Beaded Forest

Latest jewelry projects

It's been raining on and off today, and I encountered this little guy while I was taking pictures:

He seems to be enjoying the weather.

I've been working a lot in my studio!  Some of my latest creations:

Earrings with sterling silver, glass, pearls, Swarovski crystal;

An adjustable necklace of faceted amethyst, hessonite garnet, sterling silver, and Thai Hill Tribe silver;

Another adjustable necklace, this one of rainbow moonstone, glass, sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, and carved quartz;

This one is faceted sapphire, with gold vermeil Thai Hill Tribe beads and finishings.  It was a commission, and so much fun to work with materials I don't normally have the chance to play around with!  I hope the recipient is happy with it!

The Upper Square (the rest of the Co-op)

In case you missed my last post , I'm giving a little tour of the Co-op in which I live.  On to the Upper Square.  After a little walk up the hill,

and around the bend,

you begin to see some of the houses to your right,

one in front,

and one to the left (2 pics of that one).

If you head up the staircase (from two pictures ago), on your way you see this:

View from the top of the stairs back down:

And finally, some of the houses of the main Upper Square area:

Last, a little rock staircase leading up to another home. 

There's so much more to the Co-op than these homes...there are some studios and outbuildings I haven't pointed out, but then there's the creek running through it, a small waterfall, the many acres of woodland backing up to the State Park, and so much natural beauty every season of the year.  More pictures to come, I'm sure of it!

The Co-op (my home in the woods)

I've had a few requests for additional information about my community, so I thought I'd start out with some pictures.  These did not turn out as clearly as I could have hoped.  I took them in the early evening, and I think my camera was a bit confused about the lighting.  Still, they'll give you a sense of the place. 

The first house you encounter is the old farmhouse, which has been around since the 1800's.

A sweet place that's been well cared for.  A warning: if you only like traditional-looking homes, just stop here and read no further!

You dare to continue?  The rest of the homes are architectural experiments, built mostly in the '50's and '60's. 

Here's the one across from the farmhouse (partially obscured by a badminton net, but don't let that distract you!

This one, nestled back in the woods, has been built in stages over the years.

Next you encounter...my studio!  Another view:

And then there's the Lower Square, which consists of four houses;
this one (two views, the second also showing "the Dome", which is one of the studios):

the second house in the lower square (front and back, the back being the view from my house):

the third house (there's a lot of construction going on in this one, so I got the only view I could which didn't contain building materials!):

and finally, my house:

Thought I'd take a couple of pictures inside, although you're only invited in if you promise not to comment on any mess or dirt you might see!  The camera flash managed to exacerbate certain areas that look perfectly respectable in person.  Here's our winding staircase,

and the view out the back.

One final picture for this entry:

Here's the view from the third Lower Square house I showed you, up toward the Upper Square, which I'll explore in my next entry.

Are you getting a sense of why I love this place?

Butterfly and butterfly bush (and almost so much more...)

I had to run grab the camera when I saw this less-than-shy butterfly on the neighbor's butterfly bush!
Although these pictures turned out great, I almost had an astonishingly, ridiculously spectacular shot.  I had just pushed the camera button and had the lens positioned for the next picture, just waiting for the camera to go through its little between-picture ritual.  Then what do you know, a hummingbird came along to take a sip from the very same bloom the butterfly was on!  There I was, with the camera pointed at the perfect picture, frantically pushing the "go" button trying to hurry it along.  But that &%#$ pause between shots wouldn't be hurried, and the hummingbird fluttered away before a picture could be taken.  Argh!

The latest from the garden

The garden continues to grow, despite my general neglect this year...

I don't remember planting these irises or seeing them growing there before, so they were a surprise!

Wild roses and wild geraniums                                      

 

Other garden goodies

Some Nicotania I'll be planting soon

Can't think of the name of this one at the moment, but so funny, the camera insisted the flower was a much bluer shade!  I had to do some post-production color adjusting to get the touch of purple back.  The leaves are pretty accurate at this point too, a neat contrast to the flower.  I love these guys, and the patch seems more vigorous every year.

I've been doing some sewing,and just finished this complicated layered skirt (Vogue 7880), but it needs something more.  I think I know what the "more" is, and now have to figure out how to make it happen.  More details soon to come!

More signs of Spring!

Can you ever have enough pictures of cute little springtime creatures?  Here are some more photos one of my neighbors got of our local friends:






























































Thank you Daniel!

Spring neighbors!

Some of our wonderful springtime neighbors:


















































I have to give my neighbor Gary credit for these pictures...the turkey family has been wandering around for a week or so, but I haven't been able to get a good shot.  Thanks, Gary!

Post-rain garden

Now that several days of spring rain are over (and a bit of chaos in my life has settled down!), here are a few images of the garden (yes, the lilac picture is the right way, even though it looks like it's sideways!)

More evidence of spring!

Every week there's new spring beauty popping up!  The forsythia has been blooming for a couple of weeks now, and it sure brings on a bright, happy yellow to wake everything from its winter slumber.  I love these little frittilaria I planted a few years ago...they come back every spring:

My neighbor Kathy gave me a few of these from her garden a few years ago, and I love their Dr. Seuss-ness, and that little flower, hiding underneath the huge leaves:

This week's daffodils:

You can't have spring without a Bleeding Heart or two!

The dogwood tree:

And finally, the little jack-in-the-pulpits which pop up all over the woods.

I've been doing a bunch of sewing, but haven't gotten around to pulling out the dressform for picture-taking.  I'll do it soon, I promise!

Signs of Spring!

A few of the local flora popping out, now that warmer weather has arrived:

A wild violet;

Can't remember the name of these guys, but they appear all over the place!

One of the gazillions of different daffodil varieties I've either planted or inherited;

Lovely nodding hellebores;

These guys are one of my favorites. They appear all through the woods this time of year, with speckled leaves and little nodding flowers. So sweet and bright among the old dry leaves!