Tuesday, April 1, 2014

bjp 0314 - thirsting for spring

When depressed by the weather, my thoughts often turn to watery daydreams, and my colour schemes to blues and greens. Heavily influenced, by memories of growing up in Vancouver, I keep returning to these colours!.........Now back to this month's BJP! A study in blue/green, with more than just a hint of delicious temptation!
For me, this has been quite the winter for exploration, and you can see some of the results in this section. Handmade cabochon (mine), topped with a dash of free-form peyote and a vintage button.
Shells, hand embroidery (Spider's Wheel stitch), a family button jar find and one of my old favourites, the ruffle stitch. The stone was picked up on the beach, the day before another big dump of snow!!!
Barnacle stitch and more of the ruffle!
Don't ask me which type, but this shape was actually traced from a leaf that I collected outside in the fall. There were large, small and medium leaves, but all shared the same elegant heart shape. Stitches involved are peyote, free-form peyote, back, bocce/boucle, fringe, stacked, barnacle, ruffle and flower stitches. This piece makes me happy, as do the warmer temperatures! There's hope that spring is finally on it's way!.........It was actually completed a couple of weeks ago, but I just didn't get around to writing about it until now. I intended to post to the blog, but with all the excitement about finishing another piece (not BJP related), it completely slipped my mind. More blue/green goodies in future posts! Oh, I almost forgot.....I had a blast, teaching my first "Beading Without A Net - Intuitive Bead Embroidery" class at BeadFX in March. Next class on May 30th/June 1st!

14 comments:

Rachel Murphree said...

I love these colors! I can also see them with a touch of citrusy orange to spice them up as well. Beautiful work, as usual!!

kaiteM said...

Absolutely love this one, i spent quite a lot of time just exploring it, a beach walk. The theme specific cabochon really makes it, with relevance and a window into the whole scene. 10/10

Judy Ferguson said...

Incredible work. Just so beautiful.

Julie said...

Absolutely wonderful work, I am in awe of your skill. Beautiful!

Wendy said...

I love the cabochon, the whole piece is beautiful

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

I does have a heart shape to the leaf! Very beachy feel to it... with a little rain forest too. Soon there will be rays of sunshine... coming through!

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Thanks, everyone! I thoroughly enjoyed making this one. I agree, the cab makes the piece and you'll be seeing more of them in the future. Rachel, I never would have thought to add orange, but it would be refreshing and unexpected. Perhaps I'll try it out in a necklace.

Sabine said...

Count me among the admirers of this wonderful dream piece!

Paper rainbow said...

I adore the seaside colours of your intricate beadwork

kaiteM said...

the original heart shaped leaf might be from a Chinese tallowwood.

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Thanks, Sabine and Paper Rainbow!

Kaite, I just googled and it doesn't seem to grow here.

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

After talking to my friend Google, I've decided that it's most likely a leaf from the Eastern Redbud tree.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I really like the shape of this one - and of course, it being blue just plain makes me happy!

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Thanks, MA! Somehow I knew this one would be "up your alley"!