Butterfly Pendants

I recently have been exploring new techniques to add to my work. I was interested in creating some of my own cabochons. After doing a little searching, I decided I wanted to try my hand at creating cabochons with specialized paper and glass. I'll describe how I made these cabochons in another post, but I wanted to share some of the first pieces I completed with these new cabochons.

Here are two butterflies I created with paper, glass, and bead embroidery. They are wonderfully simple, but the pictures under glass are incredibly detailed.

Over the next few days, I'll share other pieces I've completed with these hand made cabochons. I have some more photos to take so that I can prepare these for my etsy shop.

Spider Earrings

I realized the other day that many of my items in my ETSY shop had expired. Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided I would relist my bead embroidered Spider Earrings. When I purchased these beads, I instantly thought they looked like spiders. The beads have a beautiful metallic quality to them. They seem to change color depending on the light.

On a somewhat related note, I was shopping at Jo Ann Fabrics the other day with my youngest daughter and all the Halloween stuff is already on sale. And the Christmas items are already out. I had to take a double take. It is still September, right? I guess Valentine's items will be appearing around December 1 at this rate.

My Artist Statement

I've been in the process of applying to some juried art shows. As part of that process, I've had to tackle the writing of an artist statement. I, of course, put this part of the application process off until last. I found it daunting to convey what I do into 3 short paragraphs. It is hard to put into words why I create the pieces I do. Fortunately, I have a very supportive husband, who helped me pull something together. The other good thing is that artist statements are supposed to evolve throughout an artists career. I feel confident that this is a good starting point and it can change as I change.

So here it is...

I work in bead embroidery, which is the art of taking beads and artifacts and sewing them into one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. Taking inspiration from nature, I seek to incorporate a variety of textures and colors into the work, while attempting to arrange the materials in a way that creates a sense of movement and light.

As an artist and family farmer, I find that the changing seasons impact my work. When the fields are green or the sunflowers are blooming, my palette reflects that landscape. When the dogs have an encounter with a porcupine, the quills sometimes find their way into a piece.

These native elements, along with fossils, abalone and gems tie the work to our natural lives and history.

So have you written an artist statement? Was it hard for you too? Please share a link to your artist statement, if you have one. I'm curious to see how others describe themselves and their work.

Now that this is done, I'm getting back to beading.

I'm FINALLY Back

Okay, I know it's been more than a month since I posted here on my blog. Life has been a little crazy and I needed to get my family life in order. Well, not that it is ever really in order, but I needed to feel like I had some control over it.

My kids went back to school and it always takes us a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things. We've now got a few weeks under our belts and I think we all feel a bit more settled.

I have been beading in what little time I've had. I've actually got a number of new pieces to share. I've been trying some new techniques and want to share that too. I'm also preparing for some upcoming shows. I've had to spend time taking a lot of pictures, which is not my favorite thing to do.

Yesterday, I decided that it was time to start tackling my workspace. I actually should call it the dumping ground. I've taken over our dining room. This wasn't a big deal because we don't ever dine in there anyways. Unfortunately, I tend to just dump everything on the table. When it gets bad, I organize. Well, for the last month I have been dumping and dumping and dumping. I think my kids actually started putting their stuff on the table too.

So here it is. Not good. My mission - GET ORGANIZED. I'm good at organizing, but not good at keeping it up. So I'm sure that the dining room will look like this again at some point.

When I start new projects, there is a flurry of activity, then I get interrupted and the project is placed on the table. By the time I get back to it, I might have a new idea rolling around in my head and another new project is started. Again an interruption and another project is added to the mountain. It is a terrible cycle, but a reality for me and I suspect others.

Finally, I'm adding a picture of my constant companion. This is Argus. He's my shadow. While I was taking pictures of the table, he was right there at my feet. I'll talk about Argus more another day, but I will say this. He never adds anything to the table and he never complains about what it looks like. So I love him.

A Blog Break

As you've noticed, I haven't posted anything for too many days. I think I need a break. My two oldest kids start school next week and I've been so busy trying to get their lives organized that there just hasn't been much time for beading or blogging. Who knew that preparing for 4th and 5th grade required so much work. New backpack, new binders, new school supplies, new shoes, and of course new clothes. It is a lot of work. Plus trying to do it all while shopping with all them with you would wear down anyone.

I do hate to see summer end. We've had such a good summer, albeit, short and not to hot. I love the summers because we don't follow too much of a schedule. I hate to have it all end, when it feels like it just started. The start of school makes me realize that my kids are one year older.

So, I'm off to enjoy the last few days of summer with my kids. Maybe I'll steal a few moments to get some beading done and I'll be back soon to share it with all of you.

Gone Fishin'

Sorry I've disappeared for a few days. We've been taking a stay-vacation. Each August, my husband takes a week off and we stay home. We try to get a few projects done, the kind that need more than a weekend. (We are working on a pond, but that's another post.) We also try to do some things with the kids that we don't get to do the rest of the year. The last few years we've been renting a pontoon boat and gone fishing. It is always a fun day. Everyone gets to fish. The boat is big enough that we don't get tangled lines too often. It is one of my favorite things to do. So I thought I'd share a few photos from our trip. 

I've also been beading, however with not much success. I started a cuff that I've now ripped apart 2 times. So I'm rethinking what I was trying to do. It is really frustrating when you can't get what's in your head on to paper, or in my case beading foundation. I'm going back to the drawing board and starting again. Hopefully I've something new to share in a few days.

When you hit a road block do you step away for a few days or push ahead trying again right away? 

The Fruits of My Labor

Although, it was hot and humid today, I braved the heat to make blackberry jam. We didn't have the best year for blackberries. The weather just wasn't right, not warm enough or enough rain at the right time. However, I did pick some yesterday which is not the easiest thing to do. We have wild blackberries and they have a lot of thorns.  My legs and arms bare the scars of battle. Fortunately, I had some frozen from last year so I didn't have to pick that many. 

I will endure heat, humidity, and thorns because in the middle of winter there is nothing like some homemade jam.