BJP Jan and Feb

Once again this year I have joined the Bead Journal Project (BJP)(and the Crazy Quilt Journal Project, CQJP). I had done so a few years back and decided to join in the fun and creativity again this year as well. I think these groups are a wonderful way to push yourself to complete projects and share in the creative process with others.

This year for the BJP I decided to do my beaded rocks again. I decided to choose a theme this year of doing endangered species. It always saddens me when I hear that there are creature that have been here for thousands of years and then along comes people and wipes them off the face of the Earth. Hopefully some of my pieces will just bring a little more awareness of their plight. I am not sure exactly which species will be done and I will probably include insects and plant life within this theme.

I often get asked how I  do these rocks. The procedure is fairly simple. Although it is time consuming and requires a steady hand and getting use to how to handle and place the beads. I am going to start with my February rock to give you a basic how I do this. First I use a somewhat flat rock. I got mine from along the shores of Lake Superior. There was a great place that had slate like rocks and I collected a bunch and brought them home to my old place in northern WI. I have since moved to FL and moved my rocks with me. My father thought I was a bit goofy for bringing my rocks but I knew I wanted to make more beaded rocks at some time and I would need those rocks.

To start with I would wash the rocks just to be sure they didn't have any dirt or lose pieces on them. I then paint the rock. This you probably don't have to do that but I feel that the beads/glue will stick better to the painted surface.

Then I researched what type of photo I want to put on the rock. I did most of this by simply googling images of my tiger. With my tiger I knew I wanted a close up of the one side of the face. I took a basic photo of a live tiger and traced with tissue paper the basic outline. I then looked at several photos to see where the patches of color were on the cat.

From there I used a sharpie marker and retraced the outline from the tissue paper on to the rock. The sharpie goes thru the tissue paper on to the rock.

Once the pattern is on the rock I begin to glue the beads on the rock. Depending on the pattern you might want to consider how you want the beads to lie on the rock. This rock I started with the lines around the eyes and nose. The first rows are the most difficult to lie down. You need to be sure they are straight  and the beads lie up and down. It's not as easy as it seems. To place the beads I will load  3 to 4 beads on a beading needle and dip the beads slightly into the glue. I do not completely submerse the beads in the glue, only one side.

I then just go about gluing the rest of the beads on the surface. The beads only go to the edges of the rock. I do not put them on the bottom of the rock. I usually just leave the bottom of the rock plain but I suppose one could place some felt or something of that nature so the rock wouldn't scratch surface.

Here is the completed tiger rock. I was very happy with how this rock turned out.

Here is my January rock. Last month I did the rhino. Another critically endangered species

Here are a few edge on views of that rock.

If you have any questions regarding these rocks please feel free to ask.  And I hope you will check back through the course of the year for more rocks and some of my CQJP as well.

Final Beaded Rocks

Well I finally finished my beaded journal project for 2012. I know it's two month past due.....but I did get them finished. First one is all done in all greens and blues. I love these colors together and as you can see it works well on the beaded rock. So here is November's beaded rock:

December's beaded rock reminds me of winter, cool blues, whites and silver.

In both beaded rocks I used some left over beads and beads of different shapes. Next onto 2013. Both CQJP and BJP. I'm starting a little behind but that OK. It's winter now in Wisconsin so there should be time to catch up. Have a wonderfully creative week   :)

Oct BJP

Well...I hope everyone had a wonderful Thankgiving! I just want to give thanks for all of you that follow and visiting my blog. I have meet so many kind and talented people thru the internet and my blog. I just really want to thank you for visiting here.

 

So, here is my beaded rock for Oct....yes still a little behind but catching up slowly. It naws at me to be behind. So now all I'll have is this month's rock (Nov) and Dec. I can't believe the year has gone by so quickly. I have already registered for next years BJP (also CQJP) but I haven't really decided what I'm going to do but I'm pretty sure it will be something completely different. That is what is so fun about beading. There are sooooo.... many wonderfully different things one can do with beads!

 

This month's rock has a little lizard hiding on a leaf like they would in their natural habitat. I've always liked reptiles. When I was a little younger I actually had a lizard with very similar colors as this guy on the rock. He was mostly green with a bright blue tail. Well, here are a few pictures:

 

 

And here are some pictures of my doggie just cuz she's pretty and I love her:

 

 

Hope you enjoy  :) And everyone have a wonderfully creative week  :)

Beaded rock

BJP September

 

Here is my beaded rock for Sept. I know that I'm a little behind, but this month I am going to play catch up. Just finished my bee rock. I decided on a honey bee this time because of the plight that the honey bee faces in this country recently. Honey bees are facing a serious crisis in our country right now and disappearing at an alarming rate and scientist are not really sure why. I think any of us that are gardeners knows how important this little fella is when it comes to pollination. Many of us have heard a little about the problem but we truly don't realize how serious it is. One of the suspects are the new hybrid plants that they are producing that have the insecticide right in the plants as it grows. I am a strong proponent of organic foods and eat organic when ever they are available. Here is just one more reason to support organic growers. Educate yourself about the food you put in your body. Eat organic and support Non GMO foods.

 

 

 Hope you enjoy my little bee and next I'm working on a little lizard. He's about half finished so stay tuned.....Have a great day  :)

CPJP and BJP

Here is just a quick photo update on this years projects so far. First a photo of all the completed rocks.

And then the completed blocks for the CQJP so far. Also stay tuned because I am almost finished with another block and its not the one I recentely posted as a work in progress. This is an entirely different block. I only have 2 more seams to finish on it and it will be completely finished. I will try to finish it tonight after work and post some picture tomorrow. Until then......

Have a great day :)

July BJP

Well lots has been happening since my last post (besides work). I have just completed my July's beaded rock today. This month I decided to go with the color scheme of my CQJP, the blues and browns. I had some beautiful focal stones which I wanted to use on this project so I placed one in the center and designed outward from there. I really never have a complete design layout in my head when I start these projects. I usually just go with the flow. Do some of you have your complete project planned before you begin? I'm just wondering.

I also started a new crazy quilt project. I want to make some purses. Here is a picture of the start of one of them. I plan on embellishing these with silk flowers, a lot of trim, buttons, and beaded trim on the bottom. Stay tuned for more.

And here are a few pictures of my progress on my next CQJP block (block 12). I figured I'd share its progress since I was already posting today anyways. For the teal flower I used organza ribbon, cut out small circles, then burned the edges with a candle and stacked them on top of one another to create the flower. It turned out nicely, but next time I think I will use smaller circles. Also if you look closely, the dolliey is one of the doilys I purchased at the antique store a while back. I dyed it and placed it on this block. My dilema is that I really don't want to cover much of it up because of the details on the doily (small butterflies) So I'm not going to add to much to the area with the doily on it.

I also found this great lamp base at Goodwill this week. It's cast iron and has an old antique look to it. I just absolutely love it. I was so excited when I found it just sitting on the shelf calling to me. It made my day! I am going to bead a lamp shade to go with it.

Also my doggie found a nest of baby bunnies (second time this year already). Lucky for the bunnies my dog has a very gently mouth and did not hurt any of them; scared them a little, but didn't hurt them. I put the babies back in their nest at night and in the morning they were all gone so hopefully they found their way some place safe. I always joke that in the animal world bunnies lucked out in the cuteness department compared to say, snakes (which I also have in my yard). So I'm sharing the photo of the cute baby bunnies and the proud bunny getter (Nala).

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day :)