feather creations

As if working on the BJP wasn't enough, I've signed up to do the Creative Sketchbook course offered by Linda and Laura Kemshall at Design Matters. I'm just waiting for my kit to arrive so I can get stuck in and start playing. However, not being as patient as probably necessary I've already started doing some of the work. I've taken some pictures around the house and started playing with them in PhotoShop. It's amazing how much a photo changes when you take the colour out of it. In some cases the central object remains the central object. The difference is that you see the tone values more easily with black and white. In other cases, taking the colour out changes the focus of the picture. For example I had a picture with a bright red collander and a royal blue mat. When the colour came out of the picture, they both seemed to sink back into the picture so that other objects stood out more. It was actually kind of cool. I've always enjoyed black and ...

So I sat down and created a picture of what I thought this month's project might look like. It originated from the fact that I was laid off a few months ago and am still looking for work. It was about possibilities - which direction do I go now? Then I sat down with the different backing pieces and selected the piece I wanted. It was a very small circle/square piece in alternating black and white which to my mind is very chaotic and confusing. I was going to create the box from fabric and applique it onto the material but I found myself making a big black smudge in the centre with a black felt marker (a very odoriferous black felt marker!). Then I thought about where I wanted the path for each opportunity to go. Well, didn't that change as well! Instead of being straight lines to the opportunity, they meandered, disappeared and reappeared. Because I thought I might have to take some over the edge, I decided I would have to bead the edge first and then work on the front. ...

So I decided to just go with the 6" squares that the sampler pieces came in. And then I started putting together my bases. However, I soon realized that I'd already used part of two of the squares so into my stash for replacements. I heat set the front to Timtex. The original plan being that I would bead the front, heat set material to the back to hide the stitching and then bead the edges. Doesn't it just figure that Spirit and the beads decided they wanted the first piece done differently!! So I heat set the back of the first piece and then beaded the edges before starting on the front of the piece. Good thing I can hide the stitching in the material!

So here I go again. Prepping pieces for the montly journal project. I've decided to use black and white material for the base. I found a sampler package with 2 x 12 pieces of 6" squares. I haven't decided yet whether to go with the 6" square or to cut it back. However, I have decided to let the theme for the month dictate the colour of the beads. So a piece may be one colour or lots of colours. It might just be all black or all white. Maybe it'll be shades of gray. I have no idea but I think I'm willing to let Spirit direct the process this time. Whatever happens, I do believe I'm looking forward to seeing what might emerge.

OK - so I'm adding the finishing touches to some of my pieces from last year's BJP and once my camera battery is recharged I'll post those pix. In the meantime, I'm starting anew for BJP 2010 and looking forward to it. A friend of mind gave me a book on menopause called the Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause by Kristi Meisenbach Boylan which talks about menopause and spirituality. I've decided that since I seem to be in the midst of it (menopause) I might just as well celebrate the da#@ thing by journalling it. Ignoring it doesn't seem to be working! So I'm going to work my way through the book and the rites and celebrate the process as I go along. To truly honour the process I've decided to use Always Wings as the base. They've been a constant in my life since everything started going sideways so why not honour that fact as well. The first piece is already underway. Let the adventure begin!!!

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out if anything stood out for me in February ... and nothing does. It was just a month - 4 weeks, 7 days each - nothing special! The most that can be said for it is that I marked off all the physio and chiropractic appointments I had to go to to for my hip. It was a very boring, uninteresting and nothing month. So that's what I made - a boring, uninteresting piece that was just about marking time!! Now that it's done I can move on to March - I have two ideas for that or maybe it's one for March and one for April. That could be it. Anyway, I should have them both finished before the end of May which would bring me right up to date. Yeah!!!!

I'm going to be .... at 51 I still haven't figured that one out yet. Firstly, I'm still waiting for that "magic moment" when I'll know for sure that "I'm grown up" and secondly as I grow and change what I want to "be" also grows and changes. So it's hardly any wonder to me that time spent in January was thinking about career paths and what my next choice should be. My mother was always amazed by variety in my resume - it is a bit daunting - however, I've often thought I wanted to be a "renaissance" woman when I grow up so may that's still influencing my thought processes. Anyway, January is about "Opportunities" and trying to figure out which way to go. This time I'll keep my day job until I'm a little more solid about which way to go before deciding I want a change - new direction for me. More importantly, I've figured out the design for February. I need to back the piece and do the edging. ...