ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR BEAD FEST SPRINGS ENDS APRIL 6, 2015

Yikes, April starts tomorrow, which means that I need to remind you that online registration for my Luminous Tweed cuff class will end April 6, 2015.  After that, you can still register for the class when you get to Bead Fest Spring.  I hope you can join me for this fun class that uses the new etched farfalle beads.  You will learn a variation of Right Angle Weave and how to glue a magnetic clasp to a bracelet.  Here is a registration link with more details: Luminous Tweed.  See you at the show! 

CLASSES AT BEADERS BEST 2015, HAMBURG, GERMANY

I am so excited to announce that registration is open for my 3 classes at Beaders Best 2015 in Hamburg, Germany from August 21-23.  Registration is open for all of the beadwork classes (and there are some beautiful projects) but I am most excited about my classes.

Friday, August 21 from 9 am- 12N will be a Mimi-Wreath Earring class using the Russian Spiral stitch.
For more information and registration, please visit Workshops.

Saturday, August 22from 9am-4pm will be the Opposites Attract bracelet involving a Turkish bead crochet stitch and WireLuxe, knitted wire.
For more information and registration, please visit Workshops.

 

Sunday, August 23 from 9am -4pm will be Luminous Tweed cuff, using etched farfalle beads in a version of Right Angle Weave with embellished crystals.

For more information and registration, please visit Workshops.

 

I am looking forward to seeing many of the European beaders there-hope you can join us.

NEW SOURCES FOR CZECH BEADS

      When York Beads closed, many of us were sad to lose a great resource for Czech beads and a fun place to visit.  Luckily, two former York employees have opened mail order businesses to fill some of the void left by that beloved family business.
      In my last post, I mentioned Bon Beads, which saved my bacon with lovely colors of etched farfalle beads.  They have much more including fire polish beads, mushrooms, pyramids, superduos, and aged seed beads.  There is a $100 minimum for an order, but there is much to tempt you.  Here are some of the mushroom beads that I couldn't resist.

Bon Beads



These are some of the etched farfalle beads that I bought for my Luminous Tweed bracelet kits.

     Bon Beads is not the only new source because Kelly Stevenson, a favorite in the bead world, has opened Back2Bead, with his own selection of Czech Beads.  Kelley has buttons, charlottes, dragon scales, fire polish, daggers, rhinestone roundels, aged stripe seed beads, and more.  There is no minimum order at Kelly's online shop.  These are some of the fire polish beads and donuts that are calling my name.

Back2Bead

More Back2Bead

So check out either or both of these new suppliers when you need some Czech Beads.

THE GREAT ETCHED FARFALLE BEAD HUNT, OR JUST IN TIME FOR BEAD FEST SPRING 2015

Luminous Tweed bracelet class at Bead Fest Spring

I thought you might like to see a peak at the issues that we teachers sometimes face as we try to bring you the best classes possible.  As I have mentioned, I will be teaching the Luminous Tweed bracelet class at Bead Fest Spring 2015 on April 11 from 5:30-8:30 pm and at Beaders Best 2015 in Hamburg, Germany.  When I used the etched farfalle beads in this bracelet I had no idea what a merry chase it would be to find more of these seductive beads.

Last year, I grabbed two small hanks of the red etched farfalle beads from York Beads at Bead and Button  2014 and came up with the bracelet design.   This was the first bracelet:

 

Perry from York Beads (the inventor and sole distributor of the beads) promised us the next shipment of beads was due in October.  Due to circumstances beyond his control, October turned into November, November turned into December, and December turned into January.  Yes, last month.

 

By the beginning of January, I was getting pretty worried because I had no beads, had no way to get them from anyone else, and didn't want to disappoint the students who had already signed up for the class by cancelling it. 

Non-etched farfalle beads from John F. Allen

As I substitute, I bought some lovely non-etched farfalle beads from John F. Allen, but they turned out to be too shiny for the design.  Then, sadly for all of us, Perry announced that he had to close York Beads, a family business that had just celebrated its 90th anniversary.  He assured us that he would still be receiving the last shipment of farfalle beads that we had all been awaiting since October.  Then the news came that the order would be transferred to another distributor and should arrive in March.  YIKES, I was in a real panic.

Two weeks ago, like a knight in shining armor, Alfred Dorante (a former employee of York Beads) opened a wholesale bead business called Bon Beads and offered new etched farfalle beads as part of his stock!  "Whew!" does not begin to describe my feelings.  I immediately bought some etched farfalle beads in lovely colors from Alfred and started playing.

new farfalle colors for Luminous Tweed

The photo above shows a few of the additional colors for the Luminous Tweed class.  The original red is on your left, but I also have silver and copper.

aqua color for Luminous Tweed

I grabbed some of this season's aqua/ silver beads, as well.

gold bracelet in progress

Plus, I have a lovely gold kit in progress.  To balance my earlier panic, my friend Judith Bertoglio- Giffin even found me some of the remaining red etched farfalle beads at a retail booth at one of the Tuscon shows .  So now I have plenty of color choices and Alfred is tempting us with even more new colors.

Now that my supply drama is over, I can say "come and join me for my class at Bead Fest Spring 2015."  This bracelet, done with a variation of Right Angle Weave with the elusive etched farfalle beads and 8/0 seed beads, is suitable for all levels of beaders.  After you make the basic framework (which could be left unembellished), you add crystal roundels for more glamor.  As the last step, you will learn how to glue on one of the stylish magnetic clasps.  For more information and registration, visit Workshop Registration.  Hope to see you there.
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YIPEE! BEADED CHAINS AND ROPES IS ALMOST HERE

      I have been busy with class samples (more about that later) but I wanted to take a break and tell you that Kalmbach Publishing Co. has announced the release date of Beaded Chains and Ropes.  This  new book has patterns for 27 beadwork ropes and chains that can be worn by themselves or as support for a pendant or special bead.  I am privileged to have 2 patterns in the book, one of which can be seen in the middle of the cover- yes, the pink and white rope.
     Along with two of my patterns, there are also designs by Jill Wiseman, Julia Gerlach, Anna Elizabeth Draeger, and many more talented artists.  The projects employ a variety of stitches including bead crochet, herringbone, RAW, spiral rope, St. Petersburg chain, and kumihimo.
     For more information (including a peak inside  the book) or to pre-order a copy, you can go to the Jewelry and Beading Store.  I know I have my eye on a few patterns from the book.

NYC CHRISTMAS WINDOWS 2014

Because the weather forecast for Christmas Eve was not good, wind and lots of rain, we did our tour of the wonderful Christmas windows in Manhattan on December 23.  First was Barney's.  The theme was "Baz Dazzled Holiday" created by director Baz Luhrmann and wife Catherine Martin, which meant fantastical woodland scenes.

Barney's exterior



Metallic mushrooms and a giant boombox

The next 2 window could only be captured properly with movies.

Still shot of window 2. 

 

 

Movie of window 2. 

 

 

 

Still shot of window 3.

 

 

 

Movie of window 3. 

 

Then it was off to Bergdorf Goodman's and the nearby building that always displays large candy canes.

Bergdorf's theme this year was the arts.  Here are some of our favorite parts.

Sculpture

Dance

 

Music

Theater


The Literature window didn't really grab me until I realized that all of the portraits of the writers were actually done in needlepoint or embroidery.

Literature

Plus a soft-sculpture typewriter by Heidi Hilkin of Charles Butterworth Studio.com

Even the small windows are interesting

The next treat was the window next door at Van Cleef & Arpels.

Van Cleef & Arpels


After that, it was a stop at Tiffany's.

More jewels on Tiffany's building.  The blank spots in the strings of lights are because the lights made patterns.

 

 One of the windows.

The 2 twirling, skating dogs were my favorite part of this window.

Harry Winston decorated their building with their traditional jewels of light.

Then it was down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.  When we got to the tree, it was dark-no lights!  No one knew why.  We didn't get a photo of the tree without lights because just as Don and I went to take photos of the dark tree, the lights came back on.  Seriously, I pushed the button on my camera and the lights came on.

The Rock Center Tree with lights back on, but the star on top has not been turned on.

I found out later, courtesy of the local news, that the lights had been turned off on the tree as a tribute to Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were murdered on the past Saturday.

Saks building

Our next stop was across the street to Saks Fifth Avenue.  The theme was "An Enchanted Experience" and the windows showed fairy tales transplanted to NYC.

The Wicked Witch selling a poisoned apple to Snow White in Times Square

 

Sleeping Beauty

Rumplestiltskin in the famous, closed City Hall subway stop. 

Red Riding Hood and the wolf

 

Cinderella

The end windows at Saks displayed 2 costumes made by my friend Janet Bloor.  Sadly, I didn't realize they were hers until we got home so I only took a quick photo of the one costume.

costume by Janet Bloor

 

A close-up shot


Next on our tour was Lord & Taylor, whose theme was "On Holiday" with human-like animals and fairies.

The Lord & Taylor designer even included Patience and Fortitude, the lions in front of the new York Public Library's research building.

Our last stop was Macy's, whose theme was "Santa's Journey to the Stars"  showing a boy who receives a magical telescope that lets him see Christmas being celebrated across the solar system.

The boy and his telescope

 

Santa's workshop on Venus

Last minute work under the sleigh

Hmm...a Dalek disguised as a Christmas tree?

 

Earth

Familiar parade

Mars

Jupiter and Saturn

Uranus and Neptune

Although Macy's was open for business 24 hours/day, that was the end for us.  As we headed for home, it was so hard to remember that it was only December 23 and that we wouldn't be opening presents the next morning.  Still, our early window tour was a wise decision because the weather on December 24 was not nice!