April 2009 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

I recently read two very interesting books by Katherine Neville -- The Eight and The Fire. The Eight was written twenty years ago and it's sequel, The Fire, was published earlier this year -- imagine waiting that many years for a sequel!



The ultimate point of the stories is the quest for eternal life, hence the use of the Phoenix bird on this month's memory book. The bird's head and neck were embroidered in satin stitch with cotton perle and metallic thread. The focal stone is a piece of Sunset Calcite from Mexico. I used size 15 beads for the wings and Robin Atkins' method of "bezeling" a cabochon for the first time.

March 2009 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.)

Water Element




Ten years ago this summer, Jim and I spent the night in a cabin at Yellowstone National Park. We were driving from southern New Mexico to Spokane, Washington for our son's wedding. Before we left Yellowstone, we covered as many of the highlights as possible. Unfortunately, time did not permit to visit the most impressive area -- the Grand Prismatic Spring.


My grandson, Marcus, gave me a marvelous polished stone slice several years ago. It has sat on my desk begging to be used in a project. When I saw the issue of National Geographic featuring the Grand Prismatic Spring, I knew I had finally found the perfect use for this object.


The stone slice is surrounded by seed beads. The rocky, stony areas are made up of fossil nuggets. Can't wait for Mr. Marcus to see what I have done with his gifty!

February 2009 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.)

Air Element




Oboy, this was a fun book to make! And it is destined to become the property of my little granddaughter, Phoebe, some day.


The focal point of the design is the back of a card from a deck made by ArtChix. The fabric is very old and has an abstract butterfly design.


Many sequins of various sizes were used on the largest butterfly's wings. The crystals are acrylic -- remnants from the play bead stash of our youngest two daughters when they were still in their crafty play mode.


A piece of pink tulle was stretched over the beadwork before the binding edge was worked in pink pearls and iridescent seed beads.

January 2009 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.)

Earth Element



My ancestral heritage lies in the Mediterranean. All of my grandparents emigrated to the United States from Greece during the early 1900's. My thought for this memory book was to emulate a shard of Minoan art.


The focal piece is a large coral fossil stone and the smaller focal stones are picture jasper. I vainly tried to create a feeling of mosaic tiles. Since I am still not entirely comfortable using bugle beads, I made myself practice by including them in the borders. The fabric choice was made because it reminded me of the color of the Aegean Sea.

November 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.)


The Great Lakes



This particular little book is destined to become a true memory book! I grew up on Lake Erie and lived there until I moved to New Mexico in 1979. When the History Channel ran a segment of How The Earth Was Made featuring the Great Lakes, so many memories surfaced for me.





The beadwork features antique crystal stones of various sizes, Swarovski crystals, cultured pearls, seaweed agate chips, and a large variety of seed beads.

The charms dangling from the center design are a dragonfly, a turtle, and fossilized fish.

Now all I have to do is find time to fill this book up with lots of little treasures . . . .

October 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.)


Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip



What stitcher or beader could resist this marvelous book? The story revolves around a Fiber Guild whose chief occupation is to stitch and weave threads to keep the Fairies from entering Lynn Hall. Their fear of the Fairies has been founded in ages-old stories passed down from the previous owners of Lynn Hall. But wondrous things occur to bring the two worlds of human and fairy together in the end.


This piece is based on the element of Air. The Fairy charm is covered with silk lavender threads which are embellished with crystals. The tiny crystals in the background are meant to be fireflies
(or perhaps fairies) in the evening time.

The enchanted flower was made with an antique ruby crystal stone. Pale pink flower beads, silver leaf charms, and a pearlized clear heart bead dangle from the scene.

I simply must add that making this little book brought back so many pleasurable memories of my paternal grandmother and her "magical" gardens. Many wonderful moments of "fairy sightings" were made there when I was a little girl . . . .

Playing Catch-up with BJP 2008-9

My selected theme of memory books for this year's Bead Journal Project was to have been based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.




September 2008 BJP


Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien



Three rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all.
One Ring to find them.
One Ring to bring them all and
in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where
the shadows lie.




September begins with Earth and what better representation of that element could there be
than Tolkien's masterpiece.


The symbol representing Tolkien's initials was
painted on this earthy batik fabric. An old bronze bangle bracelet was covered with bronze metal beads in peyote stitch, then attached to the fabric background with metallic thread.








The border was worked with seed beads and
carnelian crystals.







This is the only memory book to date that has completed pages within. (All books are 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches)