Going "green", creatively...

"CraftCycle" by Heidi Boyd (North Light Books, 2009) is my most recent book acquisition. It caught my eye because I really like found object & repurposed object art. One of the projects on the cover is a tote bag made of paper chains (like the gum wrapper chains I made as a kid). I definitely want to make one of them but it will probably take more than a weeks worth of time - I'll work on that in between other things and will post a photo when I'm done. I haven't settled on what I'll do this week - the book is full of fun ideas using all kinds of things. I'm going to restrict myself to using only things I already have - after all, it's all about using what we've got, not buying more!

Stampington & Co has a new publication, "GreenCraft" which is another great resource for projects using re-purposed & recycled items. And, I've recently discovered two more magazines that I love, "Green" (sustainable architecture and landscape design), and Boho, a "green' fashion magazine with a hippie chick flair. The contents of the last two magazines are great and an even better bonus for me is that they are printed on matte paper which makes the pages great for collage! Hmmm, seems I may have a bit of a magazine addiction as well....

Check back in a day or two to see what I've decided to make

Bead-a-licious!

After about six hours, I've finished my necklace! It is a process that takes patience, for sure. It was nice to bead again, I can't remember the last time I made something this involved.

The photograph did inspire the color combination and I doubt that I would have come up with the palette of slate, lime, turquoise and dusty grape without it. The leaves represent the growth in the greenhouse, the gray branched fringes, the bare tree branches, the dark purple for the nighttime shadows and the blue for the moonlit snow.

The book, "The Beader's Color Palette" is full of amazing color inspirations and served to remind me that I need to renew my observation skills. I once took a seminar with the amazing doll maker, elinor peace bailey, who discussed the importance of the simple phrase "PAY ATTENTION". We pass by countless things every day without even seeing them! Here's to opening my eyes and slowing down a little to see and enjoy my surroundings!

We are going out to dinner with friends tonight, I think I'll wear my new necklace!

Itty bitty beads...

It has been a while since I've worked with seed beads - I forgot how long it takes to make measurable progress when working with such little beads! My project is under construction and I'm pleased with the direction I'm going in - looks like I'll be spending much of my Saturday with itty bitty beads!

I have other creative plans for the weekend - I'm going to finish the 35 four-inch mini quilts I need to make for an art quilt group exchange and wrap up several projects I have started for submission to Stampington & Co. for possible publication. I need to clean up my mess-monster of a studio too...

But, for now, I'll concentrate on getting my necklace done. I need to finish my project each week - the last thing I need is to create a new pile of U.F.O.'s (Un Finished Objects)!!!

Photo & Bead choices

It was tough to choose one photo out of 366! Here's a photo of the insipration photo I chose and the beads I'm going to start off with. I'm pretty sure I'll be adding beads as I make the necklace.

The photo is titled "Illuminated Greenhouse near Sauvo, Varsinals-Suomi region, Finland". Kind of funny that I looked at 366 pages of photos and selected the one on page eleven!

I was drawn to the photo because I like the contrast of the brightly lit greenhouse, warm inside, full of growing things, and the surrounding landscape in the darkness of evening, cold and snow covered with bare branched trees. The greenhouse represents hope for something new. My necklace will also be a contrast, not only of colors, but of the elements - green leaf beads among grey branched fringe, using both shiny and matte beads. The design is forming in my mind as I write this - I want to get started but Project Runway is on tonight! Having my materials chosen and a direction in my mind will be all that gets done for now...

I am SO looking forward to this weekend, two days in my studio - time to play! Lots of things I want to work on - could that mean that "Bookworm 52" is doing what I was hoping for??? Ahhh, refreshing to feel some creative energy again - here's hoping it stays with me...

A new week, a new project!

This week's project involves TWO books from my little library - "The Beader's Color Palette" by Margie Deeb (Watson-Guptill, 2008) and "Earth From Above" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Harry N. Abrams, Publisher).

"The Beader's Color Palette" presents fabulous beaded jewelry, alongside the photographs that inspired the color combinations used in the project. Most of us tend to fall into color "habits", frequently returning to similar color combinations or favorite colors. While it may be comfortable to work in our color "zone", it is more interesting and adventerous to break away and take a different path.

The projects in the book are inspired from a wide variety of things ranging from the intense blue and yellow of a Hyacinth Macaw bird to vacation photos and ancient artifacts. The contributing artists include the wonderful Robin Atkins, whom I had the honor of taking a bead embroidery class from several years ago. Her work is beautiful and she is a terrific teacher - she has written a couple books of her own, I'm sure one of them will be included in my 52 week journey.

The second book I'm using, "Earth From Above" is a photography book full of images taken over a ten year period and include some fantastic images of farms, nature, buildings and natural phenomenon. The colors and patterns are amazing! It will be a challenge to select just one photo out of the 366 in the book.

So, this week, it is a piece of jewelry. I have just a few (ahem...) beads in my stash, it will be fun to choose the colors inspired by my photograph. Here's a picture of the cart I store my beads in - each color drawer contains beads in the coordinating color range - I finally feel like my bead stash is organized - it is SO much easier to find what I need.

I'd be interested to hear what your favorite color combinations are - drop me a note if you want to share.

Just under the wire!

It's been a busy week and I have barely finished my project by the Saturday midnight deadline! I was determined to finish it though and I'm glad that I did. My plan was to head to my studio early in the morning and spend the day making two purses but, that wasn't meant to be... a friend of ours needed some help with a serious matter and that was far more important. After taking care of that, I dashed to my studio to work on my project.... here it is!

I love my new purse - the photo is of me when I was a little girl. I like the look of repeated images and the mixed prints. The colors of the fabrics are very different than what is showing up in the photo - I clearly need to work on my photography and lighting efforts! The bag is really a chocolate brown with a blue stripe and the greens aren't as olive as they look here. The handles are pre-made leather ones, purchased at a quilt show. They were a little pricey but I love the way they look.

My studio is officially a total MESS! I never really cleaned up from last week and then I took out new supplies for this week... looks like I'll be spending part of next week digging out and putting things where they belong. Nothing like starting with a clean work table! My studio is pretty big (about 15' x 30') but I wish it was twice the size so I could have a dozen tables to work on.

I have already picked out my book for next week but I'll blog about that on Monday. I'm heading to a family reunion tomorrow - it's always fun to get together with my extended family.

Time flies!

Wow, is it Friday already? I had a little mid-week fun that made this week feel like it just melted away, faster than the Wicked Witch of the West when Dorothy threw a bucket of water on her!

In case you didn't guess, I went to see "Wicked" on Wednesday, thus the Oz reference.... I went with my best friend, Lisa, and my Goddaughter, Sarah. We met at Grand Central Station, cabbed over to the Museum of Modern Art, which was fabulous, then on to some great food and fun at Dave & Busters before walking to the theatre. Was I ever happy to sit down! The show was really terrific - it tells the "back story" of the Wizard of Oz and is vastly different than the book (which I read but didn't love as it was very dark and strange in some parts). We had great seats, center stage, front of the 1st Mezzanine so we could see a bit into the Orchestra Pit. Live music is such a treat.

Needless to say, my mid-week fun wore me out and I didn't get any studio work done from Tuesday to now! I have everything all lined up and am going to jump into the project tomorrow - I have to finish by Saturday night to stick with my one-a-week committment to myself. Can't be falling apart on week TWO!

Off to the ironing board to press my fabrics... more tomorrow, promise!