Ketchup

Hmmm...obviously, time to catch up a bit! I'm now officially semi-retired..or is that semi-officially retired? I'm not sure, but it almost seems like I have LESS hours in the day! I'm trying to get lots done for the Gala in December (date change took place) and working hard on a fundraiser I'm running as well. And working part time. :-)

At any rate, a few new pieces have been produced. As always, these are fundraisers for the National Inclusion Project; some are commission pieces, some will go to events in the future for fund raising, some are for sale at any point.

This is Fireworks....seed beads and Swarovski crystal. It's tough to get a picture of the true "bling" those crystals give this one. It also has a crystal link clasp.

This one is "Ruffles"; seed beads and fire polish on memory wire: 

And here is the third piece I made for the Gala Silent Auction. This is Right Here Waiting:

And then this one is a bit of a departure from MY norm...I saw a tutorial online at RingsnThings and just had to do it. It is a double wrap in leather and turquoise, with a leaf charm drop and a Kazuri bead closure. 

I also have eight commission pieces on the go right now *grin*. 

Hey! I guess I have been doing something! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their Fall!

Using my Beads...

...for the National Inclusion Project. :-)

These are silent auction items for the October 2011 Champions for Change Gala in Raleigh, NC.

Hope they do well! :-)

The colors represent the logo of the organization. The necklace consists of assorted gemstone, glass, copper and two different types of beaded beads. Thanks to Liz Reed of The Crimson Moon for the use of her beaded bead tutorial. 

A quote from one of the co-founders of the NIP. Hand-hammered copper. 

The name of one of the NIP's very respected programs for children with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. 

....and then one more, more generic item for the silent auction:

Link to the picture in my FB

(I KNOW I have this picture somewhere in my files, but do you think I can find that sucker??! NO!)

This one uses Swarovski glass pearls and beaded beads from a Cathy Lampole pattern.

Beaducation is celebrating a birthday with a giveaway!

For your chance to win a set of design alphabet stamps.....click here to see the rules.

Wish me luck....and I'll do the same for you! :-)

June Photo Challenge

June Photo Challenge posted....Click here to see the photos

This month I was rushed...it was a wet month, and most of the days I was not working, it was raining. But I think  I'm pleased with those I did get. I'm missing one...sun/lens flare...I usually throw those ones out LOL!

I also attended a nice quilt show in June, up in Bracebridge...it was a LOVELY day, one of the few. The pictures from the show are here, and they're well worth seeing I think.

One or two samples....
A gorgeous Judy Niemeyer design (not part of the show, from a vendor's stand):

Fun!! From a "chocolate" challenge done by the guild...yes, it's really a quilt!

Loved these dandelions done with stitchery and Angelina fibre....

And a beautiful closeup of an applique quilt:

My son from Calgary was here in June, so we took a trip down to The Beach(es) in Toronto to wander the area, enjoy a craft show, and have some dinner. Here's a few pics from that day I quite liked:

Streetside veggies:

Kew Gardens flora:

The library owl:

Kew Gardens:

....and some neighbourhood fauna: :-)

The next time you're in the area....you MUST go have a meal at the purple Thai restaurant there (I can't remember its name).  There are two Thai ones; this one is on the south side of Queen, it's painted purple, it's really tiny, and the food is AWESOME!

Have a great July!

May Photo Challenge

And here's the link to my Flickr account for my May pictures...keep your fingers crossed for me!

May 2011 Photo Challenge

May Photo Challenge DONE!!

Wahoo!! This month, I'm done the challenge a little early, and I'm feeling a bit better about these photos. I'm not sure if it was (for me) just easier themes this month, or if I was simply feeling more creative. Of course, the fact that it wasn't raining every . single . day was a help as well! You just can NOT get good color when it's raining. :(

Last month, I received 2 "best ofs" though...I'm so thrilled about that!

I actually had three themes this month where I had multiple choices of photo, and there were some tough decisions. Here are the ones I decided NOT to include :)

A Spring Activity:

Sprout:

Lines:

Wish me luck! BTW, there are no prizes or voting involved in this challenge....:) Just the satisfaction. 

When the month is over, I'll add a link to my completed May Challenge page. 

Just sitting around....

Thank goodness! I needed that!

I've managed to clear off some of the horizontal surfaces that start to get stacked up when I've been a) working too many hours and b) not feeling so great but today I really need to have a "nothing to do" day. Unfortunately my rotten back will not currently cooperate with that :( so I sit a bit and get up and do a bit.

I've been working through some of the event postcards I seem to accumulate at the ones I attend, marking my calendar with those that look interesting and bookmarking websites and blogs that also look good, for future reference.

Here are a couple of events I hope to attend:

Have not been to this art show before, but how can it go wrong with a setting like Kew Gardens at The Beaches??

http://www.facebook.com/BeachesArtsAndCraftsShow

This show http://ailsacraigquiltfestival.org/content/international-quilt-festival-netherland I have not attended previously either, but it has a great reputation, and it's always great to have a lovely drive in an area you've not visited!

This one http://www.yhqg.org/Celebration/quiltshow.html I HAVE attended and it is NOT TO BE MISSED!! if you like quilts or textile arts. It's an outstanding show with lots of original quilt art, a very nice members shop, lots of vendors, and a great snack shop as well! Be there!! :-)

Here are a few other things I've been working on:

A lovely evening at the beach last night! The weather is great for the long weekend...fun was had by all.

And....some of my production over the last few months. These beaded beads will be added to other color-coordinated plainer beads and strung. 

They will end up looking something like this:

Most are eventually destined to raise money for the National Inclusion Project (see link below). 

Hope you are having a productive weekend as well! 

April Photo Challenge

Here are the photos for the April Photo Challenge!

April Photo Challenge on Flickr

A few of my favorites.....

Fun site

Just a short note today before I head off to work, to show you a very cool new site which I used to play with a lot, but which has been down for a bit. It seems to be operating again, and I know I've had a lot of fun with it...so I thought you might too!

Colr.org

(You may have to try once or twice to get it to happen)

Here's the kind of thing you can do....*grin*

Presto!! A new color scheme for your quilt, jewelry, dyeing, sweater, etc. etc. etc. 

You can upload your own photo or the site randomly selects photos from which you can extract schemes and edit them at your leisure. The only way I've found to save them is to do a print screen and save them in Paint or another editing program...the site does have a downloader, but it saves as a .aco file, which I haven't found a program able to use...if anyone has an idea, please let me know! 

Have fun!! ...and Have a good week! 

Busy Week....

...a very busy week....this "part time" job I work has now become 37 hours...hmmm....how did THAT happen?

I thought I would post a few more of the photos from the Fibre Art Show in Etobicoke last week; many of them are just spectacular pieces:
Here are the full picture and the detail of a traditional embroidered quilt which is just beautifully done. The quilting also enhances the quilt very nicely.

Here's a gorgeous handwoven piece; extremely intricate!

AND, one of the most amazing thread work pieces I've ever seen, in its detail and full pic:

Can you see the lady?

On Friday night, April 8th I attended the VIP reception for the celebration of That Bead Lady's inception as a Swarovski store. As per the Swarovski VP in attendance that evening, there are only 38 of these stores in the world, so it was indeed an honor to be accepted in that category! What an enjoyable evening! We were treated to wine, an enormous buffet of treats, a discount on our purchases that evening, demos, and the most amazing treat bag from That Bead Lady and Swarovski. I'll post a photo of my Wedding Bead from the kit enclosed, as soon as I get it done. A few pictures from that night:

Cathy Lampole, the store owner, receiving the certificate from Swarovski

A glimpse of the action at the Swarovski wall! There was a huuuuuge lineup to peruse the beads:

Cutting the cake:

Had a great time! Thanks, Cathy, for the invitation!

I'm also working on a photography challenge this month; the challenge being to take photographs depicting a number of themes, defined by the folks running the challenge e.g. animals, in fashion, lazy, rain or water etc. etc. 

I've been having fun looking at things in a new way, and of course I ALWAYS have my camera with me! 

This one does not fit the themes particularly, but I just liked the way the fading evening light lit this "urban silhouette". 

I really must get something accomplished today.......

Day One~I'm a Blogger!

Well, here we are, ready to see how this goes!

I'm doing this primarily in order to participate with other bloggers in things of interest to me...photography exercises, Bead Soup Party..and whatever else might come up!
I'll also use the format to post my pictures from time to time of things other than competition material..and just to ruminate out loud.
Clears throat...and so here we go!

Yesterday I had my first weekend off in quite a while, and also had the opportunity to attend a Fibre Arts show/sale in nearby Etobicoke, ON at the Neilson Park Creative Centre. Sometimes events in this general area are outstanding, and sometimes they're really pedestrian (IMO, of course). This was a gooder. Some really  innovative work, a very nice well laid out facility; AND a physical location which just begged to be photographed. What more could I ask?? So I did....photograph. I also bought. :-)

Some of the work I really liked:

The above are a series from one artist; my impression was that they were depictions of her life at two different moments in time. 

Hmmm....lesson #1 on Blogger, apparently...they post in the opposite order to the chosen one! I'll have to see if I can figure out how to amend that  Done! :-) ...but, on to a little flavor of the physical location of the Neilson Creative Centre:

This, by the way, right in the heart of downtown Toronto; I LOVE how the city has managed to retain greenspace.