Free Form Peyote Bracelet

Feb6

About 6 years ago, I started a free form peyote stitch amulet bag in luscious sea colors. Over the course of 4 years and a challenging time in my life, I worked on it on and off until it was finally finished. I loved the meditative feel of adding beads a little at a time and it mirrored for me the small positive steps I was taking in my life. Perhaps the healing memories of creating that amulet bag is one aspect of what drew me to the idea of the Beaded Journal Project years later. Recently, when I saw this bracelet created by Libby at Libzoid, it further awakened those memories. So, inspired by Libby’s creation and the sunrise colors in my December page, I created this free form bracelet. I call it “Awakenings”.

Glazed Face Cabochons

Feb3

Last week at my RIPCG meeting, some of us experimented with creating glazed face cabochons. We started out with various colors of polymer clay and some purchased face molds. I used a blend of ecru and white clay. After the face was molded, we rubbed small amounts of Pearl Ex powder on the faces and cured them for 10 minutes. The ones above have macropearl, bronze and gold, going left to right. After curing, we mixed a couple of drops of Pinata ink (I used 1 drop each of Baja Blue and Rainforest Green) with some liquid polymer clay. I used the Kato brand while some of my fellow members used the Sculpey brand. I save the sauce containers from my Chinese food orders and they’re perfect for mixing small batches of paint or glaze. The faces went back in the oven for about a half hour. We noticed that the faces with the Kato glaze came out shinier whereas the Sculpey faces had a matte finish. With the profile face, I experimented further with some Tim Holtz Distress embossing powder in a Tea Dye color (of course!). I rubbed it over the face and popped it back in the oven for awhile. When I took it out, it looked like nothing much had changed. The powder was still sitting on top of the face so I rubbed it off and it left behind some interesting spots. I glazed again to seal in those rusty looking spots.

I’m not sure yet what I will do with these faces. They might whisper to be used on one of my beaded journal pages. Or, perhaps a bead embroidered pin or pendant. Experimenting with glazing polymer clay has inspired me to create something for my January page that I’ve been puzzling over in my mind all month. It’s not done yet but I will post pictures once I have them made. A hint – pebbles on a path that spell out a message.

If anyone has any experience with glazing polymer clay, I invite you to share your story.

Kaji Aso Studio on Chronicle

Jan11

A couple of months ago, I was honored to participate in a Japanese Tea Ceremony at the Kaji Aso Studio in Boston.

I was recently sent a link to a story that was done on the studio. It’s from the Chronicle news magazine show on a local Boston station.

All of my creative moments this week have been spent beading my December journal page. It’s finally finished so I’ll be posting photos of “The Birth of the Sun” this weekend. When I took a break from my beading the other evening and looked out my window, I had to grab my camera. Mother Nature was painting again.

Creative Everyday 2008

Jan9

In 2007, I discovered how important it was to me to commit to a daily creative habit. Living my life in an artfully expressive way is as important to me as breathing. So, with this commitment in mind, I was excited to join Leah Pilken’s challenge to be Creative Everyday. This is a low stress challenge to incorporate creativity into your life on a daily basis. If you haven’t visited her blog, I encourage you to go check it out. A special thanks to Sue for sharing and pointing me in that direction.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was completely wowed by the sunrise and moved to get creative with my camera. I love to be creative with my camera because it helps me focus (pun intended) on a unique and special moment that has moved me enough to capture it in a photograph. As I listed in a previous post, one of my goals for this year is to experiment with transfer methods so I may incorporate my photography into my artwork in some way, whether it be in my jewelry or in my mixed media work. In my sunrise photograph, I see a 4-color combination that I would love to incorporate into a piece of jewelry, too.

How are you creative everyday?

Goals for the New Year

Jan6

I have been reading many blog posts lately about goals for the New Year. So, inspired by my online friends, I have set forth a few goals for myself for 2008.

-take a painting class/workshop to bring painting back into my life

-create a visual journal by sketching more

-recreate my website

-nurture my writing, including writing poetry

-plant a garden at my new home

-open an Etsy account with updated photos of all of my jewelry

-learn transfer techniques so I may incorporate my photos into my art and my jewelry

-spend more time in nature

As I scan through my list, I see my resolution word, “Beauty”, already guiding me. In the last week, my meditations on my resolution word have led me from thinking about creating beautiful things to experiencing “beauty in the moment” and finally to finding the beauty in myself. As I approach my 50th birthday, I celebrate my blessings, my growth and, yes, my beauty.