Still Healing

My pathetic tree has found new life.

In all of you.

Your kind words of understanding and support have made all the difference.

And what's really weird, is that I never expected it.

I was unsure that ending the relationship was the 'right' choice nor did I think exposing the issue on line was the 'right' way to heal. But I've been proven wrong. I think, no, I know, I made the right choices on both accounts this time around. I have all of you to thank for that.

My spirit tree is now hugged by a vine. The vine shows the love and support from my cyberfriends.

It is not the vine's intention to completely cover the tree. For it knows acknowledging our past makes us stronger for the future.

But those sad negative feelings threaten to spill out into the rest of my life. Shadowing the future path my life will take. But I know you will be there for me.

Ready to send me positive energy that will transcend through space and nuture my vine. And protect my future paths from being impacted by the negative thoughts I am harboring.

The negativity dissipates and my spirit turns positive, light and happy again.
Renewed and ready for the next journey.

Thank you ~ I couldn't have done it without you!

StoryPeople

A long time ago, I came across a print of artwork that, although the style of graphics wasn't really what I usually am drawn to, the words spoke to my soul. Had to have it.

So from the soul of Brian Andreas, I give you:

Deep Roots

When I die, she said, I'm coming back as a tree with deep roots & I'll wave my leaves at the children every morning on their way to school & whisper tree songs at night in their dreams.

Trees with deep roots know about the things that children need.

Doesn't it make you want to go out and hug a tree? Which, by the way, I do.

I've put a button on my sidebar ~ thanks Ben ;) ~ from StoryPeople which will give us a Story of the Day. Clicking on it will take you to their website where you can read more of the Story and make comments and wander around their incredibly insightful brains. Have fun!

Beading For A Cure

It's almost that time of year to show your support and join the fight against colon cancer.

How?

By bidding high on the most extraordinary beaded creations on Ebay!

Beginning on March 7, Beading for a Cure will host a series of weekly auctions featuring items made and donated by bead artists~all using the same beads, but with surprisingly different results.

Each set of auctions last just a week, with new items added each Sunday through May 9. All proceeds (minus basic operating expenses) will be donated to the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance in honor of Layne Shilling, a talented bead artist who lost her battle with this disease.

Won't you please join us? Take a moment to see the amazing beadwork that will be auctioned. There are 65 items to choose from - I'm sure at least a few of them you won't be able to resist :)

And don't forget to tell your friends !

~ Big Hug to Grace for helping me get my sidebar button working! ~

Accidental Bead Journaling

I knew I wanted to incorporate a tree onto the top of my life box. My thought was to have branches extend from the left side over to the right and then fill in the spaces around the branches with random patterns and textures.

I woke up around 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Sometimes that happens. I just 'poof' wake up. After tossing and turning, I gave up on the sleep and came down into the studio and started to bead.

Before I knew it, this lonely sad-looking tree developed. Not on the left side as I was planning, but the right side. Above Sabre's dog tag. I thought my tree was going to be a sturdy specimen with full, long branches full of trinkets and fun beads. But something made me stop and say "done."

What!? Why?

It's hateful looking, not at all what I had envisioned.

It looks chopped off and stunted.

What is going on here?

But I listened to my inner voice and let it rest.

I worked on some knitting and then got myself ready for the day ahead. But I continued to think about why this tree was meant to look like this.

It wasn't until the next morning when I woke up and it hit me. The first thought I had was about my tree. I guess you can call it the A-Ha moment. My bead tree reflected the emotions I was feeling when I created it.



You see, a long friendship had recently ended. One that I thought would have lasted a lifetime - sturdy, strong, always growing - like the tree I thought I was making. And instead the friendship ended. And so my tree is stunted. Hmm. Interesting.

I thought even more about that long friendship and the symbolism of this beaded tree.

And I remembered the story by Shel Silverstein - The Giving Tree.

And I saw the beaded tree differently.

Rather than looking at the tree as not reaching its full growth,

I saw the branches as being cut off.

I saw myself as the tree in the story.

Giving and giving and expecting nothing in return, just happy to be giving.

But unlike the tree in Silverstein's story, I can't give everything to one person. I have to conserve my resources because I have others in my life who need me too.

Over the past few years, this friendship changed and because of a succession of small 'hurts' I was subjected to (unintentionally I've been told) by my friend, I came to the painful decision to part ways.

So which is it?

A stunted tree or a once-full tree whose branches have been given up for a friend?

Don't know.

And the ironic part of my placing the tree above Sabre's tag: this friend was the reason I had rescued Sabre. He was found by her and she couldn't keep him, so he was put in the City Pound. No one had claimed him and he was scheduled to be euthanized. My friend was in agony. She never expected that would be his fate when she took him there. I couldn't let that happen either. So he became my dog. He was the best dog - EVER. I miss him. And I will miss my friend too.

And that my friends, is the magic of beading journaling. I've never experienced this before. I never thought I had it in me.

Thanks for listening.

Bye Bye Post-it-Note

The first thing I did this morning was check my blog to pick a winner of the One World One Heart Giveaway. I was planning on doing it the old fashioned way - print out the comments, cut them up and pick one by hand. Ummmm, 41 pages of comments, of various sizes, some split onto the next page. Ok then. That's not going to work. Fine, I'll go all techno and do the random number generator thingy. So without further delay, the winner is:

CONNIE of SHE DREAMS BIG! Congratulations Connie! Stop by her blog - it's great, and so are her creations.

And Lucky Me--I won a stunning necklace from Bridget, a lacemaker from Perth Australia - I've never had such a fun Monday morning!

A big thank you hug to Lisa for organizing this event. It was huge and no way did I get to visit all the blogs I wanted, but the new friends I did get to meet are just great and the wealth of creative souls out there is astounding! What a fun ride it's been. I have new blog friends to follow and new friends following me. Couldn't ask for a better 'prize' :)

LIfe Box

I promised myself to tackle some of the unfinished projects laying around my studio on a regular basis. I set a goal to get the sides of my life box complete before I did anything else and, surprisingly, I actually did!

Here is a little tour around the sides:

I started by placing two large flat beads in the middle of the short sides. My thought was that this is where I would touch the box to pick it up, so I wanted something smooth and sturdy at those spots.
Then as you make your way around the edges, a theme of life on the planet starts to take shape. Beginning with turtles emerging from the seaand the waves crashing onto the rocks, leading to sandy grasses with palm trees,
which then turn into fields and forest where the wind scatters the leaves and seed pods through the skywhere we come across some butterflies floating over the rooftops until we are so high up the stars are visible.

I've gotten some of the edging done on the top too. Wasn't planning on edging it in lace, but as I was prowling through my studio, I came across some ecru vintage lace edging (machine made), and found myself stitching it down using a beaded rope edging. That works. Now I'm outlining that in a straight line of triangle beads, but I still don't know if I should plan the main layout, or just let the beads decide what the design is to be. I hope I decide soon, before I give up, set it aside and move onto something else.....

Haute Couture Beading Contest

Good Quill Hunting is again doing a wearable art challenge inspired by a selection of haute couture creations. Yum!

I haven't officially convinced myself to join in the fun, but I'm very tempted. Hmmm, could be my own little 'Project Runway' challenge...... If anyone else is going to enter, I would love to know!

Bead it Forward

Jeanette Shanigan is once again putting her efforts and heart and soul into a breast cancer fundraising project. She is collecting beaded squares with a turtle theme which she will assemble into quilts and auction them off at the Bead & Button show. She has been quite successful in the past and I am happy I found out about this so I could contribute a few squares this year.

A small pebble is this turtle's shell.

I was thinking of how cancer patients have their good days and not so good days. This square represents the two sides of treatment. The sunny days and the gloomy days.

Here's a side view to show the turtle's shell is actually raised up.

I had some old shell beads that I found at an estate sale. They make perfect turtle shells. Her head is a vintage jet bead from an old estate sale necklace.

I surrounded the turtle in 3-cut beads in pearly white. It almost seems like she is resting on a comfy pillow. God knows cancer patients deserve to be pampered.

If you can, please consider making up a square or two. All the details can be found here. And if you are lucky enough to be attending the Bead & Button show, I hope you have the opportunity to get in on the bidding!

Ring a Ding Ding

What fun I'm having making these rings! I'll get them in my Etsy store as soon as I get someone to be my hand model. I'm thinking pictures of my 45-year-old hands aren't too pretty :)

This one is my favorite - 2 inches across and the drop beads along the edge are fun. You can 'close them up' or press them flat.

The side view helps show the texture. The yellow is made from a vintage shoe clip and is so cheery. I'm thinking the blue and brown one would be perfect with jeans.

It is now about 5:30 p.m. here in Lockport, NY, and it's still light out !! It makes such a difference! I am off to dinner with my friend Joan......enjoy your evening!