City Beads

The girls at City Beads in Chicago making Aelia and playing with Deruta




here is Bev wearing it




And just to show you I can make a mess anywhere!




And here's Lisa, owner at City Beads, and a dear friend....




It's been a stellar trip so far

Dinner with friends, a nice walk this morning and a great group of gals, who are proving so proficient today that I have little to do!

2nd master class!

Playing with Possibilities is proving to be a popular concept so we'll be holding a second one!




Every time I work with the components I am excited by the concept and find new arrangements.



If you missed the first class and would like to register for the second or find out more you can do that here..



Oh the Possibilities!

The Kandra ring

I love a project where I can tuck a message into the beadwork, a message that is intended for the individual who will wear that beadwork.  Previously I designed 'Under the Mast' which  had this characteristic.
When I completed it and I told husband Mark, a sailor, about the message, he replied 'Oh, like when boat builders put a coin under the mast for good luck' and I thought that was a fitting name.  I gifted a good many Under the Masts, a really doable project, and perfect for those of us beaders who have friends who prefer a simpler more classic piece of jewelry then some we might make!

When a dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer I immediately made her one tucking in a message of health and well being.  She is well now, but continues to enjoy wearing her simple pendant.
When I first designed the Dream Keeper I wanted to put a message more durable then paper since rings might get wet and take a little more wear and tear.  About that same time I found a shrink plastic artist and took a class.  This was the perfect medium.   You could write your dream, personalize it, and then shrink it into hard plastic which not only carried your message, but also gave the ring structural integrity.
Also being a design where color play happens in a small space, I started making dream keepers and couldn't stop.....just one more color combination.
And then I read another dear friend was struggling with a scary diagnosis.  She needed a ring, I was sure of it, one with her own message of healing.  For this one I wanted not only crystals or pearls, but I wanted a metal bead, one that evoked strength to go along with the sparkle that is Kandra.

She was touched when she received her ring.  I'm sure that knowing we have this large community of friends who cheer us on and care about us is a huge comfort.  I am in awe of this community of beaders who support one another.  Well the good news is that Kandra is recovering and her diagnosis has been revised and she is returning to optimum health.
Thank you for stopping by, and thank you to Lori for inviting me to participate in the Memories and Thanks Blog Hop.
Visit with other bloggers here.

Lost and Found!

It was cold this morning, well by Southern California standards, 46 degrees.  I wanted to finish an early morning walk so I could get right to work, so with no sun to warm me I reached into the closet for a warm fleece.  Once I haven't worn since a winter in North Carolina, which was in 2008.

I reached into the pocket and found my favorite ever Mrs. Beetons wrist warmers that I had given up on ever finding long ago!  

If you are a knitter you can find the pattern here.  The original calls for the mohair on top and the worsted weight on the bottom, but I changed that up.  The fussiest part is adding the beads to the cast on across double pointed needles, after that they are pretty easy.

I'm so happy to have them again!  I'll be wearing them to Chicago this weekend, where I just heard that by Friday temps may be in the 50's.....which is nice I suppose but I was looking forward to the cold.  I promised Mary that I would not wish for snow since that makes it hard for everyone to get to class.

I'll be at City Beads for the first time, but I've known Lisa for a good while now and and am looking forward to being with her and in her store.  In fact there are all kinds of lovely people in Chicago I look forward to seeing!

Dream Keeper Kandra

You may remember that each set of DreamKeepers is named after a women who is important in my life in some way.

Well this set is named Kandra, and is sparkly, vibrant and strong, just like Kandra.

There is of course also Pat, Casey, and Christine, and in time there will be Liz and Lucia, and probably more since I am enjoying these so thoroughly.

But for now, Mark and I have teamed up to make Kandra available on the website.

Dream Keeper Vessel Ring - Kandra

I used a tierra cast metal bead at the top edge of one of these, and I like the bit of metal with this palette.  You might also remember that the construction takes advantage of ERAW, or embellished right angle weave, to place the accent bead between each of the beads on rows one through five, so it is a reasonably easy bead (which of course is all relative) but it is doable, the fussiest part being working with the first two rows of size 15's.  But you will be rewarded with a place to tuck your special message, and lot's of sparkle in a small space.

Jungle Bells

Yesterday was the last day of my 'vacation' and I wanted to spend it well.  A group of friends came and beaded at the new table and it held us all comfortably.  I beaded, and with the help of Cindy Holsclaw worked out a challenging turn.  I wanted to keep the pattern but create a 90 degree angle in the beadwork.  Sounds simple, and there are only 4 sides to the pattern, 8 beads to be placed and yet I still found it difficult.  But Cindy has that kind of mind, and I was so sure she would be able to help sort me out and she did.  Nice having competent beaders around, I'm so glad she lives here now.  Her beaded beads are crazy good!  Some day I should try one.

She is going to be a guest speaker for the San Diego Bead Society in April.  Beki Haley from Whimbeads will be coming in January and presenting a talk on color and finish influences in beadwork, and in February Gail Crosman Moore will be here.  I would say that is a pretty good run of accomplished guest artists coming our way this year.  Each of these artists is also giving a class, so check out the San Diego Bead Society Blog and have a look.  Class fees for members are lower, so consider joining, but  you can also join in on a class if you are not a member.  Just look for the contact us link on the blog.

Whew, just thought I should bring you up to date on all the excellent artists who will be in San Diego, but back to my day off.

We finished up beading in the late afternoon.  I also made excellent progress on the cuff I creating for the large focal I did.  Of course now there is the clasp dilemna as always.

Mark and I decided on a date night and began the night as it turned dark at the San Diego Zoo's Jungle Bells event.  The park is open and night and lit up with Christmas lights.  We started with a Skyfari ride which was kind of romantic.  It was a nice outing, but crazy crowded, and this after the holidays, it must have been crazier last week.

Here is one of the moving light displays....cute.

We finished up with a visit to the sushi restaurant in the Fish Market.  Their fish is so incredibly fresh and I love that it is on the water.  All in all a nice last day of vacation.  Now the work begins!

bead pattern

Funny I almost never do patterns in my beadwork, well not intentional ones at least.  A pattern might emerge in the way I choose to embellish differently in every other or every third space.  It might become apparent with the use of different colors, but to sit and create an intentional pattern is not something I usually do.

But an idea showed up which required for me to chart out the placement of beads.  I have seen people who can bead fairly complicated patterns without charting them out, but my brain just doesn't work that way.

So I drew myself a right angle weave grid and then colored in the beads.  This isn't really accurate as the round white beads will all be gold and the pink and turquoise will be 3 mm crystals.

Now that I've put it up here, it looks embarrassingly simplistic, like I ought to be able to bead it without the graphed aid I've created....but my brain can be easily confused by pattern.

I have another idea that will require pattern as well.  When I examine the fact that I seldom gravitate towards pattern I think it has to do with my impulsive nature.  Beading a pattern takes some pre-work, paying attention to counts, making a graph like this one.  I usually prefer just sitting down with a pile of beads to start the process.

I look at the work that is coming out of the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork book, and there are people producing the most amazing patterned pieces.  It's stunning to me, the way the placement of colors makes such a huge difference in the overall success of a piece, and there are so many who do that so beautifully.

For the time being I'll be beading up my simple design and contemplating one a bit more complex for my next project.

What about you?  Do you enjoy the process of creating pattern?