December BJP 2011 - Ohio

You know that saying,

Save the Best for Last

Well, DeFIniTEly NOT what will be running through your head when you see my December BJP. 

Its downright dreadful.  Though when I look at it I will see the year my mom dressed my sisters, herself and my dad (poor dad) in blue and white striped rugby shirts during our vacation to King's Island amusement park, which is in Cincinnati.  I loved that park!  My favorite ride was the Steeple Chase.  A sort of fast moving merry go round.  So fun! 

And when I look at it I will be once again dumbstruck at how I choose (unwittingly) to use a basketweave stitch without even realizing the huge symbolism.  You see, for years I had an addiction.   To Longaberger Baskets, which are made in Dresden, Ohio.  Yes, I admit to blowing my entire grocery budget for a basket.  Don't get me wrong, no one ever went hungry on account of this basket buying frenzy.  Besides, the girls were young and happy with pancakes or french toast or pasta and sauce . . .. well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, anyway. 

I will hopefully forget that I started over way too many times.  What could possibly be so challenging about a simple blue and white basket weave??!  Well, for starters, choosing the wrong beads and not paying attention to the way the shading was affecting the effect! 

After 3 or 4 false starts and a whole mountain of snipped off thread and a pricked to death base (Thank Goodness I was using Nicole's super-duper-awesome-how-could-I-ever-bead-without-it BeadBacking.  That stuff ROCKS!), and I was ready to toss Ohio out the window.

But I wasn't going to let Ohio get the better of me!  So on I went - first encircling the quarter

Then making the stripes wider

and, well, although far from perfect, the BJP 2011 is a wrap.

I loved participating in this bead journal journey and am already well on my way into my January 2012 piece. 

I am so grateful for the support and friendships (both old and new) that have gotten me through 2011.  It certainly hasn't been my favorite year.  Thank you thank you thank you to all of you who take the time to send me a note and encourage me to keep beading and offer me words of wisdom when I need them most.  I really mean it when I say that I keep you all close at heart-forever.

~Bead Happy and Often~

BJP 2011 November - Connecticut

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (and again, I'm sure!).  Thank Goodness for the Bead Journal Project.  It has given me the kick in the pants to bead.  I think back to a few years ago when that's all I did in every spare second of my day - Bead. 

Morning, Noon and Night.

 Any chance I got, I would bead.  I was addicted. 

 I still am addicted, don't get me wrong.  As soon as I sit down and pick up that needle, I'm sucked right back into the addiction.  Its just that the 'sitting down' part doesn't happen as often as it used to.  But the BJP nags at me and draws me in to just sit a bit and lose (find?) myself in the beading.

This month's State quarter turned out to be Connecticut.  I've only been to Connecticut on business - the Hartford/Glastonbury area.  And it is GORGEOUS!  I mostly remember how green it was and it seemed like every house was surrounded by a low stone wall that seemed to have been there since forever.  Being the rock-hound that I am, I would have loved to have studied those walls and taken pictures, but when you're travelling for business, you just don't do things like that. 

My original thought was to create little walls and fill in around them with green fringe type of stitches.  And as usual, the beads led me somewhere else.

OK, so my walls look more like paths, but to me they are stone walls.  Lots of them, all jumbled together. 

And my grassy patches turned into what looks like a tree - must have been that tree on the quarter influencing my stitches.

Even though my finished piece is far from what I envisioned, it still "works" - for me at least!

Have you registered for the 2012 BJP? 

~ Bead Happy and Often ~

BJP 2011 October - Vancouver

I love to break my own rules!  Here's another 'State' that wasn't in the original lineup for my Bead Journal Project. 

My cousin Patrick once again treated me to a spontaneous trip by asking me to join him on an awards trip that he won through his employer.

Patrick at the SandBar
Granville Island, Vancouver, BC

Needless to say, he didn't have to ask me twice. So at the end of September, I hopped on a plane and flew across the country and in to Canada to explore a new city - Vancouver, British Columbia! 

At some point on our trip, I was given a Vancouver quarter as part of my change.  NICE! 

Here are the inspirations (in no particular order) for my October piece:

Glorious Sunrises

Glass Galore - every building was just encased in glass!

Stanley Park Beach

Stanley Park Rock Formations

The forest in Stanley Park

Cloud banks that swallowed the mountains

And here's how I interpreted the essence of Vancouver:

Lush Forests and Sherbet Colored Skies

Glass Buildings

Beach meets Rocks
(I actually found that shell with the barnacles on it on the beach in Stanley Park)

Ringed with Clouds

It was truly amazing to see how the clouds would come in and the mountains would completely vanish from view.  We were so lucky to have a few days of sparkling sun before the clouds came in. 

We also headed up north to Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.  Took an amazing ride on a glass-bottom gondola between the two peaks.    I do have another Vancouver quarter......just might have to break another rule so I can use up some of this inspiration:

Top of Whistler Mountain

On the Peak 2 Peak Gondola
Heading over to Blackcomb Mountain

The view from Blackcomb Mountain

Whistler Village

~ Bead Happy and Often ~