Hot July Days

Hey!!! I finished June's journal page. I chose yellow, red and blue beads and stones to symbolize the month I was having. I started this in the middle of the month so I had a pretty good idea how June was turning out. Its been kind of chaotic but also restful. I found the yellow stone at a rock and mineral show and had to have it! Its called Cancrinite and found only in Russia. The man who sold it to me was Russian so I figured he know what he was talking about. The blue stone was given to me by my mother. She got it in Peru from someone who told her it was lapis. I think it is dyed howlite but I won't tell her that.

I am meditating about what I want to do for July. I don't think I will wait until the middle of the month to start this one.

The Longest Day 2007

Since I was born before computers, I feel it a struggle to stay abreast of all the wonderful outbranchings of this marvelous instrument. Elementary school had just put away ink wells when I was to learn writing and penmanship. Is their a school subject called penmanship anymore? So this is what aging is like: Looking back at what I found new and exciting and realizing it was only a tiny step to what is happening today. Ink is still used but I wonder for how long?

I started this blog because I joined a group of people who are committing themselves to creating a bead embroidery journal, one page a month for a year. I like the idea of using the symbology of color and design to illustrate a month in my life. I am curious to discover what the results will be.

The Beaded bag above is the result of a class I took from Rena Dennison, a Native American. The technique is called Niagara Falls Beadwork created by the Iroquois and Seneca. A tribe living near the Niagara Falls used to make these beadworked purses for tourists.

The circular embroidery is two dragons on a field of blue done in back stitch. I did this about ten years ago to put on a vest I wore when riding my Harley sportster. Dragons are very shy so they tend to blend in with their backgrounds. I outlined them in red to give folks a chance to see them.