"WHY THERE HAS BEEN NO NEW TUTORIAL SINCE FEBRUARY?"
I am working on one, which I absolutely will release by the summer solstice.
To answer the question. It’s a l-o-n-g story, and mostly about my health. I’ll tell it for those who are interested or might benefit from it. If you just don't care, skip to the bottom of the post for the first peek at one of the versions of the new project.
Late last summer, my really great doc reminded me that I have osteoporosis, and a high fracture risk. I have had this diagnosis since my early 50’s, and the last two year progression showed a new 6% loss. We women all lose about 1% of our bone density each year after menopause, but mine is extraordinarily speedy. I have all the risk factors. I have a teensy bone structure to begin with, with a wrist measurement of only 5 3/8”. My mother fractured her hip and finally her pelvis, from which she was never able to recover. And I have had digestive issues for over 25 years, which means the nutrients I eat do not process correctly to be available for bone repair. I was not aware of that last bit. But I knew my bones were not in good shape.
My doc gave me a referral to an Endocrinologist, to discuss having bone fortifying medication injected, since my Reflux Disease digestive issues prevented my taking the most common of the bisphosphonate bone repair drugs, like Fosamax. But I had a busy fall. You know, there were tutorials to write, and gowns to finish, and holidays to prepare for, so I put the Endocrinologist visit on hold. Right after the first of the year, I decided I needed to educate myself to enable intelligent decision making about this drug. I thought I'd read a book before I went to the Endo Doc.
So I bought “Dr. Lani’s No-Nonsense Bone Health Guide” and began reading. I learned about bone biology. I know osteoclasts from osteoblasts and what they do. And I learned how density drugs affect these processes. I learned about the development of the density testing machines and how the drug companies who wanted to sell their density improvement drugs made them available to physicians, and how many if not most of the early machine operators were trained by the drug company reps. If you watch The Big Bang Theory, imagine Penny doing densiometry training. Fortunately that is generally a much improved situation now, but not flawless.
I learned that the density medications all have risks, some substantial, and about how the risks might be weighed. I learned about myriad alternative therapies and their mostly false claims. I learned how hormone changes with my late onset menses and early menopause provided me with yet another risk factor.
And THEN, I learned how my wonky gut health and the drugs Nexium and Prilosec which I took non-stop for 26 years under various doctors advice (the manufacturer says not to take the drug for more than 3 consecutive weeks) contributed to my Osteoporosis. In my case, as I weaned myself off the drug, (with help from another good book, “The Acid Reflux Solution”) I also realized that it was probably also one of the primary contributing factors in my reflux disease itself.
That is probably more about my health than you want or need to know, but I will stop for now at the end of the month of January, and the purchase of my Apple Watch. The last sections of my Osteoporosis book were about fighting fractures with food, and exercise for better bones. I bought the watch to help me begin an exercise program. Boy Howdy, did it work!
I will probably share a few more details from my journey, but for right now, I'll show and tell a bit about the upcoming tutorial.
Here's a sneak peek. The tutorial uses a number of components, folded open warped squares, an oval bezel with some fold back edge increases, tassels, and dynamic strung gradation sections in the process of creating a variety of necklaces, (and MAYBE a bracelet) plus several pairs of earrings. I have four necklaces and four earrings so far, and am working either on a final necklace or bracelet.
This is the simplest configuration of the bunch. I'm calling the set "Summer Fruit" and this one is Kiwi.
My plan is to create kits in 5 colors that would allow you to make any version of the necklace, plus a pair of earrings. You would also have some freedom in how you orient and yoke the finished focal. I promise a new post next week to show you version #2. Thanks for your patience, folks! I am busy with daily bone work, and have made it a priority, but I know I will always bead. I don't know if I will always write tutorials, because it involves a HUGE amount of sitting. My spine requires action. I am off to give it a bit!
