June Art Bead Scene Challenge

 I love posters and this one is no exception. I have always enjoyed the play on two dimensional expressing the three dimensional while keeping the two dimensional quality.

"Literary Poster for the Century Magazine", 1896

by John Louis Rhead

20.5" x 11"

Original Lithographic Poster Printed in Colour with Letterpress

This is what I saw, pretty straight forward. I love the braided pony tail. I thought it would be a great earring bead. I saw a bracelet bar with the roses rectangular block but in there I took from it the vine winding back and forth which I used as inspiration for a bracelet bar.

Mostly I saw color, color, color!

I just wanted to show you some of the June colors in my garden too. Probably one of my most favorite colors are coral, or my version of orange.

Coral bells, hummingbirds love them too.

In these photos you see what I have on my South side, or zeriscape garden. These plants can generally handle heat and dry. I also have more of my favorite sunset and coral colors. 

Butterfly Weed.

Snap Dragons.

Fox Tail Lily.

Poppies and Asiatic Lilies.

And my Rugosa in honor of the roses in our challenge this month.

I made this Heart one day when I had a piece of copper wire left over from doing something else and went, "Hmmmm, I'll make a heart and smash it" So That's what I did and it floated around for a few months and, well then here it is as a clasp. I also made the flower bead from polymer clay and the link from a tin. 

Copper bracelet bar with a polymer clay middle.

Beads to reflect the fabric of the dress.

This necklace is a polymer clay pendant with a hand shaped bail. I used Czech glass, red waxed Irish Linen from Lima Beads. I can't remember the blue beads but they are stone strung with matte black seed beads.The side tassel is chain and a Coral dagger to represent thorns. I liked the swirling vines in the painting and I may or may not snip the loose strings.

                                                                         Spring Things!

Here are some of the wonderful things that have been happening in my garden this Spring.

I was greeted by a frog, I think a tree frog though I have not seen one this big in my yard before! He  (or she) was doing a good job at hiding but he was right at my front door so I was glad to discover him! Look at those sticky little toes!

I have several Nine Bark or Viburnum shrubs in my yard. I don't know if they are the same I'll have to look that one up. This one is Amber Jubilee and wow what a beautiful show it gives for a Spring display!

 Dwarf Irises. 

 Bergenia and Sweet Woodruff. 

Bergenia in front of a Coral Belle. 

I love this fern I don't know what it is I found it when I was raking up pine needles. It looks like fingers as it opens up.

I was gifted six hardy Orchids. 

Fan-tab-u-lus Chocolate Iris!

Poppies and variegated Iris. 

First time blooming purple and white Iris with Geum. Creeping Jenny ground cover.

May's Honey Do List Challenge

from

Sj Designs

I am so glad I ran across this from Sarajo Wentling

Here is the description f the challenge

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!

Here is this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:: This month's challenge was going to be some kind of spring flower action, but I was lucky enough to take a class on raptor photography at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this past weekend and found a new muse!  This is Samantha the white morph great horned owl sitting in a flowering crab apple tree.  Our photogenic raptors were brought out by the Minnesota Raptor Center who rescue injured birds and release those who can survive back into the wilds, while keeping the birds like Sam (who has a broken wing) for demonstrations and education opportunities.  So, this month take inspiration from the bird itself, the colors, whatever strikes your fancy!

Well I am late but I am hoping to add my link any way.

I made a necklace that very much reflects the rustic in me. I started making these owls and I call them Scratchy Owls. I know not all that creative of a title but that's what they are, scratchy.

I used a polymer clay Scratchy Owl, two acrylic leaves, I made a tube bead out of River Birch bark, a silk bead, and then my polymer clay barn. I also made the head pin that you see the very red dot at the bottom of the barn.

There are also vintage beads and Czech rounds.

May Art Bead Scene Challenge

This month's challenge really had me thinking! So many things that I could do with this but mainly what I saw were color blocks and lines. I did notice a subtle graininess mostly in the red brown block right in the middle right. I used to do ceramics and will again when I get a small kiln. In the mean time I try to have my beads reflect a ceramic glaze quality.   

 "On a Shaker Theme", 1956

by Charles Sheeler

oil on canvas

23" x 29 1/8" (58.42 x 73.98 cm)

I took the painting and turned it and wow it really revealed a dimensional quality that intrigued me.

Here are some of my favorite parts of the painting.

Here is the pendant I created from the blocks and lines inspiration. I also have been playing with a faux raku look. I loved making raku pottery I guess I'll have to do a post on that!
I used red leather and a Tagua nut bead from Lima Beads and Clay River ceramic squares from
 Art Beads






 Here are the beads that I made representing some of the colors that I saw in the painting. I wanted to
keep it light and fresh.

I continued on with these. I always seem to come back to this color.

 Shephards purse.

Faux Raku also for the challenge.

Yup! It's Spring!

Here is my beautiful daughter swinging away!

What I wanted to talk about is inspiration, and for me my gardens give me mmany things to be inspired about. What I did was walk around the yard and photograph the colors and shapes that I love. Here is one Coral Bell that I adore. It's the color and the variety of shades that it gives as it grows.

Allium

Love this Bergenia and it had spectacular blooms!

This is a Niobe Clematis. I put it going down the stone wall because it doesn't get really big and it can look like a waterfall.

These lovely flowers are Blood Root. They have leaves that turn colors depending on the amount of sun, I'm pretty sure. I have not seen them bloom before!

ADORE!! this color Forget-me-nots they are starting to be a part of every garden.

My Kwanzan Cherry bloomed! Yay! Not a lot but Enough to give me hope that it will be a full beautiful tree one day.

So here are some of the results of my Spring garden inspiration.
This one from my Lenten Rose.

I really seem to like the rust, coral, and red colors along with a verdigris green.

My rustic rusted owl.

From a vintage poppy stamp.

I like the rustic finish,

I took a flower from my my Cherry tree and made a mold