2011 BJP

Well, things haven't exactly gone as planned! Since Christmas, my family and I have been passing illnesses back and forth. Some colds, a little flu and even pink eye have found a place here! Kileigh has also had some serious problems lately, that I hope are going to turn around now. Its not a pleasant subject, so I wont go into it here! I haven't been able to squeeze in much beading. Just last night I found the time to bezel my Sapphire Rivoli for my 2010 BJP Birthstone circle. Hopefully as the week goes on I will find more time to work on that. This all being said, I have had to rethink my plans for the 2011 Bead Journal Project. I had a plan to make another frameable piece similar in size to my Birthstone Circle. I am not going to go into detail, because I am planning to use that for next years BJP, providing there is one that is. I really want to get the Birthstone Circle completed soon, so I decided to pare down my ambitious plans for 2011. My theme for this year is to honor important people in my life. I will be doing separate pieces each month, devoted to honoring a specific person or group of people who have had an impact on my life. I also plan to use some new (for me) stitch techniques and colors. Possibly may use some mementos as well on each piece. Time will tell! I hope to get a start on January soon, since this month is flying by. I don't want to be buried before I even begin. In between the 2011 BJP's, I will continue working on 2010. Whew! Wish me luck.

At Last!

I am finally done with my latest Bead Journal piece. This one seemed to take forever! I guess that shouldnt really be a surprise since Christmas and New Years were both in the middle of my work time! This is the month of August on my Birthstone Wheel. The Birthstone for the month of August is the Peridot. I had some challenges with finding my materials for this one. I started off with a Peridot Swarovski Rivoli, and my usual half-moon beads in both matte and shiny finishes. I decided to make the Rivoli the center of a flower, I also used the half-moon beads as petals and leaves of the flower. I searched my stash of size 11 and 15 seed beads and found I was really short on colors that would work. I contacted Cindy of Cindy's Crafts and she so sweetly put together some colors of 11's and 15's and some Charlottes for me that perfectly coordinated with my Rivoli. You just don't find such outstanding service as she provides everyday! I also had trouble finding the correct shade of bugle beads for this one. I had to make do with a green I had on hand, I guess it works. If I could do it over, I would have used some of the darker green in maybe a size 15 to tie the bugles in a little better. Live and learn! All in all, I am happy to be done and quite pleased with the finished product! I still have not started on the 2011 BJP, but hope to reveal my plans early next week. I am looking for a specific component for that project, and once I have that, I will post what my plans are. Meantime, on to September and the beautiful Sapphire!