FRESH EYE

Happy New Year to all! I can't believe how quickly 2016 went by, it seems that what people always say about the older you get, the fastest it goes is true. I put the "Our Lady" bag in the mail today. It feels good to have a clean slate on the bead table. These big bags that take a while to make are a fantastic finished project but I can never see them with a fresh eye.  I put a picture of me with the bag so you can see just how big it is. I know it's good and I hope my customer will love it, but it would be nice to appreciate the work without the "I'm sick of it" factor involved. One thing I was truly happy with was her expression. It only takes one bead to make the difference in a smile, and I think she has just the right look. Almost Mona Lisa...

AGAIN A BUSY BACKGROUND

So I'm out in 20 degree weather trying to take pictures of the finished "Sanibel Birds" bag. It is sunny but NOT warm. I will get the gray form core board out and take some plain background pictures but I can resist trying for something more interesting. I have asked you guys and the general consensus is plain is better. But, when will I ever get to use this mosaic I did years ago except on this bag! Look how the colors go together!!! It's too much I know, but I had to try...

FEELING LIKE CRAP

So, I've got the cough, sniffles, achy head, fever thing that has been going around. After lying around blowing my nose and feeling bad, I decided to get up and sit at the bead table. You feel better up right and with a cup of coffee anyway. Finally finished putting the little feathers on the leather strap so all the components for the "Sanibel Island Birds" are done. Now I can turn it over to Robert and he can assemble the bag. I love this part! He is the best and most precise leather worker. Of course then there will be all the whip stitch to do for the finishing touches but I should be feeling better by then. I hope, this bug is really hanging on...

WHICH PHOTO?

Just getting a box together, I'm sending some stuff toVivi in Santa Fe. She will be receiving the group of insect cuffs I've been working on. Butterflies, beetles and bees. Oh My! So while I was out in the sunshine snapping pictures I was trying to figure out what looks best. Do we like neat and in a row or a haphazard look. Is a plain background better than a busy one with pretty flowers. The question is "How do you take photographs to compliment the beadwork." What do you like?

SKY CURTAIN

Took a little trip to Anchorage and on a perfectly sunny summer day we walked around downtown and enjoyed the ambience of the big city. We were on 5th ave so Robert and I stopped into the Egan Center lobby where, an artwork that has been a favorite of mine for 25 years, is located. Beaded Sky Curtain by Jeanne Leffingwell,  YES, IT IS MADE OUT OF SEED BEADS! I haven't been there in quite awhile and I thought it was very cool the way the trees have grown up around the curtain. 
I know how hard it can be to capture the northern lights in beads. This is a stellar example of just that!

my version of northern lights with junk car.

GREAT VISIT!

Yesterday I put my long time friend and bead buddy on the plane back to Florida. We had the greatest visit, I hadn't seen Susan in 13 years. My wonderful god daughter Grace has grown into a full fledged, (force to be reckoned with) adult. Kind and caring but with an under lying take no crap attitude. I'm impressed. She had her boyfriend Rocco with her and he was great, diving right in to every aspect of Alaska life including chopping every round of firewood in the pile. But with Susan it was different. We've known each other since 6th grade and the easiness of sitting around the bead table working on our projects was like old times, sharing stories new and old and laughing at some pretty silly stuff. The bond of sewing together seems timeless. I think it's something that has been part of many womens lives and I am grateful for it. Not to mention I was able to get my "Late Bag" finished and in the mail while they were here...

THE BIG 60

Got up this morning feeling reflective, what do I want to do this year, something to mark the mile stone of turning sixty. Went for a walk out to the bluff. It was windy but there was warmth coming off the sun and only little tiny piles of snow left in the shady spots. I decided to try and meditate,(one of the new things I would like to learn this year) so I found a dry clump of old straw grass and sat down. Closing my eyes I was aware of the sound of the ocean waves, the cool breeze on my face and my cold hands. Trying to quite my mind I chanted to myself " calm and happy, calm and happy." I will have to come up with something better than that. I kept pushing aside thoughts as they came in. I think I lasted about 3 or 4 minutes, not very good but it's a start. Headed home and Robert had made me ham and eggs for breakfast with a steaming cup of hot coffee. Sitting at the bead table  I snapped a picture of the order I'm working on. Robert said "Let's get one of you and Crazy before I take the snow tires off."  So the day I turned sixty has been documented for posterity. I think maybe my chant this morning was right on the mark. Calm and happy...