Beading on a loom

I've been a follower of Erin Simonetti's blog, A Bead Looming Intervention (or also known as Beads, beading, beaded!) for awhile now and keep being amazed at the work she creates. If you are a beader or just appreciate beading, do go and check out Erin's blog and website. I love cuffs as most of my friends know and Erin has made some of the most outstanding pieces of art in her cuffs and other jewelery! Talk about beautiful work and workmanship!! Erin is also so great at posting techniques, tips and the progress of her work. She has inspired me to attempt beading on a loom.

So I'm going to see what books are at our library and order them. A gal has to start somewhere! Do make sure to take a minute or two to see some of Erin's art! OK, it will take more than a minute or two! Once you see some of her beading, you'll keep reading blog post after blog post...but that's ok..you could be doing worse things! I guarantee you will be inspired and glad you took the time to 'look'!

Things of beauty

There are many things of beauty in our life and I want to share some today. First, this is a donation quilt I purchased from the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. This piece was made by Linda Devereaux from Lakewood, Washington. I think it's beautiful and if you could see the quilt and Linda's workmanship in person, you would agree it's a beautiful piece. Linda is one of several who have pledged to raise $1,000 through the sale or auction of Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts they donate. I'm so glad to have played a small part in Linda reaching her pledge and I got a beautiful quilt from that pledge! You can read my post here on quilts for AAQI or go directly to the AAQI site on how you too can be part of this initiative started by Ami Simms.

My next thing of beauty is my 3rd Amaryllis plant has two flowers in bloom and two buds waiting to bloom! This is the bulb plant I purchased in the spring of 2010 and had a beautiful bloom on it last year. I wasn't sure it would bloom again this year but yippee! it did! I think it's actually prettier this year than last year! And I have two more blooms to look forward to!

Windows are open today for a change! It was 92 even at 5:00 p.m. yesterday but only 69 @ 8:00 a.m. today and temps expected in the high 70's for a change. I love having the windows open and the breeze flowing through the house.

Bob golfed yesterday, with no problems and is golfing again today and tomorrow. Guess we'll see if he's still walking on Sat.!

Progress

Sorry if you're getting tired of seeing the progress on my cardinal but I like to document my progress and it's my blog after all!

I beaded in between Dr. appointments yesterday and hair (dye job!) today. He's coming along and now I just need to finish his tail feather and branch. I did decide for sure that I'm doing six birds and six butterfly's and each will be mounted on canvas. I'll call the collection 'Feather and Wings' or 'Wings and Feathers'. Go figure, right!

So news from Bob's hip Dr. is he's thinking it's Bob's back and not necessarily the prosthesis in the leg bone. There is some "increased activity" in the leg bone and the replacement joint but he doesn't feel that's causing Bob's leg pain. Bob has days where he has NO pain at all and other days that he can't walk at all! So far yesterday and today he's been pretty much pain free. He's scheduled for a MRI of his lumbar spine next week and then he'll see the Dr. the middle of July. It's just a process of elimination so this is a start. Guess we'll just play it by ear unless of course I shoot him first! They shoot horses don't they!

Speaking of horses, we're getting the DVD 'True Grit' this week from Netflex! We can't wait to watch it being the western/cowboy fans that we are!!

On another note, I am thoroughly enjoying listening to 'Between Shades of Gray' by Ruta Sepetys. The story is basically about a young girl who along with her family are exiled from their homeland by Stalin and the suffering they incurred. The young girl, Lina, is also an artist who documents their life during this horrid time by drawing! I'm glad I'm listening to this book rather than reading it so I can listen while I sew, clean or drive! I'm so anxious on one hand to finish the book but on the other hand it's one of those books you don't want to end! Do pick up a copy..it's very well written by Ms. Sepetys!

The Re Do Queen's at it again

Before I talk about my playtime with creating collagraph designs and prints..have to say CONGRATS to my son (& his buddies)! They were in a 6 Hour Adventure Race this past weekend and the email recap of the race is great! It's one I'll print out and keep..as far as results, here's what Darrin wrote: "Our Team JEEP took the Top Spot to finish 1st Place Over All and only 5 Teams cleared the entire course out of the 56 Teams. We fought hard all day long and work together like we have for the past 11-Years “As a TEAM” and finish together “As a TEAM.”

I'm always proud of our kids and the effort they put into whatever they do. Congrats, Darrin!!!! Great job as always! Now take care of your poison ivy and most likely lost toenails!
Now, on to my collagraph design above. This is a technique by Laura Kemshall that I tried about a week or so ago and posted on it here. I wanted to try it again using Etching Inks this time. I drew an apple shape (never said I could draw!) then proceeded to fill in areas with either masking tape or clear packing tape. Then rubbed the Etching Inks onto the entire piece, scraping off excess.


Here are some of my printed efforts.














These are fun to make, even if I can't draw! My thought is to 'press' some note cards. Oh, one addition to the process, it helps if you have a pasta machine to press the prints through. I don't and usea a rolling pin instead! It does work and you get exercise in your upper arms, which is a good to help that 'bat wings' we ladies get after a certain age!
Now on to my continuing reign as the ReDo Queen! I've been working on my Art of the Kitchen piece and had fused the entire piece but....I noticed after my weaving some of the fabric was fraying from all the handling (I used WU instead of Misty Fuse!). Also, the yellow chalk lines, which are needed to line up the weaves, won't come off! My white chalk lines come off and usually the yellow is removed easily as well...but not this time!
Also, if you look closely under the words, Kiss, you can see the the lines between the black and white fabric.

So, to make a long story/post shorter, I'm redoing the entire piece. I did start on it a few days ago and hope to get it ready to quilt by this weekend. I'm going to keep the 1st one and finish it just to hang in our house. Heck, I'll hang it far enough away that hopefully no one will notice it and if they do, they shouldn't get that close!

Weather beautiful again with slight breeze and windows able to be open at night! Bob's Dr.'s appointment is today so we'll see if we're going to just shoot him and what!

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Today's post is all about giving! I'm going to link you quilters and non-quilters to the the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative started by Ami Simms. Some of my friends are familiar with AAQI and have either donated quilts for the auction or they have purchased a quilt. This part of my post is for those of you who aren't aware of the web site or what Ami has done to bring the fight against Alzheimer's to as many as she can. My husband's mother fell victim to Alzheimer's and I'm sure everyone has a family member, friend or friend of a friend who has been attacked by this disease.
Since 2006, Ami's work has raised more than $552,000 for the fight against Alzheimer's! And just think, you can or could be part of that fight by bidding on a quilt (June auction!) or by purchasing one of over 300 quilts that were donated just in May alone! There are some great art quilts that you might want to keep for yourself or give to someone, perhaps to an Alzheimer's patient! My quilt above, Never Forgotten, is up for auction this month. You don't have to bid on my quilt (unless you really want to!!) as there are so many wonderful quilts out there to choose from. I've been lucky to have my other two quilts raise some money for Ami and hope this one continues to get some more bids. So get a cup of coffee (or something stronger!) and take a look at the AAQI web site and bid or purchase a quilt! It will make you feel SO good! And will help fight this disease that destroys so many lives.

Congratuations!

1st a HUGE congrats to Amber for receiving 'Student of the Month' award at school this week!! She got two awards but the 2nd picture didn't turn out so clear. It did talk about her being a role model for other kids and her effort at achieving good grades, yada, yada! How proud we all are of her! And yes, I have blacked out her last name - you never know about folks on the Internet so I do try to protect the innocent!

And another congrats to my friend, Mary, on becoming a Great Grandma again! This is Stefi, big sister Carmella and new baby brother who was born yesterday! I'm sure the whole family is pretty excited about the new addition. Mary is a wonderful, great grandma and I'm sure she will enjoy this new addition.

Another beautiful day with a high of 75 and light winds again today. This is summer weather for me. It is suppose to get in the 80's this weekend and a few days next week but I'll settle for this type of weather.

I plan on working on my Art of the Kitchen piece today. Having problems with fraying on my background weaving..ugh. I ran out of Misty Fuse and ended up using WonderUnder lite which was a huge mistake. I started using Misty Fuse years ago before it became the fuse of choice and now I know why I've stuck with it so long. Plus, weaving the pieces of my background in and out and changing the weaving has caused some of the fraying. I should be able to 'clean' the edges up with machine stitching if I get to that point today.

I have to admit I am hooked on watching the trial of Casey Anthony. It's so sad and the trial keeps pulling on me to watch it. Fortunately, I have a TV in my sewing room, so I can listen to it. It's almost like reading or listening to a fiction novel and not a very good one! But one you keep reading just to find out how the 'book' ends!

Speaking of books...I just finished listening to The Lincoln Lawyer and the reader was great! His name is Adam Grupper and he made the book twice as good even though the story was really good on its own. I am going to look up Adam and see what other books he has done the reading on.

I have eleven books on my IPod and just started listening to Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Can't remember where I saw or heard about this book and I just hope it's not depressing! I'm more of a mystery, thriller or biography person! Gotta run! Trial has started!

Beauty of nature

Yes, nature is beautiful! These are the last two blooms on one of my Amaryllis plant.

I have the bulbs in planters that sit by the patio/dining room slider so I can see them as I walk by or work in the kitchen. Are these beautiful or what!!
The vendor I purchased the bulbs from suggested I cut the stalk off at the bulb level to force a 2nd bloom. It was hard to cut off the bloom stalk before these but I did. We'll see if I have luck getting more blooms this year.

I guess my cardinal is considered nature too! and he's coming along, although I haven't worked on him in two days.

I was busy working on a bracelet for myself. The green is quick 'sparkly' and matches a peyote ring I made for myself last year.

And I did the design all myself! It's the same pattern I made for Ginny's BD bracelet.

Bob did golf for the 1st time yesterday in almost two weeks. So far so good but he did take 1/2 a pill yesterday afternoon. he's walking pretty good so far today but still cautious. This is the way it goes with him..he'll golf three days in a row then not be able to walk. wonder if he'll learn something from this? Hmmmm

Temps were wonderful yesterday, high 70's but not humid. No air on! Yippee! Windows open and fresh air blowing all day long. Today should be close to yesterday but no wind. I'm off to meet a friend for coffee this a.m. and maybe a treat!

Happy Birthday Ian!

Today is Ian's Birthday! 15!! Yikes! So hard to believe. I don't have a picture of him alone from this year so had to crop from a picture when we met the kids in Florida this winter.

Ian had his last track meet on the 20th of this month and had his personal best run!! Congrats, Ian on another great year in Track and Happy Birthday! Kids are traveling back from Grand Rapids as I type this. They had to attend a graduation and ended up celebrating Ian's BD too.

check out the next picture and you'll see how tall Ian is!! He's on the left and his dad is on the right! Must be all the running he does!

I have been busy working on three different projects and of course playing!
Laura Kemshall showed how to make collagraph print designs and prints so I had to try it!

I didn't have any etching inks (but I have ordered some!) so I used my Trapsuutjies paints instead.
They actually worked out nicely which is a good way to use up these paints. My friend, Mary, and I ordered them two or more years ago and we did play with them. They really are nice to use in screen printing and general painting but I often forget to use them. Mary gave me some of hers since she wasn't using them so this was a good project to try them out on.

I uploaded my pictures backwards so.....this is my collagraph design printed on watercolor paper. It's suppose to be a Hosta leaf. Just pretend it looks like a Hosta leaf! I just printed it using my rolling pin since I didn't have a pasta machine! It still worked!
This is my collagraph plate design on cardboard made with masking tape and packing tape. I didn't take a picture before I put the paint on it otherwise you might see the tape(s) better. When I get my Etching inks I'll take pictures in progress which will be much better I'm sure. This was a very quick design and I didn't use small pieces of tape like Laura did but I will with my next design.
and I'm almost finished making a beaded bracelet for myself. I made one for a friend and wanted one for myself. I've been working on this while watching the Tigers on TV...I'm also working on my Cardinal and I'll show pics of it tomorrow.
And this is a sneak peak at my MQAI - Art of the Kitchen quilt. The exhibit is in Sept. and the quilts are due in July. I want to get this piece finished as it will be my last target date piece I have to do for 2011! Yippee!! Then I play and create when and what I want! I'll show the rest of the piece and the process once it's finished.
We're watching the weather (man) right now as storms are severe and even some hail is being predicted. It was in the high 80's today and yesterday and we actually had one day with no rain! We've even had the air on for the past two days! We'd prefer to have the windows open but it was so humid and hot you couldn't stand it. Feel like we're in Miami, Florida! Now I know why i don't go to Florida in the summer! I'm not a fan of the high temps at all. Fall is my favorite time of the year! Well, off to watch the Tigers if the cable doesn't go out!

Progress

Making progress on my BJP/Cardinal but I am jumping around a tad...just because I get bored with one area and this way it gives me a better idea on what shade/color of beads to use. I hope to get his eye on this afternoon.
Because I'm using so many different shades of reds on this piece, I'm now 'stuck' to beading in my sewing room. That's not bad as I'm now hooked on watching Court TV and the trial for Casey Anthony - so sad. Anyway, check out the SUN shining in the window on my cutting/beading table!! Yes, friends, that is sun! This was taken a few days ago because all we've had is rain! And more to come.

At least I can sew 'Georgia' while watching TV and I have made some progress on this piece. I'm really liking the colors and of course, my workmanship on this piece compared to the 1st one I started.

Tonight is our CCC fiber group meeting and we're meeting friends for dinner ahead of time. Bob hasn't golfed since last Thursday, which is good. I think resting the leg will do him good. Thank goodness he has his 65" TV to watch!

A little of this..a little of that

Check out my latest Amaryllis bloom(s)! You can barely see the one in the back of the picture but it's as breathtaking as this one but not as fully bloomed out (is that a term??).

I am so happy with my bulbs I bought in Ocala the past two years. I don't see where the vendor has a web site but he does have a yahoo group on growing Amaryllis plants. I am going to send a picture of my flowers only because he was concerned they may not make it back to Michigan. I put them in a sack and kept the bulbs refrigerated until I planted them.

This is another picture I took of my 1st blooms. I love the colors...a quilt in the making???

I am going to get back to beading my Cardinal for the BJP. I've been beading and working on other projects. One is for the MQAI, Art of the Kitchen, exhibit that's due in July. The exhibit opens in Sept. and I finally have my design and started working on it. I'll show it at some point in time! But for now, hand work will be my birds! I'm now considering doing six birds and six butterfly's. You know how bored I get working on the same thing! :)

This is a peyote bracelet I finished for a gift. I'll mail it out tomorrow and hope the recipient likes it. I do have a question for my beader friends. Why or what is the difference if you bead using odd count flat peyote or even count?? I did this bracelet using even count peyote and I can't see much difference in the edges compared to the Easter bracelet I made Amber using odd count?? I am proud of myself because I made this pattern up myself!!! Ouch! That's me patting myself on the back!

It's warm again today and humid. Clouds are rolling in and severe weather is due by late this afternoon. It's so sad for all the folks who have lost their homes and possessions due to tornado's! I just can't imagine the loss this people feel. My prayers are certainly with them.

It runs in the family

Yes, running does 'run' in the family! Amber belongs to a running group at school that meets twice a week called 'Girls on the Run'. This past weekend they participated in a 5K run and her mom and aunt joined her! How cool is that! Auntie is in the black and mom is on the right. Amber has the sunglasses on and her friend, also named Amber is in the front of the pack.
I think it's great that Amber was and is involved in this group at school and really cool that her mom and aunt participated in this race. From what they told me there were over 500 runners!



This is a piece that I finished in Florida but couldn't show a pic of it. You can read about the project here on Tommy F's. blog here. It was a fun project and I think the entire piece turned out great! check it out!!

No rain for two days!, but rain due in today. Go figure! It is good for the plants and since my hobbies are inside guess it doesn't matter, does it! I just don't like the humidity and I love having the windows open. So far we haven't needed the air on but I'm sure that will change soon. More beading today since I did my cleaning and laundry yesterday! Play day for me!

Product Review for Beaders

This is my newest tool for beading and I love it! It's called the Tacky Mat and it is just that. The mat is made of a sticky, rubber material that holds the beads in place and hold it, it does!
This next picture is being held up in the air while I took the picture! You can barely see the beads, but they are NOT falling off! There's no residue on the beads either! Great product!
I used the mat for over an hour or two yesterday working on the bracelet and didn't lose one bead. It does take a little while to get used to picking up the beads but I got into the swing of it after awhile. Even if the needle punctures the rubber it seems to heal itself. It's only 4" x 4" and sells for under $6. I ordered mine online via Hobby Lobby (w/free shipping!) and did see on their web site that the larger JoAnn's, Michael's and Hobby Lobby sell them.

Now to some stamping I did the other day. One of the Kemshall's/DMTV showed fabric printing using the heat mouldable foam. Our fiber group played with this foam several years ago and I still have some of the fabric and paper pieces I stamped but never used. Laura used a small medicine bottle and for those who know me I have several of these small bottles (OK, and several large, antique bottles!) so of course I had to play. This is the bottle I used, which is only about 3" high.
Laura had a great suggestion on using your iron rather than the heat gun (which we used before) to heat up the foam to prepare for stamping. I just put parchment paper on top of the foam then pressed the bottle onto the foam.
Then I starting to print. I just grabbed a small piece of hand dyed fabric and filled the entire piece. I did use white paint for the first print but I didn't like the look of it so I switched to a dark blue/purple paint. The pictures don't show the printing that well but the piece did turn out pretty cool!

Dr. called yesterday and will reck Bob on the 6th of June. He's not totally in agreement with the radiology report but between you and me I think the radiologist is correct and the prosthesis is loose. The Dr. is on vacation for two weeks so....Bob wouldn't go to another Dr. so we just don't have no choice but to wait. Until then Bob is to do what he normally does but not heavy, physical activity. Which means he'll still golf unless he can't walk.
I have my design for the MQAI exhibit that's due in July and dyed a piece of background fabric but then I had another idea last night so I want to play with that today. That's always the problem for me...I get TOO many ideas and want to do them all! Type 'A'...yep!

Well.....

Well, the first news is Bob's hip replacement has loosened up at the distal (thigh) area!! Not good at all. He had a bone scan on Monday and Dr.'s office called yesterday with results. Of course, Bob was golfing! so I got the news first. They will call back today to tell us what/when/how they will correct this but it will require surgery again.

Yesterday I started a peyote bracelet for a gift and I'm making up my own pattern! Who knew! The bracelet is a little over one inch wide and I think will turn out quite nice.
I have to show pics of my Amaryllis plants I bought in Florida this year. I bought two more bulbs to add to the one I bought in 2010. There are five blooms on this plant already!! isn't it beautiful!


You can see the other blooms on the plant and the other plant on the right which is just starting to grow. My plant from 2010 is behind this pot and it is growing. I think the flower won't come up for another month but it is growing! I'm really excited about these bulbs making it back from the 2 1/2 day ride from Florida to Michigan.
I also played with stamping on fabric after watching the Kemshall's latest DMTV. I'll post pics of that tomorrow. Today we stay home waiting for call from the Dr.

Grandma Time

Well, my four days with the grand kids is over but I had a blast! Even Mandy had a good time but she did have to take her beauty naps. Maybe I should have done that! This post won't have any of my 'art work' in it but some of the kids! Honestly, I am only 64 but in the video at the end of this post I look like 90! Kids had fun face painting and we even got one of Nick's friends from the neighborhood involved (with is mom's permission!).

But check out the pattern in the pillow next to Mandy! That's some inspiration isn't it! Now on to the rest of our time together.

This was one of the projects Nick and I worked on. He bought a solar kit what you could make different toys from and he elected to make a boat. Of course the sun hasn't been out so no solar power..although, I'm sure the wires aren't attached properly so his dad will have to assist!

This was another 'calm' project Nick did building with his lego's and of course the 3 of us played Monopoly!
Now..on to the Face Painting! Amber got a face painting kit and we had a ball. This was Amber with her 1st face painting grandma did for her. We started off not being too daring! The picture in the bathroom is Amber seeing her face for the first time.





















Nick wanted red, white and blue. Same here with Nick, seeing his face painted for the first time.















This was Amber's 2nd face painting of a butterfly I did on Sunday. Doesn't she look great! I love the colors on her. She kept the paint on so her mom and dad could see when they got home in the afternoon.


Nick and his friend wanted to reflect a football team. Nick wanted to be a Lion football player..I know it looks like a Tiger but I didn't know how to draw a lion! Close enough, right! His friend, Matthew, wanted to be a Viking football player and Nick did his face painting. Good job!
On Sunday, Matthew came back over and the kids talked about college football. So Matthew wanted to be a Michigan State player. Amber did a great job on him and then wrote on his arms too.
Nick want to be U of M (YEA!!) so I painted 'M' on his cheeks and filled in with yellow. How cute is that!! And he has his hair cut again which makes him look so great!!!
So now for some video's! I also feel in love with Spike, the bearded lizard Nick has!! Who knew!! He's a sweetheart!!! I loved feeding him so I had to take a video when Nick fed him.




And this next video will probably come back to haunt me at some point in my life but I think it's rather funny. I look like I'm 90 years old!!! Or maybe I just look that way but never see myself on video! While Amber was painting me, I was working on Nick's solar boat. Nick was the photographer and did a pretty good job even though he was laughing so hard he could hardly hold the camera still!



So I hope you all got a little chuckle from us! Now on to doing some art work of my own!!