The Rain is not Falling on the Bead Table!

Studio work table shots on a gray, windy, wet day in the land of Lois.


The rains have been so frequent, constant and drenching that everything is a lush, emerald jungle here! I promise to get out between the big drops and take some pics for later posting. In the meantime, I thought I would post a picture of my beading table in the studio. Just for fun, you can see where I am working most of the time. The silver part of the studio will be posted later, right now, it is CLEAN and ready for new work after B&B.

A Sleepy Kind of Sunday

When I am feeling like I want to make something but the old creative juices aren't up to 100%; I like to make " dog tags ". The base metals are silver, brass or copper with slightly folded edges. The edges allow me to pour resin over the pictures to preserve them and give them a glass like permanence. Images are little collages and of course, they can be stamped with metal stamps and then antiqued. Pretty cool. Fast, easy, fun, just the kind of craft I need on a sleepy day!


By the way, it is a gray, cold, wet day here in the Pacific Northwest with snow in the mountains. The temperature is warm enough down here though that everything and I mean everything green, is growing with wild abandon!

Friday Portrait Self

Do we really not care? I have heard newscasters and television personalities say that we, as Americans, as people, do not care about the oil leak in the gulf and the tragedy that it is. No one seems to know how to fix it. Not the president, not scientists not engineers, not it appears, even God. Have we come to this that we would allow so much to be destroyed, a destruction that will last for decades? I am sad and sick and frustrated in my impotence and angry that so many things are dying. A way of life, family run industry and jobs,marshes, wetlands, animals, fish, people. I am so, so, so angry. Aren't you?

Felted Vessel

I swear I love felting! This is a little crocheted bowl and top that has been felted and embellished with shell flowers, sequins, vintage lucite leaves and glass beads. I made it as a sample for B&B and to show off the flowers I will be selling. I am beginning to feel some excitement for B&B and seeing old friends, new beads and lots of inspiring bead work!






A closeup of the little shell flowers that I am so addicted to using in my bead embroidery. This is part of the display for the Bead & Button show. All the flowers are made of shell, abalone or amythest.

Banner Day!

The banner is finished that I made for Kabela. I have worked on it in starts and stops for most of the past year. I would get rolling on it and then end up off in another direction and the banner would be stashed. It is made of all wool and is sewn, embroidered, pieced and rubber stamped. I hope they like it and will be surprised when I deliver it in person at the Bead & Button show!

Sunday

All day long while at the shop, I would hear these deep, rumbling booms and think, " thunder ", but they were not thunder at all. The booms were from the cannons on the tall masted ships in the Port Townsend harbor. The Hawaiian Chieftan and the Lady Washington. Simulating a battle between the two; the cannons would fire and the resulting boom could be heard across town followed by a cloud of smoke if you were up close enough to see it.

This is Me

This is me after a small hike in the dessert in Tucson this past February. For this self portrait Friday, I am posting it because the dessert makes me happy. It is still difficult to post pictures of myself; I do not look like I want to appear and I certainly do not resemble the young woman I was so many years ago. This self portrait journey is not over yet. I want to be able to see myself in a picture and say, " yes, that is me " and accept myself and bring out the me that is in the inside. Journeys today that will make me a stronger person.