Moment of Zen

Who would have thought curtains gently billowing in the wind could provide a moment of zen. 

Yesterday morning, I was sitting on my computer table typing away, my apartment was filled with the glow of the morning sun. I had opened the balcony sliding door to let the fresh morning breeze in. A family of larks has taken residence in a nest right above my balcony and they were chirping away. We've been experiencing strong gusty winds these past two days but this morning things have calmed down and only a gentle breeze was playing with the curtains which I had just installed last Friday.

I stopped typing, sat back and watched the breeze play with the curtains, took in the sunshine, listened to the birds chirp away. It was a good Saturday morning.

This mosaic is my project for the month of January 2021. Also inspired by a moment of zen. I feel peaceful when I look at it.

Beadweaving Calistenics

While I'm mostly a peyote stitch gal, it's nice to get into gear with other bead stitches. There's a whole encyclopedia of bead stitches, techniques, what have you, that one could spend a lifetime just exploring and learning them. Project #5 for my 2013 beading journey is this black herringbone necklace with onyx stones woven in at regular intervals.

The other stitch I exercised with is right angle weave (RAW). It's been years since I've done anything in RAW.  So I turned to RAW guru Shelley Pleines who does gorgeous pieces using metal beads. Her Baby, You're So Square bracelet pattern gave me the inspiration to create this cuff last December, as a gift for a friend of mine who celebrated her son's Barmitzvah. I had given her the bracelet but had forgotten to take some photos and she loaned me the bracelet so I could take this shot.

Hope you bead lovers out there are beading to your heart's content!