I'm Back... Again

Hi all,

Guess you've been wondering what happened to me.  Well, I'm still living and that's a good thing.  I guess like most artist, I kinda lost my way and had to find my way back.  I'm not saying I'm completely back, but I am making a good effort.

I plan to post whether I have pictures or not.  I'm still looking for a good digital camera with a zoom lense.  I want to learn to take more professional pictures of my work from now on.  Hope to start doing that soon.

I've been pretty busy working with my Kumihimo and bead weaving lately.  I learned to do the St. Petersburg single and double chain, the Flat Spiral, the Chevron and a Wavy.  I also bought another Kumihimo book, Rodrick Owen's "Braids, 250 Patterns from Japan, Peru and Beyond".  Takes a bit getting used to, but that's the fun part of learning.

I am now doing braids using tulle.  You know the close weave netting material that's used a lot at weddings.  It makes for an interesting braid.  It's soft and very lightweight.  I thought it would be a little scratchy, but it's pretty comfortable.  I plan to make some necklaces and bracelets using the tulle.  I'm also going to make some hair ornaments with it.

I usually buy a yard of each color and cut strips from 1-1/2 to 3 inches so far.  You should have seen me in Hobby Lobby the other day.  I took my 79yo aunt with me to push the cart.  I went straight to the tulle in the fabric dept and loaded up the cart with all the colors they had, about 15.  She thought I was crazy.  But I was nice to the other customers.  If they only had a yard or two to purchase, I let them go ahead of me.  There was one lady who wanted samples of about 45 fabrics.  But she decided to do some shopping in another department and come back.

I also did some Googling and found a site that carried the 25yd roll of 6 inch wide tulle for... Guess!!!
"88 cents a Roll!!!".  I went crazy and bought 17 rolls and 5 rolls of 1/4inch satin ribbon for 50cents. My box arrived yesterday.  You should have seen my sister and me tearing at the box to get it open.  We were like kids on Christmas morning.

Kumihimo has become part of my life now.  I still carry it with me wherever I go... only thing is, my carry case go bigger.  I just can't seem to decide what colors to work with, so I carry it all along with my disk and plate.

I have now taught my senior activity class the following braid designs:
7 cord braid
8 cord braid
12 cord spiral
8 cord flat
8 cord beaded

Each class was fun and interesting.  I also learned something in each class and from each student.  I cherish my teaching experiences and will continue to learn from each future class and students.

I started a beginner's Kumihimo group on Yahoo, "New _2_Kumihimo_Braiding ".  I have 27 members.  Every month I have a roll call and post contest.  Each member has to check in to roll call at the beginning of the month and post messages.  The member who posts the most messages wins a prize.  So far I have 2 winners.  This group is growing each month and having a lot of fun. 

Well, I guess I did a good job with catching up.  Look for more soon...

"Keep Braiding"