An Early 2026

As the year end approaches, who isn't noticing how fast 2025 has flown by? In the blink of an eye, I find myself looking ahead and planning my life for 2026.  I am already focusing on New Year's resolutions. My three priorities are to narrow down my focus of creative production, to slow down a bit (I am still defining that), and to embrace the creative skills that make me happiest. "Squirrel!" Every piece of jewelry in this post contains shades of brown. What does that mean?

AT LAST

After all the exciting activities of the past few months I have slowed down to just 2 - 3 projects in progress. One of them includes hiring a website expert who is working his magic as we speak.   I have yielded to a fabulous web designer and I am very excited for the upcoming results!  I am preparing to make shopping Tina's Sedona a total turnaround experience. It is long overdue and I appreciate everyone who has hung in there waiting for me to reach this point and surrender to an expert.  It is getting close to a launch date.

DOES THE WORD "CULL" APPLY?

I am "itching" to trim my online inventory by removing pieces that no longer represent MY definition of artistic beadwork.  This is going to provide some GREAT SALES for those who want to benefit from a gleaning of unique, attractive, wearable beadwork.  And yes, it is still artistic beadwork, just not as much to me. Do you have similar objects in your life to "cull"?

THE ARTIST'S WAY?

I want to get back to more imagination in my creations like when I first began beading and every piece was an experiment.  When I ask AI "Why Do Artists Get Bored With What They Are Making?" One of the seven answers given was "Desire for originality: A strong drive for originality means that working on similar projects repeatedly can feel uninspired or unfulfilling." Yes, and so does making the same objects as other artists. What do you enjoy experimenting with? Did you know that I sometimes do commissioned work?

INNOVATION?
My French Beaded (FB) floral projects have stalled due to distractions by non-beading "adventures".  That said, I've let my hands explore some smaller FB projects with size 15/0 beads to create a finer weave of beaded earrings - the bottom pair.  Let me know what you think of them? My goal is to provide a Bohemian style (top pair made with larger beads of size 11/0) and a smaller one that gives a more dressy look (Note: The larger the size number, the smaller the bead) Click photo for a larger view.

FOR YOU
Winter is coming and those of you who hibernate to some extent might be considering a new creative experience.  You already have your own list to choose from. I hope it includes considering French beading. You can join and learn for free from Facebook Group Learn How To Make French Beaded Flowers. The month long project videos are so cool to watch even if you decide it's not for you. You will get a better appreciation for the techniques that go into the pieces that I weave. My Anthurium project below...

FOR ME
Once again, with summer heat gone, Nathan and I are walking regularly and cycling a bit in our community.  I am determined to keep walking year round as we do have a gym in our community. Our bodies took a hit from the past summer's hibernation habits.  Being retired after years of 5:30 a.m. alarms is something I still SO treasure and enjoy.  What do you do to get yourself up and out early in the morning to exercise? 

Happy Thanksgiving in advance... Would love to read your comments!

Be Grateful!

Tina

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The Spring Desert Enfolds Me

We live in the Sonoran Desert which is blooming like crazy this time of year and early next week we will head back up to the Mojave Desert to see the flora bloom there. Who would guess that we would be desert dwellers in our golden years?

The Drama of Design

The question is always "who am I creating this for?" And inevitably the answer always results in "I am creating this for me." Otherwise, the tendency to run in circles trying to address every possible critique leads to frustration and adds to the production time. This is the dilemma I have been dealt with building a tabletop piece in preparation for submitting to another juried show. Unlike anything I've done before, this piece represents a science fiction interpretation of the Sonoran Desert. Unlike designing and creating a piece of jewelry, this table top project has required a series of components that need to contribute to the big picture of a very surreal desert which I am building. What an adventure it is! Having just submitted my paperwork for jurying of my piece, I should hear from Tohono Chul by April 16th on whether or not my piece has been selected for this Summer's exhibit of the "Exotic Sublime | treading softly".

NOTE - The beaded pieces contained in this depiction of a futuristic Sonoran Desert reflect my first attempt at designing my own creations in French Beading – excluding the Asiatic Lily designed by Lauren Harpster of Bead and Blossom. With her permission, I have included my creation of it in vivid colors of my choice. I have also redesigned its body to “nurture life” via an attached umbilical cord of sorts extending to an adult insect of my design. I have also altered the Lily’s stem work to include a “youngster” emerging from an additional pod which I added to the flower’s structure.  

Guess what? This piece is not finished and, if selected, must be delivered in early May! LOL I will cover the tabletop board with fabric and attach everything to that when I return from our trip to AZ/UT. For now, I am letting it go. It will be easier to let go when we leave town and get to our mountainous destinations. In case you're wondering, we are driving via Flagstaff to Monument Valley, the Arches, Moab, Bryce Canyon, Page (not far from Marble Canyon where we stayed last spring) and a few other majestic spots along the way. We will clock over 1300 miles on this nine-day journey.

This post is going to be a short one as we leave in three days. I am still deciding on whether or not to bring a new, very small, hand sized, "fun" project from my beading bucket list with no demands for completion. I am 90% sure I will leave home without one this time.

As you can guess, next Month's Blog will be about our trip. You will also get results of my Tohono Chul submission! Until then, enjoy this time of year and get outside.

Best to you all,
Tina

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Winter 2024 from Tucson

Happy Valentine's Day
Strange as it may seem, and as in love as I am with life and my hubby, I am not a huge fan of the heart theme that plasters everything from cellophane to cereal. So when I want to express my sense of heart-ness I tend to create my own shapes, mostly free hand. I consider them such an important symbol that, for me to produce any, is a rarity. Here are a very few from those creative moments in hopes of filling your upcoming day with True Love.

Should I sell online again?
I've been hearing from a few of you that this long distance relationship isn't working well for you. As you may know, I sell through several retailers in and around Tucson. This has allowed me to focus more on my artistry than marketing. But it feels like the shift is coming back, where people I am coming to know and those who have purchased from me before are feeling left out on accessibility to my creations. If you don't travel to Arizona, there is currently no chance to purchase my works unless you contact me for a commissioned piece. SPECIAL REQUEST- If you are one of those people who misses browsing my site and discovering uniquely designed gifts for yourself and others then please let me know as I'm considering reopening my online shop at Tina's Sedona with items priced suitably for direct purchase from me. If you have not purchased from my business then I would appreciate you visiting my work to make your decision.

Settling in - at last
I cannot believe that it will be 5 years in May since we left Florida and moved to the Great Southwest. Ups and downs, ins and outs, have -at last- led us to a peaceful, non-nomadic life once again. I know that's true because we have begun to paint interior walls -at last- in colors that reflect who we have become during this phase and in this place. And it is beautiful. Terra cotta and greige stone colored walls are a nice fit for living in the Sonoran Desert. Subdued spring green has been slightly sprinkled in our kitchen adjacent to a wall where we breakfast in the shadow of terracotta sandstone. The bedroom is next! I think that lovely spring green is somehow going to filter into that space. I'm picturing purple and mustard accents making an appearance but I don't know just where. (Dark purple doors sound like fun.) Oh, but to finally have a choice of colors in which to live! This all feels so wonderful, just like the Tucson sunsets. And all of the colors are being drawn from this one piece that Nathan bought locally at an estate sale.

Tucson Gem Show Update
Congratulate me! I stayed home. I beat my addiction this time. 'Nuf said.


A Shameless Promotion
Last month I promised you a story on this but I failed to notice that I don't present to our local textile Guild until February 27th so there is a delay in reporting on my "ta-dah moment" in beads. The least I can do is provide you with a small peek... and "yes" that is tiger eye!

(You really should be following me on Instagram.)

My wish for you...
That you are staying warm and dry wherever you are this winter. It has been so cold in Tucson that I bought myself a new pair of slippers!

Tina

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December already?

Winter coming to the Southwest

Living in the Southwest has advantages with fairly stable weather in spring and early fall. It is piping hot in the summer! Yet winter can be a whole other story. Cooler winds are now migrating through the Tucson desert and snow is already hitting Northern Arizona and heading into Utah. If you have ever experienced Utah's famed Zion National Park, then you already know the beauty and the wonder of its sandstone panorama. But if you have never

Summer Has Flown

Beat The Heat

Rumor has it, here in Tucson, that there are just under 40 days left to the monsoon season. Summers are an interesting adventure here, especially this past week when a weather alert brought us out of our chairs and to instantly snapping pictures of what looked like oncoming disaster. I am familiar with the crazy "lightning capital of the world" experiences of our past life in Florida but these clouds were looking atomic. Is it weird that I found myself thinking about our homeowners policy?

We live in the Sonoran desert which gets as hot as hell and is destined to get hotter next summer (oh gawd). But aren't so many of us living in excessive heat these days? and for longer periods? Here's a thought...

Writing it Down

Author’s Note: Life has forever changed from the Pandemic of 2019. My perspective on it continues to morph as I hear about friends sickened by it, friends vaccinated because of it, and those who choose not to participate. For at least the next 3 to 5 years, I think I’ll be reflecting on life after Covid-19 and the challenges and opportunities it has brought us. Some of us will be calling it the “new normal” for a very long time. Personally, I see no point in looking back at pre-pandemic living, just to ache for its return. It's time to move on...

There will never be a better time to start recording your thoughts and experiences than right now. It is never too late. There are many forms it can take. Write letters, write short stories, write a novel, author a blog. Depending on the amount of time you have on your hands, you... 

Hoop earrings are back?

A fashionable friend of mine recently wised me up and told me they never left! Then I discovered an article from last summer that attests to their long term popularity over thousands of years. Seriously? Thousands of years? Obviously not a fashion queen, I thought they had gone out of style since I wore them in the 70's.

It is only when I started making them for customers that I thought about wearing them again.

Personally, I have to wear small ones because big hoops are just too long for my neck. I am also over 60 so the larger they are, the more foolish (I think) I look. I wanted a pair for myself that was small and sedate for a mature woman but had a little bling to them. So, a few years back, I set out to make a whole lot of beaded wire hoops about 1-inch around, the size of a quarter. Those were the perfect size for me!

At one point, I got bold and created a huge pair that I named "Sedona Salad". There have been NO takers for those (yet) as you need a long neck and have to be under 25 to wear them (just kidding!).

Then recently, due to the article I found, I decided to branch out, making three totally different sizes. They poured out of me like water! OK. So the smallest size came out larger than 1-inch but who can stop when you're having so much fun?! Here is that completed bevy of hoops that I am still in the process of posting to my website.

With all this recent experimentation, I was ready to tackle a new pair of 1-inch earrings and pursue a different style just to keep it interesting, and, in doing so, I hit the jackpot for my face and temperament! I can't wait to make more. These hoops all have a hammered surface to reflect more light and just a small spray of beads to make them more interesting.

Here are a few of my personal collection and I love wearing them! They feel perfect for my age and they are light and whimsical. I feel like having fun whenever I wear them. So now I am planning to produce this 1-inch style for the website. I just have to start making them.

The more I make jewelry the more I realize that each piece is such a personal item. That said, I have come to the conclusion that hoops are wearable for all ages. Just find the right size for your personal taste. Experiment with different sizes. If you use scarfs or wear high collars that can interfere with your earrings, they are too big for you. At the least, use ear wire stoppers so you don't lose an earring! Stay tuned for all the hoops getting posted.

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