Christmas in July Iris Folding

I said that I would show the completed samples of the Iris Folding cards I designed for the Christmas in July class.  Well, here they are!

Well, after seeing the patterns I drew, did you think the cards would look anything like this?  It was so much fun creating these for my students.  I love how they all turned out but, I do have my favorites, which one(s) are yours?

A Fitting Tribute

Dogwood trees and blossoms were a favorite of my mothers.

While growing up, we lived in an area that Dogwood would not grow.  When my father retired, they moved South and Mom was finally able to enjoy Dogwood in her own yard.  Although the photo does not show it, in addition to the large pink Dogwood in the yard, up closer to the house are several young white Dogwood that were no longer in bloom when I took this photo (a few years back).

Pink Dogwood in the side yard... Mom's favorite tree in the yard.

Mom passed away nearly 4 years ago.

In our area there is the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail.  A group pf people create quilt "squares" out of wood (or now aluminum) boards & paint to copy a fabric quilt that already exists.  They are then mounted on buildings and added to their web site with map coordinates so people can find them.

Fabric quilt made by Sue Congdon (my sisiter).

I noticed that there was currently only one such quilt square in our downtown area.  (Since then 7 more have been added with 2 more to come, that I am aware of.)  I talked to my sisters (I have 3) and we all decided that it was a great idea to commission a quilt square to mount on the side of the building that our store is located in.  And we all decided it needed to be Dogwood blossoms.

I scoured images of Dogwood quilt patterns and nothing really "spoke" to me until I saw this one (design by Annette Ornelas).  The fabric quilt pictured above was made by my oldest sister Sue.

We raised money through family (I also have 2 brothers), including my father, one of my mom's sisters and a close family friend.  Then, I filled out the paperwork and sent them a check so they could begin the production process.

They borrowed the fabric quilt to use as a guide and they chose paints, drew templates and started taping off areas to paint.

 The painting was done once a week (or so) at a facility about 15 miles from us.  Because of work, we were not able to make it to their painting sessions, although we (and anyone else) were welcome to help.  But they were sure to send photos of the progress.  (See the fabric quilt on the table in the background?)

Once they had put marine grade varnish on all surfaces to seal it, they delivered it to us and we waited a few days until the installation crew could come by.

Blue Ridge Electric - you guys know your quilt installation "stuff" - Thank you!

With my sister Terri Brooks on the day the square was installed.

Once the installation was complete, the 4' x 8' copy of the approximately 2' x 4' fabric quilt looked quite small...


We know Mom would have loved it.

Creatively, all I did was find a pattern I liked & asked if my family agreed.  The rest was completed by others.





Here is the wooden quilt :

Sun & Sea Creative Bead Chat Challenge 2012

I have been part of a group on facebook called Creative Bead Chat.  Bead lovers from all over share their creations and tips and all sorts of things.  They are a wonderful support group, personally as well as creatively.
I was chosen by Random.com to be one of the recipients of the beads for the Sun & Sea challenge.

Here is what I started with.  I pulled together some things I thought would go well with the ceramic, polymer, shell, copper & glass I was provided with.

My own textured & patina'd copper sheet & wire with the challenge goodies.

 The first item I made is this double strand copper necklace & earring set.
I took 1/3 of the sheet of copper & made it into charms.  The bail of the donut is embellished peyote stitch.  The copper ear wires are hand made by me.  The beautiful copper clasp provided is on the back of this piece.

Ocean Breezes

Ocean Breezes Earrings

 This bangle was next.

Shell We Dance

 Adding some pearls, aquamarine & sponge coral helped set-off the beautiful components provided.

On The Boardwalk

 The glass beads were beautiful enough that I wanted to spotlight them on these hoops.

Sunrise

I had so much fun creating with the items supplied by some very talented bead artisans.

My pottery is still my first love, but beads and creating things with them come in a fairly close second.

Thank you to all who organized this challenge!  And thank you to all of the others who have participated.

Feel free to comment below, I won't know what you think (good, ambivalent or bad) unless you do.  And, I don't bite!

Please visit the other blogs that have participated in the challenge.

Most of all, have fun!

http://www.yayjewelry.blogspot.com/

http://cswdesignsbyhehe.blogspot.com/

http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com/

http://blog.aimeesjewelrytreasures.com/

Challenged by color

This past month we had a challenge for the Hole in The Bead Gang, it was due today. And, although I had a whole month to come up with something and make it, I did my usual, and made it this afternoon.

The challenge was a color challenge. We had to work with Yellow, Orange and/or Black. Since Yellow and Orange do not fall in my usual color palette, I decided to go the Black route. I had found this bead a friend gave me and I had a strand of 6mm round black beads, to which I added Copper (my Orange) and voila! To set it off, I covered an old jewelry gift box from JCP with yellow and orange paper and ribbon with copper ink accents.

OK, my photo isn't the greatest, but at least I met the challenge and am posting to show you I did it.

For next month the challenge is to make something monochromatic.