More necklaces

I wore my new necklace Cranberry Thirst to Pink Flamingo today.  I decided to use a RAW piece to keep the last two cabs from flipping.  I would still like to do more to it, but after the reception it got at the bead store today, I think I'm just going to keep it the way it is.  I DO need to find my thread zapper which is buried under a pile of fabric/beads/fibers on my work table.  I really need to take some time to clean that place up.  Pink Flamingo is one of our latest bead stores in Columbus Ohio that is closing.  Donna from Pink Flamingo after 14 years is closing her doors in the Powell area.  The first time I went there was with the group Ohio Beaders.  The store is in an old two story house with each room showcasing different beading techniques.  The front room had a class room.  I never bought much from the store as it is a little out of my way and the traffic in Powell is really tight and busy.  But today I went in as they were having a 35% off sale.  I bought a great purse which will eventually be encrusted along with some empty tubes, displays, pearls and of course...seed beads!  Donna told me that there were several people interested in buying the store. 

And yes! I'm still in a manic beading frenzy.  I still have so many ideas wanting to get out.  I have taken a position on the board of Beading for a Cure: Layne's Legacy.  This next year I want to get the word out to as many people as I possibly can as our cause is near to so many hearts.  So many people have been touched by colon cancer through a family member, a friend, a coworker, or personally.  Though a small group, we have managed to send in thousands of dollars for colo-rectal cancer research in the name of our friend who we all met many years ago on All About Beads a Delphi Forum chat group.  I already did the one piece with the raku owl made by Duane Collins, but we had people drop out so I along with several others are working on making a second piece that will be auctioned off next year.  For my second piece, I wanted to do something more feminine so I chose to take the pink out of the color palette.  Next week before I mail this off, I'll take better pictures and share with you my pictures of how it was designed and constructed but for now a quick picture of it on "Louise".

Winner's Circle....still needs a little more work as the chain is too weak

I've met so many wonderful people on Facebook. First and foremost are the bead artist out there who are constantly challenging each other.  My current challenge partner is Rose Thorn.  We were partnered together by Lori Anderson to do the Pantone Fall color bead swap.  Now this is just  a swap and we are not obligated to make anything with what we sent to each other, but my o my...aren't these lovely.  Rose really went out of her way to spoil me.  The lamp works are going to give this seed beader a run for her money in designing.

And just a little personal thing for you who wonder a little about the me behind the beads.  I work in a laboratory that is currently being reconfigured into a regional Medical Center in the Northern quadrant of Columbus.  We are getting a big robotic arm that will run our chemistry department from receiving the specimens in the computer to putting the tubes away in the refrigerator.  Hopefully it will all work.  For now we are extremely cramped and working in very tight quarters.  This is my chair in Chemistry and yes!  I have to squeeze through to get to the instruments in the back.  I know it will all get better but meanwhile, I'm getting use to the bruises. 

Meet Tibbs

Last week was the deadline to send in our challenge piece for the annual Beading for a Cure. This is the fifth year that I've participated, and the colors for 2012 were a real challenge for me. I think a month before we actually got the purchased kit from Betcey at Beyond Beadery, I was hoping and hoping "no blue, no blue, no blue"! Well alas, it was blue with browns mixed in. I sat for days starring at the colors first off trying to figure out what would be my added beaded per the rules that would make all that blue less cringe factor to me. Up until this kit, I really haven't worked with blues that much. Oh, I've had to make kits up for classes I taught at Byzantium with blues as most students either like blues, purples, or greens while my color choice runs to either earthy tones or bright bright colors of Fall. So there was this blue starring up at me. I got out a color wheel as I'm trying to expand my color choices and nothing struck me. So I did what I always do when I'm stuck, I just go and look at everything I have getting immersed in the sparkle factor. I pulled out my sequins at the marigold was put in a pile of maybes. Then I opened a bin of vintage German glass cabochons that I bought...well, I don't remember where I got them, but one with a amber orange hue caught my attention. I played with it among the blues and browns and thought it might be the one color I hadn't thought of. So I pulled out a bin of Delicas and there in a plastic tube was this squash colored orange that not only matched the glass cab but seemed to make the browns want to dance. So there...my colors were picked.


Now to figure out what to do with my colors. I toyed with making jewelry, but at that point I just couldn't decide if it was to be a big necklace, a cuff bracelet, or something else. I think I was just really burnt out on making a doll from 2011 BFAC challenge where I made a doll over 24 inches tall totally encrusted. I believe I was also a little disappointed that for such a large doll covered with pearls and crystals the final auction bid was less than $200. Could it be that it was too big of a piece, or my needle sculpted face wasn't pretty or cute? I find that most people are drawn to a beautifully painted or sculpted face. And since this is a challenge besides an auction to raise money for colo-rectal cancer research, I found to make a pretty or cute type of face would be perfect for me. I've been toying with smaller faces that had more delicate or even child like features. The last two collaborations with Chris with our "Space man" and "Bot vs. Boy" used my new pattern and more defined needle sculpting for a "sweet" face. I thought I'd use that pattern and make it more into a doll that could be held in with out spread arms. I also wanted to work more on needle sculpting fingers and palms in a smaller scale, so that too was another challenge for me. My third personal challenge for the 2012 BFAC was to go back to another needle weaving technique besides netting to cover the limbs of the doll. I decided to go totally peyote! I had done a couple smaller dolls about 4 years ago experimenting with using free form dimensional peyote to cover a rounded doll form. I got out my old instructions I'd written for an article that never got published and sat studying them to get an idea on where to start. Well, to start is to just START! I began by using a peyote stitch to encase the German Glass Cab (learned this from Beki Haley at the Tahoe Bead Retreat and from a couple kits I purchase from her). Then I just began sewing down beads in a random pattern and let the flat peyote take over my needle. Next thing I knew the whole body was covered with a rag tagged free form patchwork of colors.





I made three heads for this doll picking out the one that had the sweetest expression. Then my favorite part...beaded hair. This time I used a netting technique combined with stacked stitch to create a head of luscious hair. I actually did run out of the one blue color from the kit and was lucky to have Betcey send me out another tube. Now one thing, I'd never used before were the magatomas. I had no idea what to do with them, so I sewed them down in a random pattern to give more dimension to the work. Now, after taking classes with Carol Wilcox Wells in Milwaukee this past June I realize how much more those magatoma can be used to create interesting embellishment as I'll reveal in the next two weeks (I've been having a blast experimenting with them along with my new love-Right Angle Weave ).


The doll was done, and as I looked into those wee eyes I found a name being whispered in the back of my head..Tibbs. And HE said HE was definitely a HE. So this is TIBBS. He should be in Kate's hands this week. He does fit into the hand. He's 14 inches long, 6 inches wide with a 2 inch depth. He's heavy, but still feels nice when lifted up and adored. Oh yes, he definitely wants to be adored. I hope he does well in next year's auction. Hopefully, but incorporating a more pleasing face to my doll someone will open a deeper pocket next year and want to have Tibbs come live with them while helping out our charity.

Beading for a Cure 2011

This is the message I got yesterday from Beki. I'm still pretty much in shock that Mother's Love won Best Use of Kit: Non Wearable. I still remember working on her with all those delicious purples and bronze. I even took the head with me to finish all that beaded hair when I was in Seattle & then at Ocean Shores. Why am I shocked. Well, there are so many lovely pieces entered this year that it literally takes your breath away. Everything is auctioned on on eBay starting next week and all money goes to Layne's Legacy. So go over and do a little drooling at all the lovely entries, and start saving your money to help beat Colon Cancer and pick up some lovelies at the same time.

Beading for a Cure Auctions

Beki's message:

	Here are your winners for the 2011 Layne's Legacy - Beading For A Cure competition! 1st Place - Tracy Vincent 2nd Place - Grace Danel 3rd Place - Nikia Angel Best Use of Kit - Marilyn Peters Best Non-Wearable - Dot Lewallen I can easily speak for all the judges when I say it was very, very difficult for us to choose winners. All of the beadwork was just amazing! Here is a little note from one of our guest judges, Diane Fitzgerald: "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to judge this contest. One can see that each entrant put her heart and soul into making a beautiful piece and it was not easy to select my nominations. Even though not everyone could be awarded a prize, I hope that each person understands that they are a winner by contributing to this contest and I wish them all the best." Please join me in congratulating all of the winners!!

Look what I found surfing...

Click to see Gertrude

I was on Facebook just looking different people's comments about Lost and other things going on in this world when I saw a Friend Request come up. I always click to see who the person is as sometimes folks want to "friend" you just to send you tons of spam about their products or to brag that they have a million friends...oh, like who doesn't? LOL. So I click on this person's Facebook profile & it says she is on Play. So I click on that & find the page (link above) with a link about Gertrude's New Hat and Beading for a Cure. I was amazed and thankful too that more people will see the charity that has such a big place in my heart. Thank you so much for blogging about my hippo girl.

I'm busy beading my new doll for 2011. No new pictures yet as I've had one busy weekend. Friday I spent all day getting things together to teach a mixed media robot class to the Guilded Lilies. Thank goodness Chris helped me even though he was suffering from bronchitis. Then all day for the business meeting & class. Evening until I went to work (yes, I worked Saturday night) was compiling information into an Excel database so Chris could print out the spread sheet for the FABRICations show at High Road Gallery and print out individual name tags for each of the 192 entries. Sunday was my niece, Shannon, graduation from Capital Law School. Beautiful ceremony at the historic Ohio Theater and then a reception in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. Back home Sunday to print & organize everything. Then installation from 1-3 of FABRICations at the High Road Gallery here in Worthington Ohio. We were actually all finished by 3pm! I had help from Gigi, Rebecca, Susan, and Linda. Then I took Linda home with a little stop at Byzantium to put postcards out for out show. Oh, did I say I also watched LOST finale on Sunday night. Not sure about how I feel about that show. I've watched it since the first pilot & have loved it all. Now I've got to try to cope with no more LOST and the ending that I felt was too cliche. Oh well. Can we all be happy all the time.

This week is going to be just as crazy. Tomorrow our hospital lab is actually physically moving from the main hospital to a Medical Office Building. I have no idea what this is going to entail. I do know I have to stay over in the morning to give a hand. Plus I'm working 6 days in a row until next Monday. My niece Amanda is leaving Sunday morning to start Pharmacy School out in Phoenix & I'll miss her so much. Then next Tuesday I'll be heading to Lexington for the Tambour Beading class at the Univ of Ky. So lots going on...naturally with lots of beading to do also. Thank goodness I talked to Shawn from Whimbeads and got more seed beads to finish the doll for next year.

And I PROMISE to get a picture of Mother's Love soon.

Scottie purse...almost.....

DONE! I finished the beaded overlay this morning. I would have gotten it done yesterday, but I had a Guild meeting to go to in the morning and was afraid that if I took a nap before going, I'd never be able to wake up. So all in all, I was awake Friday from 2pm to Saturday 1pm...23 hours. OMG, I haven't done this since I was in college! I survived, but the dogs would not let me sleep when I got home yesterday as Chris was out of town at an auction in Medina. I did manage 3 hours with two dogs laying on top of me before finally I got up to let them out, and then I couldn't go back to sleep but my eyes were too itchy with allergies to bead more. So I watched old episodes of 6 Feet Under. When Chris got home (early for him) we watched a movie from NetFlix. I swear, but it I wasn't so brain tired, I would have clicked off the television. We were watching 2012. Idiotic movie that tried to be too many things all at once and not succeeding at any. Oh well...slept all night with my Arwen and as you can see my BFAC went well. Gertrude's New Hat got a winning bid of $325 dollars! I would love to know who bought her. Funny, but last year I was on the teeter totter about sending her off to be auctioned. I'm glad I did.



So here is the picture of the Scottie overlay for the vintage woolen purse. All I need to do is to glue in on and then sew it down and do a pretty edging. Now, this is not a tiny purse. It is a woolen clutch purse. I'll have to measure it all when I'm done. I hope to finish it up so I can take it with me to the Artist Reception next week. I want people to look at my bag in my hand & not the bags under my eyes as I have to work Saturday night.

Well, tornado siren only went off once...I think it was scheduled to go off. We have had some heavy rains (yeah for my new tree) and some pretty hefty thunder. The Worthington junior soccer team was having matches in the field behind our house. Two big thunder boomers sent everyone off screaming...and no, I was napping & didn't hear it at all.

Tomorrow I'm getting Hal out as I really have to do some sewing. I'm ready to start my 2011 BFAC, sew a doll for the Doll Gatherer's Gala next month up at Punderson Resort, and mend some pants that have been sitting on the chair for a month.

HOly COW!

I see that Gertrude's new hat is up to $242 this morning with 4 hours to go before the eBay auction is up. I'm so tickled that she is going to a new home where someone really wants her bad. And I'm delighted that my charity is going to be that much more enriched with all the money coming in from the Beading for a Cure auctions.

please check out Gertrude's new hat & bid !
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Bad to good day

Okay, first off I've had a very very bad 24 hours. I first find out that the tech who quit 2 weeks ago is not going to be replaced so we'll have to work short to cover that. Then Monday I find out my other tech who has only been with us less than a year turned in her transfer request to work at the bigger hospital (I told her it was a big mistake, but whatever. AND to top the cake we get an e-mail from the President that there will be a salary freeze for 6 months (I was so looking forward to an hourly raise as I've been at the top of the pay scale for two years & then raised it 2 weeks after I got my last evaluation). AND they are not going to be matching out retirement 403B. Yeppers...I was in a very very low & foul place. I was suppose to go to my 25 year recognition dinner tonight. Imagine trying to eat food when you know that is ALL you'll get. SO yes...not a good mood at all & when I woke up & told Chris he was upset too and told me we didn't have to go to this dinner tonight.

THEN...I open up my Yahoo mail & get an e-mail from the lady (thank you Anne) who bought my Podling from our BFAC auctions. She told me first that she actually knew Layne (!) and thanked me for donating my artwork to the project. Said her Mother had died of colon cancer. Then told me that the piece was in her studio. GUYS...I broke down & cried great big tears. I STILL am choked up about this. Here I was at my darkest point and one e-mail from something I did for charity has changed my whole day...heck, my whole year! She told me she found me through the BJP. So not only has BFAC helped to change the lives of our fellow men who are afflicted with colon cancer, but it helped lift my dark mood & has given me a newer outlook on the window of life that I see every single day. Thank you BFAC for making this day more bright & meaningful

I thought of this saying to sum up my feelings:
The job I do with my hands is to make the money to live on...the work I do with my heart makes me soar and enjoy life. Hand and Heart keep me whole.

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Beading for a Cure

I'd like to introduce you to Gertrude. Gertrude started out life as a thrift shop reject. She originally was a Dream Pet hippopotamus with fabric eyes, funky yarn hair, and nothing special about her except she was purple. I spent a month working on her using the bead kit from the Beading for a Cure group. After I finished her up, I did enter her in Bead Dreams on a whim. She didn't get in which I expected, but I wanted to give it a try. I'm not really a blue type of person, but after I finished her up I just fell in love with her. I've had two people offer to buy her already. Don't know if I can even do that. I'm having doubts about sending her off to the BFC auction for next year. Last week one of the other beaded dolls like Gertrude only got a bid of @ 65 dollars. I don't know if I could let Gertrude go for such a low price as I've already been offered $150.oo for her from a local collector. Plus, I'm feeling that I might want to just keep her. I've got some time to decided, but for now she's living with me & I see her every day when I come down the stairs.

I've been absent for awhile as I've been busy getting ready for AFIC (Artistic Figures in Cloth). My best friend Cynthia came early & we got to spend some time together. I had a great time. I'm still unwinding & will post later about AFIC...an announcement that surprised me! and photos of my entry. Stay tuned as I've got to get the camera out.

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Addition: I just saw that our auctions for BFAC are back up. My doll an OOAK Podling is doing well & is going to bring in a nice price for our charity. I think I'm changing my mind & Gertrude just might have to leave my house to be auctioned off for next year. I was worried, but now I feel more confident that my Gertrude darling will do well next year. I hope Beki likes her company as that is where she will go to live for awhile. dot

Time for Auctions!

It is time for the Auctions for Beading for a Cure. This is my 4th year contributing. I've repeated the opening of the BFAC website below so those wondering what I'm talking about will understand what this project is all about. For 2009, I did two projects. The one that I have pictured her is from an adapted pattern by Cyndy Sieving called "Jeppo". I enjoyed doing it. The other is a Podling from a kit that another member bought, but due to time constrains couldn't finish. I'm hoping that we do well with our auctions this year. And oh yes...I have my kit for 2010 and am considering a dragonfly doll.


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Layne's Legacy is an annual beading challenge dedicated to raising money for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Association in honor of our friend Layne Shilling, who lost her battle with colorectal cancer in November 2002. The premise of the challenge is simple: participants purchase a kit which contains a variety of beads. Each kit is identical. At least one of each bead type must be used in the finished project and the beader can only add one other type of bead to the project (but as many non-bead items as they wish). The completed works are as varied as the beaders who created them. In the past we have had jewelry, sculptural work, and decorative items.

When the projects are all finished, they are auctioned off on eBay and all of the proceeds (minus operating costs) go to the NCCRA, donated in Layne's name. This is our way of honoring the memory of a wonderful beader and good friend. Even those who never had the chance to meet Layne have joined into our cause. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to use your artwork to help find a cure for something as insidious and devastating as cancer.

Our goal with Layne's Legacy is three-fold. First, we want to keep Layne's memory and spirit alive in all of us. Second, we want to raise awareness about colorectal cancer and the need to fund research to find a cure for it. Third, we want to raise awareness of beadwork as a serious artform, and beaders as artists with skill and heart. As well, we all want to have fun with this! While we're doing this for a serious reason, we all love to bead, and it's a great challenge working with beads that someone else has picked out. It's very rewarding to see the various projects take shape. Usually, no two projects are anywhere near alike even though we all have the same beads!

Bidding is open to everyone. We will be listing our auctions starting in March. March is National Colorectal Cancer Research month. Any item created for Layne's Legacy would make a wonderful gift for someone special (including YOU), and you know that your money is going to a good place.

Beading for a Cure

Well, I've had both of these pieces done for awhile, but my problem is always finishing. Finishing the paper work & getting pictures, and going to the post office are three of my worse procrastination faults. So the deadline to send in projects for Beading for a Cure is July 15th. I'm going to be leaving here for Albuquerque tomorrow afternoon, so I must get to the post office today! For those who aren't familiar with BFAC, Beading for a Cure started out with a group on All About Beads who decided to do something in memory of a friend (Layne's Legacy) and what better way to do that than to call for a beading challenge & all pieces donated to a worthy cause. Three bead shop owners rotate making up the kits each year. The only rule is that you MUST use at least one of every bead in the kit. You are allowed to only add one additional bead type to the mix. BFAC donates proceeds for all pieces to the National Colo-Rectal Cancer research organization. March is Colo-Rectal Cancer awareness month. so items are offered for sale on eBay that month.

This year I made two pieces. Oopsie is an original pattern by Cyndy Sieving which is shrunk down. I added matt gold 11s to the mix, and sequins to enhance the sparkle quota. The other piece is my original design of the Podlings which was in the 2/08 issue of Doll Crafters and Costuming. Another BFAC member could not finish her pieces, so I offered to take the kit from her & do one in her name. For The Podling, I added dark topaz 11s. I'm pretty happy with both dolls, and hope in March they make their way to good homes.

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Whew....

This is going to be one busy summer for me. Along with doing the 12 month beaded journal project proposed by Robin Atkins, I'm also going to be working on three pieces for juried shows, a challenge doll for NIADA, and a challenge for Beading For A Cure. http://www.beadingforacure.org/

Now the later has caused me some discomfort indeed. We got the kit which is the challenge part, and none of the colors even spoke to me. Along with that there was a lamp work bead that threw me totally. I usually don't use lamp works in any of my work, so to even contemplate how to incorporate it into a doll design, put me far behind on the schedule. At first, I thought "why not just do a bracelet with the lamp work as a focal bead?". But that really isn't a challenge to me is it? I feel very comfortable doing beaded bracelets and to just do a bracelet wouldn't make me "grow" in my beading and doll making skills. So finally, two days ago at work I came up with an idea that has been growing inside my head until finally last night, I sat at my desk in the Art Cave picked up needle, thread and felt & began. I also looked in my bag of thrift store throw aways & found the perfect head for the doll I'm working on. Oh yes, naturally it is going to be a doll. Then I got out my hoard of sequins because I got permission from the board to use sequins, and I chose for my extra bead type to be added. I'll get a picture of all of this later on & post. It looks pretty chaotic for now, but I've got it all worked on inside the noggin. I've even got a name for this piece...SpamGuard! So, I'm pushing myself to get this, and my NIADA doll done by July. I'm wanting to have an NIADA artist critique SpamGuard as this is my second orginal doll design. My fingers will be smokin'! but my brain will be coolin' off.

Meanwhile I've settled on the form for my Bead Journal. It is a secret until September!