February 09 BJP Completed

I actually finished this too. Though my self imposed deadline of Valentines Day never happened. But I was close! I finished this a few days later. Oh well, I'm quite happy with it anyhow.

I really don't like doing obvious themes, but somehow, this one came to be. I am not a fan of Valentines Day and there are plenty of reasons for that, but I won't go into them here. This one is "titled" too. "My Heart is Bursting". This is what my daughter said I should call it and I agree.

I really had no plan in mind when I started doing February's project. I started with the intention of beading the whole thing. I did my "crazy" circles, and ended up making a heart out if them. I started to do the background with the purple, but wasn't happy with the beads I chose. I was stuck! For a couple of days, I wondered what I was going to do with this. I was starting to feel like I did with the January page ~ not good. Then it hit me! I found some reddish material that coordinated well with the heart beads. I cut it a bit bigger than I needed, folded the ends to meet up with the border beads and sewed that down. Once I got to the heart, I wondered how I could easily border it and not have the bulk of material to bead on as well as how to not have the fraying edges to deal with. That's why I covered it, bordered the heart with beads and trimed off the excess over the heart.

February, so far, has brought on some new challenges for me to face. Both in my work and at home. They are challenges that free me up both in time and creativity. I will have to spend some of this "free time" learning how to use both again to my advantage. And actually, I'm looking forward to that. Some big changes will be taking place for me in the coming months, both good and sad. So with this extra time, I'll be able to deal with it all.

The picture doesn't show how nicely this really looks (need better photography skills). I was so pleased that I figured this out the way I did. Now, if all the rest of my pages can give me this feeling, I'll be a happy lady!

January BJP Done and Finally Posted!

I'ts been a busy start to the year for me. I am finally able to take a breath and get this photgraphed and posted. Whew!

For a lot of people, January is the time to make resolutions and reflect on the past year. I avoid making resolutions. I could never stick to them and found I would beat myself up because of it. I like to reflect on the past year and see what changes I might be able to make so that the next year is better.

For my BJP page, the weather was very cold. Too cold for me. I stayed inside for the most part because of it. It did give me some time to reflect and plan and get some things done. I chose this picture for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to try beading a photo page. Two, it envokes the coldness of the month both in theme and color. I also love penguins, and these young ones were too cute. I was hoping it would cheer me a bit, but didn't really.

I learned that doing the photo and not beading much of the page, made me feel a bit incomplete for some reason. I felt I needed more beading. But due to the theme, color, materials and time, I couldn't. Maybe it was just the weather. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it'll have to do. I also think that if I ever do another photo, I'd keep more of the photo material around it. I think I cut it too close and I had a hard time beading. I adhered it to the material which made it harder to bead on.

Well, live and learn. I hope you like it.