Aloha Doll for the Comfort Doll Project

During my time with my pal, I was able to finish another one of my Aloha dolls for the Comfort Doll Project. I'm hoping to get her done & put her in the mail this next week. Here she is:

I hope someone really loves her...she's filled with lots of love in each stitch!

CC's Tin Folk

OK...I finally figured it out. Those little people I'm making for the tins? Well, they're not gods & goddesses, but Tin Folk! Not to be confused with any of my Kin Folk! These are just art pieces! They are a product of an artist's imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental! (So Patti, that Little Ms. Sunshine may "appear" to resemble you, but it's really not!!! Love you, Cuz! And Ms. Blue Moon isn't you, honey! Even if you are in touch with your feminine side & really, really love blue!) ;)

Anyway, here's a couple of them finished. Now I just have to make their houses for them out of the tins! I'm sure they will be just right for each one!

These folk will eventually find their way to my etsy store until they find someone who can't wait to live with them!

April's BJP is done, but what's wrong w/this picture?

OK...I know we all run into problems w/beading, but how many of you run into this? Can you see what's wrong?

Can't tell huh? Let's look a little closer...

That's right...up in the right hand corner...gecko poop!!! Ack!!! Those little buggers go everywhere! :) But we love 'em anyway! How they eat those mosquitos!

But in spite of a little bit of poo, I did get my April Blue Marble BJP piece done. Here's some pics:

I'm still a little behind 'cuz I've been gone awhile helping a pal after surgery. AND my computer blew while I was gone. But I'm back now & will get May started before the end of the day tomorrow. I already have the shape decided on, & the colors chosen, but I'm thinkin' that may change. Ya never know!

VOG!

OMG! The vog was so bad lately! For those who don't know what it is, here's a definition:

"Vog, a portmanteau of volcanic and fog by analogy with smog, is volcanic smog formed when sulfur dioxide and other pollutants emitted by an erupting volcano mixes with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight." It's been stuck over us after floating over from Big Island! It's really not healthy to breathe. I put in some pics for you to see above. I'm amazed that even w/all the vog, this beautiful flower bloomed!!! Check it out:

Blue Marble Update

So, if you read my earlier post, I decided to do my BJP for April on Mother Earth. I am doing this one improvisationally, but before each time I start work on it, I read a prayer from "Earth Prayers" (From around the World, 365 Prayers, Poems, & Invocations for Honoring the Earth). I started with the section on "Healing the Whole". Then I look at my picture of Nasa's Blue Marble & pray & meditate as I work. One thing I noticed is that at first it started out looking very regal. I thought maybe if we thought about the Earth as being a Queen, we wouldn't treat her as we do. From there I started to have different words pop into my head, so I wrote them down to use with this piece when it's mounted. I am trying to get this done by the end of the month as we only have one more month left to go on this BJP! A whole year is almost gone! So here's a couple pics:

Still having to work at getting true colors with my digital camera & lighting set up. It's hard to tell that's a heart charm in the center. Ah, well! But I've got the 4 directions & the 4 elements in there. I have no clue where I'm going from here!

Tin Goddesses

Speaking of goddesses, I've been working on some for my etsy shop, but still haven't decided on a name for them. I've also found it really different to be beading on felt after this last year of beading on Timtex! Wow! It's so soft, but also floppy! It's a good thing I used an air dry lightweight clay to make the face cab! There's no way it would've held up a polymer cab! So here's a couple pics:

In the first picture, you can see part of one of the stacks of tins my pals have been saving for me. Plus I've been using them to hold the patterns, the project dolls & some embellishment beads, charms & sequins. I can take just a couple tins on the road with me to work on! OOOoooo, and I just bought the softest 100% cotton stuffing! Can't wait to try it on these & my hearts!

Kuan Yin & Capt. Cook

Had some pals ask me to take some pics of certain places here on Kaua'i. Thought I'd share some of them with you. One batch is of a Buddhist Temple & a statue of Kuan Yin (also spelled Kwan Yin), the goddess of compassion. I discovered some other smaller statues behind the large statue. There is a large Buddhist population here. I feel good every time I pass her statue. The 2nd batch is of a statue of Capt. Cook & a monument that was erected in his honor. There's alot of stories here about him!

Batch One:

Batch Two:

Good Old Sampler

This is my good old rubber sheeting sampler. When I want to try out a new stitch before working on a project, I try it out here...all helter skelter, but it works. I've even made up some of my own on here! And I've used things I've found lying around...on one of our walks, I found that little red plastic heart...just for me!

March BJP and The Blue Marble!

Well, no one guessed what April's form was gonna be, so I'll tell you! It's The Blue Marble pic that NASA took that you can see here. I decided for April, there's really no special holiday, but there is EARTH DAY!!! So what I'm going to do is start beading on my already painted "blue marble", but not be realistic about it. I'm going to meditate as I bead, & pray for our planet as I work. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it! And me!

But for March...I'm DONE! Woo hoo! There were a HECK of alot of beads on this one! I wanted to give it the feel of looking into one of those fancy eggs that have scenes inside them. And I wanted to honor the changing of the season from the snowy winter with it's bare branches, into the colorful freshness of spring flowers. Here's a couple views:

And for those of you who think all I do is bead...read below! :)

Tin Goddesses?

OK...here's a new project I'm working on for my shop. I looked online & in books for different goddess shapes & sketched some out & made patterns. I've had pals saving me their Altoid tins instead of tossing them. I want to make little goddesses to go in their tin shrines. I'm just not sure what to call them! Anyway, it was a really interesting thing to study...these ancient forms. There is even an ancient pecked owl goddess in France! So I included a silhouette of it. Maybe you can pick it out in the picture. I also made some forms/patterns of my own! I have some molded, painted faces, felt, beads, charms, etc. for each of these beauties & their shrines. Should be fun...any help with a name would be appreciated! ;)

What Have I Been Up TO???

Alot of people tend to ask that...I guess 'cuz I spend alot of time in the studio & not alot of time showing what I'm doing! Well, dang! I'm just having fun! So here's some things I've been up to:

Some journal swap pages:

Some stuffed hearts that will curl all up after I wash them...will show ya later when I'm done:

Some art jounalling:

And fulfilling orders for our little business...this is a basket of handmade paper bookmarks we still have to tag & get to the museum. You can't tell here, but each bookmark has a stamped Hawaiian image on it. Maybe I'll get a chance to show some another time. So here's those:

And that, my friends, is part of what I've been up to! :)

AAaaargh!!!

OK...so my husband was a pirate in another life! Here he is with some of his birthday bootie! I think he's trying to speak Piratese! Happy Birthday honey! Argh!

April Question

OK...so I've decided on my form for April's BJP. And I've cut it out and painted it. I didn't have the color fabric paint I wanted, but this will work. Can you guess what it's gonna be?

Coming to the Finish Line

Well, I'm almost finished with my March BJP piece! Yes! Here's a few pics of my progress so far:

Wanted to include a close up & a side view. I'm hoping when I edge this piece, it will give the appearance of looking into one of those fancy eggs with scenes inside of them! And yes, I know it's April already!

Hearts of Hope

I've just been having so much fun with felt & beads! I love the simplicity of working with such fun materials. I made a pin I'm going to add to my etsy shop. I'd like to do a series of these. This one is a Heart of Hope for Health! I decided to show the front & back. It's nice to see it all finished! And hope it blesses someone on their journey to health!

BJP Catch Up!

Well, I'm hoping I can catch up this month on my BJP piece. I got the image transferred finally! My transfer paper wasn't working on the Timtex. I found I REALLY had to press hard on it. You can see some dark marks where I actually came thru' the paper & transfer sheet!

Now I'm learning another lesson. I had been doing improvisational beading. This is my first planned design. What I'm finding is that I need ALOT of different size beads to pull this off really well! And colors! More shades! But it's still fun & a good learning process! I have no idea where I'm going for April...will just be glad to be caught up!!!

Gift for a Pal

There's a special amulet pouch I make for very special people. I first received one from a Native American woman in Washington State. Since then I've made up my own designs, & make each one specifically for the person who is to be gifted. It's really time consuming, but they turn out to be very attractive. I've had to remake mine several times over the years just from wear. Yet every time I wear it, people look at it instead of me! One guy told me "there's alot of mojo goin' on there"!

This one was for a pal who loves the ocean but also the forest. She can keep something special in it. I gave her a piece broken from one of my crystals so she'll always have a memory of me in it. I also tried to make the top a little more ruffly than usual to give the impression of waves. The colors & embellishments were chosen just for her. And she liked it! Have a peek: