I'm Back and Done

Hi Everyone! I am finished for the year! I've posted June, July and August on my blog http://heidibeads.blogspot.com/ . I mentioned on the blog that my computer was on "vacation" since around May, so I haven't been able to visit everyone but I will get there as soon as I can. Thank you all for your support this year and for your inspiration. Wow! What artists we all are!

May is Done!!

After a long break, I've finally started beading again and finished May last night! Take a look at it here.

Memory Box Finished!

I used two of this year's BJP pieces (one about my Mom, one about my Dad) to make a Memory Box that I can use to keep letters, pictures and rememberances of them safe and in one place.

You can see the box and how I made it here. Included in the post is a fabulous discovery, a tip that will help if you decided to stitch any of your finished pieces to something else!

Hope you like it!!!

Robin A.

July Page Done!

This page was nspired by the clear skies and meteor showers during July and August here in Arizona. Tucson has many observatories. It also has a law forbidding unnecessary and obtrusive outdoor lighting so as to not interfere with the telescopes.

Which makes for finding a house at night here a challenge sometimes-not a lot of street lighting!

http://sheloveshiny.typepad.com/she_loves_shiny/

August BJP finished!

Just finished my August BJP!!! I think it turned out really well! You can see it on my blog:

http://purplepaintsmuse.blogspot.com/

Now to go back and do March, June and July!

Thanks for looking,
Marva

ALL Done

I actually took the whole day yesterday to sit down and concentrate on getting caught up on my last three pages. I did it! All are completed, photographed and posted here. The photos aren't that great but I think you'll get the idea.

Feels great to be caught up and to have had the WHOLE day spent on beading! That was wonderful for me and soooo relaxing!

Thank you to everyone for looking and commenting on my pages. It's been sooo fun for me to participate and meet new people and really learn some things about myself. I never believed it would really happen, until now. So looking forward to next year!

Next step for me is to try and work all of my pages into something really special. I still have a few pages to complete with a backing, but that's no problem. As soon as I figure out what to do, now that my first plan won't work, I'll get it done and share.

I haven't forgotten...

I'm working on my August BJP page. If you'd like to check out my progress you can see it on my blog. I still have to catch up on March, July and July.

http://purplepaintsmuse.blogspot.com/

Marva

Behind!

I never thougth this would happen. I had every intention of not falling behind on my monthly journals but, life got in the way. I will be working on finishing my last 3 months very soon and will post it all ASAP! Sorry! But, already looking forward to next years BJP starting in January!

What to Do? What to Do? What to Do?

Some of us start the year with a rough plan for what we want to do with our 12 pieces when we finish them. Others, like me, don't have a clue.

I've been thinking about my pieces and seeking inspiration by reviewing what some of our members did last year. Finding pictures took a while, so I decided to put them together in a post on my blog. You can see them here.

I hope you'll get past the pictures to the important tip near the end of the post... I'll give you the headline here... "You don't have to do anything with your 12 BJP pieces!"

We're taking a break between our final month for the 08-09 BJP and the start of the 2010 BJP (in January) so that IF you want to create something with your pages, you have time to do it before hunkering down for the next 12. Neat, huh?!

You all are so very awesome!

Robin A.

Put pictures of your BJP pieces on our website!

You can have your own personal web page on the BJP website! To be elligible, all you need is 8 completed pages for the year. That's all... just 8!

I know many of you have finished 8 pages. It would be so nice to see them all together on a web page! Wouldn't it also be great if other beaders out there who may be interested in joining BJP 2010 could see them? It's easy to do... and your page will show up when your name is "googled!"

Here are the facts:

• 2007-8 BJP Member Pages - 50!
• 2008-9 BJP Member Pages - only 8 so far.
• How can you submit pictures for your own personal member page? See here.
• Would you like to see how a member page looks? Check out my pages for 2007 and 2008.

Thanks for giving this some thought! Beady blessings,

Robin A.

BJP takes a break ~ begins again in Jaunuary!

BJP 2010 (year three!) will begin in January, 2010 and continue through the year, ending in December!!!!

Participants will commit to making one visual journal piece per month. Each month's piece must be the same size and shape. Each must include some beads. That's about it for rules...

Registration begins Oct. 1st. For registration information, see the BJP website, here. Please note: returning members (as well as new participants) must register!

Registration will close on December 15th.

I hope to see many current members returning next year. Please pass along this information to anybody you think might like to participate in BJP 2010!

Thanks for your participation this year... It's a fabulous group of very talented women! Bravo to all!!!

Robin A.

BJP 5-09

Yes, I am still a participant here. I was stuck, but I am out of the rutt.

See my blog for May 09 post.

The next post will be cheerful and colorful because that's how I feel this very minute.

"Just a Mirage"

Summer may be coming to a rapid close but it's still June according to my progress in the 2008/2009 Bead Journal Project. Here is my 4 1/2 inch square page. I used a vintage cactus sequin applique, seed beads and sequins. The shininess may make it hard to look at this page, but then everything is a mirage in June in Tucson, Arizona.

.....finally all done!!!

....Phyllis King Artworks here in North Carolina/USA!

Finally: here are the last of my 2008 BJP flat fully-beaded dollies with rhinestones! Whew! And I swear I just uploaded the photos IN ORDER, from Feb. to Aug., and when they show up here on this blog, the pix are in reverse order! Sorry about that, but I don't know how to fix them....... I hope you will enjoy reading about how each was made underneath each photo.

This orange/yellow baby shown above is for August; using a clay sunburst face stitched on, and filled in with seed beads, flower and leaf beads and a vintage rhinestone chain. I don't even like oranges, but figured it fitted our hot, humid heat of these southern Augusts here in N.C.!

Here is my July dolly done in all red/white/blue seed beads and daggers and bugles, and a little gold metal star. Her face is pewter and her "headdress" of red, clear and blue rhinestones is part of a vintage pin of costume jewelry glued onto her "head"! She's my "July 4th" dolly..........

Above is my June piece, using all shades of white, eggshell, beige, etc. beads.........several being salvaged from my vast collection of vintage jewelry bits and pieces. If you enlarge the photo you can see better the heart-shaped little rhinestone piece on her chest.....she's my June "bride" dolly! I don't remember where I bought the wonderful crackled square face, but if its creator recognizes her work, please let me know because I surely want more of your gorgeous faces!!!

May's doll above uses the beautiful late spring colors of flower blooms that we have in this area. I used glass seed beads, hot pink sequins, two teal metal donut spacers; great long bugles for her hair and three gold and greenish leaves for her collar. Her wonderful face was made (I'm almost sure!) by dear artist friend in Canada, Maggie Robinson..........and I want more of these faces, too, Miss Maggs! LOVE those eyelashes! And this babe has rhinestone earrings from an old pin:

(all of this year's BJP dolls include pieces of vintage rhinestone jewelry in some way or other.) I call the collection my "Rhinestone Ladies"!

Above is April's doll, using another of Maggie's lovely hand-painted faces. Also used daggers for her hair, seed beads of several sizes and yellowish leaf beads; her rhinestone is at the bottom. Being usually our Easter holiday month, I used the favorites of yellow and lavender mostly, which remind me of childhood Easter egg hunts.

March's dolly features an old piece of metal necklace at the bottom and an old milk glass fat bead........her little face is very small and was "made in China"! I used all the early spring colors of flowers here and loved seeing the seed beads, flower beads, leaves and sequins "bloom" way back when the weather was cold and dreary!

February's doll features an old pewter/rhinestone pendant shaped like a heart for her center........she's my Valentine piece! Her face is a button; the rest of her body is covered with mostly seed and drop beads, with some little frosted glass hearts at her bottom.

That's my contribution to this year's BJP, and I've greatly enjoyed beading the little flat dolls. This was my first year joining this project and the year-long commitment was daunting, but I learned lots of new bead tricks along the way! Thanks for letting me participate and "grow" with my bead embroidery!

FINALLY...done

This has been a long 12 month journey...a time of great despair, of great hope, of great reconciliation. While my project took a number of forms before I was satisfied with the results, I am very pleased with the final result, and plan to add these words, one underneath each heart: faith, hope, love.

June is done!

My June page, Wedding Days, is done and can be seen on my blog: http://sharedstuffbyarline.blogspot.com/ I'm over half way through my July page and know what I'm going to do for August. Will I get done on time? Who knows.
Arline

The Pursuit of Happiness

Hi All! Finally posted my May BJP. That should make all of you who are feeling behind, who are worried about completing June and July, feel better. You can read the post here -- have a happy day...