I Guess I'm Not Ready to Let Go!

     As I looked at the things I created this time there seemed to be a sort of theme. Lots of green in the items I made. I think I'm not quite ready for the weather to change and leave the summer and spring. It seemed like spring and summer took so long to come this year. When it did get here it felt like it was time for fall and winter. I  guess this is my last hurrah.
         I found some new thread so these are made with it. The first thread I found was in a grab bag at the thrift store, tangled up in some round looms. I had to untangle them.  They were also attached to a ring that was some sort of hanging thing. I'm still not sure what it was for, but it had some nice colors.




The next thread I found was in a Latin store down the street from  us.  They have a large selection of colors and it is inexpensive. Nice. 








First I made a bracelet out of a beautiful minty colored thread.

This thread is a sort of stretchy. I think it is rayon and I was not sure if it could be used because sometimes knots do not hold. It worked up pretty nice and is soft and comfortable to wear. 















         Then I made a bracelet out of the nylon thread that I found at the Latin store. It worked out pretty nice too but I did have to pull the thread good and tight to get it to hold a knot. In the center is a focal eye bead. on either side of that is a pair of rectangle stone beads. Interlaced is a core of green seed beads. It closes with a black wooden toggle bead. 






        

Pictured on the left is a necklace made with a red jade stone and a large ceramic bead. I made this for my sister in-law's birthday. She likes dragonflies, as do I. It is made adjustable by pulling the two cream colored beads to the desired length. The body and wings are made with Chinese knots,  needle lace and macrame.

        I made these little necklaces and bookmark to remind me and others of a talk given in a recent women's conference. Called "Forget Me Not" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
       He tells of an old German legend "that just as God had finished naming all the plants, one was left unnamed. A tiny voice spoke out, "Forget me not, O Lord!" And God replied  "this would be it's name."
 Elder Uchdorf continued     " There is something inspiring and sublime about the little forget-me-not flower.I hope it will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet. Please never forget that you must be patient and compassionate with yourselves, that some sacrifices are better than others, that you need not wait for the golden ticket to be happy.Please never forget the why"... This is a good reminder to have a better prospective on life and "enjoy the journey". If you want to read the whole message this link will take you to it.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng
        I need this reminder often. I can forget to be patient with myself and find joy in what I am doing. We can all benefit from noticing the small and beautiful things that are in our live's every day.





       This is a tatted bookmark I made for a friend who sent me a beautiful old bonnet. She was downsizing and she remembered that a mutual friend of ours said that I liked that sort of thing. I wish this little bonnet could tell us more about

itself and it's creator.  I've been looking for a suitable frame to preserve it. Also in the picture is a piece of lace from our mutual friend I was talking about.

This is another necklace in the "tree of life" series. This one on the right is made with tiger-eye chips and other glass beads,and heavy nylon cord. 
       The necklace on the left is made with glass seed beads and a small wooden bead as a swing, with the same heavy cord as the other necklace. 
      Well, things do not always come out as well as I can imagine. I think I need to remember that to achieve what I can imagine. It will require exercise.  Just like learning any other skill, it takes practice. So some of what I share is just the baby steps I'm working on. I hope you can enjoy the journey as I am learning. Until next time, keep working and learning, and someday we will reach what we are working for.

                       

Queen Bee To Desert Sands

    I'm guessing you think I forgot about this post. Not so, I've just had a lot on my plate these past few weeks. So here I am again. Hope you will enjoy something of what I have to show for my work this time. 
    First I'm going to tell you about the Necklace I call Queen Bee. This necklace is made with one of my favorite finds. The pendant stone is called Dragon veins. The stone looks like an agate. The other ones I have seen are usually green and black, but this one is yellow, white, and black. The pattern is amazing. Nature has some spectacular designs. To think this is in a rock! It reminded me of a queen bee after it all came together.  The necklace itself is about 22 inches long, not counting the pendant part of the piece. I started with this stone and then added on either side of it are two vintage matte black glass beads. On either side of that and added the two yellow jade stones, and I attached it with a beaded neckband. The  triangle above the pendant is made of gold tone seed beads and vintage black diamond shaped glass two-holed beads I found at a bead store in Portland, Oregon on a visit to my sister.   On the rest of the necklace, I put frosted white and vintage beads with yellow crystal  beads in between  large black glass beads. This one is warm and vibrant and reminds me of summer. 

     Next is one of the tree of life pendants I talked about in another post. It makes me think of fall and is made with  stone chip beads, and some pear-shaped glass beads with shell disk beads, and other assorted glass beads, including copper wire and copper colored glass seed beads. The cord is tied with micro macrame' and copper glass seed beads. The necklace is about 20 inches in length and the pendant part is about three inches added to that. The bracelet is made in the same pattern and has two round shell disk beads and a decorative center bead as well. It measures 8 inches in length with a brass colored lobster clasp. 


      This next necklace is has two polymer clay beads called butterfly wings. These took a lot of time to make. the cane is made by rolling thin sheets of clay and wrapping them around each other and you  then slice off the sides to reveal the design underneath. I also used  polymer blue and white tube beads my husband Brad made. The detail on those is wonderful, and the pictures do not do them justice. The center focal bead is a beaded  bead made over a small wooden spool. The large kind of muddy yellow beads are jade, and the bottom part of the necklace is threaded onto tiger tail wire to hold the weight. The rest of the necklace is macrame with blue cotton thread and glass seed beads. It measures about 34 inches long and closes with a hook and ring. 

        The next necklace is micro macrame. It is 22 inches in length and the pendant part, including the fringe, is about 4 inches. It is light and cheerful.  I used a deep purple nylon thread and glass and crystal  beads. On the pendant is a vintage faceted pink iridescent cut stone. I'm not sure if it is glass or crystal. Included on the pendant part are tiny crystal butterflies. The knots on the pendant are tied onto a silver link of an old necklace. It is bright, light, and cheerful. 

      Now I'm going to talk about a bookmark sampler. The very top is made of tatting and needle lace below, which is needlepoint. Below that is micro macrame, with  beaded fringe on the bottom. The bookmark measures 15 inches long and is 1 1/2 inches wide. The macrame part is made with cotton thread. On the bottom is a assortment of glass beads: some old, some new. I  also beaded along the edge of the needlepoint . It is hard to see all the detail from the pictures. There are a whole lot of knots here; I would hate to have to count them. This was a fun project and I learned some new things as I went along. 

          I tried something new and I made a small book or journal using several techniques . The cover background is made with some of the marbled cloth I talked about in an earlier post. I made a starfish from micro macrame and crocheted a plant and also embroidered  more sea plants and added a couple of fish made out of shell and attached a shell with some macrame cord. I stitched the pages together with cotton thread and nylon cord. I made a fringed attached bookmark with different beads and charms and put a small sea creature on the fringe just for fun. I wonder if you can spot it? The book measures 6 1/2 by 5 inches.  I also  beaded around the top cover with glass beads. It is bound together with three oval bone beads and some assorted glass beads. I also quilted a bit of the front cover to give some texture and movement  to the the water scene. 

    This necklace  is made with a sea sediment jasper in a teardrop shape. I inclosed it with macrame and beads. The necklace is micro macrame with some square tube stone beads and some seed beads. It is about 30 inches long. I knotted over heavy fishing line for support. 

       This next one is a fun little flower bracelet with a beaded bead center. The flower part is made with white silk thread and nylon thread with glass seed beads around two plastic rings and then sewn together. This one is a little tricky to explain how to put on, so I think I will make a short video on youtube and attach it. It is easier that way than trying to explain it here. It could also be used as a hair wrap. 

      Next are some little earrings I made with Micro macrame.
I also knotted them on two of those silver links from an old necklace. I used a baby blue nylon thread, and added small glass and metal beads. I will let the picture tell the rest of the story. 

 
     Last, but not least, I made a necklace with a Jasper picture pendant stone. It reminds me of the desert, nice and warm and peaceful. Above the pendant stone, I attached two other unknown stone beads, which I got from a broken bracelet I bought on ebay. I made the knotted part with tough nylon cord. It started out as the cord for the neck and it looked too uneven, so I  knotted it up some more and made a nice cord to attach it to the other part of the necklace, which I beaded with brown glass beads and nylon cord. This is one of my favorite ones so far this time. So it goes to show that a mistake can turn into something lovely with a little more work. 
           So that is it for this time. Hope you enjoyed the journey.
 

I'm a little Lost

     These past few weeks have been busy ones, so I'm behind in posting here and at a loss as to what I should share. In our Family we have a lot of birthdays and anniversary's in the months of August and September. I  spent most of my time getting ready for those. We had another event added to August one of my nieces got married this month,  so I'm a little sparse with what I can share. 
     I also made some little pin cushions for an event for a lacing group I belong to.  So before I turned them in, I thought I should make a record for future reference. 

I went a little crazy with pictures made on my scanner. It was fun.. I finished nine out of the twelve I am working on. I fell in love with three.  I know that is a strong word, love, but there is something about them. The fabric and color is really interesting to me. It will not take long to figure out the three I'm talking about.  The first picture is to the left.  It is of the whole pin cushion  family.

 I wonder what I found so fascinating
about these, but I like the color and 
shapes and how they seem to want to
play together. 

The background on this one is a pillow from our couch. 

 This one is a  metal  container made in the shape of a heart.
I found this on one of my many trips to the thrift store. 

The next few pictures are me playing 
with some old buttons I have acquired
over the years. I want to make something with them, but it is hard to let go. I think they are beautiful and remind me of times gone by. They sure don't make them like they used to.

 This picture to my right has a set of silver prayer or worry beads I bought when visiting my sister at the little junk shop that was going out of business. The copper dish or pan was found at my favorite thrift store and  I store fresh garlic in it. 

 Next, I added  two metal
heart bells or chimes to the picture. They make a wonderful sound when shaken.

 This is a copper mold I found at the same time as I got  the dish for the garlic. I used to have them hung above the stove, but alas, they kept falling down. I had them hung by  suction things that just would not hold very long. They where too heavy. I also have a rooster and a cow. 

Next, I added a picture of one of our visits to see Dawn when she was living in Vancouver .  We got together with some of our cousins. Two of them were from out of town,and another
 lived in Oregon and has since passed away. The picture  was taken by my sister, Dawn. My Husband( he sure is handsome) ,  little David and I are in the front, Behind is Roy a family friend, and Patty and Johann.They are Henry's daughters he is my dad's brother. 
Also a man who knew our uncle Benjamin. 
This next picture I have added 
a heart and key from the same little 
shop where I found the poker chips and other items I talked about earlier. Also I added a rock given to me from Relief
Society ( a women's organization I belong to in my Church)

 The motto written on it is, " Charity Never Faileth". Also there is a piece of a plant I had to prune because It was taking over the living room.

These are some spoons I  found at my favorite thrift store. The wooden ones are hand carved. The metal one seems to be brass.From  Thailand. It has a great patina and a twist in the handle.

 Next are some pictures I added to  sheets of polymer clay and have not yet made into anything. Two are of my grandpa as a baby and  as a young man. The other  is of my grandmother.

 The pictures here are of Grandpa, him with his Dad as a baby, his great and great, great, grandfather and a advertising for their business in Salt Lake City, Utah

This one has a heart locket I got in a grab bag, I think, and have never replaced the picture.

 This one is with one of my grandmother's amber necklaces I inherited when she died. Dawn, my sister, got the other one. We were always fascinated by them when we were young. I had to restring mine and add some stones to make it a bit longer so I could wear it. Grandma was a small women.

 The pendant part I got from a vintage necklace I bought at my favorite thrift store and then I added a oval stone below. On one of the pin cushions I have a glass drop I tried to add a picture of my mom on the back without much success.

 Next added is a old pair of hair clippers and a small shell.

 We are in the home stretch now. Last but not least is a wooden snake and some more of the plant I had to trim. 
I hope you enjoyed my little fit of craziness. See you next time with a little more to show for myself.

The End,at least for now.

Practice & Play with Polymer, Paper, Pop, Peyote, Pink & Peachy

        Let me start by letting you know I'm not talking about smoke but the Peyote stitch in bead work. As I looked back on the work of the past few weeks since I last wrote, I noticed a trend. I chose to work on several pieces that had polymer clay beads that Brad and I had made some time ago. This one is a bit "shabby chic".

      The first necklace came about because of the scrap of thread I showed how to weave into the cord in my last post. I have a hard time throwing things away that are still useful.  I finished the weaving until I got to the end of the string and then wondered how I could use it. I made another tube with beads added and joined them together with a polymer clay piece I had on hand, and also I used blue and white tube shaped beads Brad had made. I did macrame and bead work to attach them together.
            Next I beaded around another polymer clay pendant. It was an odd shape so I backed it with black leather and sewed a foundation of beads for the first row and then added more from there until I had it secure,using a peyote stitch. Then I went about making a necklace to attach it too,but as it progressed I didn't think it would look right together. I made that necklace into a separate project. Here are the two finished projects.

The project I worked on next was using a polymer piece that I thought looked like it needed to be a turtle. I beaded around that also with some seed beads, adding more beads for legs and a head. After I did that, I had a problem I couldn't see how I could keep the beads on the legs and so I added some metal rings. One thing led to another, and I was reminded that I had some feather-like polymer clay beads I had made at the same time. I only had two of them, but for this project it was just what was needed. I also used two large turquoise nugget beads along with some tube beads I had bought some time ago. I like the result.  

As I was working with this project, looking for things to add I found two pieces of heavy chain and formulated a plan for a bracelet using jasper and a large glass focal bead. 
     The next project to take shape was a tree of life necklace made with rose quartz and pink wire tree with a rose quartz tire swing and some tiny crystal butterflies. On the necklace part I added large rose quartz beads and some vintage glass pearls that I removed the flaking paint from, leaving  nice soft white beads. I used enameled flower beads as an accent. This is the result of that effort. 

 Then I found a piece I didn't feel was finished and spruced it up a bit.

 
 Brad and I had a bit of a milestone this last two weeks. I sold two items on my Etsy site.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RenaissanceHeart Brad's milestone is he got his first check from selling his book on amazon as an ebook.  Fun! Fun! Fun!


     I finished two more projects. The one I will tell you about next is another polymer clay piece. I used more beadwork in this one too. It was a fun project. I also incorporated some vintage buttons into this project. 

 Last one for this adventure is one made with a vintage poker chip that I had attached an old picture of my dad to. I put black leather on the back of the poker chip and did more  beadwork around the poker chip to attach it. Then I made a bail sort to thing with some beads and then did a beaded necklace to attach it to.
 

So that is it for this time. Hope you enjoyed your visit. Thank you for looking.