Celebrate our Youth

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Being the patriotic soul that I am, this has always been a favorite holiday for me. Many years ago, I was married to an Army Officer. I got first-hand experience with wondering if my husband would make it home safely from Viet Nam. I can surely appreciate the angst families go through when their young people are in a war zone. These young men and women sacrifice their all to keep us a free nation.

It behooves us to think often and long about these young people who guard our freedom. Where would we be without their sacrifices? They fought for us at Pearl Harbor, on the beaches of Normandy, in the jungles of Viet Nam and now in the desert sands. They give their lives that we may live in freedom.

When you see a young man or woman in uniform, say thank you. Thank you for standing between us and the possibility of tyrannical dictators who have no concern for human life. Thank you for allowing us to vote for our leaders and to change that vote when necessary.

You are the lifeblood of our nation. Without you, we couldn't survive. Bless you and your families who give so much.

Just Coasting Lately

I have just been coasting for the past month or so. I have little motivation to do anything. I'm hoping it's just an accumulation of sad events that have happened recently. We had an unexpected death in the family, one of my best friends was seriously ill and I received bad news from another relative. This all happened within a two week period. I'm not sitting around crying or anything, but find myself strangely apathetic. I'm finding it difficult to stick to any one thing long enough to finish it.
I find myself doing things that are relatively mindless, such as making 52 pair of earrings, and spending my time tagging things for our LBS, etc. I'm being productive, but not creative, if you know what I mean. I need a jump start to get my engine running full speed again. Does anyone have any suggestions? I can think of all kinds of things I want to do, but starting them is something else again.

April BJP and Extras

One more page done! This is my April page and it's called "Awakening" The inspiration for this page is a raku bead by RAMA. With her soft leaves just unfurling, it seemed the perfect focal for April. Of course, here in the West, the heat has come on with a bang this year, while other parts of the country are still almost in winter. My background fabric is a batik of frangiapani. I have been trying to do some new (to me) techniques this year instead of covering every inch of fabric with beads. Sometimes, it's harder this way.

Since I blogged last, I've been staying busy. Had a ball doing a Car Show here in Clovis. Sold a little bit, but was able to advertise for our LBS classes, so it was a good day. The best part, is that it was a benefit for the Shriner's. These folks do so much good for children who are ill. I hope I can always lend my time to projects like this.

I fell in love with these heart beads by Grace Ma . They lend themselves to being used as charms on a simple spiral bracelet. Grace's lampwork beads work well in bead embroidery projects as well as focals in other jewelry projects.

Spring Pond

Is it raining where you live? We just got a storm in from the coast and the rain is pouring, the eves are dripping on the patio and I wish I had a fire going. It's not cold, but a fire would be cozy, don't you think? I know we need the rain as much as ever. If we're lucky we may get some snow in the higher elevations. That would be even better. I know we sure don't want another fire season like last year.

This page is called Spring Pond. It's my March page for BJP. I found the cute bone carvings at BABE this past November and couldn't resist them. Of course I had no idea what I would do with them, but when has that ever mattered? Now I'm only one month behind. Yay for me!

What are all of you working on right now? Besides my BJP pages, I continue to work on my BFAC project. A friend of mine asked the other day if I was ever going to do anything but bead embroidery again. It made me laugh. I still do a fair amount of beadweaving and of course, I am still teaching both at Beads,Etc. in Clovis. I can't help it if the embroidery calls to me. I get a tremendous sense of satisfaction out of finishing each piece.

I am officially signed up for the Retreat at Tahoe. I can't wait. Several of us from here are planning to go. I've taken Marcia DeCoster's classes before and they are a treat! She makes even RAW fun. I know I will enjoy Beki Haley's class as well. Her work is always so meticulous. For me though, the big draw this trip will be Sherry Serefini's class. I have admired her work for years and never thought I would be lucky enough to take one of her classes. I will be in heaven for sure. LOL

On to my April and May pages now.

January and February BJP

I am slowly, but surely catching up with my BJP pages. This first one is for February. I loved the plummy colors in the batik fabric and found a bead from Grace Ma that fit perfectly. This page kind of symbolizes a new growth to me. Seeds are planted and lo and behold we see the flowers starting to appear. I've been experimenting this year, trying to get out of the habit of totally encrusting my pages. Sometimes that is difficult for me. I have a tendency to think more beads is always better. I'm trying to break that habit. Of course, working with focals such as this one is such a pleasure. Grace's beads are exquisite.














This page is for January. It is called Shadow of Winter. The focal face cabochon is by Klew. The swirled lampwork bead is by Vicki Cedarquist who belongs to our Central California Bead Society and always participates in our CCBS Bead Show each September. I love the subtle color changes in this batik and it was so perfect for this face cab.

Eventually I will get caught up with my pages. I 'm currently working on March and am already thinking about April's page. Procrastination is one of my most prolific habits and I do it very well. I continue to work on my BFAC project for this year.

I am finally beginning to see progress in my goal to spread the joy of bead embroidery. This week has been very special in that I have had some of my students bring me finished or nearly finished works of their art. I'm so pleased to see that they have enjoyed working on them. Some of them even plan to do more. This makes teaching worthwhile.

New Items

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Artbeads.com to use and evaluate a new product for them. I chose this decorative bead. It is an onyx bead with a painted decal on it. I loved the design immediately. As I do predominately bead embroidery these days, it was important to me to have a focal that would compliment my work. This bead lived up to my expectations. The intricate design made it easy to choose colors for my work. My piece is a pin/pendant which makes it more versatile in your jewelry wardrobe. The mix of blues and greens makes it perfect for spring and summer. I would recommend checking out the many items available at http://artbeads.com/ You're sure to find something you like there.

A New Era

Well, I officially consider myself a Senior Citizen now. I turned 66 years old today. This past year and a half has been a real experience for me. I retired from nursing and have had to discover a whole new way of living. Some of it has not been fun, but the majority of it has been a blast. Initially, I learned that I can exist on a very tight budget. Fortunately for me, I don't have to do that. Once I got myself and my finances organized, I'm in much better shape than I thought I would be. Just knowing that has made the past year more enjoyable.

What am I doing with myself? I volunteer at our local bead store which is owned by one of my dearest friends. I work 2-3 days a week for her and love doing it. I teach, run the register occasionally and help the customers. What a joy it is to share my love of beading with others. Each day is a new experience. We have everything from new beaders, to fishermen making lures coming in on a regular basis. What fun it is to talk to them and learn about their beading experiences.

When I'm not at the shop, I bead and read a lot. Both things bring me enjoyment. While I do beadweaving and teach the same, my obsession is bead embroidery. From the moment I learned to sew beads on a piece of fabric, I was hooked. Having such bead embroiderers as Robin Atkins, Larkin Van Horn and Sherry Serefini to emulate is wonderful. Through them and blogging, I have met so many wonderful beaders and learned so much from each of them. I love the work of my fellow Bead Journal Project beaders. I've discovered how to put myself into my bead work and find that very satisfying. I can always tell when my emotions are not involved in my work. It is usually very pedestrian and I find I don't enjoy working on it nearly as much.

One of the things I have enjoyed most lately is corresponding with the friends I have made online. It's great to learn more about each of them and share beading stories. Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry, but I wouldn't trade these friends for anything. Each one of them adds joy to my life. You can't ask for better than that.