Cheating on the Beads!

What, already! Yes I had the occasion to do some pre Bead and Button yarn shopping and found some lovely coral Debbie Bliss silk mohair which I will turn into a lacy shawl. Next I needed needles as I don't usually travel with the right ones.

Well I came across the HiyaHiya brand of inter-changeables and fell in love.



Unlike my other brand the join is seamless, they are metal, the cable swivels and the case which contains the tips and the cables is beautifully designed. It is so compact as to be completely practical to throw in your luggage and always be prepared for impromptu yarn purchases.

I'll be casting on now.....getting in some zen time before starting the master class in a few hours.

Bead and Button time!

Well not quite, but I am in Milwaukee. A long time student and friend extended a lovely invitation to come stay with her a couple of days before Bead and Button. The perfect thing is that it forced me to be ready earlier then I might have been so a couple of days of relaxation have been built into the schedule. Which is why I can sit and bead




While looking out the window at the beautiful greenery of the midwest




I had a somewhat long travel day as I arrived at the airport at 6:15 expecting to get on my 7:30 flight to find that it had been cancelled. I was fortunately re-booked through Chicago on a plane that left at 9:15 but had a 3 hour layover in Chicago, making my previous in time for dinner flight, three hours past dinnertime. I was treated to amazing, dramatic clouds and a bumpy ride on our short flight from Chicago to Milwaukee and those clouds opened up into an impressive storm on our drive home.

I'm relaxing with beads right now and will shortly be treated to a yarn outing starting at my favorite River Boutique! Tonight we'll manage dinner together and then a little more yarn outing tomorrow before I arrive at the Milwaukee Area Technical College to set up for the Master Class. I'm very happy to be at the beginning of the end of this journey and to see how it all plays out and what glorious things will be created.

As of now, teaching is Sunday through Friday and every night and lunch and a couple of breakfasts are spoken for. However I will take photos and share with you along the way. So many friends to catch up with, beads to admire, so much shopping to be done, it's going to be a very good week and it is starting off wonderfully.

Time away from the beads

We took a few days out to visit Santa Cruz, our home of 25 years.  We visited with friends and family, surprising Granddaughter Sam on her 17th birthday and spending time with Malayana who at two changes so much every month we want to keep up!

Grandpa and Malayna sharing a few moments at the park.  Doesn't he look happy?  And of course Sam at 17 who is such a young lady.  First cousins, Sam and Malayna share the DeCoster red hair.  When Mark was young he had red hair and a red beard!

Also on the visit list were Rachel, Colin and baby Maryam.  It was wonderful to share in their happiness.  Baby Maryam is an exact replica of  Rachel, no mistaking who that baby belongs to!

We took a ride up the coast on route one as far as half moon bay.  The day was perfection with gentle ocean breezes and sunshine as we passed the beautiful beaches along the way.  We stopped at an RV and campground right on the California coast a few miles north of Davenport.  It looks like a beautiful spot for an airstream outing where family can join us in their  own cabins.  

It was rejuvenating and time well spent and now, back to the beads with one week until Bead and Button and my first Master Class 'Playing with Possibilities'.  

Lots of gold

I didn't want to go unadorned to bead and button of course and friend Susan who has made multiple Serena's agreed with me. so she made me a double wide Serena in gold aurum!



Isn't it spectacular?

Serena is a project in Beaded Opulence, one of my favorites! I have a double wide black one as well.

And speaking of books, the publisher usually gets a preview copy of a new book. Beads in Motion came last week. It appears it turned out excellent....Lot's of fun pieces to bead, some whimsical, some elegant,all wearable.

It will release in early August and I look forward to seeing which pieces you fall in love with.

I'm beading

Sometimes you just have to bead when the mood strikes, even if it is in the middle of Bead and Button class preparation.  All I want to do is bead.

As I packaged up some hammered gold rings I contemplated what a nice earring they would make, when I got to the filigree I decided I had to bead this pair of earrings right there and then.

A little Gilders paste on the filigree tied the coloring to the beadwork.  I love these Tierra Cast Earwires that give me the opportunity to add a little color at the top of the ear ring as well.

It's nice when a beaded earring works with another piece in your beaded wardrobe with being an exact match.   This pair works particularly well with this Crystal Collage.  All set for summer!

I haven't yet decided if Crystal Collage will be among the retirees....it still is pretty classic for an eight year old design.

Crossroads

Last week I updated you on my book status.....and the fact that the business model will be changing a bit.

During our spring sale many of our kits sold out entirely (there are a few left).  Some I will not be kitting again.  On that list right now are Urchin lariat, Birds of Paradise, Aurelia and most likely Lilliana.

Some may get kitted in new colors....and there will be some entirely new designs as well.

So for the time being the store may seem a bit empty, but rest assured new designs are coming!  And they are exciting.  It will take a bit of time as we write directions and make up samples.

Some of course will be reserved for teaching.  Right now that list includes Pacific Morning Glory, Aelia, Cassandra and Vienna.

Pacific Morning Glory

Aeila

Vienna

Cassandra

We'll also take a look at the soon to be released Beads in Motion and decide if some of the projects there are kit worthy.  I know often it is hard to source all of the materials necessary and people appreciate being able to buy them all together.  I have some favorites of course and we'll be looking at those.  Victorian Slide Bracelet is one that seems to have evoked a positive response, at least with one beader!  So I'll be looking at that.

Victorian Slide Bracelet

I especially love the little Tierra Cast Metal beads which cap the ends of the slides, and platinum pearls are pretty much my current favorite.

Playing with fish leather

I know, eeewww fish leather, really? is the first thing that comes to mind.  But this is processed and has no fishy smell at all.  The hand is flexible and the surface can be shiny or matte, but you might  have noticed somewhere along the line I tend towards shiny.

I picked mine up a couple of years ago in Tucson and set it aside.  We all have the set aside purchases right?  The things we purchased with a full vision of inspiration and then we came home and put it aside and life took over.  Tell me you know?

Agnes was over last week and had a plan to use her fish leather with filigree and some beadwork.  So I guess I was unduly influenced and went in search of my fish leather stash.  The filigree had been sitting in my 'odd bin' stash, the stuff you don't know where else to put it away, and it was the perfect patina and shape (if only I knew where I purchased it....)  I bent it into the cuff shape, drilled a hole in the center and attached it to the leather with crystal sequins.

Two Spirit flight components, one with cold aurum 2 mm crystals are nested together with a corrugated brass center.

Green ultra suede was cut the shape of the fish leather and a bit of bead embroidery was added to the edge...since this one is for me I chose to use 2 mm gold aurum crystals on each point of the picot edging.  It has quite a lot of sparkle!

I think it will go nicely with my simple black dress and my matching earrings. The earrings incorporate two of the master class components, Spirit Flight (same as the cuff) and Carousel.  The top bit behind the bezeled rivoli is a small version of the carousel ladder done with size 11's and 6 spines.  The versatility of the repeatable thread path.

And when I'm not wearing this cuff I have another Serena made with gold seed beads and 3 mm gold aurums, courtesy of vbff Susan who didn't want me to go to Bead and Button looking bead impoverished.  It is stunning and I'll show you soon!