It's Springtime in the Penokees!

It has been weeks since I have even logged in here, let alone even thought of anything worthy to say.  I have been busy doing way too many things but none of them really noteworthy.  Such is Spring in the far north where it is more of a horrific experience at times rather than a joyful one, because of the weather and cold relentless east winds off lake Superior.  For a long while I have been meaning to come here and post my Springtime in the Penokees beaded cuff, but the thing that was missing was an actual picture of the cuff in the Penokee's in Spring. 

This is a bracelet with a story.  It is a map, starting with Copper Falls State Park in the Penokee Hills in far Northwestern Wisconsin, not far from the shores of Lake Superior. 

Springtime in the Penokee's

In far northwestern Wisconsin near the shores of Lake Superior we are in a fight for our lives and the lives of future generations. The threat of unsafe mining practices looms large.

Decapitating the Penokee Mountain Range by using the proposed mining practice would result in sulfuric acid as a by-product in an area rich with rivers, lakes, and bogs. Downstream, the nearby Bad River Reservation would be directly affected as the Tribe stands to lose their main food staple Manoomin, which is the wild rice that grows in our northern lakes, except where mining by products have caused wild rice dead zones. The Reservation lands would turn into a toxic cesspool.

 Eventually, this all flows into the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Superior, also known as Gitchee Gummi, named by the Ojibwe meaning shining blue sea, or "big water".   The green jewel near the top of the cuff in the last image represents Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands archipelago, which includes 22 islands and is located in far northwestern Wisconsin, off the Bayfield Peninsula. Twenty-one of these islands, and a 12-mile segment along the shore of Wisconsin's north coast, comprise the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

This is not just northwestern Wisconsin's fight, but it is a world fight! We are only using this space, it belongs to our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

Bracelet map:  A butterfly flutters above, in nice clean air, of course. The Falls represents Copper Falls State Park flowing in to the sparkling Bad River, while seagulls fly above.  I used vintage rhinestones to not only represent how the water sparkles like diamonds in the sun, the waters are more precious than any diamonds. All of the landmarks in this piece are represented by beautiful vintage jewels.

As we move downstream from Copper Falls, the sparkling Bad River continues towards the Bad River Reservation on it's way to lake Superior.

The enameled copper focal bead which represents Mother Earth, as well as the two enameled copper flower tubes were made by Duluth Mn artist Sarah Lukkonen of C-Koop beads. 

I don't know for sure which is my favorite part, Copper Falls, or the bald eagle flying over Bad River Reservation. The Reservation is depicted by the green vintage crystal jewel.

The blue rhinestone jewel  on the bottom represents the many area freshwater lakes.  This is where Manoomin grows, represented by three tube beads sewn in above the lake.   On the top of the bracelet, the green jewel represents Madeline Island, off the coast of Bayfield, the sapphire large jewel to the left and slightly below it.

The back of the cuff.  It is mounted on a brass cuff blank, which is lined with ultrasuede.

This piece took me approximately 70 hours to construct.  While working on it, I truly did shed blood sweat and tears.   Blood from many needle pricks, sweat during feverish beading episodes, while feeling driven to do this piece, and many tears, over what this piece represents went into that time. That we even have to have this argument over the shady practices of some lawmakers and Gtac mining company who did everything they could to change our strict environmental laws to their advantage and get the legislation through to make this mine happen is insane. 

I leave you with a map of the area, should you wish to see it.  Copper Falls is approximately in the middle, by the pine tree, and you can follow the Bad River to the Reservation and then into Lake Superior.

A map of the area...

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/ashland/map.html

This is the music I listed to while working on this piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1hb9ZlUhcY&feature=related

Thanks for stopping by and having a look!  Hope to be back soon with some other new things, and I have more pictures of the Penokees and Michigan U.P., but for now, this will have to do. 

Stephanie

2012 Apostle Islands Sled Dog Races

I had a great time this weekend at the Apostle Island Sled Dog Races.  It was wonderful to spend a warm sunny day in the woods.  Most of the pictures are in the "here and There" section of this site, a section I have not used much in the last year. Maybe I will revive that section as well, as long as I am at this!

Here is a link to more pictures.  http://beadedheron.squarespace.com/here-there-journal/2012/2/6/2012-apostle-islands-sled-dog-races.html

Have a wonderful Monday everyone! 

Stephanie

Orange Morning Glory Bracelet

It must have something to do with 40 degrees & sunny at the end of January and the beginning of February, but suddenly I found myself turning back to an old standard with a new twist.  Usually this time of year I am making pieces that remind me of a tropical island vacation and white sand and azure waters, while the temps are the coldest of the year outside my door.  Not this year, I am salivating my garden all of a sudden.  Yesterday I had to resist the urge to throw poppy seeds in the small flower garden that borders my dog kennel next to the house.  The few scant inches of snow that fell last week is melting fast.  In places where I ran my snowblower in desperation to cover my water pipe where it leaves the pumphouse building so my water won't freeze when it does turn cold, is melting fast and the snowblower trails are now bare ground.  If we are indeed getting ripped off totally this Winter season, then let's just cut to the chase and bring on Spring already.  This, coming from someone who views Spring as their least favorite season.  We are having March weather. Pure craziness.

The morning glory flowers are a pattern from a class I took about 10 years ago, and the fun leaf stitch design is bead artist Kelly Lightner's interpretation of the beautiful beadwork done by the women of Saraguro Ecuador. I learned this stitch from Kelly about a dozen years ago and revisited it today for this bracelet, then I embellished it with amethyst and Swarovski crystals before finishing it off with a vintage Czech glass button.

pretty beaded morning glory

embellished leaf stitch bracelet band

Vintage Czech glass button closure

 Well that was fun, not sure what my next piece will be but today I need to bathe and fluff my poodle.  The nice weather does have the advantage of dogs getting to go outside and roughhouse but the truth is,  melting snow and longer poodle hair are not a good combination!  

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie

PS..bracelet is listed for sale on my website!  http://beadedheron.kjwebdesign.com/view.php?View=176

Galaxy Cuff Bracelet

I finally finished the cuff, after close to 50 hours of work.  I am happy with the way it turned out and am planning to start the next one today already.  One good thing about January, is it is a great time to hibernate with beads.  Busier times of year it is hard for me to pick up a seed bead project, as there is so much else going on the beading days are few and far between.  Also, in Summer I don't have to run the wood stove and burn wood just to play around with melting glass. 

Here it is in all it's glory!

Galaxy Cuff

Freshwater pearls, vintage rhinestones, swarovski crystals and a beaded mirror moon

Brass cuff foundation lined with ultrasuede

I am raring and ready to go on the next one, so stay tuned and stay warm!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie

Galaxy cuff work in progress.

I hope to finish the beaded part of this cuff today.  Photographing this piece is hard work, for the beads are metallic lined under clear glass, so there are many colors in them.  I am totally addicted to bead embroidery all of a sudden, and this is a good thing.  It has been many years since I felt passionate about a beading project to the point I don't want to stop to do anything else.  Alas, today is fluff my Standard Poodle day but I can also use the trip to stop at the fabric store for ultrasuede for lining the cuffs. 

This Galaxy is 2 1/4 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches long which is the measurement of the cuff.  I need to bead to the edges of the ink drawn lines yet.

Vintage rhinestone comets and shooting stars, freshwater pearl planets and a mirrored moon.

Cute little Swarovski pearl spaceship

Mirrored moon, enameled copper planet, vintage rhinestones, freshwater pearls and lots of beads!

Just plain fun.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  My beads are calling...

Stephanie

Missing in action, sort of..

For someone who wanted to start coming here more often with updates, I sure haven't been doing a great job lately.  I have been busy beading, so obsessed with my current projects that I dedicate every daylight hour, and then some. 

Stopping to come to the computer & type is not going to happen when feverish beading is taking place.  I don't even want to stop to cook or eat.  I get enough interruptions over dog care to break up my day and Helga is learning to cool her jet's or paws, so to speak.  I have taken this opportunity to teach her long down.  A long down, for those of you that don't know dog speak, is when you put your dog in a down position, and use a hand or verbal command and teach her to stay put until you say it is OK to move.  In beginners dog class, if we should choose to go this Spring, Helga will have her long down exercise down pat.  The class long down is 3 minutes, but Helga will have learned to lay for an hour or more by the time she is in school.  Grant it, Helga is practicing her long down on a comfy couch with a squeaky or bone, but she is learning to stay put where I tell her to stay, and she is learning it well.  Go Helga.  Paris has learned this practice from an early age, and I swear I could put her on her grooming table and leave home and come back and she will be right there, where I told her to stay.  I like to take my girls places, so they need to have manners.

It is getting light enough at 7:30am to begin my beading day, so I will soon be at it, hopefully finishing the embroidery on the two current beaded cuffs I am working on, and maybe even start a third one.  I did say I was obsessed with this fun new to me adventure, didn't  I?

Here is a sample of the fist one.  Notice it is not finished, nor is it mounted on the brass cuff foundation.

 

The other one I am working on, I have no pictures but it is a galaxy theme, and has shooting stars, and planets and spaceships.  This is totally addictive and fun and I am having a great time learning this process.

On that note, off I go to beadland, have a great day & thanks for stopping by!  I will leave you with dancing dogs..

Stephanie

Sun Panda's

Over a period of two weeks, I spent many hours in my shop next to the woodstove hovering over my torch and melting glass, to make the 22 lampwork beads I used and then some.  I spent many more hours weaving the six beaded spiral side focal beads but I had a vision.   I started out wanting a pink coral accent for this necklace, but when it came time to make a focal bead, I switched to light sky blue instead.   Incorporating everything I wanted to have in this necklace was a bit of a challenge, as I had this entire specific design in mind and getting it all in one piece without having it end up too long was my goal.  The necklace is 22 1/2 inches long, so it will fit most anyone.

Sun Panda's

Panda lampwork glass focal bead with dragonfly tail beaded bail

Panda lampwork glass beads and shimmering woven beaded spiral beads.

Vintage button and lampwork glass bead closure

Well, that was fun and all but I am so ready to work on something else!  It is supposed to be bitter cold this week so I plan on hunkering down and doing some seed bead weaving and save going out to the shop for days when it's a tad warmer and I won't have to use so much wood.

Have a day, make it great, and thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie

Pandamonium & Golden Spirals

I spent Satrurday hanging out in my shop with my torch and the dogs and became obsessed with panda's.  It was a very fun day, and the first ever panda's turned out pretty cute, though I imagine the next panda beads will be even cuter.  The first of anything is never the best, but a necessary process to get where I'm going. 

What will I do with the panda's?  I am going to make a fun necklace with them!  Yesterday I made four beaded spiral beads to use in the necklace and either today or tomorrow I'll have another go at the bear beads in my shop.  I'd run out there right now and make a fire but first I have to figure which day this week is best to give Paris a long over due groom. 

Here are the first cute panda beads.

I have a new favorite color combination for beaded beads as of yesterday.  These spirals shimmer as if sun is bathing them in warmth.  I likely will not use this panda bead, but you get the idea..

 Beautiful sun shiney golden spirals

Larger spiral beaded bead

I have a feeling I will be making a long spiral in this color, as I have some vintage crystals that are begging to become a necklace with this color scheme.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie

Tropical Fantasy & Tropical Wisconsin

I live in tropical Wisconsin.  It is something I have said in a joking way since I moved to this state a decade and a half ago from northern Minnesota.  I was driven to move here after a particularly harsh Winter, when for one week in January it never got warmer than -20° F below zero. Two of those days it was -40° &  -53° below, and I am not talking windchill.  With windchill factored in, in was in the -80°'s.  We do silly things when it gets that cold and our cars won't start and we want to go somewhere, like put a pan of heated coals under the car under the oil pan to heat the thickened oil, so that the engine might turn over.  I do NOT recommend this practice though, as my van caught fire one -53 below morning when I did this.  I was living in my log cabin on a lake and it was windy, so the icy cold winds blowing from the lake propelled those coals into a nice flame.  I was watching out my window while waitng for the car oil to warm, so when I witnessed the sudden burst of flames I quickly bolted out the door and shoveled snow like mad to put them out.  The car only sustained minimal grill and bumper melting damage but woe was me later that day when I could finally bring myself to make that call to my insurance man.  He only laughed, and has heard this dozens of times.  I will never do it a gain, that is certain.  In hindsight, who the hell would want to go anywhere when it is -53°?  I obviously did at the time!  Later that year I moved to Wisconsin, for it is consistentely 20 degrees warmer where I am now in Winter than it is where I lived in northern Minnesota.   There is the exception once or twice a year but the coldest I have seen it here is -33° F so the 20 degrees difference rule still applies.

It has been almost tropical in northen Wisconsin & the rest of the lower 48 states this Winter compared to normal.  We have  been 15 to 20 degrees above normal a large percentage of the time.  Yesterday it was 47 degrees in the afternoon here, and after dark the temps kept going up.  I'd say that just does not happen, but it did.   I do not like it.  I want snow, and lots of it.   Snow is why I live where I do, we usually have several feet on the ground by now.  Todays heat wave left us with but an inch. 

Oh well, what can you do but bead?  So bead I did, and made this fun little tropical fantasy necklace.  The beaded focal stone and glass coral pieces are pretty fun if I do say so myself.

Tropical Fantasy

Beaded focal gemstone with transparant dagger embellishment

Handmade glass coral

matte finish bead strand & acrylic disc trade beads

I am off to make a fire in the shop pretty soon.  I might as well take advantage of this nice weather where I will use much less wood to heat the shop, so the dogs and I are headed out there for the day.

What ever you do today, make it a good one.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie

Tomorrow, Happy New Year, & Amethyst Spiral Necklace

Free beer tomorrow.  That was the sign in Toivo's country bar & restaurant in northern Minnesota where we would stop for a burger and beer once in while when hauling hay for the horses.   It was a fun sign and Toivo would giggle every time anyone pointed it out.  Sure enough, you would come back tomorrow and the sign would say "free beer tomorrow", all over again.

I was reminded of the sign this morning when I remembered way back last year on New Years Eve that I said I would be back with a new necklace "tomorrow".   Five days later, here I am.   Part of the reason I forget to post is raising a Doberkid pup is big work.  I usually write my posts in the mornings, and a Dobergirl in training is very active after a long restful night snuggled up in the nice warm bed.   When Helga takes a break it is much later in the day and by then I am full steam ahead into whatever project I start, and posting goes by the wayside.  This week it has been new year cleaning.  Out with the tree and away with the decorations for most of this year and I am finally almost finished organizing after a year and some of having my parents belongings come by the truck & trailer & car load.  I can't even begin to say what a relief it will be to finally have it all put away.   Any of you who are regularly subjected to a dog nose or complete head bumping your arm every two minutes while you attempt to type, can understand my other plight.

Alas, I have found time to do a little beading as well, though I have not been out to the shop to melt glass yet this year.  I will get out there soon, but getting organized is higher on my list of priorities. 

This fun spiral is made with Charlottes which are very beautiful.  The beads are cut on one side, which makes them shimmer and sparkle.  Here is a site where you can read about these beautiful beads if you would like: http://www.wildthingsbeads.com/article-ccsb.html

Without further adu, here is the fun organic spiral necklace...

Organic Amethyst Spiral Necklace

beautiful charlotte spiral

Stunning Grade A Amethyst faceted rounds..

Stunning crystal accents

 

This necklace is listed on my website, where I am now headed to list the second new necklace of the year.  Here is the link to this necklace!   http://beadedheron.kjwebdesign.com/view.php?View=172

Have a wonderful day & thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie