Pride and Celebration

I've already done an April Bead Journal Project piece (see a few posts down if you missed it), but April is such an eventful month for me that I couldn't put everything into just one piece.  So this is my April BJP piece, part 2.

This piece is called "Pride and Celebration" because I have so much to be thankful for in my life.  This project is my reflections of me.  First, I chose the colors based on inspiration from a peacock.  Bright blues, greens and gold, with a little bit of purple thrown in.  I was drawn to the shape of the swirl, but I don't really know why.  Robin A. had some insight on this when I met with her, so maybe she will share her thoughts. 

I celebrate April 18.  Due to my illness my family and I had been living apart for about 2.5 years.  Last April 18 we moved in together as a family again.  It has been nothing but a joyous home life, and our one year anniversary is important to me.  April 21 is my birthday.  I am officially 39, and I will hereafter be 39!  Because it's my birthday, I've been reflecting on me.  I take pride in who I am, perceived flaws and all, and I celebrate my talents and accomplishments.  I feel that I am a talented beader, I am an awesome mom and wife, a great cook, a good friend among other things.  I have a lot to offer as a unique individual, probably because of my morals and values that I was brought up with.  And April 17 is the date of the first class I will be teaching...it marks my progression as a beader and is something I was wanting to accomplish.  I'm hoping that it goes well and that it is the first of many more to come in the years ahead.

I did have difficulty managing the 15/0's for the entire background.  They always prove to be a challenge to me, and I guess the only way to get better is to practice, practice.  The colors in the photo were kinda washed out.  The background is an aqua blue/green, and the colors in the swirls are very vivid and bright in person.  I'm just not that great of a photographer.  I did try to adjust the colors in Photoshop, but I'm not that proficient with it yet, either.

I am very proud of my peyote stitch around my paua cabachons!  I'm not a peyote stitcher, so this was quite an accomplishment for me.  I was very happy with how nice and neat the peyote came out around the paua.  Oh, and I certainly can't forget to say thank you again to Robin for the gift of the beautiful shell sequins that added some confetti to my party.

So here is "Pride and Celebration", pride in myself and celebration of my April milestones.

By the way, if you live in the Phoenix area and want to take my class, there is one or two spots open.  Email me at indigosbeads@live.com to get more info.  Hope to see you!!!

It's Springtime

Here is my BJP piece for April.  It is definitely a departure from what I normally do.  I had two challenges this month.  One was, of course, April for the BJP and the second was the theme "Spring" for my Artbeads' Blogger Community order.  The very first thing that popped into my head was a meadow--a lush, green meadow with wildflowers in a spring rain.  That's what I tried to create.  I didn't try to get complicated and fancy with it.  I did almost a childlike approach to it.  Very simple and understated.  I have been wondering about my pieces being too complicated, so I wanted to go the other direction with this one.  My pieces are always encrusted without a speck of fabric showing, and I wanted to try to leave a little open this time.  It was VERY difficult for me!!! 

At the bottom I used Kiwi Organza that I swished across the bottom.  I have never used anything other than beads in my projects, so this was something new.  It made me think of big, sweeping watercolor strokes.  In between the ribbon I used a little bit of seed beads to show some lines, but I left some of the fabric showing.  Hard for me!  In the grass there are little clumps of, oh, I don't know, maybe moss covered stones?  I simply fell in love with the 6mm Emerald Isle Mix Glass Pearls!!!  They have the most luscious luster to them!  (I can't wait to use them in another project and my mind is swirling with ideas on how to feature just those beads.)  Here is a shot of them, so you can see them close up...it comes with 3 shades in the mix...just yummy!

I also used several different kinds of flowers.  I used Czech glass lily flowers in turquoise, Czech glass hole star flowers in light blue/amber and pink/white silk,  Czech glass large flat flower in sapphire/white/coral, and a matte amethyst resin buttercup flower.  I think they made a nice mix of wildflowers that I saw in my mind.  I wish the Swarovski butterflies came in a little bigger size.  They did get swallowed up a little bit in my big project, which is a shame because they are very pretty. 

(oh, wow...my enlarged pics really shows my crooked lines!  lol.  oh well.  They looked pretty straight when I was doing them.)

And the last thing I absolutely fell in love with are the 9mm Swarovski teardrops that I used as big raindrops.  They are so sparkly and a beautiful shape.  I saw them and immediately thought of rain!

So, here is my imagined meadow,

Springtime in Heaven

(you can click for a larger view)

Oh, my gosh!  the grass border became a big problem!  I did the grass before I did the sky, and I really shouldn't have done that!  Every pass I made while beading the sky, the thread got wrapped up and tangled in the grass.  Ugh!  I was going to pull my hair out by the end.   Not only did the organza ribbon remind me of watercolors, but I was thinking last night as I was looking at it how the sky made me think of a sky blue Crayola crayon.  :) 

And I cheated a little bit.  My BJP pieces are 5x7.  On this one I put on the ribbon first and put it all the way to the edge of my limits, and added the flowers.  But I couldn't help but think it was missing something.  That's when I added the grass border.  Now this piece actually comes out to 6x8 because of my poor planning.  But the picture part is still 5x7!  So, do I get a slap on the hand for breaking the rules?  lol.  Sorry.  It really needed the border, and I wasn't going to tear it all apart and start over.

This piece really speaks to me in what I think Spring should be.  I don't get these kinds of springs in the desert of Phoenix, Arizona, and I really miss them.  On this one I practiced simplification, a literal interpretation rather than the abstract that I normally do, showing some fabric, and using something other than beads.  Even though the design is a simple one, it was a huge challenge!

Happy Spring to you!

p.s.  after I posted this, Robin Atkins at Beadlust posted some commentary and tips that I struggled with in this piece.  I recommend reading it.  Thanks Robin!

Disclaimer:  Artbeads.com has sent me product free of charge.  I am not being compensated for my honest opinion of their products.