Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Beaded Quilts
Monday, June 29, 2009
My Ceramic Beads
Sunday, June 28, 2009
What's In Your Front Yard?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday Street Sale
Getting there took me a little longer than planned, as they are currently tearing up St. Clair Avenue West to improve the streetcar tracks. This project has been going on for a few years now as they slowly move west from Yonge Street. Did you know that fire hydrants sit on about 6 feet of big pipe underground? I didn't, until I saw this one today.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Jewellery for the Beach
Here's the link for Stephanie's website:
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Farewell to Farrah
I was in high school when she first became famous and everyone always asked if we were related, given that we share the same last name (as far as I know, we weren't, but we always liked to entertain the idea that she was our long lost cousin). Alas, that was probably the only thing we had in common. That famous haircut never worked on my poker straight hair and not for lack of trying on my part, both with the curling iron and using Farrah Fawcett shampoo!! But she was a definite part of my growing up years - my brother Craig had that iconic red bathing suit poster up on his bedroom wall for many years and I watched the "Charlie's Angels" TV show both while she was on it and after she left, and was impressed to realize she had some genuine acting skills and wasn't just another pretty blonde, as proved by her performances in movies such as The Burning Bed. One of the articles I read today mentioned she appeared on an episode of The Partridge Family, which I didn't remember (and I could have sworn I saw every one of those shows???!!) but when I watched the clip on YouTube, it did seem vaguely familiar...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNbtVZ_V-_Y And of course, there were all those hair and toothpaste commercials (and shaving cream and the Mercury Cougar car featuring the "moon roof"...the list goes on)!
It definitely seems like the end of an era, somehow...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Left Behind and Now Lost
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Mosaics in Milwaukee
Monday, June 22, 2009
Carmen Jr.
The Dixon Chick happened to be wearing one of her crocheted necklaces featuring some lovely plastic fruit beads, which naturally caught the eye of Ms. Banana. The two started chatting, they bonded and next thing you know, Stephanie was honoured to be crowned Carmenita Bonita Florita Constancia Perfecta Banana, a.k.a. Carmen Junior.
I'm not sure how she got her crown home on the airplane or if it survived the bar hopping that I understand took place after the Bead Social but it was a certainly a night to remember for all concerned!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Trying to Invent Something New
I'm not sure I need to totally reinvent the wheel though and more to the point, I'm not sure I can. The finished product will technically be "original" because it sprang from my imagination but that actual idea might not be something that someone else hasn't already done before. I might be using a combination of bead types and colours that are unique to this piece but given that no one (as far as I know) holds the copyright to the actual bead stitch, it might look very similar to something I have seen before in a book or magazine or at a class or even something that I've never seen but someone else has made. How do you know for sure if you are having a totally original idea when it comes to design? Do you know that expression, "there is nothing new under the sun?" That may be very true. Some things are totally obviously brand new and like nothing we have ever seen before, like the guy that came up with the idea for the intermittent windshield wiper (have you seen that movie, "Flash of Genius"? His name was Robert Kearns and boy did I thank him yesterday when I was driving in all that rain we got!) but it seems to me those flashes are somewhat rare and not everyone has that flash when they are making jewellery.
I would NEVER intentionally plagerize someone's work by copying their design and claiming it as my own but I worry that in many cases, the work I produce might be very similar to someone else's designs. I certainly hope not but if I do, I will certainly hold my hands up and be the first to admit it's entirely possible and beg their forgiveness. In the meantime, I will try to invent things of my own and hope they turn out, and keep hoping for that flash of genius.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
My Other Cat Is A Cutie Too
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Wine Gum Necklace
As usual, the Dixon Chick and I started out with the same assortment of beads. Sadly, Miss Chick did not finish her piece in time, even though we had an extension due to the fact that we both were away for a week at the B&B show, and as far as the challenge goes, Dwyn tells me that means...I win!! :)
However, stay tuned to the Beadfx website as Steph will probably get hers finished and posted in the next few days.
As for my own creation, I went a little asymmetrical this time around, which is a real departure for me. I didn't have any choice over the colour or number of beads so I worked with what I was given. If I had picked them myself, I would have picked an even or matching number of beads and spaced them out accordingly. Instead, I had to go out of my comfort zone a little bit, although I did balance it by keeping the same number of jump rings between each bead, which soothed my inate desire for symmetry. I like the fact that some of the beads are centre drilled and some are side drilled, as that mixes it up a little bit. I wanted a little something to make it pop and Dwyn suggested adding the crinkle cut rings from a chain they sell at the store and she was bang on - I really like the finished effect. Plus the photos she took really make the necklace look great, if I do say so myself!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Riverwalk Art
You can read more about the exhibit here:
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
"Weave it, Wire it, Lovett"
and here's a picture of me with Dallas and my good friend Heather, who also took this class (both of us girls wearing our newly made earrings, natch):
These earrings were one of the few things I actually finished in any of my nine classes during the week long Bead and Button show. Karen Elmquist said it best: "I finally am accepting the "process-not-product" concept of class-taking and wasn't chastising myself this year for having unfinished pieces. Plenty of notes and a head full of ideas will do me more good than an assortment of rushed finished pieces."
In some cases, it was impossible to finish anything given the short duration of the class, some of which were only 3 hours long. In other instances, like during the 3 day session with Susan Lenart Kazmer, we each finished a few pieces but we learned so many things, it would have been impossible to create something reflective of every single idea and method - we had to pick and choose what we wanted to do in the time we had vs. what we would take away with us and implement later.
That said, I'm still feeling pretty glad to have these earrings to wear now, rather than have to wait until I have time to finish the project.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
How Cute Is My Cat?
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Amazing Karen
As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to have this little guy:
Kate has a much better picture on her blog of Karen actually wearing the necklace, click the link on the right and read her posting from June 6th as well as her June 12th post to see what she made from one of the new owl beads she got from Karen (which piece I seriously covet!)
But my absolute favourite bead that I bought from Karen is this one:
I call him Freddie (I don't exactly know why). As soon as I saw him, I knew I had to have him. Karen told me it was a "mistake", it was meant to be a hollow bead but a hole burst in the side so she made it into a mouth and added the eyes and then strung a bead on the headpin inside his mouth. I think it is totally delightful and so did everyone to whom I showed it, including Dallas Lovett, who taught a wirework class I attended. He liked it so much, he personally carried it around to each student in the class to make sure they got a good look at it.
So I am delighted to say I have now met and bonded with the very talented Karen Elmquist (although sadly I don't appear to have any photos of the two of us together, which is a serious oversight) and I own two of her creations. You can check out her Etsy offerings and blog here: http://karenelizabethelmquist.blogspot.com/