What A Four and 11/12-Year-Old Thinks

At Thanksgiving, my 4 and 11/12-year-old grandson very helpfully offered to name my beading. He thought that the November BJP (above), which I called Blue Abundance, should be Splashing in the Water. He's right, the texture does look like splashing.

He thought that the September page, which I considered to be Amber and Sand Dunes, should be either Sand Dunes at Goshorn Lake or Sand on Sandpaper. The extended family all-together week is centered at Goshorn Lake. And he was intrigued by the texture of the Stiff Stuff backing that reminded him of sandpaper.

My personal favorite of his suggestions was for the October BJP, which I called Not-Quite-Pink. His idea came as soon as he saw it. Piggy! How can you go wrong with Piggy?

And for those who were wondering, he was the one counting the days until his birthday. He insisted he was no longer four. He was four and 11/12. Precision in names and precision in numbers. That's him!

December BJP Completed!

The Longest Night of the Year Sparkles!

I finished my December BJP while we were visiting the World Center of Football for Christmas. The 6 3/4-year-old football player was interested in the different shapes of the beads. The now five-year-old football player again had a suggestion for the name: Waves. (For more of his suggestions see post above.)

But I think I'll stick with the wordier The Longest Night of the Year Sparkles! The title may be a little misleading as it was snowing, raining, or about to snow or rain nearly all of December. I think we had one day of sun.

Technical Details:

Again I used Lacy's Stiff Stuff as a foundation. To get a blue-toned dark color, I painted it with blue, black and purple Dye-na-Flow.

The beads are the usual mishmash of 11/0s, Delicas, 8/0s, and 15/0s. There are some hexes, large and small cubes, large triangles, a donut, and some nameless shapes. I found some long bugles to use as well. The colors are all variations of navy blue. Some lean toward the purple and some lean toward the green. Many are AB or iris. There are a few muted gold beads, too. Quite a few of the beads were from packages of mixed beads. They were the darkest ones in the groups. It's more fun than a reasonable person would think to sort through those packages.

Most of the page was done with the backstitch. I continue to find this the most comfortable stitch for me. I attached the donut in a way new for me. Look for it just left of the middle of the piece. I used four strings of 15/0s from the center of the donut to the outside.

The page is 2.75 inches by 2.75 inches.

I used navy blue Nymo thread.

What I Was Thinking:

I enjoy December. To me, it means getting together with the extended family for Christmas. We're a pretty laid-back, whatever happens happens crowd, and no one seems to get stressed out by trying to maintain a particular tradition. When the days are short and the nights are long, we see the sparkles.

Issues that Came Up:

• The 2.75 inches by 2.75 inches size is probably just right.
• Although I often think of all the other stuff I would like to add to the little pieces, I'm glad I don't feel pressured by the BJP. I have several (lots?) of other projects in progress.
• I was surprised by the variation within this limited color palatte.
• I'd like to do a similar dark piece, starting either from purple or from green. Maybe a doll...

Happy New Year!

September's Project Completed!

I finished September's BJP project. Starting early, working small, and using relatively large beads are some of the reasons I'm done so soon.


Technical details:
I used Lacy's Stiff Stuff as the foundation. Because I didn't want to work on white Stuff, I sprayed both sides of the Stiff Stuff with Memories Mist in yellow and brown. I found it on clearance in the scrapbooking department of one of the large chain craft stores. It is permanent when heat set, and, as far as I can tell, it doesn't change the hand of the fabric.

The size of the piece is 2.75" by 2.75".

The large beads are amber chips from a child's necklace I got in Vilnius, Lithuania, last September. The amber chips are 1/4 to 3/8 inch across. I hadn't worked with so many large beads before. They take up a lot of space fast! I didn't want any of the other beads to compete with the amber so most of the rest of the beads are 11/0 and 15/0. There are a few bugles and 8/0 beads.

What I Was Thinking:

I was thinking about our trip and about sand dunes. The dunes in Lithuania are a World Heritage Site. We have plenty of dunes on Lake Michigan so they are a familiar sight. I wanted to show the layers in the sand as it moves. (OK, so I was also thinking about how excited I was at being part of the BJP group.)


Issues That Came Up:

• Did I choose a format that is too small? Should I do another beaded project for September? A larger one?
• The Stiff Stuff drew in more than I expected as I added more and more beads, and some of the beaded rows buckled. How can I reduce the thread induced shrinkage? Or remember to leave a little breathing space between beads? Or at least remember not to pull the thread so tight?
• Should I try a different stabilizer? Perhaps paper under fabric, which I liked a lot when I used it. My knuckles can get awfully sore from pushing the needle through anything heavy.
• How can I improve my photography of shiny things?

Now I'm ready to start a new project, but I'm not sure if it will be September 2.0 or October or something unrelated.

September's Project

For my September BJP project, I thought back to this time last year when we were in Lithuania. Amber was everywhere--in the jewelry shops, in the souvenir stores, and in all the street stalls. It was beautiful.

But I wanted beads, not jewelry. I couldn't find any. We even found a bead store in Vilnius, and the clerks looked confused when I asked if they had any amber beads. (No, it wasn't a language problem.)

After several days in Vilnius, I was pretty determined that I was going to find some amber for bead embroidery. Amber beads would be a great memento of the trip, and easy to take back home because they were unbreakable and lightweight. But I didn't want very many beads and I didn't want to pay too much. I finally decided that a necklace of amber chips would do. I could deconstruct it without guilt.

I looked a little more closely at the necklaces and discovered that a 28-inch necklace has a lot of amber chips. Way too many! Then I found a small child's necklace. Just right for my purposes. The amber chips are quite small, 1/4 to 3/8 inch, all the better for embroidery.

These are the amber chips from the little necklace:




If you look closely, you can see the price tag still attached. 10 litas or about $4.00.

The other beads I am using with the amber are here:



This is the tray I work from, with it on my lap and my feet up on the footstool. Usually there aren't so many beads on it all at once.

I started early so my September project is nearly complete. Just another couple of days will do it.

And for those thinking of going to Lithuania or the other Baltic nations, it was a great trip.