BJP Update

I spent the whole weekend doing tax returns, so for my reward, I spent almost 4 hours tonight working on my project and watching Alfred Hitchcock movies ("Rear Window" and "Dial M For Murder") on TV. Not a lot of progress, but enough to make me happy!

Edited to add: I didn't do all of this in 4 hours! Before this update, it looked like this:

Snowflake Bracelet

I just finished this bracelet to match the snowflake earrings I made a couple of weeks ago.

June, July & August Bead Journal Project Update

I have finally gotten a little bit of progress on my first quarter's BJP. I have been crazy busy between work and family stuff that I stared at that leaf out line forever without doing anything. Finally, I found some time to sit down and sketch out on paper what I wanted to do. Can you guess, yet, where I'm going with this? If you look closely, you can see my other sketch lines (few as they may be) on the interfacing.

Once I had the sketch completed, it was much easier to start on the actual beading. I didn't have much time to to that, though, so this is all the further I've gotten:
Here's a closer look at the first month's square:
The flower took me over an hour to bead. I also ended up going back and breaking two of the beads on the right side to make the petals more rounded. I'll fix the thread showing when I fill in the rest of that section.

Jason's Art in Color!

Jason is working on a new piece. He's using a photo of our son Johnathan. Here is the photo he's using for reference:
Not quite done with the face:
How cool is this?

Jason's Art

My husband is an artist - here is some of his work.

This one is a drawing he made from a black and white photograph of our children. He calls it Light & Love:

This one is a still life he made at school recently:

This one is unfinished:

Moon Cuff Done!

Finally finished! About 16 hours all together, I think. I learned a lot. I think it will help me with my Bead Journal Project.

Moon Cuff Almost Done!

Everything's done now except for stitching the front and back layers together. I glued both sides this evening and will trim the ultrasuede tomorrow after everything dries. Then some beadwork around the edging and I'll be wearing it daily! :)

12 Hours and Counting

This is what my moon bracelet looks like about 12 hours into it. I'm pretty happy with most of it, but there are places where the white background shows through and I'm wishing it didn't. I am worried about my Bead Journal Project having white spots behind the beads and am thinking maybe I need to color the interfacing with a marker before I do any more beading. I don't want to ruin the effect of the bead colors I choose, though. My next bracelet will either be on colored interfacing or have some fabric between the interfacing and the beads, I think.

Moon Cuff Bracelet - Progress

As I work, my table gets messier and messier, as I open tubes of seed beads and lay everything out. Other than the placement of the larger beads, I don't have any plan for what this will look like when it's finished. That's hard for me, because I like to have a detailed plan of everything I do so that it will turn out perfectly and the way I see it in my head. This time, I'm just letting the beads go where they feel like they belong!

Labor Day Weekend Projects

Instead of working on my Bead Journal Project this weekend, I spent time making a gift for a friend. This bracelet was originally a project in either Bead & Button Magazine or Beadwork Magazine, but I'm not sure which. It's made with Toho Japanese cylinder beads and bugles. The button I used for the clasp has this mesmerizing marble look that you can almost see in the photo.

I'm also working on a cuff bracelet (haven't gotten very far):

I have lots of beads picked out to go on the cuff - the problem will be deciding which ones actually get put on because there is limited space available!

Snowflake Earrings

I love these! They are made with Swarovski crystals and Japanese seed beads.