Busy Beading!!!

I'm glad to report that I continue with my projects for the year. Here's Project #2 and #3, titled "Pillars" and "Diagonals Stacks" respectively.  I've been playing with simple repetitive designs, re-familiarizing myself again with the rhythm of beading and finding satisfaction in completing projects.

I'm glad to be spending more time at my bead table, getting more and more into the habit of creating. My mind's been hopping from one design concept to the next! Just have to make a record of everything that goes through my head!

At any rate, I've started another project and this is a WIP photo. I'm going with the flow on this one, too. Not entirely sure where this one will take me. Exciting!

Getting it Together, Bit by Bit

Two years. Two years since my last confession, I mean blog post! Where was I two years ago and where have I been since then? Let's see, two years ago I just started a new job in Bethesda after working with a company in Washington, DC for 13 year. There's about XX lbs difference between then and now mostly due to ups and downs in the pendulum swing of weight and slowing metabolism. Two trips to the ER, 4 more hospital stays, white belt to black belt, new pair of glasses, new car, driving lessons, stress of college admissions process which I chose in the end to ignore and "go with the flow," stress of continually solving problems at work and keeping a high bar in standards mainly due to my own performance. Long hair to short hair. Reluctant wardrobe upgrade. Getting used to high heels again. Not reluctant about that.

And finally, working to get out of the sabbatical mode as far as creating beaded jewelry is concerned. My "coming out" has been a long drawn out process, longer than I cared for it to take. I would like to think I'm getting better in terms of productivity. I've managed to find the time to create more pieces this past year so that should be a good sign!

Case in point, a friend of mine celebrated her son's barmitzvah this month. A couple of months ago, she asked me to custom make her jewelry to go with the dress she would wear for the special event. I ended up creating 3 different bracelets for her so she could choose which one she liked the most. Her dress was silver and bronze so the bracelets I made for her reflected the colors of her dress with some accents to it. Here's a shot of the 2 bracelets.

I didn't get a chance to shoot a picture of the bracelet my friend chose to wear for her son's barmitzvah, but she promised to lend it to me so I can take a photo for my library. Here's a work in progress photo I shot and shared on FB, in case you're interested.

My Life In Herbs...and Beads!

The days have been gorgeous and definitely relaxing. I'm enjoying this summer more than the past summers. My herb "garden" (in-a-pot!) has been flourishing that I've been using fresh herbs in my cooking almost everyday. My son was a skeptic at first ("o-oh, Mom's experimenting again.") but he's now convinced that Mom knows best as evidenced by the delicious meals he's eaten!

Let me introduce you to the herb "garden." I've got cilantro (my favorite!), french tarragon, lemon thyme, golden sage, rosemary, lemon balm and greek oregano. I've tied a bunch and started to test drying them. So far looks good.I decided to do some herb vinegars as well. I have rosemary, sage and garlic in apple cider vinegar. I also did a bottle of the thyme and a sprig of oregano in red wine vinegar. I love red wine vinegar. I prefer red in my vinegars and white in my alcohol!

So from the pot to the bottle, here are my babies! Hmmm, wondering what recipes I will use these herb vinegars in.Later this week, I'll do some in olive oil and sunflower or grape seed oil. I haven't decided what concoctions I'll do.

Oh, yes, I do continue to bead. I'm not working on specific projects, more like mental doodling. I'm mostly doing practice work and trying to conceptualize new techniques. Where it takes me would be another adventure!

Blue Skies Shining on Me....

Things are finally back to normal. Skies and clear and blue and the snow, albeit huge piles of it, are starting to melt. The weatherman predicts snow tomorrow, I think, but let's not worry about that.

I started a new project which is a good sign for me. Just playing around with chinese crystals and itty bitty beads. I just realized the blue and smoky crystals reflect the past winterstorms and today's blue skies. How rich is that?!

Locked Into Pattern Mode

My style has always been freeform. I was always the type who never stuck to patterns, who never followed instructions to the letter, always improvising to my own specifications. When I started beading, I worked on designs from my head, never drawing designs like other artists, just picked up my tools and worked away and improvised my work as I progressed. I guess it was basically because I was too impatient. I just wanted a finished piece in my hand! Here's a sample of what a freeform bracelet would look like.Well, it seems I've developed some patience. And stepped outside of my comfort zone. Now I'm working on patterns and even worst (?) I lay out my designs first! I would either drawn or design first on a beading software program before I'd pick up bead, needle and thread. It began with the triangle patterns I developed into pendants and blogged about a few months ago. Now I'm finally executing the different patterns I designed for bracelets. Here I gotta say my inspirations came from my beadweaving peeps SandFibers and Time2Cre8, two gracious and highly talented designers.

The black and white bracelet in the photo below is a zebra inspired pattern. I rarely do anything that is animal print inspired - but like I said, I've stepped outside of my comfort zone. The bracelet next to it is a set of swirls. Yes, just swirls. Something that's a bit mezmerizing to look at don't you think? And finally, the bracelet of vibrant blues, purples and greens reminds me of waves or chevrons but in an irregular pattern (hint of freeform there, don't you think?).

All in a Day's Work!

I had a busy and rewarding day yesterday. I got to make 4 necklaces and 2 earrings. I had a bit of a slow start with a new design - did 3 false starts before I finally got the hang of it - then did a quick trip to the local bead store for some emergency supplies and back to beading again. This is a short post cause I need to get back to work! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Oh Happy Days!

Sun is out finally out, it's a three day weekend and I'm beading like mad again! I have a show to prepare for and trying to remember all the thousand details to get ready for one. Number one on checklist is make more jewelry! So as I prepare for the beading marathon, let me show you some lovelies that I already do have on hand.

The pendant shown on the left will definitely be hard to part with. I hope no one will want it!

We move on from the art deco look to modern and minimalist with these beaded triangle earrings on long kidney ear hooks! What fun!

Finally, I hope to run into purple-lovers who I'm hoping won't be able to resist this bracelet and earrings set!

I almost forgot! I'll be at the Handmade Mart on May 31st, Sunday in Downtown Silver Spring. See ya!

From the drawing board to reality

Beading is great therapy. It certainly helps me to de-stress from work. But life took a turn and the stress became personal as my husband was diagnosed with cancer. The energies got shifted to him and beads became trivial. But beading still helped to keep my sanity. What do you do when you don't have access to a computer, can't really bring your beading stuff with you and had hours of dead time in the hospital where you really couldn't concentrate but needed to occupy your mind? I turned to coloring triangles. Pages and pages of triangles, I had a box of my son's coloring pencils in my bag, a template of a triangle and I would ease my mind into a mindless mental state and just color those little blocks. Some people looked at me like I was crazy (I still am!). Half the time, the results would be nice, the other half just gibberish. Funny how the mind can go into hypermode and idle at the same time. Mind and No Mind, kind of a thing?Now we are in remission (yay!) and life getting back to somewhat normal - depending on your definition of normal. I took the drawings and started to render these triangle pendants. It's been satisfying to bring these colorings to life. You know what they say about finding some light in life's dark moments. I think about my state of mind then when my purpose was just to color each tiny block. And now the satisfaction I have in finally taking these drawings and creating something tangible, real. And, hopefully, give enjoyment to the person who decides they like the pendants enough to wear them.

Silver Triangle and Onyx Earrings

I tend to take the earrings I make for granted. Probably because I make earrings when I need a mental break. Well, I've done a lot of earrings in the past year (yeah! needed that many mental breaks!). They've all been in hiding in my box of earrings begging to be photoed and shown off to the world after staying in the dark for too long. So I'm going to start introducing them here and in my etsy store one by one. It's their coming out party!

BAO Welcomes Spring Sale!

I have exciting news! Bead Art Originals is celebrating Easter and welcoming spring with a SALE! Not just a sale, but you'll also have chances to win free giveaways! Starting Sunday, April 12, 15 BAO artists will be participating in this extravaganza. I'm in the process of adding more jewelry to my store, too!

The fun begins Sunday! Watch for it! I'll send you more details on Sunday ;)

Launch of Bead Art Originals!

It's always exciting when a group of artists from different disciplines decide to band together with the common goal of creating wonderful art. The latest group in the Etsy world is Bead Art Originals. Bead Art Originals consists of a select group of independent artisans, including creators of art beads and creators of beadwoven art. Our focus is on the business and artistic growth of our members. Visit their web site and blog to learn more about this talented group!