Photo Thursday

There is a very nice group called Photo Thursday. Every Thursday a theme is suggested and people take photos related to the theme. Todays theme was Simple. There were photos of rocks in water, sunrises, a meadow, a boat on a lake. It's very fun to browse through these pictures. I haven't joined (yet) but I'm thinking about it. It's another way to see the world, literally, as people on the group come from all over.

Rotating Jewelry

I remember when my kids were young, we would rotate toys and books, so that just when the kids started to get bored, you could take a new group of items out and it would be like they were brand new. I had the idea to do that with my jewelry. I simply have too much, and I don't see it anymore. However, when I started sorting it out, I realized that I really do have too much-lots of class pieces, lots of pieces from magazines, or my exploration of a stitch. There are some beautiful pieces, as well as items I just don't like anymore, or that never quite fit right, or the color combos don't work.

Then I had a realization - the jewelry represents my learning curve in beading. I put almost all of it in bins, just kept a few pieces out that I really like. At first I was really depressed, because the jewelry represents years of work. Then I felt a sense of exhilaration, like I was ready to move on and develop my own style. It was a sense that now I can move into a different stage, using what I've learned, but making it mine. I've wanted to do this for a while but have been held back by fears - I'm not good enough, I can't design, I'm not really an artist - you know, all those stupid things our censor tells us. Well, I'm going to just swat that censor away and plow ahead.

Bead Retreat

My beading group's annual bead retreat was this past weekend. We had a wonderful time. For the last few years we have made our hostess, Donna, a gift. This year it was a denim jacket that we all took turns making bead embroidered flowers. Above you can see the back of the jacket.

Below is a detail from the left side of the jacket.


Another view of detail from the right side of the jacket.


Yes, it really is a bead retreat! Here are Donna, Kathie, and Hollie.

Laura made a beautiful freeform bracelet for her daughter.

One of the beading tables. A beadiful mess!
Everyone always brings more beads and projects than we can possibly do, but we are always so optimistic. I pulled all my beads out of the bags I brought up but haven't sorted through them yet - still want to hang on to the good feeling of spending time with friends, beading all day, staying up late talking, and just having a grand time.