Jewelry Re-Design

Today my art quilt bee met at Beautimous Beads in Cary, NC.  We had visited there back in August after going to the art quilt exhibit Narrative Threads at the Page-Walker house.  This time, we arranged time for a Jewelry Re-Design/Re-Cycle session.  We all brought old, unwanted, or broken jewelry or beads, and made them into something new.

Bridgette and the other employee at the school were our consultants and experts on putting our projects together.  We sat at a big table in the store and worked on bead mats.

Here are Roberta and Toni hard at work.  (Isn't that a stunning beaded piece Roberta is wearing?  She added the beads to a piece of felt.)

 

We have a new member, Marion, who I met for the first time today.  She is the one that comes after me in the Surface Design Round Robin challenge.  I handed both my fabric and Toni's off to her.

 

I went through my jewelry drawer and pulled out all my beaded necklaces that were broken in some way.  Some were missing clasps, or needed jump rings or crimping.  I spent most of my time re-stringing the necklace on the right, that had completely come apart and was missing some beads.  The store staff fixed everything else for very minimal fees, between $1.00 and $3.00 per necklace.

 

I also found a chain in my drawer that did not have a pendant or anything, so I purchased this little owl pin/pendant.  I must like it, because I also included a picture of it on my blog after my last trip to Beautimous Beads.

 

 

Here is the new bracelet that Roberta put together after taking the charms off an old necklace.

 

 

And here is our Toni, looking radiant with her hair recently grown back following chemo.  It is now a beautiful silver color!

 

 

Ruth-Ellen was there, too, but must have been avoiding the camera!

 

After I finished with my bead projects, I went to visit my Aunt Billie, who is back home in Cary after being in a nursing home for six months.  She looked so happy to be in her own home with her daughter, Erin, and her frisky cat, Thor.  I did not get his picture, but Thor was trying very hard to play with my newly repaired jewelry as I took them out to show them off!

 

It was a nice day.

 

Tomorrow I take my first class at this year's Art of the Carolinas at the North Raleigh Hilton.  I have signed up for two watercolor painting classes with Tom Jones.  I hope my results are as good as last year's.  This is the painting that I did in one of Tom's classes last year.  It is now hanging in my husband's office.