Prayer Warriors Needed

Calling out to all Prayer Warriors! One of my sisters sent the message below on behalf of her son. Identifiable information has been replaced with initials or ****. We are strong believers in the power of earnest prayer. I am asking that you grant my sister's request and please join our prayer circle to fervently pray for her son, DTD. This was her e-mail:

It has been a rough and complicated past few years for DTD. He submitted his resume to ** yesterday. He is applying for a FT, DT, OPT, or ST position. He is equipped to handle any of the positions as far as education, experience, and knowledge. I am proud of his accomplishments, determination, perseverance and resilience. Please, I ask you all to join in one accord, with me, in your own separate times of prayer, for DTD to receive peace for his mind, stillness for his heart while he is waiting to hear, and guidance for his spirit while continuing on his current journey. I thank you all for your support, thoughts and prayers on behalf of DTD.

Now, I am going to ask that you add to her prayer. She and her husband need to sell their house in southeast Florida, USA. They relocated to another part of the state for employment reasons. Please pray that the right family with the right resources selects their house to buy very soon!
They need relief from the mortgage payment.

If you, Adored Reader, are by chance interested in buying a house in Broward County, Florida, USA, just post a comment with your contact details and I will send you the information about the house. Since I moderate all comments before they appear, just advise within the comment if you want me to delete your comment without letting it appear for public viewing. If you do not specifically request me to delete the comment, it will be posted. (Unless it has nastiness in it.)

If each of you that read this will ask at least three others to pray with us and ask them to ask at least three others to pray and ask an additional three, we can have a powerful prayer team in action. (I suggest three because not every one knows three praying people. If you know more, then by all means, ask more to pray.) Many thanks to each of you who join us in this prayer request. The little envelope below the post allows you to email this to a friend.

Only In _____________

While I would love to give proper credit to the photographers who took these pictures, I can't. I got them via email from someone who got them via email from someone who got them via... well, you get the idea. I liked them and wanted to share them.

Only in China

Only in Thailand


Only in Texas

Only in America

Blue Mood From A Beading Muse - Pt 3

More blue from the Muse. My mood isn't blue, I feel wonderful! By the time this particular phase is over, I probably won't have a blue bead left.

Thank you, Jah, for the gift of beadweaving. It soothes me, inspires me, and helps me to see the beauty in tiny things. It requires patience, focus, and diligence; all areas I am working on.

Branch fringe creates and decorates this bracelet. The beaded and fringed toggle clasp blends into the design.

This spiral stitch bracelet has the Muse's blue as the core, with clear beads forming the spiral. The toggle clasp was made using 3 bicone beads connected with a beaded ridge between each one.

Blue Mood Part 1
Blue Mood Part 2

Blue Mood Part 4

Blue Mood From A Beading Muse - Pt 2

Another blue piece. This is a peyote band embellished with picot edging and a ruffled loop down the center of the band. The toggle clasp is a clear acrylic button.

(Click the image for a larger view.)

This view shows the 3-D effect of the looped embellishment along the band.

Blue Mood Part 1
Blue Mood Part 3
Blue Mood Part 4

Blue Mood From A Beading Muse - Pt 1

Often the "Beading Muse" will take control to direct not only the style, pattern and design of the current piece, but the color as well. I do not own a single article of clothing in this shade of blue. But, as you will see over the next few days, the Muse has definitely taken me into a Blue Mood.

The band is Ndebele beadwork, with a focal piece of glass stone encased in netting. The front is open and the back is completely covered by the net. The toggle clasp is a peyote tube with bicone beads at each end.

The picture below shows the bracelet with the toggle closed. Wierd angle, I know, but you can at least see a different view of it.

Blue Mood Part 2

Blue Mood Part 3
Blue Mood Part 4

From Jamaica to the Yukon

Devon Anderson is presently Jamaica's only musher. His incredible story begins with a job at Chukka Caribbean Adventure. Now he is preparing to compete in the 2009 Yukon Quest.

This is the kind of news our Jamaican children need to see. Help them to learn that their beginning does not have to preordain their end. Determination, enthusiasm, and the courage to move forward in the face of fear are traits that we need to nurture in our nation's future leaders.

A nation that produces the likes of Devon Anderson and Barrington Irving, Jr. can not be considered third world. "Wi likkle, but wi TALLAWAH!" (Translation: We may be a small nation, but we have world-wide impact.)

Big Up and Nuff Ras-pect to Yardies thru out the Diaspora who make us proud!

For My Beloved

I am frequently asked if I create beadwork for men. Here are photos of a bracelet I beaded for my kingman (husband). The band is stitched in N'debele, the end tabs are brick stitch and the clasp is magnetic.

What Counts?

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. Albert Einstein

What counts in your life?

I am so thankful that I have lived long enough to let go of things that I previously believed I could not live without. What is precious to me today, I did not even have the wisdom to notice before. Thank you, Father Jah, for every new day. Thank you for allowing me to grow closer to You.

Thanks for the Jumpstart!

During the first few days after Hurricane Dean, I was creatively paralyzed. I needed the calming therapy of beading, but inspiration eluded me.

I found a great bracelet design in the June 2006 issue of Bead and Button magazine by Jill Wiseman. It is created with bugle beads and seed beads in a tubular Ndebele stitch. (In the article she uses the term Herringbone stitch; I prefer Ndebele.) Her website is fun to visit. Her email is jill@tapestrybeads.com.

(Right click on any thumbnail to open a larger image. Select Open in New Window.)

On the bracelet above, I modified the design by inserting a row of darker brown seed beads between the gold seed beads. Instead of the peyote toggle, I used a brown crystal bead as the toggle and peyote-stitched several rows on the closure loop.

On this one, I only put one row of seed beads between the bugle beads. The toggle was created from both beads used in the bracelet band.

I had not played with my stash of bugle beads for some time, but was happy to get back to them after a long absence. Here are two other bracelets, both using bugle beads that I was inspired to do from the same article.

The red and gold bracelet is done in flat Ndebele, rather than tubular. The brown and gold one is done in a combination of ladder stitch and brick stitch.

I prefer making my own toggles, but sometimes I do use a manufactured clasp.

Thanks, Jill, for the jumpstart. I think I can take it from here.

You Can See The Star!

I think I finally got it! Using the macro button on the camera did not allow a close enough shot to show the shape of the star at the end of the beaded toggle. This will open an image of the entire bracelet in a different window.

After numerous disappointments with the camera, I decided to try the flatbed scanner. With the lid down, it got the correct lighting, but the toggle would always pull to the side, distorting the angle, so the star did not show.

My last inspiration was to use the scanner, but leave the lid up. I am not sure how I feel about the dark background, but I am delighted I found a way to show you the star shape.

Mis-Educating Mi Gran-Pickney

Swallowing repeatedly, counting to ten, clenching/unclenching my fingers and taking deep cleansing breaths in an attempt to calm my warring emotions do not seem to be having the desired effect.

So, I am asking Father Jah to guide my tongue and help me speak only wisdom, truth and love; rebuking the anger that continues to rise in me.

The irrational, ungoverned, primal urge inna mi belly bottom wants to BLAZE FIRE ‘pon di rankin’ eeeediot dat mis-teaching mi gran-pickney ova foreign. (Translation for non-patois speakers: I am angry that uninformed minds are in a position of authority over my grandchild in America.)

The wise, mature, loving, grandmother-who-wants-to-set-a-good-example-for-her side of me needs to find a way to 1) correct the misinformation she was given 2) applaud her courage 3) help her learn kindness when dealing with mental midgets 4) minimize the effect that small minds can have on her development.

My granddaughter proudly wore one of my beaded bracelets to school.

It has the Jamaican flag on either side of her name.

Her teacher called her to his desk to tell her the bracelet promotes and advocates the smoking of marijuana! She is 12…soon to be 13 and a valiant warrioress-in-training. In what must have been an infuriating tone of voice she informed him that the bracelet was to show that she had lots of culture and since her GranMa made it, she would be wearing it.

Thanks, sweet girl, for standing up for GranMa. When we are faced with ignorance, we must meet it with the truth, with love and with a spirit that seeks only to increase understanding.

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Aquarium Glass

Both the pendant and the bracelet were constructed of netting around small aquarium stones. The pendant stones measure 7/8 inch wide and the bracelet stones are 1 inch wide.

The bracelet band is tubular Ndebele. The toggle is made from two of the aquarium stones encased in RAW (right angle weave), peyote and netting stitches. The weight of the three center stones required that I use at least two of the stones in the toggle for balance. Otherwise, the bracelet kept sliding around on my wrist, so that the center stones were underneath my arm, not on top, as intended.

I could not find a way to get a picture of the bottom of the toggle. It is a netted Star of David. I will keep trying and if I manage to get a good shot, I will post it. ****UPDATE****LOOK! I think I got it!

Many thanks are due to those of you who continue to visit here, even when circumstances prevent me from blogging daily. We have not yet had 48 consecutive hours of electricity since the passage of Hurricane Dean last month. But when I can get on-line, I will blog.

Comments welcomed, subscribers adored!!!

More Aquarium Glass

It Appears to be Bruce

From all indications, Bruce Golding will be the next Prime Minister of Jamaica. The EOJ (Electoral Office of Jamaica) has announced 32 seats for the
JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) and 28 seats for the PNP (People's National Party).

The current Prime Minister, The Honourable Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller, has accepted the EOJ announcement, while continuing to retain all rights under the Jamaican Constitution.

There will certainly be legal actions taken relating to questionable allegiences and American citizenship of certain candidates.

1st Official Act of the JLP

Upgraded technology to be installed in all Jamaican Government Offices, as mandated by the soon-to-be-confirmed new ruling party, the JLP.

Too Close To Call

Our General Election for Jamaican Prime Minister was held on Monday, September 3, 2007 and we still do not know who will lead our government for the next term.

Pending ballot recounts, eligibility issues related to American citizenship and the fact that no one wants to conceed defeat has left us with results that are too close to call.

I will keep you posted.

ZigZag Peyote Bracelet

This 1 and 2-drop peyote stitch bracelet receives attention and comments whenever I wear it. The beads include white pearlescent and hematite delicas, size 8 hematite hex cuts, and size 3 matte black and hematite cylinder beads. The toggle is a wooden bead covered with delicas in peyote stitch and a peyote closure loop. It is 1.25 inches wide and 7.75 inches long.

Even using the macro setting on the digital camera, I could not get a clear shot that shows the raised effect created by using the three different sizes of beads. It it a very textural bracelet I enjoy wearing.

Out of the Darkness

Giving thanks and praises to Our Heavenly Father, Jah Rastafari, who has kept us safe during perilous times!

I want to say thank you to all those who covered us in your prayers of guidance and protection. Psalms were chanted, bibles were read, prayers were whispered and shouted, chalices were lit and drums were beaten. Jah heard the pleas of all you Prayer Warriors and we were spared.

JPS (Jamaica Public Service) has just restored power to our tiny, rural, south coast district. Just in time for tomorrow's General Election here in Jamaica.

We survived Hurricane Dean's passing two weeks ago and have spent that time putting things back together, as best we can. We suffered major water damage, but did not lose the roof, like many of our neighbours.

All the animals survived this time, but we lost the trees - ackee, banana, coconut, otahitie apple, sweet sop, sour sop, pear (avocado), lime, sour orange, june plum, and the sweet mango. I am so thankful that the robin mango tree from my husband's childhood survived. She lost many branches and sustained severe damage to one side, but she is a survivor and will hopefully outlast my grandchildren's great, great-grandchildren's grandchildren.

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Selah.