Tagged Again!

This is the second time I've been tagged recently. I don't know if I have any more secrets to share! I was tagged by Arline who was double tagged herself. Note: In the time since I started thinking about and writing this post, I have been tagged again by Sunni so I get another twofer)!Maybe I should just refer everyone to my last tag post - nah, I don't want to be a party pooper so,



Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog



Since blogger hasn't been good about leaving spaces between paragraphs and such lately, I am switching colors so it's easier to read. Let me know if this isn't working for you.

1. My formal education stopped after one semester of college. I got married! It was a lot more okay to do way back when - 1972.
2. Like Sunni, I have expanded my bead and art supply storage to my too-big bathroom. Hey, my clothes closet is already full - of supplies, not clothes. I think I need my bed put on one of those platforms with drawer space under it but come to think of it, I already have stuff piled underneath it.
3. Hmmm, I've already voted. Have you?
4. I should be on a vegan diet but this year I've gotten to the point I am back to eating meat and too much fat almost every day - and my joints are starting to hurt again. Shhhhh, don't let my son or husband know that. I hate lowfat, vegan diets as I love meat and fried foods like a dinner of deep-fried zucchini, onion rings, mushrooms and chicken strips. Mmmm doesn't that sound good?
5. I've got hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of stuff -- on my wish lists. Do any of you do that too? I no sooner buy a little of it when I see more stuff I need. I think it's a disease!
6. Every year I make my Christmas cards, from scratch one at a time. After 35+ years, I am getting tired of it.
7. I'm getting Photoshop Elements for my birthday from my husband. He was going to surprise me but I wanted to take an online class: Photo-graphic Design 101 from Jessica Wesolek so he's letting me buy it today. Yay. I highly recommend her classes.

Well, that's it. Once again, I am not going to list more people as I see everyone I know is getting tagged. If you haven't been tagged and would like to join in I would love to see what you come up with. I love getting to know the people behind the blogs.

Halloween Inchy

The theme for this week is "Hallowe'en or Samhain". This is my take on the subject. I don't have any stamps or anything at all really connected to Halloween in little doodads so I resorted to drawing a picture. This is drawn on Strathmore charcoal colored paper with Prismacolor pencils. Hope you enjoy it and feel compelled to join us at Inchybyinch with your version of the theme.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Weekly Inchie

This week's inchy challenge was a autumn leaves. I had a stamp that was too large but figured it would still work. I dabbed it with red and yellow chalk inkpads and then used green chalk ink where the stamp didn't hit the paper. I added a tiny bit of glitter and then decided to make it a tile like last week using a thick coating of UTEE. I glued on a gold doodad into the soft UTEE. I've got two tiles now for my mosaic - guess it will be a while for that project!

If you'd like to join us in making inchies, you'll find the info at Inchybyinch.

Weekly Inchie

Hi everyone. I have my inchy for the week done. The theme for this week was "sun". This is my take on it. I used a white square - one inch of course - rubbed on a bit of blue ink, stamped it with a sun stamp and coated it with UTEE to set the pigment ink. I added glitter to the edges and a few beads and there you have it, my version of sun. You can join us by making one of your own and posting it in the comments section at Inchybyinch.

I rather like how this came out with several layers of UTEE melted over all the layers. It's rather like a tile making me think about making some as tiles for a mosaic. Hmmm, well after I get a few more things done!

Face Pin Swap

I received the pin that mine was swapped for. This pin was made by Arline Lewis. Doesn't it have the perfect fall look? I think she'll look really nice on a black turtleneck for Thanksgiving. You can see all the pins that were in the swap at Sassy Art Goddess. They are really wonderful. I think I'm going to sign up for her Yahoo Group so I can do this again next year. Perhaps you'll join me!

Decision Time

Well I have looked at and considered all the suggestions so many of you offered. Mariasangel, I'm sorry but you can't have the large size piece! I really thought about sending it to you but there are too many options still open to me. I liked the idea of keeping the larger one going instead of ripping it out. I really don't like to rip but more than that, I rather liked what I had going!

Alternating the sizes every other month has some merit too with the other idea of adding a background to the smaller ones so they seem as large as the larger ones. That is still an option I will keep in mind. This month my focal bead had been the frog bead I made as a real quickie project due to a question on either Bead and Button or Beading Daily (I can't remember which) where the question was asked about the kind of resin you use. I have on hand some Delta Air-Dry PermEnamel Clear Gloss Glaze which I love and so tried it out on a smashed bottle cap. I did both sides but the side with the frog had yellow orange in it so I thought I would use it. But, it is too big even if I wanted to rip it out to use on the smaller piece and now I wonder if I might run into the "too big" bead again so that's why the alternating sizes is still under consideration.

I like the idea Vivage of using it for October and the other one for November but MY rule is to use the color wheel so that doesn't work. Darn it! But that idea may come in handy for others out there.

Coral seas likes the idea of sticking with the small size as I did well on Septembers in fitting a lot in a small space which is kind of what I was after but then Helene shared that small can sometimes be too small which is what the bead I used this month also says.

I liked Julie's idea of using the small September as a cover page which is a super idea for those who are putting them together in a bookish type of finish but mine are going in a frame (hopefully a polymer clay tile mosaic frame) so that won't work for me. I sure stopped to think about changing my finish though with that suggestion!

So in the end here is what I am going to do. I cut out a smaller version and started working on it to see if I could use beads other than the ones on the larger version and it looks like I can. That means I will be doing both sizes this month. Next month I will start with the small (I think I've learned to measure twice, cut once by now!) and if I have a large bead again, go ahead and make the large version also. Who knows, I may end up with two whole sets at the end of the year! Actually, I think one of the two sizes will eventually win out but if I stitch one of each till then I won't have a lot of catch-up to do and the ones I don't eventually use can become gifts or a part of a new project. I am really glad you didn't all suggest ripping it out since it couldn't be reproduced on the smaller version anyhow.

Thankyou all so much. I hope this problem has given you ideas too for when you make a mistake. In the view of this beading as being journaling, I think keepin' on goin' is really better than a restart. And for those of you new to the BJP you can now see some of the value of being part of the group. Without you I was left with my husband's opinion, one of which he really didn't have! With all of you, I got opinions from people who know beads and know the time involved and feelings tucked into each piece. So again, thank you all so much. I really, truly appreciate all the suggestions and they really did get me moving forward again.

I've Been Tagged Again!

Cheryl from Scrappy Cat has tagged me. I've been tagged before and thought I'd told all my little secrets but here I go again.

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Well, I've got one and two under control. Hmm, now number 3....weeeellll, okay here goes:

1. I was a republican all my life until after President Bush started a preemptive war. That was my last straw and I am now a full-fledged Democrat.
2. I am taking drawing classes through Jessica of Cre8it! This is a beginner's course that is online. She takes you one small step at a time and I highly recommend it if you've been too afraid to give drawing a real chance.
3. I like to knit socks. Have I mentioned this before? I don't think so as I haven't done much knitting since I started the Bead Journal Project and blogging. Oh yeah, I'm real bad about spending too much time blogging and I still don't get around to all the ones I like to keep track of! Why do we need to sleep?
4. I've written a new poem which I need to illustrate in my poem journal but since I shared that I was going to learn to write poetry I haven't posted on this blog any of the three I have come up with so I'll share one at the end of this list.
5. I've discovered Marie Callendar TV dinners. Yep, I know they've been around for years but they have always been too expensive. At today's prices for stuff though and the fact they've been on sale for $2 - 2.50 I've given them a try and found them to contain real food. Really! They have real food in them. I had to give up on Banquet and all the rest because a person can only eat so much rubber and sawdust and I was at my limit!
6. I'm lazy. That's why I like TV dinners and canned soup so much. Well, maybe I'm just lazy at cooking and housecleaning as I like to do my art stuff. Is some lazy okay? Am I chasing anyone away from my blog yet? "Aaaah, that freebird is too crazy for me, I gotta get outta here, aaaahhh"? I hope not. I really like you all to visit and leave comments - getting together modern style!

Okay, that poem I was telling you about? Well it's very simple and short but I kind of liked it. It used four key words from the book I am using to learn with. They are poetry, balcony, star and moon. So here goes:

Poetry

Poetry is some pretty elusive stuff

At least to me.

It's like leaning over a balcony reaching for the moon

But getting snagged by a star.

Ha! Who can reach the moon from a balcony anyhow?

Might as well go cook dinner and leave poetry to the dreamers.

Well, that's it. I hope to draw a picture to go with it and I will keep working on trying to write some nice poetry.

I am now supposed to tag six people --- now don't rush off everyone --- but I am not going to since I've already tagged everyone I know or those who I've tagged have tagged the ones I've missed. Instead I just want to say I hope you've enjoyed your visit here today and hope you will come back again.

My Inchie

The theme for this week's inchy is rain or water. I chose to use dewdrops on a flower. The flower is drawn with Prismacolor pencils on a dark gray/blue background. If you'd like to try one just use a 1 inch format and in any medium depict something about water or rain. Then post a link at the Inchybyinch blog so everyone can see what you've done. It's easy, fits every style of art and it's fun. C'mon and try one!

Uh oh!

Well I certainly have put myself into a pickle of a problem. I am hoping someone has a suggestion for me. My September page was 1/2 the size of an ATC. I like how it turned out. So, I got ready for my October page. Traced my template, picked out some beads and I began stitching. I like how this page is coming along but today I discovered something.

This page is full ATC sized!! Uh oh, now what do I do? Do I start this over and use a lot less beads? It will really change. Can I alter September's page? I have it sewn (and glued) to ultra-suede so there is a lot of thickness involved here with beads, fabric, Stiff Stuff and Ultra Suede so I wonder about sewing it to something bigger. Could I do some peyote or brick stitch around the edges? Or should I just go and start October over? Help! All suggestions are welcome.

I can't believe I did this. Okay, yes I can. I do silly things like this all the time. I get going and somehow manage to turn my brain off until halfway through and sometimes even till a project is done. I was trying so hard to be organized. Phooey.