Julie's Birthday: Bethy's Beads and Sparklies!

From my friend Cynthia's post about Driftwood and Glass Beads here, Bethy was inspired to start a little project making sun catchers.  In fact, when I showed her the post, her face lit up and she became immediately excited.  With her mom's birthday coming up the first week of February, this sparkly project seemed perfectly right to brighten the January brown and rainy grey around us.  And there was the snow . . .

First afternoon:  Getting started.

I drilled holes in a piece of driftwood (from a large basket of small, interesting pieces I found in Etsy seller DriftwoodAmour's shop) while she finished her homework on Thursday,  After that she was on to the bead selection process.  While I normally use small seed beads (sizes 11˚ and 15˚)  and their equally small cousins (Rocailles, 3mm bugles, pearls and anything else small and interesting) in my embroidery, I have accumulated some larger ones along the way just because they are beautiful.  I showed Bethy where to find the jars and bottles holding those larger faceted crystals and drops and twisted bugles, and she arranged them in little crescent-shaped "bone china" dishes and bowls so she could make a better selection.  We even found a pink Owl bead that delighted her, because her mom is fond of owls.  That left only the lovely "job" of stringing the beads together.  We have four weeks.  We can do this!

Second afternoon:  The Sun Catcher is taking shape.

By Friday, she was really into the swing of it.  Unfortunately, playing with the beads became almost as interesting as selecting them for the seven dangling strands.  But by the time Julie came to pick them up that afternoon, Bethy was working on the sixth strand.  She is so serious as she works, but in a happy way.  When I sit beside her, she is talking to the beads, singing to them, asking them questions and telling them little stories.  How wonderful to be nine years old ("I'm almost ten, you know," she will sometimes say)!

Third afternoon:  Beginning the Birthday Card.

On the following Monday, she finished stringing the main body of the glittery Sun Catcher.   Happy Feet!

Fourth afternoon:  The hanger.

It was not until Thursday that she added the beads to the looped hanger, which might have been her favorite part of the process.  The beads are glass leaves and differently-sized seed beads that wind around the handle like a colorful vine.

The next step was to start the birthday card for her mom, which she will finish in the weeks leading up to the event.  Cards are a huge, very thoughtful endeavor on her part, and they sometimes take hours and hours to finish-- real little gems (forgive my punning!).  They always have a little story, and are so sweetly illustrated.

What a privilege it is to be part of her life!

Studio Time

Finally, some studio time!  Times get busy, but when the Busy Times go on too long and I can't get to the right brain playground, I have all the symptoms of withdrawal.  This roughly 4" square has become my "new" working size, one that fits neatly in my hand.  Working in small scale has the advantage over large projects (to me) in that the small pieces draw you into the work.  Have you ever noticed people at a gallery leaning in to examine the details of a small piece?  They are seeing the story unfold in the tiny stitched (drawn/painted/etched) lines and bits of color.  With large works the viewer instinctively takes a step backward to gain space to see the larger view.  Even as I work, the small, intimate piece pulls me inside and I have an ongoing conversation with the coming-into-being piece as I work.  For me, this back-and-forth is more difficult with a larger work.

And I have a great fondness for rows of straight stitches and couched lines . . .

Periodically I "rediscover" beads, and these past couple of weeks have been a beading frenzy!  On November 15th I posted some "Zentangle" embroideries.  These I did while resting in the house, away from the studio, trying to keep my hands busy shortly after surgery.  When I was more able to move between house and studio, the beads took hold, and I went back into the pieces and re-worked them, even added another little piece to the collection.  They make nice inspirations for other work, a sort of catalog of texture and line possibilities that I keep on the work table near the beads.

Can you see the beads tucked into the little places here, on top of the stitched lines and on the buttons?

The fun here was working around the piece of hemp scrim to the right of center. This piece feels very good in the hand, as it is built on layers of heavy felted wool.

Details:

This is a study in layering, ways of keeping the natural edge without having too much raveling.  The stitches are truly quilting stitches here.

With the beads added, the already highly-textured surface just got better!

One more:  This one has layers of cottons over the wool, and after the beading was done, it is too sturdy for words.  So much nicer than a limp piece of cotton or linen!

Now, if I can find a way to plow through the snow to the studio (yes, that is an exaggeration; 6" is not a call for a snow plow) I have some little houses to photograph.  If I could persuade Charles to don snow shoes, and use my hair dryer and a large shaker of salt . . .