BJP February 2009

February is done. Here are my thoughts about it. Since the Chinese New Year has started in February I put down a dragon and the Chinese character for Ox (the year of the Ox has started). For me thinking about China is connected with the Tibethan culture and their struggle for freedom. March 10 is my birthday and also the day the Tibet was invaded by the Chinese. So I put down the Tibethan year that started in February too: 2136. In dots.

It defines a new start, spring is on its way, I start to awaken again.

I like the all white part. Since there are no colors to distract your attention goes to the form. All these tiny little parts that lay together and form something bigger is one of the reasons why I am so attracted to beads. I like the black and white with one more color. Because that works with almost all colors.

So, I would like to know what you think about it!

Still alive

Haven't fallen out of the BJP yet. Really! I have December 2008 and January 2009 to show for it. And started on the February 2009. Still too late, but hanging in there.

December was busy. Making some bracelets for Christmas, I didn't have much inspiration for December. I wanted to use red and green because they fit the Christmas theme and because they are out of my comfort zone. Apart from that I didn't know what was going to happen on the circle.

The colors still are out of my comfort zone. I am not very pleased with the result because of that. I do like the little Christmas tree, because that was improvised and turned out good. And I like having experimented.

So for January I used colors I like. And the ton-sur-ton that I am addicted to. The colors are for a new beginning, a fresh start. Not yet full of color but getting there. In the middle is a tibethan sign, I don't know what it is for (I remember for a long, prosperous life, but I am not sure). And I was thinking mandala. Maybe it is a bit boring, but I like it a lot.

For February I am thinking Chinese New Year, a dragon, year of the ox, Tibethian year of 2136, black, white, red.

March maybe something with flowers and loss of money. We are on a tight budget these days so it might be good to bead about it.

Next time I will show you the bracelets I finally made for myself. Again in the same angle as the last ones I was showing, but heck, I wanted some for myself!

BJP November is done.

November has been ready for some time now. And here it is. This time I wasn't stubborn anymore in not leaving stiff stuff at the edges. With it the circles are much easier to attach to something (I haven't decided what yet).

I used grey and black beads, charlottes, silver seedbeads, plastic beads, pressed glass, chips, gemstone slice, tag and pendant. It is supposed to symbolize the November greyness that hangs around our houses nowadays. It can be dull but it also has a certain bluesiness and its own misty chic.

I beaded a lot when Obama got chosen and I searched for a tag with "hope" on it. But "dream" might even be a better word. How far do you dare to dream, what do you allow yourself? It also is a question I asked my clients a lot lately.

I sometimes feel like I am living my dreamlife now. And most of the time I am busy doing other things. I need to realise more often how blessed I am and how much I like it now. Instead of thinking what I am going to do after the baby had it's bottle I want to focus my attention on feeding my little baby, smell him, hear the little sounds, feel his little arms around my fingers, see the blond hairs and his big eyes. I know that when I look back at this time it will be one of the happiest times of my life. And I want to be able to feel that right now, while it is happening. That is what this diary also is about.

Ofcourse it is much better in real life: more shine and glitter. Let me know what you think!

Another one

This bracelet I made for my mother for Christmas, because she said she'd like something in blue. But when she saw the first one she said: I would very much like that in black.....

So, now I think I can make my MIL very happy with this. I like the blue with copper.

Waddayathink?

New bracelet

One of the teachers from the daycare centre is leaving and I made her a bracelet. Hopefully she'll like it. The challenge for me were the colors. I never used this green before. But I really like how it turned out. Maybe I'll make one for myself too!

BJP Octobre is ready

Finished in time! This is the Octobre page. The colors go from bright to dark, as does Octobre does around here. There are some really nice, sunny days, and some really dark, rainy, windy days. It is a sky and the water that surrounds us now that we live on a little island.

It also stands for the worries I have since I have children. I can enjoy them immensly (sp?), but there also always is a worry in the back of my head. Are they okay? At first I thought I was only worrying (sp?) because babies are vulnarable. But then I realised that it would always be with me, just the subject would change in time. Now I worry about their development, upbringing, etc. Later it will probably be about are they feeling okay at school, have friends. And even later: is his wife okay, is his work okay?

Then, while I was beading this, the news came that on the daycare centre that my two boys go to a little boy was found dead in his bed. He was 3 months old and we don't know what caused it. It will probably be called SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). His name is Jelle. I remembered him by beading an apple sead in the waves. Jelle is the little sead that will not turn into a tree. The daycare centre was researched and they found nothing wrong. So my boys are there again, and life is slowly getting back in track again.

September is ready

The september page for the Bead Journal Project is ready.

I learned a lot. For instance: Keep It Stupid Simple. I wanted to do much to much on this page. 3 colourgroups, different colourshades in the groups, different techniques, too many symbols, too many kinds of beads.

Also: give beads the room to breathe. When I am putting them too close together it makes it messy. Showing some of the base material is o.k. Especially when you've coloured it before you start beading (my third lesson).

Explanation for what you see. My journal theme for this month is leaving my newborn at the daycare centre while I am going back to work. I do like the daycare centre and I fully agree with him going there. But it is still hard to leave him after spending 6 months so close together. The money is old European coins. A French and a German one which both show a woman: one sowing and one planting a little tree. Also a Belgian coin of 1 Franc (because you've got to start somewhere). These coins represent me making money for my family. The two wheels represent my bike. The greens represent the woods and fields that I cycle through going to work. In September they are still mostly green, but the browns are coming up. The white shell represents the alabaster skin of my little son, the orange/browns his hair colour (that has now turned completely blond). The blue represents the Adidas suit he wore a lot (because his mom liked it so much). One of the happy accidents (thank you Bob Ross) is that it also looks like green forests, brown earth and blue water. Also in the October peace it seems to go a lot about my surroundings. We moved to an Island in Amsterdam and I a more surrounded by nature now. Also I see a lot of circles. Starting out with the format, but also the forms on the circle.

Another happy accident is the blue "wave". I just started it and liked it very much. In my next piece I am going to explore that further when beading the waves of the water that surrounds us.

Tell me what you think. I am very, very new to designing and I just let it happen this time. But I have a lot to learn about that.