My second ever bead store

Creative Castle in Newbury Park California was the second bead store I ever taught at.  At the helm, lovely Carole Tripp who I've know known going on 13 years.

Carole's store has a wonderful selection of crystal, seed beads, czech glass, vintage beads and findings and is full of helpful folks to answer your questions.  I say this because more and more bead stores are finding it difficult to stay in business.  My good friend Susan closed her store the Beading Frenzy after 17 years.  The stores that remain need our support.

I sometimes hear beaders talking about sources where they might get beads less expensively priced, however consider the valuable service that our local bead stores provide.  We can look at color and size, make design decisions with beads laid out side by side, we can consult with a knowledgeable beader and in some we can take classes, expanding our skills while socializing with others, who like us have the love of beads.  That is a whole lot of positive and in my book is worth giving up any small price advantage to make sure it continues to exist.

Next week I will be teaching the Dream Keeper Vessel Ring, the brand new Cassandra and the beautiful Aelia pendant.  I'm excited, not only because I have so many friends at the store, and there is the darling Bailey, my second favorite dog in the world, but because I'm going to take the train!  I love train travel and it's a pretty rare day that it fits into my schedule and is available in the direction I'm going.  I love the rhythm of a train, watching the scenery go by,  relaxing into travel instead of racing through LA traffic.



Aelia

Cassandra

Dream Keeper Vessel Ring

So please, if you are lucky enough to have a local bead store in your midst, please consider supporting them. It would be a terrible shame if we couldn't continue to spend a leisurely day playing with the beads or run over for that special bead we need to finish a project, or take a class and visit with friends.

Surprise!

It was Mark's 64th birthday and for months I have been keeping the secret that kids and grandkids would all be joining us.  Keeping secrets for me is really hard work, not because I want to tell, but because I forget and am very apt to give it away.  I almost did several times but always recovered.....

and in the end, he was very very surprised.  I told him of an outing I had Saturday morning to visit friends, but assured him I'd be back to have lunch with him (it would have been very anti climatic if he decided to go out!)  We had all these elaborate plans for saying surprise, but I forgot the Maya was going to announce any visitors to the back veranda.....So as they all snuck up and Maya was making a ruckus Mark came to find out what all the fuss was about, and of course we all yelled surprise!  It took him a few minutes to regain his composure, he was so stunned.

It's rare when we can all get together....so we spent a fun weekend barbecuing, playing in the pool, hot tub, visiting the zoo, and playing Sam's all time favorite Rummy-O.  A friend gifted us the set years ago and Sam's visits are never complete without multiple games of Rummy-O.

The traveling bracelet went along, so here a few photos ....  Showing the beautiful Carribean fish!

and the turtle, in front of the turtle exhibit at the zoo, how fitting!

And here playing with beads in Grandmas studio!

Birthday weekend!

First off, for you who were reading yesterdays post....I added the wrong link to the traveling bracelets, apparently I am no longer as good at multi tasking as I used to be!  I was researching car seat rentals and accidentally pasted the wrong link...all fixed now, thank you for pointing it out, it was not an attempt at weird spam, just a lapse in paying attention.

And just to make you really crazy on the same post I didn't notice that the odd angle of the arm holding Emily Rose, the cute little Pomeranian modeling Ganesha, gave the appearance of a headless person.  I was so focused on her cute little face....so as not to freak you out, I've removed the photo and will pay better attention to her surrounding next time!

So with that behind us....

For Ellen who likes posts about beads, here is a photo of Two by  Two, a bracelet I did which will be in the Kalmbach book which is a publication of work by the Create Your Style Swarovski Amabassdors.

and now, the Birthday weekend....It is Mark's 64th, which of course brings to mind 'Will you still love me when I'm 64?' and the answer is yes!  We're going to have an amazingly fun weekend which I'll tell you all about next week!

Ganesha's last day

The second of the traveling bracelets to have come my way spent a lot of time at home in my studio....but yesterday we went on an outing.  To bead with friends for a few hours, at a lovely ocean view home on the coast.

 Hanging out on the gorgeous rubber vine

Enjoying an ocean view and breeze

 and adorning the decor

and serene among the beach rocks and shells

It was a most needed day of friendship and beads.  I love taking the opportunity to bead with others, and am appreciative of having found this group of talented beaders who have welcomed me into their midst.

Bead Soup

After years of observation, it has come to my attention that most beaders do not prefer this method of beading.  This is interesting to me, because the beads speak to me so much more clearly when they play together like this.  I see color combinations I might not have thought of, I'm am visually pleased as I work.  I love these little palettes laying about the studio.

Back in my freeform days I always mixed the beads which I thought had many advantages, portability being one of them.  I could put all of the beads in one container, rather then stopping to put them all back in their own little correct container.

The other bonus of working from this pile is that I have a built in 'repair kit' when I'm done.  I just spoon the remainder of the palette in a baggie and toss it in the drawer.  If I ever do have a failure it would likely be years from now, when I'd have no idea how to find the correct bead.

I've come to realize I'm in the minority, but old habits are hard to break....

A few of my favorite things - Swarovski Elements

It's probably no secret that I like my jewelry sparkly.  A quick look of my supply lists suggest a minimum of a gross of crystal in most designs....like Spirit Flight and Pacific Morning Glory

and lately I'm quite enamored with the Swarovski pearls....like in Cassandra

so today is an exciting day, Swarovski Elements has unveiled their fall 2013/2014 Innovations, and there are some stellar new colors and shapes!

I'm in love with the light turquoise and the Crystal Blue Shade, and in pearls the Crystal Grey is going to pair nicely in many of my pieces.

And the new shapes are brilliant as well, the leaf and the victory pendants and....well go have a look, it's all there on the Create Your Style Site.

Ganesha's travels

Or lack there of.  Seems that I am hunkered down inside these days.  We did go for a short ocean walk yesterday morning, but between workload and weather   (heat and humidity that we're not used to) we've been staying in.

I'm using the new bead chair daily and have almost finished a second Vienna.  I try to always make a second before sending a first one off for a sample.  Even with the best notes and photos, it's easy to miss a step if you don't have a sample in hand.

I've also started a  Helix bangle from the special pre-order pages of the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork book.   

From the Facebook page, it is described as

An exciting new book in process by Kate McKinnon and Jean Power, with Christina Vandervlist, Dustin Wedekind and Gabriella van Diepen. The theme of the book is geometric form, and even advanced beaders will find new ideas and inspiration.

 Pre-order your copy and you will be able to access all the fabulous patterns being shared. You might also consider liking the face book page where you will see stunning photos of pieces being made by tall the pre-order folks!

But back to Ganesha, my second in the Traveling Bracelets series, hanging out in the studio.

Also completed in my stay at home marathon beading sessions are ten beaded beads for a beaded bead swap I joined last year in a burst of enthusiasm.  I must say it did end up being fun, and I shipped them off yesterday for their travels to England to be matched up with their owners.  I will in return receive ten beaded beads, in my personally chosen color theme.  It will be my task to make my beads into a cohesive necklace and present photos by sometime in February.