EBW Spring Swap-Tale of Procrastination and Regret !

A couple months ago, an idea for a swap of beadwoven creations among members of the Etsy Beadweavers started to be tossed around. 12 members signed on and then the beading began. I received Laura Zeiner's name. I didn't know Laura, but she listed her preferences and said her favorite colors were earth tones...wouldn't you know, most of the bead colors in my stash are bright "jewel" tones like magenta, purple, royal blue...alot of black, gold and silver beads too. I had to search the stash for a few muted colors and thought about trying out a new beadweaving technique. I was curious about the spiral peyote stitch I had recently seen in Bead and Button and thought about creating a bracelet for her. I poured out the beads, got settled and time after time, got lost in the pattern and found myself ripping and restarting. For some reason, I couldn't wrap my brain around the directions, or the pattern just didn't present itself in the beadwork as I went. Oh, well, back to the drawing board.

After having procrastinated long enough on even starting the project, I found myself up against the deadline and feeling guilty. I tried a couple more designs, but they weren't interesting enough or shaping up properly. I had some round agate slices and one of them was in muted brown shades. I started beading around it in peyote stitch, switching bead sizes, but the edges were too wavy...more ripping ensued. Finally, the piece began to shape up, but I needed to finish and get it in the mail. I slipped it on a silver neck cable and packed it up to send, regretting that it was just a mere shadow of the project I had in mind initially. Fortunately, Laura wrote that it was beautiful and she loved it. Whew ! I hope she's not just being nice ! Please visit Laura's blog: Stick Lizard Designs and make sure to follow the link to her Etsy shop.

Today I received the swap item that was made for me by Hadass and was thrilled that she used my favorite color, magenta and that it fit perfectly. She added pearls which I never use, so I'm pleased to have some to wear. Please visit her blog: Spring Colors and make sure to check out her Etsy shop.

Thanks to Christine of Christine's Beadworks for keeping us all in the loop ! Please stop by her blog and see the beautiful mosaic of all the beadwoven creations made for the swap.

Tatting Addiction

Red Tatted Bracelet, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

I haven't done any real beadweaving in ages it seems. It has to do with my emotional state during the divorce I just went through :-( However, I got a little kick in the creative pants, so to speak, by learning how to tat recently. The two basic design elements, ring and chain, are all I know, but I figured out how to link them along the edge and turn corners so I designed this bracelet with beads. This one I made for a friend for Valentine's Day. She has been an enormous source of support for me in the last year, and I wanted to present her with this little token of gratitude. She loved it !I've posted more bracelet photos on Flickr and will be listing a bracelet or two in my Etsy shop soon.

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 !

Bead for Life@ Green Festival

Bead for Life@ Green Festival (PixUp), originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

Yesterday I went the the Green Festival to perform with my band at the end of the show. There were hundreds of vendors promoting green products and services, and as I was making my way through the booths, I found one of my favorite organizations, Bead for Life. This organization helps women in Uganda produce beads and jewelry made from recycled magazines. The sales of the jewelry help the women with individual and community projects in their towns. I rushed right up to the booth and started shopping. It's always so hard to choose just the right piece, but I ended up selecting two simple bracelets. The ladies kindly allowed me to take a photo. I hope they had some good sales at the show.

Beading in Red, White and Black...Batala Hey !

I love living in the Washington, DC area for all the cultural opportunities it offers and in the last 5 years, I have gained close friends in the Bulgarian, Finnish, Ghanaian and Brazilian communities through music (visit my fiber art blog to read more). Since last year, I have been a member of the USA's only Batala band, which is an all-women Brazilian percussion band. Our band is in high demand in DC for parades, fundraisers, soccer halftime shows, honorary dinners and many other events. We have a visual identity that employs the colors red, white and black and right now, I am in full production mode for a supply of jewelry for our upcoming art gallery fundraiser. One of our members is a graphic artist and has invited other artists to paint portraits of band members as we play which will be auctioned off at the end of the party. I'm looking forward to selling lots of jewelry to band members and friends.