Time for me

Now that the weather's improved I've spent quite a bit of time in my garden instead of in front of a sewing machine or beading board.  Managed to get rid of most of the weeds and pulled out several shrubs that had outlived their prettiness.

Also had a huge clean up of plastic pots, potions and general clutter around the garden.  Couldn't believe how many empty plastic containers I had - surely I haven't bought THAT many plants - well where are they all if I did?  Well yes, I guess I did buy that many but I'm the biggest killer of plants that I know.  It's not that they get neglected in the garden, it's the neglect between the garden centre and actually planting them in the garden that's the problem lol.  I always have the best of intentions and pop the little babies down in a sheltered part of the garden, sometimes even where I'm going to plant them, and then unfortunately I move onto doing something else and a couple of weeks later I find the poor wee sods, usually dead or past retrieving - so another plant pot joins the stash.   Ah well, at least I'm keeping the recycling wheel going round.

So now I have most of the summer veges sitting up nicely - and actually in the soil - I've had time for a bit more beading.

This is my latest winner on the Australian Beading Forum YOJ.  The theme was "Sex Bomb" and if you've ever had that song on the brain, like me you'd probably also want to put a bomb under who ever wrote it.

Anyway, I decided I had to make something in Red and Black and it took less than a day for this to be created.  I called it "Madam Meets the Mistress and Does Lunch at the Moulin Rouge"

   

Polymer Clay, Crystals, Pearls and some Ostrich Tufts

Not sure if I'll ever be game enough to wear it but who never know - what's that expression about behind closed doors?

Tree of Life

I made this necklace recently for the YOJ on the Australian Beading Forum.  The subject was "Tree of Life".  It took a while for inspiration to strike but once it did this came together in a little over an hour.

I really love the design and hope you do too.  The little leaves are Garnet and the focal bead is a seed. I was told it was a coconut seed but I'm not sure ...

My description of the necklace was -
The seed sprouts, the tree grows, bears buds, leaves and fruit. The chain of life continues, the decaying skeletal leaf provides nutrients for the seed which sprouts, the tree grows .... 

I'd like to do something similar in real gold rather than artistic wire but at the moment can't afford it.

Wheels within wheels

Had a chesty cold for nearly three weeks now and can't seem to throw it off so I've had plenty of time to sit curled up in a rug in the sun, read lots of beading books and actually finish off several UFOs.


Last weekend I was feeling a bit more human so made this item for the "Wheels" YOJ Challenge on the Australian Beading Forum.  I thrilled to say it was voted the winner. 


I get a really neat little badge to add to my signature on the forum plus a lovely banner to show on my website (which YAY!!! I'm pleased to say is starting to look really good and should go public in a couple of weeks)  Perhaps make that a month lol.


Anyway my steampunk interpretation of "Wheels" was -


In Steampunk Land, if we were to look inside someone’s mind we would see a myriad of wheels and cogs. Wheels within wheels within wheels. Mechanical pieces all spinning, turning and interacting amongst a total kaleidoscope of colours and pictures - constantly evolving.
So if at times your brain can’t keep up with your thoughts and everything is whirling round like psychedelic wheels in your head – don’t panic! It’s a condition commonly called Creative Process and easily cured by a large dose of Me Time along with a course of Retail Therapy at your nearest craft centre. 

I wired Swarovski Bicones into circles and the stems form the (mostly) unseen spokes of the wheel into and under the watch movement. I ran out of room around the bezel at around the same time Mr Swarovski fortunately ran out of colours. It's on on a Du-kit circular base and has a wheel cog at the top for the chain.
Hope you like it :)  I think it will be a fun item to wear :)

I’ve always quite liked mice

Now mice of course, even really large ones, are not to be confused with rats. Specially the dark brown rat variety with foot long bodies and arm length tails that many years ago I’d often see scurrying away as I rode my horse past the edge of the local rubbish tip that cascaded onto the Petone beach near the mouth of the Hutt River. 

I doubt the tip still exists, wouldn’t be PC these days would it to have rusty car bodies, broken fridges and rotting rubbish cascading over a bank onto a sandy beach only yards from the water? The area’s possibly quite posh now - high-rise apartments and three-bedroom pensioner housing perhaps ???  Wonder where the rats went…

I’ve only ever had physical contact with two rats in my life so far. The first one, a small skinny grey was riding on the shoulder of a black spike-haired young Goth as we crossed paths early one morning. Well, spose you can’t call passing at arms length actual physical contact with a rat, but all three of us did make eye contact and I did mutter an early morning like greeting and got a sort of grunt in reply - I think it was from the Goth.  I expect he’s is now a respectable family man, wonder if he kept the rat…

I think pet rats might have been a sort of status symbol for persons of a certain age during that era. Many years ago on a visit to my eldest’s flat in Thorndon I was personally introduced to a fat white rat called Ratus Ratus. Yes I know that’s what they are but this one's name was actually Ratus Ratus.  He lived in a large cage complete with plastic Ferris wheels, shredded newspaper and pieces of limp teeth imprinted carrot. They said he came with the flat. Not wanting to appear unworldly in the way of rats, I could hardly refuse the request later that night to hold him while his cage was being cleaned.

Remembering the rubbish tip rats I steeled myself to sharp little claws, rough hair and bad breath but amazingly he felt so soft and warm and squidgy that I immediately felt an affinity with all the people who ever wanted to walk around with rats on their shoulders and lovingly shred newspaper strips night after night.

Well that was until he escaped my hands, ran up my arm, clawed his way to the top of my head and softly, gently and warmly peed down the side of my face – it was a very personal experience!

Eldest left that flat at the end of the year, I never heard what happened to the rat… Perhaps it went next door to live at Katherine Mansfields place.

Roll on Summer

I must admit I hadn't really thought much about winter until this week.  It's been so mild here that my roses are still blooming, my Scarlet Runners show no sign of dying back, the deciduous trees are still hanging on to most of their beautiful autumn toned leaves and my ornamental cherry tree is flowering.

Yes, well - all about to change.  Winter arrived last week with a vengeance, obviously intent on making up for lost time.  Thunderstorms, rain, sky so dark at times yesterday we had the lights on most of the day.  Today only marginally better and I can hear another thunderstorm circling in the distance. 

A great day to bead and catch up with 'chatty' things on the web.  Got to admit I've been paying a lot of attention to the former and not much to the latter recently.  Really need to organize my time better and not flit from project to project.  

Promised the next picture I posted would be of jewellery so here's a pair of earrings I made last week.  Very sumptuous and Eastern looking and almost shoulder dusters.  Not sure that I want to sell these as I just love them, the colours are so rich.  Now to find something to wear with them!

I named them “Salute to Scheherazade” and they're 14K Gold Filled with Vermeil filigrees, freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals.  

Sunrise over New Plymouth

It's starting to look like I'm obsessed by photos of the sky doesn't it :-) This stunner was taken about 5.30am.  I'm not normally up at that time so just shows what I miss.

I promise the next photo will be of my beady stuff (no sky)