Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Pieces of Friendship - Part 2

I finished up my last 2 swap pieces and enjoyed every stitch! I'm excited to see what comes back.



My third piece is brown/gold/black. There are 2 open brass hearts in the middle tacked down with just a couple of tiny stitches and surrounded by black sequins with an added layer of transparent gold sequins on top of that and held in place by a tiny glass seed bead. A black 4mm Swarovski bicone sandwiched between two tiny seed beads. There is a vintage glass cab up in the upper left corner and another vintage glass cab in the lower right corner. A metal dragonfly bead in the lower left and vintage flower shaped sequins throughout the upper right held in place by more black Swarovski bicones.



Last is in my favorite colors. A beautiful filigree heart is the center piece, held in place by seed beads. A little metal bird charm has a place in the lower left and a metal ladybug bead on the lower right surrounded by vintage sequins. Some aqua glass flower beads and other random glass beads finish it off.



Here they are all together.

Now a quick photo tour of my weekend spent at the Becoming an Outdoorswoman program...



It sure felt good to be outside for an entire weekend and the bonus was meeting so many neat women.



One class I found most fascinating was 'Backyard Habitat', it focused on finding ways to landscape your yard using native plants to build habitat for wildlife. If that is something you find want to learn more about, I highly recommend the book that was a handout in our class - "Bringing Nature Home" by Douglas W. Tallamy. My goal now is to plant a butterfly garden in my backyard (among other things) specifically for Monarch's



Next was ATV safety. While I have ridden on an ATV numerous times, I have never learned much about safety, I found the lessons taught in this class quite valuable.



The setting was so pretty too - a large grassy area, right on the river.



Canoeing was next and even though I was tired, I had a great time. I don't know that I learned anything new, but I did have a blast just paddling around the little lake with my canoe mate.



My last class was Orienteering - always good to know how to use a compass and orient yourself on a map when you are in the outdoors. I'd like to spend more time using those skills - I don't understand it as well as I would like to at this point.



I didn't take a class in archery, but managed to snap a couple of photos.



Of course, there was a campfire on Saturday night - complete with ghost stories and marshmallow roasting.



Given the opportunity, I'd do it all over again in a second!

Next outing... a trip to the zoo with my grandson's second grade class on Friday, we have a wonderful childrens zoo here in Fort Wayne, a day spent there is always a good day.

10 comments:

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

OOOO, your pieces are great. Nice project. I think I like the brown the best and its one of my least favorite colors!

Looks like you had a lot of fun outdoors. Good for you!

Timaree said...

Your puzzle pieces turned out really well. Some people are going to be very happy to get them.

Glad you had fun on your outdoor getaway. I already have the wildlife in my yard. In fact I have too much - my husband just turned the carport into a garage to keep the rabbits and rats out of the car engines. We wrap chicken wire around all young trees and the bushes to keep them from being devoured or killed. Hmm, I'd like a little less - why can't they just stay outside the fence? We have 37 acres and have only fenced off two - you'd think they could let us have the two to ourselves!

Pursuing Art... said...

Hi Grace...oh, for being out of your comfort zone...you did a beautiful job on the puzzle pieces! Each one is just beautiful and whoever receives yours will just love it! What a fun project for Pat to host and be a part of. I'm looking forward to seeing the pieces you receive too!

It sure looks like you had a wonderful time...breathing fresh air, meeting new friends, having fun and learning! Good for you to sneak away for the weekend. That is great news that you are going to plant a butterfly garden and work on planting native plants to bring more wildlife to your yard...very cool! The photos are great and the weather looked nice too! Oh, to smell a campfire again...hopefully soon...when it stops raining one day!!! ~wink~

Haven't been to the zoo in ages, but it sounds like a fun day for you. Grandbaby is almost here too...can't wait to see a picture!

I've been thinking of you...hugs, Grace...~me

Melissa ;-) said...

The pieces are great! And what a cool swap!

pam T said...

WOW your outdoors woman program sounds like it was awesome! what a great experience! love your photos.
the puzzle pieces are great... all beautiful.
you are one busy woman!

Cindy said...

Love your puzzle pieces. I hope I am lucky enough to get one of yours.

Jen said...

Ohh looks like such a fun outdoorsy time! I'd have been all over that :-)
Your puzzle pieces are awesome!

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi:)

Gorgeous pieces beautifully crafted.
Your talents are awesome.

I can see you enjoyed your invigorating and refreshing out door trip.

Best wishes:)
Joseph

GraceBeading said...

Thanks everyone, glad you like the pieces and the little window into my world outside of beading.

Moonsilk Stitches said...

Hi, Grace: I'm the lucky person who received your brown puzzle piece. It's just gorgeous and I am extremely impressed with your neat bezels (mine are always a bit wonky). Thank you very much. I'm thrilled to have one of your pieces.

Leaves of Grass

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body - Walt Whitman