And the Winner is........

Verbenabeth

Congratulations!  As someone said it was very difficult to get past such a great story of generosity and love. For me it wasn't just that, I am a huge believer in the arts and crafts being passed on through the generations and the thing that pushed me over the edge was the fact that Verbenabeth sees arts and crafts as a way to make a living.  I was raised in a home that thought arts should just be a hobby and were not something you could make a living at. I had to bring newspaper ads to my father to prove there were jobs for an artist out there before he would even consider allowing me to go to a technical college. I studied Graphic Design simply because that was the only job listed in the "Help Wanted" section. I did manage to squeak in a foundation year by changing colleges but even after my pleas and the pleas of my professors I wasn't allowed to go to a 'real' (degree) college.  So I have to show my support for a parent who encourages art as an expression and career opportunity :)

Not to worry if you didn't win.....with the help of Lark Books I will be doing many more giveaways and giving you the heads up on other giveaways of their great books. Today I can share a fabulous giveaway for an advanced copy of Sabine Lippert's "Beaded Fantasies"

Sabine does amazing work and  has just been announced as one of the designer's at Marcia De Coster's Beading By The Bay next year along with the amazing Huib Petersen which has a LOT of us majorly excited.

Sabine is based in Europe so it's a big deal to get her Stateside though I hear she will be over this June....if you get the chance to take a class with her JUMP because I have a feeling her classes will sell out fast!

I spent my beading time this weekend working on my first bead embroidered piece and made a lot of progress, almost finished with the surface beading and ready to start the 'extras'. I am so glad I bought Jamie's "Dimensional Bead Embroidery" because I'm going to need some of her ideas putting the backing on it being fairly heavy.

The progress photos aren't great but I did like this one as the light bouncing out of the main pyramid is just too cool and an effect I hoped to achieve but didn't know how I was going to pull it off....lol....by accident!

Probably because of the pyramids I've been calling this "Osiris" as I've been working on it...something about black and bronze too, I think. Anyway...this is where I am...it still needs it's bells and whistles but as my first step into the world of bead embroidery I'm feeling pretty happy.

Today it's back to the drawing board for me....finishing the test sample of Pineapple Lace and getting the edits done so I can finally release it.

Happy Monday :)

Books, Books, Oh So Yummy Books!

So, as some of you may know I was recently asked if I would like to review some books by Lark Books....no, I don't know what I did to receive such an honor and I'm totally stunned that anyone would even want my opinion, but you're going to get it :)

First up is Diane Fitzgerald's "Favorite Beading Projects"

Now, Diane is one of the Grand Dame's of beading as far as I am concerned and it's daunting, to say the least, to offer my opinion of one of her books...but here we go.

 I think this is a very well thought out book...even a little sneaky, in a good way :)  What do I mean by "sneaky"?

Well, seed beads and bead weaving can be scary to a lot of people and their immediate thought is "I can't do that"....as a teacher of bead weaving and having done numerous demos I have heard that hundreds of times.

With this book Diane cleverly introduces seed beads by showing mouth watering projects that take the reader from simple stringing designs into actual bead woven designs.

Take this project, "Fortune-Teller Beads", if you're someone who has strung beads this is very tempting, because it builds on what you know with a simple technique to take your skills to the next level.  All of a sudden you know how to do netting stitch, and if you can do that...well, the door is open. 

I love smart people and smart things and I can honestly say Diane and this book fall into those categories.  If you have ever looked at seed beads or bead weaving and thought "I can't do that" buy this book!  If you know someone who has drooled over your designs and said "I could never do that" buy them this book!

The designs are delightful and temptingly easy enough for a beginner.

My thanks to Diane for writing this book because I know she is converting people to bead weaving with it and as a designer of beading tutorials I get to benefit from there being more seed bead lovers in the world :)

And now for something completely different :)

Something I don't do but have always wanted to do....Metal Clay.

I do work in polymer clay but haven't as yet moved to metal clay.....mostly because my mother thinks I'll burn the house down with the blow torch.  She's wrong....that would be my brother :)  With the upcoming move I will have a place of my own...with hopefully a garage...and that workbench I see in Costco so I can start working in metal clay.

So...we have "Metal Clay Fusion" by Gordon K. Uyehara and what a scrumptious book!!

This book makes me want to order metal clay immediately (must not, must not) with stunning photos of Gordon's gorgeous work, I'm a fan.

And Gordon shows us how, step by step!

It really is a thorough book on the skills required, teaching you everything you need to know to create beautiful metal jewelry.  In a mere skimming of the book I learned so much and I know it will be my 'go to' book when I do start working with metal clay.

Gordon really covers all the angles, from a really complete list to put your 'Metal Clay Kit' together and how to use everything, with techniques to take you from beginner to advanced.  He does recommend taking a class if you've never worked with metal clay before and once you've looked through this book I think you'll be looking for the closest, soonest class available.

I also really appreciated the section on "Artiquette" about being professional as an artist and being original....I will share what he says about being original because I think this cannot be said enough and he says it so well.

"Thou shalt not copy. Just don't do it. Though it's true that there really is nothing new under the sun, let me make it very clear : If it looks like somebody else's work, don't publish it or sell it as your own. Add your personal, distinctive touch to it so you can make it your own. This is especially true with regard to published step-by-step instructions. Even though it's public, it never was your idea. So step up and credit the designer. Someone will call you on it anyway. Avoid the embarrassment, because those in the community will know."

True words!   And here are a couple of examples of projects in the book...a very original bead and a cool bangle.

Click on the book covers to go to where you can buy these great books.

And finally....yesterday I received a big box of books from Lark, one of which was Jamie Cloud Eakin's "Dimensional Bead Embroidery" which I bought a couple of weeks ago and reviewed before I knew I was going to be a reviewer. So...now I have two copies....I'm not greedy, so I am giving a copy of this great bead embroidery book away.

Just tell me why you should be the lucky recipient and the person who convinces me they need it the most will get it...though you will have to pay the shipping. Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address so I can contact you.

Sunday, Sunday

It's early, I'm up and halfway through my morning latte.

You might think it's not that early but for me to be up before 9am on a Sunday especially after beading until almost 1am is rare for me.

Apparently I was having nightmares (Mom said I screamed out at 5am) and that could well be why I'm awake. I don't know why I was screaming, could be a flashback dream to an attack that happened to me when I was 25...it amazes me that those still happen, but they do or it could be I was dreaming of the nightmare to come....family....as I woke up verbally defending myself...yet again.

Still...it's daylight, a new day and time to live in the present.

The very recent past saw me beading till almost 1am on my venture into bead embroidery.  To be honest right now it looks like bead weaving sewn onto a backing but I am reassuring myself that most bead embroidery starts off with cabochons glued to a backing.  Like most things, I'm doing this my way which means seasoned bead embroiderers may think "well, that's wrong" as I know I've taken liberties already :)

So how does this differ from bead weaving?  Well, to start with those babies aren't made off loom and attached...they are actually started (first four or five rows) off loom and then attached to the backing and then beaded further. Also to be honest....I don't know that I couldn't achieve the same effect totally in bead weaving but it's early stages.

And if you're looking at the backing fabric and seeing the white core this is because as the Lacy's Stiff Stuff is white and I'm making a black, bronze and gold cuff I didn't want to work on white. The answer was to use some iron-on black Pellon, a fabric interfacing used to stiffen fabric when making clothes.  I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere so I thought I would share my solution.

As you can see there's  some height to this piece, my goal is for it to be very three dimensional and have lots of depth. So far, so good....I'm especially happy with the tallest pyramid but I'm not going to show you why until the piece is complete :)  I don't quite know what the piece will be yet....I originally designed it as a cuff but I'm seeing it work as a necklace and maybe I can figure out how it can be both.

More work on it today after things are taken to the storage unit (my studio gained a full 6 square feet of empty space yesterday) and shopping at Costco is done.....maybe I'll actually get to the bead embroidery part :)

As I was looking for photos of my Da Vinci study the other day I came across photos of me in costume...for those of you who don't know I'm big into costuming (or used to be).  As Jenn over at Beading Daily showed us her first chain maille on Facebook yesterday I thought I'd show you my first chain maille.  As you can see, I didn't start with jewelry :)

This is one of my Female Super Hero costumes....photo is about 10 years old (I don't look bad for 43!), and you can see one of my inspirations, Kate Bush, in the background.  I made this outfit, yes, including the corset, for a costume event in San Francisco...it was a riot getting it through security...alarms going off all over the place :)

And when I say "I want my body back" this is the body I'm talking about :) Note the Total Gym...lol!

I was actually in better shape than this five years ago....right before I started beading...hhmmm....

Blown Away!

Yes I am!

Because February sales beat January sales and January sales were record breaking!  You have no idea how this makes me feel....it means I can save to be able to buy the things I'll need when we move...you know things like a fridge or washer and dryer...or maybe a sofa!!!!

Thanks to all my customers for making 2012 off to a brilliant start.

Yesterday I gave away, as promised, the $50 gift certificate because I met my sales goal and I gave away and extra $25 gift certificate because I beat my previous month....I like win-win things :)

And to beading....I finished the Pineapple Lace cuff though I think it would look great as a choker too so once I've written the instructions I'll test them by making a duplicate (I usually at least change colors) which can be clasped to the first one to make a choker.  You know how I am about versatility...the idea of being able to wear the lace as either a choker or pair of cuffs really appeals to me.

I did plan on starting the illustrations yesterday but someone had a different idea for how I spent my day *sigh*. So, today I'm locking my studio door and the word "no" will come out of my mouth :)

As I was too distracted to illustrate yesterday and as my new storage things were delivered I started repacking my Delicas.  Not the final reorganization but the one I'll need to safely transport everything.  As I move my Delicas from lots of little tubes and clunky square boxes to nice slim 6" flip-tops I am realizing I need to order more Delicas :)

Last night I broke down and made a special purchase, I bough one of Diana Breigleb's faces.

I plan on making some dolls and making my own faces but that can't happen until I'm moved and settled with my clay supplies unpacked.  But I was tempted by Diana's lovely faces....known as "The Face".  This one makes me think of Da Vinci's ladies and is destined to end up as a Renaissance lady.

Of course, doll making and bead embroidery need to be in the hobby section of my life for now which means I have to squeeze them in on the weekends....when I'm not using the weekends to play  catch-up.

I did receive a wonderful surprise a couple of days ago, Lark Books had contacted me a few weeks ago to ask if I'd be interested in reviewing their latest bead books...heck, yeah!

So I got my first one...eek! Can I say it's a little scary to be reviewing a book by one of beading's greats, the amazing Diane Fitzgerald.  My immediate thought was "who am I to be saying anything about the Grand Dame?"

But I will, because the people at Lark asked me to (eek), so watch for my review of Diane Fitzgerald's "Favorite Beading Projects" in the next week.

So far 2012 is looking like a really good year, hope yours is too :)

Books

So I mentioned I had a couple of books I wanted to review and today is that day.  It's not often I buy books about beading because I'm a sponge and I fear accidentally regurgitating someone else's design but as I am about to venture into some bead embroidery I thought I'd better get a good reference book.

And that is exactly what Jamie Cloud Eakin's "Dimensional Bead Embroidery" is....a wonderful book for those starting out with bead embroidery.

Jamie gives you lots of information about materials and she includes some inexpensive ones I would never have thought of.  I would definitely class this as a must have book for the beginner to intermediate bead embroiderer.

Click on the book to buy :)

The other book I bought was to replace my embroidery book that fell apart due to over use :) This one, "Stitch-opedia" by Helen Winthorpe Kendrick, is a definite upgrade from my old one.  Helen covers most  types of embroidery from cross-stitch to stumpwork and is a great reference guide for embroidery stitches.  There are many styles of embroidery that can be adapted to beading and as soon as I have time I plan on experimenting with them all :)

This book is spiral bound which I think is a brilliant idea for any kind of craft book. If you're a zentangler and want to take it to the next level....embroidery would be the way to go....with bead or without :)

Again clicking on the book will take you to Amazon where this book is on sale for about 50% of what I paid...run!

The next book I'm looking for.....a good book on 'Trapunto' which has always fascinated me. For those of you who don't know what it is....trapunto is a quilting technique where you stuff certain areas of the quilting to create a more dimensional piece.  It is covered just slightly in "Stitch-opedia" but I'm greedy for knowledge so I want more :)  If anyone knows of a good 'Trapunto' book let me know.

Pineapple Salsa

So.....more work on the Pineapple bead lace....the second draft addressed many of the issues and only required a little tweaking...though I'm not 100% on the connections.  This single motif would make for a great earring...and that's why the title of this blog post is "Pineapple Salsa", it seemed like a great name for the earrings :)

The photo is crap, had a hard time getting a non-glare shot this morning but maybe that's a good thing (given there are people who count beads to avoid paying for a pattern).

The center bead is a black and bronze three-facet round...it was all I had that matched the little bronze fire-polished and plain black was just too flat. I  really like a black/bronze combination....possibly my favorite classic mix.

The more I work on this the more design possibilities I see.  In fact, the five section ring I was working on (and having trouble with) may turn into a ring version.  There's something about black lace, the way it was worn to hide and highlight, that is just so sexy and yet demure.

It will definitely be fun seeing where this goes.

I woke this morning to a bunch of orders for the Urchin Wings Pendant Mirror/Brooch which made me happy, as I always worry something won't be a seller.  And the sales pushed me over my monthly goal in my store so there will be a $50 gift certificate raffled off at the end of the month....if you bought/buy from my Artfire store this month you are automatically entered....one ticket for each day you shopped :)

And this tutorial does include MY instructions for the Gothic Butterfly bracelet that was featured in Beadwork Magazine.

Today will see me taking Mom shopping, doing some packing, dropping things at Goodwill and after all that there should be time for beading.

I have a couple of books I want to do a review on....Jamie Cloud Eakin's "Dimensional Bead Embroidery" and Helen Winthorpe Kendrick's "Stitch-opedia" which is a book about all kinds of embroidery. I bought "Stitch-opedia" because my previous book on embroidery stitches fell apart after years of use and this is a definite upgrade.  So watch for these reviews...I hope to get them done sometime this week :)

Have a great weekend!

Growing Pineapples

It's been a rough week, one of those where you see your time and your sanity circling the drain to disappear forever.  But after sleepless nights spent trying to figure it out and endless days spent explaining and discussing I think my feet are finding marshy ground again....not solid ground, I've learned not to be so trusting and that's it's better to sleep with one eye open.

After two false starts to a personal day I finally managed it yesterday and by the evening I was actually fit to bead.

One of the things that I found relaxed me was drafting a bead lace pattern, this time one of my favorite crochet patterns, Pineapple Lace, and Wednesday night I did just that. The thing about bead lace is you have to draft the pattern first, then try it out, see the issues, make changes to the draft and try it again. Repeat as needed.

This is the first draft I did Wednesday night....I do the beads to scale thinking that will make it work...lol...not necessarily!  But you can see the progression and the possibilities and it all looks pretty enough but the test is if it works and where the heck you do the thread path.

Here you can see the testing process with a couple of scrapped false starts (there were more!)  What looks good on paper will not always work in beads and adjustments and compromises have to be made.

Last night saw me changing the draft with what I had learned (more beads here, less beads there, change the connection completely) but progress was made and I can see this being very pretty when I have it done.  And it has so many possibilities. I love lace :)

I'm hoping to get back to business today and edit the Urchin Wings tutorial that has been sitting on my desk since Tuesday. Fortunately I tested it as I went so once edits are done I can actually list it....hopefully later today.

Then I can feel good about getting back to beading this lace.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)