BJP 2013 March ~ Ta-dah

In our garden on March the first, St. David's Day, there are always the first few daffodils to be seen.

I just needed to work out how to make a daffodil trumpet.

The first ones were too thin, too tall and too fat.

But one was just right.

Ready to take centre stage on my leaf.

Next was beading around the centre.

I love the way things evolve and the half circle fans that appeared just seemed to fit so well.

The view from the side shows the daffodil trumpets off.

And finally my finished leaf is a celebration of my Welsh roots. I am scrap booking my family history and I am now back to around the 1750's. I love solving the puzzles and finding out about the stories of my ancestors lives and although I was born in England and my husband and children are English I still find myself cheering on the Welsh rugby team just as I did as a child with my Welsh parents.

BJP 2013 February ~ Ta-Dah

Snowdrops and snow were the inspiration for February and having a go at the fan pattern. So I started by collecting some beads.

Followed by using the fan pattern as the ground.

 

 

Then the snowdrops were added. Luckily I had some beads from an aunts old necklace that had a twist and looked just like snowdrop buds all rolled up.

 



Finally the snow and leaves were added. The first snowflake was actually going to be a pale winter's sun but as soon as I saw it I thought of those big fat snowflakes when you can see the shape and crystals. In fact it was my favourite part making each snowflake different.

Ta-dah. The finished leaf.

Love since it's February was the word at the back of my head. In fact I was thinking of a quote I thought I had included in a photograph album when our first child was born. However I just went to look for it and couldn't find it. The gist of it was about giving your child roots so they could fly. The fan pattern used for the ground is very much the secure loving foundations I had as a child and I hope that we have given the same to our children. Being with the people I love, doing the things I love to do and visiting the places I love is a joy and makes me who I am :)

BJP 2013 January~ Finished Ta-dah

How did my January piece develop? The initial inspiration was the Winter Jasmine in the garden so a colour scheme was chosen and a desire to learn barnacle stitch to create the flowers got me started.

 I also wanted to follow Robin's idea of improvisational beading so tucked away a thought at the back of my mind. Me and New Year Resolutions.
Well I got this far and couldn't decide whether it was finished.

I liked the little felt leaf shapes that appeared on the one side but also wanted to have a solid block of beading. Just couldn't make my mind up to add more beads or not. Finally I decided it just didn't feel finished and continued beading.

 

 

 

The thing that strikes me at the end is that their are two very different sides just like me. On one hand I love being creative, going with the flow and putting off all the chores and daily organisational tasks and yet on the other hand I like things to be sorted and to have a plan. The underlying structure makes me feel calmer and gives me the freedom to be creative. Up until now I hadn't made any New Year Resolutions apart from the obvious one of losing weight but have decided on two more now.
1. Enjoy the time sorting out the messy corners that appear and tying up those loose ends for the calmness it brings.
2. Enjoy the time learning new skills and being creative for the happiness it brings.
One of my favourite quotes is by Pablo Picasso " Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." However as much as I need art and being creative I also need the more mundane things to be in order too.
Am I happy with my finished piece? Yes, I think there is a balance. I had wanted that free flowing side to encroach on the structured side just as in life I wanted more creative time and to forget the ordinary daily stuff. However in truth I'm happier when things are in balance. The time spent sorting, organising and planning is just as valuable as the time spent being creative.

Well, I never thought I'd be writing that about myself at the beginning of January:)

BJP 2013 January ~ On the way

I have been beading away and then unpicking. Sometimes because I would like it neater and sometimes because the leaf or flower ends up too high or low but I'm getting there.

I bought  different sized beads thinking I would find the little 15's fiddly and want some bigger ones to cover the ground but the little ones are my favourites at the moment. They line up so neatly whereas the cubes twist and turn. Funny, generally I'm not a perfectionist with knitting and crochet, rather than undo mistakes, I leave them in to make it unique and the house is certainly not neat and tidy most of the time.
Already thinking about February. There are snowdrops peeping up in the snow.
:)

BJP 2013 January ~ Getting started

I have made my felt.

I have bought some yellow beads and a few more green beads.

I have cut out my felt leaf and edged it with beads straight away so it doesn't fall apart.

My January leaf is to be inspired by the winter jasmine in the garden. It is a welcome splash of colour on the grey days and an even brighter yellow on any blue sky day we are lucky enough to have.

I thought barnacle stitch might be good for the flowers so had a little play and have decided on making double stacks.

It's lovely to make a start and see what everyone else is doing. :)

Thank you

Joining the Bead Journal Project for 2013 gave me the impetus to start a blog of my own at the end of 2012 so a big thank you to Robin and all the participants of the BJP 2012. Today I have started by own blogroll and there have been three other blogs apart from the beading blogs that I looked at regularly during 2012 and inspired me with my felting, crochet and beading so I wanted to say thank you and share a few of the makes they inspired.

Fiona at MarmaladeRose makes stunning wet felted pictures enhanced by lots of machine stitches and hand embroidery. I occasionally have added a few beads but have been unsure about adding stitches so most have remained simply as a felt picture as with the snowdrops below. Thank you Fiona and perhaps in 2013 I will be a bit more adventurous with the stitching.

Lucy at Attic24 crochets brilliantly coloured blankets, cushions and has great tutorials for all sorts of beautiful hooky creations. Over the last year I have been learning to spin with a drop spindle and made a knitted cushion and was inspired by Lucy's flower tutorial to crochet a flower to decorate the cushion and added a beaded rosette as the centre.

I am now following her bag tutorial to use the wool I spin on my new Lendrum spinning wheel. Lots of texture as I am just learning but I love being able to use what I spin no matter how many bumps and lumps there are.

I also loved following Lucy's hexagon pattern to make a circular cushion. I just need a few tiny squares to fill in gaps on the side. Thank you Lucy.

Jessica at Such Pretty Things  for providing a bit of sparkle and making me think about the palette of colours I use when being creative and the photographs I want to take. I love seeing the photo journals of her trips antiquing / vintiquing in Paris, London and America. It brings back happy memories of visiting thrift shops when we lived in Fairport, Rochester, NY for a couple of years.

Thank you to you all and best wishes to everyone for 2013.

A sketch for Bead Journal Project 2013

I've made up my mind on a leaf shape so now it's time to put it on paper. It is the leaf shape I always start drawing if I'm doodling. A brown paper envelope from the morning post and a pencil and I'm away. One bigger, one smaller and perhaps one just the right size. I decide to cut out twelve and lay them on paper to see if they will have enough room. A bit of trial and error with drawing a stem shape and I have my sketch. A space in the middle is just crying out for a heart. I have always been creative in one way or another but have never been part of a group like this and I am just loving it so it seems so appropriate to have a heart.

Thanks Robin for pointing me in the direction of http://lisabinkley.typepad.com. Wow. I can't imagine how my first finished leaf will look like yet.  I think the colours will be inspired by the bright yellow of the winter jasmine in the garden. January is my birthday month and often as well as a time of reflection it is a time when I look forward with optimism to the things I might do in the year ahead so bright yellow seems a good idea at the moment. We shall see. The slight hitch to this plan is I have no yellow beads. So you know what I will be doing next.