Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bead Embroidery class

I have posted an update on my bead embroidery class on my blog. You can see it at:
http://sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com/ These kids are absolutely awesome.

Arline

Publish vs. Save Now

I've noticed that there are many saved drafts (un-published posts) in the list of BJP Posts. Most are published later, but the draft remains in our system. Why is that I've wondered?

Think I've got the answer... maybe...

When you write a post and are ready to make it official, you must click Publish Post (not Save Now).

If you start writing a post and get interrupted, you can click Save Now, which saves it as a draft. To get back to it, click on Edit Posts which is one of the tabs above the posting window. Read down the list to find the post you started. Click on edit to re-open your posting window with the original draft. When it is complete, click Publish Post.

Also, in case you didn't know, you can always edit one of your posts, either immediately after writing and viewing it or any time later. Follow the steps above.

Hope this may help a little. Robin A.

No Moving Pictures, Please

With apologies to those who enjoy moving pictures, I'm requesting that we do not post them on the BJP blog. Please feel free to post movies on your own blog and then put a link on the BJP blog.

The most important reason for this is that we are a HUGE blog with 892 posts already. Movies take up a lot of the limited space allowed by Blogger. I wouldn't want us to get cut off by Blogger.

The other reason is that many of our member do not have high speed Internet. For those of us who don't have this luxury, movies cause the blog to load very slowly, which is frustrating when you want to check for new posts on a daily basis.

Thank you for respecting this request. Robin A.

Very Small beads

Was it here that someone posted earlier about being especially interested in very small beads? I have just been given quite a lot and am looking for a good home for them. These are much smaller then 15's - in fact, they look maybe half the size?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

A Month of Sundae's


G'Day Everyone,
I have finished my October page and here is a teaser shot, the full pic is on our Flickr site. No I haven't forgotten August and have been working on it along with this one but it's still not ready. I have a two week vacation coming up in November, four more work days and counting! Have every single day of the fortnight planned. Beading, beading, a concert - A tribute to Lennon and McCartney - and of course a 'girls night out'and then more beading.
Cheers Nospoj
PS Happy Halloween to all who celebrate it - BOO!

Journals, Keeping Track of the Journey

I have been making cards to go in pockets on the back of each of my pieces and making journals to go along with them. I just finished my journals for August, September, and October and posted photos of them on my BJP blog if you would like to check them out. The photo is of the 5 finished journals side by side. Angie



www.angelaplagerbjp.blogspot.com
www.angelaplager.blogspot.com

Journal Quilt

I have posted pictures of my Journal Quilt that is in the Houston IQA Special Exhibit on my blog if anyone would be interested in taking a look and making a comment.
Thanks,
SueU

October page completed


Have added a pic to the Flickr group and blogged about this page here.

butterfly wings

One of our members asked about the stories behind the butterfly wings. After 32 of living in central NH my husband and I will be moving in 2008. The wings represent "change" and the inspiration for each was as follows: Feb. - snow and ice; April - forsythia and hyacinths; May - tulips; June - princess roses; July - day lilies and impatients; August - the beach; September - blue skies and yellow mums; October - fall foliage; November - gray skies and brown leaves; December - snow on the pine trees.

Monday, October 29, 2007

TWO MORE PAGES
I told you I'd be done with my October page and if you go here, you'll see picture of it.
Mary Timme
Hi - just wanted to let you know that I've added photos of my beaded pages to the group Flickr site. It has been wonderful seeing what everyone is doing.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

September BJP Finished

I posted pictures of my September page on my blog tonight. The earlier entry posted on the blog tonight was also bead related, but not necessarily BJP related. I will post my September page to Flickr tomorrow.

Behinder Beader in NH

My September page is 98% done and I like the simplicity and symmetrical nature of the Harvest Moon.

However, August languishes 3/4 finished and October isn't even a plan yet. Maybe I should do a tongue-in-cheek October page with just one bead sewn to the center with a single fringe tail and call it "catch up"!
Judith,
who is getting ready to head to AZ for the winter

October Done

Finished my October page this morning. Would have been done a long time ago, but my friend (not) arthritis decided to pay a visit. I've barely been able to bead for the past three weeks. This is the first time I've incorporated fibers in my work. I've been inspired by all the wonderful beadwork I've seen over the past several months. I love that each one of us brings our own thoughts and feelings to these pages. This has been a major change for me. I've always done a lot of bead weaving and right now anyway it hold little appeal to me. All I want to do is embroidery.

You can see my latest page at: http://sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com/ I will also post it to Flicker sometime this weekend. On to November.....

Arline L

NEW PICTURES ON THE FLICKER PAGE AND ON MY BLOG!
I've posted new pictures on my blog for the first 4 months in chronological order. They are the ones done--well a little trimming and last minutes finishes--but essentially ready to go.
I've also added my pictures to the Flicker group page, and Oh, my I hope there is a button on the side to push for that.
Mary Timme

Oct. BJP


I was asked to show the art quilt that my Oct. piece is based on, so here it is. SAndy

Friday, October 26, 2007

October Done Early!

Aloha all! Got October done early. You can see it here. Now I can get busy with those Christmas presents! Aaack! :D
Have a great weekend & fun Trick or Treating!
Hugs,
CC

Oct. BJP


This month I decided to do a completely beaded one again. It is based on an Art Quilt I made and is the underside closeup of a leaf. Sandy

October Bead Journal Project.....

I'm okay, even though the dog ate September. I am working on fixing it - but it might be after Thanksgiving!! Gee can you guess why?

October is dedicated to one of my doctors who married another of my doctors: Maria Cristina Segovia and Deep Ramachandran.

http://thebadliz.blogspot.com/2007/10/october-bead-journal-project.html

My October page is done

Yay!! My October page is the September full moon

Thursday, October 25, 2007

First time posting...

Hi everyone! I am very bad........... I have not posted yet but I have been working on my journal. I have many excuses (choose one)

1. I live in Alaska and go like crazy during the summer only to crawl into my bead cave during the winter (which is here now!)
2. My computer died (no, it really did!)
3. I am a procrastinator except when it comes to beading.

Here is my website with photos. I am still working on writing the descriptions etc.

www.dancingravendesigns.com

I look forward to seeing what everyone is doing and hearing from you.
Cheryl Lacy

Finding Peace within myself.....by beading

Lately I've had some real beading time & am taking advantage, I completed a few NEW beading projects & finally started my September page. October is finding its way on to my art table also, but I am taking everything slow & proceeding when the creative muse says "BEAD"...& so I happily sit at the art table & do just that "BEAD"!!!
Beading is allowing me to find
my center, which is PEACEful

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Flickr how-to's

Now, I may have gone about this the long way around, but I figured out how to post my pics to the BJP Flikr today. The first thing I did was go to www.flickr.com and sign up. This was easy for me, since I already had a Yahoo membership, and I think that's a must for signing up to Flickr. After I signed up, I clicked on the Upload Pictures link and followed the directions to upload my pictures. Again, not hard. Then I couldn't figure out how to add the pics to the bead journal page. OK, the FAQ's covered that! First I had to join the bead journal project group. I did that by searching for beadjournalproject, clicking on the link, and clicked on the Join this Group button. Then I went back to my Flicker page, found my pictures and double clicked each picture in turn and clicked on the send to group link that appears beneath the title and above the picture. Flicker then gives you a choice of what group to send your picture to (assuming you belong to more than one group), if you just belong to Bead Journal Project, you only get one choice, but you need to highlight it and click it, then click OK when prompted. The picture is then shared with the Bead Journal Project page. Cool!
Cheers,
Sarah/beadnik

Update BJP Flickr + Help!

I know... all this computer stuff can take a lot of time... But just now I visited our BJP Flickr site, and had a fabulous time slurping up all that luscious BJP beadwork. OMG!!!! It's soooooooo fabulous!

Five months into the project, and some have already posted pictures of all 5 of their pages. When you click on any one of them, it takes you to their Flickr home page which shows all of their posted work so far. Pick a few you like and try it... Awesome!!!

And, while I'm here, may I encourage each of you to take a few moments to update your Flickr page (if you're already there) or join the group and add your photos (if you're new to it).

HELP!!!! Would someone please write a brief post about how to get started with Flickr and how to put images on our BJP Flickr group site???? Please!
OK, I admit it... I'm behind too... I haven't posted August on Flickr, and I haven't posted Sept. on either my blog or Flickr. Yes, it's on the list....

Robin A.

October Finished!

Now all I have to do is mount the bracelet and place my page in my journal. So far, so good, and I like this month's work better than any of the rest. You can see it here.
Cheers all,
Sarah/beadnik

august complete


august complete
Originally uploaded by jacqui126
My August page is finally complete.

As I said before the theme was my 50th birthday. On the day I was born, Elvis was number one in the charts. When I was 10, the hippies and the peace movement were to the fore. By the time I was 20 and at college, the punk movement had arrived. When I was 30, I was a mother of 2 and the Simpsons had been created for the Tracey Ulman show. In 1997, a bright new world was opened up to me with the arrival of our first PC and the Tellytubbies arrived, acknowledging the fact even babies were not immune from the effects of TV. Now 2007, the world is dying beneath our feet and very cause has a ribbon.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A little more progress...June, July, & August

I posted another progress photo on my blog. Now that my latest tax deadline is past and I've hired a part-time assistant to replace the one who quit last month, I feel like I have some spare time again for beading!

Kassie - The Beading Butterfly
http://beadingbutterfly.blogspot.com
www.beadingbutterfly.com

Which WIRE for seed beads?

Another technique question: which wire would you recommend I use if I want to wire up some seed beeds and turn them into coils on a Journal page? Should I go with something like a sterling silver jewelry wire, or can I get away with something less expensive and maybe even in colors??? Also, could you please tell me what size of wire I need to look for.

TIA for any advice,

Christi in WA state

Storage and Organizing

I just had to ask after reading all the posts about storage and workspaces. Does anyone else get almost as much satisfaction out of sorting and organizing their beads and supplies as creating their art? I find sometimes when I just can not get a spark to be creative, I re-organize or sort my beads, and when seeing something I had not looked at or noticed in months, it is as exciting as when I purchased it the first time. I am like a little kid on my birthday, excited and happy and puttering away in my space :)
Trilly (Lisa D.)

Monday, October 22, 2007

Bead Storage

Hi all - this is not really a BJP entry, but I'm so passionate about my bead storage, I wanted to share it with you. I've tried a lot of storage containers - bags, those round screw tops that stack, the round flip top that have a few attached in one piece and more. But for seed beads (and drops, daggers, smaller stone beads and pearls), I find the best storage is from Out On a Whim - WhimBeads.com. These are rectangular flip top, soft plastic, containers that come in 4 sizes. They fit into a 4x6" plastic box that Whim also sells. When I buy tubes to have around for not-yet purchased beads, I buy more of the largest size as these can be cut to fit your needs.

I like them so much because I can rearrange them according to the project I'm working on, easily take any ones with me when I travel and they take up very little space. Because the 4x6 box is clear, you can put your boxes out and look at all your colors easily. I store in boxes by color, but that's easily changed if you want to store by size or some other characteristic - that's the rearrangeability issue.

24 of these 4x6 boxes fit in the bottom section of the Jewelry Tote from Joann's - on-line or at stores - but wait for a Joann's coupon to get it as it's not cheap.

Okay, so now some info (more than you need?) on my labeling system... I don't label the 11s, but I put a Blue dot for 15s, a red dot for 8s and a green dot for 6s. You can get a box of dot labels at Walmart or other stationery places. On the side of the tube, I put a small rectangular label for where I got the beads and the re-rorder number so I can get them again. Lastly, I put a "more" label on them if I actually have more than fit in the tube (I think the largest tube home 30 grams). I label the boxes, Blue 1, Blue 2, Blue 3, etc. on both edges of the box and keep them stacked on my shelves. In box 1 of each color, I put the non-size 11s so that I always know which box holds the 15s or whatever (but I am spilling over to Box 2 with these!). Now, the only thing I have left to organize is the list of bead numbers I have so I don't keep buying the same beads again! This is TOO much for me to organize now, but one day I hope to have this list.

So, for those of you looking for a stoage system, I hope this is a good tutorial. But again, it's just my opinion and the way I like to work. Hope it helps someone out there. One more thing... there are rip offs of this storage system out there so beware - the one I know about is at Walmart - their tubes are hard plastic, only come in one size and are not fully rectangular as they taper at the bottom and thus don't fit into the box nicely (you have to store every other one upside down).

Two quotes from my local bead store to make you smile:

Just let me bead and no one will get hurt.

I didn't cause your addition, I only support it.

Have a Beady Good Day. Karen, the bead hearted babe

Meaning of Stones

Someone asked me where I get the meaning of stones. I didn't want to respond in the comments section because it could be missed so for all of you who want to see this, here are the three places I go.
* http://www.greenleesforest.com/meanings_of_stones.htm

* http://www.neatstuff.net/avalon/info/gem-remedies.html

* http://www.crystal-cure.com/gemstone-meanings.html

here's a site for meanings of animals:
* http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/animals2.htm

Who knows if they are accurate, but I use them! it's good to have them on-line so you can do a browser "find" on what you might be looking for.

Good luck. Karen

Just a quick question - not about BJP


This is a photo of my work desk, that often slips over to my dining table. The question is:- is it messy or a creative space?
My family and friends think it's messy but every time I "tidy it up" I can't seem to find anything and therefore creativity flies out the window.
Dinah(Nospoj)Jopson

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Sept. BJP

To answer some of the questions about my Sept. piece. I haven't put anything on Flickr-didn't think about showing it twice. The fusing wasn't hard to sew through with the short beading needle. In fact, I back the wool with a knit fusible to stabilize it. The plain background probably is why I'm not as fond of this one. I tend to embellish everything I work on.
Thanks for your comments. It's great to be able to interact. Sandy

Falling in a Beading Vortex

This last week+ I have definitely fallen into a Beading Vortex. I have spent a lot of hours beading and have gotten little else done but with that I have have managed to finished both of my October and August pages. I have finally gotten my blogs updated. My BJP Blog has my updates on those and my Artistic Kreations and Passions Blog has a picture of all of the first 5 pages hanging together.

Angie

Signing posts and photos

I'm wondering if folks could sign both their posts and their photos with their name? I'm trying to remember to do that myself as I'm listed as beadbabe49, which is my main web name and with bobbi (kirk) which is my actual name.
I'm seeing some artists' work that I'd love to see more of, but that's impossible without a name or at least their blog or website.
thanks!
bobbi (beadbabe49) kirk

Sept. BJP


This is the piece I stitched in September-not my favorite, but I wanted to try fusing floral print motifs to the background and beading them. When I do the book of pieces, it will probably in a spring item. Sandy in La Center.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Task lighting: for beaders and for reptiles?

The other day Christi (sweetpea path) wrote a post about task lighting/OTT lamps. I asked the same question a couple of years ago when I began looking for better lighting as my eyes got older not quite as discriminating.

After experimenting with full-spectrum incandescent bulbs and finding they were not the same as sunlight, the color was off a bit. I got a OTT lamp (the foldover desk kind) and was disappointed with the illumination but not the ability to see color correctly. I even got the lamp on sale but still cringed at the price because it's not really used for general purposes and the replacment bulbs are expensive too. Because the illumination isn't the greatest for my failing eyes (and I wear bifocals too) I end up using a regular lamp as well as my OTT.

I feel totally wasteful using 2 lamps and I continue to search for the perfect lighting.

This morning I looked at a FM link that Kathy V in NM posted and yes, still cringed at the price because I can't really justify buying a second lamp. LOL and I guess I have issues with spending money!

I decided to search for comparions between OTT bulbs and other kinds of bulbs and reptile lights/bulbs came up. Hmmmmmm. I found this article discussing the differences between full-spectrum and wide-spectrum bulbs. and Scroll down to item #3 So, what lights do produce UVB?

this one discussing UVA/UVB needs for reptiles and the differneces between bulbs.
Scroll down to the chart that shows the illumination between the different bulbs. Btw, both webpages show OTT lights in comparison with other bulbs.

Mary Timme said *In her book Prescription for Quilters, a physician who keeps up on these things write about the amount of light we need to use as we age. As we age say in our 50's we need nearly twice as much light as we needed at 20. At the age of 70 we need 75% more light than we needed at 20.*

From this I get that humans need the same spectrum as reptiles and I noticed that a lot of the reptile lights have more LUX or illumination than the OTT light. And they are way cheaper in terms of price. I do believe that specialty lamps such as the OTT light for crafters are priced higher, it's a marketing thing and there is a difference between a fluorescent desk lamp look and a fluorescent fixture. Although in terms of style beaders lamps leave a lot to be desired.

Soooooo, has anyone experimented with reptile lights? Is there a difference (besides style) between a bulb/lamp marketed to beaders and one for reptiles?

Friday, October 19, 2007

October BJP done and Other Projects

Hi all, my October BJP is done. I really hope my spiral takes a good shape because it's not matching the original, but I figure one way or the other it will work. I'm really enjoying working on this.

The BJP has launched me into other projects and challenges. Check out my home page (at the bottom) for my list. I just finished one sponsored by the Viking Sewing Gallery inside of our local Joann's Fabrics. The Challenge was to make anything using recycled denim. So, as a recycler myself, and because I love making dolls that I learned from Robin's inspiring book, I made Green-Jean, The Go-Green Goddess.

I'm finding many of these projects on the web. The Beading Daily email newsletter has one and listed a few for charities. Where do we start with all these??? Sign up for the Beading Daily . I wasn't sure I wanted something daily, and I still don't, but they do give some good info. And they've mentioned Robin twice in the last week!

One List of charities.

Well, enough is enough. Have fun on your journal pages. And have a beady good day!!!
Karen

Improv Unleashed!

Aloha Friday everyone!
Thanks to everyone's help, I got unstuck! You can see my progress here!
Hope you all have a fun weekend! See you next Friday!
Hugaloos!
CC

SETTEMBRE

ciao a tutti.
sono ancora bloccata con la connessione, ma sto lavorando al progetto anche se lentamente (ecco qui il mio lavoro di settembre) e, quando posso, vengo a vedere i vostri lavori, ciao a tutti matilda

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Maul's Well Barrette

My BJP for October was called Maul's Well from the story The House of Seven Gables. I have finished this barrette and you can view it here.
Sacredartist

August BJP

Thanks everyone for the comments on my batik piece. I was overwhelmed. It was a fun piece to do. Sandy in La Center

Fire Mountain Gems contest

On a lark, I entered a few of my BJP pages into the Fire Mountain Gems contest, in the free-form expression category. Since they all have the same theme, I thought it would be fun, and I buy most of my seed beads from FMG anyway.

Well, I just got the word that they have made the first cut and FMG wants me to send them in for photographing and final judging. What a hoot, huh? :-)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Almost finished!

My October page is almost done, but I have yet to start on my October bracelet. Still, I'm pleased with my progress and am continually surprised by what my hands are doing. This month, I did some sequin work with shell heishi, and did my first bit of lane stitch (which I like immensely). Check out my progress here.

Cheers all!
Sarah/beadnik

Onward

Hi to all,
I suprised myself today that I am working on the October page during the month of.....October. So to all fellow Bead Journal Members who are or feel "behind"... there is light ahead and you will catch up!
In one of my graduate classes, the Professor would finish every message with ONWARD. I found that encouraging.
So, ONWARD!
Teresa S.

Quarter 1 Update - Air

I put another update photo on my blog in case anybody wants to see more of what this quarter will look like when it's done. It's entitled "air" and is one of 4 for the whole year.

Kassie - The Beading Butterfly
http://beadingbutterfly.blogspot.com/
http://www.beadingbutterfly.com/

Task lighting: which OTT-Lite is the brightest?

As the days grow shorter, the light is growing dimmer and I'm finding that I need a lot more light for all this beading work. Awhile back I purchased an Ott-Lite, the floor lamp version (the goose neck style that you can bend & twist directly over your project) and although I really love working in its daylight spectrum, I'm finding it's just not bright enough and I'm having a lot of eye strain. I thought a solution might be to purchase a second one, a table top style, so that I could have one on each side. I also bead a lot with a friend of mine and the floor lamp alone is definitely not working when there's two us -- we both go blind! Then it occurred to me to ask the *experts* -- what are you gals (and guy :>) using for task lighting? I'm especially interested in any daylight-balanced lamp that's VERY bright.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Christi, in WA state

August


Here is the August piece. I decided to use a batik and some MOP disks I bought at a bead show. It reminds me of a nice day with friends. Sandy in La Center

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I met another BJP Member!

G'Day All,
On Sunday I went to a Bead and Gem Show here in Sydney Australia, during the course of the afternoon's wonderful shopping spree, I happened to stop at a stall that was selling raffle tickets with all the funds going to The Cancer Council - an organisation here that,provides support services for patients and carers; information resources on all cancer types and issues; cancer prevention and screening; advocacy campaigns.

Got chatting with the two ladies there and lo and behold one of them - Bianca - is one of us!
It was so nice to meet someone involved with the BJP, if time had of permitted I'm sure we could have talked for a lot longer.
Cheers
Nospoj

Monday, October 15, 2007

Treasures from my trip ....

I am still "with" the BJP project -- just, like a few others, way behind. I will probably end up posting 6 months at one time LOL. This past week I was at a convention in Springfield, MO -- and as luck would have it, across the street from our hotel was a gem and jewelry show. The picture shows the treasures I brought home from our trip to Missouri. I usually take photos of my "finds" so I don't forget where I got them. I am so thrilled with all these -- most were from one dealer at the Gem and Jewelry show -- I got a lot at their shop on Friday and more from the same people at the show on Saturday. What exciting shopping it was.
Beadin' Gram
Jackie in Illinois

Thoughts on Getting Unstuck...

I've been reading posts by the Behinders, More Behinders, and Behinderests... and first I must compliment you on your bravery, honesty and wisdom to post about it! With some members posting about being ahead of schedule, it takes courage to admit in writing that you are behind.

Probably, at one time or another all of us will get stuck and become a Behinder... Here are a few thoughts about getting unstuck:

Be Average

One member said she's stuck... that she's even been to the library, etc. searching for ideas... Could it be that she is trying too hard to do exceptional work or to come up with something meaningful? I've found that trying too hard is a terrible block for me. But as soon as I let go of that idea, and say "Ok, I'll just make something average this month," it starts being fun again.

Recently a wonderful friend sent me one of the most significant gifts ever: Improv Wisdom, a book by Patricia Ryan Madson, has already changed my life! Masdon says, "Striving for an original idea takes us away from our everyday intelligence, and it can actually block access to the creative process." Don't you just love the concept of "everyday intelligence?" It seems so applicable to our BJP work.

Start Anywhere

I notice that my beading flows along without effort whenever I do what is natural, what is easy, what is apparent to me. In her book, Improv Wisdom, Madson says, "All starting points are equally valid... There's no need to find the right starting place. When you don't know where to start, begin with the most obvious thing, whatever is in front of you." Once underway, the project will seem less daunting.

Forget the word "Should"

Sometimes too many choices will block me. If I get out too many beads, I feel stuck. I learned a solution to this problem in a process painting class: don't ask yourself, "Which bead should I choose?" The word "should" is such a blocker, because it implies that there is a right answer. Instead ask yourself, "If I were going to choose one of my beads or bead colors, which one might it be?" The words "if" and "might" give you some space. It will be easy to point to a bead and say "That one!" Seize this precious first thought and honor it!

I hope these ideas are helpful.

Robin A.


June BJP done...sort of (or The Behinderest Award goes to...)

I'm a behinder, too, and I think I have you all beat! I am cheating to say I'm done with June, because I am half done with both June and July, but I gotta do something to encourage myself with the slow progress! Updated photo on my blog.

Kassie - The Beading Butterfly
http://beadingbutterfly.blogspot.com
www.beadingbutterfly.com

Sunday, October 14, 2007

October BJP: Close to Endings

Here's my progress to date (nearly done). See you all again in about 6 weeks!

August Page Finished!!

I've got August done which makes me feel a little less behind! I've posted it on my blog and now I will go try to upload it on flickr. September is ready to be stitched and I have October in my head.

Unstuck! And some questions...

Hi, all!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped me with my stuckedness! All the ideas are wonderful! When I'm on my blog, I try to go to the email of the person & it comes up either "user user" or some other weird thing! So I'm still not able to send y'all emails from the blog. So I just answer there. Does everyone else do this?
Also, I'm wondering if everyone else gets stuck like this? And what you do to get unstuck? I've discovered that I like the planning part of creating a piece, so the "fly by the seat of your pants" thing is hard for me. (I used to love to plan all the vacations with friends & family!)
Getting away to the powwow yesterday was VERY helpful! All the beautiful, colorful costumes & beads galore!!!! It was a perfect way for me to get unstuck...and to remember to hear the heartbeat of Mother Earth thru' the drumming! It was so joyful!
So thanks again!
With warmest aloha,
CC, the Unstuck! ;)

This really got my imagination going

Take a few minutes to peek back in time (about 3,700 years) and visit a kindred spirit. Be sure to look at all the pictures. I have some modern beads that are similar.

http://www.harappa.com/indus2/index.html

I have been examining ancient mankind's journey across the globe in my project and this is a major inspiration.


Dorris
plodding along with my beads in modern Maryland

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Have You Met Flickr Yet?

I finally got to the library where I could get on their hi-speed internet. I got to see the slideshow of all the pictures everyone has loaded onto the group page at Flickr. It's wonderful! If you haven't seen it yet, go. And even though what is there is fantastic, there are only 48 members signed up to put their pictures up. When more of you get your photos on the site it will be absolutely marvelous. Have I used enough adjectives to whet your appetite yet? I hope so. You will be glad you went.

Transformation

My transformation is finished.
See it here.

October finished

Hi fellow beaders

I have finished my October page.
You can view it HERE.

It seems that this challenge has opened a door for a new way of creativity not only in beading but for all my stitching work.
THANK YOU Robin :-))

Happy beading to all
Hugs
Caroll

Friday, October 12, 2007

Some good news...

Hi all,

For my July page (pictured below) I used purples and yellows with the intention of entering it in Margie Deeb's - Yellow/Violet Color Challenge.



Today I received the news that I was chosen the winner. I have sat with the news for a few hours to let it sink in - I'm still in shock I think. I wanted to share the good news with my fellow journal participants and encourage you to check out the link above to view other participant's entries for some wonderful eye candy.

Take care,
Grace

STUCK!!!

Try as I might, I am stuck on this one! You can see what I mean here! I'm just gonna have to take a break over the weekend!
With aloha!
CC

My September Page

Only 12 days behind schedule, my September journal page is finished. You can see it here. I can't believe that we are already into our 5th month of beading! What a wonderful journey this has been..
-Karen

Thursday, October 11, 2007

"Maule's Well" Barrette BJP

Hi, I have come up with my next barrette page. You can see it here.
Hope you are having a beadin day.
Sacredartist

August

I finally completed it last night. You can take a look at it here, August BJP. I am a fellow behinder and was laughing to myself yesterday thinking maybe we need to have a Behinders Anonymous club. Hi I am Trilly. I am a behinder, and it's ok. :)

This piece is pretty simple and not what I envisioned at all when I started it, but it meant a lot as I put each bead or button or wire on and remembered the exact moment and feeling of that time. I used a random piece of wire for the Man on my piece that I found lying on the playa one day and stuck in my pocket so as not to leave it lying on the ground. A big part of Burning Man is to leave no trace and I picked up lot of junk during the week, including some fun beads that had probably fallen off a costume along the way. I plan on using them on something later.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for sharing your pictures and thoughts.

Trilly

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

October Progress

Ideas are every where and October is coming right along. I have also been working on August in the last 2 days and will try to get an update of it on my blog in the next day or so. Come back often to see what is going on, I think that the next week or so should have lots of progress. Angie

AKP BJP

September's page

I have finished my page for September. I didn't blaze through it as I tend to do with many of my projects. Although I did work on other projects within the month and traveled - this was one to savor when I did pick it up. You can see a photo of it here.

I am not sure yet what I will do for my October page. I'm sure something will come to me when it's supposed to.

I continue to thoroughly the wonderful work everyone is posting. Truly a feast for the eyes.

Thanks to all,
Grace

I'm a Behinder!

I'm a Behinder! Make sure you sing this to the tune of I'm a Believer (Shrek?!) Since August there have been a lot of life going on. To make a long story short, I stopped taking my pain meds over a month ago - big mistake I started them again 2 days ago, while off of them I went into the deep dark hole and I didn't do anything creative. I was so low that I was ready to sell all my art supplies and be a regular person. My Father in Law is in the hospital, My Aunt is in the hospital dying and my husband forgot my birthday. There's more but you know everyone has there stuff. Anyway, I'm trying to get my head straight and do something. I will get my pages done, I just need a little help getting going. If anyone has any great ideas to help, I'd appreciate it.

I have been checking in now and again to see what everyone is making. I am so amazed at what's being done. It almost makes me not want to do my pages cuz their not wonderful. Ok - I'm going to change - I'm happy to see everyone is still going. And Robin, $100 bill - wow! You are right though - it's only money. I think that only you could have done that though! Not I - I wouldn't have dreamed of doing that to money.

I'm sorry that this is a dreadful post. I am ok for the most part now. I'm hoping to get motivated to do something artisic in the near future. Hugs to all - Bead on - Heidibeads

Oh, Look. It's Fall Already...!

I've been buried under house/family/whatever, but still beading along... I've started a new page, though whether it is August, September or October, I have no idea. I'm not ready to post it yet, but that will be soon. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't disappeared or given up. You are all a great inspiration to me.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

August BJP

Finally, I got August's page photographed and posted here on my blog!!! September is also finished (except for the edging) and October is started. Whew!

Robin A.

Even more behinder......

If I were anymore behind I'd be catching myself....

Due to some technical difficulties - read the camera just won't take a nice picture - health stuff - not going there and circumstances beyond my control...is there anyone who doesn't have that?? I am behind!! But I can see catching up time verrryyyy soooon!

I have July mostly done, August in my head and for now Sept is fuzzy and yes, I do know that it's October already! But I have some serious stitching time opening up as well as sewing time. And winter in Canada is a great time to hunker down inside and do hand work. Besides all of that, if I could just stop changing my mind and direction, I'd definitely be further ahead.

The main reason for posting is not so much to whine, well, maybe a little bit. But to ask for some help. For August I would like to do a pink ribbon as the main focus of the page. I know some of you have done this but I don't know how you did it. My 'page' finishes at approximately 6"x7" so my ribbon should be no larger than 3"x4", I think. Should I stitch it down one bead at a time. Make a separate 'ribbon' and stitch it on. I would like it to 'float' on a plain background and then hope to surround it with positive messages of hope, love and caring......any and all suggestions are gratefully accepted.

Thank you,
Karen Mc aka kwltnmoma karen.mccleary@gmail.com

Behinder Beader

I've started September's page here. I've not yet finished August's page and now it's October! Wondering if I should start October's too and have a whopping 3 months worth "in progress"? Somehow the Summer got hectic and I'm sitting here in NH looking at Fall colors and wondering where the time went to.

...one very behinder beader .....

Judith

Monday, October 8, 2007

August is completed

Yikes I am reading how everyone is completing October & I have yet to start or finish September...but I really am not too concerned, some months of working on the journal goes faster than other months...does that mean anything...it could be that some months you find more time to bead, or life gets busy & you have less time to bead...whatever I finally managed to complete my August page http://beads4jody.blogspot.com/ Wishing everyone a FANTASTIC October...I know when fall is in the air many of us........

September finished, October on it's way

Hi fellow beaders,

I've finished - a little late - my September page.
You can view it HERE

October is half done.

Happy beading to all
Hugs
Caroll

Sunday, October 7, 2007

October Page: Halfway There

Progress update on my October page can be seen here. I'm hoping to have it finished before I go on hiatus next week.

October Page Completed.

I finished October last night. I'm now getting ready to go to ArtFiberFest the week after next and then work on a second October page based on Halloween as it is my favorite holiday. My October page is here.

A new beaded sculpture

Hi all,
I finished a beaded sculpture and I wanted to share this with the group. I call it, "Upholding The Family Tree."
Here's the link http://catchingthemoment.blogspot.com/
Have a happy beading day!
Teresa S.

A Fun Thing To Do

Are you up for a color stretching exercise? This is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

Morwyn

Saturday, October 6, 2007

August Finished, September Started

I finished my August BJP earlier this week and have been working on September. October is in the planning stages and I have ordered some new beads for that page. If you would like to see what I have been working on you will find the pictures on my blog here.

SueU

PS: It would really help if everyone would sign your posts with your list name, if you don't include a link to your blog and your user name isn't your list name it is really hard to find where to go to look at your BJP pages.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Harvest Moon

You can check out my totally changed idea for the month here!
With aloha,
CC

October as an Earthy Month

I have started on October and updated my BJP blog with the start of what looks to be a very earthy feeling page. Please check out my main blog if you want to see my exciting beginning of the month news.

Thnaks for all of the wonderful comments so far, it makes life so much happier to know that you are all with me on this journey, Angie

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

June Update

I was having "beader's block" for a while, but finally got over it. Had to make a necklace and a bracelet before I could get back to my BJP (those are on the blog as well) but glad to finally be back in the groove!

Kassie - The Beading Butterfly
www.beadingbutterfly.com
http://beadingbutterfly.blogspot.com

Finally uploaded July,August,and Sept

I finally uploaded pictures of July,August,September journal pages to my blog.I am looking forward to starting Octobers page.
Wendy

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Sorry, forgot to add link: http://sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com/
Arline

Great Feeling!

I wrote a short note on a class I taught recently. I hope some of you will read it and get the same great feelings that I did. To me, this is what beading is all about.
Arline

September Finished

I finished my September page on time and have updated both of my blogs. If you want to see September hanging with June and July got to my Artistic Kreations and Passions blog, for the updates on my September page go to my BJP blog. I will be updating it more in the next couple of days with a little more progress on my August page and the start on my October page.

I have changed my website so that now has my name instead of my husbands and you can see it at http://web.mac.com/angelaplager. The new section for my photo albums for my BJP pages is here and includes the inspiration photos I plan on using for upcoming months.

October Page Beginnings

I've started my October page and beyond learning that beading on dark fabric is not my favorite thing, and breaking my 'cheater' glasses and not being able to really see what I'm doing - I'm having great fun. The page is here if you'd like to take a peek.

Finally Finished August at Long Last

I have finally finished August and you can view it here. It was a difficult month for me and I am happy that it is finally done.

October done!

Hi everyone! I've finished October and am so positively addicted to this project that I did 2 pages for October and now cannot decide which to use! I'm especially partial to one, but if anyone cares to give me their input, I'd appreciate it! You can view the pages here...

Monday, October 1, 2007

Update on my Blog

Well I just posted my pictures of my first 3 pieces,I'm excited because I'm caught up and have an idea for next month. Please take a look here.http://JulesBeads.blogspot.com

Progress Report

Hello All,

Just a note to let you know I've posted a picture of my latest journal page on our Flickr site. However, that photo isn't as good as the one I've just posted today on my blog. I may try to replace the poor one with the better one but I'm not sure I'll have the energy for that anytime soon. The story of the quilt page is on my Flickr page (and on an earlier post on my blog).

Technically this was my page for August, but since it is the fifth journal quilt I've made I'm not worried about skipping September altogether. Onward!

Sue in western WA

September project

Hmmm, I tried to post on Sunday but the gremlins were tinkering I suppose. I managed to just about finish my September journal page over the weekend (photos of the WIP are on my blog) and put the finishing touches on last night, the last day of the month! LOL...

http://seriousbeader.blogspot.com/

Onward into October, more myth and magic and folk art and mystery (somehow it seems easier in the cooler weather...) and maybe even a few more sequins. ;-)

Mary T. 8-)

September Page Progress

Happy October to everyone! My September page is coming along and I will be ready to start October very soon. You can see my progress here.

Review of BJP Rules

There are only four rules of participation in the Bead Journal Project:

1. You must complete 12 projects by May 31, 2008, which is one year from the starting date of June 1, 2007. If you skip a month for any reason, you'll have to make it up some time during the year.

2. All pieces must be the same size (not down to the micron... but close). If you are working with a rectangular shape, the orientation doesn't have to be consistent... your 12 pieces can include both vertical and horizontal orientation.

3. All pieces must include beads/beading of some type. However, they do not have to be beaded solidly. It is not required that the beading be bead embroidery or improvisational. Other techniques of beading are permissible.

4. Somehow your pieces must include the concept of "visual journaling." However, it is not required, or even suggested, that you make a book-style journal, only that your pieces reflect something personal or some sort of statement about yourself during each month. You are not required to write a journal or blog to accompany your 12 pieces, although some members are doing this.

There are many possibilities for "presentation" of your 12 journal pieces... the choice is completely up to you. Some ideas include: make them into a quilt, frame them, mount them on pages in a book form, put them in a special box. One member is making a beaded button for each month, and will make a garment using all 12 of them. Another member will sew her 12 pieces onto a pillow.
That's it. You do not have to write a blog, or post to the BJP blog, or post to Flickr (although that's been part of the fun for so many of us). Just do the beading!

Happy fall (or spring, depending on your location) and happy beading. Our first four months have been beyond my wildest dreams, and the word AMAZING is just not big enough to accurately describe the process so far! Thank you and bless you...

Robin A, your BJP coordinator

LEAVES OF CHANGE

Well I have added the final finishing touch on my barrette. You can view it here.

First picture on Flickr

I just added my first finished page to our Flickr Group

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2007_bead_journal_project/

Alas - September, poor September

http://thebadliz.blogspot.com/2007/09/september-after.html