November encrusted page

In the spirit of trying new techniques, this month I found a batik in my stash (I am also a quilter) that had a leaf on it. This beaded leaf is on top of the batik leaf. I almost felt guilty working over a given design, but then assuaged my guilt when I realized that I hadn't tried this before.

Leaves are now brown on the oaks and brown and dried on the ground from the maples, etc. This is one of my favorite times of year when it is cooler outside and I can see through and into the woods. I've always loved the color range of browns, although I'm now wondering why I used so few in this piece.

October

Our trees were a little late turning this year, but the foliage display of reds, oranges and yellows were wonderful in New Hampshire. They also lasted longer than usual. This is also the month for pumpkins, so orange was my color of choice.
Instead of a swirl of bugles, I had fun making a swirl of a rainbow of oranges. I do love this color and own lots of it in varying shades.

September

September was a beautiful and very sunny and warm month in New Hampshire. I purchased the swirl beads mid-month and knew that I needed to include them in this piece.

Note that I am beading even less of the background.

August

For August I decided to continue the hot theme and beaded this piece in red-oranges. I tried a slightly different swirl, but in transparent beads that do not stand out as much. The center eye is a stack of beads that stand up from the page.
I also found that I was comfortable not completely filling the page to the edges.

July encrusted page

July was a red hot month (although not that hot here in New Hampshire compared to other parts of the country), so felt that my page needed to reflect that.

This page has twisted bugles, which add some sparkle to the swirl. I also tried sewing on flat sequins and added fringe to the little flowers.

June encrusted page

I am making two series of beaded pages--silk fusion pages and what I call encrusted pages. This is the first in my encrusted page series.

I plan to use a different main color each month and try new techniques to me.

This very green one includes a cabochon, my first time trying that, plus more of the bugle swirls.

Silk fusion pages

The page with flowers is the May silk fusion page. The ribbon and glittery threads are imbedded in the silk fusion.

The green page is for June. The leaves and earth had matured to a deeper green. This is my first attempt at doing swirls. The resulting page makes me think of a sea horse.

The fish scene is my August page. I received these two fish in an assortment of beads and wanted to give the feeling of being underwater. I spend summers on an island on Lake Sunapee, so my mind is definitely on the scene before my eyes, as well as the fish thatswim in the lake and under our dock.

Bead Journal Project

I joined the Bead Journal Project in mid-May 2007, a few days after the trees had leafed out in their new spring green in New Hampshire. Even though the project officially began in June, I couldn't help but make a May page showing the flowers of early spring.

My May page is sewn on silk fusion that I made about a year ago. I decided to keep the design simple so that the fibers of the silk. This piece/page is 4 inches square.