I Am.....Prosperous

 

I was listening to Wayne Dyer one evening and he talked about how to use that moment before you go to sleep at night to its best advantage by telling yourself what you are. Like, I AM.....Prosperous. He said that it was that instant just before sleep that your mind would hold onto whatever you wanted and think about it for the next 8 hours. Then when you were awake it would start manifesting those ideas for you. Wayne said, if you kept it up, within 30 days you would see a change in your life. 

I am living proof it happens.

I Am .....Prosperous. And February is finished.

I AM - Healthy

I got a little cocky.
All of my other BJPs were a lot larger and took more time so I dragged my feet on this one. I finished right on the 31st, I have not had time to post until now.

January was all about making better choices for my health.
It started by me watching a ton of documentaries, all about food and eating. I just happened to have a friend that was getting rid of her juicer so I swept that up. Now each day I make a juice with apples, kale, broccoli, sprouts, carrots, celery, lemon, ginger, zucchini, cucumber, and beet. I did not think it sounded that appetizing but the first swig was heavenly. I crave it now. 

My drawer front is a box of veggies and fruits. People kept asking me what was going to be on the inside of the drawer and one day I had this brilliant idea to add a ribbon in each drawer that you can pull out and it tells what the month is all about. Because as cute as I think the veggies and fruit are (especially those carrots), I don't know if you would get it by just looking at it.

My February piece is finished but I want to wait a little to post.



PS - if you would like to watch an amazing documentary on eating/food try Foodmatters. Its changed my life.

Drawer

Drawers for whatever the future holds. I made the drawers from Peltex, I use it a lot, I buy it by the bolt these days. In this photo you can see the paper box I made for the pattern and all the Peltex is cut.

I then dyed each of the drawers while they were flat. I did this with Dyn-na-flow, three different colors. I first wet the pieces and then paint them with the dye, it gives them a nice watercolor look. After they were dried I sprayed them with Moon Shadow Mist, this ages them a bit and gives a hint of sparkle. The best side was used for inside the box which will be seen.

Here is the finished book with all the drawers. Each month I will make a front to the drawer which eventually will cover up all the hole and will make it look like a dresser. 

Happy New Year!

I love to spend New Year's Eve and day creating. I feel it is always a good start to the new year. Not only can we create then artistically, we can create our lives, our dreams. 

I spent the last 24 hours painting my book for my BJP13 project.

Now that it is painted it is time to make some tiny drawers for the inside.

Happy New Year to all!

Reflections on the BJP

This is my fourth year of the doing the BJP.

I was a participant in the first three but then my beading took off. I received two grants and will be uninstalling my first exhibition that closes next week. Now that this exhibition is closing I have a lot more free time on my hands, that is why I signed up again.

When I started that first Bead Journal Project I had no idea that it would be so instrumental in changing my life. At that time I knew I loved to bead but I did not have the self confidence to do anything more with it. My first theme was "My Healing as an Artist". I chose a 7 x 9 size that year - I would spend between 80 and 100 hours making each month's piece. That's like a part time job! But during that time I would really think about each of the steps and work them out in my mind. It was life changing.

I applaud all of the participants for joining and making goals of beading one thing a month. But knowing what can happen if you really delve into yourself and the changes you can make. It feels like you are selling yourself short by only making a piece of jewelry when making an actual journal page could open up doors that you don't even know are there.

Below is the start of my next journal - "The Definition of Who I Am"

Back in the Saddle

With only a few days left until the BJP 13 starts I thought I would get a head start on the form that my Journal will take this year. In former years I would make the pieces each month but then at the end I was left with the daunting job of putting them together in a cohesive way. This year I will be making the form first and then each month adding to it. By the end of the 12 month the whole project will be complete. Such a novel idea - for me anyway.

A friend showed me an altered book that was gorgeous. I took my cue from it.

My theme for the year is "The Definition of Who I Am"

So I started with a nice thick book. Ironic that is is a dictionary, I thought.

To cut out the center you first need to glue all the pages together. I thought I would have to glue each one to the next but you only have to glue the outside edges. We take care of the inside later. For this I put Saran Wrap around the front cover and the front page, which you do glue down later to the hole you cut out.

Once the outside edge is dry you start cutting the inside of the book. It can make a real mess, let me tell you. Little pieces of paper all over the place.

Once you have it as deep as you want you can clean it up and then you glue this inside edge just like you did the outside part. I think I forgot to say that I close the cover and stack books on top of it while it is drying to get a tight seal.

After the glue is dry you take the front page that you have wrapped and glue it to the front of the hole. Then you can make a nice clean cut for the top. I wanted to make this opening into a dresser of sorts with 12 little drawers, one for each month. So I used strips of foamcore for this process. I would cut each piece and glue it in.

I am still debating whether I will just paint the cover of the book or bead a cover for it. For now I have gessoed the whole book inside and out. I did leave the words showing in the back of the dresser area.

Its all ready for the little drawers I will make each month, defining who I AM.

Bead Journal Project 2013

I'm Back!

I just signed up for the 2013 Bead Journal Project.

I have a great project in mind.

I will be starting the process soon to get ready for the "pages" I will be making next year.

Photos of the process will be posted then.