More on Weaving Yardage: Video

Not only did I get to do a ton of beading this morning, but I also got back to weaving on my yardage.  I decided to do a a video because the only video I have of myself weaving is doing double weave pick-up, which make weaving look really tedious.

Weaving off yardage is a little more relaxed.  Also, because I'll be cutting this fabric up, I'm not stressing out about perfect selvages.  I'm just enjoying the process.  There's a close-up image of the start of this weaving on my blog HERE.

Enjoy!

So Many Projects, claiming my time

On Wednesday night I was finishing up scanning final drafts and packaging up submissions to the Handweaver's Guild of America exhibits my iTunes on random shuffle and "Timelines" by Motion City Soundtrack came on.

"It's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing."

Rang heavy through my ears.  I've been trying to finish my Halloween costume to get it to a point where it can be photographed and submitted by the 26th. This song was a reminder that I do not have to finish this piece for this year, I can submit it in 2016.  I'm constantly issuing myself extreme deadlines and then feeling guilty abut not getting something in, or worse, not finishing it to the quality that I want it to be at.  I did wear this for Halloween, but it was missing all of the red and a lot of interior finishing.

 I also rarely think ahead on pieces that I may be able to submit to exhibitions. All I had in mind for this was it being my Halloween costume, it just kept getting larger and more involved. So when I decided to finish this piece for exhibit, I didn't realize is that the wearables require a 8 inch x 8 inch "touch panel" with the submission. (I will never forget this by the way). If this was a woven or dyed piece, I could make extra and finish it off, however, this 8 x 8 touch panel requires more cutting, sewing and beading.  Maybe about 10 more hours of work (I hope).

Plus we set up an office for me, resulting in this on my sewing table collecting piles which the desk once held:

And still more re-organizing where the desk was:

For me, certain things need to be in place in the space that I am working in so I can work with ease. Hence, not wanting to break away from other works to clean, for, more work...

I have a difficult time working on one project at a time straight through.  I am so sick of stitching red beads on to the piece that I was trying to finish for the 26th submission.  I decided that on the costume, all the red areas would be red seed beads.  It's coming along wonderfully.  However, I want to weave:

(and I need to dye more black for the weft on this guy).

Keep on top of my beaded sculpture parts:

(Isn't it nice that the desk has a beading project tray that you can slide in and out?!)

I have a wedding bracelet and hairpieces that I'm excited to get to:

I need to meet with a customer about a commission bangle which involves me creating such a bangle in a totally new way (focus on smaller beads):

Ooooo, and I started another Pattern Play Bangle because I am seriously missing the one that is out at an exhibit in Tennessee:

And there's always the issue of Danielle lounging around tempting me to have a nap time.  I didn't, but this is evil (I love naps).

Magnetic Pin Cushion Tool Upgrade

I have had the pleasure of doing a lot more sewing and continually becoming more comfortable with my sewing machine.  I feel like as I use something more, I want more accessories for a new technique or piece of equipment.  I restrain myself until I'm really using something a lot though.  For example, I still haven't learned a lot about my DSLR camera, thus I will not be purchasing any fancy lenses until I have a full-understanding of this tool, but I'm really attracted to macro lenses and something for further away. All in good time.

The magnetic pin caddy is something I've had my eye on, but it seemed silly to spend $17-$20 on one when my pin cushion works just fine.  I keep noticing that others have them at workshops and when I wander around JoAnn's they catch my eye, but I just didn't have a good excuse to get one.

Then, over the holidays my husband and I were doing a total overhaul of our master bedroom which results in many, many, many trips to the hardware store.  While wandering around Home Depot, I came across the pseudo-stocking-stuffers area and there was a set of 3 magnetic trays by Husky for $5.  I didn't even have to think about whether or not it was worth the $5, I just put them in the cart.

These trays are actually even better than the ones I kept eyeing at JoAnn's.  The magnet is exposed, on the back and is extremely strong.  I like this because you can hold it over your carpeting after a pin and needle spill, and it picks them up.  Also, I have been adding beading to a heavily stitched piece and have been moving it around the house on my ironing board.  These trays not only stay attached to the ironing board while I'm moving it, but they are also strong enough to hold the fabric on to the ironing board so it doesn't move around.  I came across this by accident, and it's amazing. I'm no longer awkwardly pinning my work to the ironing board.

The only downfall of this product that I can find is that the magnet might be too strong for some applications.  Most of my needles may now be magnetized, I wouldn't lay my credit cards near it, that sort of thing.  But I am glad I ran into these before getting all accessorized from the overpriced items in the sewing isle.

Now back to beading...although some things call for bead embroidery, this is a gentle reminder-to-self that I've got about 20+ more hours to go on the beading details of this piece.  I stitch down every single bead, and that's my own anal-retentive issue, but it's much much slower than my usual peyote stitching.  I'm also really tired of looking at red seed beads.  I'll be switching it up, hopefully, soon.  The back looks nice and neat at least.

Red Jewelry for Valentine's at Lansing Art Gallery

So I had a big long blog post about this set, and then I lost it trying to edit out something in the code. Lesson learned, Jenny can't play with code.

I did get this little red and gold set finished for the Lansing Art Gallery so they have red for Valentine's Day.  I very rarely wear true-red myself, and to be honest, this was a push for me to get inspired by red.  Usually if you ask me to make something red, you'll get more of a cranberry or wine color. 

I decided to mix this with dark gold tones for a softer feel.  The only other color I can think to put with red at the moment is black.  Sometimes black and red are a bit too abrasive for me.

So back to my focus in finishing some pieces for photographing and exhibiting.  Which, I'm stitching a lot of red that was missing from my Halloween costume.

Three-toned Lariat Necklace with Pearls

I made a teal and black striped chevron necklace back in May of last year with the boom of chevron coming into the fashion world.  Liisa saw it and wanted something a little more versatile.  So we came up with this three-toned striped lariat in black white and grey.  This way she doesn't have to worry about matching the teal to what she's wearing.

When I made the original necklace, I wasn't sure how I felt about the pearls at the ends for the finish.  I think it's grown on me, but I like this finish better because I had pearls in all three colors for the accent.

Bad news, but in a good way

The time has come for me to announce that I am no longer going to be an artist-member of Grove Gallery and Studios starting February 2014.  It has been a long run, as I have pointed out, I have been with Grove for longer than I have been married.  :)  Grove has come such a long way in the past 6 years and I feel confident that it will be just fine without me.

I came to this conclusion through the bustle of holiday this year.  I've been feeling like I have 4 jobs, which makes me feel schizophrenic.  I am first and foremost an artist which is 2 huge jobs: creating (the fun part) and then the office-stuff (marketing, applying to exhibits, grants, residencies, meetings, etc).

Second is my part-time job at Speaker Law Firm.  I love this job because, well, Liisa is super-supportive of my artwork. She is flexible when I am out of town or busy with art-related things and also, this job keeps me on a "normal" schedule and work stays at work.  I very rarely have to worry about it my other 5 days a week.

Third has been my commitment to Grove Gallery.  It's more than just 6 hours a week, it's running a small retail business, helping keep it open, meetings and opening receptions.  As much as I have been trying to back out of as many responsibilities as I could, there was still this looming sense of guilt of not making it to all the receptions and needing to stay on top of general tasks as the Gallery.

As sad as I am to be leaving Grove Gallery (and as I have told them, for now, I might be back), my art career is changing a lot and I am going in some different directions.  All extremely positive changes.  I am teaching many more workshops.  I have galleries asking me to give them my work to carry, and I am having the "problem" that I am getting into almost all of the juried exhibitions that I apply to and therefore am very low on fine art to continue exhibiting.  I want to be making more fine art, I have so many pieces in mind that will take me months (years?) to create that I'm feeling behind.  I am setting my jewelry-making on the back-burner. I'll still have 3 galleries carrying my jewelry, but I won't be in full-production mode to make stock.  Exhibiting and building my resume have become a current passion of mine.

So January is my last month at Grove and I will be attending the Gallery opening on the 2nd because the latest show is so cool and I want to meet the artists.  So I hope to see you all there.

Gypsy Leaf Bracelet and Earrings

Recently I had the unfortunate task of having to shop for a new car. I had hoped that the Blue Mongoose (my Ford Focus Wagon) would hold out another year or so, but we were going to the repair shop with more and more frequency.  So, car shopping I went and after much debate, I really fell for the Ford Explorer in the color Ginger ale Metallic.  I found one in our price range, and I now have a 2012 Ford Explorer named Gypsy.

  

I was really into this particular color once I found this car. I also happened to buy two tubes of beads in this color when we were in Naples Florida on our most recent road trip.  So I decided that the color scheme for the large leaf bracelet that I had been thinking of making would match Gypsy, the new ride.

I made a pair of earrings first, which have a black vintage bead as its accent and then went on to making leaves for the bracelet.

I had imagined this bracelet clasping together in a different manner, but I tend to let my pieces take their own shape.  As this bracelet came together I really loved how the leaves fanned out at one end.