We Did It!

The End Is Near?

Today I finished the e and the no symbol. Looking at it I still can't believe it is almost done. Celene came over and started putting pink inside the no symbol. The contrast looks really nice. Carol came over, too, and worked on the top some more. We want to make sure that the beads on top are as secure as possible, as this is the part that will probably get touched the most.

Tomorrow it will definately get done. The next step is to arrange a pick up date for it to be seal coated. The reason this is being done is that if someone tries to put graffitti on the statue, it will come off.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

In Beads and Happiness, Suzann Wilson www.noedisigns.com

Blue Skies and a Stuffy Nose

Yesterday Celene and Ashely were over, with Ashley here again today. The blue is finally done and the No e symbol is starting to take shape. You might not be able to tell, but I repositioned one of the rays from the sun. The last ray just didn't look right. Now I feel it looks a lot better.

We were having some debate on if we should bead the underside of the rainbow. After moving it today, we realized how heavy it has become. A fear is that if we bead the underside, some of the beads might be damaged in trying to pick it up. Also, we are not sure if we want to add any more weight to it.

Unfortunately, the sitting in the cold garage has finally caught up with me. I have my first sinus infection in a year. Hopefully it will be better before the Bead & Button show.

Hope you all have a great start to the week!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

www.noedisigns.com

Lots of help!

How far we have come! Today my friend Angelica came for awhile, and tonight Ashley, Celene, and my friend Janice came to help. As you can see, we got A LOT accomplished. I finished the rays for the sun, worked on some of the sky, and started on the logo. Angelica, Ashely, and Celene worked on the sky. Janice worked on filling in on some of the blank spaces and reattaching a few loose beads on the top. Ashley was amazing today. She worked for 5 hours with me! One of the hardest parts for me to work on today was starting on the logo. Somehow the finality of that part of the design has been tough. The journey has been one of long anticipation. Realizing that we are coming soon to completion seems strange.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day here. Just like my father's prediction, it would finally get warm when the rainbow is (almost) done. Guess that is Chicago weather for you!

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

Repreive!

I have gotten word today that the statue does not have to be delivered until the beginning of next week. Yippee! Guess what myself and hopefully a few others will be doing this weekend? The clouds are done now (thanks Ashley!), and so is the top (thanks Kev!).

I was able to use a nifty little machine called a projectascope to put my logo for my business in the middle of the rainbow. By putting a piece of paper under the machine, you can enlarge an image up to 5 times! Once the image is projected, you can trace it on whatever you want. The results were fantastic.

Ashley said she will be back tomorrow, so I am hoping to finish the sun and another section of the sky. Maybe even part of the logo will get done? Stay tuned to find out!

Tomorrow the article is supposed to come out in the local paper. Can't wait to see it!

Well, I need to finish picking the glue out from under my finger nails. Have a great night everyone!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

www.noedisigns.com

The Front Is Finished!

Whoo hooo! The front is done! Wednesday night I had some helpers come over. They were able to help me with finishing up the front and begin on the back. The back will be much easier to accomplish, because it is flat. My friend Rita Geurtin came over on Tuesday and drew a mural on the back. The vision I had for the back was a sky with clouds and my "no e" symbol in the center. She took that idea and made it better than I could have expected.

As you can see, we are using clear and golden beads for the clouds with blue beads for the sky. My mom had suggested a sun, so we will use yellow and orange beads for that. One of my students, Ashley, has been such a help. She is currently on break from Columbia Collage where she is a student in fashion design. It amazes me how quickly she is able to fit the beads together. Also, it is really nice to have someone to talk to while working on the project.

The top is about 3/4 done. The mix of colors is amazing! Kevin and my father-in-law have been working really hard on it.

Well, I am starting to get tired and need to call it a night. Hope you all have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

www.NoeDisigns.com

Art Bead Scene Blog: Fit to Print Review - Simply Beads June 2008 Issue

Art Bead Scene Blog: Fit to Print Review - Simply Beads June 2008 Issue I opened my inbox today to read my Art Beads Scene article and I found this review for the magazine I am in this month. Needless to say, I almost feel off my chair! Somebody pinch me! Although I am not specifically mentioned, it was exciting to see that the whole issue was given kudos.

We've come a long way, baby!

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. But as you can see, we have come a long way, baby! I can say, that there is no way that things could be as far along as they are if it weren't for everyone who has helped out. My husband Kevin has been awesome. He has done most of the top himself. The top is now about 3/4 done.

Last night, Kevin, my father-in-law Ken Wilson, and Matt Everett all worked on the rainbow. Matt worked on the orange and the others worked on the top.

Tonight was ladies night. First my friend Carol called to come help, and then Debbie called to join us. It was so much fun just hanging out with them. We worked until 10:30! I focused on the green part, Carol took over on the orange, and Deb did the purple. Deb and I were sitting on bean bags to do our work, since it is so low to the ground.

Is it spring yet?

Another cold day here. I thought it was going to be warmer, but I still was wearing a coat while I worked. The cold got to a point that Kevin and I couldn't work anymore, so we called it a night. He has been doing a fantastic job on the top. About a third of the top is done. Greens and blues were the colors for the day. Interestingly, today it wasn't an issue of enough beads, but enough glue. I had to run to two different Michael's to find glue. The one closest to my house is getting shipment of 12 tubes tomorrow. Seriously considering buying all of them!!! I hope to have the green done by the end of the week. The bead supply is getting a little low, so I ordered 5 more kilos of beads from ABC Direct. Hopefully, this will all that I will need. Looking forward to getting my shipment later in the week. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! In Beads and Happiness, Suzann Wilson www.noedisigns.com

Many Hands meet the Press

Yesterday night I had one of the best nights of my life. We had people over to help with the Rainbow. As you can see, many hands make light work! It is now truly looking like a rainbow. Some of the people that came over were my parents, William & Regine Sladcik, my life long friend Christine Everett and her husband Matt, my partner in beading crime Celene Morales and her husband Pablo, my Pilate's instructor Debbie Harris and her husband Craig, and Jackie Mathews of Rainbow hospice.

Besides the progress on the front, the top has now begun to be covered. This section will be random.

One of the highlights of the night was the coverage we received by Pioneer Press, the local newspaper for the area. There was a photographer who took a lot of pictures, and Anne Lunde came to cover the story. I even had Anne place a bead on the statue! The story should be running this week or next. There will be a link posted as soon as it is published.

Three is a magic number!

We are on our way! Now we have three colors on our rainbow. The red is completed on one side, and the orange has continued to grow thanks to Celene's continued hard work. Since I finished one side of the red and I didn't want to infringe on the beauty of Celene's creation, I started on the yellow section. Another reason I started on a different color is that the closer I get to the base of the rainbow, the more time I have to sit on the cement floor. Sore doesn't even begin to cover it!

I got a wonderful donation from ABC Direct on a great mix of different colored beads. They sent me a total of 5 kilos of beads! These are really cool. The variety is astounding. Different shapes and sizes are perfect for placing the beads close together.

Tomorrow I plan on working on it for most of the day. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be colder again. Time to pull out the sweatshirts again!

See you tomorrow!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

www.noedisigns.com

A fiesta of Beads!

Happy Cinco Di Mayo! Wasn't able to finish all of the red this weekend, but now I am close enough that I have to sit on the floor to attach the beads. My friend Celene came over tonight to help me. I had her start on the orange part, since her knee was hurting her. Seeing another color than red was very refreshing!

I got a nice call from my Dad today. He took pictures of a necklace I had made with a pendent from Melanie Brooks Lucas of Earthenwood Studios. As always, my Dad did a fabulous job. I will try to post it later.

With all this beading, I am falling asleep at the keys. Have a great night everyone!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann

NoeDisigns.com

Day 4 - More Beads!

Well, the shipment I ordered from Beads in Bulk came yesterday. My son opened the box today to start sorting the colors. They were as beautiful as I had hoped. I ordered mostly green, purple, and blue. Orange has been a hard color to come by, but I was able to order at least one bag. Yellow is proving to be rather elusive, also. We will have to see if I need more.

One place I was able to get a few more of the yellow and orange beads was at Joanne Fabrics. Luckily, I was given some very generous gift cards for my birthday that I had not yet used. There were some reds variety packs that also caught my eye. The red section beads I had been using were starting all to look the same, so these will help break up the monotony.

The weather was cold again today, but at least we didn't have thunderstorms like yesterday. I can usually work for an hour to an hour and half in weather like this before my hands become too cold and I need to go inside. Today I got about 2.5 hours worth of work done. Not sure if I am going to be able to meet my goal of finishing the red section by tomorrow, but we shall see.

On another note, I posted to Art Bead Scene Blog for the first time today. I love this Blog because of all the interesting bead artists that are a part of it. They were looking for designers and bead artist that would be willing collaborate. This sounded like a very interesting opportunity. I really hope that it works out.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

In Beads and Happiness,

Suzann Wilson

http://www.noedisigns.com/

Day 3

Today was a busy day. There seemed to be too much going on. I was able to get to the Rings-n-Things show and get a bunch of beautiful new beads. Bronzite, chain, and Chocolate Jasper were just a few of the new additions. There was new stone that I need to get the name of that I fell in love with. It has kind of a translucent blue specks in it. Can't wait to get designing with that one! As you can see, I spent most of the afternoon and evening working on the rainbow. My husband and son came out in the evening to help. We had a great time. Lots of good conversation. Amazing what you can find out about your family when the TV isn't on, isn't it?! Finally feels like there is quite a bit of progress being made and hope to finish the red part by the weekend.

Day 2

Wednesday was a beautiful day here in Chicago. It finally got a little warmer and it was so nice to see the sun. I was able to work about 1.5 hours before I had to leave to teach class.

Day One - A new beginning in so many ways!

I finally decided to jump on the Internet band wagon and start my own blog. This will be a place where you can find out about new happening with No e Disigns, my beading and jewelry making passion. Beginnings are abounding here, especially with the advent of spring. One of the first of my new beginning is my first piece of jewelry to be published. The June issue of Simply Beads magazine features one of my triple strand necklaces on page 62. I had to look at the magazine several times just to believe that it was real! I still can't believe it. This really is a dream come true. To see my name on the same pages of those I have admired seemed so strange (those would be Katie Hacker, Margott Potter, Melanie Brooks Lukas, Candie Cooper, and Barb Switzer, just to name a few! LOL!). A big surprise awaited me when I turned to the back to see what was coming in the next issue. Another one of my necklaces was featured for the Coming Next Issue picture! I screamed so loud, I think I burst my poor husband's eardrum over the phone. Sorry, honey! The issue should be out on newstands and in bookstores the first week of May. My next project I am beginning is one some of you have heard about, The Promise of Park Ridge. This joint public art project between the City of Park Ridge, IL and Rainbow Hospice will feature large fiberglass statues of rainbows all over Park Ridge. Think of Cows on Parade in Chicago, but with rainbows in Park Ridge. The public art project is to help raise funds for Rainbow Hospice's Camp Good Morning program that helps children who have lost a parent or sibling. When I first heard about the art project, I felt completely compelled to be a part of it. Right away I knew what I would do with my rainbow. You guessed it - I am going to bead it. Immediately I envisioned something like a mosaic done with beads. Little did I know what I was in for. How big is this statue you ask? 3.5 feet high, 2 feet wide, and 7 feet long! The statue arrived yesterday and I started attaching beads today. Our garage has turned into statue parking for the time being. Unfortunately, today was typical Chicago weather with 42 degree temps, so I could only work on it for an hour and a half before my fingers began to freeze. I hope to keep you all up to date with my progress with this Blog. Oh, and the due date? May 30! Yikes! Well, that's all I have for now. Hope you all have enjoyed my first post. Looking forward to all your comments! In Beads and Happiness, Suzann