Entirely Inoffensive--February BJP

Every once in a while, I wonder what's up with the West Michigan Character Council. The designated quality for February was Deference: Limiting my freedom so I do not offend the tastes of those around me. What exactly, I wondered, did that mean?

Now, I'm an older person who grew up when one job of the Safety Patrol was to remind boys to take off their hats when they entered the elementary school building. We wore dresses to school. Years later, we still wore dresses to teach. I don't use "rude" language, shout out during public meetings, push to be first on the airplane, or wear clothing that exposes my midriff. I don't play loud music at night, eat while I'm on the phone, talk on a cell phone in stores and restaurants, or text during meetings. I try to be polite, respectful and considerate in public and private interactions. I do not intentionally offend the tastes of others.

But "limiting my freedom?" That phrase bothered me. It brought me back to the Women's Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. I would not want to go back to the days when women's freedom and equality in employment, pay, education, health care and other areas were limited because they offended the tastes and traditions of others. Maybe it's the current political climate that made me feel this way.

Is this what the West Michigan Character Council meant by deference and limiting my freedom? Maybe not, but that was my first reaction.

So for February, I decided that my Bead Journal Page would be Entirely Inoffensive.


Technical Details:

The Foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff painted with brown Dye-na-Flow.

There are some larger round beads, 6/0s, 8/0s, 11/0s, 15/0s, hexes, peanut beads, triangles, bugles, and Delicas.

The size is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

The stitches used were the backstitch and the lazy stitch.

I used C-lon size A thread in brown.


What I Was Thinking:

Absolutely nothing offensive, I assure you.


Issues That Came Up:

I had a lot of other deadlines in February so this month's BJP got pushed aside more than once. You can see the two other beading projects I did in February in the posts below.

Sometimes I pull my thread too tight, shrinking up the foundation. That makes the beads squish together and jump off the flat surface. That happened this month. Maybe I was secretly thinking some offensive thoughts and that made me tense. Or maybe I was pushing to hurry and get done.

I still like Nymo thread better than C-lon. When I put the page aside for a few days to do something else, the loose thread hanging from the piece seemed to unwind. Then it caught on the rough places on my hands. Maybe next time I'll try Thread Heaven on the C-lon.

I'm really glad I chose a slightly smaller size this year.


And now, it's on to March. Nearly two weeks left in the month so there's hope for finishing!

Hope Stone for a Friend of a Friend

It's a question of priorities.

Hope is a priority. Sharing hope with someone who needs it is a priority. As a cancer survivor who can still remember days with not quite enough hope, I find that sharing hope with others facing cancer is a priority with me.

This Hope Stone is for a friend of a friend. I don't know my friend's friend, and I don't need to. All I need to know is that she is facing cancer and that she may have times when she may not be able to summon up enough hope within herself. So I will send her this Hope Stone to let her know that there are many of us standing with her and supporting her spirit as she undergoes treatment.

Glass stones with the word "Hope" etched on the top are given to survivors at the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. When they are ready, survivors are encouraged to share their Hope Stone with someone else facing cancer. I mounted this Hope Stone and embellished it with extra wishes, hopes, dreams, and prayers in the form of beads and stitches.

You can see some of the other Hope Stones I've embellished here.

And the priority--Embellishing this Hope Stone was more important to me than completing my February BJP on time. If you have a problem with that, DO NOT let me know!

Today I'm celebrating 11 years as a cancer survivor. I need to find some chocolate.

A Good Start For February

I've got a good start on my February BJP. It's not going to be finished by the end of the month. After all, there are only about 9 hours left. Ok, I could finish it by the end of the month. But between now and midnight, I've got a few other things on my schedule, and they take precedence.

Like eating. And sleeping. And typing this post...

I have to say, however, that February has been a very productive month. You can see the little white doll I made in the post below. And there were a couple of other creative projects I completed.

And there were what seemed like lots of extra meetings this month. They were all worthwhile, but they took time and preparation. And none of them were cancelled because of bad weather.

And an extra exercise class twice a week--also worthwhile.

And some good books.

And I'm getting ready to teach a class on Beaded Edgings and Fringe next week at our Fiber Arts Guild.

And there's an amazing social event coming up this weekend.

And someone needs a Hope Stone so I'll put that together before I finish February.

You'd think that with the extra day in February this year, I could get the BJP finished. But February is still two days shorter than January and March.

This is not my only adventure with tardiness. You can read about my February 2009 BJP here and here.

You probably noticed that I did not blame an excess of vacuuming for taking away my beading time. No excess of dusting, either.

White Doll Finished!

I finished the white doll last weekend. She doesn't have a name yet. She has gone on a little trip with two of her girlfriends, Little Greeny and It's Not Easy Being Red. I hope that they'll find a name for the white doll on their journey. I expect them back the end of May. Road trip with the girlfriends! It sounds like fun!

Here's Little Greeny:


And here's It's Not Easy Being Red:


The little girlfriends really haven't gone that far away. They're at Second Reformed Church in Zeeland for a fiber arts show. I'll go over to visit them next week, after they get settled.

White Doll Front Completed

The front of the White Doll is finished! She now has a face, but she has no name. She'll find her name in her own good time.

It's very important for a doll to have a heart. Hers is a Swarovski crystal.

The next step in the process is to attach the back to the front of the doll. Then I'll stuff it with fiberfill. I'll finish the stitched together edges with a beaded picot stitch.

I haven't decided whether or not to add beaded hair. The back of the doll is not beaded. She could have hair just around the edges of her head or hair completely covering the back of her head. I do not intend to bead the rest of the back of the doll.

Any suggestions for a hairstyle?

If I Only Had A Face...

If I only had a face,
I could smile.
I could talk.
I could laugh.
I could cry.
I could hum.
I could sing.
I would sing.

Folly? Or Not? BJP January 2012

It's a new year. A fresh start. A new beginning. White beads symbolize this new start to a new year.

But is it folly to think that we can begin again with each new year?

Technical Details:
The foundation is Lacy's Stiff Stuff.

This piece includes 15/0s, 11/0s, 10/0s, 8/0s, and 6/0s, hexes, cubes and bugles. More than 25 different kinds of beads were used.

Stitches used are the backstitch, the stop stitch, couching, and some fringe.

The piece is 2.25 inches by 3 inches.

White Nymo thread in size D was used.

What I Was Thinking:
To what degree can we start fresh at the beginning of each year? Does This is the first day of the rest of my life make any sense at all?

If we could start anew each January 1, would we really want to?

If we decide we can't start fresh, are we admitting defeat?

Or can we pick and choose what we carry over from the previous year?

Is it folly to think that we have any choice in this at all?

I've thought about this issue before. You can see my January 2010 page here. I don't think I've changed my mind in the past two years.

Issues That Came Up:
I used the beading thread I picked up at the dumpster diving place for ten cents a bobbin. It's labeled Belding Corticelli and for all practical purposes, it's Nymo. My research showed that Belding Corticelli makes Nymo. My guess is that the production has improved since this particular thread was made. I found that lubricating the thread with Thread Heaven helped limit the fraying.

My 2012 BJP pieces are 2.25 inches by 3 inches. For the past two years, my pieces were 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. I wanted to make my 2012 pieced a little smaller so I would have more time to work on other beading projects. It doesn't sound like much of a difference, but the earlier pieces are 8.75 square inches and this year's pieces are 6.75 square inches. That's significant.

I started this piece by making the three quarter-circle corner sections. Then I made part of the frame, followed by the "branch of flowers." That's where I got stuck. I liked it, but I needed to fill in the background. This had happened before, and I did not enjoy trying to fill in the background. You can see that project here. So I ripped out the branch of flowers, completed the background, and put the branch of flowers back on.

It was really difficult to get a good picture of this white piece. It looks better in person. I'd show you, but it seems to be hiding at the present moment. It will reappear in it's own good time so it's probably not necessary to do any radical cleaning.

And with the spare time from the smaller piece I've made a very good start on the little white doll.