Therese and I are back :-D She was kind enough to accommodate my need to slow down for the summer. Thanks Friend :-) You are so easy-going with me. I love ya!
I sent Therese a photo on my cell phone of this month's selection. Last Friday, my phone informed me that its memory was full and so I started dumping stuff off it. My phone is shaky at best lately, but that is a whole other stressful topic. So before I could post it here, I dumped the photo I sent Therese. But it was of orange glass beads I picked up at Nawbin's Beads in Traverse City, Michigan and jade donuts Therese shared with me.
I combined them to make this pendant, hung on recycled sari ribbon from (you guessed it!) Darn Good Yarn :
I originally had two size 15 seed beads on either side of that center orange bead, but at the last second decided it needed a touch of movement. So I swallowed hard and broke the beads, knowing full well the thread might break and i would have to make this piece all over again. The Powers That Bead were with me at that moment...whew!
I had a lot of orange beads left and decided to go bright, so here is what came next:
(my model needs a shirt without that neck seam)
All glass beads! This is what Fall looks like around here these days~bright orange, bright red, yellow and bright blue sky!
Friday already?! How did that happen? There is still so much to do, but it will all have to wait while we enjoy the weekend. The weather has been perfect~upper 60's and low 70's. Though the mornings have been rather chilly, in the 30's. It has been a pretty fruitful time in the workshop, as the weather is so darn inspiring!
Here is something whose origins were Monmouth Beach, NJ and Lake Michigan and Marsha Neal Studio.
I thew in some pearls from my brother and carnelians and seed beads I picked up from the Innovative Bead Expo and voila! (or as I wrote it in French class "waalaa")
Looking forward to checking in and seeing what you all have been up to :-)
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!
Several weeks back, I send this fuzzy cell phone photo to Cynthia and told her I was thinking of sending these old wooden spools out to a few bloggers I admire. She encouraged me to run with that idea. I found these spools at Nelda & Emylou's Antiques Etc. : Vintage Pieces.....Vintage Prices 31 Main St. Sussex NJ. There was a whole big basket full of them! I had no idea what to do with them, but had to buy them. Then I thought that maybe a few bloggers might have some good ideas for these wooden spools~surely they (you!) are a creative bunch. I asked a few ladies and they said yes. They didn't know what was in the packages. That is what I love about creative types...they will say yes without knowing exactly what they are saying yes to :-D
The rules are real simple: Use at least one of the spools received~Post the final project or the work in progress between the last week in October and the end of November~Let me know about the post so I can feature the participant on my blog/facebook/pinterest that day (and all the other participants can give a shout out too)~Have Fun!
I am so excited to see what these ladies do with the wooden spools! I have one or two ideas swirling around, which is promising. Because I have had them for a couple months and have drawn a total blank.
I placed another order with Darn Good Yarn and got more reclaimed sari ribbon. I also ventured into banana fiber yarn. I thought it might fulfill a need...I was told by several people that my pendants don't sell because they are not on a chain. I didn't provide chains (metal, beaded, leather, etc) because I kinda assumed most people were like me and have a crap load of chains at home in the lengths they prefer to wear. Not being well versed in any kind of chain/metal/wire, I put the word out on Facebook to see where people buy their metal chain in bulk. I was given several store names. I looked into them all then was paralyzed with indecision and fear of metal usage. Funny...I love wearing jewelry with metal in it...I just want someone else to make it, not me! So I ran from the metals and straight to Darn Good Yarn and started stringing the pendants on the sari and the banana fiber. I might still do it on chain that I will buy (eventually) but I really wanted to try it on these textured, funky fibers first.
I am unsure if anyone is interested in this post, but I need to write it nonetheless.
I do not remember the dates people die. I remember it was early March 1993, late November 1990, mid-September 1995...those kind of vague time frames. It is probably a coping mechanism, as the exact date the person left my life is irrelevant to me. The only thing that matters was that they were there and now they are gone.
Then there are those that I never met, but who I feel are a part of my connection to the life I lead. van Gogh is one of them. Gram Parsons is another. My list of musician is endless, but Gram leads the pack. For some reason, I know when Gram died. It seems like I always have known. It was 40 years ago today, at Joshua Tree.
(photo lifted from whenyouawake.com)
I won't dive into his unbearably tragic life. You can explore that on your own if you are interested. But you can hear most of it in his voice, along with some humor and hope.
Return of the Grievous Angel ... the album (of the same title) was made with Emmylou Harris and his band The Fallen Angels. She was his duet partner on the last two albums he cut while still alive.
We'll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning off of the album GP...again, with his Fallen Angels duet partner, the lovely Emmylou.
When Gram was a part of the Flying Burrito Brothers, they did a cover of Wild Horses on the Burrito Deluxe album. Hard to believe he wasn't the writer. A lot of the phrasing is similar to his own.
It was hard to choose between Hot Burrito #1 and Juanita for a sample of songs on The Flying Burrito Brothers self titled album. The innuendos will always win out with me ;-)
Gram made an album with the Byrds, before he and Chris Hillman left to form the Burritos. This was it~Sweetheart of the Rodeo. This is You're Still On My Mind. Great swingin' tune!
Here is one he wrote~Luxury Liner, from one of his earlier bands, the International Submarine Band. Emmylou does this song a lot in concert.
A year ago, on the 39th anniversary of Gram's death, I had the immense pleasure of seeing Emmylou for the second time. She did a few Gram songs. And I saw her with Rodney Crowell this summer...they opened the show with Grievious Angel and after a few more Gram tunes, launched into Luxury Liner. She still honors his life and music every chance she gets.
A few years back, I read "Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music" by David N. Meyer. I got through the majority of it in 2 days (and i am a painfully s.l.o.w. reader), but then I got to the chapter where he was going to die. I put the book down for 9 months. I just couldn't face him dying all over again. When I finally did finish the book, coincidentally, it was right around the 35th anniversary of his death. Guess it just needed to come at that time.
(with Nudie Cohen, aka Nudie the Rodeo Tailor. photo lifted from theselvedgeyard.file.wordpress.com)
Thanks for indulging me a bit here, with this video heavy post...time to go make something pretty!
Today is all about Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!!
And our host, Shel from MiShel Designs, is the perfect person to head up this hop! In these circles, hearing the name "Shel" automatically makes one think "Pearls!"
So we are going to feature the Pearls, in all their grand subtlety, as the Stars of today's Hop.
First are fuchsia fresh water pearls with a few rounds of brick stitch.
Amy from Copper Diem is hosting the Ears To You Blog Hop again. This was such a great hop the last time...it had a real sense of completion and of doing something. These earrings are being sent to women and girls who are undergoing cancer treatment.
A quote from the Ears to You website about what the earrings do for the women and girls:
brighten a patient's day with a little bling when she needs a little lift
create a distraction from the IV's, worries and fearsand allow her to do something fun
help women and girls feel more "normal" and beautiful at a time when they are adjusting to hair loss
provide hope and help her think positively
give encouragement from a survivor
are provided at no cost to the patient
The earrings we send in will surely do all of the above :-)
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