As I said, I would probably not be posting every day right now because of the holidays.  Well, this is part of what I have been doing the past few days...

We don't have a Christmas tree anymore.  It's just too much heavy work, and both my husband & I have back issues, so we can't handle lifting and all the bending with hanging ornaments all over the tree.

We used to have a huge tree with many ornaments & it's a bit weird not to have that any more...weird for about a couple days & then..."WHEW! I don't have take anything down on New Year's Day!!"

Anyway...we have lots of holiday decorations still and that is what I have been busy putting all over the house...

I'm Back...

Ok, so Thanksgiving 2009 is now a memory and we are all eating turkey leftovers...still!
Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, but we have been busy with the holiday weekend and with getting things out to decorate for Christmas.  So, I haven't had time to bead :-(
and I haven't had time to take new pictures to post either!  I will show you what happened after I did the two shadow boxes with the Diane Fitzgerald inspired flowers.

I was so involved in making the flowers, they began to "grow" (sorry, couldn't help the pun)!  Each flower had a newer look, more beads, different types of looks, more embellishment to the center and to the outer areas...  One had wire leaves, another had pistil and stamen, all very unique...and I was having a Ball!  Oh, by the way, I decided to make them into separate flower pins.

And, so, the idea of any beading on fabric has taken a back seat for a couple years while I pursued my passion in flowers (Oh, I did it again...sorry!).
Now I feel ready to begin beading in a new light.  I love the idea of texture on fabric and the movement that various stitches with beads can create.  After the Christmas rush is over, and I can sit down, listening to "Chestnut roasting on an open fire"... I will start working some of those stitches in my practices for the January Bead Journal.
I cannot promise I will blog every day right now, with the Christmas decorating and such, but I will try!
 Later!

Just passing this on...

In a letter/email I received form Jenna Avery (Sensitive Souls)...
Enjoy.

 

Let Your Light Shine

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

 

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

 

It is our light, not our darkness,

That most frightens us.

 

We ask ourselves, who am I

To be brilliant, gorgeous,

Talented and fabulous?

 

Actually, who are you not to be?

 

You are a child of God.

 

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

 

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

So that other people

Won’t feel insecure around you.

 

We were born to make manifest

The glory of God that is within us.

 

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

 

And as we let our light shine,

We unconsciously give other people

Permission to do the same.

 

As we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

Written by Marianne Williamson

Popularized by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inaugural Speech 

I guess I wanted to pass this on because it really hits home to me as an artist...

as a person!  

Beaded Shadow Boxes

Well, here are two beaded shadow boxes I tried doing when I first learned to make some of the flowers from Diane Fitzgerald's book "The Beaded Garden".  I was looking for something new to try and there they were!  I have been interested in the idea of using beads on fabric to create a textured "painting", and as I was working with the beaded flowers, and then using some of the old French Beaded Flower methods of the leaves and stems, I finally put something together.  For a time, I was just making flowers, leaves and stems...over and over, while I tried to figure out what to do with all of them!  One day I held a bunch in my hand a Voila!, I knew what I wanted.  My husband loves the bug in the lower right the best of all.

I sewed the work on to suede fabric for the first piece, not so good!  The suede moved all over the place and was waaaay to light weight for all the beadwork!  Ok, lesson learned.  I used just stiff, colored felt for the second one and I feel this look is more
towards what I had in mind.  Art is always a work in progress..yes?

Anyway, this is where I started with beads and fabric...more to come...

Starting out

Well, here I go, into the world of Blogging!

I don't have anything to write just now,

as I am still putting things (photos, etc)

together.

I look forward to expressing my ideas to

any & all that will read and are interested...

about Beading, Art, and all in my life that

I feel comfortable sharing.

More later...

HAve a good day, and don't forget to breathe!