Henry the VIII and other things...

Lately I have realized how much what I am watching on DVD while I work on my jewelry pieces affects the overall outcome of what I create...case in point...for the last month or so I have been re-watching all four seasons of The Tudors

and have found myself adding more and more ornate bead embroidery to my Ladies. When I play the "if I had my life to do over again" game in my head I always come to the realization that my dream job would have been doing something in a costume designers shop....not necessarily the actually designing but more like the embellishing detail work that make the garments come to life.

The first time I saw the Broadway show "Wicked" I ended up in a seat to the side in the very front row with my knees and nose practically pressed onto the stage. Now this was not the best seat if you wanted to see the entire production that was on stage but it was the perfect seat to see all of the fabulous costumes and intricate details that went into making said costumes...I was in heaven....the show was wonderful and eventually we went back to see it again, this time from the upper lodge and I was able to take in the whole of the scenery and the really see Elpheba fly....but I was never so happy as to be able to see the costumes up close and personal at that first performance!

What the upshot of today's ramblings is that you never know what will influence your creativity....my suggestion is to be open to it all!!

Feeling a little Mid Century Modern

For the past few months my husband and I have been on a quest for a retro/vintage HiFi ala Rob and Laura Petrie

We were searching for a very specific look....warm oak or maple with fabric or woven wood panels covering the speakers...preferably slide top with storage space for albums..of course it had to work and have an excellent sound and we had be within our budget which was between $100 and $150. We finally located one on the everloving Central Jersey Craigslist site...and wonder of wonders it was in our township!! The couple we bought if from were lovely and had taken such very good care of their 1967 Magnavox HiFi/stereo...they even had the original receipt!

So slowly but surely we are finding the pieces to give our living room the Mid Century Modern vibe we have come to love....oh how I wish I still had some of the pieces from my childhood living room but the hunt for them is most of the fun!

Vintage rhinestone jewelry=sparkle=love

Today I started working on another Lady/Goddess. The creative muse was calling my name very loudly and I decided not to ignore her!!! So now I am back to blogging about my process.....when I last posted about The Lady of the Winter Solstice her face was getting attached....next comes the vintage rhinestone brooch....

I do so love vintage rhinestone jewelry!

Let the Year of Creativity begin!

I have decided to dedicate the coming year to living the most creative life I possibly can. This will not only pertain to the obvious...beading, fiber arts, cooking, decorating, etc........but also to things like finding a part time job, how to stay active and such....I have always been a relatively creative/think outside the box kind of person when it comes to arts and handcrafts and why not apply that to other areas of my life where I really could use some help? My grandmother Madeline comes to mind when I think of creativity....she was a fashion designer for a small firm back in the 50s-80s and she brought that creativity into every aspect of her life and home. She was re-purposing furniture way before it was the thing to do. I remember the huge round coffee table in the living room of her and my Grandfather's home on Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn circa 1965...the couch was one of those low slung sectionals

that had deep seat cushions that allowed you to sit comfortably with your legs curled up under you but were not easy to get up and out of if you were an adult of a certain age...and this couch needed a low and large coffee table! Of course they could not find a table that was large enough or low enough so Madeline found an old round kitchen table, sawed off the legs and did this Pollack-like paint technique and viola'...the perfect coffee table! She was so ahead of her time and I miss her terribly. So in her memory I am dedicating this year to creative living. One of the first things I have done is explore some free apps on my phone...the first one being PicStitch...it allows me to stitch together 2-6 pictures into a quiltlike collage.

I can see many ways to use this app very creatively!

Well the last weekend of 2012 is just about over and the new year will be upon us tomorrow evening...spent much of the past two days cleaning of my workspace and finishing up a few projects that were abandoned for one reason or another and tossing or recycling the things I knew would never get finished...it's a good feeling to have a fresh working area for the new year! I have made a commitment to myself to cleanup every time after finishing a piece...we'll see how long that lasts...... As I was saying in my last post....I am going to try and give an overview of my creative process from the beginnings of a piece to it's completion...today's picture is one that shows how The Lady of the Winter Solstice got her shape and her face attached...hmmmm...that sounds like I am a surgeon which could never have happened since I am squeamish around anything at all to do with blood (ask my husband...I even hide my eyes when they do fake operations on tv shows!!) and I also was never very good at following directions which I imagine you have to be to become a surgeon...but I am pretty wicked with a needle and thread if you add beads into the mix!!

I just love the way the face seems to glow and anyone who knows me well knows that those colors satisfy my soul. I am always searching for interesting faces or bits of jewelry, pottery, buttons & glass cabs that would work as a face for my Ladies/Goddesses. I am planning on really exploring this way of working in the coming year...I certainly have a really good selection of vintage rhinestone and crystal jewelry that I have collected over the past 6 or 7 months during the height of garage and estate sale season

Well that's all for 2012....sending out thoughts of joy, peace and creativity for the New Year....

Starting over

So it's been over a year since I made a blog entry but I am ready to put 2012 behind me and forge ahead into 2013....I have been working on a new series of beaded Ladies and I have gotten so many "how did you come up with that" comments at various shows and when I wear one of them that I want to share my process from the initial choosing of the beads and components on through the placement and decisions on fringe, chain/strap and closure. For the first time ever I took pictures of every phase....it amazes me that I remembered to do this! This is the genesis of my latest piece....it all started with the vintage snowflake pin...I knew I wanted to make The Lady of the Winter Solstice ever since I picked up this brooch at an estate sale this past summer

The face is one I purchased from a vendor at the Philly Bead Fest this past August...unfortunately I misplaced the business card that was tucked in the bag and do not know who the artist is who created it is...it is made out of the most glorious cranberry/blue/purple/turquoise raku and just seemed to glow from within. After those two elements came together it is time to dig through the shelves and shelves of hand dyed fabrics that I use as the base of my bead embroidery pieces. This particular fabric was hand dyed many years by my friend Helene Davis.Then it's time to dive into the bead stash and just start pulling together beads and other components that seemed to want to dance with what I already have....as you will see, some made the final cut and some did not but at this stage of the game I allow myself to be a glutton and just out as much as I think I want to use. Well that's how it all begins....be back soon to play some more...enjoy the last weekend of 2012

Feeling a little bit normal

It has been awhile since I have written a blog post....it's been an interesting couple of months. The summer was started managing what I thought was the beginning of menopause and ended with a diagnosis of endometrial cancer and a total abdominal hysterectomy and going into instant menopause. Thankfully the cancer was caught in the earliest possible stage thanks to a doctor who was tenacious in figuring out what was going on with me and a wonderful oncologist and his surgical team and no radiation or chemo is necessary...but the recuperation from the surgery has been "fun"! Today was a pretty good day...only a bit of "swelly belly" and no crying jags and I finished a cuff that I have been working on the past couple of weeks and actually got outside to photograph it.


It was nice to feel a bit normal....and productive...and like things will be good soon. For the first two weeks after the surgery it was enough to be able to eat a little, sleep a little and walk a bit...then I picked up the crochet hook and worked on a bag I am planning to felt...and then my hands were itching to bead but my body would not let me sit at my work table for any length of time (heck I was lucky that I could finally make it up the stairs and climb into my own bed instead of sleeping in our old comfy purple leather chair!!) so I and played with cabachons and daggers and rivolis and beads and crystals, drew out the pattern for a cuff and soon I was able to spend 1/2 hour chunks of time at my worktable. Slowly but surely this cuff came to life and I started to feel creative and artistic and my soul was satisfied.



My family has been so supportive and understanding and wonderful through all of this. Going into instant menopause is not easy...on anyone! Hormones are so screwed up and my body does not feel like my own. They say it takes some getting used to and that within a few months I will feel so much better...I am counting on it!

Lois