I have a vintage button which is really cool. And I love this material. There is so many great quilt material out there in the market place, just like beads, very addictive.

There are techniques or pieces I learned and adapted from Paula Walter (class,) Diane Fitzgerald (book,) Marcia Decoster (class) and one from the newest Beadwork, which of course I could not find at the moment. I even came up with another way to bezel a rivoli, so that was pretty cool.

I also discovered my page could be turned two ways. Since I like bead weaving so much, it was fun to bead some of the pieces separately and put them on the page.

Finally, I am hoping I can get my knitting idea together for November's page.

We will see! Happy beading and knitting everyone, Nancy.

Inspiration - recent trips

2007-11-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I am hoping to complete my October page this weekend and will post when done. I have included some pictures from my recent trips to central Illinois and Missouri along with Port Townsend, WA. The lighthouse is in Hannibal, Missouri which is along the Mississippi River.

The Japanese Maple tree is from the front of the house. Two closeups and one of the whole tree. I love to watch it change colors. Happy beading and knitting, Nancy

Greetings

2007-10-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, have not posted for awhile. I have been working on my page. It is slowly coming along, but I like it. I was in central Illinois over this past weekend for a fall color drive festival. It was a nice time, unfortunately the trees had not changed too much. This coming weekend I got to Pt. Townsend, WA for a knitting weekend, then to Phoenix for work. So no posting for awhile. When I come back I need to finish October and on to November! Have a good few weeks everyone, Nancy

Quote of the day

2007-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this on my prior post. I really like quotes. I came across this one today in an article about dealing with stress:

"Life is what we make it - always has been, always will be." Grandma Moses

How true!

October day

2007-10-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today has been a grand day so far. After I took my Disco to the park this morning, I went back home to get my camera so I could take pictures of some flowers I always admire. When we went back out, fog had rolled in, which rarely happens where I live in the SF bay area. I ended up taking over a 100 pictures. When the sun came out it, the pictures I took looked like they were at night. I posted my favorite ones at photobucket. Here is the link: http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u82/thunderdog101/An_October_Day/

I have added three of my very favorites out of all of them. That was hard to pick, I was really happy with all of them. Even a lot I did not post.

I also got my beaded face pin from the swap today and some cool goodies, which will probably find their way to one of my pages. Can't wait till next year for the next swap. Swaps are a lot of fun, you get to make something you like that is fun (although you have to give it up) and get something cool in return. I love to get things in the mail. I have posted that picture too, and here is the link from the website for Sassy Art Goddess: http://www.sassyartgoddess.com/Beaded%20Face%20Swap%20V.3.htm

My pin is by Connie Welch.

On to beading and knitting for the rest of the day. I have to finish my sock for my last class. I will post a picture when done.

October page - flower

2007-10-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

I should add that the flower on my October page is from techniques I learned from Paula Walter.

October and inspiration - pictures

2007-10-11T10:19:00.001-07:00

Better late than never, the pictures I referred to in my last post. My October pages and the inspiration.

Inspiration

2007-10-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

Every so often I look at things (artwork by others and things of my own) and realize how I like to work around threes or odd numbers. Part of this has to do with balance for me, but also from early photography classes I took and the law of threes, about not centering your main object, putting the horizon in the top third of your picture, etc. That has stayed with me a long time.

I played Morwyn's color game. (http://anothercountry-morwyn.blogspot.com/2007/10/52-inspirations-heres-1.html.) My colors are burnt umber, silver, cobalt blue and ivory. Nice combination. I will need to make something in those colors, either knitting or beading or for a page. I think I even have all the colors in beads anyway.

I am using different colors in my October page. I will post a picture later today. I will explain the colors now though. The piece is called Dahlia, and there will be no dahlias in it. Just the colors. I picked up some dahlias several weeks ago at our local farmers market (good thing about living in CA, mine is year round) and the colors were yellow, orange and pink and I determined I would make a page in that color scheme and October is the month for that.

As far as September goes, I also noticed (again) how dark it looks in the picture. For now, September sort of represents a dark time for me so I am going to leave it as is unless something really jumps out at me later on in the 12 months of this project. But there are 3 sets of three in there, three black briolettes, three main beads (well one is a pin and the other was a button,) one of which has three beaded arms or beaded strips coming out of it. I was really happy with that as it was totally a spur of the moment way I beaded it (beads talking again) and it came out pretty cool.

Another thing looking at everyone's work and my own blog reminds me is how much joy I get out of beading and the other craft/art work I do. It is a good thing to remind myself when I am feeling down, or feeling sick.

No farm tour last week, but we did have a nice time at the beach.

Happy beading everyone, Nancy

September page and other activities

2007-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, it is a nice day here in northern CA. Tomorrow I think we will be going for a farm trail tour and seeing some farms in Sonoma County. Should be fun. http://www.farmtrails.org/.

I joined the beaded face swap sponsored by Carol Strand-Siebers, http://www.sassyartgoddess.com/, I have posted my pin. The picture does not do it justice. One project I finished this month. I also had an opportunity to go to an open house at a local airport. They had an exhibit on raptors. I got some great close up shots of a hawk and a kestril. I have posted those too. Foster #3 has been adopted, KoKo. I found a shot of her, my dog (Disco) and myself taking their picture I sort of liked, so I posted that too.

Now on to the real reason for this post. I worked on my September page and am either blocked, or it is done as it is and needs mounting work and cutting off some loose threads I see are still on the piece. I have hardly any beading. I really like the material I selected and I guess I do not want to cover it up. Also, the material is so dark, beading on it does not seem to work too well, or at least with the beads I want to use. I still can't quite get the hand of putting material on the pellon I bead on. Or at least finding a process I like well enough. I more or less sew it on, but I don't want the thread to show. So this page I sewed from the back (I am using very thick pellon) and pulled the piece off center a bit. I don't know if you can tell from the picture. The page is called Dragonfly of Autumn (just came up with that and it sounds kind of cool so I will keep it, even though no autumn colors in my page!) It has a dragonfly button on it. Which probably needs some beads around it, but it is what it is for now. I will be moving on to October. October's page may be something different again. I have and idea that has been talking to me for awhile, new color scheme among other things, that I want to explore. So I think that will be my path this month. Stay tuned, I will probably post pictures as I go. No Flickr pictures yet, though. I don't like my September page well enough yet to post it there.

Happy Beading everyone until I post again.

My pictures:

My bead face brooch, Live Your Dreams, as I said, the picture does not do it justice:

September page:

Self portrait with dogs:

Updates

2007-09-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

I still have not started my September page, but I have almost finished my face brooch for the swap. I have to get it in the mail by Monday to hopefully get it where it needs to be on time. I will post it when it is done.

I have done other bead projects this month too, so it has been a good beading month even if no page yet. It will not be a completely covered page. I am going to bead on material and leave some of it open.

Updates

2007-09-16T12:39:00.001-07:00

I had a great trip to a local quilt and bead store last week end. I wanted to get material to go with the beads I had picked out for my revised September page and got some beautiful material. Now I wish my page was bigger so I could use a whole pattern. But I have a general idea of what I want to do. I have been beading on other projects and knitting this week, so bead journal page yet. I also joined the face brooch swap and need to get that done too. I have been planning that in my mind. We also have someone coming to look at foster dog #3 this afternoon. One of those happy sad things, I hate to see KoKo go, but if it is a good home...

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone. Nancy

Blogging

2007-09-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am getting enthralled in blogging land today, so much excellent work out there, one page leads to another, than another, and so on. I am not sure I can put this into words, but when I see people without a dog when they are walking I always think they need one. I have been thinking this along the same lies for awhile about art/crafting/beading/creativity, but looking at blogs and websites today got me thinking it again, everyone has creative instincts and in their own way I wish those people that think they are not creative, knew that they are. I guess my thought is, people should be creating! Well, not everyone, I know that it is not for everyone and there has to be buyers for those of us that sell our work and those that make their living that way but the urge to create I think is in all of use, just comes out differently in some people. I can remember when I was younger making doll clothes for my Twiggy doll or my art classes I took in high school. My family all are creative, my mother has been making our Christmas gifts for years. I have an aunt that is an artist, she did not do that for a living. But I do have a cousin that does machine embroidery for a living (sports jackets and things like that,) that's a big deal in some parts of the country. I have a brother that could basically build a house if he wanted to. And on. And lucky for me since I like beading so much, I have always been a big jewelry person. In grammar school, I remember wearing rings on each finger!

Now I better get back to my housework and a potential shopping trip, or at the very least, beading. And as always, do I wish this program had spell check! I am too lazy to cut and paste into Word and do it that way.

Have a great day!

Artful Blogging + September page

2007-09-08T13:23:00.001-07:00

Well, leave it to Somerset Studio to start a magazine on art blogging, called Artful Blogging. And it is great, wonderful graphics, a great source of information. And hints about blogging. I never thought of this, but of course there is blogging etiquette! Looks like it will be coming out 4 times a year and can be subscribed to. Looks like the first quarterly subscrption issue begins in February 2008. The cost is $59.95 for a year.

On to my September page, I think I have changed plans for this month. I had one page all lined out in my mind, got the beads and am now inspired to do something almost totally different. Although the colors appear to be close, some new ones. I used to belong to a bead of the month club. Which was great, just got to be too expensive since I was still buying beads elsewhere. Anyway, I found a full month I had kept together and am thinking on using that for my September page and may stick a face in, or at least some larger focal beads.

I just looked at one of my earlier posts that listed all of my ideas on my pages at that point. I am so glad I wrote them down. So if I go with my idea above for September, I will be taking two off of my list of page ideas, new colors and more faces. And thanks to Beadbabe49 for reinspiring me about using faces. Grace, you are correct, I had a great time doing my last page. It evolved as I went along. I changed it many times. I kept putting different beads in the lower right corner and finally ended up with what is there now.

I hope to keep up with the blog every few days this month and even post more pictures. As I mentioned, the magazine is very inspirational.

Flowers and Faces, The Three Graces

2007-09-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I posted, almost a month. I can not believe it. I am nearly done with my August page, but needed a break. I got my break and got inspiration from two recent classes I took. One was Etruscan Treasure by Marcia Decoster (picture in this posting and link to her website to the right.) The other was Oothecal Bead by Rachel Nelson-Smith. (Rachel's link will be added to my list too.) It was wonderful to switch to beadweaving. I will post my necklace with my Oothecal beads when done. One of the things I did in August was to go through some of my bead and other magazines and rip out projects I liked or thought I would do and inspirational pictures of projects, for the color or an idea it gave me. That was fun, relaxing and inspirational. Gave me the incentive to work on something else too along with the classes. I ordered beads for one of the projects and am halfway through with it. That picture I have posted. It was a project I saw in Step by Step Beads from the July-August 2006 issue. I don't recall being stuck by it last year, but this year, wow! Plus I used a color I have been trying to get more accustomed to and that is lime green. You can order kits or the components (which is what I did, I had to have my usual turquoise/blue colors) at www.twistedsistahbeads.com. I am also posting pictures of my August page in progress, which I have named, Flowers and Faces, The Three Graces, which will be obvious once you see it. This is a theme(s) I like (flowers, faces and goddesses) which repeats in my work. I also happen to have a fountain in my back yard that is the Three Graces. Never thought I would like a naked fountain, but I do!

Finally, we are on foster German Shepherd #3. Her name is KoKo. I am posting her picture too and also #1 (my Daisy girl) and #2 Lucie. Daisy was with us 4 months, very hard to say good bye to her. Her adopters are great people and are okay if I check back with them and even sent pictures of how well she is doing. I also had to change my picture on my profile as it had Daisy in it. Now it is a flower.

We had Lucie a week, so did not get too attached to her. She was an 11 month old puppy and I called her the devil dog upon occasion. KoKo is such a sweetheart, it seems as if she was used for breeding a lot and is still very shy. But she is coming around!

One final comment on my August page, I may be done. There are some open spots I planned to fill in, but may leave them open. We will see. Still no final plan on how I will mount my pages. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and happy beading, Nancy. P.S. I will comment on this in the main blog, but oh my goodness, such wonderful work this past month! I checked each entry, just did not blog on them. I did not see anything I did not like. Talk about inspirational!

Here are the pictures:

Etruscan Treasure

Leslie Pope bracelet

#2
#3
#4 and possibly done (?)
Close ups
Daisy

Lucie above, and KoKo below.

2007-08-05T12:25:00.001-07:00

New post

2007-08-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

I just did a nice long post and it seems to have got lost...I forgot what I said, hopefully it somehow surfaces or I find it. I will try to reconstruct it later.

What's new...

2007-08-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Actually not too much new. I have not posted for awhile, nor have I done any beading since I finished my July page. I had planned on it, but the beading muse was not working. I have done some knitting and lots of reading. I also decided to try to get rid of some old magazines that I have not touched in quite awhile, so I have been productive and got some insipiration.

I also took a short trip to Portland, OR, beautiful area. Nice and green. I went to two bead stores and did not see anything I had to have, always strange to me. I did get some nice yarn however.

I am going to get my August page started today, at least as far as the set up of it. It will be covered in beads, but will have material underneath and it will be a different color scheme. But it will be my other favorite color to work with and I have lots of beads and material in this particular color!

I have been reading everyone's posts and enjoying all of the updates, I just have not been posting on all the blogs like I did the last couple of months. I miss that and need to stop and smell the roses so to speak and read all of the posts thoroughly so I can post too. I noticed some thoughtful posts I really want to take the time to read.

The issue I was dealing with came to pass, so now I really have to deal with it, or rather do some grieving. Change is good, (or so I always tell myself) but does cause some grieving, no matter what the change is. One thing I have learned over the years is that.

Thank you anyone that happens to wander by, I appreciate you looking. Come back in a week and I should have an update for my August page.

Off to Barnes & Noble to look at bead and bead embroidery books.

Happy beading (and knitting) everyone.

This is the post I thought I lost. It has been so long, I forgot how to post it.

July page finished - Here be a Dragon

2007-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

I fnished my page just now. I have a feeling the pictures did not come out that well, so I may try again. At any rate, I am happy with the finished product and hope I don't go back at a later date and add more beads. I will need to put a back on it at some point. I really enjoyed doing the peyote piece separately and making the dragon and will probably do that again, with a wolf next time. Or a pattern I have that is the back of another amulet bag, it is a Native American pattern. It is really cool. Anyway, speaking of patterns, the pattern I used for the dragon came from Beaded Obsessions and was designed by Bobbi Assemi. It is only the second time I used a pattern to bead in peyote.

The beads spoke to me again too. The material I used was an inspiration to me this time around.

I am happy to have finished early as I will have time to work on other bead projects from Beads on the Vine and a new knitting project I want to start. Then my August page, which is planned out too.

Happy beading everyone.

Updates

2007-07-17T21:06:00.001-07:00

I have been working on my page. Not ready to take pictures and post them yet though I miss seeing the work as it progresses. I am about half way done with my dragon and have picked out the material, so some progress.

Other page ideas: felting and sea scene, like Montery Bay Aquarium types of scenes.

On the subject of blogging and my page...

2007-07-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have worked on my page daily for the past few days, but nothing enough to post a picture. I still can't decide how to position my fabric on my backing, but at least I decided on the fabric.

Once again I am going to comment, at least for myself, on how much I am enjoying the blogging. An easy way to keep a journal and always here for me to refer to. I just really wish it had spell and grammar check! I am surely spoiled in that respect and need to be mindful of my stream of consciousness type of writing. I have never liked to write much and have always had to adapt how I write to what the boss wanted, so I don't feel I have any particular style (other than the what I think goes straight to what I write style.) But I do feel I have a voice, if that makes sense and doesn't sound contradicting. Writing in the blog helps me exercise that voice. I am so glad I got the nerve to do the blogging. All part of the BJP experience.

Happy beading (and knitting!) Nancy

July page update

2007-07-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have started my July page. It will be different than the last one. I am putting some material on my backing and not just bead on the white page. (I am also beading a peyote dragon pattern that I got from an amulet pattern book. I will post that when I post pictures.) I will then attach the peyote piece to my material and go from there. The material is an Asian them and is very nice. My dragon will be in purples. I have wanted to that for awhile so it allows me to do two things at once. Plus I am getting great experience at reading and beading to patterns. That is a challenge! So far so good. I lay the beads out for each row as I go. That seems to work realy well and I have only had to rip out one row. I have had to change up the beads I laid out a few times, but at least they were not in the work already.

I may not post any pictures for awhile.

June page finished!!! Yeah

2007-07-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is my June page. I do have a few spots to patch up, but I am done for now!

Check my last posting for what I learned, some of the meaning of the piece to me. I think my theme for my journal will become, things I like. The biggest thing about this page for me is the colors. Colors I instinctively go towards. To a certain extent the crystals by the fish are tears, tears for something I am dealing with right now and tears from the sun/moon for things like global warning, war, etc. Those were the inital thoughts that came to me and stayed with me. I was going to bead the earth, but decided not too.

What I learned so far

2007-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Some of the group have been talking about, or asking what we have learned. I thought I would get this down as I thought about so I would not forget. I have been working on my June page this week, almost done! I think I can finish tonight, then a few touch ups and I will post.

(I should also add I had a wonderful time at Beads on the Vine. Got some great beads and ideas for future pages. )

I learned I could do it. I learned magatama's are fabulous to bead embroider with. I really like them. I already knew pearls were too, but reminded myself again. I reminded myself too that I love turquoise/aqua, etc. colors. I learned that double thread seems to work better for me. I started with single, but switched to double when I was putting on larger beads.

I am not sure I will start will an all white background a lot, for the rest of my pages. I think it helps with my creativity and free form, but you can see empty spaces a lot easier!

I will probably save the backing and mounting to the end as I am not sure what I want to do yet. I am still leaning towards mounting my pages in some kind of scrap book.

My beads talked to me. Some inner force or thought kept moving me along and saying bead with me, put me here. I guess that is what journaling is all about. The piece has meaning for me. I will need to think what I want to say about that, or rather how to say. One of those instinctive things I know but may not be able to focalize. But ultimately the journal is for me and will speak to me the best. I will say now though, I am a Pisces, hence the fish (so is my boyfriend.) I have always liked fish as a motif though. Goes well with aqua/turquoise of course.

Well back to my beading and my wine!

Posting pictures

2007-06-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you all again for your comments, keeps me going!

I have a question for all of you and if you can post the answer on the blog versus an email that would be great. I don't want the email to get blocked in our spam blocker while I am away.

Anyway, here is the question. How do you post a picture on the blog page in the small size, but be able to click on it to get the big size?

Someone sent me an email to tell me how to post a link on the blog without listing the whole link out. I will try that next time.

Nancy

Updates

2007-06-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I am almost done. I have hopes to finish this week, but since I am going to the bead retreat, I am not sure.

I was thinking the other day that this journal even though an art one, is like writing one. I feel as if I am working on issues, at least in my mind anyway, as I work on my journal page.

Now that July is almost here, I am thinking of what my new page will be and I have so many ideas...

I also want to decide relatively soon how I will put my pages together so I can be formatting them as I go along. I am still leaning towards a scrap book idea. I already bought two scrap books so really want to use one since I don't do scrap booking.

Off to Beads on the Vine, happy beading everyone, Nancy

Here is my update:

I should add the shadow on the picture is me taking the picture! I try for natural light so got in the picture myself this time.

Bead Journal Ideas

2007-06-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post my bead journal ideas so I have them for myself in one place I can always find them. Of course that won't stop me from writing ideas down on small pieces of paper as I have been, but this is a good start.

I took some pictures last weekend in our drive up to Pacifica. They are of the hills, etc., I thought that would make a nice beading picture. I also have a cool picture of waves from the ocean that same weekend. At any rate, lots of ideas there.

Flower, with and without the material I have bought.

Crazy quilt, just lots of beads

Quilt patterns in general

Frank Lloyd Wright pattern

Sunset/sunrise

Native American patterns

Oriental rug patterns

Bead a dragon in peyote and put it on a page.

My dogs

Use some favorite beads, I saw someone else with that idea, so I can't say it was mine, but it is a great idea and I have been doing that with my faces.

More faces/goddess/mermaid

Peacock feather

Mandelas

Use some of the buttons I have, in particular dragon flys

3d pages

Netting of some sort, overlay

Dahlia - pink/yellow/orange colorway

I have some beautiful silk scarves to bead on

Knitting, got to get that in somehow

Experiment with colors I normally don't bead with

Use some more cabs, I have a cool agate cab that will be a nice start for my hill pictures, noted above.

Wolf/wolves

Spiral/nautilus pattern

Sea shells or abalone pieces

Still life

Take a favorite painting and use the same colorways, or a window of it. This is an idea I have always wanted to try again that I learned in the Breath of God class I took with Carol Wilcox Wells, see earlier post and pictures.

That's all for now. I am sure I will come up with some more.

BOTV & Thunder

2007-06-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your kind words on Thunder. It still is hard and we miss him every day.

Here is information on the bead retreat I am going on:

http://www.beadsonthevine.com/

It is in San Luis Obispo, CA at Edna Valley Vineyard. I have had the pleasure of going yearly to one of Melanie's retreats since she started it. It is a great time.

Thunder's website

2007-06-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Correction on the website: www.thunderdisco.com/thunder

Thanks for looking!

Bead Journal update and new pictures

2007-06-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my page and have a bit more done. New pictures attached. I have discovered I am glad I took pictures as I went along so I can see the progression of what I have done. I think it will help me on future pages. I still have so many ideas floating around that it is a wonder I can concentrate on my page. I am still enjoying the beading and the end result. I hope to finish this weekend. Next week I get to go to a bead retreat. Beads on the Vine with Cynthia Rutledge, Laura McCabe, Carol Wilcox Wells and Melanie Potter. Always a great time.

Here are my pictures.

Also a picture of my boy that I lost in January, may he rest in peace. This is Thunder:

You can see more about Thunder at www.thunderdisco/thunder.

And some pictures of my hydrangeas.

Thanks for looking. Nancy

Disco likes to pose

2007-06-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Disco really likes to pose. He had a great day at the beach and is now a tired doggie!

Journal update

2007-06-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

I spent several hours working on my journal page yesterday. Now I need to site back and think about it a bit. I filled in some of the open space and need to decide how to go on. I may even do some other beading or knitting today! First off to the beach with the dogs and boyfriend. I am also posting one final picture of my prior bead embroidery work. I call it the Three Graces. I made these from kits from Ronda Kivett, who is a member of our group. I have noticed several people in our group that I knew of, or know. That has been great.

I see I may have more of a goddess theme in the work I have done than I know of. Have a great beading day everyone, Nancy.

2007-06-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

Final one for the night. I see my pictures of my journal page are not in chronological order.

I will need to work on that for next time.

I forgot to add, I have enjoyed everyone's blogs from the Bead Journal Blog site, now to join that one and add my blog.

Nancy

2007-06-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

And now my prior work. The first piece was from a class I took at one of my local bead stores, Three Beads and A Button in Cupertino, CA (www.3beads.com)

The next piece is modeled on Sherry Serafini's work and some of her techniques she has written about. And the final piece, the mermaid, is from a class I took with Carol Wilcox Wells called Breath of God. I have had the pleasure of taking several classes with her. This one was at a retreat called Bead Blue Sea.

2007-06-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

More pictures.

2007-06-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have been beading on my page every day for a few days now. Nothing tonight though. Tonight I have been putting my pictures on my computer so I can post them. I have a few I am going to add. I have a web site, but have not learned how to post pictures yet. I am also going to add pictures of previous bead embroidery I have worked on. Blogging is fun.

I called my site & misc. as I want to add pictures of my dogs, places I have been, flowers, knitting, etc., etc.

The face is from Sassy Art Doll goddess. http://www.sassyartgoddess.com/

I hope this link works. I had some I ordered a few years ago and they just screamed to me to use them for this project. I used another one on my cover for the journal. I need to work on that more before I post it though. I also ordered some more faces from this site and they are really nice.

More pictures:

2007-06-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Part 2 for the night, I forgot to add, I will also try to post only pictures that I took. So the roses I took. I was very pleased with that. They are my neighbor's roses and always come out so well each year.

Now I just need to figure out how to post pictures in the body of the blog itself so I can post pictures of my journal.

Nancy's Bead Journal Blog

2007-06-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I am proud of myself for getting this done. In this blog I will post about my bead journal and what ever else comes to mind. Thanks to Robin Atkins for sponsoring the bead journal.

I am still very excited about this project. I have many project ideas, they keep coming to me. I have worked on the project a few days in a row now. I have no special theme, but may include a face or other cabachon or stone or button on each one. I also plan to use material. I have lots of material to get me going! And of course I have lots of beads, but can always use more. My size is 4 x 5 inches. I bought some heavy quilt batting material to use to bead on. So far so good. I have a few pictures which I will post when I figure that out too.