Painting Fabric with Dyes ~ with Ann Johnston

Who-hoooo!!!

Four and a half yards of plain white fabric
turned into these
colorful (and color-fast), hand-dye-painted beauties:


Detail pictures follow... and all are click-to-enlarge.

Some of you know how much I love to paint decorative papers with layers of acrylic paint (see my website here and past posts here)! And some of you may remember my post about a brief opportunity to paint fabrics with dyes in Chicago a year ago (see here). To you it will be no surprise that, instead of going to our annual quilt retreat this past weekend, I took a 3-day workshop from Ann Johnston!!!!

Ann describes herself as a quilt maker, who took up fabric dying to get the fabrics she wanted and needed for her quilts. I'd describe her as a quilt master, an artist with double mediums of dye and fabric. Below is a sample of her dyed fabrics showing some of the techniques we learned.


Three days was just barely enough to scratch the surface, to learn a little about the variables involved in immersion dying and painting with dyes. The confusing parts for me concerned mixing the four solutions:

• Procion MX dyes ~ we mixed all of our dyes using only 6 colors (2 reds, 2 blues and 2 yellows) plus black
• soda ash ~ fabrics need to be saturated with soda in order to fix the dyes
• print paste ~ sodium alginate and other ingredients mixed with water ~ used to thicken the dyes for painting
• urea water ~ used to thin print paste

Also confusing was the whole curing process involving time (4-24 hours for the dyes to set), temperature (72 degrees or more) and moisture. I need to take some time to re-write my notes so I don't forget so much.

We started with a selection of plain white, quality, cotton fabrics with no sizing or wrinkle-free treatments. My favorite of the fabrics were a Hoffman Indonesian lawn (the same as used for Bali batiks) and a medium-weight ultra sateen, by Robert Kaufman.

Our first lesson was to make a very light and a dark value of the same color by immersion dying. Then, also using the immersion process, we did a two-color blended fabric. Below are my light red, dark red and orange-olive blend curing (fixing) in their respective dye baths.


For the remainder of the first day and the next two days, we painted dyes on fabrics using brushes, rollers, stamps, stencils and sponges. My favorites were done in layers. Each layer had to cure and dry (but not too quickly) before applying the next layer in order to preserve distinct edges. I didn't try to paint fabric sets, but have arranged pieces that look fairly good together for the detail images which follow.







My roommate and tablemate was Marie, of Z Quilts.


We both had a great time... and it was fun and a privilege to get to know Marie better. You can read her blog about the class (here) and see pictures of the fabrics she painted (here).

Although 19 of us were crowded in a 3-car plus garage for this class (now I know how sardines feel), we all managed to have a great time and produce some wonderful fabrics. Some of the local women have already formed a study group and figured out how to buy bulk supplies.

Pleased as I am with most of my fabrics, the jury is out about me doing more of this. The number of variables, the expense of it and the space requirements are the downsides. The fun of painting and the often serendipitous results are the upsides. Time will tell...

Meanwhile, I'm already back to beading. You'll see more of that soon!

*******

If you're a quilter, you may want to check out Ann Johnston's latest book, The Quilter's Book of Design. I've skimmed through all of it and find it one of the best ways to look at the design process that I've ever encountered. It easily applies to related art forms, such as bead embroidery, as well.

*******

A thought about taking workshops ~ I've been teaching workshops and classes for 20 some years. Only a few times during these two decades have I found time to take a workshop taught by someone else. And what a pleasure it is to be on the other side of the room once in a while... not having to know anything, not having to be responsible for anything except my own learning process, not having to prepare all the kits (Ann's were awesome!), not having to pack and put it all away when I get back home!!!

Ann handled all the difficulties (crowded space, great variation in previous dying training by her students, trying to convey years of her experience and knowledge in just three days, empowering students to experiment and play with the basic techniques on their own) admirably well! It was really a joy to sit back and be a beneficiary of her efforts. Sweet!

November Bead Journal Project ~ Mom & Me

Wow! I've been reading the BJP blogs, catching up after my week in Minnesota with Mom ... I'm vividly impressed with all the creative expressions of our hearts!!!! This just gets better and better, don't you think?


Before departing for Minnesota on Nov. 1, I gave some thought to my Nov. BJP. Since I was visiting Mom, who is a real a sweetheart, and since this important trip has been on my mind for several months, it makes total sense that my journal page for Nov. should be about Mom (and a little about me too).

With that decision made, visions of photographs of Mom came to mind... also the image of a butterfly. Mom was a scientist at heart, she studied entomology (insects) and ornithology (birds) in college and graduate school. She doesn't get into what things symbolize as much as I do. Yet, she's always been drawn to butterflies.

So, I googled butterfly images to see what might inspire me. At first I was impressed with the fancy ones. But after skimming 20 or so pages of images, I found myself repeatedly noticing a plain little yellow butterfly with a single distinguishing spot on the upper wing.


As it turns out this beautiful creature ( Zerene eurydice, commonly known as the Dogface butterfly) is the California state insect. Mom was born and raised in California. Although I considered using the more dramatic male version (see below), the more subtle and shy female coloring seemed more appropriate for Mom.


OK, I thought... now what? How can I use this image AND the photos of Mom? A book!!! I decided to make a book on my page, with a beaded butterfly wing for the front cover and the background fabric of the page for the back "cover."

I drew the butterfly on interleaving paper, and basted it onto some yellow dupioni silk from my stash. I basted around the wing and the along the veins to give myself beading guidelines (see back and front below).



Here is an example of one of the inside pages of the book. I used Photoshop to make the images into vignettes and collage them onto a partially screened version of the wing. Then I journaled in the yellow areas, writing little thoughts that came to mind as I looked at the images.


Basted silk, beads, yellow embroidery floss and the wing pages traveled with me to MN. Mom was quite impressed that she was the subject of this month's BJP page, also delighted to see some images of herself that she hadn't seen in many years. Here are two of them that are included.

Mom and me, taken in 1943 when we lived in Palo Alto, CA.


Mom, taken in 2004.


While I was there, I worked on beading the wing for the cover. I got it finished the last day I was there, but only have the in-progress picture below.


My sister-in-law, Julie, said I should consider it done... She said the silk has a papery-like texture, similar to the appearance of a butterfly's wing. I agreed with her, but decided to try beading the entire wing, giving myself the option to undo it back to how it is shown above if I didn't like it. You will see my decision in the next post!

* * * * * *

You know I'm a bunny person, right? One of my two totem animals is the rabbit, right? Well, arriving at the Seattle airport a tad early on Nov. 1, I decided to do a little window shopping. Look what I found at Fireworks!!!!! Is he cute or what?!



* * * * * *

While in MN, Julie, Brenda, Terri and I got together one evening to bead. We had a whee!!!! Brenda brought her beautiful gate (September's piece) and was working on her October pathway. Terri has 5 (or maybe it's 6) of her "pages" started, some nearly completed. Like her Pirate book from last year, this year's piece will be a sort of "book." Julie was working on a free-form woven bracelet for a sale she's having next month, but brought her BJP work to show'n'tell. I'm totally in love with the way she visually described her experiences in Yellowstone National Park this fall in her September piece (see below).


* * * * * *

Mom's doing fairly well, especially considering that she'll be 92 years old in a couple of months. We braved Minnesota's chilly night to go to my brother's house to watch the election returns... and celebrated with champagne during President-elect Obama's speech!!! Mom still reads the newspaper every day and was much relieved to know there will be some changes in the years ahead.

Having read and appreciated Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope, a year ago, I was convinced we needed him in the oval office. A couple of weeks ago I bought his first book, Dreams from My Father, which I've been reading during the past week. It feels like an amazing privilege to be watching our new president on TV while at the same time reading about his struggles to find himself, to identify his authentic place within race and other issues, during his youth. I believe he has the potential to be a great leader!

* * * * * *

Long travel day to get home yesterday... I flew from St. Paul to Seattle, took a shuttle to Boeing Field, and caught a puddle-jumper flight, which landed and took off in Oak Harbor and Orcas Island before finally arriving at San Juan Island, where I live. Ordinarily, I'd enjoy the extra flying time (over beautiful emerald islands), but yesterday was totally weird weather... high winds at certain altitudes, three levels of clouds (the lowest of which barely skimmed over the surface of the land and was extremely fast-moving). Some of the middle layer was busy dumping a load of rain, and once we saw the most brilliant rainbow.


However, if you know about flying small planes, you may be able to guess at what a nail-biter it was to be landing and taking off. Rock'n'roll, you say? Bounce, you say? Swerve to the side, you say? Yup! Took me an hour for each of the three landings to calm down after getting home. Had to put the cat on my lap... But, here I am, safe and sound!

Bead Journal Project ~ Sept and Oct Finished!

Finally, yesterday was OK weather for photography! I've been waiting for slightly overcast skies to photograph my finished Sept and Oct. BJP pieces...


Above is the start of October's BJP.

Before starting it, I had spent a fabulous day at the Quilt Museum and Quilt Festival in LaConner, WA. It's a show I try to see every year, because they exhibit the "best of the best." Only ribbon/prize winners from other shows around the country are eligible. The word "stimulating" comes to mine, but is inadequate for the amazing, creative and technically excellent work I saw! Also, be still my heart, they have vendors! One was Peacock & Periwinkle, an online fabric/ribbon/bead/button vendor with a lovely assortment of Dupioni silks.

I didn't have my camera with me, so you'll have to imagine a huge punch bowl filled with vibrant silks in all colors. Each piece was a 9" x 12" rectangle, folded in to a triangular-shaped puff. I pawed through them, selecting a few favorite colors, but not wanting to spend money that day, I put them back. Then my friend decided to buy some and I learned they were only $1.00 each. Wow! Can you see me diving back into that bowl? Yup! 22 pieces immediately jumped into my hands.

OK, so I chose three that appealed to me and layered them on my backing paper, as shown above. The picture was taken near the end of the first day of my Improv Bead Embroidery class taught in Baltimore, Oct. 3 & 4.

I beaded quite a lot in Baltimore, as I had a couple of "free" days (see here). By the time I got home, it only took a couple more days to finish. Here it is... Love in Delicate Balance.


When I started this piece, it was all about three fabrics that appealed to me. As I began to bead, I seemed to be making a "fence post" of sorts. When I put a heart on the cross-rail of the post, it looked like it could tip over, and I began to think about what a balancing act love and marriage can be sometimes.

Several years ago, my husband had an accident lifting a heavy object on his job of 17 years in the maintenance department at the Port of Friday Harbor. For months and months, he worked nearly every day with constant back pain. Several different types of treatments failed to improve the situation. He was on Dr. prescribed pain meds. About a year after the accident he had spinal fusion surgery. The pain levels were still very high 3 months later, different than before, but still high. With the help of pain meds, he continued to work at the Port.

Then at work about a year ago, he was on an aluminum extension-ladder which was balanced on a float leaning against a pier, when suddenly the bottom of the ladder disintegrated. Down he fell into the water, grabbing and tearing out many feet of electrical conduit on the way down. The incident resulted in more pain and increased levels of pain meds to compensate. However, this time, he found that he could not manage to work as he had previously and the Port didn't have (or wouldn't create) a less physically demanding position, so he became unemployed.

Not a pretty picture... a formerly active, able-bodied man, now with back pain, on pain meds and unable to work. Do you think he got kinda depressed? Yup, he did. So what happens to a marriage when suddenly he's home every day, sleepy from the meds and too depressed to do much? It gets challenging, really challenging. Maybe not for everyone, but for me it's been what I call character-building.

There is one possibility for which we both hold hope. His surgeon thinks the pain may be caused by the hardware (pins) holding the two fused vertebrae in place. Wanting to have the hardware removed, my husband had a bone scan to determine if the fusion was complete. It was not... far from it. So, since then he's been wearing a "bone growth stimulator" every day. Next month there will be another bone scan. If the fusion is complete, there will be surgery to remove the hardware. And maybe, hopefully, that will relieve the pain.

Meanwhile, try as I may to be a good, understanding wife and partner... I sometimes feel that our love is in delicate balance. You can see how that looks in my Oct. BJP.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I showed you a picture of my incomplete, September BJP, Depression Lifting, here. Below is a picture of it completed.


I haven't decided yet what I want to do with this year's BJP pieces. Last year, I turned the edges and put picot edge stitch around them immediately after finishing each piece. At the end of the year those finished edges seemed to limit my options as I considered what to do with my work. So, this year I'm going to leave the edges unfinished until I decide.

Meeting 2 Wonderful BJPers in Baltimore

I have a bunch of posts to write and pictures to show, hopefully in the next couple of days!!!

Today, I'm thrilled to write about meeting Angela Plager, BJP member for both years, and Susan Elliott, new BJP member this year! Both live in MD but not in the same area. The three of us met for the first time while I was in Baltimore teaching Improvisational Bead Embroidery and Beaded Button workshops for the Baltimore Needlework Guild.


Angela (on the right) has been beading for a long time. She teaches various weaving and jewelry techniques for local bead shops. She also enters her work and has won awards in various beading competitions. She came (and stayed in a hotel) for the whole week I was in Baltimore and took my classes, but also helped me a great deal by managing my little "shop" area and by displaying her BJP work for both years!

I am totally in LOVE with her ideas and work for this year's BJP!!! It is so amazing, I don't even have words for it. You can read about it and see pictures on her blog, but they only begin to give you an idea of how fab her work is!!!! She also had her BJP pieces from last year with her, and it was grand to see/meet them in person.... way wonderful to see and touch the real things!!! The pictures especially do not show all the thread embroidery details she works into her pieces.

Because Angela has been stitching beads for a long time, I was worried that she would drive to Baltimore and sustain the hotel expense only to find that she already knew everything I had to teach. Fortunately for both of us, she learned some new-to-her techniques, including her favorites the bugle bead pathway and using tall stacks to make a beaded bezel. Also, the improvisational approach was new and fun for her to try.

Since her husband, Wayne, will be returning home in a few days after a second deployment to Iraq, she decided to spend her time in Baltimore working on a vessel/box for him. She used her new techniques and practiced working improvisationally on this piece... saying it was really freeing and fun to work this way!! Here are two views of Wayne's Box in progress. I'm sure you will see it finished on her blog soon.



Besides beading in the classroom, I had two days off while I was there. Naturally Angela, my wonderful hostess, Carolyn Everly, and I spent both days beading... except when we took time to drive into the Baltimore city center and visit Beadazzled. I finished my September BJP and got a good start on Oct. You'll see them in my next post.

The Baltimore classes were a blast! I love teaching needleworkers, who are used to slow, meditative progress, detail and stitching in general. They were ALL quick studies! Some of them are totally excited about bead embroidery... One even decided to be an un-official BJP participant! I feel a tad guilty for being paid to have so much fun!

Susan Elliott, top picture on the left, was responsible for their interest in getting me all the way across the country to teach... and it took almost 2 years from their first contact to make it happen. We were very blessed in class because Susan brought her September BJP piece, Returning Home, shown below, so we could all see it in person. It is such a touchingly beautiful piece. If you haven't read about it on her blog, please go here.


Susan and other Guild movers and shakers took Angela and me to dinner one night at a fabulous French restaurant in the little historical town of Ellicott City. Other than the fact that I was on the second day of a nasty head cold, it was really fun to be pampered and fed as only the French can, to spend a couple of hours entertained by Susan's travel stories and to be in the good company of such impressively talented women!

Meeting, beading and being with Angela and Susan was a great pleasure, a gift! We connect on the internet, realize how much we have in common, get to know and like each other... That's a very special part of the BJP. Then, later, to meet in person is so easy. It's like we already know each other... the shyness and formalities of meeting evaporate into instant bonds. I love it!!!

Bead Journal Project ~ Sept + Backing Discussion

Wooo-hooo! Two posts back to back... Depression must be lifting at last!!!

And I think maybe that's the subject of my September BJP piece... Depression Lifting... although I'm never sure because sometimes the beads and fabric change their implication or significance as I continue to bead.


This piece is a long way from finished. I've done some work in the upper and lower sections, but only the bare minimum in the center sections. It just began with four fabrics I liked at the moment and the intention to try folding the over-lapping sections around rat-tail cording to make a raised division between the sections. As it turns out, the raised divisions are not especially noticeable, particularly in flat photos. But it was still fun to try.

I had this little bit of purple ribbon from a gift that was just there on my work table... gotta use that! But it was only enough to do two of the sections, so of course, I had to make a trip to a rubber stamp store in Bellingham, WA to get more ribbons. Whoo-hoo, that was fun... at 15 or 20 cents a yard, I picked up quite a nice little stash of narrow, somewhat transparent ribbons.








Here are some detail shots to show the treasures I've used on this piece. The Sacramento coin with a cut-out heart in the center is a bus token, probably from the 40's that my Grandfather had in his coin collection. The vintage, abalone button is from another of my Grandfather's collections. The purple, carved-glass cabochon is a vintage piece I picked up somewhere in Germany years ago. The purple butterfly is a modern pressed glass bead, but the little transparent nail-head beads along the ribbon are definitely old (and long-hoarded by yours truly).


Here's how my Sept BJP piece looks while I'm working on it, with the extra fabric around the edges showing. If you click to enlarge, you can see how I stitched the ends of the ribbons down so that my beading thread doesn't get caught around and tangled with them.

* * * * * *

OK, on to a discussion of backing for bead embroidery. I noticed a number of posts on the BJP blog about backing. Many participants are using Timtex, Pellon, Stiff Stuff, or some other type of thick, stiff interfacing as a backing. Please let me throw in my 2 cents worth about this subject.

The primary reason to use backing is to stabilize your work and keep it from puckering. If your tension is too tight, it can pucker no matter which backing you use or how stiff it is. Especially bead weavers (peyote, right angle, etc.) tend to have trouble with tension when doing bead embroidery because it's so important to keep your work tight when weaving. That type of tight tension is NOT so good with bead embroidery.

I've been doing bead embroidery constantly for over 20 years. (Gaaak! Can it be that long?!) Except for trying Stiff Stuff one time, I've ALWAYS used paper for my backing. It is very easy to sew through it, isn't sticky, doesn't add bulk, costs only pennies, and most importantly, it works! Here is a picture of the back of my September BJP piece.


If you click to enlarge, you can see the holes where I've put my needle in at what turned out to be the "wrong place." You can also see how I end the thread by "weaving" it under a few stitches. Also, notice how I've run a line of little stitches around the whole piece so I can see where my beading area is on the right side. I leave an extra inch or so of both fabric and paper all around the piece. When I've completed the beading, I will tear away the extra paper around the edges and fold the fabric to the center along the stitched guideline (as in the top picture of this post).

Then it will be ready to finish any way I want.

If I want to applique it onto another fabric, such as for a wall-hanging or quilt, I just whip stitch it in place around the folded edge. Or I could glue it onto mat board using book-binding PVA glue or other acid-free glue. The paper backing/stabilizer takes glue really well!

If I want it to be stiff, I can cut a piece of template plastic or acid-free mat board just slightly smaller than my finished piece and a lining of Ultrasuede or other non-woven fabric and make a sandwich with the stiffener in the middle. I could either whip stitch the lining to the top or use a decorative edge stitch.

I always use acid-free interleaving paper to back my bead embroidery, but any acid-free paper works, including computer paper, hemp paper, Sumi painting paper, scrap booking papers, etc. If any of you would like to try the interleaving paper, send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope (just one 42 cent stamp is fine), and I'll send you a free sample to try. (837 Miller Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250) It's available through some art supply and archival supply stores, or you can purchase it through my website here.

9mm Red Glass Rings

Duh... I fell for an internet scammer. Bummer.

It began with a nice sounding first contact through my website... guy said he wanted to buy 800 glass rings in transparent medium red.... wanted to know the cost of shipping them to Othello, WA (a small town in eastern Washington). "Waiting to hear from you. Best regards, Mark Hudson."

Since I was about to restock glass rings for sale through my website and since he sounded so legitimate, I went ahead and ordered 1200 of the rings. I also wrote to tell him I'd give him a wholesale price on the rings of $6.75 per 100. Nice!

Mark wrote back, that he now wants 3200 rings and he's sending a check (which he spelled cheque) saying "once payment is received and cleared you ship." I'm beginning to get suspicious... something about his tone, grammer and lack of comment about the price I offered began to make me twitch a bit.

So I wrote back to him and said I'd order the remaining 2400 rings after I received his payment. From his reply, the scam was finally made clear: "...there is a payment error on the amount on the cheque sent to you ,cos she was meant to issue $216 to you but rather issued and sent $2,016 As soon as you received the cheque, feed me back so that I will instruct you on how to get the remaining funds to my personal assistant."

Well, that's that. But now I'm stuck with all those beautiful, red glass rings... so lovely in fringes, woven treasure bracelets, loopy surface fringe, earrings, even strung on a chain. So here's what I'll do... If any of you readers are interested, you can send me $8 (includes shipping to anywhere in the USA) per package of 100... and get them at the wholesale price. My address is 837 Miller Road, Friday Harbor WA 98250.

Thanks, everyone!
The red glass rings are all taken now!
(9-26-08)

I've been approached by scammers previously, but they were much more obvioius right from the start. I was always polite, but cautious. Now it seems they're getting more sophisticated and clever. Lesson learned... I hope.

Bead Journal Project... A Few Thoughts

Well, first I have to hang my head in apology about not posting for so long. Family health issues and various obligations have gobbled up my energy (and creative flow) for the past 2, almost 3 months.

The only thing I've beaded during this time is the header for my blog, which I then turned into a little, quilted wall hanging just in time to enter in our County Fair. I'm not experienced with hand quilting (which is obvious if you click to enlarge the picture and examine the stitches), but enjoyed sewing this piece very much and will probably work on getting more skilled at hand quilting.


Bless the BJP and everyone posting their plans, goals and excitement about getting started... It's catching! I'm starting to feel myself being lifted from the doldrums by all the enthusiasm! I'm almost to the point of checking out my fabric stash and bead boxes... Almost...

Another thing improving my spirits and pushing me toward the track again is what Lunnette Higdon-Hertel did with her BJP buttons from last year. Since she isn't into digital, I took the picture and am posting it here. The buttons are fastened to the cards with toothpicks on the back so that they can easily be removed and pinned to her sweater, hat or purse. She intends to frame them as a group... the cards will hang on "pegs" so they can be removed. Clever, huh.. and don't you just love her calligraphy?!

Sherry Markovitz - Exhibition - WOW!!!!

*****

Ooooh, I'm still glowing from a happy reunion with beady friends and chance to see an amazing art exhibit this past weekend!

Sherry Markovitz, Remarkable Artist and Beader!

For starters, my long-time best friend, Liz, and I went to the Bellevue Art Museum to see a retrospective exhibit of work by artist, Sherry Markovitz. After spending an hour and a half seeing the exhibition, we joined Sherry in a walk through program. Way, way, way fabuloso!!!!

Looking at her beaded, life-sized animal heads, beaded dolls and paintings, I'm most drawn to the animals. Every one of them seems alive to me with all the presence and personality of a live animal, plus a most compelling inner calling or core message. Unlike other exhibits I've seen of Sherry's animals, this one has them mounted in a way that you can see them up close and personal -- put your ear right up to the animal's mouth, view it eye to eye and examine every little detail. The exhibition runs until September 7th. If it's possible for you to get to Bellevue, WA, this one is a 5 star ++++++++, don't-miss-it show... and the parking is FREE!

This time my favorite was Yellow Bear, with his quizzical expression. He kept calling me. I'd be looking at something else, even in a different room, and he would reach into my heart from afar, bringing me back to stand with him, the two of us together in a quiet haze of some deeply spiritual place. Thank you, Sherry, for that!

I'm sorry I didn't take my camera and don't even know if digital photography is allowed. So I don't have a picture of Yellow Bear. But there is one in Sherry's book, Shimmer, which is available through Amazon here or in the Museum gift shop. I found a few other images of her work on the web... you can see them below. Be warned... these images do not do justice to her work in any way! But if you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you can see the beading details much better than in the smaller versions.


My Mule, above, was also one of my favorites, along with Copper Bear and two of her paintings, Rose and Big Donk.





Puget Sound Bead Festival!

Next on the weekend's agenda was a whole, luscious day of shopping at the Puget Sound Bead Festival. This particular festival also gets 5+++++ stars from me. That's way more stars than I give any other bead and/or quilt festival.

It seems the organizers go miles beyond normal customer service to make the entire festival (classes, exhibits, shopping) easy and enjoyable for everyone. I'm not going into detail here about that, but if ever you'd like to come to the west coast, think bead festival - Tacoma, WA - July... it's the best!

For years and years, I've been teaching at the PSBF, with a full schedule of classes. Always in the past, I've had to squeeze in an hour or two of shopping here or there, between classes, after classes and during lunch breaks... always in a state of complete exhaustion. This year, oh pure joy, I decided to take a year off and not teach... can you believe SEVEN hours of non-stop, take-my-time-and-really-look shopping??? Seed beads, Thai silver, lots of lampwork beads, One-G thread, crystals, fab selection of pressed glass beads from Raven's Journey... ooooh, my bag was so heavy and full... like in the old days of trick-or-treating... ahhhh!

After shopping, I met with four fabulous bead buddies for dinner and beady show'n'tell. We talked and talked, remembering past gatherings, catching up on personal news, enjoying each other's company. Bead friends are such a blessing!

New Header for my Blog

As you can see, I finally got around to creating and uploading a beady header for this blog. About time, you say? Yup, you're right about that. Hope it's better late than never. Do you like it?

I'd been hoarding the lovely flower disc bead by Jenny Fiske-Baer for a long time. That's what got me going and turned the piece into a showcase for some of my favorite flower and leaf beads. The bird fetish, upper left, is by Zuni artist Rosita Kaamasee.

Next my plan is to use some Dupioni silk scraps I have in my stash and turn this piece into a small, quilted wall-hanging. Hopefully you'll see it soon.

Bead Journal Project - Finishing Solution Found!

I watched a friend, Sondra Bayley, artist/photographer, handle my BJP "soul cards," gingerly trying to pick them up without rumpling the edges. I could tell she was concerned that her hands might not be perfectly clean, that she might get finger prints on them... She was clearly uncomfortable and so was I, not that I was worried about my pieces but that it cut into her enjoyment of them.

She asked how I intended to display them. Display them? Well, cards don't display very well... either they sit out on a table flat, and you can't see the backs... or... or what? She then spoke very strongly in favor of them as "art" and as such, she said, I needed to figure out a way to show them. She suggested framing each one separately.

Yes, I thought, you're right. But how? And what about the painted backs? So I took them to my studio and started playing around with grouping them. Three groups of four, but not in chronological order, looked good to me. Now what?

Traditional framing wouldn't work. I couldn't put a mat over my pieces because of the beaded picot edges. They would have to be glued to something. What? Not just plain old mat board...

Well, I love to paint decorative papers. And it was great fun to paint the papers I used for the backs of the cards. So why not try to paint papers as a background for each group of four?

That's what I did. And happy it makes me... happy painting and happy with how my pieces look on the painted papers. Whooohoooo! Now, what about the backs of the cards? No way to save them. I'd have to sand off the wax finish and some of the paint in order to glue them to the papers. But what I COULD do is to scan and print them. Yes, and glue the prints to the backing in the frame.

Voila! Here they are. You won't be able to see the painted papers very well unless you click the pictures to enlarge them. Hope you like them...

front and back, group 1

front and back, group 2

front and back, group 3

The groupings are by intuition, not logic. I just like them that way. There you have it! Finis!

By the way, I never, ever in the whole world thought I'd be framing something I'd painted. Never! (I guess we should never say "never," eh?) I only started painting a few years ago when I took a hand made book class and a painting class at ArtFest.

I was like a child... didn't know the first thing about paint, acrylics, brushes or any of it. Words like glaze and pounce were a mystery to me when applied to painting. But at the same time, I was like a child in Disneyland. And, though I was lost in the techniques department, I had a blast in the get-paint-on-the-paper department. Enough of the techniques stuck that I kept on working with it.

Several years later and you do not want to know how much painting stuff I've got crammed into my studio... or how MUCH I love it!