(Done with) Winter Enchantment

I never thought I would get this finished!  I forced myself to stick with flat work so my focal tree wouldn't be overwhelmed.  It was very boring, to say the least.

One evening, the sky was so softly shaded that I wanted to incorporate that into my piece and luckily
I had these very softly hued peachy-pink seeds in my stash.  I colored the beadbacking (that's Nicole's super-duper-how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it beadbacking, by the way) with colored pencils to shade in the area I wanted colored. 

It is a very subtle effect and looks better in person than it does in pics.

Once I put it into the shadowbox frame, I was so happy.  It made such a big difference!

I found the frame at a tag sale for just 50 cents and the glass is very reflective, but for that price, I won't complain!  It was pretty impossible to get a good shot.  Maybe you could all just pop over to my house for a visit so you can see it in person -- that would be fun!

A special thanks to Mother Nature for providing the inspiration and Artbeads.com for providing me with some of the products used to capture a small bit of Winter Enchantment.

~Bead Happy and Often~

FTC Disclosure:

The chain, wood links, and Toho seed beads used in the tree were provided free of charge from Artbeads in exchange for my unbiased review of the products.

California Dreaming on Such a Winter's Day - February BJP

Funny that the second quarter I randomly picked for the Bead Journal Project (BJP) happened to be another state I travelled to for business. 
California. 
It was late Fall in 1993.  I was in my first trimester of pregnancy with Meghan and I was so sick.  I hadn't told my office yet that I was expecting.   Little did I know the nauseous-ness would subside in the second trimester only to be replaced by daily migranes that lasted the duration of my pregnancy and beyond.  Ever have to ride an elevator with a migrane - every day- multiple times a day?   Not fun.  Anyhow, let's get back to California.

I remember hating this trip. 
Hating California. 
Hating the person I travelled with. 
Hating the office staff. 

I'm sure it was just because of how I felt physically, but I was tired of travelling and just wanted to go home.

So how to turn all these negative memories into something positive? Time for an attitude adjustment.

Thinking back I do remember some 'fun' out of the trip.  The airport shuttle van ride was an experience I'll never forget.  It was really neat to see the neighborhoods around Los Angeles as we dropped off travellers to their homes.  One guy lived way up high in the hills and I was so nervous the brakes were going to give out when he parked the van and helped the guy unload his bags.  We were right in the front seat facing down the hill and I felt like I was on a roller coaster at the crest of the first drop.  Exhilarating but truly frightening.

It was cool that we could see the Hollywood sign from the office windows.  That was surreal. 

The fact that the entrance ways to the freeways had traffic lights to regulate the cars entering  was new to me.  Holy cow - the freeways were huge and the traffic unlike anything I had ever seen.  Give me sleepy ol' Buffalo any day.  

One night the office manager took us to dinner in a really beautiful restaurant somewhere in the hills outside of Los Angeles.  As night fell and the lights starting twinkling in the hills, it was magical.  I remember I couldn't even eat and the conversation was really really dull, so I just lost myself in the view.   Thinking back to how beautiful that scene was, I found  inspiration for my piece.

Starting with a black piece of Nicole's super-duper how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it beadbacking, I collected an assortment of night time colors. 

After outlining the quarter to make it like a full moon, I made 3 hillsides (gee, what a surprise - 3 hills).  I wanted one to have a very steep incline, to remind me of that shuttle van ride.

When I was filling in the smallest of the hills using the boucle (carpet) stitch, I didn't realize I had used a white center bead on every stitch.  I didn't mean to, and almost ripped it out because I thought it was too much.  But then I thought that it was OK, and it was meant to represent the City of Los Angeles far in the distance from the sparsely populated hillside.  Cool.  I love it when the beads tell the story without me even trying.

As I was filling in the night sky around the 5 stars (gee, what a surprise - 5 stars!), I realized that I didn't like the way it was going to come out.   So rather than continuing working my way to the edge, I started from the top down and filled in the area with shorter rows. 

Even though I used a 2-bead edging around the entire piece, I changed the beads and the placement of the seed beads to give it some variation from the sky to the hillsides.

 

Seeing this dark piece next to the bright Florida piece on my refrigerator is really neat.  I'm anxious to see what State comes up in March. 

February BJP 2011
California

January BJP 2011
Florida

I know it's only the second month and maybe I'm still in the 'honeymoon' phase, but I love being a part of the Bead Journal Project.  Just the opportunity to reflect on my past has really opened my heart and soul to what it is that has made me into who I am today.  I like to think of this as my personal Bead Journey Project. 

~Bead Happy and Often~

beads interrupted

I was having so much fun using Nicole's super-duper, awesome, how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it Beadbacking, making this (probably) pendant:

but then my Artbeads blogging for beaders program beads came in the mail, so I jumped over to that project (which, ironically, I'm also using Nicole's super-duper, awesome, how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it Beadbacking).  I'm still in the beginning phase, so I'll dedicate my next post to my progress, but here's a sneak peek at the first stitches:

Hmm, whatever could that line have anything to do with the Winter Enchantment theme??!  Stay tuned to find out ;)

This morning I had about 7 minutes before I needed to get to work, so I thought I'd get a bit of beading in.  Remember my messy beading table from a few days ago?

Well, I still haven't cleared it off and I paid the price this morning.  I set my coffee mug right down in the center of my beading mat (because my coffee coaster which sits off to the side was covered with, umm, stuff) and when I went to lift up my Ottlight to turn it on, I hit the edge of the mug and coffee spilled all over my project, beads, scissors, thread, etc etc.    UGH!  So, needless to say, I didn't get any beading done this morning and actually wound up being late to work because I had to clean up the mess.  Hmm, and it wasn't even a Monday!  Go figure.

~Bead Happy and Often ~

And baby makes 3

Here's the last of my snow buttons.    Its my favorite 'cupcake top' stitch!

 Its fun to see that although they are all the same size base, they made up so differently.

 While I was poking around, I came across this ring that I have no idea where I got it from:

So I made up a similar little flower that I stitched onto a small piece of that super-duper, awesome, how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it, Nicole's Beadbacking:

The beads I used were larger than the ring, but I still think it makes up into a sweet little buttercup kind of flower.

I'm in one of those frenzied beading modes where I don't take the time to clean off my table completely between projects.

 If you look under the small pair of scissors, you'll see the components of what I'm working on now.  I have no idea what it's going to be, but I mounted that blue/gray cab onto a piece of that super-duper, awesome, how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it Nicole's Beadbacking and am embellishing away,  just having fun.

 Even Rainy has given up trying to find a place on my table - now he steals my chair!

~ Bead Happy and Often ~

 

The Whole "KIT" 'n kaboodle

I'm holding off on any bead embroidery projects until I get my order of Nicole's BeadBacking.  From what I hear, its some pretty fantastic stuff.  So in the meantime, I was scrounging around the studio and came across 2 kits gathering dust.

The first one is a simple bracelet kit from Mzuribeads featuring those awesome handmade paper beads.  I'm not a 'stringer' kind of girl, so I  tried to embelish the beads.

Neither attempt was any good, and I was getting annoyed.   Simple stringing it is then.

Next I came across another one of those fan-tab-u-lous Toho Ring Kits that I got at Artbeads.com.  I have said it before and I will say it again:  I LOVE these kits!  So organized, clear illustrations, gorgeous beads and takes just a bit over an hour to put together. 

Just look at the focal bead!  Just beauty-full.

Sunlight brings out some gorgeous turquoise green hues

You can see how domed the ring is - just loaded with beads!

A Family Portrait....

Psst,  my ring family will soon be expanding.  I just ordered another kit!

Links to the goodies:

  Beadbacking -- Beadwright

Paper beads -- Mzuribeads

Ring Kit -- Artbeads.com

Bead Happy and Often