Queen Beader

Wanted to do something that wouldn’t need to dry so I pulled out my sharpies and other markers. I had no image in mind, just the intent to damage. I drew hard and repeatedly in the same spot trying to wear through the page. The pens leaked through the page and damaged just as I wanted:

However, it still looked a little too normal, so I pulled out a black marker:

As I was thinking of things I could use to wreck my journal, I came up with using condiments. Thought it would be lovely and messy.

So, I put a towel down on my coffee table to put the journal on, gathered all my condiments from the fridge and opened my book to a random page. I grabbed the mustard first, then the ketchup and squirted away. They gave up big globs that I felt the need to spread around. I used the only tools I had available - my fingers. I really enjoyed finger painting this way: it was lovely and messy and cold and wet. Couldn’t help but smile while I did these pages.

Had to let them dry for a few days before I could close the journal again. The smell made me crave hot dogs. These pages leaked through too, and warped some pages. Lovely.

One of the suggestions on Keri Smith’s Blog is to spill coffee on a page of your journal. Now, I’m a huge coffee addict and couldn’t bear the thought of wasting a single precious drop of coffee just for this project. I was pretty sure this idea wouldn’t be used by me. Then, a couple days after I started the journal, I had just made a cup of coffee with my French press and noticed the grounds and bit of liquid at the bottom. Using that wouldn’t be a waste of coffee. So, I took a spoon and glopped and spilled grounds and coffee onto the pages:

When it dried, all the grounds flaked off, which was a little disappointing cause I loved the dark color of it. Dried, it just looked like a normal coffee stain with an inkblot feel. I love the way it spilled into the groove of the page.

I was thrilled with the fact that several other pages were soaked through from the coffee. Did more damage then I intended, which is wonderful.

The journal’s cover couldn’t be left blank - that looked too normal. I felt the need to draw on it like I used to on my binders in school. I used my gel pens because they’d show up best on the black. I just doodled what I felt which ended up being hearts and abstract-ness.

Here’s what the front and back covers look like:

I also drew on the spine and the edges of the pages.

Still thought it looked too normal so I scribbled some more, this time with oil crayons, all over the place and came up with this:

I’m happy with the result. Wasn’t thrilled with greasy residue the crayons left, but that eventually dried.

I’ve been feeling a little unmotivated craft-wise lately. I have ideas, I just don’t have the energy to implement them. And when I start thinking about starting a new project for fun, I think about all the projects I’ve already started and not finished or the ones that need to get done. Then I get frustrated and nothing gets started.

About a week ago, I was looking for a birthday gift for my sister on Amazon.com. I was thinking of getting her a journal and while searching, I found Wreck This Journal by, Kerri Smith. It’s just what is sounds like, a journal that you’re supposed to destroy, in an artsy kind of way. It’s full of instructions to paint and tear and spill and abuse the journal. I loved the concept and wanted one for myself. However, with being new home owners, we’re kind of pinching our pennies. So, no new journal to destroy for me.

When I work on craft/art projects, I always feel like I have to be perfect in the creation and the result. I feel I have to be careful and not waste materials by trying something that I don’t know how it will turn out. This is one of the reasons I don’t always want to start new projects, despite the numerous craft supplies I have in my craft room. Wreck This Journal seemed like a perfect way to practice technique, rather then result. Instinct rather then following instructions. It seemed perfect for me. Hubby thought so too. He always encourages me to try projects and not to worry about how they will turn out, just to enjoy the experience.

A few days later, I stumbled upon Kerri Smith’s blog, Wreck This Journal (are we surprised by the title?). There I found inspiration and encouragement to destroy a journal, any journal. I just happened to have one I bought months ago to be a brainstorming journal.

I’d only written on three of the pages, so they got torn out. It’s a solid black with fake suede cover and blank pages in grays and white. It has an elastic band that holds it closed and a black ribbon attached inside for a bookmark.

One of the reader’s suggestions on Kerri’s blog was to use nail polish as paint on one of the pages. So, I went into my upstairs bathroom medicine cabinet and dug out all my old nail polish. Now, I say old because I think the last time I bought any let alone wear it was over two years ago, maybe longer. I just don’t see the point wearing it anymore. But it makes good paint.

Several of the bottles were dried up but a bunch of them were still perfectly viable. So, I painted and dripped and poured nail polish all over a completely blank, gray page. I had no design or pattern in mind, I just went with my instincts on where to paint and what color and how much, stopping before the smell of nail polish gave me a headache. The whole process was very zen - I thought of nothing while I painted and I felt happy when I was done.

Despite not trying to, I think it turned out pretty and kind of abstract artsy.

The wet dollops and the blank page next to it were just screaming out to be smushed together like those art projects I did when I was younger that always ended up looking like ink blot drawings. So, I smushed.

Most of the nail polish was already dried when I smushed so not much took on the other page, but what did looks great. Not so much like a ink blot drawing, but it would of if there was more wet nail polish.

The green bits are actually little green star sequins from a bottle of nail polish that was just clear with green stars.

The wrecking extended to a couple pages after the first page - it looks like grease soaked thru.

The best part of this project? I had dozens of new craft/art projects floating thru my head when I was finished. Can’t wait to start on some of them.

This is just the beginning. More artistic destruction to come soon.

I love bacon. And it’s a well know fact that bacon makes everything better. So, I’m going to prove that theory by adding bacon to some different foods. Then I’m going to share my findings and delicious recipes here. Yes, I know this is the Queen Beader blog and bacon has nothing to do with beading, but I think of this as my creative blog - beads, crafts, cooking, it’s all creative. Thus, I will post my bacon experiments here.

The first bacon experiment: Bacon & Cream Cheese Fried Won Tons

I’ve been buying won ton wrappers when we go grocery shopping lately. The intention was to make my own version of the crab and cream cheese won tons that you can get at most Chinese restaurants. I made some with shrimp and they were good. Then this week, i started thinking what else I could put in them. And the logical answer was: bacon.

The Recipe

• 15 strips of bacon (I cooked mine in the microwave in a contraption that allows the bacon to drape and catches the grease)
• 1 package of cream cheese
• Won Ton wrappers
• Vegetable oil

1. Put cooked bacon and cream cheese in food processor and grind together to preferred consistency (I like mine chunky)
2. Scoop mixture into the center of each won ton wrapper - about a small spoonful each
3. Fold won tons closed (follow the packages instructions)
4. Drop won tons in hot oil
5. Fry until each won ton is golden brown on each side - shouldn’t take more then a minute on each side

Makes about 38 won tons

These are crispy little pockets of heaven. Seriously. What’s more perfect then melted cream cheese, bacon and deep fried-ness? If my hubby wasn’t already married to me, these would of won him over. You’ve got to try them, trust me on this.

Sorry, but I’m not going to be finishing this project.

I’ve been horribly procrastinating on it. Plus, I’m stumped on some of the challenges and how I can translate them to jewelry. Oh and there’s the fact that I’ve got to get ready for a couple jewelry related events. Some of my jewelry will be available for sell at a art gallery in Florida in March. I’ve posted the images on Flickr: Gallery Pieces and all the info is listed there. I’m also considering getting a booth at the Gresham Art Walk in July. So, I have a lot of planning and organizing to do.

Sorry, again.

The intro to this project is here.

Runway Challenge #5: Create an everyday look for a women using their old clothes

On the show, the designers were given female models who were actually normal women who had all recently lost large amounts of weight. They brought in their favorite old outfits and the designers had to create a new every day outfit for them from the provided clothes.

My first thought was to use old jewelry to make something new. So, I asked my darling sis, AM, to send me some of her old jewelry that she doesn’t wear anymore. Here’s what she sent:

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I had a few different ideas when I looked at the pieces she sent, as always. It was my second attempt that ended up being the one that worked best. The piece I made came from three of the pieces she sent: the frog bracelet, the blue and black seed beed necklace, and the white fiber optic and hematite necklace. It has a lot of symbolize in it that will be particularly meaningful to AM.

The finished piece is a short necklace made of black glass cubes (from the blue and black necklace), white round fiber optics (from the fiber optic necklace), black glass flat disks and three frog charms (from the frog bracelet). It’s strung on wire with a clasp. The three frogs are for her three boys and each section of black cubes is 13 beads, as is each section of fiber optic beads. Thirteen is a very important number in her family and I wanted to put it in the necklace. I’m pleased with the way it turned out and hope AM will like it.

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Previous Project: Project Runway Challenge #4: Create three modern, cohesive outfits based on three outdated fashion trends

Next Project: Project Runway Challenge #6: Create a look with supplies from heresy’s chocolate store

As of this week, I’ll be posting Friday’s Feasts only on Adalea’s blog. Just wanted to leave a note here in case anyone was wondering. This week’s post is here.

The intro to this project is here.

Project Runway Challenge #4: Create three modern, cohesive outfits based on three outdated fashion trends

Oh, and I’ve given up on trying to achieve deadlines for this project.

Three outfits translates to three pieces of jewelry for me. So, I made a necklace, bracelet and earrings set. It was kind of hard to find outdated trends for jewelery so I picked the first three I could think of.

My necklace trend was Love Beads. The info I found on these was very vague. But, the pictures I saw were very colorful with mostly small seed beads in sections and an occasional larger seed bead or glass bead. To modernize the design a little, I used more neutral seed beads: black, gray and white in a random mix. Every 10 or so seed beads, there was a gemstone round, a glass heart, or a crystal cube all of which were in a random mix of colors. It’s a very, very long necklace strung on elastic so it could be worn several ways: as a single strand, doubled or even tripled up.

Click on the image for a larger version

My bracelet trend was Power Bracelet. The most important aspects of this type of bracelet was the fact that it was made of all gemstone and strung on elastic, so I kept those two in my piece. However, I made it three loose strands, using a combination of 19 different gemstones, the same ones used in the necklace, in a chaotic pattern.

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My earring trend was Mis-Matched Earrings. I took a glass heart, a gemstone round and a crystal cube and connected them together on a earring hook. The pattern and beads are different on each earring but match both the necklace and the bracelet.

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I think the whole collection came together in a very cluttered, colorful and joyful way. Feel free to tell me what you think.

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Previous Project:Project Runway Challenge #3: Create a men’s wear outfit for Tiki Barber

Next Project: Project Runway Challenge #5:Create an everyday look for a women using their old clothes