Celebrating the Beads

Happy New Year to you all.  I would like to tell you about a new journey I have embarked upon.  At the end of 2013, I was having a discussion with my dear friend Nancy Dale about my beadwork, feeling like I was walking in the mud.  You see... I have always given my beaded pieces a name first, and then they built themselves around the name.  However, the names were not coming anymore and I felt like I was just making something just because I "should ".  Nancy began telling me about a new group she had just joined called Bead Journal Project.  A group of beaders that commit to making one piece a month for a year.  Generally these pieces are reflections of events in you daily life, emotions, or just what comes off the top of your little noggin!  OK...I can do this!!  So I started off with a bang...I came up with a theme and was all excited and then began wading in the mud, AGAIN!  OK....lets think about this and start over!  Talk to me BEADS!!!   New Year's Eve 2014...bottle of champagne exploding...with Shibori ribbon...and bubbles...oh pearl bubbles... and fireworks of excitement...and fun...and play..and dream.  

 After spending so much time building a Web site, managing a shop, worrying about promoting myself, entering in competitions,  I forgot to play and listen to the beads!  So this year I am hoping to experience growth in my beadwork by playing in the bead sandbox!!  I have already seen my mistakes in this month's challenge and know which direction to head next month.  I'm thinking something that will JUMP off the page at you!!!  So come follow me.... I dare you! ;)

Dance, sing, and play my friends,

                                   Julie

Love Beads

What do you think of when you think of Love Beads?  The funky beads of the late 60's or early 70'....peace beads, daisy flowers?  Well let me explain to you what I call Love Beads.  About two years ago in Dallas, Texas, I was visiting a Assisted Living home.  As I was walking down the hallway there were a bunch of beautiful ladies sitting at a table rolling balls of polymer clay.  I walked in the room, sat down and ask what they were making. They proudly answered, "beads."  I watched as they laughed and giggled while rolling there beads.  I then excused myself and went upstairs to my fathers room.  You see one of these lovely ladies was my mother.  Once a very talented professional artist, she has a disease called Vascular Dementia.  Not quite like Alzheimer's but it does rob the person of all short term memory.  My next visit to Dallas was not so pleasant...you see I was there to clean out my mother's room because she was being moved to the Memory Care Unit where she would have to be behind a locked door as this disease was claiming more of her beautiful mind.  While cleaning out her room I came across the beads that she and her friends had been rolling out while laughing and telling stories.  I put them in my pocket and brought them back home.

 These beads hung around on my desk for several months while I was trying to figure out a way to use them.  One day while looking at  pictures of a fellow beaders, I thought how lovely it would be to incorporate these very childlike beads in a beautiful necklace.  Well the colors were odd  and the shapes were very irregular.  So I turned to a very dear friend and ask if she could do something with these beads.  My very dear friend Nancy Dale has made the most GORGEOUS necklace imaginable. She carefully and lovingly picked out the beads that would go together and encased them in little loving beaded hands that hold them in place. The are just no words that can match the beauty of this necklace. These my friends are Love Beads to me.  Beads that will hold memories for a lifetime.  Thank you Nancy Dale<3

Please leave comments...I love to hear from you!

Eclectic or as I would like to say E "collect" ic

Any one that knows me or has been to my house knows that I have somewhat of an eclectic style.  I do not care about fashion designers or brand names.  Most things in my house carry fond memories or have a since of comfort.  Yes, I do have a child's Windsor chair on my bath surround and a table leg as a candle stick.  I am also not a throw away person...I would like to say" re-purpose" whenever possible!

So in saying that, my latest piece was fun...kind of like scavenger hunt.  I have been wanting to create a piece with a Steampunk theme.  I began the hunt, tearing apart old watches, digging through drawers, tearing apart old jewelry, and yes, made a few purchases. I threw all the pieces out on my working table and began. I never like a piece when  the first anchor cabs go down....but when I start filling in, the piece becomes to life and by the time I am down to the last few pieces I get really excited and get the shakes.  This piece I am particularly excited about because it is so me! Here is my eclectic, Steampunk piece...or as I would like to say....

E "collect" ic

The Asian Crane Visits Historical Springboro

Hello,

Let me start by telling you a bit about myself.  I am a native Texan, born and raised in Dallas.  I moved to the mid-west 15 years ago because of my husbands job transfer.  I love the four seasons of the mid-west but I do miss my barbeque and Tex-Mex!!  I am a self  taught beader and I have been beading seriously now for about 2 years.

I have always dabbled in arts and crafts; be it wood working, folk art painting, sewing,  quilting, or crocheting. When I started playing with the beads....well what girl could turn away from all that sparkle.  I have to say Bead Embroidery is my favorite because it ties in with my love of sewing. 

I received the Asian Crane from my dear and talented friend, Nancy Dale, of NEDbeads. This bracelet travels the world, picking up amazing stories from fellow beaders along the way and  I was so excited, and a little nervous, to be chosen as a host.  The company this bracelet has been keeping is amazing, I feel honored to be among such talented people!  The bracelet is gorgeous and fit perfectly! 

~  To follow the traveling bracelets and their amazing stories you can check out the blog http://travelingbracelets.blogspot.com ~

My daughter and I took the bracelet on a little field trip to downtown Historical Springboro, lunch and some shopping.  Springboro is a small town between Dayton and Cincinnati.  It was once part of the Underground Railroad.

Later in the week I took the Crane to my beading group.  I meet with a small number of women on Tuesday evenings and we bead and chat throughout the evening.  I shared the story of the bracelet and it's adventures and they obliged to pose (hands only) with the Crane.

My time has come with the Crane but it is off to Salisbury England to spend time with the lovely Rebecca Dean of Beads By Becs.  I have no doubt the Crane is going to have fun with Rebecca and her fiance! One thing that I can say is that the Asian Crane has brought to me its courage.  I have never had the courage to blog about my work or thoughts.  This has in a way forced me to step out of my comfort zone and I am hoping it brings new friendships and for heavens sake MORE BEADNESS!!


So until next time....dance, love, sing, and live my friends!

                                                                                      Julie