Bead Creativity

I think I've simply lost my beading creativity for now. I don't know where it is, I've misplaced it somewhere. Nothing is speaking to me. Certainly the beads aren't. Everything looks blah. Everything feels blah. I think this is where part of it has gone - to my worrying about the future of our country. I am so depressed to think that McCain could possibly be our next president. I am so depressed by the havok that Bush has done to our beautiful country these past eight years. The kind of wars we need to be fighting are those against poverty, hunger, lack of education, lack of healthcare, lack of jobs, here, right in our backyard. Of course we have to fight terrorism, too, but at least pick the right terrorists and the right country to fight. I pray every day that Americans vote for Obama and give us our country back.

September BJP

I am not making much progress, I am afraid I'm going to be a behinder before I even start. I just can't get going. I finally, this past weekend, decided on a shape - a smaller circle than last year - and I decided to use a certain color pallette and see how far I can go with it for every month. I gathered lots of beads of all kinds in the pallette, different sizes and shapes. I put them in a bin with my circles and I'm happy to look at them. They look very nice in the bin. Okay...now what?

Bead class and lunch

Yesterday and today I took a wonderful class from Margie Deeb about color. My head is still spinning from all the different ways to look at color and play with it. When I went to lunch yesterday I noticed a few women beading and went over to see what they were doing. Turns out I knew one of them and met the other. And, the one I know was working on her September page, inspired, she says, by ME! She saw my pages exhibited in Findings and registered for the project. How cool is that!

My favorite and least favorite bead stitches

As I was looking through some of my beadwork, I realize that the one stitch I use consistently is the spiral stitch. It was one of the first stitches I learned. It is easy, versatile, and always looks good. You can change the number, order, and size of beads, embellish the heck out of it, and use all kinds of clasps. It is great for making lariats and adding fringe to the bottom. It is also fast to make, once you choose your beads. I love the double spiral stitch as well.

And now, for my least favorite stitch: Right angle weave. I think if you have a mathematical or analytical mind, RAW is the stitch for you. I am competent in using RAW, and have used it quite a bit for bracelets that I embellish. I can even make a RAW four sided rope for a bracelet or necklace. But do I enjoy it? No way...and it is such a popular stitch right now. Marcia DeCoster and Rachel Nelson Smith excel at RAW and I am in awe of how beautiful their creations are. And that's just the way I like it, looking and enjoying.

I was pretty busy this summer making and finishing up pieces. There are many influences here, including Rachel Nelson-Smith, Laura McCabe, Bead Culture,
NanC Meinhardt, Diane Fitzgerald, Shelly from the Bead Parlor in IN, bead magazines, and even some of my own creativity!

Fall is on its way. I found this wonderful part of a branch on my walk this morning.

Previous Post

My previous post came about as a reaction to the Republican Convention last week, specifically the talks on Wednesday night, in which several of the speakers made fun of Barak Obama for being a social worker and community organizer. I was listening to the convention because I feel it is important to have as much information as possible to make a good decision, and to understand people who have different points of view from me.

I understand that politics is a game, and that the object is to win. But at what risk do you alienate voters in your quest to be number one?

My Life's Commitment

In 1981 I received a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan in Community Organization. All the social work I did was connected to the community in order to provide services to people who needed them. I worked for an area agency on aging, providing resources to allow elderly people to remain in their homes. I was able to do this by coordinating care with visiting nurses, meals on wheels, transportation, and housekeeping services to the elderly. When I started working in hospitals, they were community hospitals, so that I had to develop relationships with similar people as above, as well as nursing homes and rehabilitation centers and medical equipment companies. I even had to collect names of facilities that would come out to people's houses and care for their pets, because a lot of people would refuse care unless they knew their pet was being cared for first. I knew where to get clothes for people, where they could get food, where they could sleep if they were homeless, and where to find them if they were homeless. I had contacts within the police and sheriff's departments to look for people if they didn't come in for treatment. I connected people to hospice when it was time to die. I am proud of every single thing I did as a community organization social worker. When I stopped working I did volunteer work in the community. After seven years at one volunteer program, I decided to move on to use my beadwork to create items for charity. I make approximately 6 items a year that are auctioned to raise funds for cancer, for food banks, and for homeless shelters. I am proud of how I have spent my life's work, and I will continue to contribute as long as I can.