Bead Origami

Cindy Holsclaw is the designer behind bead origami.  She specializes in Beaded Beads and makes them into beautiful jewelry.  I love the bright colors in this Tila Garden Pendant.

And what I can tell you is that girl makes a really really pretty illustration and turns them into clear concise and pretty directions.

I first met Cindy a couple of years ago at a Northern Bead Society meeting, and she has now moved to San Diego!

She has been following my Illustrator learning curve and graciously gave up a day of her time to tutor me on a few fine points that  had escaped me.  We worked side by side, Cindy on her computer and me on mine and I was able to absorb a lot of new information and ways of doing things that I didn't know previously, so it was a day well spent.

Her schedule includes classes at this years BABE show in Oakland California the first weekend in November, so if you have a yen for some beaded beads, there is your chance.

Friends Tracy Stanley, and Janice Berkebile will also be teaching and Susan, my Beading by the Bay partner will be a vendor.  I so wish I were going.

I now want to go back and redo all my directions....of course I won't, but I am kind of in awe of how clear, concise and beautiful Cindy's are, so I have some improving to do.

The Amazing Adventures of the Traveling Bracelets

What a fantastic weekend I had, teaching at Creative Castle, visiting with my second favorite dog ever! having dinner with Carole and Roger, train travel and a relaxing afternoon of beading, loved all of it.

I was fortunate to receive my fourth! Traveling bracelet, Alpine from Beth in Texas.  Beth also included a note and wonderful fabric sugar skull pin with my package.  What a nice treat.

The bracelet was posed with many, including with Bailey, can you stand how cute he is?

and the perpetually youthful Carole, owner of Creative Castle, doing the pose, though she hardly needs it.

Today I am working on finishing up a crystal embellished triangle for the Geometrics book.  (You didn't think I could do it without crystal did you?)

SES Update

I've been spared from Single Earring Syndrome, I finished a second.  Even though I feel that I could tweak the design a bit, I made the second one to match and it may be my new favorite pair!  But new ones are always like that.

There was a day I never made earrings and now it is one of my favorite things to make, and wear of course!  I never leave home without my earrings in, yes even to the gym, but I have a few more subdued pairs for the gym, these might be out of place.  

I'll have to show you a new close up of them when I have more time....they are really sparkly with those little 2 mm Swarovski Elements crystals at ever intersection, front and back.  They need an evening out on the town, and fortunately we have one planned, well dinner out at least.  Mark is going to come join me for one night and we're going out to one of our favorite restaurants, and I have the perfect pair of earrings to wear!

In the background a sort of clean studio and my luggage ready for the trip, and I'm off!

Playing with Possibilities

Funny, when I first developed the concept of my Bead and Button master class, naming it seemed like the hardest thing, but I think Playing with Possibilities is the perfect name.

I suspect I've told you about it before, but I, I mean we, have begun the work of creating the 'playground' of components, and so it is quite exciting.

The concept of the class is component design, and there will be many examples of five different components that the participants will get to arrange and re-arrange to envision their design.  Cameras will capture various ideas and when a design is decided on it will be printed out and the beading will begin.  The playground is there to help the design process but in the end everyone will bead their own components.  All good in theory right?  But with 22 students, there will need to be  enough pieces for everyone to work with.

So three groups of women around the country are helping to bead.  I've chosen a neutral palette so as not to interfere with the design process, and I've documented the five components and sent beads off to the various groups.

One of the three groups is local and yesterday we met in my studio and produced a large assortment of the Romantica medallion.

I must say they look darn pretty all gathering in together, each one uniquely beautiful.  I can' wait to photo some 'possibilities' but I think the real magic will be when all five components are available and can be brought together.  I see some incredible design opportunities.  

And now I'm off to teach the weekend at Creative Castle, North of Los Angeles.  I'm taking the train!  and I'm going to bead.....I'm still working on my piece for the Geometrics book, but I have a vision and I think it's working.

on Friendship

I have to say that I am beyond lucky that in my beady travel I have the great pleasure of meeting...surprise...other beaders!  And so it was that I met my friend Gabriella a few years back in Atlanta.

I suspect I may have told you the story at the time.  Gabriella is Dutch and so I had a chance to use my very rusty Nederlands Talle, or Dutch language skills.  I lived in Holland for een jaar ending in 2004.  Returning from Holland and ending my corporate career I began teaching beadwork, I had travel opportunities which have been fantastic.

Gabriella and I managed to stay in touch and I am happy to call her a dear friend.  We've beaded together often and she has been instrumental in helping me on this last book, Beads in Motion.

Image by Kate McKinnon Beadwork by Gabriella van Diepen

You may also be familiar with her if you are following Kate and Jean's Geometrics book.  Not only has Gabriella presented an exquisite body of work for the Geometrics book, but she was the model who Kyle shot beautiful photos of in the Tucson desert, holding out the stunning beadwork.

I write this because I don't want you to miss out on Gabriella's blog.  She is quite an accomplished artist and has recently blogged about the journey she made creating a beautiful art mask.

You will want to read that, but beyond that you will want to keep checking in because the blog is co written by husband Jeroen (thus the Gabroen) and provides a wonderful insight into  American living by a Dutch national.  I always enjoy his posts from his unique vantage point.

So have a read, I suspect you will enjoy it.  And while you're at it, leave a comment for them....us bloggers like to know some one's reading!

Traveling Bracelet - the Quest

I've made a quest to visit with each of the  Traveling Bracelets, sent out into the world by Sig Wynne Evans.

If you have one you'd like to send me, I'd love to have it, unless I already have had it in which case please send it on to someone new.

Click on the link below the photo to read the stories of their travels!

Update!  I did indeed receive a bracelet for my 60th birthday, in fact one that Sig made especially with me in mind, the Golden Gate Bridge.  Since travel is a bit of a theme for the bracelets, it seemed fitting as Sig and I first met in California, and I did leave my heart in San Francisco!

After the bracelet and I cavorted through my birthday celebrations it joined me for a trip to Georgia and the Southern Bead Retreat where I handed it off to Karen!

Alpine September 2012

San Francisco October 2012

Ganesha September 2012

Carribbean September 2012

SES, Single Earring Syndrome

If you knit you've certainly heard of Single Sock Syndrome, but I think the term applies to anything that comes in pairs, especially if you are working with a short attention span.

It may be that cubic raw and I will get along beautifully for the next several years.  I am completely enamored with the stitch and it's possibilities.  This started out to be a zig zag, but I am quickly realizing I am not a straight line kind of gal, I like the gentleness of curves and not the hard edges of straight lines.  I tried, really, this was all angles when I started, but the flexibility of CRAW cries out for me to bend it, every time....

But back to SES....I like this one ok, but as is so often the case, I see the error of my ways once something is completely beaded.  I do make design decisions along the way and sometimes they work out, but more often then not, I finish and then I see where I should have gone.

What I see here is that the crystals at the top and bottom of the ellipse need to be brighter, and they will be on the next one.  The ellipse needs to be longer and the circle at the top needs to be smaller.  Which will be a feat since the circle was done in size 15 cubic raw, one color, making the join a little hard to see....

I also see that cubic raw and crystals were meant to go together, this is the perfect place for those amazing 2mm Swarovski Elements.  It is sadly true that we lost a few colors this past year in the 2's, but enough remain that I will continue to use them to compliment my seed bead work.  They are small and subtle, but the way they catch the light when woven into the fabric of a piece works beautifully. The light metallic gold 3 mm's are one of my favorite colors, but I think next time I am going to opt for something bright, perhaps the new light turquoise would work nicely.  I have some on the way, due to arrive any day and I can't wait to incorporate them into something new and shiny!

So it may be this one remains single as I move on to explore a new shape and color!