Bead and Button magazine

I received my complimentary issue of the October Bead and Button magazine today. I was a finalist in their Bead Dreams competition and all finalists are pictured in this issue. My mosaic buttons are 2.5 inches across, set in wood bases made by my dad, Hugo Themer.

It is also on their website.
http://cs.beadandbutton.com/bnbcs/photos/beaddreams2008/picture43628.aspx


Here is the picture of my display, arranged in a cedar hexagon frame also made by my dad.

More rust and an older project

I a finally getting some good prints from the larger discs, the print is 18 inches (earlier discs are about 15-16" print).

this is is on a piece of lt blue dyed fabric.

Laid on a rusted pot, I love the darker edges

this lutradur took a very, very long time to rust

This is a piece I made many years ago, using batiks. I did the english paper piecing method, somehow I loved sewing all these by hand and have several completed hexagon pieces that my mom quilted for me. This one I have used as a table square or a little table cover but now I think i want to quilt it. But where to start?

My fabulous nephews, and rust pics (of course)

First and foremost, my nephews Sam and Max, the bright stars in my life!!

The rust flower pieces are pinned to felt ready to stitch, now I need to actually start stitching!

This is a larger, multi printed piece, I will not be stitching this yet

These are ceramic buttons and beads, some are purchased bisque beads. Most are from my great friend Lisa Peters http://lisa-petersart.blogspot.com/, who generously sent me many of her bisqued buttons so I could use whatever glazes I wanted.

I used low fire glazes and my dad's kiln to get these fabulous finished pieces. Can you tell that many of them will look great on the rust fabric? I just wish I could figure out which glazes I used for my favorite ones, aacck.

Tattoo, the wonder dog!

My nephew's dog is the sweetest and smartest dog ever. He has loves to swim and play in the lake (when he visits), ever since he was a puppy. Even after he lost his front leg several years ago, he continues to swim.

He even has his own raft, although lately he prefers to share mine.

A couple of years ago I got photos of him mid air...

This past week he discovered the minnows swimming around us. As I have long suspected, he can swim underwater (I told you he was smart). He repeatedly zoned in on them, then dove off the raft, head first, underwater. Then he sprang out of the water, jumped on the raft and did it again. I was just amazed, I think he is part fish! My nephew Max patiently took 60+ photos and we actually got some that show him under (look close and click on the pics for larger images).

Advanced Rusting

I have been playing around with rusting images on a piece of fabric, then moving it to different areas and rusting some more. This piece is my favorite, it is about 36 inches square and I used several pieces of metal to get the circles. I don’t usually work this large and I should sell it, but I am not sure I can part with it.

This piece is 18 inches square and has several pieces rusted on it, I see a moon over the water. It is for sale in my Rusty Turtle etsy shop.

I have other pieces in process with this technique, it takes longer because you can’t just rust it in one sitting, but I love the possibilities.