More about Me

My second ever beaded project at left is a flowering dogwood branch. I am stunned by the beadwork I've found on other blogs I now follow, and especially some from Japan. Not just beaded flowers but food, too, like Chami's jello molds and corn cobs. Amazing. It's toward the end of my day today and I'm a bit tired from beading, gourd cleaning, gluing, yesterday's ballet class, and some collage work.

SoulCollage is another love (there are so many, I'm thrilled!) I've not had time to mention. SoulCollage is a unique process created by Seena Frost, combining personal work (some say it's worth 10 hours of therapy) + creative outlet + fun + relaxation. All cards are made using images from print media, so the ability to use scissors and glue are all you need. My perception of SoulCollage is definitely influenced greatly by Sandy Guderyon, a beautiful person and skilled facilitator of the process. I've met some wonderful people there, including another facilitator and fellow blogger across the globe, Imelda Maguire, in Ireland. It's hard to explain with words, you just have to experience it. I found Sandy's group through the ubiquitous social networking website, meetup.com. Contact me for more information, or find your local group and give it a try. I really can't say enough good things about it, but I'll stop myself now. Here are two of my cards:

Les Fleurs de Perles de France

Making French Beaded Flowers is something I started about 3 years ago, after a young, wise, dear friend gave me Carol Benner Doelp's The Art of French Beaded Flowers, and I promptly started teaching myself from it. I don't know why, but I love the planning, assembly of materials and tools, the execution (yes, an exercise in patience and painful detail), then the final product! which is surprisingly tough, delicate and heavy all at the same time. My latest creation (the first completely of my own design) is shown: framed pink flowers. The flower and leaf design are not based on any real flower, just something for fun and to see how well a wooden frame works to hold them (very!).


This is the front of a card I made this card for my father (a skilled and avid birdwatcher) last Father's Day. The bird - a belted kingfisher - is from a recycled child's book on birds (circa 1966), and the flowery part is from a beautiful book on Russian Textiles by Susan Meller. I accidentally found this book at my local library - the history is fascinating and the textiles (beautifully photographed) are fabulous. Interesting and exotic in a middle-European, 19th century, art deco, psychedelic way (and this unfortunately is not a good example of that).