2010 BJP finished in the nick of time!

I finally finished December's BJP piece, with almost 8 hours to spare! It was my goal to finish all 12 pieces in 2010, and I made it! Of course, I had to do 3 pieces in December alone, but it was still a lot of fun, and a nice break from the other pressures of the month.



This month's piece is obviously yellow, which I chose to beat back the gloom of winter. The little owl face is something I picked up somewhere, for some project once upon a time. It became my found object because I kept 'finding' it on my work table. The other little bit is a dried fruit pod from a sweet gum tree from my long time friend and exercise buddy, Barbara Shipman. The little spikes are very sharp--I got one in my foot, so I know they are! I imbedded this pod in hypo cement to tame the spikes.



I'm so lucky to have found this bead embroidery community. It has really enriched my life. I completed 12 pieces for 2008-009 and 12 for 2010. I'm looking forward to 2011, with a new approach and new challenges. Happy New Year everyone.

November BJP

I finished November's BJP piece yesterday, and started working on December's today. I'm determined to finish 2010 this month, because I'm looking forward to BJP 2011.

This piece features a purple crystal butterfly from my friend and fellow Friday beader Linda Carstens. The mauvey purple color scheme seems to let the butterfly shine even more. There are 6s, 8s, tiles, 11s, hexes, 15s and delicas, even some crystals. It is amazing what you can find in your bead stash! Do you see the little wire antennae?

Next year, I'm going to use some of my Czech beads, which hang on the side of my workspace shelf. I want to incorporate some wire and/or 3 dimensional techniques. I also have surprise idea for my background and inspiration! You'll be able to see it in January.

Only October oh my

Oh my, where has the time gone. I honestly don't know how the last two months passed without my noticing. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I didn't finish my October piece until today, with November and December still to go in the next 3 weeks or so. My only excuse is that I was chairing our beadmaker's guilld annual show and sale, which was two weeks ago.

I'm not worried about finishing the year, and our holiday preparations are pretty minimal these days, now that our son is an adult. So I'll have time to finish and plan for next year. I've got lots of new ideas, and am looking forward to another year.

This month's found oibjects were 2 little propellers my husband Charlie had bought for a model ship he planned to builld, and may still. I love the copper color and paired it with turquoise, and some great copper with verdigris finish. I really like that color combination. The design arose from the propellers, and imagining how the water might flow. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

September

I finished my September piece yesterday, just in the nick of time. The found object was a piece from an old bungee cord for a bicycle pack from fellow beadmaker and beader Sylvus Tarn. It had been well used and the cord is no longer stretchy. The rusted ring has a great patina and was a great inspiration for a brown/black palette. I had some 11's that shaded from black to brown and worked really well. Also some 8's that have a copper finish.

The image itself suggests different things to me, like when you look at the clouds. This tickles me, since seeing images in clouds was one of my favorite childhood pastime. Thanks for looking!

One more photo and I'll give everyone a break! This is a piece made for my friend Barbara's birthday, from a design in the June 2006 Bead & Button by Wendy Ellsworth. Since it uses 8's, it works up pretty quickly. The only problem is that my stash of 8's is not as complete as my 11's, so of course I'll probably buy more beads to make more!

Thanks for looking.

I really, really love orange!

Well, this is a first for me for this year's BJP. I'm finished with August and it isn't even half gone. Part of the reason has been a lack of work (not good), but also lots of time to bead and catch up around the house (good). I started this piece Sunday and finished it today. I couln't put it down, it kept calling me. I think the reason is that I really love orange, in all its tones and hues. Think of a bag of orange beads of all different kinds and see if you can resist!

The shells are from my fellow beader and bead maker Anne Sheppard. She gave me several but I chose to use the small ones, so I could have more variety. I beaded the spiral in the center first, and did it completely free hand. I'm surprised it turned out so well! I think this piece is my favorite of the 20 pieces I've done for BJP. Don't you think it would make a nice design for fabric?

I used size 8's, 11's, Delicas and some tiny size 14 triangles. Those worked well as the initial bead around the shells.

July, gone but not forgotten!

I've finally finished the July piece. I didn't actually have the 'found' object until July 28th...so I think that is pretty good. The round glass stopper is from a perfume bottle from my friend Hollie Archdale, who is also the teacher/leader of the Friday bead class/group at Findings in Ann Arbor. We've been together with more or less the same people for several years, and have explored many facets of beadwork together. The warmth and support in this group is extraordinary, which I attribute to all of us, but most of all Hollie.

The color this month was blue, just like a perfect July sky. I was able to use some blue vintage Roses Montees that I bought at Bead & Button a couple of years ago. I loved the idea of working with some very old beads, and these were made in Czechoslovakia some years ago. I also snuck some bugles,cubes, lentils and pressed glass beads. Quite the grab bag of blue. I discovered I don't have that many seed beads in the medium to light blue range. Not sure why, but it did force me to use some different shapes this month.

I created a 'cradle' of size 15 beads, and glued the stopper on with E6000. It seems pretty well attached, and I really don't want to cover it with beads. It reflects the colors of the beads all around it so nicely!

Work has been very scarce lately, so I've almost finished August as well. Color is orange, so grab your sunglasses!