My Creative Space

I got my supplies to make my Artbeads.com Design Partner challenge yesterday...I am so excited! I plan on toiling over this piece over the weekend...hubby is in Oklahoma till Sunday visiting his daughter.

I was planning on a Miriam Haskell-type design...her work is so exquisite!

The frosted acrylic flowers look good enough to eat...

and the frosty fire polish beads are just too sweet in this light baby pink...although in this picture they have a grey cast I could not get rid of!

Unfortunately, I'm on the bottom of the list for emails with the design challenge, so by the time I get to pick out my parts, many in the theme are sold out :( I wanted to go for vintage type accent beads in pink, blue and green. They needed to be oval shape and about 8mm to fit with the design. This was the best I could do with what was not sold out in their inventory...

There was no plain pink or green. The blue beads in the back are about the best choice. I liked the vintage shape of the pink/green beads, but the green throws it all off. I just may have to search my vintage bead stash to see if I can substitute. If you go back to the top picture, you can see how they just don't blend well. Perhaps I can use them to work up some earrings.

I'll get the pictures of the final piece up when it is done. Maybe I will even do a giveaway with the earrings!

Stay tuned.....

My Creative Space and Sneak Peak for Next Week

My Creative Space is filled with ribbon flowers and more of my cool handmade stamens.  I hand dyed all the ribbons used which was a super-messy process, but it was fun because you can get so creative in the dying process with different textures and combinations.  Above is a wild rose and fuchsia.  Don't let the zoom fool you - they were made with 1/2" ribbon....super tiny!

I have a lot planned for this coming week.  On Monday, I will be revealing my Bead Soup Blog Party piece.  Remember the components I posted that I received from my partner Vintage Blue Studio?  Well, here is a sneak peak at what I designed:

To see all the participants, visit Lori's blog, and make sure you follow her so that you don't miss the next bead soup party!

Since I will be unveiling my piece on Monday, I am planning a giveaway of a piece I made with the leftover components of my bead soup.  I will probably be posting this early Monday morning and the giveaway will more than likely last the week to celebrate the blog party!

Later this week, Paige will finally be getting her cover fitted...lots of pics will be posted of that tedious event.  And don't forget the last minute get together I planned for Mom.  I promise tons of pictures!  It is actually working out quite nicely...only about 15 will be able to make it and everyone offered to bring something to the table.  Whew...makes my job so much easier.  Mom was so happy when I told her this morning.

Have a great weekend, and Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!  My hubby will be getting a home made Black Forest Cake for Father's Day this year!  Mmmmmmm!

My Creative Space...1940's Style

I have spent the week going through my ribbons and vintage millinery supplies, trying to organize. While I was pawing through all that fun stuff, it occurred to me that vintage millinery stamens, as well as more modern ones, are so big compared to the tiny millinery ribbon work that I do. Therefore, My Creative Space today is filled with hand made stamens! They were so fun to make and I had total control over how large the stamen on the end of the string was getting. Don't you just love making things yourself?!

For example...gorgeous millinery stamens! But most of the cool shaped ones are way too big for my needs! Yesterday was spent making small plain stamens. Today I'll probably venture to make the more shaped ones.


The perfect hat embellishments!


So....
Let's see your creative space!

My Creative Space

I know...a day late again...

Anyway, I have been working on finishing up my Artbead Summer challenge. I really want to get it done by the end of the week - it has been hanging around too long. After this, I will start my Bead Soup piece...I have been sketching tons of designs and just can't settle on one. Really want to get at the construction next week though.

Oh, and Paige will be getting dressed soon! Mom will be up from North Carolina around the 22! I trust her helping me size Paige's cover WAY more than my husband! (no offense, Mike). It was my mother who taught me how to sew after all.....

My Creative Space...a day late

I have been working on my Artbeads.com Designing Partner piece and as you can tell from the colors will definitely reflect the "Summer" theme. The necklace will be asymmetrical in nature. Here I am working on one side of the necklace. I am absolutely loving working with the vintage beads that came with the mix. So retro!

I'm hoping to have the piece completed by the end of the weekend. Although time has not quite been on my side this week, it is a long weekend and the kids left for a 5 day out-of-town vacation a day early last night, so I am hoping to make up on some time while they are gone. Working when they are away helps keep my mind off the fact that they ARE gone. I miss them so much. They are just glad they got out of school a day early!

My Creative Space

Another lovely stash from Artbeads.com! This time's design challenge? Summertime!
I simply can't wait for summertime and thank goodness, it is finally looming on us! I chose some glass pearls in emeralds and blues, Czech glass beads in green Picasso, a mix of blue glass Czech beads and a bunch of vintage white beads. Add to that a cool brass chain, several gold tone seashore charms and a toggle to match.

I have been playing with designs in my sketchbook for a couple days and haven't really decided which direction I will be taking this. I am tending more towards asymmetrical necklace. However, every time I try to plan a piece and do multiple sketches, it always takes on a life of it's own and becomes something not planned! Why do I bother sketching?!

For more creative spaces, go to kootoyoo's blog. Play along...it's fun!

My Creative Space

Still working on the bloomers! I love this project because it is a ME project. Just for me. Sure, I will use the pattern to make more for my shop, but these are for me :)

Speaking of pattern, I finally decided on a dressform. It is already ordered and I am just waiting for it to come. It is a Uniquely You Dressform. Way better than those nothing more than a plastic shell dressforms. This one is solid foam rubber! Can't wait to get it! Thanks for all your advice and comments :)

It took me about 4 hours to make the pattern from a drawing and cut the fabric out. Hubby couldn't believe it took so long. I told him that it is another case why I need the dressform! Without one, I have to keep measuring and pinning on myself which can be quite difficult.


And, of course, I had to sew the detail work before I could start piecing it together. I am now finally piecing in the evenings. I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out!

So, what's in your creative space? To see more creative spaces, visit kootoyoo's blog!

My Creative Space

My Creative Space this week is sort of a pre-creative space. Running low on great antique buttons for jewerly, I have been spending the week going through my personal collection to take buttons I really don't need. I guess that is a sign that I should acquire some new buttons for my work collection!

I keep the pictoral buttons separated according to the National Button Society classification guide. I keep 4 major collections: plant life, animal life, pictoral objects and misc. pictorial. Above is a few cards from my personal plant life collection. Showing is a card of various identified flowers and a card of pansies (one of my favorites!). I should actually share some of my buttons with you on the blog...great idea for weekend posts!

You can see a larger image by clicking on it!

Happy Thursday :)

My Creative Space

I'm embarrassed to say that last weeks beading project is still on the bead board. That's the problem with working out new designs: just when you think you figured it out, you find another improvement and have to start all over!

So, I'll take you to my evening projects: Tunisian Crochet. Since my severe focal hand dystonia prevents me from knitting, Tunisian crochet is basically knitting on a crochet hook. It is believed that Tunisian crochet originates in either North Africa or the Near East. I started learning this technique a month and a half ago and the blue sample in the picture is the first "Perfect" sample I have created yet. It is a real difficult stitch to learn, but when you get it, it's worth the time it takes for the learning process!

This particular stitch literally resembles knitting, from the "v" shaped stitches in the front to the "perl" in the back. I am so glad I can knit now without hurting my hands!

For more "My Creative Space" or to play along, visit Kootoyoo's blog!

My Creative Space

Currently on the bead board is a whole new design, inspired by Victorian jewelry fashions, of course! Quite a tedious process as there are many components to beadweave, but I'm sure the results will be fabulous!

As you can tell, the images are not very good (funny coming from the one posting photography tutorials!) Unfortunately, my studio is in the north end of the house with tiny little windows...doesn't make for very good photography light. I do have a swing-arm halogen lamp that swings over my work area which makes for some bright beading, however, it doesn't do much for my pictures! :) My cream-colored beading pad doesn't help much as it casts a yellow tone on everything. I'm still looking for a replacement that will fit my irregular space.

Coming up next on the bead board will be a sweet little wire worked bracelet with beaded components. Another tedious, but pleasurable, beading session. So now that you have the sneak peak at the pieces, hopefully next week I will be able to show it in progress on the bead board.


To visit more creative spaces or to play along, be sure to visit kootoyoo!

My Creative Space

I have been working on a new design using a vintage element which is NOT a button or a piece of old jewelry. You will have to wait for the finished product to see what it is. I designed the pattern to be an Art Deco piece, however, I didn't account for the lack of stretch in design with peyote stitch and the design looks a little squashed. I'm not certain if I will finish this piece or not...I may have to go back to the graph paper and re-design it. Oh well, that's what happens from time to time. Not everything in the studio works out as it was planned.

On to other things...

So, I am sitting here...in a suburb of Buffalo, NY....at the beginning of April...and the temperature outside is 77 DEGREES! This time last year, my gardens were buried under two feet of snow still! So, my plans this weekend are to get to my gardens, clean them up and prepare them for planting, moving or seeding! Whoo-Hoo!

This is my Victory garden. The gate broke off over the winter as you can see. I grow peas, radishes, beets (Go, Dwight Shrute!), jalapeno peppers for my son, sweet peppers for me, spinach, onions, shallots and potatoes. On the far right of the garden you see the ground tilled. That's because I put my pea seeds in. I know, a little late, but I had to wait for hubby to till it!

I have to remove dead stuff from my memory garden (this picture only shows half of the garden). A cafe table sits on the brick pad I built. This is the garden that I honor deceased loved ones or put plants that family and friends give me. I am still in the process of painting rocks with the plant name and who it is from (or who it honors).

My frog pond needs to be cleaned out, drained and refilled. I love this pond in the morning because I totally love frogs (since I was a kid!), and every morning, the rocks are loaded with frogs sunning themselves in the early morning sun. This is by far my favorite part of the yard. The brick pad is right next to it on the right and I spend time writing out there because it is so quiet and tranquil!

My pathetic rose garden (they are all cut down for the winter now). I put them in before Black Spot came to America, so they have to all be moved this year as this garden only gets morning and evening sun. It is going to be quite a job, but most of the roses are David Austin roses, so they are worth trying to save. David Austin breeds old, antique rose varieties to repeatedly bloom like modern roses.

And finally to show today is my Woodland Garden. It gets full shade all day (it's on the north side of the house) and looks pretty bare now, but as things start growing, watch out!

I have several more gardens to share, but this post would last forever!

So, what are your plans for the weekend? And hey, let's see your studio space on Fridays, too!