Tahlia: BJP February

My second bead mandala! Two months, two mandalas. Success!



I am also working on Crazy Quilt Journal project, and the idea is that my BJP mandalas will go onto my CQJP wedges like so:



They are just placed on top of the crazy quilt wedges for the photograph. I haven't stitched them down yet. I am going to wait until the end of the year to add any of the bead mandalas because the weight and stiffness of the mandalas would make the remainder of the crazy quilt embroidery much more difficult. Once I get all 12 wedges embroidered and all 12 mandalas created, then I will decide which mandala goes on which wedge. In other words, I reserve the option to not put January's mandala on January's wedge!

Now I get to start stitching and beading for March!

Second Month Finished

February seemed like the perfect time for a little Harlequin Romance...
http://backstorybeads.blogspot.com/2012/02/harlequin-romance.html
Karin S.

Hi Everybody!

Phew... I'm free and back! Since last July 1, I've been working on a new beading book to be released later this year (probably not until late Oct or Nov). Finally the last of the manuscript (54,064 words, 140 pages single spaced), images (597 of them) and beadwork pieces are on their way to the publisher. And for the first time in 8 months I have time to post & read blogs and do my own beading. Ahhhhhh!

If anybody's interested, I'm writing a series of posts about what it's like (and a little about how) to write/publish beading books. Part 1 is here.

I've also finished two more pieces from last year's BJP. I posted one of them here (and you can see a preview above).

Just now started getting caught up on reading the posts here on our group blog. Hope to get around to your posts in the next few days. There is some breathtaking work being done this year. I'm in awe... and can't wait to get started on my pieces after I finish one more for last year.

Joy to all,
Robin A.

February's BJP and a peek at Jan. and March

My February BJP is completed! I had a lot of fun creating this piece. I have to confess though that I started a lil bit backwards. I actually started on my March BJP first. When I realised what I had done, I stopped working on that one and started February's. Then because I was already behind I wanted to try to have my January BJP project completed by today, but unfortunately no such luck. I should be finished with that one though in the next day or so. But here's my February BJP.

Initially I had wanted to create 12 bead embroidery dolls but then I decided to use these gorgeous cabochons that my good friend made for me. I do want to show yous my January and March almost complete BJP's. I plan to have them both finished in the next few days. Jan. BJP is in purples and then March is a wonderful daffodil for Spring.

When I have those finished I'll be sure to post their photos for everyone to see. Have a great day! Hugs and many blessings... Bobbi Ann Cook

Not Quite Finished for February

I will not get my February piece finished on time, but I've got a good start. The truly dedicated person would stitch like crazy for the next 8 hours and 15 minutes. But I won't.

Come on over to my blog Crackpot Beader to see my progress and read about my worthless excuses.

Marty S
Crackpot Beader

COLLAGE FOR JANUARY PIECES - updated March 11th

Here we go again - I'll get better at this as time goes on!

I've split it into 2 collages so you can see the pieces better.

For some reason the programme wouldn't allow me to copy 4 of the pieces into the collage so I've added them separately. You'll know who you are, so if you have any idea why I hit a problem, please let me know. I'll be on the look out for February pieces, so I hope to pick them up more efficiently. 

Please shout  if I miss you out. Third collage done.

Thank Leap Year!

Thank goodness, for Leap Year! I was able to finish my BJP for February with the help of this extra day! SMILE!

Here is a tease:

Come check it out on my blog!

I can't wait to see what everyone else did. I am so far behind!

Hugs,

Kim H

JANUARY CREATIONS SO FAR - updated

I hope nobody minds, but I've taken the liberty of creating a picasa collage of all the work (forgive me if I've missed anyone) which has been posted for January. I'm blown away by everyone's imagination and creativity. I shall be happy to add any late entries if you all like the idea of a collage. 

February is completed!

I was not sure my February piece would be completed on time, but here I am, with a few days to spare!  I created another Journal cover, which I hope you will check out on my blog.

And,what is really great is I have a little time to catch up on everyone else's lovely work!

Beth H

February - Kathy S.

My butterfly for February is my first attempt at beading on a loom. I loved the bead part, but did not enjoy tying off all of the little loose string after removing from the loom. For my first attempt, I'm pretty happy.
Shawkl

January and February Entries

I've changed where I'm posting my entries, and they can be found here.

I have January and February entries up.

February beaded rivoli

You can see my February beaded rivoli on my blog.

February beaded button

This is my first project in circular beading. This technique has been developed by Amy Clarke Moore: I have followed the instructions from the book she co-authored with Robin Atkins, "Beaded Embellishment: Techniques & Designs for Embroidering on Cloth". Basically, you bead over a picture/drawing in a circular way, starting in the middle, and matching the bead colour to the colour on the picture. It is important to use the same size of beads and, especially, good quality beads (the bead size is more consistent with quality beads). Since February is valentine's month, I decided to bead a heart!

February piece done on time !!!

Hi all,

Nice to see all the great pieces that are being made.  I have finished the February piece on time - surprise!!  You can see it here.

Have a great day!!

Elaine

February piece

This is my finished piece for February. I started an entry on my blog about it, but I think I have gone deeper into it personally than I will be able to share, so it is saved but not published. Let's just say my life feels like the sparse, scattered, mostly colorless field between the yellow loops and the diagonal line that might as well be a mile high razor wired electrical fence between myself and "normality" or "well-being." The rest of the pictures I took are here.

Cindy A.

feb-Paislies

Finished Februaries BJP this one took me a little bit to finish

 you can see more pictures here

Thanks for the recommendation

Thanks to Marty S and anyone else who suggested MistyFuse. I actually found a fabric store not too far from me that carries it (in white only, but that will do!). I used it for my January piece and it works great!

My Lacey's got a bit thicker and it is now wavy on the back. I emailed the Lacey's folks and they told me that Lacey's is a polyester product, so I probably used too high a heat to fuse it. MistyFuse said to use the highest heat your fabric will allow, so I set my iron to cotton, the farbic I was attaching! I will try some experimenting with the iron set on polyester and see how the Lacey's fares and if the MistyFuse will stick.

MF is a great product, so thanks again!

Jean G

Can't Believe I Am Behind Already (well, yes I can!)

I am still working on my January piece. I suspect that I might have been a bit too ambitious in size and scope. As a newbie, I had very grand ideas! But everything always takes longer than I think.

I have to decide whether to scale back the size of my pieces or stick with my original idea, but accept the fact that I might not finish 12. Do we get drummed out of the BJP if we complete fewer entries? :-)

Jean

February pie slice in sapphire by Double Infinity

Well I've actually been done for quite some time and have been enjoying the view of 2 months of my New Jeruselem stone inspired 2012 BJP pie slices hanging on the wall. Now it's time to let you see it! From the Book of Revelation, "And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones...the second sapphire." Sapphire is symbolic of 'the height of celestial hope" which I found conforting since choas seems to be the norm around here now that my girls are getting older (10 and 11. I know - it will get much worse!!!). When I think of sapphire, I tend to think of the deeper blues, but Mother Nature has given us so many color variation of this gemstone to choose from. Searching my stash, I decided to use light sapphire as my color inspiration. I found a really cool and old (?) 'chessboard' cut oblong cab and 2 smaller blue cabs which I thought matched nicely. Lots of bling - it's just hard to see all of it since there are 6 roundells with swarovski stones set in the edges. Again, I used a pearl at the small end (supposed to be found on the gates into the city of New Jeruselem) and tatting along the curved edge. When placed next to January, these two elements really connect the pieces well. I had planned on using some gold beads on each piece since "the street of the city was pure gold", but I found that it was too harsh for the softness of the piece. Instead, I used 15 charlotte's in pewter. Again, there is a lot of fluidity to the piece and I just stopped when it felt right. In fact, I was working at such a pace, I almost forgot to put the quilt batting between the piece and the ultrasuede on the back! Hope you enjoy viewing my Feburary pie slice in sapphire.

My February piece is finished

Lots of acknowledgements to announce! This piece was influenced by the color palette challenge issued by Judy Laquidara and Vicki Welsh. The Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge requires at least a 6 x 6 block and I used the grid from block 39 of Sharon B's" (of Pin Tangle) "I dropped the Button Box" project, modified to accommodate ten fabrics. In addition, three stitches from the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge adorn the seams: Cretan, herringbone and chevon.

All fabric was from my stash of quitting cottons. Mill Hill beads, DMC floss and scraps of ribbon and lace from my stash completed the piece.

You can see it here...

Carol H in NW Ohio

Connie - February BJP

I've finished my February project. There was a lot of beading in this project which is just over 2" x 1". As you may recall, I am creating lace with seed beads as my challenge. I thought this one would be a good exercise in getting my rows to lay straight. For the most part it worked, but I can see a couple of areas that need tightened. A few rows of these overlapping a bit could make a really pretty edging.

I am working in single colored beads so I can focus on the pattern. Seeing some of the freeform more colorful pieces created makes me want to go wild with color and such, but I'm trying to stay focused on my goal.

February

Here is my next cuff. The details are on my blog http://focus-on-fiber.blogspot.com

February BJP

I have posted my February ornament at www.beadsalot.blogspot.com

Denise D

Drift

I've completed my piece for February - "Drift". More details at http://mackin-art.blogspot.com/2012/02/drift-bead-journal-project-february.html

Regards,
Kelly D

Let me introduce myself...

Hello to all the fabulous beaders in this blog. I have been following this blog for years and have always admired Robin's work and felt fortunate to feel connected to others who create with beads through this site. In my first year I began a journalling project that seemed tame but proved daunting. Those 5"x7" pages were great for about 6 months then, not so much! I have about 8 finished that will eventually go up on my blog. So, my plan for this year is to create within a very small space. I thought I had decided on the plan for my years' work; a study in color theory beaded on a fairly small pendant. Then I could hang them or frame them, but my focus shifted completely when not only my daughter became pregnant but also my son's wife! I have designed the shape that will be uniform throughout the work and have decided to relate not one but two pieces to this glorious process that will be growing and blooming as the year progresses. And yes, both together are still smaller than my first atempt! Lesson learned. I will still incorporate color theory, of course and the gemstones and beads chosen for each month will somehow be related to either our feelings, the moms or what might be happening. At least I have a plan...now to move forward! I have the stones for January mounted in place, now on to beading.
Rose Mary J from La Quinta, California

January BJP Completed

My 2012 BJP will form a new series for me - the world of dreams. Each piece is a rectange 5x7. The introductory January one is "Dreams 1- My Introduction To Explore The Secret Gateways To Dreams". I had a lot of fun creating this and as always found that the process is very calming and peaceful with the occasional moments of pure panic. "No Cat, you can not sit in my beads!!!" or "No!!! Needles are sharp!!" However, January completed. As you can see there is a lot of embroidery involved. As President of the Canadian Embroiderers' Guild (Guelph) all my work seems to automatically involve a considerable amount of hand stitching.

FEBRUARY PIECE FINISHED

This piece has been such a lot of fun to do. I've gone into a few more details on my blog. The journaling bit is rather tongue in cheek - I see myself as the phoenix rising from the flames of a few rather tough years. It also represents me trying to fly! Last February I stepped out at the top of the stairs in the middle of the night when I thought I was going back into the bedroom - we now have a night light on the landing!

January done!!

Better late than never!!
I have finished my january piece.  It is on my blog here.  Hope you like it??
On to February and maybe I will finish this one on time :)

Elaine

Two months done

I have decided to make a beaded item each month this year rather than continue on with my poems and songs which I have really enjoyed.
The first two items are beaded Christmas decorations : http://didi-beadwork.blogspot.co.nz/
I hope that you enjoy them
Diane, New Zealand
PS I am going to Honolulu in April so would love the address of any bead or embroidery shops.
I missed every bead shop in New York last month.

I have been working hard for the last fews days and have finished my Feb beaded rock. I went a little different this month. I am starting to have some real fun with these goofy rocks. For more closeup please visit my blog at http://thebeadedneedle.blogspot.com/. Susan S.

January Brooch/Pendant

I finally decided what I wanted to do, so I'm a few days late with January's piece. Each will be a 2 in circular brooch/pendant. In each, I'm playing with color and will do something new. This month's piece is representing the Chinese New Year of the Water Dragon.

The Dragon's color is a bluegreen, and blue is the color for the water element. The Dragon likes amber and opals, so this explains my use of color this month. The Dragon bead is carved bone. The arch of briolettes under the bead from the right are Kyonite, Turquoise, Kyonite, lapis, and a glass dagger bead. I've also used pearls, Peruvian opals, and Dalmatian Jasper in addition to more turquoise and lapis beads, as well as glass beads. The front of the piece is completed, however, I thought I had the finding I wanted to use but discovered that I didn't, and the back isn't completed. So, I am expecting them to arrive this week, but I didn't want to wait to put it up on this site. I will show another photo here when it's completed, or will include a link to my website for my entry for February.

My "new" this month is the wave stitch. I'm starting to decide what I want to do that will be new for February. Have a fun beading month. I plan being on time from now on.

Here it is

Hi
I am sorry my link isn't working right for you!  Here is the journal page.  It is a photo of rust and pealing paint.  I spent an extremely delightful morning at an auto wreckers with my photo club last year.  I knew right away that there were some really good shots that I would use in some sort of stitching project.
Thank you for all the kind comments!  I really do appreciate it!
Angela

February bead journal

 Hi All
There is so much beautiful work being done!  Kudos to everyone!

I managed to get February's project done fairly early in the month.  It feels good to stroke it off the to do list!  You can have a look at it here


http://princessbubblescreates.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-bead-journal.html

As always, I appreciate comments!
warm regards
Angela

Hello everyone,
I finished the second Mother/Daughter necklace. There is a pic of it, and the two together, on my blog.
Just click on  Karen J to the right.

Karen J

Rhythms of Life

My January Bead Journal project celebrates the new year and the rhythms of life. I realize I’ve already missed a beat, posting four days late! I will try and get in sync! You can read more about my January project here, on my blog.

-Karin S.

February Done

Hi all - This one was easy as I had the theme in January. So, February is done. Of course it has to do with Valentine's Day!

Now to think about what to do for March. HA!

Have a BEADy great day,

Karen

The Bead Hearted Babe

Do You Frame Your Beads Behind Glass?

I'm thinking of framing my beaded pieces from last year's BJP. I have twelve 2.5 inch by 3.5 inch pieces, and they would all be in one frame.

I assumed that there would not be glass over the beads, the same way there is not glass over my framed needlepoint and cross stitch pieces. At the frame shop, it was assumed that there would be glass over the matted beaded pieces.

Do you frame your beaded pieces behind glass? Why or why not? I'd love to hear what works for you.

Marty S
Crackpot Beader

It's the Friday Art Question

Here it is, Friday again!  And here is the question:

What is the most indispensable item in your studio or work space? 

Put your answers here or on my blog. I can’t wait to read them!

Beth H.

February BJP

I have posted the February necklace to my blog.  No, I'm really not an over achiever.  I just have the time now to work ahead.  Toward the middle of February this will definitely change as I have assignments and papers to grade.

The color of the beads is a silvery green so the color is true to the necklace.  Click here to see it.

Kay A.

Double Infinity - February's off to a good start...

Well I heeded my own warning and did not attempt to begin February's piece early. So today I finally started and it is turning out to be a very interesting year. My February piece has beaded up really quickly, but like January, I really don't feel like I'm beading. Does that make any sense??? It's hard to explain but I feel as if I am creating a piece of art. I'm not saying my beading isn't artistic, it's just these pieces have such a different feel for me, and were only on the second month! I guess since I've returned to bead embroidery after 'stitch beading' for awhile, it just has a different feel. The first thing I ever beaded after inheriting my mother's beads was an embroidery cuff, so maybe it's some primal return to my origin type process I'm going through. Now if that psychobabble wasn't enough to thoroughly confuse you :) Here is a quick shot of what I've done so far today....