Pendants Preview

This pile of pendants-to-be is sitting on my worktable.  It is so tempting to put everything else aside to work on creating squares and circles.  These pendants in antique gold, silver and copper are waiting for punchneedle designs.  Each one will be hung on a ribbon - ready to adorn.  The pendants came from Linda at Woolen Whimsies who is a wonderful mentor to both punchneedle and rug hooking enthusiasts.

Quite a long time ago I found another pendant form at a local store and tried my hand at filling its center.  The pendants are only an inch and a quarter by an inch and a quarter which doesn't give much room to roam but each one will be a short journey and a new adventure for me. 

"Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon". - Booker T. Washington

Fiber, Fiber, Fiber

As we all know - fiber is good for our bodies.  But I am vowing to begin this year with a new mantra: fiber is good for my beading!  I would like each piece that I work to be as textural as possible.  Beads upon beads.  Bits and pieces of found objects upon the bead surface.  Adorning the surface with ribbons and fiber.  My book art years were filled with these chanced upon additions to each page.  As I learned to bead (an ongoing process I might add) focusing on just getting the beads on the backing in some semblance of 'good' beading was enough for me.  But no longer am I feeling constrained by the beading itself.  I am ready to branch out -- to add whatever comes to hand.  I have bunches of ribbons and fiber and trim, left over from my book art days - so why not incorporate it into my beading? Embellishing my work this coming year will happily involve delving into my fiber stash and pulling out those colorful streams of ribbon and threads and yarn and...  The options are uncountable and I know that this form of fiber use will be every bit as important and valuable to my 'health' as the food kind. 

"My fingers emit sparks of fire with expectation of my future labours." - Blake