Beading in Minnesota!

Short on blogging time this month... Just returned to the soggy Northwest after 8 days of visiting my Mom, family and Minnesota bead friends. Thought you might like to see a few pictures....

The picture at the top of the post is a group of hand knitted pumpkins and one gourd by Pam Ehlers Stec. Pam is a member of the Bead Journal Project (08-09) and planning on joining again in 2010.


Pam, Julie (my sister-in-law), Brenda B (our BJP web mistress) and I got together at Julie's for an evening of beading and show'n'tell a week ago Thursday.... much ooooohing, talking, laughing and even a little progress beading. Then Sunday we all went to the Bead Bazaar sponsored by the Upper Midwest Bead Society. Whaaaa-hooooo! That was way fun too! More? You bet! Monday afternoon we were joined by Carmen (who we HOPE will join the BJP next year) and had a second bead-a-thon at Pam's house. Way to make it hard for me to go home, girl friends!

Pam's home was filled with beautiful quilts, dolls, beadwork and other handmade art. OMG... I couldn't settle down to bead until I had looked at and fondled every piece. She's so multi-talented! Here are a few things I photographed...


Above are Pam's framed BJP pieces for this year. You can see them individually by scrolling down the posts on her blog, here.


This is a beautiful pieced and quilted, batik wall-hanging. I love the way these thistles look!


This is a wonderful wall-quilt... warm, compelling, exciting!


This is what Pam was working on... a hand-dyed wool, crazy-quilt block. I'm in love with it! She offered to take off the little papers that say "lavender, parsley, holly-hocks and queen Ann's lace." But I think they're sweet and so said she should leave them on for the photo.


Here's a detail that shows her skills in thread and silk-ribbon embroidery! I hope she tells me first if she ever decides to sell this piece!

Brenda B completed both years of the BJP and is signed up for another year! You can see her pieces here and here. Once again, it's clear that pictures never do justice to the work! I am so thrilled to have been able to see and touch each of her 24 pages!



I was also fortunate to see and fondle the piece above, The House that Seuss Built, created by Brenda for The Beaded Book - a juried competition sponsored by Beadwork Magazine!!!! She won second place! Check out this link for professional pictures of the winning pieces, including Brenda's!!! You can also see some good pictures on Brenda's website, here. The beads on this Seussian structure are are stitched, not glued... more than 1,000 hours!!!


And then, there's Carmen, who is just starting to bead, with some guidance from Pam... Here are her first four pieces. These beaded hearts are autobiographical, telling of important transitions in her life.


This is Pure.


This is Broken.


This one is Angry.


And the fourth is Content.

I'm quite impressed with Carmen's work and hope she will join the 2010 BJP!!!

You'd think from the above that all I did was bead, right? Nope, I spent a lot of quality time with my Mom and some with my two brothers and their families. Mom has been in an assisted living place for six years. But recently she's fallen repeatedly. The PT team says she's too weak to live on her own. So we've moved her to a nursing home.

I dreaded seeing her there because of the typical stereotype of such facilities. However, this one totally exceeded my expectations and Mom seems very comfortable there, more happy than she's been for quite a while. She's almost 93! Here she is... Ferne, my sweet, wonderful Mom!!!


* * * * *
Happy Halloween, everyone!


This is Lucy! She rules the roost at Matt's house (my brother). An exceptional Halloween kitty, wouldn't you say?!

Fun in Phoenix!

October 1-8 in Phoenix... What could be more different than where I live? To leave our peaceful little island, now slipping into the wet season, and fly to Phoenix, where I had to dig out the sunscreen and watch for rattle snakes, was certainly a big change for me!

Friday Harbor, WA <> Phoenix, AZ

coastal island <> inland desert

highs in the 50s <> highs in the 90s

kinda soggy <> parched, dry

mostly cloudy <> clear blue skies

hilly <> flat

surrounded by ocean <> ringed by mountains

peaceful rural roads <> energetic city traffic

abundant evergreens <> sparse Saguaro cactus

talented beaders <> talented beaders

fun people <> fun people

alas, not even one bead shop <> Bead Museum AND shops

The last three are the good news for me! Although I missed Robert and our cat, I got to see friends Claudia, Patricia and Roger. And the big plus was my wonderful students, who really seemed to enjoy making beaded buttons and learning/practicing sewing beads on fabric improvisationally!


Beaded sneaker by Native American artist, Teri Greeves.

Bad news... I left my camera on the bed in my hotel the day I taught at the Bead Museum in Glendale (fun area in Phoenix!!!) so I don't have any pictures to show you from there. So please, just write this in BOLD on your mind's hard drive:

If you are ever in Phoenix, do not pass go or collect $200... instead, go directly to the Bead Museum and plan to spend some time being totally awed by the collection, display, library and shop!!!

OMG! I knew it was going to be good... but wasn't prepared for how extensive it is! Their website does not do it justice at all. And take some extra cash, because the museum shop is awesome as well!


Good news... I did remember to take my camera to the Farm at South Mountain, where I taught a 2-day Improvisational Bead Embroidery workshop. Now, the Farm itself is a worthy Phoenix destination! Picture a large grove of shady pecan trees, gardens, flowers (like the bougainvillea above and the passion flowers below), three world-class restaurants (lunch being my favorite, because it's served in a picnic basket which you then carry outside to a picnic table under a pecan tree to have your meal), and an artist's studio.


The Farm features a different art program every 6 weeks or so. I was there as part of bead artist, Corinne McAuley's residency. During her time as Artist in Residence, she displayed her own work in the Artist's Cottage at the Farm, taught workshops, brought in a couple of distinguished speakers about beading and organized my teaching gig. My hat is off to Corinne, a most talented and well-organized new bead friend!



Above are two examples of her work (before taking my workshop - who knows how learning improv bead embroidery might influence it in the future). They are worked in flat peyote stitch with countless thousands of beads in each piece. You can see more of her tapestries on her website, here. And, hooray, Corinne has already joined us for the 2010 Bead Journal Project!!!


This is Joan, Corinne and Lisa (left to right). I hear Joan's got the bead embroidery bug. And Lisa, OMG, she's finished her class piece AND a second piece in less that two weeks. See below! Aren't these fabulous?! How do you like her use of mirrors in both pieces? I'm so proud of her!


Lisa's first piece, started in class, titled "My Racing Thoughts."


Lisa's second piece, finished two weeks later, titled "Tranquility."


This picture shows the room where we had class. At the first table are Sheila, Ann and Joan! Ann had already done three pieces of improv bead embroidery using my books to learn the stitches and process. You can see her first and second piece below. I'm sure all three of these gals have been stitching with abandon since completing the class!



This picture shows my two tablemates, Marty (a crazy quilter, who seems to be gravitating nicely towards more beads and might join the 2010 BJP) and Glenda (who took both of my workshops and is one of those students who makes the teacher feel good because she catches on quickly and does beautiful work right off the bat).


Michelle and Suzanne (front), Diane, Victoria (a current BJP member) and Linda sat at the third table. Victoria brought her BJP butterfly pieces (see them here, scroll down) to share with us and a doll she created and beaded (below)! Diane brought several samples of Native American beadwork for show'n'tell (including the beaded sneaker, shown above, the belt buckle shown below and a beaded bag, detail shown at the bottom of this post)!


Victoria's doll. I love that it's not totally symmetrical and in the African Ndebele style!


Barrette by Native American artist, Edgar Jackson, brought for show'n'tell.

The workshop ended all too soon. We were having a great time together and much beading progress was being made!

After parting company with my students, I joined my long-time (non-beading) friend, Patricia, and her husband Roger for a couple of days of relaxation in the sun. They have a home in Fountain Hills, a lovely part of Phoenix (NE of down town), and so named because of its hallmark fountain, the tallest in the USA!



This fountain goes off for 15 minutes every hour during daylight and early evening. There's a lovely walk all around the lake. AND, the piece d' resistance of the lake-side promenade is La Scala Creamery, where you can get the most tasty gelato in the world and/or have an ice-cold, refreshing drink of sparkling La Scala tea! This is NOT TO BE MISSED!

One day we took a drive out Hwy 87 to Payson, and then NE on Hwy 260 to SR 300, which is a gravel road that runs along the edge of the Mogollon Rim, a plateau that rises to 7,000 feet (towering 3,000 feet above the valley below)! Below are two pictures I took from the Rim... They hardly do justice to the beauty there.



Among other fun things that day, we stopped in Pine (on Hwy 87) for lunch at HB's Place. We gave them 5 stars! Especially delicious was their Oatmeal Pie. I think it may have been similar to this recipe:

Amish Oatmeal Pie

1 1/2 c. milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
2/3 c. rolled oats
1 1/3 c. dark brown sugar
2/3 c. flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 425. Combine milk, eggs, butter, oats, sugar and coconut in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pour into flour/nut pie shell and sprinkle with additional coconut. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for 30 minutes more or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

And that about does it for Phoenix... a fun desert place, indeed... great beaders, love the Saguaro cactus, love Mogollon Rim and the fountain in Fountain Hills! I hope you've enjoyed this vicarious visit to the Southwest!

Long Distance Bead Pals Get to Play!!!

Do you like this combination of beading and thread knotting???


It's a pin (brooch) made by Elaine Hartley, who lives in Ohio and loves to visit the Pacific Northwest. We met about 15 years ago when she came to buy beads from me... back when I lived in Seattle and had a little shop called Beads Indeed. After that, Elaine and I connected three more times when she took workshops from me at various places. We share a love for the itty-bitty beads, working from intuition and beading with texture.

Planning a trip to the NW, Elaine contacted me and we arranged to spend a couple of days together on San Juan Island, WA where I live. Here we are on day-one at Lime Kiln Lighthouse.


Day-two, we decided to spend the morning playing in the tide pools at Deadman's Bay on the West side of the island. Later in the day, we would spend a few hours beading together. I'll show you some pictures from both...


At the beach, while Elaine went straight to the tide pools, I started by arranging small pebbles on a piece of driftwood. Temporary art...



Driftwood tied with seaweed... more temporary art... this one by an unknown artist...


Then I moved down the beach toward the tide pools where I found kelp and seaweed.





Finally I reached the pools themselves, where I found these acorn barnacles! They remind me of miniature cabbages... Let's try making some with beads!


All the while, Elaine was photographing a porcelain face in the tide pools. Elaine named the face Isis. Soon I too got hooked on her idea and borrowed Isis for a few shots. From then on both of us, captivated by the possibilities of photographing Isis in different places, spent another hour sharing her. Isn't digital photography just the MOST wonderful thing??? OMG! We probably took over 1,000 pictures between us. No waiting and no cost for developing and printing!!! I don't have any of Elaine's photographs to show you... but here are a few of my Isis pictures...







Between beach and beading, Elaine and I stopped for a brief visit with Mona... one of our island's more unusal residents! Elaine was smitten by Mona's soft muzzle...


And Mona seemed to like Elaine pretty well too...


After that, we got out our beads for a while. Elaine brought a few of her things to show me...


The pin/brooch, pictured above, is her beaded version of a tide pool. Isn't it grand?! Elaine likes to add textural knotting (half-hitches) done with embroidery floss. She likes the contrast of the beads with the thread. Me too!


Elaine often beads on a double layer of wool felt held together with dense zig-zag machine stitching, which is firm enough to bead without using any other stabilizer. This is the start of a piece about her home in Ohio. Two streams converge on her 2-acre property... She's going to bead her love for this place! When she finishes this piece, she'll insert it into the cover of a journal, similar to the one below, which is her current journal.


Elaine plans to sign up for the 2010 Bead Journal Project, so we'll all be seeing more of her lovely work soon! Yay!!!!

Bead pals are just the best!!! I am so blessed to have made a personal connection with Elaine and with other wonderful beaders around the world. Can't get any better than that!

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Heart update...

Thanks to everyone who wished me well and gave me optimistic reports regarding my heart issues. Tomorrow will be the last day that I must wear the EKG monitor.. thank goodness!

After I return from teaching in Phoenix, I'll have an appointment with my cardiologist and we'll decide what to do. I'll keep you posted. I really appreciate your concern and support!

*****
Camera Information...

Jo, in New Zealand, wrote to ask me about the camera I used to take these pictures. I'm a Sony girl... the mechanics and operation of Sony cameras just makes intuitive sense to me, so I stick with it.

The camera I used for these pictures is old and many updated models by Sony have taken its place. However, I bet the newer ones work just as well. Mine is a Sony Cybershot, model DSC-F717. My brother Thom got one like it, reconditioned but in good working order, on eBay about a year ago. He too is satisfied with it.

However, I must add that for me, it's more about Photoshop than the camera. I spend many hours adjusting my pictures to get the color, exposure and contrast right. Most of the pictures in this post are full frame (not cropped). However, I had to adjust color on most of them. I took a class at our community college a long time ago, when Photoshop first hit the streets. That was enough to make me brave about experimenting with it. I've also learned a lot of helpful Photoshop techniques from books by Scott Kelby. Over the years, we've bought the Photoshop updates to CS2, although I most frequently use the older version, Photoshop CS.

I take all of my bead pictures with this camera. Whenever possible, I shoot pictures of my beadwork outside in natural light under overcast skies or high clouds, which provides lots of light but minimal shadows. No doubt about it, beadwork is difficult to photograph, mainly because of the shiny, reflective surface of the beads. With any direct light, the reflection will blow out all of the detail and you'll have white spots. Sadly, no camera or Photoshop program can fix a total blow out.

Hope this answers your question, Jo!


One last beach picture... Fall is definitely here.

Ten Great Colors for Fall!

One of my lesser known passions is making books by hand. The pages in these two books are all hand-painted papers. I painted the papers and constructed the book in a 2-day (whirlwind) class taught by Albie Smith at Art & Soul in Portland, OR a few years ago.

I'm showing the books because of the fall color palette I used.

I'm a great fan of Margie Deeb! I love her books about how to find and use many wonderful color combinations, especially her most recent book, shown below.


Forget the color wheel! Margie gives fun and easy to follow color palettes ~ everything from predictable to waaaay out of the box ~ and examples of beadwork (some of which I contributed to this book) showing how specific palettes might be interpreted with beads .

Margie asked me to review her latest Color Report, which explores the possibilities for the ten Pantone colors predicted (check out this fun Pantone link) to be popular this fall and winter, a forecast formulated long ago and used by clothing and assessory designers for fashions released now and into the late fall. You can explore the beady possibilities for this palette of ten great colors with the help of Margie Deeb's latest color report: Fall/Winter 2009 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers, which is available to purchase on line here.

Below are the ten colors. (Color on the internet is always variable depending on your monitor and computer settings. These are approximations of the exact Pantone colors, which are specified by the numbers shown.)

American Beauty, #19-1759, a feel-good color


Purple Heart, #18-3520, refinement and sensuality


Honey Yellow, #16-1143, classic color of autumn


Iron, #18-1306, a grounding color


Burnt Sienna, #17-1544, earth and sunsets


Nomad, #16-1212, bridge between grey and beige


Rapture Rose, #17-1929, vibrant yet soft


Warm Olive, #15-0646, touch of sophistication


Majolica Blue, #19-4125, exotic flair


Crème Brûlée, #13-1106, timeless neutral color

The names of the colors are by Pantone, but in her report, Margie supplies the numbers for matching Delica beads, gemstone names, etc. She invited seven guest artists to work with her, creating jewelry where the color choices are based on various combinations of these ten colors. There's something here for everyone.

Even me! I'm not much of a fall colors person (except in nature and books). I rarely wear fall colors. However, as I read through the report and looked at all the gorgeous examples, I couldn't help getting really excited about playing with some of these colors. Inspired by Margie's color report, I made my own palette as shown below.


I wouldn't bead this exact design, but will probably stick to the proportions of color. OK! Now I have to go check my beads and fabrics to see what I have in these colors for my next bead embroidery project. Whooohooo, this will be a blast! I'm on my way to my stash right now!

Oh, and YES, I give an A++ to Margie's report. If you want to play with color, it's a grand place to start. Not only for beaders, it will also work well for quilters, painters and anybody using color in their art!

BJP Finished for Year!

Heart Gone Haywire is the title for my August BJP piece.

Starting in July, I began having episodes where my heart beat rapidly, sometimes very rapidly and sometimes quite irregularly. When it kept happening, I finally went to our clinic and did the EKG thing. It looked normal, so they put me on a Holter Monitor (EKG you wear for a day). On that particular day, I only had two very brief episodes.

So, long story short, I'm now wearing a King of Hearts Monitor for 4-6 weeks. It looks like a pager, clipped on my jean's pocket and it's wired to my chest with snap-on adhesive pads (nasty). Whenever I have an episode, I push a button to record a minute of EKG. It's a smart monitor, because it can also auto-detect and record episodes (when I'm sleeping or not noticing). Once a day, I telephone an 800 number to send the recordings.

After he reviews the recordings next month, I'll meet with my cardiologist and we'll decide what to do about this. In the meantime, it's disturbing and a bit worrisome. Although I understand that modern medicine does heart fixes really well, my remote island location contributes to my concerns. Don't know if it's the heart or the worry (or both), but I'm feeling slow and tired most of the time now.


So this piece is all about my heart, showing its electrical system misfiring and my two totem animals (rabbit and tiger) who are there to comfort and guide me through this process. The white eye-lash trim around my heart is protective and healing (I hope).

Please note: I wrote three short posts today! Scroll down to see the other two or click here (teaching - last chance) and here (BJP presentation - Portland, OR).

Teaching Bead Embroidery

Just a reminder that I'm teaching a two-day Improvisational Bead Embroidery workshop and a half-day Beaded Button class in Phoenix, AZ - Oct. 2-4... Specifics are here.

I'm winding down my teaching career now, so this may be the final opportunity to take my two-day bead embroidery workshop.

After teaching beading (especially my favorite subject - bead embroidery) for 20 years, I still love to teach... still love to turn the creativity up a notch for both beginning and experienced beaders. However, the travel and prep are now highly dreaded and stressful for me. It feels like the time has come to let go of the teaching part of my beading career.

BJP - Portland Bead Society Meeting - Sept. 16

If you're in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, you're invited to the Bead Society Meeting - Wed, Spet. 16th - 7 PM, in the Portland General Electric (PGE) Building - 3700 SE 17th, Portland (between Holgate and Powell on SE 17th).

I will be showing pictures of 200 Bead Journal Project pieces from the first year created by 42 of our members!!! Also, I will have all of my pieces for both years and the work of 3 other members on display!

If you are or were a BJP member and will be attending the meeting, PLEASE bring your BJP pieces for show'n'tell.

Hope to see you there!
Robin

Work of the Artist ~ The Space Between

These Madrona (aka Pacific Madrone, aka Arbutus) trees like our 5-acre, ridge-top property and we are quite happy to have them, even though they shed piles and piles of leaves every year - woody leaves that can take many years to decompose.

We are especially fascinated with their bark and the way it changes throughout the year. We love the way its colors are highlighted by the warm light of afternoon sunshine or glisten and become saturated after a rain shower.


Here is how the bark looks in the spring... red-orange, really quite a deep color. Then in the late summer, the bark fractures and peels, revealing a new, yellow-green bark color.


Above is how it looks after the peeling is complete and before it begins to turn red again.


Even the more dense bark on the north (or shaded) side of the trunk fractures a little in the heat of summer.

Last evening Robert and I were headed to town to hear a lecture at the community theatre. On the trail to our garage, we simultaneously stopped in our tracks to investigate and admire three small fractures that were highlighted in the glow of sunset. I didn't have my camera with me then, but this is how the spot looks today at noon.


The PowerPoint presentation we attended after our Madrona moment was by James Hubbell, a visionary artist and architect. We had also attended a "conversation" (Q & A) session with him the previous day. I was struck by his wisdom, especially regarding the work of the artist.

In several different ways, he explored his belief that

the space between the edges of two different things is where beauty, understanding and energy resides. The work of the artist is to create a bridge between these edges - between dissimilar and/or opposing elements... sad and happy, love and hate, east and west, Russia and USA, poor and wealthy, red and green, Venus and Mars, soft and harsh - and to examine the space between them.*

Like the Madrona bark!

His words make me think about my beading and how/if/where I might have created a bridge or studied the space between. The best example is probably my BJP piece from last spring showing the part of my husband's personality that is deeply affected by his parents' alcoholism and the part of him that is clean, sober and public. You can read/see more about it here.


I guess in this case, the space between is a narrow, wiggly wall with small holes in it where light enters dark and dark enters light. I recall feeling really good about this piece... it was compelling and important from start to finish.

Maybe Mr. Hubbell is onto something significant about art, worthy of consideration. In the future, as I contemplate a new piece and a tickle of an idea comes forward, I will think about the edges of the idea, where it meets something else. Will I find more energy there? I think so!


Is the photo above (the one that most clearly explores the edges and space between old and new bark) the most interesting of the Madrona pictures on this post? What do you think? What space between have you explored recently?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* The statement above is my interpretation of Mr. Hubbell's words, not a direct quote.

PS ~ Sept 6th ~ The comments on this post add several intriguing threads to the topic... Please take the time to read them!

Memory Box and How to Make It

Memory Box



Stitching my Bead Journal Project piece for July on neckties I had made for my Dad (here), gave me the idea to create a Memory Box I can use to safe-keep letters, photos and other remembrances I have of my parents.

The box, made from scratch using book board, fabric, thread and beads (no glue!), is 10" x 13" x 5" high, which should be large enough to hold most of the dearest things I have.

I'm going to show pictures and write about how I made it.

But first I just want to say that it's not so much a tribute to my parents (although that's part of it). More significantly, this box, with thousands of hand stitches and hundreds of hours in its making, represents a connection with them. In my mind and heart, each stitch binds us together - birth, memories, history, love, good-bad-ugly-quirky-beautiful, death - all that we were and are to each other symbolized by all the stitches in this box. I put me in the box too, in the form of quilted rabbits and hearts all around the inside. You'll see.

Many Ways to Make a Box ~ Here's One of Them

To make the box... I used a rather improvisational or just do it approach, since I've never made one before and didn't have a clear idea about how to do it. One step at a time... do what I know and figure out the rest later. That's one of my guiding lights. The other is: it doesn't have to be perfect.

First I decided on the finished size. Using a box-cutter, I cut the pieces for the box and lid from heavy, dense, book board (Davey board). The lid pieces are about 1/8" larger all around than the bottom pieces.

Then I chose some fabrics that I loved and picked one of them to cover the inside bottom of the box. I happened to be going to an all-day quilting sewcial at our local Sr. Center and needed something to do. So I decided to quilt the bottom of the box. I sandwiched thin cotton quilt batting between the bottom fabric and some muslin and then stitched using embroidery floss.


Here's how it looks. It's improvisational quilting... I just made a spiral shape in the center and worked my way out using a running (quilting) stitch and some embroidery stitches.

Some of the quilters wondered why I was bothering to quilt the inside-bottom of the box (where it won't show) and with a thread color that hardly shows. I didn't really know why at the time... now I think it's part of that stitching Mom, Dad and me together thing I mentioned above. Seeing it isn't as important as doing it.

This is a detail.


This is how it looks on the back side.

Quilting the bottom was fun! I enjoyed it so much that I decided to quilt the inside of the sides too!


I cut a template of a rabbit (my totem animal) and a heart (my favorite symbol) from stiff paper and drew around them on the fabric with a water-erase marking pen. This is the start of one of the sides.


Above is one of the finished sides. Again, my quilting was fairly improvisational and I added some embroidery stitches as well. Each side is different.


This shows the back of the same side. To add a little more dimension to the rabbits and hearts (so they would show more), I cut the shapes out of stiffened felt and whip-stitched them to the back as you can see above.


Stiffened felt (Easy Felt), such as I used to pad my quilting, is also great for beading - inexpensive, stiff and easy to stitch through. I get it at Michaels.

Now came a part that I didn't photograph... sorry.

I made a tight-fitting sleeve for the bottom of the box and each of the four sides. To do this, I cut the outside fabric, laid the cut out book board on the wrong side and drew around the book board. Then I put the quilted inside fabric and the outside fabric right sides together and sewed just outside the drawn line on three sides. After turning it so the seams were inside, like a pillow case, I slipped the book board into the sleeve.

The fit needed to be snug. One sleeve was too snug and I had to rip one of the seams. Another was a tad too loose and I had to re-stitch inside the previous stitching on one seam. It was a learning process... I got better at it by the time I did the lid. These seams I stitched by machine.

Next, I turned under the remaining edges and whip-stitched the sleeves closed by hand, completely covering each of the box pieces.


To attach the sides to the box bottom, I decided to use the picot edge stitch. Above is a drawing showing how to do this stitch. I first attached one side to the bottom. With each stitch I tried to catch 4 tiny bits of fabric - one from the inside side, one from the outside side, one from the inside bottom and one from the outside bottom. Although this took quite a bit of time, I think it made a strong join.


Here's how it looks with the four sides attached to the bottom. This is the inside.


Then using the same method, I joined the side pieces together. Above is a detail showing one corner of the completed box. If you click to enlarge, you can see the picot edge stitch on the sides and bottom. I am satisfied with how this looks and think it will be as strong as any other method. I like it that I didn't have to use any glue.

Making a Lid for the Box

Now the lid! Oh boy, I was terrified that my calculations about the size of the lid would be off and I wouldn't know it until I finished the whole thing... Hours and hours of work! It was only because I wanted to finish the box in time to enter it in our County Fair that kept me going.

Before making the fabric sleeves for the lid pieces, I had to figure out how to attach my two bead journal pages to the top of the lid. First I needed to finish off the two pages. I decided they needed fabric borders made with the same fabric as the sides of the box.

So I cut narrow strips of fabric and hand-stitched them to the sides of my beading. The pictures below show the right and wrong side of two strips sewn to the butterfly piece. This is like log cabin quilting.



Next, I thought it would be good to have my beaded pieces slightly raised on the surface of the box lid. So I turned again to Easy Felt, cutting out a piece just the size of the beaded area (4" x 6").


Then I folded the fabric border to the back side, so that just 1/2" showed on the front. I tacked it down with running stitches to the Easy Felt on the back side. I finished each BJP piece with picot edge stitch around the outside of the fabric border.


Here's Mom and Me ready to attach to the lid.


Here's Dad and Me ready to attach to the lid.

Next I stitched the finished BJP pieces to the cut out lid fabric (brown batik), using two lines of tiny running stitches - one at the outer edge and one at the inner edge of the fabric borders.


Before I made the fabric sleeve for the lid top, I decided I needed something to integrate the BJP pieces with the lid. A little quilting might do the trick. So, I made a sandwich of fabric, batting and muslin. I began quilting straight lines of stitches about 1/4" out from the BJP pieces. Nope. It looked too square, too formal. So rip, rip... out came the straight lines and back to improvisational quilting... Ha! Way better... a little spiral, some curved lines, more spirals... It worked!

The picture below shows the quilting, but even if you click to enlarge, it's a bit hard to see since I quilted with the same color thread as the fabric.


Then, finally, I made the lid the same way as the bottom of the box - machine sewn sleeves, whip-stitched closed, sewn together with picot edge stitch.

At last, came the test. Will the lid fit over the box? Will it be too loose? Ah, my lucky day! It fits perfectly. Here is a top view of the finished lid.


Important TIP!!!

My bead embroidery is very textural and both of these BJP pieces have parts that open to reveal books of pictures inside (see pictures at end of post). Think about stitching around these pieces to sew them to the lid fabric and about stitching the lid pieces together. Can you imagine how many times one could get the stitching thread tangled in the beads, around the butterfly wing or the flap of the necktie? It's a nightmare to contemplate.

So here's the tip! I stitched the butterfly wing closed and the antennae down. And I covered the entire necktie piece with fine netting, basted to the surface, as you can see below.


It really helped! The thread got caught a few times around the crystals in the butterfly wing. (Guess I could have covered that piece with netting too.) Yet all-in-all, I had very little hassle. When finished, I removed the stitches holding the wing, antennae and netting.... good as new!

Ribbons at the County Fair

I finished the box just in the nick of time to get it entered in our County Fair last week. I wasn't surprised that it won a blue ribbon (1st place), but blown away that it took Best of Show in the Needle Arts Division!!! Here it is with the ribbons...


Remembrances

Now it's home again and I get to tie olive-green ribbons around packets of letters and pictures, and find my mother's wedding gloves and other remembrances of my parents to tuck into the box for safe-keeping. I also plan to use more of the green polka-dot fabric to make a fabric case to protect the box.

In case you didn't see these pictures in previous posts, here are a couple pictures of the butterfly piece, my November BJP, about my Mom. She's 92 years old and still doing fairly well in assisted living. She lives in St. Paul, MN. I plan to spend a week with her in October.




And below are pictures of the necktie piece, my July BJP, about my Dad. He died three years ago on July 13th. Although I miss him every day, more than I can say, the beading and stitching help me to feel connected with him in a way that is special and comforting.




Using Two of My BJP Pieces

Making this memory box required that I take two of my BJP pieces for the year out of sequence. That means I have 10 remaining pieces and can not show them all together in one group as I did last year. I feel a little separation anxiety about this.... But the memory box is important to me, so it's OK.

Now that my BJP set is already in two parts, I may continue with that thought and put the four pieces that have to do with spirituality together (make something with them... haven't decided what yet) and the three pieces that have to do with my relationship with my husband together. That leaves three fairly unrelated pieces... Maybe I'll frame them individually... or??? We have four months between now and when the BJP begins again. Lots of time to see what happens with my 10 remaining pieces!

Why Blog? - - - And 3 More Short Subjects!

Why Blog?

While reading Willow Manor last night, I stumbled on her post (here) about comments and whether they are an obstacle or catalyst to readers. Willow has over 1,000 followers and it's not uncommon for her to have 50-100 comments per post. It boggles my mind, yet I can see why people like her blog. I do too.

Anyway, some of the 125 comments on the post about commenting (LOL) and her more recent post (here) about blogging being a transformative moment for her, got me to thinking (again) about why I blog.

For me, blogging started (3 years ago) as a diary or journal... just a place to keep a written and visual record of my life. My husband partakes and is interested in only part of my life... I needed to honor the other parts in some way (I guess)... and blogging became the way. Besides it was technically challenging and fun.

Somewhere along the way, in a barely noticeable progression, my motivation began to change. Rather than doing it for myself, I began to respond to the blogging community by trying to tailor my posts to my readers, finding subjects and adding images that I hoped would appeal and draw comments. Ah, comments! Yes, I craved them and thrived on them, the more the better.

Now, in the past few months, I'm noticing another shift in motivation. Do you recall my recent post about witnessing (here)? One of the email responses to this post called it deep listening. Isn't that a great term? My recent shift is toward trying to develop a community of deep listeners.

OK, I don't mean that every post and every comment needs to be deep. (Wouldn't that be a headache!) But that the general focus of the community (both me posting and you commenting, or just reading) tends toward witnessing, deep hearing and inner truth. Yikes! That sounds a bit daunting. Yet, I think it's my motivation at this time.

A Few Reader Thoughts about Witnessing

Susan said: Interestingly enough, my online blogging has helped me connect better with my family and friends who choose to read. Those non-stitching friends have begun to understand what I stitch, why I stitch and how important it is in my life. ~Me too, including my husband!~ ...my public witnessing of myself and my own feelings leads to others witnessing not only my feelings but their own as well. Some of my favorite online exchanges have occurred because of my most private, public posts. ~Again, me too... This is what I mean about building a community of deep hearing people!~ If someone is interested in witnessing my life, they comment. If they aren't, they move on. We tend to attract those who have the same values and are struggling with the same issues. We ... tend to group ourselves and that is a beautiful phenomenon. So, rather than us choosing our witnesses, our witnesses choose us. They choose to spend the time getting to know us and writing a meaningful comment -- because they care and they want to -- and those feelings are real and very, very healing, supportive and loving. ~How true, Susan, and well said!

Jacquie pointed out that witnessing for her is a validation of time spent pouring out my heart of hearts. ~I agree and also think blogging can be self-validating.

Penny says: witnessing, when it comes from the viewers heart and spirit, when they are really and truly engaged with what they are looking at - can be a motivating process. It opens not only me up to them, but them up to me and that is a gift that they give to me also. ~That's how I look at it too... as an exchange and as a gift.

Pegnard wrote: Am I willing to share my spirit, in a spirit of aloha, on a blog? I started one, but don't write there too often yet. I hope people will be kind. I've experienced so much joy from reading other blogs, felt such a kinship. I'd like to share back. ~Again, it's the exchange thing... the sharing back... the give and take of blogging that appeals to me now.

Carolyn emailed: ...we only expose ourselves to those we completely trust to like us even after they see/witness "who we really are." And that usually only means one or two special friends and no one else, especially family members. Blogs allow us to safely allow others to know who we really are and safely identify with like emotions and feelings. ~Yes, I think there is an element of anonymity or distance that makes blogging feel safe. The level of safety, developing slowly for me as I wrote and read, is quite high now.

Sabine wrote: Blogs, and especially the BJP have a lot to do with letting people witness through art and thoughts presented, and they have a whole lot to do with trusting people. ~I agree, trust is so much a part of this.

Post, comment, witness, exchange, trust, validate and transform... that's what blogging is all about for me at this point.

Teaching in Phoenix - Bead Museum is there!

Right around the corner... October 1-5, I will be in Phoenix, Arizona teaching bead embroidery and giving two presentations!

Oct. 2nd will be a whole day at the Bead Museum! I've never been there previously, but have heard lots of praise for their huge collection of beads and beadwork and the way it's displayed. This museum is currently the only bead museum in the country (in the world???), since the one in Washington DC closed. A few months ago the economy almost forced our only remaining bead museum to close its doors. Fortunately, various Bead Societies and private concerns around the country donated sufficient funds to keep them going for a little while longer.

I'm telling you this, because IF you have the time and can get there, this may be a good opportunity to see the museum! I'll be teaching a 1/2-day Beaded Button class (great introduction to bead embroidery), giving a slide show about how glass beads and buttons are made and signing books... That's Oct. 2nd at the Museum. The contact information is here, on my website.

If you'd really like to go deeply into bead embroidery, consider taking my 2-day Improvisational Bead Embroidery class on Oct. 3 & 4, also in Phoenix but held at the Farm at South Mountain. More than a techniques class, this one is all about tapping into your original, creative self through beading. A side-benefit of taking the class is that you get to attend my presentation about Visual Journaling with Beads, Fibers, Threads and Fabrics for free! Contact information is here.

Introducing A Friend's Website & Blog


This is my neighbor, walking-buddy and friend, Gayle with her husband and pupdog. Gayle asked me to build/design a website and blog for her herbal farm business. I'm no website designer, but together we developed a simple site, which is now live!!! At Bountiful Herbs Farm, you will find natural, hand-made soaps and many other wonderful things your body and home will love. Enjoy cooking and gardening??? Gayle likes to share favorite recipes on her blog, Herb Crazed... plus useful gardening tips. Thanks for giving her a visit and a taste of what it's like to receive comments!!!

What to Do with 12 Bead Journal Pieces?????

I'm just about finished with my 12th and last BJP (Bead Journal Project) piece for this year and wondering... what shall I do with them? Maybe if I review some of the finishing solutions from the first year of the BJP, an idea will come to me. And, if you're in the same boat, you might want to join me for a look-see!

Books and Journals


Terri A (Pirate Poem) knew from the start she would assemble her pages into a book, placing them back to back and binding them with cloth.


Denise D (Farewell) stitched her 12 beaded butterfly-wings to a strip of stiffened felt which she had pre-folded accordion-style. She then joined the inward folds to make a wheel book, each page representing a spoke of the wheel.


Heidi T (A Year of Beading) finished each of her pages by whip stitching the beading to stiff felt. She added grommets to the left side so that she could bind her pages into a book.


Jann B (Encrusted Pages) attached her finished pieces to stiff, hand-made paper which she had pre-folded into an accordion-style book. She made two of these, each with 6 of her pieces.


Sandy J also made an accordion-style book featuring half of her pieces on one side and the other half on the other side. She stitched her beadwork to felt and put a stiffener between the two sides so it can be shown standing.

Framed Work


Lisa B (Hope) gave her beading a quilt-like fabric background and then framed each piece individually.


Lisa was invited to have a show show (Fabricated Realms) of her framed pieces and sold several of them. Don't they look wonderful hung together like this?


Ellen C (Fish) also framed each of her pieces individually.


Karen C (Spiral) designed her pieces to be in the shape of a spiral. She folded back the fabric edges on each of the pieces and stitched them to black velvet. Then she framed them all together as one piece.


Christy H stitched her pieces to fabric-covered foam-core board (see directions here) and framed them all together. She decided to arrange her pieces in chronological order.


I grouped my pieces into three groups (not in chronological order, but in groups that looked good together) and glued them to heavy book-board that I had covered with papers I painted with acrylics. This is one group of 4 pieces.


Lunnette HH (Priceless) made one beaded button per month and grouped them chronologically in four groups of three, one group for each season of the year. She then made button cards (featuring her own calligraphy), attached the buttons and hung the cards in a frame-case. The frame can be opened and the buttons removed easily should she wish to fasten one to her hat, jacket or purse.

Tapestries and Wall Hangings


Jann B (Silk Fusion) made two BJP pieces per month. You saw one set (accordion book) above. The second set is less heavily beaded. These she attached to a wide piece of satin ribbon (6 on one side, 6 on the other) to make a two-sided room-divider wall hanging. (For the above image, a picture of one side is placed right next to a picture of the other side so you can see both sides at the same time.)


Angela P backed her pieces with stiffener and hung them from chains.


Carol L (Midday 4) made post-card sized pieces (4" x 6") in the "landscape" format. She used three different color schemes, making four pieces in each scheme.


Carol then made three tapestries (Shimmering Gardens), one in each color scheme. This one is Midday.


Trish L (Casey) used 8 of her finished squares to make a long, narrow banner. You can see more of this piece here.


Krispi S, being a quilter, hand-stitched rails between her 12 squares creating a single wall-hanging with all of them.


Thom A (In the Beginning) made each of his pieces as a beaded quilt. Hung grouped together, they make quite a show.

Other Possibilities


Morwyn Dow (Elementals) finished each of her pieces with a leather binding and grommets at the top. She bound the pieces together with large metal rings.


Morwyn also constructed a leather box to hold the journals with a 13th beaded piece mounted on the top.


Anytime she wishes, Morwyn can remove one of her pieces from the rings and attach it to a leather purse, which she also made.


Trish L (you saw her banner above) used two of her other pieces to embellish a store-purchased box to hold the finished banner.


Bobbi K (Triptychs) fashioned four standing sculptures, each with three of her postcard-sized journal pages. If you click to enlarge, you can see that she made fabric tabs on the sides of her pieces and passed the "legs" through the tabs to form the sculptures. Like Lisa, she was invited to show her work in an exhibition.


Becky L decided at the start of the year to make one hair barrette each month.


Jean U decided at the start to make flower pins and to stitch a background for each of them. Each can be removed from the background and worn.

Important Tip!

OK, we've had a look at some possibilities. But you know what?

We do not have to do anything with our journal pieces.

The greatest benefit we will ever have from them is the creative process of making them! We don't have to keep them all together. We don't have to exhibit them. We can simply feel good that we have realized our commitment and have learned more about beading, more about art, more about technique and more about ourselves.

I'm going to take the pressure off my shoulders to do something fabulous with my pieces. Well, I already did something with two of them... You'll see that in my next post. But the other 10 can hang out in a box indefinitely. Maybe I'll get inspired and think of something for them... maybe I won't.

One of our members emailed me a while back in more-or-less panic mode because she had sold a couple of her BJP pieces. She wondered if she should make new ones to replace the ones she sold. My answer to her is this: "You could replace them if you feel you need a full set of 12 pieces for some reason. However, you already fulfilled your commitment and experienced the benefits of making them, so good for you that you sold some! Congratulations!"

My hope is that each BJP member will be gentle with themselves about this. If you have a plan for doing something with your pieces, great. If not, that's OK too.

One More Thing...

Last year, using My Publisher.com, I self-published a printed, hard-bound book with pictures and stories about my BJP pieces. There are several on-line publishing firms that offer this service for a fairly reasonable price. I bought 3 copies of my book and gave two of them away. I think it was about $40 per book , including shipping. You can see my book (virtually flip the pages!) on line, here.

It was challenging and fun to download the publishing program and follow the instructions to layout my book and the dust jacket. And it's really fun to have the book as a physical journal of my first year in the BJP! I'll probably do it again this year.

BJP Begins Again in January, 2010!

Registration for the next (third!) year of the Bead Journal Project begins October 1 and closes on December 15th. We will begin our 12-month commitment in January, 2010 and continue throughout the year.

Registration is open to both returning members from either of the previous years and to new members. This is not a competition. Beginners at beading are welcome. There are no BJP police... It's a self-commitment with nothing to turn in to anybody and no reports are required.

We will have a group blog (similar to this year's blog) and members are welcome to post pictures of their work on the BJP blog or our Flickr page. For more information, see the BJP website.

Past and current members who complete the project say it's a life-changing experience with amazing benefits. That's certainly true for me!

Is Your Piece Pictured Above?

If I've made any mistakes in what I wrote about your piece and you'd like to make a correction or if you have a link you'd like me to add, please contact me and I'll do it! And thanks for being such an inspiration!

Witnessing Art… from Your Heart

Today I invite you to pour a cup of your favorite tea or coffee and sit with me for a few minutes to ponder the concept of witnessing.

Although I am no expert on this topic, I have a sense that it may be one of the most important benefits of being in the Bead Journal Project and (on a much larger scale) the whole idea of blogging.

Let me digress for a moment. Many years ago I took a life-changing class called Process Painting. The idea is to hang a large sheet of paper on the wall, stand very close to it, grab a paint brush and, with a minimal palette of Tempera colors, paint marks on the paper. It is not about proper painting. Rather it is about inviting an inner truth to come forward through the paint… spontaneous and uncensored, quick, gutsy, raw and private.

Our teacher says:

Don’t step back and judge… Stay with it, up close.
If you put one more color on this paper, what might it be?
If you paint one more thing on this paper, where might it be?
If you have one more thing to add to this painting, what might it be?

She encourages us to paint with the self-promise that we will NEVER show our paintings to anybody…. not ever! Nor are we allowed to look at our classmates’ work… not at all, not for the entire three days of the class! This gives us an exhilarating freedom to open the closet door (no sugar-coating) and to let go of having to do it right. We paint like children, without constraints.

But a few weeks after the class, I break the rule. I trust my best friend, Liz, completely. She loves me as I am. She rarely shows any sign of judgments. She is always supportive about my art.

My paintings are strange. They don’t look like anything I’ve ever done before. They frighten me a little. They are not pretty, yet they are extremely compelling. There is an element of strength that I do not recognize as belonging to me. I want Liz to know these things and to help me understand the paintings.

So I invited her to witness them.

Although I have broken the rule, it feels really great to unroll my paintings and pour over them with Liz. We talk about every detail of my paintings. She honors me with her caring attention and witnesses parts of my inner being that I keep hidden (even from myself).

I do not show my paintings to any family members. I do not show them to my boy friend. I do not show them to other art friends.

Why not?

I am afraid they might judge, critique or analyze them psychologically. When I put my most inner being on paper, it needs to be respected and accepted exactly the way it is. If I do not choose my witnesses wisely, I may be swayed into a position of non-respect, non-acceptance and judgment. And that position can be a huge block to creativity and satisfaction with life.

Now here is an odd thing! I sense that most of the Bead Journal Project members and other blog readers are like Liz. Whether my work is raw or common, many of my blog viewers/readers tend to witness, encourage, seek understanding and share their own personal experiences through their comments. If they verbalize a judgment at all, it tends to be positive. In fact, I am quite surprised by the amount of witnessing I receive through my blog and how important it is to me…. When, through my art and words, the authentic me comes forward in my blog, I often feel tenderly witnessed. I see the same type of witnessing in many comments on other blogs as well.

Conventional wisdom proposed by my process painting teacher (also Julia Cameron in the Artists’ Way and even Pat B. Allen in Art Is a Way of Knowing), suggests that we grow and heal, become authentic and find peace through the process of making art or journaling, especially when we keep it entirely private. At the most, we must choose our witnesses carefully. Wait!!! Doesn’t my experience with blogging go against this wisdom somewhat? So it seems to me.

I find this very curious. It also seems odd that I trust and look for witnessing from the blogging community more than from my family and friends.

I’m very interested to hear your understanding about the concept of witnessing and how/if it applies to your experiences sharing your BJP pages, other art or personal stories and thoughts on your blog. Do you seek and receive witnessing from your family and friends?

* * * * * *

By the way, I looked up the meaning of the word witness and found this:

Verb: To witness is to take note of something, to observe or to gain knowledge about something.

Noun: A witness is someone who has personal knowledge of something or can attest to a fact or event.

Word derivation: from Old English (1300’s) wit, which meant knowledge.

There were also two other slants on the meaning of witness… religious (to preach) and legal (to give evidence in court). These are not relevant to my use of the word in this post.

July BJP... all about Dad... I miss him sooooo much

My BJP for July is all about my Dad (and me...) Always the optimist and a person who both gave and commanded respect, Dad died July 13, 2006. Every day I think of him… every day I miss him, his quirky sense of humor and our frequent phone conversations… more than I can say. Every year, when July rolls around again, I feel an incredible sadness and loss. It seeps in and out of me more than it does during the other months of the year.

As a child, Dad contracted Pott's disease (also called bovine tuberculosis). As a result his spine collapsed, leaving him with a shortened torso and neck. His lungs were crowded into a smaller than normal space and he wore a brace to support his back/spine. His Doctors would never have predicted he would live to be 88 years old. Yet never once did I hear him complain about his condition, even when breathing got quite difficult or when a stroke paralyzed him from the waist down. He just found things he could do and went right on enjoying his life. He cherished my Mom and his five kids. I am the eldest. My life is enriched beyond words by this man, my Dad. If you're interested, I wrote more about my Dad here and about making spirit dolls in his memory here.


The fabrics for this piece are from neckties that I made for Dad years ago (specially altered pattern - thin at the neck). The top layer is the front of one of the ties. I de-constructed the other tie (which was silk patchwork) to make the underlayer of my piece. The bear, birds, dragonfly, beetle, kitty, tree, water and flowers are all symbolic of important memories about my Dad. The tip of the tie lifts to reveal a little “book” of words and pictures.



You may recall that I did my November BJP about my Mom and that it is also a "book" with a butterfly wing as the cover. See it below and more pictures here.


My plan for these two pieces is to construct a box (out of book board) covered with quilted fabric in the inside, plain fabric on the outside... and mount these two pieces on the top of the lid. I will use the box to store letters, photos and other special memories of my parents.

I'm in "just do it" mode about this box. I've never made a box before and I want this one to be as special as my Mom and Dad... which, of course, it never could be... so, for a while I was stuck... bogged down by anxiety about making it good enough. Finally, the suggestion I give others came around to my conscious mind...

I do not have to be perfect.

This box does not have to be perfect.

This box does not have to be worthy of my parents.

Perfection is not necessary to memory.

Ha! Back on track, I'm headed to the studio right now to work on the box! I'll post a progress report soon.

Bead Journal Project ~ June Finished!

Sometimes when life gets too busy and stressful, I forget about my ongoing need to stay in touch with the river, the internal life of my soul, the spiritual flow, the source of love, wisdom and peace. For several months in a row, I hardly touched the river at all and seemed to go through the days on some sort of automatic pilot. When finally I felt the dryness, I knew I needed to make myself another visual reminder to stay in touch with the river.


So here is my BJP piece for June, Stay In Touch With The River!

I've been grappling with this concept for some time. It shows up in my piece for March (Zero Circle) and again last month as I seek help from tiger (Open the Door). I am thankful to Pat Allen and her book, Art Is a Way of Knowing, for giving me the word river as a metaphor for that deeply honest force flowing within. And right now, a sense of contentment and ease holds me for a moment as I share my work and this immensely important idea with you.

* * * * This and That FYI * * * * *

The shells on this piece are old puka shells from Hawaii. I found a strand of them when I was teaching there years ago and have hoarded them ever since. I got them out to offer some to my brother for his under-water quilt... Ha! Immediately I knew some had to go on my river piece.

The tiny pink flower sequins are from Accessories of Old, a shop full of vintage beads, trims, sequins and buttons, located in Bethesda MD. They sell these flower sequins on line, here. Thanks to Plays With Needles for the discovery of this shop!

You can find new flower sequins (and oooooodles of other new, reasonably-priced sequins) at Cartwright's. Most of the new flower sequins are large, compared to the vintage sequins I used on this piece, which I think are only about 2.5 mm in diameter.

The folded fabrics are strips of loosely-woven cotton which were hand-dyed with indigo by my friend Carol Berry. The top piece had a single indigo bath, the lower piece had two. I pulled the threads to make the holes and fringed edges. You can see these strips and the pile of pulled threads at the bottom of this post.

My finished BJP pieces are 4" x 6" ~ post card size. I haven't decided yet what to do with them and consequently have not finished the edges of any of them yet.

Most of the seed beads on this piece are size 15s.

Bead Journal Project - Banner & Box

This is Trish! She is a local friend, quilter, beader!

Just when we started the current Bead Journal Project last September, I did a powerpoint "slide show" about it for our Quilt and Fiber Arts Guilds. Trish was there. She got so jazzed about all the fabulous beading and the idea of visual journaling with beads that she decided to be an unofficial participant (already past registration cut off date).

While watching my presentation, she began to think about her son, Casey, who was just starting his senior year in HS. Trish and Casey are like-minded, close friends and companions... She wished to celebrate his life and his place in their family as he was going through the transition from boy-at-home to man-on-his-own. This would be the theme for her BJP pieces and she would make them into something for him to keep.


To have the project finished to give him as a graduation gift and still do one per month, means she has two pieces yet unfinished. These will be for her, to keep as a permanent connection with her son. Her ten finished pieces and how she made them into a banner & box are the subjects of this post!



First, this is the box she made to hold the banner. One of her pages is glued to the top of the box and a second piece is glued inside the bottom of the box.


Above is the full banner, shown hanging from a tree. The banner is made with black Ultrasuede wrapped around a copper tube at the top. Each bead-embroidered piece is sewn to a square backing of black Ultrasuede, cut about 1/4 inch bigger than the piece on all sides.

Trish then sewed these units (beaded piece + Ultrasuede backing) to the banner, but only on three sides (top, left and bottom), leaving the right side open so she could insert a card with a message to Casey explaining the meaning of each piece and her thoughts about him. So each piece has a card that can be removed from the right side.


Who he is - aspects of Casey's personality - uses refrigerator poetry magnates - rainbow celebrates part of who he is.


Let's Bake! - represents his creativity with baking and having fun in the kitchen since he was a young boy.


Maturity - represents growth, maturity and the development of roots for the foundation of his life.


Sweden - represents the time he spent in Sweden as a foreign exchange student.


Strengths - inspired by a package of rings with words stamped on them - these represent both his strengths and areas where growth is needed (he knows which are which).


Ferry Boats - celebrates our beautiful water and all the sunsets shared as a family.


South Africa - honors the time we spent together in South Africa as global volunteers and his strong interest in human rights.


Heart Floating Free - inspired by Hug Nation - Casey is a hugger - the heart is a metaphor for him.

Can you imagine Casey opening the graduation present from his Mom? Do you think there may have been some tears shed?

Personally, I just love this whole idea! Thanks, Trish, for letting me share this with my readers.