Eyeglass case

Well I guess being sick can be productive. I don't feel like doing much so I've been stitching today. I started this eyeglass case about 3 years ago . . . it's nice to finally finish it! The original picture had a different looking cat but I changed the colors so it looked like my cat Mellifera. If I don't feel better soon, I may empty my half-finished project bag! This was actually an easy project. It's a stitch & zip kit and uses floss on a preprinted canvas. It really should have gone much faster than it did!

Eeyore Ornament

I had plans to finish my BJP pieces into a small quilt and work on a number of ornaments before the end of the year. Between moving and job hunting and being sick I haven't gotten much of anything done though! Friday night I went through some almost finished projects and pulled out this Eeyore ornament to finish. I thought it came out pretty cute. It's my first Christmas ornament in my new place!

I'm Done!! August BJP Finished!

I've finished the whole year! I'm very excited about this. One of my bad habits is that I'm an awful procrastinator. Now admittedly I've finished a little late but I did the whole year and I'm very proud of myself. I've really enjoyed doing the bead projects and am excited about participating next year. Anyway on to August!

I have two cats, Pippin & Mellifera. Pippin was named by me for Peregrin Took from The Lord of the Rings. Mellifera was named by my daughter Jill and her name means bearing honey. They are littermates born on August 22, 2004 and they came to live with me in October 2004. I somehow have become very attached to these cats and just can't imagine my life without them. Since they were born in August, this month's heart and poem are dedicated to them. Actually it isn't strictly a poem but it fit better for cats than any of the poems about cats that I found. They can seem so domesticated and tame and then they'll do something & you realize they are still wild animals at heart. Yet they stay with us and allow us the pleasure of their company. Pretty amazing I think!

August's "poem" is from The Cat Who Walked By Himself by Rudyard Kipling:

"He will kill mice, and he will be kind to babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone."

Here's a picture of my cats: Pippin is the top one, mostly black and Mellifera on the bottom, mostly white.

August update

Here's a picture of my progress so far on August. It's actually almost complete. I need to find 2 cat beads to put on and then it will be done. Unfortunately I'm having a hard time finding what I had in mind. I want a black cat & white cat and they should be in a walking pose. I've seen some beads that came close but nothing is exactly what I'm looking for. I have a couple more places to check before I give up though! Anyway I'm feeling pretty good because this is the last month! Once I get those beads that will be it & I'll post a new picture with the poem and explanation.

July BJP Done!!!

Wow I'm really getting excited! I've finished July and now all I have left is August! The picture on this is a little dark. I tried fooling with it but I'm not much of a photo editor! My Mom died on July 14, 1999 and I wanted to do this month's poem for her. What Came to Me by Jane Kenyon makes me cry every time I read it. For me, it's all the little things that are the hardest after someone dies. I couldn't figure out how to interpret this poem in beads but knew that I wanted to use yellow fabric as a background because yellow was her favorite color. When I found this fabric in my stash I decided to just bead the outlines of the flower. I think it came out really pretty! The picture doesn't really do it justice - the beaded outline that looks brown is actually a pretty light purple color. So now it's onto August and then I'm officially finished!

What Came to Me

I took the last
dusty piece of china
out of the barrel.
It was your gravy boat,
with a hard, brown
drop of gravy still
on the porcelain lip.
I grieved for you then
as I never had before.

~Jane Kenyon

Bead Journal Project 2010

Probably if you're reading this you are already a BJP participant and already know this stuff! Just in case you aren't and inadvertently stumbled on this blog, I'm going to repost what I shared on my other blog!

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This past year I've been participating in the Bead Journal Project. It's a 12-month project where you create a beaded journal piece each month. When I started my beading experience was very limited and I was really worried because I didn't feel like I was creative enough to do something every month. I was also worried because I'm a horrid procrastinator and tend to give up on things. Happily, while I did procrastinate, I haven't given up and I've found that I love working with beads and I'm a little more creative than I thought. All very positive things!

August was the last month for 2008 and the next project year will begin in January 2010. If you're interested, check out the links below and consider joining next year. I'm definitely going to and my daughter has enjoyed watching me do this so much that she got interested and will be joining also. If you'd like to look at what I've been working on for this year you can check my stitching blog. The links below will guide you to pages of other BJP participants. Look at the work and hopefully you'll be inspired to join!


The Bead Journal Project starts in January, 2010.

Registration starts October 15, 2009 at beadjournalproject.com/reg.htm.

No experience is necessary! The goal is to create one visual journal piece a month for a year that includes beads.

Participants work can be seen at beadjournalproject.com/bjp.htm.

June BJP

I'm getting close - just two more to finish! June's project is dedicated to my daughter Jill as she was born in June. The following poem by Robert Duncan is one of her favorites. I was trying to figure out how to interpret it and asked Jill for her thoughts. It took her about 2 seconds to sketch something that I really liked so I went with that!

Often I Am Permitted To Return To A Meadow

as if it were a scene made-up by the mind,
that is not mine, but is a made place,

that is mine, it is so near to the heart,
an eternal pasture folded in all thought
so that there is a hall therein

that is a made place, created by light
wherefrom the shadows that are forms fall.

Wherefrom fall all architectures I am
I say are likenesses of the First Beloved
whose flowers are flames lit to the Lady.

She it is Queen Under The Hill
whose hosts are a disturbance of words within words
that is a field folded.

It is only a dream of the grass blowing
east against the source of the sun
in an hour before the sun's going down

whose secret we see in a children's game
of ring a round of roses told.

Often I am permitted to return to a meadow
as if it were a given property of the mind
that certain bounds hold against chaos,

that is a place of first permission,
everlasting omen of what is.

~Robert Duncan