Artistic connections

I love my artistic connections. Yesterday was one of those wonderful days when I was able to share my love of beading with a fellow artist. Eleanor is a very accomplished bead artist and uses right angle weave, which you may know as one of my favorite stitches. Thursday we shopped for beads and yesterday we decided to stay home and bead. We admired one another's beads, we problem solved, we encouraged and we had bead breakthroughs. I think we were each influenced in a positive way to try new approaches.

And then Rhoda, Eleanor's mom came home and drove us to their favorite bead store and it was a treat. I got some amazing vintage Swarovski pieces and....I found just the right thing for Kate's ring, it's still a surprise, but I'm darn excited. While there we came across 'Swarovski girl' who Eleanor named Rosa Linda. Doesn't she look like she has attitude?



I've been beautifully hosted and it's been a pleasure to spend time with such gracious fellow artists. Rhoda's home is full of artistic surprises and I spied these little beauties and asked if I could photo them. I haven't shared yet, but I have a compulsion for collecting salt and pepper and this pair captured me totally. I love them!



Today...more bead shopping!

Kate's ring

During my Tucson trip I stopped to chat with Kate McKinnon who happened to be next to Green Girl Studios. I found myself fondling some great little flying bird charms and asked Kate to 'do something' with them. We decided on a ring trade, her's pmc and mine seeds of course. We also decided to complete our trade at bead and button leaving plenty of time for non pressured design. Are you kidding, I have to design a ring for Kate, which of course has to be a very cool ring, and structurally integral and interesting and .....it's pressure. But I've been playing with a design that I think has great possibilities.

One of the plus sides of so much travel is all of the airtime beading I can accomplish. I flew to New York on a 4 hour and 45 minutes non stop flight with two bulkhead seats to myself, heaven.

And this is what I beaded.



Yes it really was 4 hours of beading, it is size 15 double walled right angle weave and it is just a sneak preview of the design so as not to ruin the surprise.

I'm hoping to find just the right treasure to complete it in this weekends bead shopping.

Bead shopping in Manhattan

You would think that maybe I would have finished bead shopping in Tucson, but the opportunity to go to Manhattan presented itself and turns out I still needed a few things. Then we generally wandered the city. If you're there, 19th avenue and Broadway there is a beautiful home store called ABC home. And in the back there is a delightful restaurant where we ate. And then on our way back we saw this little guy....



He was pretty worried I was after his nut and kept on trying to escape my camera's gaze. Cute isn't he.

New York New York

Yes, I'm off to Manhattan, for a play date. I'm meeting up with Eleanor a fellow beadartist who does fabulous work. I met her when I was living in North Carolina and we were determined to stay in touch so we're traveling to New York for the love of beads.

We will stay with her Mom Rhoda in Brooklyn and then travel off to Manhattan for some serious bead shopping and fun. I love the garment district and all the treasures to be found there. I am on the lookout for cool sequins and interesting fire polish and perhaps a second Monkey Biz animal to go with my first.



We're also going to visit Blanche at Beads by Blanche in Bergenfield New Jersey. Blanche has some serious seed beads, and some serious crystals and all kind of other good stuff.

I finished proofing the book and a few minor corrections are off to the editor.

I'll be taking the laptop so perhaps there will be some Manhattan photos to amuse you in the next few days.

Book Book Book!

You may know that I spent the better part of last year working on a book which will be published by Lark Books. I finished up the bulk of the work in September and sent it off to be edited, layed out, proof-read, proof-read and proof-read....and that process continues. Today I will receive the final proof in the mail.

There were many exciting days in the book writing process, the day I was asked, the day my proposal was accepted, the day I finished the last project, the day I finished the last illustration, the day I finished the last edit, and I'm pretty sure the day it is finally released in September will be an especially good day.

But as excitement goes, seeing the book cover is close to the top of the list, and so today I share it with you!

Pretty, heh? I think it fits the whole opulent theme. The book is second in a series called Beadweaving Master Class. Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork was first in the series. I've had the projects back since early this year and have been sharing sneak peeks as I travel and teach. Here are a couple of sneak peeks for the blog readers as well.

There are 24 projects in the book, illustrating different ways of working with right angle weave. There is fabric, rope, armatures, curves, embellishments, and layers. And each technique has 3 to 5 projects ranging from simple to more complex. I think beaders new to right angle weave will find plenty of designs they can create to build their skill level. There are also many designs which will advance the skill or intrique the more seasoned right angle weaver.

Last Shawl picture

I promise....but this one is of the shawl in action. I just can't go on enough about how much I love this shawl. And then there is my darling Mark who I also love. It was a very good evening.



If you missed one of the previous 87 times I've blogged about my shawl, then here are the details

Kiri, made of Habu silk mohair with swarovski verde teardrops affixed to each point, I think I mentioned how much I love it a few thousand times.

I'm kind of an accessory knitter, I find it turns out better that way. Fit and gauge are all less important.

Hopefully I will knit some other wonderful accessory soon so I can share something new!

In the meantime, some new beading showed up on the cruise as did some design elements to finish a necklace which has been in the works for awhile. Now if I can get just a few more minutes!

Bead Cruising!

Lot's too share and not too much time to share it in. I'm off again Wednesday morning, so the the unpacking and packing must begin along with doing an inventory check and some supply ordering....But before reality sets in too quickly let me share some bead cruise week highlights.

We flew into New Orleans and the fun began meeting up with old and new friends at Mothers restaurant. Who would have ever thought it would be COLD! I brought sandals and tee shirts, it was 39 degrees...Mark and I walked to Cafe Du Monde for Beignets and I almost froze, my poor little toes were very cold.

Onto the ship and the fun really began, with a welcome dinner. Heather puts on a really nice event and this year was no exception. You might want to bookmark this site so you can sign up and enjoy the fun next year!



I taught Les Perles de la Mer (Beads of the Sea) on Monday, how fitting. Lila finished hers and many others were close.



Mark and I had lunch on Tuesday



and the water was beautiful



and the foliage was beautiful



I admired many sky pictures, I love a dramatic sky







I met Lorelei who I had formally only met in blogworld and she was delightful


and I met Mary Hettmansperger who was gracious and funny and knowledgeble and I loved getting to know her a little better. She's written two must own books on metal which have both been hugely successful. I can't wait to try my hand at some of her techniques.



and I got to see Helen and Ethel, mother and daughter...Ethel is a hoot, she para-sailed! And I got to see Arline and Susan another set of mother and daughter bead cruisers (my photography skills escaped me and I don't have a good picture of the two of them) but they were great fun and it was a pleasure spending time with them.



And I taught Terracita earrings and Lila finished, and Becca finished and Sandy and Sandy finished and many were well on their way to finishing.







And Royelle was in my Rio Dulce class and made a most beautiful version.



We had a farewell dinner and for me a favorite part of this cruise a bead competition. Amazing what people were able to create in one week, fabulous! If only I were organized I would have taken pictures, sigh....trust me gorgeous.

I am taking a few minutes to savor what a grand life I have. I met so many fun, warm, talented and creative people on this trip. Thanks to all of you! I had a wonderful time.