Creative Continuum of Seven Artists~January

Today is the first of Seven dates from now through July we will be posting work we made with goodie bags other Bloggers sent us.  Alicia had the idea that we each send out six packages with beads or focals and on the 26th of each month we reveal what we made with a certain participant's package.

I am honored to be in this group of Seven...these ladies are a creative bunch.  

Participating in this Event and their Package Month and theme are : 

Monique of A Half-Baked Notion  :  January ~ National Gallery of Canada

Moi  :  February ~ Round and Round 

Sally of The Studio Sublime  :  March ~ Contrasting Colors

Therese of Therese's Treasures  :  April ~ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Alicia of All The Pretty Things (and the brains behind this lovely continuing hop :-D )  :  May ~ Seasons

Cynthia of Antiquity Travelers  :  June ~ SomethingOld/SomethingNew/SomethingBorrowed/SomethingBlue

Emma of A Polymer Penchant  :  July ~ not sure if Emma picked a theme but I would say, Beauty!  

Monique sent us packages with two focal components and some wooden and glass beads.  The focals are polymer pieces she made.  The first is this darling bird silhouetted against a faux wood (polymer) background.

Monique sent me all the beads except the seeds.  The wood, the glass flowers, and the beautiful bird focal.  I strung it on green fireline.  My husband is The Bird Man, so it was very appropriate this is the focal I received.  I put the orange leaves on the side the little bird is flying toward...a hummingbird to the nectar.


I want to feature more photos but Blogger is being a royal pain and not letting me do much of anything.  It took 2.5 hrs to post this one photo.  Fingers crossed the next one goes faster.  (Monique, our "luck" with each other continues!)









The other focal Monique sent is an incredibly gorgeous polymer mosaic heart.
I do not like hearts.
But this ~ I LOVE!!!!!  I mean, really really LOVE.
(I do not like hearts but have a heart shaped rock collection.  Go figure.)

The Bug (aka Fish Kisser) and I are both arguing over who gets to wear it, so we will share...which is something I do not do with jewelry.  I give, but I do not share.  But I am trying to have a Big Heart with this and share.

I had a few chains in mind, but if I was going to make heart jewelry, it would have to be a bit tattered and pieced together.  So I made these cloth beads and wrapped wire and red and gold fire polish beads around them.  They will fray a little, shift a little, have that darkness and sparkle.

I wore it to a medical facility a week ago and all the nurses were asking to touch it.  Love that!








This was a really fun challenge.  I got the main project ~ the bird focal ~ done in a couple days.  It is exactly how I sketched it and I am very happy with it.  The heart floated around within sight for weeks, but when I decided on a look, it turned out so much better than I hoped. It has life in it.

Thanks Monique and Alicia!!!

Now please click on the names above to see what they made with Monique's gorgeous polymer art.

A Time To Stitch 4 : Blog Hop

Therese and I thank you all for being a part of this hop~whether you are an admirer of the work, a participant, or someone who suggested a stitch...we get to do another A Time To Stitch Hop because of You!
Aside from compiling the list, we were very hands off with this hop.  Freedom with beads is a wonderful thing! Thanks for making it a breeze :-)

The stitches for this hop are Netting, Chenille, Chevron, and Spiral Rope.  We all had to do Netting and then pick at least one other stitch.  I know Chevron fairly well, so I picked Chenille.  I LOVE IT!!!  It makes a nice rope and it makes for nice beaded beads (which will show up in future projects).

Here is a photo of a Chevron Bracelet I did a few years ago:

Size 11 and size 15 seed beads, Swarovski flowers, red drops.


















Here is my first Chenille Bracelet...there will be many many more in the future:

Size 15 seed beads, copper and sterling toggle, leather compliments of Cynthia, copper wire with size 11 seed beads.















And my Netting Necklace:

Size 11 and size 15 seeds beads, druks, a button clasp,  and a Manhattan Schist Rock from Monmouth Beach, NJ (it has a lovely sparkle which doesn't show up on camera...nothing shows up on camera today...gloomy, rainy, blah).  Oh, and a zigzag weave chain.
                                                                                                     
I wore this out a few times and people were asking to touch it~Love it when that happens :-)
                                                       

When I set out to learn netting, my intent was to make a full netted collar necklace.  It took 13 hours of screwing up to come up with this tiny panel.  I decided to embellish the panel and make the zig zag chain.  I took a few ceramic cabs and did netting around them, but once I laid them on the panel they didn't look right.  Then my head went where it always goes : how about a rock?!  I recently purchased a Black Brazilian Kyanite. I rarely purchase rocks but we needed each other.  It is really cool and edgy and I thought a pocket with this wild rock jumping out was just what this dainty white net panel needed.  Well, the kyanite would not stay in the pocket so I scrapped the pocket and made all sorts of beaded straps to hold it down.  It looked like Beadweaving Bondage...a little TOO edgy.  So I gave up on the kyanite and looked through my free rock stash and came up with this Manhattan Schist...which obeyed right from the start ;-)  

Here is the list of all the Lovely Weavers you need to go visit today...I am really eager to visit them and see what they did~surely it is fabulous.

Thanks Ladies~you always make these hops a pleasure.  And Thank You Therese~you are always a wonderful partner. 

 Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller

  Amy Severino

 Janet Bocciardi

  Cynthia Machata

  Alicia Marinache

 Paula Kramer

 Kim Hora

 Dee Alcalde

  Dagi (Kokopelli)

  Maryanne Gross

 LizE

 Sally Russick

 Becky Pancake

 Jasvanti Patel

 Karin Slaton

 Alenka

 Sarah Sequins

Tanya Goodwin

 Debbie Rasmussen

 Shirley Moore

 Crystie Willard

  Nelly May
 Ana Cravidao

Double Header: Getting My Rocks Off On Hump Day and WTWednesday?!?

This week's rock comes with a big Question Mark.

I want this to be supported by tension.
But I am wondering if that is going to work.  Maybe more beaded support?  Anyone think a couple dabs of E-6000 is a good idea?  Any other ideas?

This is the one with the best fit...it is a shell from Monmouth Beach, NJ.   I am thinking it might be too busy.  But it is a really cool shell so if it doesn't work here, I will be finding a project for it real soon.

side 1


I like that big grain of sand in the channel on the right.

side 2.


The big grain is peeking through the hole on the left.















The second is a stone from Monmouth Beach, NJ.

side 1

side 2



















The last one is the original rock for this necklace, from the shores of Lake Michigan.  I chose the bead colors and the pearl colors based on this rock alone.  But if I go this route, it needs the slightest bit more tension or an adhesive or further beady support.  Not sure what to do.

Thanks for looking and lending a few thoughts!

Getting My Rocks Off on Hump Day

A good way to start the New Year!

A special someone requested a rock post...so here 'tis.

It isn't the one I thought it would be~that one will come next week...there was too much to think about with that one~but I am pleased with it, just the same.

{Rolling Blog Hop Challenge} Erin of Elysian Studios

A short while back, I asked some creative and inspiring women if they would like to participate in a loose kind of blog hop.  Instead of everyone posting on the same day, we will post as we get our projects done, with an end of November deadline.  I send them each a package containing vintage wooden spools like you see on the upper left of the blog (badge compliments of Hope's wonderful photography and Janet's tweaking...thanks ladies~it looks great!).  I found them while antiquing in NJ.


With a mix of excitement and sadness, our Rolling Hop is wrapping up today.  All you ladies have  made this so much more thrilling than I could have ever imagined.  I am in awe of the talent, the minds, and the genuine kindness you all have within you.  You made this fun and easy and I really enjoyed featuring each one of you :-)  Thank You!!!

Our Baker's Dozen is now complete.

Erin of Elysian Studios has posted her spool art!  Yay!  So without delay, here's what Erin made:

                                                  (photo from Elysian Studios Blog)


I knew there was a strong possibility Erin would do a painting, but I have no intelligent words for this!  What a beautiful, vivid, happy, painting showing objects from the past and what remains of their story.  Erin calls this piece "Stitched in Time".  She has some really lovely things to say about the spools themselves, as well as the thread they held.  She also has fond memories of her Grandmother, whose spools she has in her collection too.   Please go over to Elysian Studios and read for yourselves...Erin's art is bound to keep you there for a while.  It has kept me coming back for a few years now.



I came across Erin's blog during a 7000 Bracelets for Hope Hop in 2011.  It was my first hop ever, and less than a month after I started my blog.   I liked her style and I really liked that she lives in Colorado.  I silently visited her blog for a while, too intimidated to comment.  Erin is a professional artist so I wasn't sure I could say anything worthwhile.  I was new to blogging and had a lot to learn about commenting.  I was more a blog lurker at the time.  Several months in to my silent visits,  Erin did a DIY post on how to put fabric on a notebook.  She was using notebooks for her Morning Pages~an exercise from Julia Cameron's workbook, The Artist's Way.  I became interested in it and commented to Erin and it wasn't long before she commented back!  She and I started a semi-regular dialogue that is still going strong not quite 3 years later.  She convinced me to give the Artist's Way and Morning Pages a try.  The workbook is designed to take 12 weeks.  I took 9 months, but am glad I went on that journey.  And more importantly, it kept Erin and I talking.  We decided to co-host our own 7000 Bracelets for Hope Blog Hop and from that, I made even more friends.  Erin is a huge reason why I am still here blogging.

Erin is an Artist~specializing in modern abstract/modern still life/modern landscape paintings, jewelry, handmade polymer beads,  DIY tutorials, and much much more.  Elysian Studios : The Artful Life really is an wonderful, educational place to spend some time and is pleasing on the eyes too.  When I go, I pour a coffee, pop a chocolate, and settle in.  I know I am staying for a bit and want to be cozy and happy.
Not only does she continually have her work featured in galleries in Colorado and elsewhere in the Mid-West, but she also has her paintings in Calico Home (a custom decor and fabric store in Denver) and in the Grand Lodge on Peak Seven in Breckenridge.
Erin was selected to help launch a product for Martha Stewart Paints by Plaid Paints.  You can find the projects she came up with for the launch on her blog, along with many other great DIY projects.  A lot of her DIY projects are great for kids too!
Erin made a gorgeous line of polymer beads she calls Gypsy Trade beads.  I had the pleasure of working with these and some cabs she made.  What a lovely feel and what vivid, cheerful colors!



Please take some time to explore Elysian Studios and all Erin has to offer.  Her work is some of the finest I have seen.  Here is a sampling to get you started:

Released

This is currently in Erin's shop, as is one of its partners in this painting series.
The third partner in the series is currently part of the 2013 Nature's Patterns Art Exhibition at the PACE Center in Parker, Colorado.
The colors, openness, and instant outside smell and feel from seeing this are a real comfort in this piece.







(photo from Elysian Studio's Indie Made Shop)

Crop Fields

Farms.  Fields.  Crops.  Unobstructed views.  So much unseen in the fields.  A mystery out in the open.












(photo from Elysian Studio's Indie Made Shop)

Precipitation to Subsurface Flow

The colors and shapes in a 3 part Hydrology Series Erin painted are so captivating.  This was the first painting I saw at Elysian and I was instantly hooked.
This is available as a print or greeting cards at Fine Art America.

Jewelry makes me want to talk and use a lot of flowery words.  Paintings make me want to just shut up and Feel them.





(photo from Elysian Studio's Indie Made Portfolio)

Connected Twilight

Hands down,  my absolute favorite.  This is from another series Erin did.  It also comes in Midday and Sunset.  But Twilight taps into my lust for those classic Starry Night colors (oh Vincent!) and has a nighttime, quiet, lonesome feel to it.
Prints and cards are available at Fine Art America.


(photo from Elysian Studio's Indie Made Prints)

Purple Mystic

This Gorgeous bracelet features Erin's Gypsy Trade Beads.  These beads are so much fun to work with!  It is surprising how many things you can pair them up with...keeping it bohemian or pairing them with crystals and pearls.  They work with anything!
This bracelet is such a beauty with its strong purples and the contrasting copper.






(photo from Elysian Studios Etsy Shop)

What a Hoot


Just look at the detail of this little guy!
His coloring, markings, crystal eyes...the dangling branch he is sitting upon, the beads in the chain that give him all his support.  The blend of beads in this piece is exquisite  It is enough but not too much for the eye.  A perfect balance...Erin seems to know all about that :-)










(photo from Elysian Studios Etsy Shop)




A ginormous Thank You to Erin ~ she was the first blogger I shared e-mails with; the first one I texted with; she encouraged me to try the Artist's Way and because of her, I followed through to the end of the course; she knows when to give kind words of cheer and support and also knows how to support with  constructive criticism; and she was my first blog hop co-host.  She is so much more.  So very much more.  But I know she knows that.

Thank You Erin...I love you, My Friend :-)

{Rolling Blog Hop Challenge} Therese of Therese's Treasures

A short while back, I asked some creative and inspiring women if they would like to participate in a loose kind of blog hop.  Instead of everyone posting on the same day, we will post as we get our projects done, with an end of November deadline.  I send them each a package containing vintage wooden spools like you see on the upper left of the blog (badge compliments of Hope's wonderful photography and Janet's tweaking...thanks ladies~it looks great!).  I found them while antiquing in NJ.




Therese of Therese's Treasures posted her Vintage Wooden Spools. Take a peek!

                                                    (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)

The story she tells before she reveals her Hop piece is such a lovely and warm family story.  She grew up with a lot of love and busy, creative hands guiding her.  That explains a lot :-D
As for her spool, she seized the opportunity to try a few new techniques and she executed them so well!  This is a beautiful piece, and a really cool design with metals, stones, glass, wood, and fibers.  It has it all, Baby!  It represents what I love about Therese's work~willingness to explore something new.  Go over to Therese's Treasures to read her story and see some close ups of this piece.  What a copper beauty!



Therese and I met at some early point in my blogging life.  I am not sure exactly when but that doesn't matter.  What matters is where we have been with each other since then.  We co-host A Time To Stitch hops that focus on beadweaving stitches; we are involved in several small hops hosted by her or me or other friends; she was the first blogger I met in person on a rainy July day in 2012; and she calls me to chat about beads and life.  AND, she is my two woman She Made~She Made Monthly Challenge partner.  When we met that July day, we gave each other beads and this challenge sprung from that.  It is a lot of fun!

Therese's beadweaving skills are first rate.  Her pieces have that effortless look to them and her work is elegant and romantic.  In addition to her beadweaving, she is learning how to make fused glass cabochons.  These are colorful, beautiful pieces of art all their own.  For her birthday this year, she gifted some bloggers with her cabs so we could make something and celebrate with her in a Birthday Hop.  She is also learning Precious Metal Clay.  She does So Many Things So Well!


Here is some of her gorgeous work:

Therese's Birthday Hop piece

This is from Therese's recent 2013 birthday.  She made that glass cab then did the bead embroidery around that.  A quality piece all around~soft, curvy, romantic.  She says we will be seeing this cab again in a finished piece.  Yay!






 (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)

Another Birthday Challenge

This is from Therese's 2012 Birthday Hop.  She sent out Golem beads and cabs and this is what she made.  The colors are just so tropical and happy :-D













 (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)

Summer Lovin'


Therese made this necklace for a hop hosted by Amy of Amybeads.
Elegance and  Romance all the way!
Therese at her finest!












 (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)

Illuminated by Candlelight 

Here is an embroidery piece Therese did for a challenge.  The center quartz is the base of the candle, the crystals on top are the flame, and the pearls are the light radiating from the candle.  It is an exquisite and creative bracelet.

 (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)

By The Seashore

Therese made this piece as part of a Do Over challenge.  So much to love about this piece~organics, seed beads, turquoise howlites, beadweaving, FRINGE.









 (photo from Therese's Treasures Blog)






I am realizing just now that while I have tried to show each bloggers' diversity in skills, I picked all embroidery for Therese's feature.  I could change it, as it was totally subconscious until this very moment.  But I think I will leave it.  She is so damn good at that embroidery.  And it does show her diversity in the Objects she chooses to embroider:  her own glass cabs, clay cab, metal, quartz, shell.
I think we should all send Therese something to embroider around and see what she does with them!

Thank you, Therese ~ for always being a fun, loving, easy, caring friend and partner.  You are generous with your time and goods.  I always look forward to your company and your pushes.  You have opened my eyes to new stitches and challenges and people.  I do appreciate your commitment to this Rolling Hop and I appreciate You.

4th of July...Shooter Style (with a little George Jones)

I wanna be sitting shotgun in my nightgown right about now.  

How about you?