Amber cuff

I guess I tend to post long messages so here is a short one. I like making cuffs the most but I occasionally string. This is my amber cuff. I incorporated things I found around the house like some old earrings. This piece is what I call my aching back because I got a little obsessive about getting it done and it took a lot of hours!

Life is a journey home. Life is a circle...so is a beaded cuff!

Well I never do things in order so now that it's Saturday I have a few minutes to talk a little about myself and my reason for blogging. I live in a small town near the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park. Talk about good fortune. I have an endless supply of inspiration right outside my door. I walk my three pugs three times a day and these are my favorite times since I can take in all the beautiful scenery around me and dream about what I'm going to make next. I live with my Mom and two sons ever since my divorce a few years ago and we have formed a special family unit. I am eternally grateful for my Mom. A real survivor, she inspires me and pushes me to keep going when I feel like giving in. She has a favorite saying: It is what it is. It's something I tell myself every day. My sons are amazing. My oldest is 16 and preparing to graduate this year. I'm so not ready for this! He just got his SAT's back and he got a 1780. Yes I'm bragging here. I am so proud of him. He's in the drumline, marching band, etc. and a whiz at math and science. College is the next step and I'm muddling through the financial aid process and dealing with the idea that he is really growing up. He has a good job after school and likes to hang out with his friends. My youngest son is my heart. He is comical, a guitar player, likes to make experiments, still a hugger and a heck of a photographer. My kids are my life and they keep me striving to do bigger and better things. I buried the creative artist that I was before husbands, jobs and babies so long ago that I nearly forgot who she was. I am in a very special place in my life right now that really excites me. I am slowly rediscovering the artist in me and remembering how much I loved to make things. I have more time and energy for self-discovery.

I took a beading class just for the heck of it back in 2008 and met my dear friend, Arline , (her blog is : Sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com) who took me under her wing and taught me all about beading and introduced me to the Central California Bead Society. Their website is: www.centralcaliforniabeadsociety.org This incredibly talented woman has become like a second Mom to me. She got my reluctant butt onto at train to the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza (website:www.beadextravaganza.com ) She took me to the coast and taught me the basics of bead embroidery which inspired my first beaded cuff. Her faith in me and her inspiration has helped me to create some pieces that really surprised me. I met many wonderful women in the club who took me in and showed me the ropes and showered me with so much love... just what I needed after the trauma of the past few years. They helped me heal my wounds and gave me hope. I no longer feel that life is full of pain and disappointment waiting to happen. Life is incredible. I only wish I had met them sooner but this was meant to be and they were brought into my life when I needed them the most and so it is!

During our trip to the coast I met another amazing bead artist named Anja (you can check her out at: www.anjasbeaddesign.com.) She teaches and designs and has a warm and loving way about her that is such a pleasure to know. I can't wait to see where our friendship goes.

So this is the beginning of my journey. I'm learning about my true self and expressing that through my beading. My dream is to turn the passion I have for this artform into a business. This blog is a way for me to connect with other beaders/crafters, share their love for art and hopefully take a hobby to the next level. I'm not really hip to the computer so I am learning as I go here. I love to get comments so I can check out your blogs so drop me a line if you have time. Happy Beading!

A new piece

I made this necklace last month right after buying the materials. I usually don't do that. I get the supplies and they end up in my stash for a few months but something about the brass leaves really moved me to get going. I will try to find out the artist's name who created the leaves the next time I'm in Fresno. I don't like to leave that out and I'm assuming they weren't mass produced. They feel incredible in your hand with all the detail of the leaf veins.

It was a fun project with kind of a funny twist. Before I attached the crimps and clasp I had one end held together with a piece of scotch tape and the other end with a little metal bead stopper. Well I stood up to hang it around my neck to check length and suddenly felt something moving down the back of my pants. My initial reaction was that it was a bug (I don't know why!) and I began grabbing at my rear trying to get it out and the whole necklace flew off the wires landing scattered in my shag carpet or as I call it: land of the lost. There was no bug...it was the bead stop and it had somehow fallen down my back into my underwear. Luckily I had taken photos of my work in progress as made it and after my son Kody dug all the tiny crystals out of the carpet for me I was able to restring it. Phew!!! Sometimes I am such a spaz. I got busy putting those crimps on and the necklace was saved.

There is a story behind every piece we make and sometimes it happens while we are making it!

Taking a little break

I started this new blog to talk about anything bead- related and as soon as I created it I find myself in the middle of a bead-drought. It's the strangest thing. I find myself sitting at my table, picking up my beads, moving them around all the while great ideas are racing through my mind faster than I can write them down but I cannot put needle to bead. I think I just need a little break. I have a Christmas list that I should've started months ago and now I am getting myself in a snit about making all the gifts. I thought... that's too bad because these gifts are made from my heart and I love to make them for my friends so now I am relaxing about it and enjoying the process. I decided to knit my gifts this year since I miss my knitting and needed a break from the beading anyway. If I don't finish them all, oh well.

Just as I was picking out my yarn again I was sitting outside on a beautiful, sunny morning reading one of Robin Atkin's books, Heart To Hands Bead Embroidery. I was looking to Robin for some inspiration as I am getting ready to join her Bead Journal Project. I began to read a section about Passion and whoa did it hit home. She described all the emotions I'm going through right now. Fear being the primary one. Procrastination. I started my first beaded collar a few months ago and I have this vision in my head of what I want it to look like but I am suddenly afraid to add more beads. I didn't recognize this fear as being the deep passion that I have to create the perfect piece until I read Robin's words. And I had to laugh when she said that you may take up knitting or go bead buying to deal with this frustrating problem. I needed to be told that it's o.k. to just bead on that collar and let it be whatever it will be. Even if it doesn't turn out to be the perfect vision I have in my head. How the heck did I let the joy of creating it get squashed by anxiety? Seems silly. I do get in my own way sometimes!

So I am taking this time to knit for the women friends that I love and in the process clear my head and work on accepting myself until I can sit back down with my beads and just do it with no inhibitions. I think it's good to do this as soon as I feel I am beating myself up over my artwork and in the end I know I will have a collar beaded with love: imperfect and fulfilling.

Thanks again, Robin, for lighting the way. This post went a little long so next time I'll write about what brought me to the Bead Journal Project and how excited I am to start my journey. In the mean time check it out for yourself at http:beadjournalproject.com. The website is eye candy and will surely peak your interest. Self-exploration is what beading is all about for me so this should be a great year!