Well, I did it!
I sent out the newsletter announcing the inaugural meeting. I've been sitting on the newsletter for over a week as I didn't want to send it out too much before the meeting...I'm thinking just under two weeks gives people time to put in on their calendars and hopefully not enough time to forget about it.
The bead society has been a dream of mine for almost a year now and after some set backs it's now coming together. It showed it's face publicly back in May but then I had to change focus and it got put on a back burner mostly because it's not easy building a bead society on your own. I finally met some ladies who wanted to help get it going and it gave me a new determination, which was good because after a couple of weeks the ladies backed out and I was on my own again.
There's a lot that goes into creating a society, it's so much more than a group of beaders sitting around a table beading once a month. I've got discounts and special privileges from the nearest bead stores...which meant my spending a whole day meeting with store owners and four hours driving, not to mention keeping up with the contacts. I've talked to bead magazines, other societies, and I've researched my heart out online. I'm going to be demonstrating how to take good pictures of your jewelry at the first meeting and have put an instruction sheet together on how to make a "white box". The 'press' will be there for the first meeting, cameras in hand. So I hope to heaven there's a decent turn out and it all goes smoothly.
The first article on me hits the newstands today and I'm hoping it brings out even more beaders than the 30 on my mailing list. I'm looking forward to reading the article....though I am certainly NOT looking forward to seeing the pictures. There could not have been a worse day for pictures...I was exhausted! I'd spent the previous day getting the bead stores on board for the bead society and had been on the road and talking for ten hours, that tired me out so much I couldn't sleep that night and only managed two hours! I was too tired to dye my hair so I looked like a skunk with all the white grey roots showing no matter what I did to try to disguise it. Oh well...
Actual Beading
I managed to get some work done on the Beadwork Challenge piece last night and it's coming together nicely now...third time's a charm right? I'm happy with the components I created and have been since conception it's the way to put them together on a base and chain that's been giving me trouble. The first attempt I didn't like the color I'd added and it felt 'stiff' to me, the second attempt wasn't bad but just didn't feel right and there was a slight issue when wearing it ~ one side fell forward when you leaned forward. That was fixable but the whole piece did not make me go "YES!" and that's what I look for.
I took a break and did some research for inspiration...I tend to look to Lalique, Fouquet and Haskell. I found a piece by Haskell that I'd not seen before that had similar elements and oddly some of the same ideas I'd had. It was made from very different materials of course, no bead weaving. So, I'd say my piece is turning into an interpretation of the Haskell piece. The main idea I incorporated was a double string and an increase in the number of drops I was already using. Hopefully this will work to my satisfaction.
If I've stirred your curiousity....sorry, but you'll have to wait till it's published which probably won't be till October/November.
I sent out the newsletter announcing the inaugural meeting. I've been sitting on the newsletter for over a week as I didn't want to send it out too much before the meeting...I'm thinking just under two weeks gives people time to put in on their calendars and hopefully not enough time to forget about it.
The bead society has been a dream of mine for almost a year now and after some set backs it's now coming together. It showed it's face publicly back in May but then I had to change focus and it got put on a back burner mostly because it's not easy building a bead society on your own. I finally met some ladies who wanted to help get it going and it gave me a new determination, which was good because after a couple of weeks the ladies backed out and I was on my own again.
There's a lot that goes into creating a society, it's so much more than a group of beaders sitting around a table beading once a month. I've got discounts and special privileges from the nearest bead stores...which meant my spending a whole day meeting with store owners and four hours driving, not to mention keeping up with the contacts. I've talked to bead magazines, other societies, and I've researched my heart out online. I'm going to be demonstrating how to take good pictures of your jewelry at the first meeting and have put an instruction sheet together on how to make a "white box". The 'press' will be there for the first meeting, cameras in hand. So I hope to heaven there's a decent turn out and it all goes smoothly.
The first article on me hits the newstands today and I'm hoping it brings out even more beaders than the 30 on my mailing list. I'm looking forward to reading the article....though I am certainly NOT looking forward to seeing the pictures. There could not have been a worse day for pictures...I was exhausted! I'd spent the previous day getting the bead stores on board for the bead society and had been on the road and talking for ten hours, that tired me out so much I couldn't sleep that night and only managed two hours! I was too tired to dye my hair so I looked like a skunk with all the white grey roots showing no matter what I did to try to disguise it. Oh well...
Actual Beading
I managed to get some work done on the Beadwork Challenge piece last night and it's coming together nicely now...third time's a charm right? I'm happy with the components I created and have been since conception it's the way to put them together on a base and chain that's been giving me trouble. The first attempt I didn't like the color I'd added and it felt 'stiff' to me, the second attempt wasn't bad but just didn't feel right and there was a slight issue when wearing it ~ one side fell forward when you leaned forward. That was fixable but the whole piece did not make me go "YES!" and that's what I look for.
I took a break and did some research for inspiration...I tend to look to Lalique, Fouquet and Haskell. I found a piece by Haskell that I'd not seen before that had similar elements and oddly some of the same ideas I'd had. It was made from very different materials of course, no bead weaving. So, I'd say my piece is turning into an interpretation of the Haskell piece. The main idea I incorporated was a double string and an increase in the number of drops I was already using. Hopefully this will work to my satisfaction.
If I've stirred your curiousity....sorry, but you'll have to wait till it's published which probably won't be till October/November.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting :) I don't care for moderated comments but due to people posting ads in the comments section I've been forced to add this function.