Last day to join!

Apologies for running a little behind, but I thought I'd try --
Today is the DEADLINE for signing up for the new year of the Bead Journal Project (also known as BJP)!

The Sixth year of Bead Journaling is about to commence!

I'm proud to say I have been a member since Robin Atkins began this internet bead community.  I was a true beginner beader back in 2007 when the first bead journal project was formed.  Now I am a true procrastinator beader (meaning I am running a year or more behind...) but I love love love seeing everyone's talented work in this amazing group, led by a true master of all things bead-y, Robin Atkins.  I will catch up one day -- or perhaps I will just jump in fresh this January...

If you're interested, click here to start the "I want to join too" process.  Remember the deadline to sign-up is today.

Or if you need more information about this group and some of our 'official guidelines', then please click here.

Click here for images of beadwork from the previous years.

BJP 2012

It's official -- I've signed up for another year of beading with Robin Atkins Beaded Journal Project, my 5th year (is that right?)!

Granted I have only completed the first year, 2007-2008 with my beaded pieces 4" x 6" in size.  Below is one which I named DNA gone wild!.  This piece is in a private collection...

DNA gone wild!

In the second year of BJP, I have so far only completed 8 of the 12 pieces.  Here is my February piece, reminiscent of a Madam from the Wild West ...

Queen of Hearts

I haven't started pieces for the third series, and am contemplating sizes to use for it as well themes -- and then to get started on the 4th series as well.  I am looking forward to working with my beads once again!

BJP 2008

My webpage is up in the 2008 BJP Member's Gallery featuring the first eight months of my face/profile BJP series.  It is great to see them all together & quite a motivation to finish the final four!

Take a peek by clicking here or browse the entire Bead Journal Website more slowly by clicking here, which is the entry way.

BJP 2007

Hurray!

Now announcing ... not only have I completed my first series of the Bead Journal Project but they all appear on my page of the BJP website.

Can you believe that it was just last June, well, June of 2007, when I began my first beaded design?  I selected the 4"x6" classic postcard to use for this series of Beaded pieces.   In three short years I have completed this self-challenge.  My oh my, how the time has flown by!

You can see all twelve pieces in the 2007 BJP Member's Gallery, or by clicking here.

Meanwhile, I have four more pieces to finish in my 2008 series of BJPs .....

Final BJP, first series

At long last, I have finished my 12th Bead Journal Project Piece from the initial BJP challenge.  This challenge started long ago, in a galaxy not so far away ... and I'm tickled to announce that I've finally finished my first series of BJPs!!!

Here is my final BJP, following "April Showers", we have "May Flowers" ...

Being from Texas, my favorite wild flowers are bluebonnets.  The ones feature here are made with hot-glue-gun-squiggles, painted with Lumiere blues and held in place with additional beading.  One reason this BJP is so late in being completed is that I made then misplaced the glue-gun-squiggles for a few months.  I stitched this piece together quickly once I relocated the squiggles, so I could close the book on my first year of the Bead Journal Project.

I am thrilled I have completed my 12 pieces for this year-long commitment, even if took me much longer than the original 12 consecutive months. Now to finish with my second series .... we won't even talk about my third series just yet ... but I plan to get there .... eventually!

April Fool Harvey

The beginnings of my silly April Fool's BJP.  Can you tell it is totally inspired by the goofy nose that fell off the "Groucho Marx costume glasses".

I was quite puzzled over what to do with this guy's mouth and eventually decided to add a moustache over a couple of big white buck teeth. Can't forget the bowtie, although I'm wishing it was lime green now!

Now he reminds me of Harvey, the invisible six-foot tall rabbit that only Jimmy Stewart could see in an old classic film.  Now wasn't that rabbit named Harvey?  Better still, what is the name of that old movie ...

My simple BJP for April 2009 is named April Fool Harvey and he makes me smile ... all the time!  too goofy!

For more information on the Bead Journal Project, click here.  Be sure to have time to browse as there is lots of eye-candy!

April Showers

Recently, I realized that I never completed the first year of the Bead Journal Project .... oh my oh my oh my, how is that possible?......once my surprise dissipated, I worked to complete the idea started back in 2007.  Here is my eleventh BJP:

 

April Showers

To see the previous ten pieces, click here.   Each piece of this series is 4" x 6" postcard size, landscape orientation.

Slugger

My March 2009 Bead Journal Project piece honors the start of Little League (at least for my family).   Our team in the 2009 season was the Red Wings.  In March, my son hit an "Over-the-Fence" homerun!!! It was amazing to watch it soar over the infield and then the outfield from the score box where I was tracking hits, runs and outs for our team.

 

This is the beginning of my BJP showing the profile which was reverse-appliqued.   An actual baseball cap has been cut-down to fit my journal page.  The hair is either handles off a shopping-bag/gift-sack or possibly a shoe lace.... creative "up-cycling", or rather "re-cycling" of materials readily found in my home.

"Slugger" names this BJP.  The Astros logo is from the baseball cap used in this piece.  I worked with the eye a bit too ... but "Slugger" was still needing something more. So I day-dreamed and played around with some ideas, including adding dimensional buttons in the shape of a baseball, baseball glove and baseball bat.  (note: They were edited off even before getting firmly stitched into place) ... more pondering ....

 

"Slugger"

The final version shows "Slugger" holding a baseball bat on his shoulder, the number 18 stitched on his jersey back, and a few more beads stitched on here and there for further embellishment.  

For my previous 2008-09 Bead Journal Project pieces click here and here and here.

For more information on the Bead Journal Project, check out our website at http://www.beadjournalproject.com/ 

Be sure to look at the journal pages from the first two series of this BJP program.  Click here for the first group which first ran from June 2007 to May 2008, then here for the second BJP group that ran from September 2008 to August 2009.  The third year of BJP began this January.  There is wonderful bead eye candy among both member galleries.

Thank you Robin Atkins for starting the Bead Journal Project and enchanting me with your beautiful beadwork!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Queen of Hearts

Presenting the reigning monarch of February:

"Queen of Hearts"

My initial inspiration for this piece is the charm bracelet of hearts now featured as her crown.  I can remember buying this charm bracelet years ago while attending an Arts-n-Crafts fair in the Valley.  She looks a tad tired, doesn't she? Is she old? weary?  thinking of the many broken hearts she's witnessed during her reign?  What stories can she tell?

This completes my sixth Bead Journal Project for my 2008-2009 series.  Click here to see my first two BJPs of this series, September and October.  Then click here to see my November, December and January pieces.
I am slowly catching up ... I think I can I think I can I think I can.

More BJP 2008-09

I'm steadily working on an old deadline -- hmmm, can I count this effort as "finishing a UFO", or is that cheating since I am beginning the pieces one-by-one as I complete the month(s) before? ....whatever....  :^)

Here are three more of my Bead Journal Project pieces for the second go-round of BJP which ran from September 2008 through August 2009:

 

"Be Happy"

My 3rd in this profile series, this is November which is my birthday month, hence a good time to wish happiness on all.

December's beginnings -- the usual month of Chanukah (although the holiday falls in November some years).

This egg-head can almost be Humpty Dumpty, but look what happens if I add few curly locks and a kippah ...

 

"Chanukah Harry"

There was debate in the family over the spelling:  should it be Harry or Charry?  ;^)  A rather poor Chanukah/Hannukah joke; all in good fun.  On a more serious note, where I can attach an actual dreidel?  Any ideas?

In honor of the new calendar year and the extreme cold Winter we've had this year, here is my January BJP.

"Frosty"

Frosty's scarf is hand-knit by this artist.  There are layers of snowflakes and snowmen.  The debate with Frosty was whether he needed his warbely coal smile or not.  What do you think?

I am making good headway on catching up with (err, completing) this project.  Plus, ideas are percolating for the newest season of BJP, which runs the calendar year of 2010.  Is it possible for me to start January's block during the month of January (gosh imagine that!)  Will I be able to keep current with this third year of Robin Atkin's beaded fun?  Click here for the BJP webpage featuring the photo galleries of the previous two years.  There is some amazing talent among these bead artists!  Lots of eye candy....

Click here to see my first two pieces in this series.  I'd love to chat some more, but my beads seem to be calling me .... off to thread a needle and stitch a few more onto my next BJP ....

Catching up

The third year of the Bead Journal Project (BJP) begins this month and I have signed on again.  There is only one small difficulty..... that I have yet to finish my twelve BJPs for the second year (Sept 2008 - Aug 2009).   Yes, I realize that I frequently run behind .... but this is the year that I am catching up!

After many ideas/sizes/themes thought of and then discarded, my second series of BJPs will feature faces, specifically profiles.  The beading will be enhancements to the image.  Here is the first ...

"Wired"

The beads are tiny coils of wire that I found at Z Bead in Houston.  I have wanted to use them for ages, and at last they debut here.  The piece measures 6" x 8" approximately.  As I plan to stitch all the BJP pieces together, I have left the edges unfinished.

The second one began with this drawing stitched onto an osnaburg remnant.

Do you see the blue thread?  This was in the bobbin and actually shows up better than the needle thread, so this profile has just been flipped (yes, flexibility is a good thing while creating ... guess my profiles will face either left or right ...)

While dreaming of what to do next, I spied the arrow heads given me by a dear friend Louise T .... voila

Do arrows make for a good headpiece or hair?

hmmmm.... needs editing and tweeking and what ? .....

This October profile needs a more striking face.  This brown is the right shade to accent the chosen arrowheads.  Auditioning other beads to possibly use ...

 

"Stone Age"

Enhancements stitched on include: beads for additional hair, a necklace to adorn the long neck, a button for an eye, a little embroidery... She measures approximately 7" x 9"  which is larger than the first piece.

Now to prep the third one .... I may be running more than a year late with these pieces, but I have decided to start one at a time and finish it (or 75% finished) before proceeding to the next one.  I am also challenging myself to get 8 finished this month, and the last 4 soon after that ..... so I can begin my third BJP series before I fall too far behind!

Two more BJPs completed

Yippee, I've finished two more of my 12 Bead Journal Project pieces for the 2007 year. May I present to you: February's "Hearts all over"


"Hearts all over" has a background of several red cotton fabrics crazily pieced together. Then ribbon velvet hearts and heart-cutouts were stitched on top along with a curvy slice of fabric backed by felt. I used plain craft felt as my stabilizer this time (instead of Peltex/Timtex which I've used for most of my BJPs). Red beads in all sorts of shapes and sizes were added next. To finish the piece, I zigzagged it onto a second piece of deep red felt for the back.

To view all my BJPs to date, click here. Or to start at the home page of the Bead Journal Project's website, click here.

Here is my tenth BJP, March's "In Honor of NASA"

This BJP started as a simple postcard years ago, with just the shiny spaceship (recognize the shuttle?) flying through space, spewing the gas flames behind it -- no beads or embroidery anywhere. I happened across it this summer, took off the cardstock back and proceeded to add first a little quilty stitching to the shuttle and then the beads -- two star shapes, tube beads in the jet gases, and seed beads to spell NASA, the common name for our USA space program. NASA's full name is "the National Aeronautics and Space Administration" - originally established on July 29, 1958.
Happy 50th Birthday, NASA!

Where were you when the first man walked on the moon? Or, for the younger ones, where were you when the Space Challenger exploded? Can you believe we send astronauts to live in space for months at a time now? Or that an Astronaut lives in my neighborhood and is the Cubmaster of my son's Scout Pack? I can only wonder what the next 50 years will bring, for both space exploration and cyber-space adventures?

The Queen of E & Under the Sea

The Queen of E, as in "the Queen of Everything," is my 8th of 12 Bead Journal Projects (BJP). As a faithful Behinder slowly catching up in this yearlong commitment that ended last month, I'm plugging away steadily ... just think ... I only have 4 more to go ...


I finished this piece faster than all the others that I've worked so far, and it has the most beads on it, too. How is that possible? Perhaps because I merely embellished someone else's artwork. Thank you, Mary Engelbreit! This BJP is made from my last piece of Mary Engelbreit "Queen" fabrics which I had been saving for eons. Such a perfect way to use it. Don't you agree that all Queenly adornments should be sparkly with jewels and beading?

I am also behind (hmm, a familiar tendency of mine) in an ongoing Arch Swap with my friends in Carol Taylor's Textile Challenges Yahoo group. This is "Lyn's Under the Sea" April arch -- soon on its way to a new home in Florida.

This arch has a lovely batik blue for the water; a corduroy/upholstery beach; silk and rayon fiber seaweeds and grasses; beaded fish, bubbles, shells; two brass charms; and my favorite: two odd looking sea creatures (squid? jelly fish?) made from a curious artificial flower petal. The sparkle is from the shimmery tulle overlaid on top to keep the sea grasses under control.


"Under the Sea" is my 9th Bead Journal Project, hurray! It is made of the same ingredients listed above in Lyn's arch and was quite fun to put together.

Now I have only 3 more BJPs to finish up for the 2007 BJP year! It looks as if I really might finish all my 2007 pieces before the 2008 BJP begins in September. Hosted by Robin Atkins, this will be another fun adventure with lots of new friends on the horizon just waiting to meet and share their stories! Click here for more information on how to register.

Mermaids

Did you know that even a mermaid will enjoy an afternoon of quiet solitude away from the hustle and bustle of abundant sea life?This is "Solitary Mermaid," my March arch for my Textile Challenge group's Arch Swap.

My friendly mermaid (see, she's waving "hello!") is made from buttons, beads, hot glue (that has cooled in the shade of the palm tree), candy wrappers, voile, knit fabric and wild fiber hair. The palm tree has a corduroy trunk and embroidered rayon leaves. The beach is an upholstery sample, with a batik ocean and calm cotton skies above.

Why make one mermaid when you have material for two? Please meet "Mermaid with Friends."
She is made from the same ingredients as "Solitary Mermaid" above, with the addition of two friends, seahorse charms tethered with a golden cord. Notice how they are swimming in the ocean -- a bit of shimmery voile adds this dimension.

"Mermaid with Friends" is my 7th Bead Journal piece, a 4"x6" postcard, for the 2007 Bead Journal Project (BJP) which ended in May. I'm a faithful "Behinder" who is working hard to complete her promise of 12 BJPs for the year before the new 2008 Bead Journal Project begins this September. If you're interested in a year-long adventure of beading, sharing, and fun: click here for information and registration details.

Cooler Days Ahead

"Cooler Days Ahead" is my 6th Bead Journal Project piece for 2007. In Houston during the month of November we are still longing for the cooler days of Autumn that other USA locations already enjoy.

The base fabric for this piece is one I made with a gelatin mono-printing technique using ivy leaves to create the imprinted design. I toyed with several ideas of how to bead the leaves, but un-beaded these early attempts. The leaf beads inside the leaf images are loose, attached only at the stem. I like how they flop around, so I added a beaded fringe to add more movement.

Esmerelda & Gricelda

I am enjoying the arch swap with my Textile Challenges group very much, even though I am consistently one month late!


For the month of February, I have created an arch for Carol R. Inspiration for her arch comes from her theme ideas of fairies & nature. I decided to create a nighttime fairy flying over a garden of dreams. No larger than a butterfly, she's a wise more-that-mature fairy, as evidenced by her graying locks of wild, independent hair! She scatters seeds of inspiration and creativity wherever she flits and flies. This friendly fairy has been christened Esmerelda and her twin sister, Gricelda, appears on my coordinating BJP. Their names make me smile as they remind me of twin seventh grade girls whom I taught eons ago in Los Fresnos, Texas.

Both Esmerelda and Gricelda wear garments of satin, tulle and glittery sequins. Their wings are from butterflies and their hands hold their magic seeds hidden from view as even fairies are allowed secret, deep pockets for their treasures! They fly across moonlit gardens of blooming lapines scattering their beaded seeds everywhere. The moon and stars (former candy wrappers) provide the glimmering light in the deep velvety dark night.
Now that I have officially introduced Esmerelda, she will finally fly to her new home in Carol R's garden of blossoming wonders, her studio. Gricelda will remain here in Texas to inspire and motivate me as I continue my work on my March arch (it really is started Alis, promise!) and my April arch (for Lyn -- still but a glimmer) and coordinating BJPs.

FYI: Gricelda is my 5th BJP!

Textile Challenges

I am in a Yahoo group called Textile Challenges, run by the amazing Carol Tina Taylor. She comes up with creative ideas, challenging us to try them and share our results. Carol readily accepts ideas from everyone, arranges swaps for select challenges, encourages each of us, and keeps up with this busy pace -- all will teaching full-time and raising a lovely little girl! Carol, you simply amaze me! I want to be like you when I grow up (even if I'm a smidgeon older!) Oh, did I mention, she writes her own blog too.

Anyway, while this post is for you, Carol, and for our amazing group of fiber artists at Textile Challenges, it is also to show my January Arch. Our arch swap is running for the year of 2008. The 13 participants make one arch each month for a designated receiver. At the sign-up for this challenge, we listed preferences for design and color (including a "please not this color" too!). Then Carol set up the master swap list of who is doing whose arch for each month -- a clear and easy to read chart, even if I keep misreading it! (I have my July arch nearly complete when I thought I was working on March! my oops -- yes, this means that I am behind).

My first arch, January, was for our leader herself -- the amazing Carol T!!! My inspiration was to re-create a Gothic window using rich burgundy velveteen (which I learned is not so easy to use for reverse applique!) as the stone framework. The window panes are made of a gold-enhanced batik-like cotton print, framed with a loosely woven golden fabric. The peak of the arch is capped by another gilded print. Beads add a touch of glitter, drama and dimensional detail.

Naturally I am also in another yearlong group, the 2007 Bead Journal Project (BJP) created by Robin Atkins. Members signed up in May 2007 and agreed to make one beaded piece per month, for one full year beginning June 2007. The primary stipulation was to use the same size/shape for each of the journal pieces. I chose the standard 4"x 6" postcard size and to use beads as enhancements -- perhaps eventually working up to a more totally encrusted beaded postcard. I am relatively new to beading, excited to try this challenge and immediately was intimidated by the skills of my fellow BJP participants (including my own friends Linda Teddlie Minton, Nancy Dickey & Sara Sissenwein!). It was no surprise to me when I fell woefully behind. Is it no wonder that I hit a creative block while working on my second piece (finally resolved it in December - whew).

Now today is a new day & I am eagerly working to catch up with my behinder-BJPs ... In fact, I decided to combine my two yearlong projects by making a coordinating BJP for each of my Arches. Naturally I thought of this after I had mailed"Gothic Window" to Carol! Nevertheless, I pulled out my materials and created this piece which I call "Doodling with Beads, Velveteen and Reverse Applique." This is my 4th BJP ... or in other words: "four down, eight more to go." Onward!

I am so confident that I will complete my 2007 BJPs that I've signed up for the 2008 Beaded Journal Project. If you are interested in either the 2007 or 2008 BJP groups, please look at the BJP website. Registration has begun for 2008 (deadline for sign-ups is August 15) with the new year of BJP to begin in September. This is such perfect timing as it allows the entire summer either to rest or to frantically finish my behinders!

DNA gone wild!

I am slowing making progress with my Beaded Journal Project pieces for the first annual Beaded Journal Project.

This is "DNA gone wild!"


It is my third completed BJP piece, thus it must be August. As you can probably surmise, I've chosen the postcard size of 4" x 6" for all of my pieces this year.

This BJP piece uses an early attempt at making a beaded bracelet, an effort that I abandoned once I realized I could achieve my bracelet vision easiest by starting anew with different beads on the baseline strand. Since I couldn't toss this out, I thought, hmmm, perhaps I'll use it for a BJP piece ....and lo, all these months later, I finally did!

Early on I knew that I would use the beading in my BJPs as enhancements and embellishments to other designs. I readily claim to be just-a-beginner in the beading world and am truly not confident to try a heavily beaded design ... yet!

Questions: Am I "cheating" by creating a piece from a "foiled attempt" for another beaded project?
Or am I being creative by using the "not-ever-gonna-be-a-bracelet" and giving it a purpose in life as my third BJP?

Key #1

Sometime ago my Beyond the Borders group tossed around ideas for a new group challenge. One of my favorites was to use a common theme such as "Key". I like it since it presents many possibilities: house keys, car keys, a piano key, the answer key ... but the idea I had was to use an old key (formerly a lost key -- or is it the lock that is lost?).

I had experimented with gelatin mono-printing and joined Robin Atkin's Beaded Journal Project about that same time, so I used all three variables and created this:
I began this piece in July of 2007 using one of my mono-prints as its base. I captured the key onto the fabric using only beading-stitches (similar to stitching on a cabochon), then added more beading beyond that. Next came the two laser-cut hearts and I hit a bit of a stall and couldn't quite figure out how to finish the piece. Then in December of 2007, my BTB group held a fiber swap (in lieu of a gift exchange) and one of the pieces I received that day became the perfect final touch with its swirling tangle of a funky fiber. Thank you Mary Ann Littlejohn - it's one of your fibers!

This piece honors the 20th wedding anniversary that I celebrated with my dear husband Ronnie last July 26, 2007 (now you know the secret of the "26"). I have named it "Key to My Heart."

Note: it represents the 2nd of my Beaded Journal pieces, the one for the month of July, of course. I'm currently rather behind with my BJP pieces - but have finished a few, have several others in progress and am slowly, steadily catching up.