Beads in Motion - Free PDF of Swing Dance

Interested in checking out the quality of directions and illustrations for Beads in Motion?  Lark has generously made available a free pdf of the Swing Dance earrings.

They are among my favorite earrings to wear with lot's of movement and sparkle.

My friend Cynthia Newcomer Daniel over at Jewelry Tales made them in this dramatic red and black!

What colors would you choose?

New kits!

We've kitted up the first three of the book kits, Spin City, Leaf Slide necklace and Victorian Slide Bracelet....live and available now at marciadecoster.com and, you can now get your very own autographed copy of Beads in Motion as well!

Detail of Victorian Slide, Cubic Right angle weave

Victorian Slide Bracelet

The Victorian slide with pearl and crystal and just a touch of metal end caps makes for a very 'Victorian' looking bracelet.  Each component can slide along the length of the cubic right angle weave band finished with an elegant and seamless magnetic clasp.

Spin City

Spin City is a graceful shape and my favorite Lilly Pilly Shell which spins on the bit of beadwork which anchors it.  The necklace is tubular right angle weave with two sizes of beads making it really textural!

Leaf   Slide Necklace

Leaf Slide if very versatile with the opposite side being the inverse of aqua leaves with bronze interior accents.

Sometimes I knit

When I don't bead I knit.   Every year there are folks who graciously take me around to the knitting stores.  One of my favorites, River Boutique in Brookfield Wisconsin is on the list every year.  It is quite an eclectic store with lots of samples.

This year I became enamored with this feather and fan shawl.  The sample made up in a Pacific Opally color with silver sequins really drew me in, but friend Mary Ann kept lobbying for the stronger coral color with gold accents.  I think she was right, nice to have some bright color in my wardrobe.

This one will go with me on my Alaskan cruise next week!

Color decisions

This piece is called Sundial and is one of my Bead and Button submissions.  You may notice the influence of my master class components.  This is a spirit flight component but turned over with a pearl center and an extra row of picots around the latter stitch start both interior around the pearl and exterior, the aqua seeds.

The cubic right angle weave consists of curves and angles, my favorite use of cubic right angle weave.  A hidden bail and a ribbon necklace finish off the pendant.  

I love the shape and I can see the color appeal for some, but I am tempted to bead it again before submitting the catalog photo.  I think there is something about this color brown that just reminds me of the ups truck.....I love the caribbean opal crystal tips,  and the platinum pearl, but still I just can't quite get behind the combination.

Do you have color quandaries?  Go to colors? Pieces that just don't quite speak to you?  I'm going to give it a go with 460K bronzy green seeds, some pale matte aqua, and a bronze pearl center.....the crystals, not sure yet.  I'll keep you posted!

Beads in Motion Errata

I so wish I wasn't writing that title, but it does happen and I think it's better to let you know than not....I have found a couple of errors in Beads in Motion.

Funny in knitting books it's expected, in fact before you start any pattern you search to see if there is errata......I don't judge and I don't feel bad about it, I'm just happy to have the information, so that is how I am going to look upon it!

I will put a page on my website and I have let the publisher know so that future reprints can be corrected.

In the meantime, if you are making Rings of Saturn please note  the following.  Most of you would bead it correctly based on the illustrations, but for those of you who look at the words and the illustrations, I don't want you to spend anytime wondering why if you pick up 8 beads you would have a total of 10!

Rings of Saturn

P. 116 Round 3 Should say for a total of 8 D beads not 10.  The illustration is correct.

For Spin City the supply list seems to have suffered a bit in numbers.  I'm expecting most of you would not be limited to exactly 1 gram of a bead, but I do want you to know that you'll need 5 grams of the bronze size 11 bead that makes up the shaped pendant and that the rondelle that sits at the center is actually 8mm not 18.  

Spin City

P. 76 Bronze Size 11 Beads should be 5 g not 1g

P. 76 Purple Haze crystal Rondelle should be 8mm not 18mm

Thanks to the folks who graciously pointed out the errors, I am glad to have them brought to my attention.

Quattro Cupole

Between teaching, visiting, sight seeing and knitting I did manage a little bit of bead time last week and completed the third Quattro Cupole Sample.

As is often the case, my most recently finished is often my new favorite and I love this cyclamen opal version.  The fourth cupola, unseen in the photo, serves as the clasp.  This one will be getting a lot of wear.  Next up a matching pair of earrings!  This one will have it's teaching debut at Beads by Blanche in November followed by a second and third class in Tokyo and Nagoya Japan.

Also beaded last week was a new bit of beadwork that I am totally in love with, but so far it has not presented it's finishing touches.  I think it's a pendant, but it needs attachment points and the right necklace.  For the time being it is side lined waiting for the appropriate inspiration to show up.  

Also on the beading board is a third La Navette, a very dramatic version.  It should be finished up this week with any luck and then you'll get to see it!

In the meantime, what's on your bead board?

Knitting!

Seattle's trip included a ferry trip to the Church Mouse over on Bainbridge Island. The store was totally charming with a great selection of yarn, beautiful samples and many temptations. I bought a book on knitting for men with a great pattern for a vee neck cardigan that Mark prefers. I call it his Mister Rogers sweater, and it's a winter staple of his wardrobe so I think I should make him one.
A second yarn store, So Much Yarn yielded a circle vest that I fell in love with and of course had to immediately cast on. The start was quite fussy with 8 stitches split between 4 double-pointed needles and joined into a circle. The yarn I chose had slightly less striping then this one so the target look is reduced.




Here is just a few rows short of the back after which I bind off and then recast on to create the arm holes and then change up a needle size and begin the lace pattern. So far it's been a fun knit and I look forward to wearing it.




We flew home from Seattle which was an excellent trip including teaching at Fusion, visiting Seattle friends, three days of city wandering (I mean yarn shopping) eating the best seafood and enjoying the 22nd story view of Puget Sound.




We also fit in a visit to the Chihuly museum which I visited last year, but a second trip was completely worthwhile. Photographers wander around asking to take your photo for free. They hand you a card with a barcode which you then scan at one of the kiosks and email the photo to yourself. Pretty high tech.




We are now in Santa Fe for a nephews wedding. Last nights reception was a chance to catch up with family.
Niece Amy who was once the baby of the family is all grown up and lovely.




Today we will have a stroll around the galleries on Canyon Road before this evenings wedding at the beautiful La Posada resort. It presented the perfect opportunity to purchase a wonderful new artistic jacket by Lee Andersen (and it's not black!)
Next week will be heavy kit prep and readiness for my next adventure on an Alaskan cruise!

Seattle

I have few photos to offer you, but....I am having a stellar time in Seattle. It is one of my favorite places and I swear I could live here, but one of us in this family feels otherwise, so I have to suffice with extended visits.

This time we flew in and visited with some of the Seattle contingency who visit Beading by the Bay each year. It was a lovely visit full of friendship and port and friendship and wine and friendship and beads.

We then moved to our rented condo overlooking Puget sound with incredible views from the 22nd floor. My first evening of teaching was the first of the Simply Elegant earring, three row of cubic raw with crystals and pearls. Everyone left with a pair and lots of nice combinations.

I was sent home with a hostess gift of salted caramel ice cream from Molly Moons....swoon, it was so amazing.

Today I taught Pacific Morning Glory and there were lots of excellent combinations. I tried to talk Vivian into giving me hers but she was attached to it, and it was beautiful.




Blue zircon on one side and amethyst on the other.....perfectly done!

I barely contained myself as a dear friend arrived from my home state of Massachusetts, so my after class arrival was a reunion. We went off to a brew pub for dinner and now I'm relaxing with you.

The bead store, Fusion Beads, in Seattle hosts it's instructors so nicely, with a printout of the days itinerary, time, classroom, number of students, phone numbers of rides for the day. It's really nicely done. One block away is a bagel restaurant with excellent bagels, hand rolled, bagels with soul as their signage suggests.

Two more days of classes, many repeat students that I'm fond of....and then I get to reunite with my B and B buds, Janice and Tracy and then I go on holiday and we are deciding between Bainbridge's Church Mouse ( a yarn store) or Debbie Newcomber's A Good Yarn in Port Orchard, and for sure a visit to the Chihuly exhibit.

Yeah, it's a good life.

Beading by the Bay Reveal!

Oh my gosh do we have three stellar artists and three stellar projects for you....which is only a tiny bit hard for me to say and stay humble but I am really in love with my Santa Lucia project which I think is a stunningly elegant necklace named after my stunningly elegant daughter.
So....while it is true we allow our loyal retreaters of previous years to get a headstart on registration, it is also true that we end up with some available spots going forward.
So if you think a retreat in on San Francisco Bay with Sherry Serafini, Nancy Cain and Marcia DeCoster might just suit your beady desires, then the day for you to sign up is September 14th at 12 noon  pst.
We try hard to keep an economy friendly price point and we hope you will consider joining us!
Here are our three beautiful projects, two necklaces, one cuff, three days of excellent fun.

Santa Lucia by Marcia DeCoster

Velvet Cuff by Sherry Serafini

Rococo by Nancy Cain

This is our fifth year!  It's been an excellent retreat and an excellent partnership between Susan Kazarian and Marcia DeCoster.  This all came about on a trip from San Diego to Tucson where the idea of a seed bead retreat was first conceived.

More details can be found at www.beadingbythebay.com!

Book Signing in San Diego!

Beads in Motion has been received in many mailboxes over the last couple of weeks and people are saying nice things about it which is always ....well nice.

Sometimes, well all the time really for me, it seems that I am just too close to the work and I have a hard time assessing it's impact, viability, whatever the word is.  I just don't know if it's any good or not until I start to see it through other's fresh eyes and then I get re-energized.

The idea first came to me when thinking about one of my all time favorite designs, Rings of Saturn which has bead covered rings that revolve around a peyote core.  The movement was it's key feature and I decided how fun it would be to create a book where each piece had some element of movement.

The art director had the brilliant idea to show each piece 'in motion' so you'll find a little box titled 'how it moves' for each project.  Layout is not the job of the author, but I must say I lobbied for Rings of Saturn to be on the cover and all of the other chosen pieces for front and back are among my favorite pieces in the book.  The leaf slide on the left is incredibly versatile, being fully reversible and having many wearing options as it slides up and down on it's St.Petersburg chain.

I will be doing my second book signing this weekend at the Beading Bar in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego from 2:00 to 4:00.  If you haven't been it's a delightful new space made more so by the personable owner Bob Eix.  Bob will have books if you haven't purchased your own yet, but if you have you bring it along.  Not only will I sign your book, but you will have a chance to see the book projects up close and personal.  We will also a few book kits available.  Leaf Slide, Victorian Slide Bracelet and Spin City necklace are all ready to go!

easy peasy earrings coming to a bead store in Seattle!

I conceived of these earrings last fall and made somewheres near 29 pairs for Christmas gifts.  Fusion Beads asked if I had a 3 hour evening class.  I thought that cubic raw in 3mm pearls and 3mm crystals that can endlessly be changed up and can be totally unique with various accent beads would be perfect.

I especially love this pair which are very neutral.  Platinum pearls, with light gold metallic crystals and purple haze tear drops.

So if you don't have plans for Thursday night August 15th you might consider joining me.  This is a great way to learn cubic raw and end up with a fabulous piece of jewelry.

I will also teach Pacific Morning Glory, my reversible bracelet with craw bands and a quite clever clasp that lends itself to the reversibility.

Crystal Collage, which uses the properties of right angle weave to bezel and then embellish rivolis which are  'collaged' into a pleasing formation.

The weekend will end on Sunday with Cassandra which is a crazy good, versatile component We'll use it to make a bracelet but  you can use to make earrings, a ring, or a pendant!

If you haven't been Fusion Beads  it is a beautifully stocked bead store with spacious classrooms.

In case just traveling to Fusion, visiting my Seattle friends and teaching wasn't quite special enough, I will meet one of my best friends.  We go waaaaaay back and try to get together every year despite living on opposite coasts.  We've rented a lovely space and will cavort around the city taking ferries, shopping for yarn, having gourmet meals and generally enjoying ourselves.  I will be looking forward to this adventure!  We may even have to visit Molly Moons!

Bird rings!

I have always loved the work of Wayne Robbins and Judie Mountain's collaborations.  Wayne does wonderful creatures of glass and Judie makes finished jewelry with his glass and her own bronze clay pieces.

This year at Bead and Button I treated myself to one of Wayne's bird rings.  I of course could not resist adding a bit of a seed bead nest below the bird.  Since the bird screws into it's ring base it is perfect for changing the nests as the mood strikes.

Here is the first one I made.

Well today I visited the San Diego Bead Society Bazaar and decided a second bird ring purchase was in order and a second nest of course!

These birds are so darn fun that I think I see a collection coming......