And now back to our regularly scheduled programming

Ok, so back to March's BJP.  As I was saying, March was crazy windy and my emotional balance was a bit weak, so I chose my mantra for March to Bee Strong

Fine.  You're right.  Its B O R I N G.  but at least its done!

April brought a ton of responsiblity.  I bought my house and had a lot on my plate.  I'm still eating, so to speak.  April BJP is far from finished, but its not because I've lost interest.  Just busy Bee-ing RESPONSIBLE.

Unlike some of the other house inhabitants -

Their only responsiblity seems to be bird and chipmunk watching.  Which, I admit, I do a fair amount of myself! 

or napping -

Which I DO NOT do! 

I have made some progress on the Mystery Lace Sampler though that I am working on with the Amherst Museum Lace Guild. 

Romanian Needle Lace

Bobbin Lace Snail

Limerick Lace - impossible for me!  Its all wrong.....but I'm leaving it

Needle Lace Tulip

Guess where the tulip belongs :)

I might have already shown you my entry for the Lace Guild's shoe contest - I called it Snake Skin Shoe.  

Hopefully tonight I will be able to ignore this drawer that really needs to be organized

and instead I'll hide in my studio....and Bead

Bead Happy and Often!

BJP 2012 February and March

My BJP 2012 garden is a little slow blooming this year.  But here are a few blossoms so far

I already shared January, so let's play catch up with February and March.

February was a tough month for me.  I was anything but Happy.  So to pull myself out of my pit of un-Happy, I chose my February aspiration: Bee HAPPY. 

I wanted to mix it up a bit, so I found some purple buttons that I decided to use.

My embroidery skills leave a lot to laugh at - but its wasn't a Happy laugh.

A couple of sequins tossed in.

Even those party gems couldn't turn my frown around.

The more I worked at  Happy the more I wasn't - both personally and when it came to this BJP entry.  Hated it.  And then I stumbled across this little quote that I have hanging on my fridge.  You know how when you have something for a long time, you tend not to 'see' it anymore?  That's how it was with this little snippet:

Hmm.  Well said Mr. Ripley D. Saunders. 

March was a very windy month (literally - holy cow, the winds blew fiercely).  I would watch the wind whip through the trees and pray for them to stay Strong (yes, I'm a tree hugger and proud ot it).   Personally, I was struggling with conflicting feelings of whether or not I should try AGAIN to make it work with Pete.  Right at that time that I was wavering back and forth - I got a message from a dear blog friend (yes, Nicole Campanella, I'm talking about you).  She gave me a cyber shoulder to cry on and helped me to stay Strong and be true to me.   No brainer there - I would aspire to Bee STRONG in March.

What the ......I don't have any pictures of March????  Oh geez!  Sorry about that.  Its dark now, so I will take a picture of the finished blossom tomorrow and get back to you.....

Kyah and Rainy enjoying a beautiful morning

Bead Happy and Often (and don't forget to take some pictures along the way!!)

Do Bee do Bee do

Say What?

Now that my first BJP of 2012 was completed, I needed to get my Bee together so a random "Kind" flower had some meaning to it.

I must have been delirious when I started, because I reverted back to my 'old' way of doing things.  Using posterboard and pellon rather than a piece of Nicole's beadbacking.  After sketching out my bee and finishing the one wing, I realized I needed to color the black sections or the white pellon was going to show too much. 

I alternated between a rope stitch for the yellow stripes and a baby stack of size 8 and size 11 on the black.  Using a matte/opaque bead along with a 'bling' finish bead helped with the texture too.

His head is all stacks so he is a bit furry, just like a real bee.  I used sequins for his eyes.  The left eye outline was a bit off kilter, but I did take it out and redo it after this pic was taken. 

After he was trimmed up, I was going to give his wings some drama by adding these vintage drop beads, but I didn't really like the way it looked.  The simple two-bead edge in clear and silver lined was enough. 

I figured my garden should have a dragonfly or two, so I used some dragonfly fabric I had in my stash for the backing.

I have a feeling there might be a butterfly and a bird joining the garden before the year's end......oh, maybe a ladybug too! (no flies though.  I don't like flies)

See his eye is all fixed now :)

 Much better

BE Kind ......everyday.  

~ Bead Happy and Often ~

BJP 2012 - January BE Kind

In an attempt to slightly challenge myself during this year's BJP, I decided to play around with embroidery.  I say slightly, because (honestly) I've got so many stupid personal challenges pressing me down these days, I'm looking for the BJP to once again transport me to my happy place while I stitch away the hours and escape the turmoil in my heart.

 Pretty bad huh?  I did go to the library and got two great embroidery books, so here's hoping February is a little more polished.  And if not, well......there's always March.....or April......or, well here's hoping by December the embroidery doesn't look like a 5 year old did it!

 Using (of course) Nicole's super-duper-how-did-I-ever-bead-without-it Bead Backing, I drew a flower.

Since January's birthstone is Garnet, I choose a color story of the same (thanks for that stellar idea Tracey!)

And then placed my 'character of the month' in the center of the flower and surrounded it with peyote.

And my first BJP 2012 was born:

 I selected this tea pot fabric for the back, as a nod to my sister Laurel, who's birthday is this month.  Not only is she mega-KIND, she's also a tea drinker.

The flower looks so cute on my vintage sled outside my door. 

Too bad I can't trust the weather to continue being......KIND (ha ha ha ha), so I can leave it out there.   It is January after all and this crazy winter of sun and 45 degree weather can't last much longer, can it??

~ Bead Happy and Often ~

BJP 2012

I've just spent the past bit of time going through the 2012 Bead Journal Project Blog.  One Word:  WOW 

My jaw hurts from hitting the keyboard everytime I land in a fellow beader's blog and see the most amazing art pieces. 

I am so excited to bead my way through 2012.  Beading has brought me so much peace over the years.  There is just something so meditative (and addictive) to it. 

I learned so much about myself this past year being involved in the Bead Journal Project as I beaded my way through memories of places I had been.   And now every time I look at my fridge and see those magnets hanging there, I smile.  What a great ride my life has been so far.  And yeah, things have pretty much sucked in the past few years, but when I look back at my whole life - I can't complain.  The good times definitely have outweighed the bad. 

So now, on to the 2012 BJP.     I've decided to concentrate on BE-ing. 

?
Say what?

Let me explain.  Years ago, I came across a little sticker that said Be What You Are.   I've had it hanging on my fridge ever since. And I started to think.  What am I, exactly?  or better yet, what do I WANT to be?  I want to Be. . .

. . . grateful
. . . happy
. . . kind
. . . giving
. . . the best I can be
. . . compassionate
. . . responsible
. . . sweet
. . . strong
. . . aware
. . . forgiving
. . . love


So my BJP will be 12 funky flowers.  Each one representing what I strive to "Be"   I want to play around with thread embroidery, so the center of each flower will have the focus word and some sort of stitching. 

I'm going to make them  magnets (again).  I have a steel door in my place and they are going to look really great on it.  Plus it will be a reminder to me as I head out the door,  to just ~ Be ~ 

 Of course, what flower garden would be complete with a Bee? 

So, I am also going to make a bee magnet and her wings will have the letter "B" on one and "E" on the other.  She will be my official BE Bee. 

I have my January flower complete and have started on the Bee.  I'll post pics tomorrow.  I always bead in the early morning (before dawn) and am home after dark, so I haven't had the chance to take their pictures in natural light.   Photo shoot tomorrow!  Oh.....that reminds me - I've got Project Runway Allstars waiting for me on my DVR.....


Bead Happy and Often !

Looking Ahead to the BJP 2012

My silly brand new HP laptop is still not working, so I haven't been able to share my October BJP, but it is complete and I am working on November now.   

No one is more surprised than me that I have been 'keeping up' with the BJP.  I think it is because it really has become a personal journey.  Revisiting places I've been has been enlightening, to say the least.  I never ever expected it to take me where it has and with that in mind, I gave some serious thought on where I wanted the BJP to take me in 2012.

I now know that the BJP is so much more than beading.  I don't know why this is such news to me, since I was already aware of the Power of the Bead.  That magical journey that happens when you just bead and let the process overtake your mind soul  and before you know it - Poof - a little bit of yourself is reflected in beads.  ~sigh~  I get the same feeling when I do yoga.

Anyhow, I was just so excited that I came up with my BJP theme for next year,  that I wanted to share my enthusiasm for the BJP and encourage anyone who has hesitated to join to throw yourself into the project and let the magic begin!   Registration opens soon......

Bead Happy and Often!