June....Wrapped it up

and put it in a special box just last night. It feels good to have completed the first month, even if a few days late. If you would like to take a look, you can find it here. As this was my first attempt, I see lots of things I can work on improving, but I am just so thrilled to have actually completed it. I already have good images in my mind of what July is to bring and have my material and a large assortment of beads picked out. I am looking forward to getting home from work tonite and starting on it.

I also wanted to add a thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences along the way. One of the best parts of my day is to sign on the computer at work in the morning and browse the latest posts and take a look at everyone's progress.

Hugs, Trilly

Finished June

I've not posted before, mainly I just lurk in the background. I'd prefer to bead over writing. But anyways, I have finished my June page and you can see it here
http://madchiwawadesigns.blogspot.com/ I' think this a wonderful idea and I just love looking at everyone's pages. So many different ideas. It's so much fun.

Success!

After several failed attemps Robin finally got me posting access. I am just a beginner at bead embroidery and just had the BEST time working on my June page - I found myself getting up at 5 in the morning just to have a bit of beading time before I went to the office. I'm still sorting through beads and fabric thinking about July, but June is on my blog
Even though I haven't had posting access, I've been reading along with you all and enjoying your company.

Thanks for having me.

On to July!

Well, July is truly upon us, and I am still finishing my June journal piece. I am learning a lot as I work, and I am having fun! My project is probably too large, but I have always worked larger than most, so it's in keeping for a "journal". I was pausing for a bit to wait for more beads...... I live in a remote place and there is no good source of beads here. July is getting started in my head, but I am going on an excursion to buy beads this week, so will wait to start it!
I am truly enjoying reading your blogs and seeing the projects as they present themselves. I am in awe! So much talent! Thanks for sharing this journey with us all, Robin! What a treat!

Hola y'all from Albaturkey

Or Alba-quirky? ;-) Thank you, Robin, for giving me access to post. I might not have time to keep up with all 200+ of us but hopefully will be able to come up for air once a month or so as we finish our bead journalling. I did manage to get June done, and it's posted on my blog:

http://www.seriousbeader.blogspot.com

There are pictures, so if you don't want to see, don't click the link!

Cheers,
Mary Tafoya

The question of Journaling

I always fall in love with the beauty of a new journal and have many with only three to four pages written on. The idea is strong in the beginning and sometime along the way I feel exposed. In looking back the journals started they are at painful times in my life. I did start a blog with the BJP but have not opened it for general viewing. That's telling isn't it?
We are almost completed with construction on a home in the Baja and this journal will show and tell the progress for the next year. I have left my fabric larger than the beaded portion and plan on using them as a page in a hand bound journal I learned in Robin's painted papers class. I will add pictures throughout the year and notes ( a promise to myself). I will try Robins idea's maybe I will change my ways. June is complete and July started. Only problem my daughter in-law thinks it should be out where it can be viewed and not in a closed book. I'll have to think that through.

Writing Personal Poems from Your Journal Pages

In response to a request from Vicki, I'm going to write a little about how I "journal."

I often write poems several times during the process of beading each piece. The purpose is to get in touch with what my heart is saying through the work of my hands. Writing these poems by-passes my intellect, the analytical and controlling part of me, and gets to the core of who I really am at heart. I don't try to write "proper poetry" (whatever that is)... rather, I call them personal poems.

Here's one way to write personal poems: Sit with your piece for a few moments, absorbing the details of it. Write a list of ALL the words and phrases that pop into your mind as you look at it and at your beads and other materials. Circle the phrase that seems the MOST COMPELLING to you. Write "I am ____________." Fill in the blank with the word (or phrase) you circled. That's the first line of a poem about yourself. Write it using some or all of the other words and phrases in your list.

Here's one other suggestion to try: After sitting with your piece for a while, write this sentence: "One thing I don't want to tell you about is ______________." Again, this is the first line of a poem, inspired by your art, about you.

Is this interesting to anybody? Does anyone want to share a personal poem they've written about their piece?

A Request for Robin

Robin, I noticed that you have told about your way of journaling in response to some recent posts on individual blogs. I wondered if you would make a BJP post about this for those who might not read through all the responses to the blogs? And it would be interesting to read others' journaling techniques as well, if you would mind to make a BJP post as well. Thanks Robin and all!

Invitation to Publish

I just received a request from Rebekah Wills, contributing editor of Jewelry Crafts Magazine, to do an article about the BJP. I hope you're all ok with me saying "yes" to her.

She would like to include one or more pictures of our work so far. If you have a good quality, high resolution picture of your completed June page and would like to see it published, please email me to let me know. You will need to put it on a CD in tiff format, and mail it to Rebekah in the next few days as the deadline for ready-to-print is July 31.

If anyone has an objection to this article, please let me know immediately!

Posted by Robin.

Happy 4th of July!

Hi All,
This is my first post as I sometimes do things backward! I finished the June page of my bead journal and posted it on my blog. This is another first to start a blog. I love what you folks have been doing with your journals. Totally amazing work. There are as many styles as there are beaders. The link to my blog is here.

Margo

A little doll between pages

I started on this doll after I finished up the June page and before I started on my July page. I named him Blue Moon. I don't often name my dolls, but this one has special meaning for it's recipient - hence the name.

He is about 4 inches from left point to right point. The muslin form was made by Monica Magness, the polymer clay face by Jen Martin.

Now I'm off to begin adding beads to my July page...

written journal...

I notice a lot of people are making pockets for the back of their beaded journal pieces, or starting a journal for the project. How many people are doing this? How many people are avid journalers to start with? I used to fill up notebooks with journaling, I even taught journaling classes. But for this project I decided to let the beads be the journal, and whatever thoughts I have I just let them swirl around in my mind, or in a spiral of beads.

Pagina di giugno finita

finalmente finita.
certo si notano tanti difetti ed errori, rispetto alle altre è poca cosa, ma chi volesse vederla la trova qui.
ciao, matilda

Sequins?

Hi everyone! Happy July! I've been looking through magazines, books and web sites and I have noticed sequins used with beads in bead embroidery. Are these the regular sequins that you can buy at a fabric store or are they different? I think I know how I would sew them on but, I'm not sure when I would use them. Any ideas? Thanks

Checkin' In

Hey All,

I finished my June journal page on the 29th of June and have it and its' story posted on my blog here. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do for July...

Sue in western WA

Working on June and July!

I still haven't finished June's project but it is well underway. I decided not to do actual pages but to do a stuffed beaded doll for each month. I am not quite sure how I am going to display them but am thinking some kind of a wire tree to hang each month from. If that fails, they will each hang from a wire ornament stand.

I have already picked out the pattern I am going to use for July and have started sorting through my beads for just the right ones. I need to decide which color fabric I am going to use and dig it out. The funny part is that the dolls are completely covered in beads and you can't see the fabric but I still have to find the fabric that is "just right". Silly I guess

My time will become much more my own after the middle of August so I will be able to devote more time to the project then and will be more caught up.

I have actually made 2 entries in my journal which is a milestone for me because I have never kept a journal, not so much as a diary when I was younger. I have no idea why since I always enjoyed writing but my guess would be that I always have/had my nose in a good novel and didn't take the time to actually write instead of read - LOL!

Not quite done!!

Hi! I've been enjoying people's work so much this last month. You're all such an inspiration.

Alas, I haven't finished my June project yet. I've had my geriatric mother and a 15 year old son who's out of school to deal with this month, along with other extended family events, so nothing got done at the pace I wanted it to. But...summer's my busy time and the rest of the year I should be more reliable.

Having always kept a written journal, I'm using the project as a way to express some things visually that I have been writing about in my journal. I have two other pages mapped out as well. Anyway, I'm farther along than my last blog entry would indicate, so I'll take another picture and post that later.

Thanks for being such an inspiration!

June Project

Jackson Harbor, Washington Island, Wi.

This is my first post here. My name is Jean Upton
from Wisconsin. I finished my June project last
Wednesday but I did not have time to post my
picture in my blog : //jeansbeads.blogspot.com
I was gone for 4 days vacation last weekend.

My Garden of Beads

wow I just thought maybe I already posted, working in hot temps can do that to you, anyway I did mostly finish what I started & you can see it here http://beads4jody.blogspot.com/ Right now I have no idea what July will bring, but I have been thinking of lines...whatever that means. Hopefully I can get started in another day or so. Enjoying the beaded journal from TorC, NM

To everyone

I would just like to say how much I am enjoying all the work on the blogs. I keep thinking I must add a comment here but then something distracts me and the moment is gone. So this is for everyone, the work I have seen so far has been amazing and aspiring.

I am still plodding on with my June piece but have already started thinking and drawing about July. Come the end of August I will have a lot more time on my hands.

Loving all the advice from all the expert hands, keep it coming its brilliant.

June Done! And July Underway :)

I finally finished my June page! Only a little late ..... but due to a happy caffeine accident, I ended up being able to start on my July page on the same day too!

I'm working a little backwards on the July one, beading a separate component to be attached to the card stock later, but I'm really learning a lot! I love making beaded crosses and knew they would show up sooner or later in my BJP pages :)

I had a number of "learning experiences" with methods to unite the Lacy's Stiff Stuff and ultrasuede and could use some ideas. Love your thoughts!

For those in the US - Have a happy Fourth!

June page

Just finished up this morning and wanted to share. Visit my blog here.

Italiano, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol!

I hope I spelled all those languages correctly. I couldn't pull up the tranlator emblem like I wanted so am just putting the link here. If you need to translate a page or blog you can do it through this site. They have links to add to your blog to make it easier.

Spero che abbia ortografato correttamente tutte quelle lingue. Non potrei tirare su l'emblema di tranlator come ho desiderato in modo da che mette appena il collegamento qui. Se dovete tradurre una pagina o un blog potete farli attraverso questo luogo. Hanno collegamenti da aggiungere al vostro blog per renderlo più facile.

Ich hoffe, daß ich alle jene Sprachen richtig buchstabierte. Ich könnte nicht das tranlator Emblem hochziehen, wie ich also morgens wünschte, welches gerade hier die Verbindung setzt. Wenn Sie eine Seite oder ein blog übersetzen müssen, können Sie es durch diesen Aufstellungsort tun. Sie haben die Verbindungen, zum Ihrem blog hinzuzufügen, um es einfacher zu bilden

J'espère que j'ai orthographié toutes ces langues correctement. Je ne pourrais pas tirer vers le haut l'emblème de tranlator comme je voulais ainsi AM mettant juste le lien ici. Si vous devez traduire une page ou un blog vous pouvez le faire par cet emplacement. Ils ont des liens à ajouter à votre blog pour le faciliter.

Espero que deletreara todas esas idiomas correctamente. No podría levantar el emblema del tranlator como deseé así que apenas que ponía el acoplamiento aquí. Si usted necesita traducir una página o un blog usted puede hacerlo a través de este sitio. Tienen acoplamientos a agregar a su blog para hacerlo más fácil.

I hope this helps everyone.

Introduction, and my June offering

I haven't posted here before, but having finished my June piece and being well underway with the July one, I thought I had better say something!

I live in Melbourne, Australia, and dabble in all sorts of textile art. I discovered bead embroidery about 18 months ago and it has rapidly become one of my favorite 'things'. I am studying for a Diploma of Textile Arts and I;m halfway through the second year (which is, incidentally, halfway through the course).

After eighteen months of having design principles drummed into my head, I wanted to use a totally intuitive approach to this project. After some thought I decided that each month I would buy a piece of felt (I discovered last year that felt is fantastic to bead onto), choosing the colour that leapt out at me at the time, which would depend on how my mood at that point. I would then choose a colour palette that I liked with that colour, tip it all into a tray, and start beading. No design planning, just let the beads speak to me. (OK, so those design lessons haven't gone completely to waste - I now instinctively choose colours based on my studies of colour theory! Though the intuitive choosing of the felt is genuinely intuitive - in fact for July I picked a colour I never use, it just jumped out at me and matched my mood at the time).

Another sign that the design lessons have sunk in - I decided that the various pieces would need an integrating element, so each one will have a small tag with a word emgraved on it, again suiting my mood for the month. I bought a whole pile of them at the beginning and so I have plenty to choose from.

June's piece is on display on my blog. Now on with July's - I picked the felt colour a couple of days early, and sat down last night and really beaded away furiously for three hours and have done the majority of it!

This is Most Magical!

Hello everyone!

I'm back home after a week in St. Paul, MN and a week in Chicago, IL ~ hot, humid, stormy weather (yuk) in both places, but good people and happy times.

Visiting my wonderful, 90-year old Mom for the first week, I had time to complete my June BJP page. Mom says it doesn't look like anything I've ever done before. Good! So hopefully it's a stretch.... Haven't decided if I'll post pictures on my blog or not... Maybe I'll wait until September.

The second week in Chicago, I taught for the North Suburban Needlearts Guild ~ bead embroidery, spirit dolls, and woven treasure necklace ~ GREAT students, all who worked very intensely creating excellent work!

A Chicago highlight for me ~ 0ne evening, after dinner, a couple of students in Ann Johnston's 5-day fabric dyeing/painting class invited me to join them and try my hand at painting dyes on some fabric. I jumped at the chance, and dyed (and went to heaven!) until 10:30 that night!!!! I want to do more of this ~ definitely want to take the workshop from Ann ~ definitely will use some of this fabric for BJP pages!!! You can see one of them at the top of this post ~ see more on my blog.

Had a good trip, but am so glad to be home. Spent 3 hours this morning reading BJP blog and following links to your June pages. GOOD WORK!!!!! OMG... they are sooooooo fabulous-magical! I am IMPRESSED, big time!

If you haven't finished your June page yet, don't be blue... just make it a priority and get to work! If you have to, downsize to make finishing more realistic. The first month is so important ~ once you pass that mark, you'll sail through the other 11 months with much more ease.

Blessings to you all... Robin