Bitter Root and Skydiving

Bitter Root and Skydiving, What is the relationship.......I have a friend who is skydiving today, with her entire family, which means there are four people who at least not so terrified as to not do this thing.....what am I doing, sitting on the couch and knitting Bitter Root.

I've shamelessly lifted this image off SwellKnits blogpost.....


mine is equally beautiful, but not quite so far along. Mine is an deep aqua/purple variegated yarn. And it is a beautiful knit.

But the whole knitting vs sky diving question kind of got me to thinking. I admire someone who enjoys life with such fullness (not mind you that beading and knitting can't provide a full life, it does) but I have visions of being that person who would skydive. I like the image of being that kind of adventurer.

But in reality I am an armchair adventurer. I love to read books extreme adventure books(One Man's Dream, One Woman's Nightmare) The title pretty much sums it up for me, but the difference is the woman in the book actually did it. I enjoyed the experience as long as I was in my armchair, dog snuggled next to me, plenty of heat and a good glass of wine, but doing it, no way. I also don't like to ski downhill, fast and out of control, not really an extreme sports kind of gal.

Now Extreme beading, that I can get behind. This piece named Hawaii is one of Suzanne Golden's amazing pieces.



And this one is Rachel's



What's your extreme pleasure?

A nice invitation

Jeannette Cook invited us to a small holiday gathering in her warm inviting home. It was a perfect evening with new friends, fine food, nice music and wonderful atmosphere.

Jeannette is a good cook so we knew we were going to enjoy the elk meatballs in spaghetti sauce with an excellent Caesar salad. Coupled with nice wine, and good conversation.

Here is one of the many lighted vignettes in Jeannette's home. Isn't it gorgeous?



I just had to break out the new camera and see what it can do....and I quite like the results, thanks to Jeannette for providing the exquisite subject.

And Maya loves to visit as well!

Her friend Jasmine lives there.....next time I will remember a picture of Jasmine, they're a tad bit of an unlikely pair, but they seem to enjoy one another.

Illustration

I used to take a fair amount of pride in the quality of my illustration, but the bar has been seriously raised....There are many bead artists doing exceptional illustration these days. My personal experience with illustrating Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence increased my skill set significantly. While this is quite good, as I prepare to send out kits, there are some previous set of directions that I am no longer comfortable with. Amidst the myriad list of things that need doing I stopped to redraw La Boquita.

I'm very happy with the improvements, I hope you'll agree it is time well spent.

From this

to this

For the curious, I use Corel Draw, all illustrations in one file, then I group and select each illustration and export it to a jpg file. I insert the resulting .jpg file into Word using insert picture. This results in a small file size document which I then save as a pdf and burn onto a cd. I'd love to learn Adobe Illustrator, but at the moment I only own Corel. Since I routinely contemplate moving to an Apple platform, I don't want to invest in additional software or learning curve until that decision is made.

Merry Christmas

Today is a peaceful day.....gorgeous sunshine, plans for a beach walk, knitting, relaxing and enjoying the solitude of time spent with my dear husband....we love our home and as much as we love travel and venturing afar, we also love retreating to the beautiful space that we've created together.

Images of Christmas taken with the new camera!

There was a Hummel time in my life, this is all that remains of the collection, bought in Germany during my first travels to Europe, I still love this charming boy.



Now I'm more of a sparkle girl, can you tell? I think this reindeer has regal lines



And I love my sparkly snowflake collection


I have much to learn. I am reading the manual in small doses with hopes of retaining the pertinent information.The automatic features produce a great result, but next is photographing the jewelry, which was the primary stated reason for this purchase......In the meantime, Miss Maya was happy to pose for a Christmas portrait.



May you all be enjoying the best of times!

I'm knitting lace!

I couldn't resist, the winter knitty is out and I found this Bitterroot shawl, lace with beads!

It is my favorite 'accessory' knitting, (close your ears Susan) no gauge required. At least in my book, a shawl is a shawl, it will be bigger or littler based on my yarn choice. And I've chosen a hand dyed Schaefer yarn called Heather. It is merino and silk and so soft, a dream to work on.

This will be my evening, beside the couch project, as there is much beading to be done! I plan on organizing that this weekend, picking pallettes and assembling the supplies. Pictures soon, and speaking of pictures, my new Canon Rebel should arrive this morning. I expect a learning curve, but perhaps by next week you will see pictures with the new camera!

A full year...

Next year is approaching and it is looking full and wonderful. A couple of new and fabulous travel opportunities including Toronto, and Australia, the inaugural Beading by the Bay retreat,

a Mexican vacation cruise and East Coast vacation to Nantucket, a shopping trip to Tucson, the Bead and Button Show, many of my old favorite stores and a couple of new ones.....

It looks like a serious planning session is in order. Time to print out a blank calendar and organize the time. What samples need to be sent and when, what kits needed kitted, what supplies need ordered, what samples need beaded, what competitions will be entered, what collaborations will be considered.

It seems that the end of a year is a time for looking back as well as forward and as this year closes I remember fondly our many trips to Holland. It's been five years since we lived there and one year since we visited last Christmas. Here are a few of my favorite photos

This winged foot was at the end of the canal where we lived in Haarlem

The swan was a daily visitor in front of the house. This is the canal Mark fell in on Christmas Day while running a remote controlled boat. He was not nearly as amused as the rest of us...

Snow! Probably the last time I was in a live snowstorm (never happens in San Diego)

I continue to love to travel but as I contemplate further travel restrictions yet...I'm not sure the romance of travel still exists.

Hiroshima Beads

I was gifted a rather large stash of Hiroshima beads.


Never having heard of them, I immediately googled and was reminded as I am often am how amazing it is to have instant access to information. If I think back to 15 years ago I wonder how I would have approached researching the history of these beads. Now in 15 seconds I am informed. Hiroshima Glass Bead Industry was established in 1953 and the predecessor to today's Miyuki Co, ltd. which was begun in 1974. Which all means I have some pretty old beads in my possession! Thanks Michelle, I'll be making you something wonderful with your gift.