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.

Inchies

Inchies are back again. This week's theme is "stars". This is my take on it. Star glitter, a plastic faceted star and some printed out paper has been glued down with matte gel medium. I edged the square with a Kryon gold leafing pen. We'd love it if you'd join us over at Inchybyinch with your own version.

Ta Da! Sound the Trumpets! I'm Finished!

I did it. I did it! I finished my last page of BJP 2007.

This is my May page. It's based on my Grandma O'Keefe's wedding ring quilt. You can see my posting about that quilt here . The quilt caused a bit of a ruckus in the family with some thinking it was a valuable heirloom and it didn't help when my dad said two (that I know of) granddaughters would get to have it when he died. Well, with it almost hitting the trash bin as we were cleaning Dad's garage out, I somehow brought it home and still have it. We didn't get much from our grandmothers as other grandkids managed to get it instead. Grandma O'Keefe's stuff I'm afraid to say, probably went for drug money. Sad but that's the way life goes sometimes.

I wanted to see if I could do this like a charm quilt where every piece is a different fabric. I succeeded. I couldn't do fringe or too much texture as I was emulating fabrics - old fabrics. Some of the ugly-coating-coming-off pearl beads were the last from my mother. I figured this was a good place to use them. The two hearts in the middle are for my grandmothers. The fabrics are from their aprons we saw them wear so much.

I was going to sew all of these pieces from the year into a round penny rug table topper. I have changed my mind. I always cover up a table with junk and projects so it would never be seen and I didn't feel anyone else would ever want it in that form. Instead I am going to put them in three groups of four and sew them, still penny rug style, to a backing and put them in three matching frames. I think this will be a better way to display them all.

And now, I can go on to October 2008 guilt-free. Yay.

September BJP08

I have my September BJP08 page done! I am so happy. I really hate getting behind as it seems you never catch up. (As in my last page from 2007 which still isn't done - but now I have the rest of this month to work on it).

My color is yellow. Yep that's pretty obvious. The gifted beads I used are:

1. The mexican tubular bead from my daughter Tena.
2. The three small cubes at the top are from my son James.
3. The dark, matte seed beads making up the circles are from Grace.
4. The 3 tiniest brass beads are from my niece Katie.

I don't think I will have so many gifted beads to use on most of my pages and none at all on some (where I will have to come up with something I make) but this made a very good start to the year.

This piece is measured 1 3/4 x 2 1/2 or one half of an ATC card before trimming and adding the edging. It's just a tiny bit bigger now.

I have two children and so I added the two hearts on this piece. I had no idea how this would turn out. In fact, I ended up turning it upside down at the end just before adding the hearts as it seemed to look better that way. That means the bird on the mexican bead is upside down now but I still like how it looks.

Now to start getting supplies out for the next page, draw a fairy my granddaughter challenged me to and finish my last 07 page.

Face Pin

I have been enjoying the face pins over at Grace's blog
and decided to try one of my own using the larger beads
around the face as she did. I got the UTEE face cab from Sammy last year in an ATC trade. The short bugle beads were a gift from my sister. The backing is ultrasuede and I stitched on Stiffstuff. The flower beads are much prettier and sparkly in person. I don't know if I can send it in time to join in the beaded face swap or not but I think she will make a nice gift if not.

Today I am hoping to finish my September bead journal page. Wish me luck as I keep saying things like this and then it doesn't happen!

Wedding Anniversary

September 16th was my 36th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by exchanging cards and going out for a chinese lunch. My husband also gave me a 2lb. box of See's chocolates he'd snuck into the car on our way home from California. He was a bit worried as he doesn't drive with the air conditioning on (just one of thousands of things we do opposite of each other) but it came through just fine and I am eating them up like I've been starving!

I used inchies to make him a banner and a card. I had to do it while he was busy and hoped he wouldn't catch me. It was simple stamping and stringing - hey these inchies fit the definition of beads too! Just thought I would share this idea as I think they turned out pretty neat. It's hard to shop when we go almost everywhere together and I almost always make my gifts anyhow.

Autumn Inchy

I am a little late with this inchy but here it is anyhow. (I took an impromtu trip to California which put a kink in my productivity rate - which is never that high to begin with).

The theme for this week is Autumn and what do I get every time this season rolls around? Candy corn! Doesn't everyone?

This is colored pencil on Strathmore art paper. I am quite pleased with this one. Whenever I draw something that comes pretty close to what I had in mind, I'm happy!

BJP Progress

I've been making progress on a lot of fronts. I'm taking drawing classes online with one of my granddaughters but I won't bother you with my homework pages. I'm starting a face pin trying techniques and the idea I saw on Grace's blog
And last, but certainly not least, I have been working on finishing my last page of last years BJP and on this years first page. I feel like I'm doing pretty well. Hope I can keep up the momentum.

Inchy

Fiona of Inchybyinch has been feeling a bit down like so many of us recently. I made this inchy thinking of her and gave it with the suggestion of using The Blahs as our weekly challenge. She took me up on it so for this week, I even got my inchy done quickly. We all have our down times, our just can't get up the energy for creating times. I love it that people have helped me through those times. Don't we have a great blogging community?

Have you got the blahs? Show us how you interpret it on an inchy and put the link to your picture over on the Inchybyinch blog. Come on and join us.

BJP 2008 Underway

Nothing too exciting so far. I have my Stiff Stuff ironed to my fabric and the outling basted. I've gathered up some yellow beads as I am starting with yellow for my color wheel. Why yellow? I don't know. I usually see red at the top of the wheel but I guess I'm feeling kind of rainbowish or something. The gifted bead I am going to use is the larger yellow mexican style bead on the left just to the right of the box of beads. The seed beads below them were a gift also. Now to get brave and pick up a bead and attach it to the fabric.....drum roll, please.