Our prompt from Sally for the week was to look for growth and change in our lives. Not hard to find the first week of school with the kids once again grumbling about rolling out of bed in the morning to catch the bus!
But is hard to capture how much they've grown in one picture, and it is even harder to get them to agree to have their picture taken. First question "this isn't going to end up on Facebook is it?" "...ah, no thanks mom."
I realized I still had the growth chart on the wall even though we stopped tracking it a few years ago when Kate literally ran off the chart. She is now about 5' 4" but you can see the markings from the past. My favorite part is Kate scratching out one of the marks claiming it wasn't true and demanding we re-measure her! You can see the scooch upwards with the revised marking. Which satisfied her at the time. She was so worried she was going to be short, but she just took a little longer to sprout. She's all legs at this point, so the worrying is over!
This week our prompt from Sally was to add something to our pictures ... or in other words edit the picture. I decided to have a little fun with a pair of beaded earrings I made with some stone squares Melinda Orr sent me.
I had originally photographed them with a fiber background, but then re-photographed it with a plain white background so I could take the background out and play with the picture.
The results are this whimsical shot of my earrings appearing to be lying in a field of grass. I played around with the blades of grass so they layered onto the collage. Total silliness.
I took a bit of a bloggy break over the summer, and I thought I'd show you what I was up to ... or actually what I was not doing! I was relaxing with my family and trying to shift into 2nd gear. I picked my favorite spot to do that; our camp in the Adirondacks. Nothing fancy, just a cabin on a lake in the middle of nowhere. Sounds perfect doesn't it? So to catch up on the 8 weeks that I wasn't posting regularly to my blog, here is what I did on my summer vacation.
Week 26 :: Your Own Prompt the week I left off, Sally asked us to pick our own idea for a picture. I decided to show you the Matriarch of the family; my mother-in-law Joan. Getting up to our camp in the mountains involves a lot of family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins ... and the list goes on. That is because Joan's father and his brothers all decided to either buy or build camps around the lake. So when we are up in the Adirondacks the other cabins around ours are full of relatives. But the one who is still around and telling us all about our little lake in the mountains is Joan. Everyone knows her. And everyone comes to her to ask advice. She's seen it all, and has the stories to tell.
Week 27 :: Textures our camp is actually full of pieces that Joan's parents brought back from their years spent in India. Various pieces that they collected from the North in the Garo Hills and nearby. This first piece is a beautifully carved wood candle holder. When my husband and I visited we brought back several carved wood pieces. And this is just as beautiful in its leaf pattern. This piece is carved from wood found locally in Kashmir called sheeham, or the local rosewood.
Week 28 :: Pretty Patterns I really love this old elephant bell. It is unbelievable just how heavy it is! And I can't imagine an elephant carrying it around, let alone several of these. When I said exactly that to Joan, she simply said "well they are huge animals and this wouldn't be that heavy to them." Well, yes I guess that makes sense. Regardless, the pattern on this bell is just so beautifully done with such intricate detail in the painting that I pulled it out to display prominently on the mantle. Even daughter-in-laws get to make some changes.
Week 29 :: Routine one of the things that seems to mark the end of a beautifully, relaxing day at the lake is to sit out on the porch and reflect. Just a bit of rocking in one of these babies does the trick. Rockers are so common here in the mountains. You'll find them in all the camps, and you'll find it is typical that someone will ask you to come in and sit for awhile as you rock and chat about the comings and goings around the lake. Something I really enjoy about summer at our cabin.
Week 30 :: Catch the Sun this summer was pretty hit or miss with the sun. We were painting the outdoor trim, but had plenty of raining afternoons with puzzles as we waited for the weather to clear up. When indeed the sun did show up, it was glorious. Sparkling on the water, and just making you want to jump in the kayak for a paddle around the lake. We also had quite a few loons living at the lake this summer. So getting out there to visit them on their little island in the middle of the lake was quite an event. They are really big birds!
Week 31 :: Hues of Blue there are lots of blues around camp. The kayaks, the row boat, the large float the girls swim out to ... not to mention the water. So with this prompt is was easy to find blues around camp to photograph for Sally's prompt. I love the stillness of the water with the row boat in this picture captured in the early morning when the lake looks like glass.
Week 32 :: From Where I Stand speaking of glass, I love the way the lake looks first thing in the morning before all the boats, birds and kids hit the lake creating endless waves. It is so peaceful from the end of our dock that I could stand deep in thought for sometime. That is until the mosquitoes find me!
Week 33 :: In Season ok, finally caught up to this week's prompt! There is nothing like all the wild flowers that pop up in the mountains. The growing season is so short, that they seem to come into bloom all at the same time! While the black-eyed Susans are likely planted by us locals, I love seeing them. Everywhere you look. And in several varieties from the classic yellows to the orange centers. They are such happy flowers.
Ok, maybe it isn't quite fair of me to allude to my piece being featured in Stringing. Yes, the most current issue of Stringing has a section on pearls that are 'not your grandmother's' style. And I did enter this necklace, but it was not selected.
I'm posting it anyway, and I'm doing so because I think there is an important message to those out there that do submit to magazines, but get frustrated by the process.
So few pieces are actually selected, and it always is a bit of a mystery as to why some are selected, and others are not. I feel like I can say this now with some confidence since I have had a piece selected and published. Although I would not say that I am a regular contributor by any stretch of the imagination. But, I did think that I had finally figured out what might be selected, only to have 2 others rejected. And even more frustrating is that it seems to always be the same designers showing up. One other tip I will tell you is that once you submit you end up with a bit of a dialogue with the editors and it does help to make your name known to them. Although it clearly made no difference for me!
The message I would give other designers out there is to keep designing. Design in exactly your style. There are so many amazing pieces out there that never end up in the few select pages of these magazines --- to match whatever theme happens to be on the drawing board for that issue.
What I would encourage you all to do is to check out Bead Chat Magazine. This is an eMagazine designed, written and edited by the bead community. And in our short 7 months of publishing we are up to 100 pages each month full of the designs from all of you (August issue). You can find more about us on the CBC Facebook page or on Artisan Whimsy for upcoming themes. Or you can email us at beadchatmagazine@gmail.com
Join us!
Happy one year Blogoversary Alenka! In June Alenka let us know that she was coming up on her one year blog anniversary and asked if anyone wanted to join in on a hop to celebrate. The theme is focused around using her handmade components of course!
But if I back up just a little, back to April, Alenka was hosting a give away on her blog. I was one of three winners and I got the 'surprise' package. It was a bead soup of her handmade clay components including beads, headpins, a cabachon and a toggle. Cute stuff! So when I saw Alenka's post to celebrate her anniversary I thought ... "well, I already have a bead soup from her sitting right here on my bead table, so why not just use this and join in?" And so I did.
Let's get to it then. First up were the beads which I turned into a stacked and wrapped cuff. Beaded on memory wire and then ladder stitched together. I just keep finding more, and more ways to use that ladder stitch! I kinda love how this one turned out.
Next up I pulled out these lovely flower pieces. I used bead embroidery on a fabric swatch. I've been reading about Native American beadwork this summer, and well I sort of have that on my mind. This almost has the look of a beaded breastplate. I think that might be a style that stays in my repertoire!
Then there was the heart cabachon. I beaded the backside (in peyote) and then attached it to the cabachon with reinforcement stinging along the cross-hatched pattern. I wanted to keep this whimsical, so I added some colored suede and ribbon and then included the toggle Alenka sent as well.
One last little piece. I just love these headpins! This translucent green just shouts spring to me. I didn't want to overwhelm or lose the feel of the headpins, so I just added some simple Chinese crystals (from Znetshows) in an opaque green to accent the leaf pattern. A pair of my own earwires, and there you have it ... sweet, simple and fun.
Be sure to check out Alenka's blog today as she will be giving away 2 of the items I've created above. And then hop on over to everyone else's blog to check out all the other creations:
Our host: Alenka Obid
Ginger Bishop Sue Kennedy
BeckyPancake Debi (Kepi) Rasmussen
Evelyn Shelby Dini Bruinsma
Monique Urquhart Jo-Ann Woolverton
Penny May Carolyn Lawson
Ana Cravidao Dolores Raml
Cynthia Machata (You Are Here)
Ok, not exactly sure how I missed this one. Maybe because there were so many pieces I made with Melinda's leather pieces she sent for our 5 x 5 test group in this month's Bead Chat Magazine. There was one more that I did that featured some really cute wood buttons that Edi over at Memories for Life made especially for the team. She really does some amazing things with wood and I've had her cut some custom items for me in the past. The little wood feathers on my Native American necklace were also by Edi.
This bracelet is a simple design, and the buttons seem like they were made for this. looped to pull around on either side they create leather wraps. Fun, light and comfortable to wear. Do check out Edi's store! along with Melinda's at Orrtec.
I think Boho has got to be one of my favorite styles. It's comfortable to wear, and from a design standpoint there are very few rules. Leaving the artist to play. And boy did I have a lot of fun playing with the goodies Melinda Orr sent me! The leather is soft and easy to work with, and I used every last bit and piece of it!
This first piece was a stamped pattern flat leather. I punched holes in it and then beaded on top of the pattern. I also learned how to create a button hole closure with a rivet that Melinda sent me. You can see the tutorial in this month's Bead Chat Magazine glossi (page 81-82) ... I can't even believe how big our little magazine is getting! I'm like a proud moma.
The next piece I decided to leave the beautiful pattern alone and add a beaded band. I recently saw something like this in one of the beading magazines, completely escaping me which one. But a simple enough concept!
I moved on to the thin leather cord which Melinda sent in 3 colors: blue, off white and natural. Might sound a little strange, but it is beautiful stuff! I tell you that this first one with the cross pendant, the second I finished my teenage daughter (also my model here) put it on and never took it off!
She did the same with the next one I created with various wood beads. I had only just finished gluing all the cords into the end when she slipped it on! Popped out one side of the closure, so I had to reset everything. Guess who claimed this one as well?
Now this next one I tried a little something new. I'm calling it freeform chainmaille. I was pretty sure that there wasn't such a thing as chainmaille is a pretty organized sort of thing. But I decided to try. I used it to create a focal and pull the two leather bands together in the middle. Later I googled 'freeform chainmaille' and found that it is indeed a technique, who knew? There is even a book on it by Kalmbach.
Ok, so at this point I have only a couple of scraps left on my bead table. And not wanting any of this gorgeous leather to go to waste ... I decide to create little leather loop earrings. The final two pieces include a Native American inspired beaded pair, and then a wood disc pair that I added a little flair to. If you haven't already clicked over to August Bead Chat Magazine issue ... then click here and check out what everyone else did with their leather from Orrtec.
