Thursday, August 20, 2009

December 2008 BJP



(My selected theme of memory books for this year's Bead Journal Project is based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.)






Fire Element

December is a special month -- all told we have seven birthdays in our immediate family. But this month's memory book has been specifically created for my husband, Jim. And, yes, his birthday is the week before Christmas!

The dragon's eye (gotta use your imagination here, folks!) was created with a vintage crystal stone, matte finish bugles, matte and metallic triangle beads, and seed beads of every size. The three fire opal crystals at the tear duct just seemed to belong there.

The spiral rope trim on the book binding edge was an attempt on my part to represent the upward glow of a flame.

2 comments:

Robin said...

One thing I LOVE about your theme for this year is that you get to revisit the elements and look at them in a different perspective each time. THIS one is another very powerful piece... focusing on the eye, that which sees, of the dragon must have many interpretations relative to your husband, Jim. I'm guessing there's way more than meets the eye here.

Kathy, your books are amazing! Did you tell us earlier how you make/construct them? If not, will you? If yes, will you give us a link to that post? Making a book with your beadwork certainly adds to the time for each month. I think they are awesome as a set!

KV said...

Thanks, Robin! Since both Jim and I were born in the Year of the Dragon, I thought it would be fun to use some part of a dragon for this month's birthday piece for him.

I believe my first post for this year's BJP details the size of my memory books, but I will try to come up with another post that better describes how I have made them.


Kathy