Too Many Forks In The Road

A lot of things have been happening lately and I find myself faced with too many forks in the road!  As I stand at the crossroads I wonder which is the correct road to take at this time? Recently my Mother fell and broke her right humorous (upper arm), because she has a pinched nerve that takes out her left hip, it will cause her to fall if she doesn't have her walker. We were waiting to take her to the Spine Surgeon, to here the results of her MRI, that she had done recently. Well Mom is recovering slowly and bravely trying to deal with the limitations she is having to endure. When you are right handed and you break or injure your right arm or hand, a whole host of humorous scenarios can arrive at your doorstep, when trying to overcome your handicap. Simple things like completing your personal toiletries become challenging but do-able when peppered with a sense of humor. With assistance from my brother,sister,husband,nephew, and myself, life is somehow returning to a semi normal state!

While dealing with all the above, our nephew is here, for what we are calling "a do-over". A chance for him to study to get his GED and his permit and license.  We are also trying to encourage him to further his education. He is 24 and has had a difficult time, but he is bright, likeable, intelligent,polite, and can be obstinate about what he thinks should be done. So with patience and gentle persuasion we are slowly working with him to obtain some of his goals. It is very nice getting to know this young man and yet reminds me of my sons and the stubbornness I encountered with them. We have butted heads a few times, but have turned it around to a positive attitude with explanations as to why or what we might not approve of, and what would be a better way to approach the situation at hand. It is working, slowly, and I keep my fingers crossed, and pray we are reaching this remarkable young man.

Finally,finally finished a bead embroidered piece that has taken me about 3 1/2 months to complete! Now for most of you, you could have completed this project a lot quicker, but I was dealing with the above for about the last 2-3 weeks, as well as a pinched nerve in my back that started last November and didn't stop pinching the nerve till the middle of April! There were very few days that I could actually do bead work and I wanted to enter it in the Fire Mountain Gems Seed Bead Contest. I happy danced all over my house on May 6th, my husband took the pictures, I filled out the entry and supply list and off went the entry via email!  Now comes the long,long,long wait.  I am not sure how many more of their contests I'm going to enter, I enjoy the challenges and they seem to like my work, so this is one to play by ear!

For kicks and grins, I emailed Beadwork Magazine W.O.R.D. after seeing Jill Wiseman's post on facebook. They like one of the necklaces, I sent them the jewelry to be photographed and I have already received my jewelry back!  I do so enjoy quick and efficient work as they did.  My necklace will appear in the 2012 Oct/Nov issue of Beadwork Magazine.  I am pleased and accomplished something good for myself.

Now there are a couple more forks in my road I am facing, what are my plans for the future?  I have been winding down my beading a lot, do to health (back and wrist issues).  I don't know if I wish to take a temporary hiatus or move in another direction completely?  While I am pondering this, my creative muse, the one with the millions of designs still to create, has come up missing!  I think she took off down one of those forks in the road, that I haven't been down yet.  So for now, I am coping, health is doing okay, my muse is missing, my husband is a love, my Mom is well and healing, my humor is intact and working fine, my nephew is working hard to accomplish his goals, and things look like they are going to be okay!

To those of you who were able to enter The Battle of the Beads, go..go...go... I envy you all, just wasn't the right time for me, but I am so excited to see this contest, the artists are phenominal and the work superb, this will be quite interesting. Maybe next year I might actually be able to consider this if I am invited to enter. Who knows!!!  Good luck to all of you!

Deborah

Moving into the lazy hazy days of summer

Well it's been a while since I have blogged. Updates, pinched nerve has faded away at last! Now I am trying to catch up and finish all my projects that were put on hold.  One piece will be done this week, entering it in the FMG seed bead contest, so I can't show a picture yet. This piece has taken me 3 months to complete, my first attempt at a collar, I think there is definitely room for improvement, but don't think I will tackle one again, not for a long time anyway, they are a lot of work and I've decided there are such great artists already out there!

So onward to new things. I have a tutorial almost completed (another project that was on hold) I am looking forward to completing it and then finishing a second tutorial on a pair of soutache earrings I had started!  As with most artists, I have at least three new projects lined up and waiting to be made. Just sent off a necklace to Beadwork magazine, it will appear in the Oct/Nov 2012 issue, if I am not mistaken, in W.O.R.D.

Things have slowed down greatly for me, having lots of problems with my right hand, so I wonder how much longer I will be beading. Being an artist allows me to switch gears, I'm gathering materials and supplies for silk painting, thought I'd create some designs on silk scarves with paint and bring in some beaded elements for extra pizzazz! This is a future project, so will keep you informed as to how it goes.  The China painting bug has also been reminding me that I have projects I could do as well. There are also at least a dozen oil paintings I'd like to do as well, so if beading is slowing down, all my other artistic abilities are motivated and ready to go!

My Mom just recently fell and injured herself quite badly, so I will be spending more time with her during her recovery, as well as I have a nephew who is coming from Massachusetts to Oregon to stay with my husband and I. He is getting a chance for a "do over" and we are hoping to help him get his GED as well as send him to some kind of technical school. So for now my plate is quite full, many changes and adjustments, but all is returning to some kind of normalcy!