New Project

No posts for a while now. I am joining the Bead Journal Project starting in June. We will each do a page for the journal each month for a year. It will be a challenge to see what I can come up with each month. I've had such inspiration from people like Robin Atkins, Barb McLean, Larkin Jean Van Horn and others that I just had to make the commitment.

Published for the first time

A couple of years ago I was asked to make a demo bracelet for Tierracast showing some of their products. Needless to say, I was happy to do so. A little over a month ago, I received a phone call asking my permission to photograph this bracelet for their catalog. Of course, I didn't say no. Their new catalog just came out and this is the bracelet in question. Freeform peyote is one of my favorite kinds of beading.  

Great fun to do

These bracelets were made from a pattern called Twin Serpentine by Carole Rodgers in Jewelry Craft Magazine. They were the perfect design to compliment Nancy Sathre-Vogel's Beaded Buttons as seen in Bead & Button August 2006. Nancy's original button was a little large for this particular bracelet as it is very delicate looking, so I adapted her design a bit and made it smaller to better fit the bracelet. It is such a fun button to make that I just couldn't stop, as you
can see. I even made one about 1/2 the size of a dime to fit a single Serpentine bracelet. I made it for a friend and coworker so I don't have a picture of it.
These are the first buttons I made from Nancy's pattern. It was very easy to follow and I highly recommend you try it.
This is a close-up of the bracelet pattern. It's very nice and feels wonderful on. 

A place to bead

How about this for a place to bead? Not bad. This is the beautiful coast of California at Cambria. There is a small State Park there where my friend and I like to go and work on our
beading projects. It's peaceful and sunny most of the time. Even when it's foggy, it's a great place to bead. You can't beat the views. This trip we went just to get away from the hot San Juaquin Valley weather (105). It was in the mid 60's while we were there. We discovered Paula Radke's shop in Morro Bay this trip. We plan to take a class there later this month.
This headland kept disappearing in the fog while we were there. We watched otters playing in the bay. There were lots of people in kayacs out in the ocean. Of course the gulls kept us company. 

Freedom- In progress

This is my newest doll. Her name is Freedom. One of my dear friends gave me the beautiful leaf beads for my birthday. She told me Barb McLean helped her pick them out for me. Since Barb uses these on her Leaf Goddess Dolls, I decided to use them the same way. The deep red inspired the theme. Her face is made of paperclay from a mold I made. She is still a work in progress, but I wanted to share her with you. I was married to an Army officer for 15 years and I have a very strong patriotic streak. I still don't know if I will bead all of her or let some of the fabric show. When she is done, with torch and all, I will post her again. 

This is a doll I did for a swap. It had to incorporate springs in it to qualify for the swap. It was quite a challenge to fasten the springs to the doll. As with each doll I make, I tried to include new stitching techniques. Her name is derived from Carmen Miranda, the 1940's musical star. Her name is Carmen MeAnders as she will be traveling. It's surprising how difficult it was to let her go. She's the first doll I've sent away from home. It's as if they are my children and I get very possessive of them. Her face is polymer clay. I made it using a blend from my PC days and a face mold. Her hat is a spring with fruit beads attached. It was fun working with such intense colors . As with all my dolls, she is a part of me. I guess that's what makes it hard to let them go. The bottom picture is the back of her. I never have a preconceived idea of how I will bead a doll. I usually start around the face and wing it from there. My next doll is well on her way to being done.

 

This is a bracelet from a class by Marcia DeCoster. The medallions were a challenge, but I learned alot. Isn't that what classes are all about? If you ever get a chance to take a class from Marcia, do so. They are informative and great fun! I already have some ideas for a necklace. I love doing new projects like this . They tend to trigger all kinds of ideas.

 

This is my latest doll. I haven't named him yet. Any ideas? His face is from RAMA and is raku. Each doll I do seems more finished to me. My techniques are improving, but I still have a long way to go. I have been teaching a doll class at my LBS and those with the courage to take it seem to enjoy it. It's a wonderful form of self-expression. There are no rules to follow and if you use a fabric like batik, you don't even have to bead all of it. I often do projects where I follow and exact pattern, but my love is anything free form. Each of my dolls seem to take on it's own personality. Beyond putting a face on it, I have no concrete plan of how to bead it. It's all done with bead embroidery, and maybe a little peyote thrown in. All I know is it's lots of fun to see how each one turns out. 

About 5:30 pm last Thursday, we left Fresno for Sacramento where we spent the night. Friday morning we went to a favorite bead shop for just a few things. We set out for Clear Lake, Ca. and a concert by Trace Adkins. A short stop in Kelseyville for more beads, and we got settled in at the Resort. The concert was stupendous!
This picture is of a few of the elk herd we came across on our way to the resort. They didn't seem to be very afraid of humans. We did get some rain, but so did the rest of California. Saturday morning we drove down through Napa Valley. What a beautiful drive. Of course, I took lots of pictures even in the rain. No one ever said it had to be dry to take pictures. On the drive home we discovered another bead shop in Stockton. Love new places! A good night's rest and we were ready for Marcia D'Coster's all day class at our LBS. Her classes are always so much fun. It was a busy weekend, but well worth it. 

This is a picture I took several years ago of downtown Fresno,Ca. They quit lighting up the downtown area with the electricity bill sky high. I couldn't duplicate this picture now. Fresno's a medium sized city smack the middle of California. It's half way between the coast and the Sierra Mountains. We're right in the middle of the agriculturally prolific San Joaquin Valley. It's changed alot since I was a child. It used to be dry and dusty most of the year, but with water available to everyone now, It is lush and beautiful. We grow the best fruits and vegetables in the world. 

Sedona

This picture I found on the internet is the inspiration for a new bracelet I am designing. I want to use the colors of the canyons like this I think it's going to be to be predominately peyote and somewhat dimensional. The layers of the different colors fascinate me. The hardest part will be to record each step so I can teach it later. I'll be doing this for the first time with this bracelet. 

I'm currently working on a doll for a Spring Doll swap. She's bright and very colorful. I love doing dolls because there is no pattern to follow. I just go where the beads take me. Another one of my favorite things to do is to make gifts for my friends for their birthdays,etc. I may string a bracelet, weave a bracelet, ring or crystal wheel, or bead a bottle. It's fun to see their surprise and I even get positive feedback from the guys I work with. Of course, they don't get too many bracelets!  

Yosemite

Sometimes when my anxiety or depression want to get the best of me, I mentally go to this place or one like it. I've been spending a lot of time there lately. There isn't anything specific wrong, but I've become increasingly blue over the past several weeks. Wish I knew how to stop it. However, even though I'm not of the Catholic faith, I've made a conscious decision to give up depression for Lent. I figure if I can make it through 40 days without it, maybe I can give it up for good. Guess I'll never know if I don't try.
I think what triggered it was the fact that we've lost seven, yes, seven, of our dearly loved patients since the first of December. Fortunately, none of them died at our facility, but that doesn't make their loss any easier. These wonderful people often don't have anyone but their caregivers or us to care about them. Most of them lived in Board and Care Homes and were well cared for.
I miss seeing their smiling faces and making silly jokes with them. After a while, they become like family. God grant that someday I will see them all again. 

I Want To Fly

I want to fly.
Not in a plane or with wings.
I want to fly in a balloon.
I want to go up in a hot air balloon,
To look down and see the patchwork
of the world below.
From up there, all the petty squabbles
disappear.
The world is a blend of texture and color
that works together.
I want to fly in a balloon.

Arline 2006 

This is my version of the Potato Chip bracelet from Beadwork (I think) a couple of years ago. I used 8's, 11's and 15's in a straight netting. The clasp is one of the mesh ones. It adds so much to the bracelet I think. I also did one in a pearlized cream color that looks like it could be in a wedding. 

Summer Warrior

Picture this: An elderly mini-motorhome with four beadladies (a nurse with a broken foot, a beadstore owner with an injured knee, a retired social worker, and a librarian) on the way to Tacoma for the Puget Sound Bead Festival. The motorhome broke down in 107 degrees. Picture this: the above four women (not small) in the cab of a towtruck with the driver taking a 30 minute ride down Mt. Shasta. Fixed the motorhome and headed for Tacoma full speed ahead. Bought lots of yummy beads (of course) and met some neat people. I also bought a bag of fabric scraps. This Talisman Doll is made from one of those scraps. His darling face is raku and is made by RAMA. He reminds me of an Eskimo, but is not really dressed for the snow. I call him my Summer Warrior.
We headed the motorhome toward Shipwreck Beads. Boy, were we in trouble! After spending just a little money there (Yeah, right), we headed for the coast. We arrived back in Fresno at 5am and I got up at 6am to go to work. Don't think I accomplished much that day. 

Katrina Survivor

This is another of my Talisman Dolls. I did her around the time Hurricane Katrina hit the South. She reminded me so much of a Mardi Gras dancer, I call her Katrina Survivor. There was so much devastaion down there that I felt there should be at least one survivor.

 

Autumn Into Winter

A quiet brook rippling over rocks and pebbles,
It reflects the red and gold of the trees of autumn.
There is chill in the air,
A frosty coolness that seems to go deep into your bones.
The bright colors of fall seem to last so short a time;
A burst of celebration before the winter comes sneaking in.
Fat, soft flakes slowly drift down to rest on a pine bough.
Faster and faster they fall,
Until they cover the needles resting beneath the trees.
Through it all, the brook bubbles along
Until little frost fingers form at the edge of the stream.
Further and further they advance
Until the brook is quiet and cold.

Arline 2004

 

This is a piece of bead embroidery I did as a demo for a class I teach. It is done on a heavyweight Pelon. In actual fact, it is the same as Lacey's Stiffstuff. I like to work on it because you can dye it to match or contrast with your beads. If the backround shows through, it doesn't matter as it isn't stark white. I do most of my embroidery with Fireline as it is strong, and even resists bugles and crystals.