Catching Up

I'm going to be concentrating on my Zentangles and some jewelry in the next few days, or weeks, depending.....

For starters, I finally finished a project I've had going around in my head for months. The Turquoise in the following pictures are actually glass beads that I have created to look like turquoise. And from the reaction I've received, it looks like it's been successful. 

This one has turquoise-like nuggets hanging from a copper neckpiece. At the moment, it is choker length, but has the capability of being hung from a longer necklace.

 This one has a large, flat,  wire-wrapped bead that can be reversed,

or changed for this bead:

or others to come.

And then there's my addiction to Zentangles. I rented "One Zentangle a Day" in eBook form  from the library, not realizing that it was a 6 week course, and eBook rentals are only good for 3 weeks. I decided it was worth having in my personal library so I ordered it and in a week I was back on course. But don't think I was tangleless during that week. There were always new patterns being introduced, or established ones available online, so I was able to try out new (to me ) ones constantly. I started doing some with white ink on black paper, and like those as well as the black on white. This is a practice sheet I did while learning new patterns:

  Here are 2 Zendalas, 1 on white and 1 on black paper:

and a white and a black tile using the same patterns.

A closer look at a white on black tile.

You can find out more about Zentangles at: Zentangles Blog or at TanglePatterns.com.

It's Been More Than a Few Days.........

Well,  It's Been More Than a Few Days........but I've been busy with Passover preparations and Seder (including out of town guests), Dr. and Physical Therapy appointments, and who knows what else? One of the things that's been bogging me down is my new addiction/obsession: Zentangles. For those of you unfamiliar with Zentangles, it's part art form, and part meditation, hence the name. 

Starting back at Passover, it was a bit more daunting than usual, as my husband has developed an intolerance to eggs. And as anyone knows who has ever experienced Passover (and especially had to cook for it) EVERYTHING has eggs in it: Matzo Balls, Potato Kugel, Stuffing, Baked Goods; you name it. Except for the main course, be it poultry or meat, and the chicken soup, everything else has eggs in it, even the Gefilte Fish. I tried a couple of vegan recipes for matzoh balls, but they were a disaster. So my poor husband ate a lot of matzo (more than usual), and a lot of cheese and sliced turkey breast. And at least he was able to eat a lot of chocolate.

I mentioned doctor and physical therapy appointments. These were the result of a compressed disc affecting a nerve, starting back in mid-December. So you see this has been going on for quite a while now. I couldn't walk; the pain was excruciating. And I usually have a very high threshold of pain, but this hurt so much it really scared me. At first they had me on a medication that didn't seem to alleviate the pain much, but made me very nauseated. For 2 weeks I was unable to eat, and felt so sick that I spent most of the time in bed. I finally stopped that medication, and was given another that works specifically on nerve pain, and it helped a great deal. But not enough to get me up and around on my own. For a while there, my husband was pushing me around on my desk chair (the wheeled kind), and then I started using it like a walker. Finally one day, I realized that I was doing much better, and my husband brought home a cane, which I've used full-time until the last week or 2. Now I can get around without it most of the time; I just have to make sure I don't overdo it. I've seen a surgeon, who ordered the physical therapy, and as long as I continue to improve, or at least don't get any worse, it looks like I can avoid surgery, and/or an epidural, which has been another option I'm not anxious to pursue.

You would think that being housebound for so much of the time, I would have done a lot of fiber work. But the fact is, the first month or so I just couldn't concentrate on anything much, so I got a lot of reading done instead.

But now that I'm back in action, more or less, I have been getting some things done. I've been back at my metals/jewelry class, and done some work there. I would have been further along on my Sunrise Circles Vest, but I ran out of the yarn that I was using around the edges of each circle. I ordered more, but since I bought the original a few years ago, when it came it was a lighter color. But after I sent Mango Moon an email showing the right color, they came through and apparently dyed some up for me that is perfect.  Thanks, Mango Moon. I've now got the whole back finished and sewn together, and 4 more half circles, which will probably work for the sides. 

I've just begun a full circle, which will be the start of the the front.

And, of course, now we come back to the Zentangles. I've become totally addicted to doing these little mini pieces of art. Here are some samples:

Practicing different patterns:

 A completed Zentangle Tile

 A Zendala

 and an ATC (Artist Trading Card)

 That's it for now. I'll try to do some more catching up soon.

 

A New Beginning

I haven't posted in this blog for so long that I suppose everyone's given up on it. But I'm back and planning to catch you all up on what's been happening, and then post here at least once a week. It's certainly not that I haven't had anything to report. On the contrary, the problem's been that too much has been going on, and some things have taken a back seat, and one of them has been this blog. And another one is my SupaDupa shop, in which I haven't added all my new jewelry and beads.

Some of the things I will cover in the coming days are, most importantly: the compressed disc/pressed nerve that had me totally incapacitated for most of a month, and is not completely cleared up yet; the knitting and crochet projects that I started and/or finished:

 lots of metal and glass work:

and various and sundry other things, especially my new obsession: Zentangles.

See you in a day or two.

How I Spent My Summer

3 months! That's how long it's been since I last posted here. It's not that I didn't have anything to say; it's just that so many other things kept getting in the way. Where to start? I guess I actually should start just before that last post. 

I've been craving an iPad ever since they first came out, and I finally bought one for myself. Call it a Mother's Day gift. I'm still learning how to use all it's features; but it's really pretty much all I expected. 

Of course, what I didn't expect was all the Apps I would need (or want), but luckily they've all been free or just a couple of dollars. And all the accessories: a cover, a case for when I travel (I bought and tried out a slew of them till I found just what I wanted, and then found out that I mostly just use the cover) and I've found a stylus really comes in handy. Now that I've got the hang of it, I've even been able to take some pretty good photos with it. And the ability to sync everything between the iPad and my computer is awesome. I've been using it constantly.

In June I went back home for the first time since we moved out here permanently, back in the Fall of 2008. It was exactly the same weekend I was supposed to go back last June, but ended up hospitalized with Pneumonia and Valley Fever instead. This time the trip was for my High School Reunion, which was a  a small, intimate brunch; probably the last formal reunion we'll have, so it was good to see everyone. The rest of the week was great; I stayed with some friends and got to spend time with my son; saw other friends and family, attended a couple of great performances, and had some terrific meals.

Then, in July, I went to the Gathering, the annual conference of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. It was the first time I attended in 5 or 6 years, and I really enjoyed all the presentations, Gallery Tours, and the camaraderie of other glass workers. I also took a pre-conference workshop, so it was a full week. And of course there were all the technical vendors. I made a serious dent in my finances, buying some wonderful reactive glass and a few new tools. I've been having a ball playing with them. Photos of new work soon to come.

In between all of these events, I made a new Breeze shawl;

and continued working on the monthly squares for the 2012 CAL-BAM Afghan. I've still been doing a lot of jewelry: metal work, wire work, and of course glass.  But mostly, I've been working on setting up a new online shop to sell my Beads & Jewelry, and I finally opened it this week. There's considerably more finished jewelry, especially Shawl Pins for all you fiber artists. Check it out, I welcome your comments and critiques. 

Purple Butterfly Boutique

This is Becoming a Habit

Here it is, another month gone by, and I haven't posted anything. I've been mostly busy working on jewelry. I've done quite a bit of Forging and FoldForming, as well as Wire Work. This bracelet was forged and wire wrapped:

 

As you can see by the following pieces, I've also been doing some glass work. These pendants are all interchangeable on a copper wire rope: the first one is foldformed copper with a glass bead made to simulate the look of Turquoise

 this one is a tabular bead with copper wire melted into the surface:

 and this one is hollow with a hole large enough to accommodate the copper wire rope.

And this necklace is brass, and has 2 interchangeable beads:

So even if I haven't been posting here, I have been keeping busy.  The one thing I haven't done much of is fiber work, but I'll get back to that soon.