it’s bigger than expected.

and that’s enough said. there’s more to do. never enough time.

what’s next?

a little beading time today after a long run. laurie is strong, just trying to keep up. watched the newly released Eliud Kipchoge sub 2-hour marathon documentary this afternoon. great!

tried the moroccan thread to outline the petals. no go. tomorrow i’ll find a new way and try again! i’ll also unravel the whole things in order to consider the final creative touches and gaps. already have a new idea for the next stocking. that’s unusual so i’ll be ready anew once this is done.

it will be a mexican otomi pattern - i do love all things mexican 🇲🇽.

meant to be.

this week our eldest started a new journey, a journey this person was meant to take. from huaihua china to washington DC, this person will make the world a better place at a time when the world needs it.

progress.

so much done! a couple of creative decisions. i think the leaves might be better as a mix of silk and bead, not just bead. and the flower petals could some outline for definition. thread? and the stamens of thread, too?

LZ made a delicious dinner and Ruth, LZ and I watched Great British Baking Show. Dinner out as a family last night and Pictionary. fun!

run. rest. read.

we’re into big mileage now. glad to have a book and a project post-run. a great week, creative. ate some cake, had time with people i love. grateful.

big love.

it’s bigger than i expected. more colorful. more beautiful. listening to podcasts, and re-watching The Tomorrow War. so super fun. running flagpoles and feeling great, except laurie’s Garmin is unreliable and always adds extra miles.

loving this wild thing.

so many ideas here, i have fresh creative energy and the new organization of beads is helping so much! have new ideas on how to fill in the bottom of this and excited for more! listening to great podcasts like Against the Odds, We can Do Hard Things, The Daily, A Slight Change of Plans.

better access. organized.

like fly fishing but beads?

new cabinet, light, and the chair…

it’s exciting. new chair, light, and organizing cabinet. i can pick any beads easily! and they are organized inside the drawers in little bins by color, so it’s so easy to be more creative. the home pod for listening to podcasts. hello downtime.

back.

ready to come back to this! because i got a new cabinet and have easy access to all beads of all colors (and it was hard to pick through the beads before) and a new chair and the cabinet has a slide out table top. it’s called “love is a wild thing” because kacey musgraves song.

start.stop.continue.

starting new things can be difficult. how do you take things you like and imagine them in new ways? what if you choose a path and see another one that is also great, too. lucky!

struggling to choose which great ideas to follow on this new project. so just going to breathe and continue, putting effort into knowing it will be beautiful in the end. i did order a new cabinet in february that will arrive in a couple of weeks and it can be used to organize all the beads and scissors and threads. many drawers. putting things into compartments may help sort it out.

and then soon i will sit on the world’s most uncomfortable chair i also just bought, which is in the same room as the organizing cabinet, and create.

my new shirt.

i got a new tshirt from laurie and lydia. mine says”unprecedented.” the others tshirts said, “i am not a cat.” “i’m wearing pants.” “challenging times” and “asynchronous day.” the shirt is black and gold and glittery.

laurie's shoe.

stepping in to something new. laurie’s shoe. i think this one may be a bit more traditional. the other shoe, michelle’s, turned out more abstract with elements we picked up from the road sewn into the tread. i’ve put down a few beads here, taken them out, and leaning in to the idea that this one will follow black outlines filled with white and yellow tread pattern. i cut up a bib from Chicago 2007 thinking it was better sewn onto this project than in a drawer somewhere. we’ll see how this one evolves..

it's done.

love it. thanks for your shoe, michelle, and for all the miles. this one was so fun. thanks for stopping to pick up road trash and for running during the pandemic. couldn’t have survived it without you and laurie. laurie…your shoe is next. :-) you can see the final product on the main “work” page.

mile 18.

not quite mile 20, that’s a little further out…but getting there. tip of the toe. thought about ways to finish this one…going to extend the tread into the toe, i think. have loved every (mile) (step) of this project. if i had any followers other than my running girls they’d tell me to cut back on the running analogies. but since not, let the words land. podcasts, quiet, thinking. the time with this one has been healing.

blizzard weekend.

it’s been really nice this weekend to relax and sew. the storm closed everything and it’s not possible to get out. thought i might watch some TV but enjoying the quiet of podcasts. boots, not heels, sweaters, not lace. a run on saturday on the wildgrass loop, getting home just as the wind/sleet began. thank you michelle - we did time this right! put a square around what has changed since the last post. will keep working tonight and take some pictures of the snow later.

a great week.

last week was nice. change of space, different foods, time to enjoy a few new things. also made some progress on this project. grateful for the time spent with friends that inspires creativity, for the things picked up along the way, and for each step forward. we like to say, “all of broomfield is uphill” and that’s true in many ways. but hopefully the hills make us stronger!

bitter cold weekend.

temperatures in the negatives gave a little time for adding frames this weekend. nothing but peloton, so missed my running girls. :-( but, the green line is laurie’s shoelace. it’s hard to see but i’ll find a way to fill in the edges so the tread fits the space. she’s overflowing the border right now along the top part but that won’t always be true.

mid-sole.

well, tip of the toe is done. now moving on the mid-sole. the pink strips are those plastic pieces that mark utilities alongside the road. the yellow is the plastic from the flags used to mark utilities as well. all things collected from runs. also i’m done with this pandemic.

hello 2021. we're ready for you.