Woo-hoo ! I'm in the COCO MoCA

Conan Necklace, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

My beaded Conan pendant got selected for the online gallery of artwork depicting Conan O'Brien and his various images and logos. Last summer I made a peyote stitched pendant (started off as a bracelet, but I procrastinated) and I wore it to the Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television tour that Conan did while he was off the air. Team Coco started a Flickr group for people's artwork (they totally stole that idea from me, I started my group first !) and selected different works in all media. There is a Facebook LIKE this page button for my piece, but the link is wrong. If you click it, you end up LIKING somebody else's piece ! Grrrr !

EBW Members Nearly Meet !

A couple days ago I got a Facebook message from a fellow Etsy Beadweaver, Rosita aka CrownRoseGems. She was visiting the Washington, DC area and I felt very honored that she wanted to make a special trip to my fiber co-op to see my beadwork. We nearly made a connection, but plans didn't favor our meeting in person. However, she was able to visit the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery in the Torpedo Factory Art Center, and graciously complimented my jewelry that she saw while she was there. Please take a look at her beautiful beadwork here . I hope we do get to meet sometime and I hope I get to meet other beadweavers too. My place is always open for a visit from a fellow bead fanatic !
CrownRoseGems

Etsy Beadweavers' December Challenge Entries

The latest beadweaving challenge is all about peace and the winter olympics. Take a look at what members of the Etsy Beadweavers have beaded up this time !

The Artistry of the Etsy Beadweavers

One of the members of the Etsy Beadweavers put together this deliciously beautiful montage of works by nearly every member of the team. My Shades of Grey necklace appears near the beginning at the 26 sec. mark. Thank you, Christina, of Good Quill Hunting for making this lovely video. Now, when I need inspiration, I'll just watch the video !

Second tatting attempt (PixUp)

Second tatting attempt (PixUp), originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

A couple weeks ago, I blogged on Fiberlines about learning to tat. My intention is to incorporate beads and make some jewelry items. After finishing my very first tatted medallion, I dug up this pretty pearl cotton that I've had for years, and strung it with some 8/0s. I'm hoping this will turn into a bracelet and I might figure out a way to work some beadweaving into the edges. Stay tuned !

While you're waiting on pins and needles for the outcome of this project, take a look at totusmel's incredible Tatted Mask instructions on Instructables, or visit this tatting forum to meet fellow tatters.

New Classes at Off the Beading Path

After re-thinking my beadweaving class offerings, I decided to go with shorter, more beginner level classes at a very affordable price ($15--can't bead, I mean beat that !). I was originally offering 3-hour classes which used my kits, but wasn't getting any takers for those. I came up with some smaller projects which the owner approved and put them on the schedule. I offered an intro to beadweaving which had the student make a simple leaf design with size 8/0 beads and intro to brick stitch which used a simple graphed pattern I made with BeadTool. A few students signed up for those and had a good time. The next class on the schedule is bead embroidered cabochon pendant or pin and I have several people down for that. I'm also offering triangle earrings, peyote tube bracelet or earrings and brick stitch circle earrings or pendant. These are the upcoming class dates:

Feb. 28 2-4 pm Bead Embroidered Cabochon
Mar. 14 3-4:30 pm Triangle Earrings
Apr. 5 2-3 pm Peyote Bead Tube Bracelet or Earrings
May 9 2-3:30 pm Brick Stitch Cirvle Earrings

YouTube Views

As I was winding down from an afternoon of beadweaving classes, I decided to check my YouTube channel to see how many views I've gotten on my one-and-only beadweaving tutorial. I was shocked to see that it's been viewed almost 7400 times !!! I think it might be due to it's location on a jewelry and beading blog that I didn't know about until it showed up in my Google Alerts.

I'm not that happy with the tutorial as my camera doesn't take great macro shots, nor do I have a digital video camera. However, I wanted to get something out there as an experiment until I am ready to upgrade my equipment. The one thing I love about the tutorial is the music of my friend, Nana Frimpong, and his amazing djembe playing. When I post another tutorial, I plan to use more of his music. I think it has a certain meditative yet purposeful sound, perfect for beadweaving.

Etsy BeadWeavers February Challenge...

JanFebMosaic, originally uploaded by wMarlaine.

...is entitled Tropical Holiday. Please visit our Etsy BeadWeavers blog where you will find links to each entry then vote for your fave !

Beadalon Offer

Update: Super-fast delivery ! I received two spools of Wild Fire today, only a couple days after ordering ! They sent me one spool of 12 lb in green and 10 lb in black, 50 yds each ! It says thermally bonded beadweaving thread-cannot be pierced with a needle. I hope I like working with it. I haven't been able to find a price anywhere because they didn't include a cover letter, just a catalog, but with no prices.
I got the following message through my website:

Subject: fireline
Message: Drop me a line and I will send you samples of our new Wild Fire. We have had many FireLine users say they like it much better.

Best regards,

Drew Potter

BEADALON
440 Highlands Blvd.
Coatesville, PA 19320
866-423-2325 x116
610-466-6000
FAX: 610-384-7260
dpotter@beadalon.com

I sent my request for the samples, because I would love to have something less slippery and more supple, like Nymo thread (see my previous post where I mention my dislike for Fireline-what good timing !). I'll report back on the new thread after I receive it, or if anyone else tries it, please leave a comment.

Incremental Progress

Talk about lazy-that's been me lately. Spending way too much time on Facebook, reading blogs, watching TV and trying to referee the new kitty/old kitty battles. I haven't completed any new beading projects in months it seems. The newest project I've started which is still a WIP, is a brick stitch pin. I had some round metal pins (brooch) and have been experimenting with adapting the brick stitch earring design. I encircled the disc with wraps of Fireline and have been using a copper color palette. I intend to cover the wraps on the back with ultrasuede and stitch it down. Since I hate working with Fireline, I tend to put this project down frequently, but wanted to use it to prevent the metal edge from cutting the thread. Wish me luck on finishing this before Thanksgiving !

In other beading news, I'm enjoying using my new Beadalon sticky gel pad in my beading tin (the blue stuff in the photo). It's great for keeping beads from rolling.

New Art Venue Opening

There's a new art and craft gallery in Hyattsville, MD called Artists on the Avenue and I will be showing my jewelry there. There are 30 artists, so it is quite an eclectic mix of art. This Saturday is the grand opening celebration which features the opportunity to make your own fused glass pendant for free !

Beadweaving Classes at Off the Beading Path !

Recently, I decided to leave the Artists' Undertaking Gallery in Occoquan, VA, where I had been a member for the past four years. I plan to focus on putting more of my beadwork and other fiber artwork in the Potomac Craftsmen Fiber Gallery in the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Just as I was planning to leave Occoquan, a new bead store called Off the Beading Path opened and the owner contacted me about teaching there. I am happy to retain my Occoquan connections as it is a delightful little town with some wonderful people and stores to visit. So, here are my upcoming classes !


Saturday, August 23rd from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm: Spiral Rope Bracelet and Earrings Set

Sunday, September 7th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Glass Gem Ring

Saturday, September 20th from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm: Three Earring Designs with Delica Beads


All the materials are available in the store with a friendly 10% discount on purchases for class participants. My kits will also be available for $20 each.

Vacation Treats

Vacation is all about treating yourself, right ? Well, here's how I treated myself this past week on my trip to Boston and the NE corridor. In Boston, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts where I was too cheap to pay the $17 entrance fee (I'm used to the freebie museums here in Washington, DC), but spent about two hours in the amazing bookstore there. I found a copy of "Zulu Beadwork" which was on my "to-buy" list and snagged it. I'm interested in the triangular tube patterns. The next day, I chanced upon a delightful little bead shop called Beadworks where I spent about an hour picking up some fresh colors and findings. Next stop after Boston was Bar Harbor, Maine where I found some agate slabs and disks at Willi's Rock Shop.

New Local Bead Shop

Bead shop, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

There's a new bead shop within 5 miles of my house ! It's unbelievable ! The shop just opened up at the end of June and is already doing brisk business. I have acquainted myself with the owner and she invited me to teach classes there. I will be teaching three classes in the coming weeks, including my gem ring, spiral rope bracelet and earring set, and three Czech bead earring designs. I sure hope Off the Beading Path is here to stay !

Earring Tutorial on YouTube !

My husband put together a video tutorial of the still photos of my "Starflower" herringbone earrings. It features the music of our friend, Nana Frimpong, a master drummer and kalimba player from Ghana. Since there wasn't space for the text on each photo, I have a link to download the directions from my website. Try it and leave a comment on YouTube or here. Also, I have a Flickr set of all the photos here . Thanks for looking !

Viking Knit Necklace

Viking Knit Necklace, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

I'm a featured artist this month at the Artists' Undertaking Gallery in Occoquan, Virginia. Along with the other artist, painter, Barbara Henris, we entitled our show "New Directions" to highlight the recent changes to our styles of work. I have hit a low point in sales at the gallery and decided to add my newest technique learned; viking knit . There is a silver jeweler across the hall from our gallery, and I wanted to try and interest some of the customers who are more attracted to silver and metals. We shall see how that goes ! In any case, I am having fun with viking knit and experimenting with a variety of shapes beyond the basic, yet beautiful rope shape. More to come ;-)

Keeping Busy

My other obsession is vintage clothing, textiles and sewing (see my other blog: Fiberlines ), and I just finished up a dozen recycled apron totebags for the Ballston Arts and Crafts Market two weekends ago.

So in other words, I need to catch up on beadweaving, and I have the next gallery jury day at Potomac Craftsmen Gallery on Monday. As usual, it coincides with a weekend filled with rehearsals for an early music concert (I play baroque violin and viola for a living LOL), which will take up all my time for beading (darn mortgage payment and food !!!) so here's a new item that I managed to whip up while gallery sitting the other day. It's very simple, but hey, it's stock.

Green Glass Herringbone Bracelet

Green Glass Herringbone Bracelet, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

This bracelet started out as an earring, spent several hours as a ring, then finally morphed into a bracelet.

Identify this stitch !

Identify this stitch !, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

A friend asked me to repair this necklace. All it needs is a new loop, so I accepted. Usually, I decline repairs of jewelry that I didn't make. Obviously, this is some type of African stitch, and according to Carol Huber Cypher's Mastering Beadwork, it resembles African Polygon. It looks interesting enough to try, so if anyone has any knowledge, please pass it this way. THX

Triangular Tones Bracelet

Triangular Tones Bracelet, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

This was supposed to be another box, and when the corners of the triangle started to rise up instead of lie flat, I changed it into a bracelet and finished it the next day. I added a vintage glass button in the center. It's now listed here .