I'm in.

Last night I decided to actually do the BJP 2010. What kept me behind is the fact that I still haven't finished my BJP08/09 and that there are a lot of changes coming up in this year. And I didn't have inspiration. But the muse came by just in time. She kept me awake last night and I decided what I want to try. I want to make embroidered bracelets. Because I think they will be smaller than my CD-shaped pages of last year. And because I like using what I made. So now I am off to decide on the exact shape. I already picked my January colors!
soe

Join the Bead Journal Project 2010!

If you liked the idea of journaling with (some) beads, you can join the BJP too. Here is more information:

• The new Bead Journal Project starts in January 2010.
• Registration starts October 1, 2009 at beadjournalproject.com/reg.htm.
• No experience is necessary! The goal is to create one visual journal piece a month for a year that includes beads.
• Participants work can be seen at beadjournalproject.com/bjp.htm.

I liked the experience a lot. I learned a lot and I had fun. So join us!

soe

UFO finished.

I feel more energetic now that I am losing weight. That is nice! So I got the inspiration to finish an UFO. The bracelet is inspired by a bracelet in Beadwork, I can't find the specs right now. Love to hear your comment.

soe

BJP May

There is not much meaning behind the piece of May. Because May was a long time ago and I just finished it. So it's not a journal either. But there are 5's and 9's in it (for May 2009). And it was an experiment for me. To me this is a very Dutch piece, because of the colors: red, white, blue (of the flag) and Orange (of the kingdom). For some reason these colors remind me of May.

The colors also inspired me to make a bracelet in Delfts Blue, also a very Dutch piece.

Let me know what you think!

You can see an overview of all the BJP pages from soe here. Thank you for watching and commenting!

soe

June down, April, May, August to go

In June I started thinking about losing weight. I am over 40 years, busy life, and there are too many downsides to being overweight. The biggest one for me is that I can't seem to hold my kids close enough. My belly is in between. I know that it's not true in the real sense of the word and it may sound strange. But it feels like that to me and I really dislike it. So, at the end of June I decided to do something about it and I knew what. Yesterday I started my diet and it feels good that I am not waiting anymore (for a magic touch of the fairy or something else to get me moving).

The big one is a 6 and a 9 for June 2009. The small figure is a pendant I got from my mother and my sister as a fertility symbol out of a folk museum. And when I have lost some weight we might have a shot at no 3 (children that is). It reminds me very much of a figure from (o gosh, what's his name? Famous artist, same time as Picasso, worked in France). I'll edit that later! Yep, Giacometti.

I would very much like to hear your comments. Thank you in advance!

A little secret.

These are the diaries I made so far. In every entry I tried to get the month and the year in. Can you find the dates? Some you aren't able to see because of the way the picture is taken, some are in your face and some are more difficult. I am curious what you find out. Let me know!

July is done (but April, May and June aren't!).

Yes, still somewhat behind (snicker), but working. Right now I am enjoying my holiday and am able to bead some. So, here is July 2009. Not much symbolism that I am aware of. I had to tidy up my bead stash and saw these colors laying together. They looked like summer to me, so I started to use them and just stitched away. In retrospect it reminds me of the park I am cycling through to get to work: all the flowers and greens and the paths in the fields.

I am thinking about June, that will be the next one I'll do. If you feel like it: please let me know what you think. Thank you!