NanC Meinhardt

In my studio!



Could I be anymore excited......It's happening Oct 8, 9 and 10 of this year. Which makes our final day 10/10/10, which I think must be a good omen of some sort.



The setting is my home studio, but all will have access to the wonderful places this house has to offer. Need a quiet spot, perhaps a place in the corner of the living room,



need fresh air, outside on the veranda,

a sunlit table, the dining room will be your spot.



NanC will guide us through her process but much of the beading time can be done where and as it suits you and you will find lots of beautiful light filled space to work on your creations.

There is one spot left, is it yours? Details can be found here. I predict the weekend is going to be magic!

A new Aurelila

Third in the series, this one is destined for a Bead and Button proposal. And oh by the way....not right angle weave, well, there is a little circular right angle weave, but the rest ndbele and peyote...just to prove I can....





The first is at The Beading Frenzy in San Mateo where I will be teaching it on August 14th. Susan and I go way way back and I count many there as my friends, so I look forward to this Aurelia debut class. For some reason the timing always works out that many of my new pieces are debuted in San Mateo!

The second is in the mail to Creative Castle where I will teach it along with Under the mast the weekend of September 25th. Carole and I determined that this was my tenth year of teaching at Creative Castle, imagine! I also have many friends that I look forward to seeing!

And then the fourth will be on it's way to Beads By Blanche where I will teach October 1-3rd. The second project will be Queen Anne's Lace and the third unnamed as of yet.....is sort of a surprise. It's a lovely piece but I may not unveil it until the end of August when it will be featured as a Beadwork Challenge piece. Suffice it to say, it's very feminine, incredibly wearable and a new favorite!

The speed beaders among us

It seems in every class there are one, sometimes two 'speed beaders'. Nothing wrong with not being a speed beader, but I am always curious as to what makes some folks super fast. If you ask around in the class, everyone will know who the speed beader is because they are consistently the first to finish. It's not always the quiet ones either, but it does take sheer focus, continuing to pick up one bead after the other with little in between time.

What are their secrets? Are you a speed beader? Do you notice what you do differently?

I have a few theories and observations....

-keeping the beads close to you
-keeping the piles you will use next to one another in the order of use
-using shorter thread (the time you take weaving in new thread is negated by the amount of time you aren't doing 2 or 3 thread pulls per bead)
-passing through multiple beads before completing the thread pull
-having an intuitive color sense so your not slowed down by color angst

Do you have theories and observations to share?

There are times I want to bead meditatively and enjoy the zen of the stitch, but there are definitely times a little speed would help. Like in completing two aurelia samples in the next couple of days!


In knitting there are 'the fastest knitter' competitions. I have a few folks I might nominate for the fastest beader. Not naming names....but 4 urchin beads....



well that is pretty much a record!

Full Moon over Niagara

Sunday night Debi of Beads of Colour and husband David graciously offered to drive us to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side. We took the QEW and noticed some significant traffic on the outbound route, while driving in, but chose to stay in denial.

We blissfully viewed the falls from several vantage points, witnessing a rainbow as well as the full moon rising over the falls. It was truly awe inspiring and we loved it.

Here are two pictures shot by Mark of the falls
and Debi and I enjoying the falls.


We then returned to the car for the 45 minute drive home.....however that was not to be, three separate traffic jams, all due to roadwork


and three hours and twenty minutes later we arrived back at our B&B. Thanks David, you chauffeured us beautifully and never lost your cool.

Niagra Falls!

Here is Chrisina, a beautiful shot I think,
And Barbara who has signed up for all 6 days of class, great shot and look at that gorgeous necklace
And my breakfast! Ton is a delightful host and good cook. Breakfast was a traditional Dutch pancake complete with chocolate shavings.


Another wonderful day at Beads of Colour. Debi made a wonderful lunch of carrot soup, greek salad and various side dishes and desserts. The weather broke and we enjoyed lunching outside with much less humidity.

Success was had by many as the urchin beads came together, and much more fun today.

The evening consisted of a nice meal, of which I've had many in my travels, and then a ride out to Niagra Falls where we watched first a rainbow and then a full moon rise over the falls. The power of the falls, the color, the smell, all were breathtaking and I'm so glad that Dave and Debi were gracious enough to take us on the long ride. Thank you!

Beads of Colour

I'm in Dundas now, about an hour outside of Toronto and it is charming. Old houses, lovely gardens, much greenery, beads and yarn, could it get better (well it could be less humid) Although having said that, and as uncomfortable as it is for us Californians, my skin is all dewey....it's not usually dewey in California.

The store, Beads of Colour, is wonderfully eclectic with treasure to be found in all kinds of nooks and crannies. The classroom is in the midst of the store so the nooks and crannies call me and distract me while I'm teaching. The vintage chain is especially amazing, much chain that I've never seen the likes of before. Debi has a great eye for bringing together a wonderful mix of components and has a stellar selection of seed beads as well. See how distracted I am, I meant to tell you about the teaching. Yesterday was Portico pendant and everyone enjoyed great success.



Twin speed beaders Tiena and Christina both finished pendants and started on variations of their own (Their not really twins, but man are they both fast). Portico pendant is like that, once you finish one, there are so many thought processes for different combinations of the diamond and ellipse.

Barbara used a color lined etched bead in a denimy blue that I had never seen and the results were amazing (where was that camera, well I was distracted as I said) There is a nice feeling in the store, a lot of love and sharing.

Barb comes today. You can't help but love Barb she is an artist and full of enthusiasm. I met her last year with the rest of the ladies at Beadfest.

My I'm chatty today.....well here is a promised picture of our beautiful B&B.



Yesterday we had a buffet breakfast with fruit, yogurt, bagels, scones, fresh bread, cereal and then we were served apple cinnamon french toast, fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee. Yes there are only two of us!

And Debi took me out to the Needle Emporium on our lunch break. I'm afraid there were more yarn purchases involved.....The store was very well stocked and owner Julie was delightful to talk with.

Today, day one of Urchin Lariat, tonight Niagra falls. I didn't mention but Debi's husband David is a wonderful host who has offered to take us to the falls. Mark is taking his own self guided tour of the many smaller waterfalls in Dundas today. We're both hoping for cooler weather!

On to Dundas

But first, a couple of photos from BeadFX and Toronto

Here are friends Susan and Sandy



who showed up all sparkly and ready to bead. It's no wonder they chose Queen Annes Lace with the 232 crystals. I also had in class the prolific Tiena who showed me two beautiful pair of medici drop earrings and a Quetzal ring from the book. And Louise who arrived wearing a perfectly done Rings of Saturn. The very accomplished Jo-Ann, the super helpful Janice,


and Barbara who will be joining me in Dundas as well. Even Marg got to sit and bead with us!

Friday we perused Queen Street East and King street where Mark and I both enjoyed Lee Valley Tools and then I enjoyed yarn and ribbon shopping while Mark enjoyed ice cream.



Beads of Colour owner Debi and husband David picked us up and we enjoyed the pretty ride out to Dundas. They've put us up in a lovely B&B where I surprised the Dutch host with greeting him in Dutch 'Goede Avonds'. The place is charming all over and I will take pictures for you, soon.