To bead or not to bead

I never thought that I’d ever be attracted to beading, but I saw some gorgeous beading in  combination with Crazy Quilting, so I had to try.

And what do you know? I’m really enjoying it! I got myself a strong light with a magnifying glass, so I can see what I’m doing and thread a needle. I guess the process is slow and meticulous, and it settles me down.

Here’s a WIP:

I am taking an online class with Joggles. Learning beading from a PDF is NOT the way to go. But I’m also taking a real life class next month.

The colorful Klimt like beads are from Artist Cellars. Waving, Lisa…

In my travels, I also found this little crochet bag for $1.99, so I had to alter it, of course. Everything is recycled.

And inside, there was this tiny pouch with a 25c coin. For those emergencies when you need to get to the phone? My ex-mother-in-law used to travel with a Euro coin in her shirt pocket, enough to buy herself a Metro ticket  if she ever lost her purse!!!! Funny memories.

I did paint too!

I’ve worked on several paintings this past month too. Here they are.

This first one gave me a lot of trouble, and has many layers, a deep history.

This one I did while visiting with a friend in her studio. I think I was influenced by her style. (don’t I wish) I hadn’t painted for a while and it was a relief to start on something, even if under the influence.

This next one feels very galactic. I finished it with leveling gel. I’m not sure I’ll do that again. I find it very unlevel, for being levelling. Not worse the time or hassle. Or expense.

‘This one is the result of a demonstration of various techniques for a friend. These are very fun for me to make.

This one is possibly still in process. I’m not too happy with the left side, so dark. I started with random texture on the canvas, and went from there. Many,  many layers here too.

And finally, an exercise, influenced by the work of Anne Bagby. I cut stencils, cut my own rubber stamps, stained tissue papers, and applied all (it seems) to create interesting surfaces. Then I repeated the process on canvas, with the help of a Botticelli reader.

Everything and the kitchen sink

It’s true, I’ve been having so much fun this summer, I have not posted for a long time. But I certainly have been productive. So here goes:

First, I made a gorgeous book for my friend Lillian, with her fabric and choice of ribbon. It’s for our Asia RR.

I also made one for Sue. I use the french ribbon binding technique, so you can open the book flat when you’re working in it. Don’t you love Sue’s cover? It’s really beautiful in person:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also took Mary Ann Moss’s new online class. Of course it’s fabulous, all sorts of new binding techniques, she’s a gem. Here’s one book I made for a present. I used an old german dictionary which I gutted, and I replaced the pages with vintage ledger paper and some pages from a 1829 book!!!! It was fun!

I also signed up for a Cabinet Card swap, where we decorated the cards on the theme of clocks and Time. We were to send 7 and receive 7 back, bound in a little book. Here’s my series:

I also entered a fabric journal swap where we were to decorate 15 tags on the theme of Paris and using a dress form. We’re sending our partners a fabric strip, 14x9 and a piece of lace, too, so they can vary the pages in their own book and I’ll receive 14 pieces to make a book. Here are some of my tags. They are larger than normal tags, made of fabric, but they will all fit on the 9x7 pages.

In Mary Ann’s new class, she uses old Victorian photo albums. I found my first one today. This will make a unique journal:

And finally, here’s to Teri, who forwarded an article from CPS, about what to do with what’s left (on your art table at the end of a project)! Fabulous project. It’s 9x12, and I like the way it looks: