Marcia DeCoster Presents

Book covers can be so compelling.  I really love the colors, and the layout of this one.  Also that each cover piece is someone who I hold very dear in the bead world.

Since the theme of my book is the connections that we make in the bead world, let me tell you about some of them.

There is Petra Tismer who I first met in a Bead and Button Class five years ago!  Petra owns Das Perlament in Germany.  She wrote a book on beads and friendship and asked me to participate.

Here is her beautiful shop classroom and a smiling Elke, also showcased in the book.

Sian Nolan who Petra first reached out to when looking for the Disco Squares pattern that I had designed. Sian had beaded one and they soon became fast friends and bead sisters.  Sian came to Germany two years ago while I was teaching at Das Perlament.  It was a treat to see all her colorful beadwork in person.  This year I saw her both at Bead and Button and at Stitchncraft.

There is long time friend Beki Haley who is the purveyor of colorful seed beads and crystals.  Beki has been such a strong influence in the bead community for as long as I can remember.

I had the pleasure of meeting Melissa Ingram at a workshop in Melbourne Australia many years ago.  During that same trip Patrick Duggan joined me for Romantica North of Sydney.

Cynthia Newcomer Daniel invited me to visit her home during a trip to Northern California. I got to fondle her beadwork as we excitedly talked about our passion for the beads.

Nancy Dale drove 2 hours with husband sherwood to meet with me when I was in New Hampshire last year.  It was a rare treat to spend a full day looking at her beautiful work.

This year I arranged to meet Kerrie Slade whose work captured me with it's soft romanticism.  She was as delightful as her work.

I've met Elke and Martina at Bead and Button and in Germany, enough times that it always seems like a reunion when I get to see them again.

This year I also met Heather Kingsley Heath whose work flows from whimsical to sophisticated to clever, a very broad range of design sense.

I have on line relationships with all of these artists, some I have had not yet had the chance to meet in person, but I hope for the day that I do!

I am very pleased with this book at it highlights the beautiful work of many excellent bead artists.  I think you will enjoy the diversity of their work as well as learning a little bit about each of them and their creative process.