The Queen of Denial

She has the whole world in her hands. No deadlines to meet. No kids to feed. No house to clean. Dinner at 6:00 not tonight. She is the Queen of Denial. She is sailing the high seas with her beads in hand.

She is one of my class projects for Bead Cruise 2009. We will have fun exploring surface embellishments on bead embroidery. The possibilities are limitless. The square face Art Bead is by Earthenwood Studios. I still have a few finishing touches to complete the necklace. I going to keep it simple susie by using a brass chain for the necklace. A special thanks to Denise for helping name this project.

Humblebeads Contest

Those "Humblebeads" sure are getting around. They have been spotted hanging around Pirates Alley. Drinking cafe' au lait and eating beignets in the French Quarter. These are my humblebead treasures. You can pick out your own treasures at http://www.humblebeads.com/ Limited one of a kind editons can be found on Etsy at http://www.humblebeads.etsy.com/ These could be yours. Create a blog post about humblesbeads. Leave a message on Humblebead's blog and these beauties could be yours! The prize is over $50 worth of art beads in the William Morris' Garden pattern. One of my favorite designs by humblebeads

Brick Baubles

I had to make two more. The other six are waiting to be a bracelet. What am I waiting for? 3 bracelets weren't enough? It's the clasp that is holding me up. I don't want to use a metal toggle clasp. I want to bead a toggle and make a clasp that will go with the motiffs. I am going to sleep on it tonight and see what ideas come to mind tomorrow. The AKS Gem show is in town this weekend. Tomorrow I am going go and see what is there. Maybe I might find a treasure to bring home to share with my sister.

Bricks, Bricks and More Bricks

It starts out with a technique. The Brick stitch. If I can bead it I have to be able to recreate it in Microsoft Publisher.

I made one, than another and another until I had a pile of them.

What was I going to create with them. Was I going to dress them up or dress them down?

Or I could take them to my Happy Place. Rosanne thank you for the card showing me how to get to my happy place.

Part of them became bracelets.

To be used as class examples.

Looking Back

Looking back is like trying to unspread butter. It doesn't work.

Pearls and Brick Motiffs

I designed a similar bracelet in 2002 for a class I taught at the 1st Shreveport bead retreat. The brick motif's work up quickly. I joined them together with two crystals instead of one as in the original design. The directions will require just a few modifications. This class project is for our next bead society meeting. We will be exploring the brick stitch with a demonstration in increasing and decreasing.

The Rising Mississippi

All that rain and snow has to go some where. The Mississippi river is excepted to crest April 16 at 17 feet. The levees were designed to contain at least 20 feet of water. Tonight we went for a walk on the leeve to see how high the water was. There used to be a road where the water is now. We watched a ship pass. You can see in this picture where the river has overflowed. We use to sit where the trees are to watch the ships on the river. The water is up to the sign in this area. The log was moving at a pretty fast clip. This is debris that has washed down the river. We kept a watchful eye looking out for alligators

I thought I saw one here but I was wrong!! The egrets eating before nesting for the night. Our walk ended with a beautiful sunset.

Art Bead Meets The Netting Stitch

What another Humblebead? Yes! It's not hard to see I how much I enjoy working with Heather's cuff beads. The stitch used to create the bracelet is 3 bead netting. Surface embellisments with twisted bugles, triangle beads and pearls complete the design. Some of the pieces I create hold memories of good times spent with friends, traveling or shopping at a bead show. However this creation is an exception. It was made during a very difficult time and a life changing event. I made this while watching the events unfold on TV after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Five weeks after the storm I bought it home and packed it away. Last week when I unpacked it and hung it on my display board. The beauty of the healing it brought to me came out. My niece is coming to Mississippi this summer with a church group to help rebuild in Mississippi at Camp Victor. It will takes years to rebuild the Gulf South and your help is need. Please consider makng a donation or giving up a week of your time to rebuilding. It will make such a difference to someone's life

Humblebead Art Bead Meets the Herringbone Stitch

This design has been brewing in my mind for the last couple of days. The Art Bead is Humblesbead's William Morris's Garden long bead. Herringbone with surface embellishments of pearls and leaves will cup the top of the art bead. The design is still growing. This is another project where I am going to see if my hands can create what my mind sees. Stay tune for updates on this special project. Art beads play a major role in my beading project. So much creativity goes in to the art beads. The Art Beads deserve the same amount of creativity by the beadweaver.  They both compliment and enhance each other when the piece is finished.