Ay! Busy Month

I can't believe I haven't blogged since the first! My page is moving right along but will go over a bit into September. Busy month and many changes in concept are to blame.... Hopefully I'll get some pics take by Sunday or Monday.
Cheers all,
Sarah/beadnik

July BJP and bracelet

Well, right down to the wire, but it's done and I'm pleased. I had planned to use polymer clay on the page this month but it never happened and I just went with the flow. I like it. The bracelet is fun, true bling and a great use for a vintage Swarovski crystal I'd been hoarding. Now on to August....I'm thinking warm colors. hehe

Busy Month

Wow! Time is flying, and the summer is rushing away, but mostly I've been having a blast. Almost done with both my July page and the bracelet project, in and among other things I've been working/playing on. I hope to get the poly clay parts of my page done this weekend and get the bracelet finished and mounted before August arrives. Not much time left, but it's do-able.

July

July is here and I've got my page planned out. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do so I researched July and was struck that the flower of the month is water lily, a flower I love, so I'm going in that direction. I'm going to try and make poly clay water lily leaves and a beaded flower, and I'm intending to work on my shading techniques. Funny, all the water lilies I've see are always in this dark, dark water, so I'm using a shimmery dark fabric on top of the stiff upholstery backing....should be an interesting project.

finished the June page

Well! I got going on it and finally finished today. Also managed to finish and mount the little laughing Buddha bracelet, that I think I'll end up giving to a friend who just finished her acupuncture training. All she's waiting for is the paperwork to clear and she'll be licensed to practice here in NM. Her husband has been a DOM (Dr. of Oriental Medicine) for many years now and she'll be practicing with him. I'm impressed with her accomplishments! She seems to have boundless energy.
Anyway, the pictures tell the story. I wish I could get a better pic of the page, but the sequins are so shiny they reflect even without flash, this is the first time I've done something that isn't completely beaded, but lets some of the background show through. I guess it's sort of 'multi-media' in a way, which is something I intend to explore this year, and I'm not really comfortable with the techniques yet. So yeah, guess I'm pushing my comfort level quite a bit, and really I'm not sure I 'love' this piece, but it does come close to being what I wanted.

Progress

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I blogged. I've been steadily working on my page, and also a little bracelet. When I decided on the size of my pages, I cut them from a roll of stiff stuff like material I have, that Mary T. (Aunt Molly) gave me a couple of years ago. I believe it's some sort of upholstery backing, but works wonderfully for bead embroidery. It's in a seven inch wide roll, so when I cut my pieces, I also had twelve 1 by 6 inch strips that I decided to use for bracelets each month. Here's my progress so far... the page is coming along nicely and I'm fairly happy with it. It is an attempt to capture the vivid summer desert colors, although the sky is a bit dark, that's the only blue sequins I had and the color is one often seen on partly cloudy days in the high deserts. The ground is going to be partly beaded, sprinkles of green and purple, as the desert floor was covered in both colors when we passed through in the beginning of June.

great trip

Carlsbad is lovely this time of year, hot but not excessively so. We toured the Living Desert State Park and the Carlsbad Caverns. Lots of inspirational material there, and I came home with many more ideas for my June square. But tonight it's back to work...