My entry for the February Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge

I finally worked up the courage to enter the monthly challenge presented by the folks over at Art Bead Scene - my entry is this artcharm cluster pendant.

I created this artcharm cluster pendant with four of my handmade artcharms and three of my lampwork beads from my Fractal Swirl series. The four artcharms include a bead-embroidered felted wool bead artcharm, an altered puzzle piece artcharm, a collaged and wire-wrapped wooden bead charm, and an altered Scrabble tile with a tiny version of Klimt's "The Kiss" on one side, and wrapped with sterling silver wire, faceted pearls, and a big sparkly Czech fire polished crystal.

So what about you?

Fractal Swirl bead in cobalt blue

I'm finding myself struggling to maintain an optimistic outlook despite all the negative energy currently roiling about.

To have a little fun, I've decided that I will participate in the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) Release-A-Bead Project. I'm going to take a few of my beads and release them into the world for unsuspecting (and highly deserving) people to find. I'm even thinking of sending a stash of beads to my brother, who travels frequently for his job - Matt can distribute my beads and be part of the fun too, even though he uses his torch for welding, not glass beadmaking. :)

What about you? How can you manifest even a small amount of positive energy? What fun things can you do to bring a smile to your face or someone else's? Leave your ideas in the comments section for a chance to win one of my Fractal Swirl beads; on February 27, 2009, a winner will be selected via a random drawing from all comments left regarding this post.

An Altered Door

I've been busy with a number of projects lately - finished up five (or was it six?) ArtCharm swaps with Amber Dawn's I.C.E. group (I.C.E. is short for International Charm Exchange), finally finished my Angel Tags and Snowflake ATCs for my Altered Art Swaps group, AND I, uh, altered, yeah, that's it, ALTERED, Emily's door.

Archer had attacked her door with some sort of blunt instrument, resulting in a number of holes...additionally, he'd scrawled colored markers on it, and used her address stamp a few times to make sure it was thoroughly tagged. Em's been unhappy with her door ever since, so I took some time last week to do a serious makeover on it. Here are the pictures, before and after.

The details: We spritzed and wiped down the door before we began. It was primered already. I used the cheapest wood glue I could find from the dollar store, and thinned it down with some water, about 50/50 water and glue. I used the kid's paintbrushes, 'cause I don't want glue gunking up MY brushes. We brushed the glue mix on the door, laid down the papers, then brushed more glue mix on top of them. I think I also did an extra coat of glue on top of everything once it was all down, to help protect it (but that was a week ago, so I can't remember for sure, LOL). I think Emily didn't know what to expect when I first suggested the idea of collaging her door, but she's delighted with the new look!

The strategy: I dug into my extensive stash of vintage foreign texts, handmade papers, ephemera, pictures, magazine clippings, vintage music, scrapbook paper, pages from a weekly calendar, wrapping paper, and selected a few little embellishments to dress up Emily's door and make it a little more presentable. We started on the "back" side of the door first, the side that Emily sees when she's in her room. Emily helped glue stuff down, as did Jerry. Archer's excited to start on his door - I've got a bag filled with papers and ephemera to use on his door. I pasted big text pages down first, then did doodles or small pictures on top. I also used mesh tape and joint compound to fill in the holes. We pressed the paper down, so it would conform to the door's molding detail. Enough talk, here are the pictures:

Aunt Sharon's Care Package

My dear sweet Aunt Sharon is fighting breast cancer...and she's already fought ovarian cancer, darnit! I recently sent her a care package, to boost her fighting spirit and make her smile. The care package included some of Jerry's and my luscious hand-crafted soaps (Lavender Rosemary and Spicy Carnation), my incredible Lush Life Body Butter, and two very special pieces of jewelry, a brooch and a charm bracelet.

Aunt Sharon had a partial mastectomy, and I figure any lady who is "wounded in the line of duty" like that deserves a purple heart, so I made one of my bead-embroidered brooches for her, complete with purple heart.
Bead embroidery is a very meditational form of art for me; I like to focus on who I'm creating the piece for. I invest lots of love and good energy and prayers into each stitch, and the result is a tangible expression of love.
The base of the brooch is felted wool, stabilized with my favorite not-necessarily-for-art-but-really-useful-anyway-product, Future Floor Acrylic. I added the baby blue beads around the edge, because about 20 years ago, Aunt Sharon told me she wanted to buy and ride a baby blue Harley Davidson. She's more into horses now, but I wanted to honor her adventurous streak.

I also wanted to share some of the awesome amazing ArtCharms from Amber's Think Pink Charm Swap - I figure Aunt Sharon needs all of the love and healing energy she can get right now, no matter who it's from.
I wound up giving her five of the ten charms I received, and I think she's going to LOVE the bracelet. I filled the rest of the bracelet in with charms made with pink freshwater pearls and my lampwork beads, and a charm I made featuring a Celtic triangle knot, which symbolizes Aunt Sharon's faith in the Divine, and a very sparkly Swarovski crystal, which symbolizes the light of love.

Here are the details regarding the charms from the Think Pink swap:

· The circular pink charm with the hot pink glitter, fabric appliqués and crystals in the center was made by Erica Faith, who is just 14!
· The bi-cone wrapped bead with the two dangles was made by Elizabeth Woodford.
· The fabric square with the flower, crystal, and “love” charm was created by Lana Lovingood Richey.
· The pale pink rose with pearl dangles was created by Susan Zacher.
· Cindy Ericsson made the tear-shaped charm, with the pink glass and silver wire wrapping.

I also threaded a gorgeous variegated ribbon through the links as a final touch; the colors in the ribbon complement all of the charms really well, and serve to unify the whole piece.

Aunt Sharon, you have my enduring love, best wishes, and prayers for your rapid and complete recovery!

Love,

Chris

Now THAT'S creativity!

Paul Smith had cerebral palsy, but didn’t let a little thing like that stop his creativity – he made some AMAZING “drawings” with his typewriter...check it out:

http://www.paulsmithfoundation.org/main_gallery.html

I am in AWE of this man’s talent and freedom of expression despite the limitations of his physical body! Do not miss the train pics, nor the one he did of President and Jacqueline Kennedy...

Best,
Chris