September beginnings

This is the beginning of my page for September. It's called "I-5". I-5 is the major interstate freeway running the length of California. In the spring it has beautiful wild flowers in the center divider. As you drive through the state you can see many of the crops grown in the Central San Joaquin Valley. There are many vineyards, hay fields, cottonfields, tomatoes, corn and thousands of orchards growing fruit and nuts of many kinds. What was once a dry wasteland is now productive farmland thanks to the canals and aquaducts crisscrossing the valley floor. This page is representational of all these things. It has been fun trying to duplicate the different crops to make them identifiable. I still need to finish the freeway, and add the corn, tomatoes and orchards.

Bead Retreat

Just got back from a Bead Retreat in the mountains with my fellow Bead Society members. What a fun weekend. We had teachers Paula Walter and CR Radding providing classes. The retreat took place at a hostel outside Yosemite. The food was good and the company outstanding. My 64 year old muscles defintely know they were walking up and down hills. Ouch. It was a treat to spend all our time beading and relaxing. Having access to great teachers for 48 hours was pretty cool too. Got a great start on my September page for BJP. I'm really happy with the way it looks so far.

Morro Memories

After I asked for suggestions for a name for this page, I really started looking at what I had done. I realized that I had unconsciously beaded a favorite place of mine. Morro Bay, CA is on the central coast. As you can see by the bottom picture, it has a huge rock in the bay with sand dunes creating a breakwater for the harbor. The three pearls in the gold cirlces represent the three smokestacks which are a focus of the beach skyline. This page was great fun to do. I used some of my favorite colors and also completed a bead challenge for our Bead Society. I love going to the ocean. It is sooo soothing to me. Somehow it renews my soul.

August Update

I am having too much fun with this. I'm sure it must be illegal, immoral or fattening. With my luck it's all three. LOL. As you can see I made some progress this weekend. Took my oldest grandson to the coast and we kicked back, relaxed and had fun with each other. He's 17 and very artistic himself. He's even been known to bead a few things and worked in our LBS last summer. Haven't found the right name for this page yet. At least it's still speaking to me.

August start

I know, I know, July is not over yet. Can't help it. I have so many ideas running around in my head that I just have to get them beaded. LOL This page is done with most of the beads in our Bead Society challenge for this year. I wanted to do something in these colors anyway. This page will be displayed at our County Fair in October as part of our challenge. 75% of it must be from beads in the kit. It's only about a third finished.

July- "Swinging Summer"

Finished it this weekend. So many of you guessed correctly. After all the trauma in June, It was pure pleasure to do this page. Wish I was swinging here. Had a great weekend at the coast. Took a class, bought too many beads, and just enjoyed myself.

July page for BJP

This is an update on my July page. I still have a few key elemnts to add. This is really outside the box for me, but it's been a fun experience. Almost like painting with beads. Outside of a few flowers, it's done in 15's. The concept has grown since I first pictured it. Can anyone guess where I'm going with this?

JULY STARTED

I just posted my start on my July page on my blog: http://sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com/ It's very unusual for me to start a project with a specific picture in mind. I guess that's what this project is all about-stretching ourselves. I'll update next week.
Arline

BJP July start

Told you this one would be different for me. This picture just wouldn't leave my head so I guess I was meant to do it. Have lots to do on it yet. I keep thinking of new things to add.

It just seems to express how I feel right now. I'll be working on it hard the next two weekends at the coast. My girlfriend and I are taking a class at Kandra's this weekend. Should be fun. Next weekend I am taking my oldest grandson (17) to the coast as part of his graduation present. He's the one most like me (poor boy), and we always have a good time together. We'll probably hit every bookstore we can find.

"Rage" is done

My June page for Bead Journal Project is done. This has been a learning experience for me. I used this page as some serious therapy to rid myself of some anger and frustration. I wasn't sure it would work, but it did. These colors are an unusual selection for me, but they seemed to express my feelings. Who knows what next month will bring.

June BJP "Rage"

This is what I have done so far on my June page. This past month or so has brought many frustrations to me. Rather than explode from trying to keep them all inside, I decided to express them in colors I rarely use. The title "Rage" says it all.

I look forward to working on the pages for the rest of the year.

Escape

Soon I will be escaping to the Central California coast. Yea! My 17 year old grandson will be going with me. It's a part of his graduation gift. I used to take him there when he was small. I know we'll have a great time. I really need to get away for a while. Both work and life in general have not been kind recently. I find myself angry and frustrated much of the time. Sometimes the pressure gets to be too much. So, instead of whining about it anymore, I'm going to do something constructive. My June page for Bead Journal Project is going to express all the rage I can put into it. I'm not sure why this is so important to me right now, but it seems to be the right thing to do. I don't know that the rest of my pages will follow this theme, but maybe I'll just express the emotions I'm feeling each month. Maybe not. My page is about half done. I'll post as soon as it's finished. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the ocean waves.

Scheherezade's Garden

This is a piece I've been working on for a couple of months now. The inspiration was the beautiful face by RAMA. She made me think of Arabian nights and jewels. It was fun trying new techniques and is by far the most extensive thing I've done in bead embroidery. I'll post a better picture when I get it framed.

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.