Going in circles

I spent a month this summer experimenting with circles. For 30 days I stitched three-dimensional circles in a variety of sizes using herringbone stitch, right-angle weave, and tubular peyote stitch. Right-angle weave worked best for small circles, but ultimately tubular peyote stitch gave me the structure I sought.

Circles are an optimistic shape, with no real beginning and no obvious end. I stitched one for every member of my family – 55 circles. I like to string multiples of the circles on a herringbone stitch chain to wear.  Sometimes I load up all 55 circles. Most of the time, I wear anywhere from 24 – 36 circles at a time.  Occasionally, when I’m feeling blue, I only wear two circles; one to represent my father and one for my sister, Beth, both of whom have passed away.

 

 

“O” is for Olivia

Olivia just turned 10. She’s a very special niece and I wanted to give her something equally as special for her birthday. Olivia is sweet, funny, creative and extremely clever.

I was inspired by a project from Irina Mitch’s new book, Wire jewelry beaded beautifully. The April 2017 issue of BeadandButton published the “Ocean wave pendant” project from her book.

Here is my version of Irena’s project.

For Olivia’s necklace I made a cursive “O” shape, hammered it, and used the tail of the swoop to secure the ends. Then I added the Swarovski Bicone crystals and two large jump rings for the bail and strung it on a leather cord.

We are celebrating Olivia’s birthday on Sunday and I hope she likes her one-of-a-kind necklace.

It’s February 20th and 65 degrees in Chicago

For the past week the weather in
Chicago has been unseasonably warm and sunny. Typically by the middle of February, the TV weather man is squawking about how many days it’s been since we’ve seen the sun. Not this year.

I took a long walk yesterday to enjoy the fresh air and to try to make sense of the chaos around me.  Along the way, I noticed this upside down goose in the pond and realized that’s pretty much how I’ve been feeling – topsy-turvy.  However, Spring is such an optimistic season, I’m looking forward to getting things sorted out and planting the seeds of a new beginning!

Introduction

I always wanted to be a writer.  Well, at least every since I learned to write.  When I was in the third grade I wrote a story.  It was a long story, with lots and lots of details and filled a spiral bound notebook.  It was about a girl and a horse – probably more of a journal about the life I wished I had rather than an actual story.  I gave it to my teacher, Mrs. Born, to read.  She gave it back to me with helpful comments.  The one that stands out in my mind was something like “What’s the point of this story?  You have a beginning and a middle, but no end.”

In 5th grade I wrote a play for a class production.  It was an exciting maritime adventure, filled with pirates and sword fighting.  Again, I struggled to write a good conclusion, so I abruptly introduced a tidal wave that washed everyone overboard.  The End.

Fiction is clearly not my strong suit.  However, I still like to write.