Some journal pages....

Hi everyone,

     I have been busy ripping up magazines and have now started to cut and paste!!  I went and got two big journals and thought I would have them filled in no time!  I now know that I really don't have a good grasp on time management!  It took two days and one swollen hand to cut up half of my pages! I thought I would just breeze through that part! Wrong! I filled half a shoebox with the cut images and so I thought I would start pasting....and two days later, I have about 10 pages done.....man, is this going to take a long time!  I do like the pages that I have done so far. I have made some that represent an idea for a bead or a series of beads and then some of them are just colors put together for me to use when I am working with the polymer or resin. I have a page for interesting ideas on setting stones and some with ideas on different bead shapes inspired by ceramic and wood items. Since I am not going to Tucson, I am planning on experimenting in a big way!! I hope everyone has a great holiday....I will try to write after the big day and before the other one. I know I am getting some books, I bought them, but didn't peek inside, so I am looking forward to that.....my brain may explode by New Year's with all the ideas rattling around now! I tried to take a nap today and found myself constructing a beaded bezel in hot pink beads with a PMC center!  Looked pretty good, so I may have to make it! I am posting 3 pages that deal with color....I think they look good enough to eat!  Have fun with your journal pages, Kelly

Photos of my upside down tree....

Hi everyone,

   Since I have had requests for photos of my upside down Christmas tree, I thought I would take some....it isn't decorated as heavily as I normally do but you will get the idea. It looks great when I put on the expandable tinsel....it looks like a waterfall of silver.  Hope you like it. The first photo is the whole tree and the second is one of the little vellum lampshades that I put around the bulbs and the last is one set of the little glass birds that hang around the tips of the branches. I may even take it down this year and redo it next year. One year we had it up for 4 years....the boys loved bringing home their friends to see it!  Need to make some new lampshades though....maybe in a color!  Purple sounds good!  Happy Holidays everyone! Kelly

Nutcrackers and more magazines....

Hi everyone,

   Well, as the title said, I am still working on my magazines, ripping them apart and throwing out the parts I don't need. I now have a box full that I have to start cutting up so I can start sticking them down in my journals and the instruction pieces can go in the filing cabinet!!  Watching the "Nutcracker" with the Royal Ballet on tv while working on the magazines....great music!  There are some really weird "Nutcracker" ballets out there....my favorite is still the one designed by Maurice Sendak (the guy who wrote "Where the Wild Things Are"). He did some great designs for the sets. I would like to say that I put up my Christmas tree but as it has been up all year, that would be a lie. It still looks nice though. It hangs upside down from the ceiling and has little light shades that I made out of vellum on the little light bulbs. Lots of icicles hanging down, a bunch of Chris Radko ornaments and little glass birds and bells. I will try to get a good photo and post it this week. I hope everyone has had a good time in the studio making gifts for family and friends....so, since I haven't played (just filling the well)..I will post some of my other photos...hope you like them, Kelly        The first and second photos are of beads I did about three years ago and the second one was the front cover of the PMC Guilds magazine.  The third is the inside view of the ring I posted last time. The watch glass on the top is a magnifying lens so the "diamonds" look bigger than they were....great engagement ring! K

WOW! Time flies.....

Hi everyone,

   So sorry that I haven't posted in a bit. Ed offered to help me put the "library" in order and get all my books up off the floor and onto the bookshelves. I actually ran out of room and so I decided to go through 8 years of magazines to pull out the bits that I want to keep. So far, I have cleaned off 2 1/2 shelves and only filled one box with the saved bits. Now I have to go and buy some blank journals to fill....maybe I can put books on my Christmas list!!!  For those of you who see me in Tucson, I have to tell you that I am sorry that I won't be coming out this season.  I am planning on putting my time to good use and experiment with some things I have had cooking in the back of my mind. I am also working with a wonderful bead artist to make some kits featuring my centerpieces.  Hopefully I will be able to get back on track with the Master's Registry pieces....have some catching up to do!  Well, back to ripping up magazines, filling the well, as Christie Friesen says....gonna have to get some more glue sticks too!  Have fun playing, Kelly        Thought I would post some of my rings, I ran across some of my old ads that showed the pearl ring and I had forgotten how pretty it is. Hope you like them. K.