Traveling By Map!

Welcome back to the Nest! Where has the time gone? Shortly after my last post, my husband and I decided to take on a new adventure. He took a 6 month sabbatical and we decided to change our course. We are leaving West Tennessee for the beautiful mountains of western Maryland! We are very excited about all the new beginnings and opportunities that await us! I guess I have probably logged at least twenty thousand miles on my car in the last six months. I could probably drive I81 in my sleep, including cautiously through Virginia!  So between looking for housing there and trying to sell the house here, checking out schools, getting my husband settled in Maryland, and running the beautiful creatures to all their activities here, and let's not forget checking out all the art supply stores and bead shops in between,  I have been very busy! Aren't you tired from just reading that last, very long, probably grammatically incorrect sentence! Whew! I am....

Although all of my beads are packed up, my mixed media stash is still accessible! Speaking of which, I have had the real honor and privilege of having one of my mixed media pieces selected to be published in Lesley Riley's latest book!

If you are not familiar with Lesley, then please check out her website! She is a fabulous artist, product developer, author, teacher, coach, mentor, and friend....you will not be disappointed!

So Nest, although it's been a crazy half year, a new one is upon us, and I have a whole list of things to accomplish in 2014! I hope you will join me!

Until Next time,  create your own beautiful adventure!

On Their Way!

After battling resin issues and hundreds of wrapped loops, the earrings are finally on their way! Thank you all for being so patient! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed all of your comments and page views on my blog!

I wanted to say thank you to Betty, my new blog buddy from the UK, for this exquisite silk sachet! Click on her name to view her blog and see more of her beautiful hand painted silk creations. Her work is amazing!

Until next time...Create Something Beautiful!

Production Started!

I want to say thank you to all the beautiful and generous women who have viewed, left comments, and followed my blog over the past few weeks! What an amazing response to the Grow Your Blog Party! I still haven't made my way through the whole list of blogs yet! As promised, I am sending each of my new friends a pair of earrings! I have just started production on them and will hopefully have them shipped by next week!

Check out these gorgeous earrings! They were made by my new friend, Tanya, who writes an equally gorgeous blog titled, BeadandNeedle.  She was very generous and offered me an earring exchange, and boy did I ever get lucky! I am just awed by the wonderful, creative people that have crossed my path in the past few months. All is good....

Until next time, create something beautiful!

Join The Party!

Welcome to the Grow Your Blog party created by the beautiful blog, 2 Bags Full! I am so excited to be taking part in this wonderful adventure! I cannot wait to meet, greet and follow more blogs, and hopefully gain some new followers and friends of my own blog! I am a mixed media jewelry artist who is new to blogging, hence why this badge is in my actual post and not on the side. I haven't figured out how to get it there and not mess up the rest of my sidebar! My blog is a "behind the beads" peek at all the wonderful things going on in my world. Of course, not everything is wonderful, but then nobody wants to read about that. The rest, I plan to glaze over with humor! Seriously, I hope you will join me on this journey and I hope you enjoy my blog! I will keep this post nice and short, as I know you have a lot of blog hopping to do. However, to sweeten the pot, if you follow, comment or email me (tab on the sidebar) before February 1st, then I will send you a pair of earrings! Welcome to Blue Finch!

Until next time, I hope you grow your blog too!

Thanking my Tribe

In keeping with my NewYear's resolution of making this a "year of doing", I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you to my ever supportive tribe, The Greater Birmingham Bead Society. When my friend and I started this a few years ago, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would get out of it way more than all the hours I spent putting into it. What started out as a way to just provide an outlet for education and networking among like minded folks, turned out to be in many ways, a life changing catalyst. I've met beautiful, talented people from all walks of life. I've witnessed beginning beaders and seasoned artists bring their own unique talents to the table and create something new and exciting. We've pushed each other to be better artists, take on new challenges and expand our visions. We've supported each other through illness, failure and loss, and celebrated our success and growth. Through it all, this wonderful tribe of mine has encouraged me to become a better artist and on many levels, a better person. They have patiently listened while I've given presentations. They have attended my workshops to give me some much needed teaching experience.  They've given me great encouragement and when needed, constructive criticism. And they have given me so much more. The two simple words "thank you" will never be enough, or convey what I really want to say, but I hope my  tribe, my GBBS family, knows this.

Until next time, I hope you find your tribe...

Snow globes and Easter eggs

Back to work in the studio...

I have always been fascinated with collages and snow globes and sugar carved Easter eggs, and all things miniature, for as long as I can remember. I love the layers of fabrics, paints, textures, images and colors. I love the attention to small details, the hidden meanings, the voyeurism, and the movement. 

Take for example, the sugar Easter eggs. Now, while I prefer the classic white ones, they all fascinate me. I love to peer inside at the pastel scenes of frolicking rabbits, crystal fluffy chicks, and Easter baskets. The big ones are great, but if I happen to find the small ones, where all those scenes are stuffed into smaller compartments, then I have hit the jackpot! Now, while I know how they are constructed, I like to block that out and pretend they just magically happen...


Who can resist picking up and shaking a snow globe with all those miniature scenes and glitter and "snow" swirling around? One good shake and you can control the weather! Ah the power!
 Just the other day, beautiful creature numero uno and I were looking at the sky, and she remarked on the way it felt like we were in one giant IMAX theater. The sky really looked like a dome above us.  Sometimes I wonder if maybe we are in one giant snow globe...

Now, don't get me started on a well built, fully furnished doll house.  Every time I see a great one it makes me wish I could shrink down and wander around inside. Where else but in this voyeuristic situation can I live in ten furnished, accessorized to the max, sparkly clean rooms? I wonder what it is like to sleep in a floor to ceiling floral wallpaper bedroom, eat off of tiny Blue Willow china plates then retire to read in a Biltmore like living room, complete with roaring fireplace. Don't you?

Collages hold even more allure for me. I love how the layers of paints, papers, textures, and colors reveal themselves. I love how the partially hidden words, barely visible photographs and layers of products lend themselves to new study every time you look at the work. Collages are fluid and even the meaning of the work can change depending on the viewer.

I have been working on creating art that can combine my love for all things layered, and miniature and complex. I have been creating a series of pendants that combine paper, seed beads, sticks, fabrics, metal objects and resin. I am very excited about these collage pieces and the stories they tell, and they will be listed on my website for purchase.

   

Until next time, create something beautiful!

Autumn Bounty

Welcome Fall!

"I'd rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion"-Thoreau

Until next time,  enjoy the harvest.....