Bead Embroidery

In the comments on my last post, I mentioned the possibility of photographing my beaded cabochon work. I created these when I was finding my way as to how I wanted to express myself with beadwork and have not actively pursued selling them. They are not on etsy, flickr or facebook. The first one uses the stacked cage method from Larkin Jean Van Horn's book Beading on Fabric. The cab is made by Robert Jennik of Knot Just Beads near Milwaukee, Wisconsin (he is a vendor at the Bead & Button Show and also in Naperville, IL at the Suburban Bead Encounter). I wish I had purchased more of his work because he has not brought more to Naperville that I have seen, and the round shape was so easy to bead and the colors are versatile.



The next cabochon is an agate I purchased from another beader who was wire wrapping stones her friend inherited. I carefully chose 3 from the large sack she was rapidly wire wrapping while we watched in amazement how easily she accomplished it. I really like the picture nature made in the stone. The cab is captured using the Gourd on the Ground (peyote) method which is the most common method I've seen. You can see that I embellished these in my favorite lacy style.



This last cab is a vintage Swarovski crystal round in emerald which is captured using the Lace Cage method. This was my first and only cuff bead embroidered and glued to a metal form. Besides using too much glue on the ultrasuede (messy), I would not use crystals that stick out from the other beadwork except near the cab. I used size 15 charlottes (no longer being made)for some of the beadwork. Tiny!



I used all three methods of capturing the cab which I found useful based on the shape of the cab. The other book I owned when I created these items is Beaded Embellishment by Amy C. Clarke & Robin Atkins. Both are excellent books with lots of inspirational photos; both books are artists who create in fabric rather than jewelry makers. In the past year, I have acquired The Art of Bead Embroidery by Heidi Kummli and Sherry Serafini and Beading with Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin. When I started looking at the details in these books, I realized each contradicted the others, so I set them aside to explore what works for me. I will share that in my next post.

I have two pins that are about halfway completed...waiting for gluing...and a dozen or so more for earrings and pins. I have a lot of beads, but seldom the ones I need. My goal for making pins and earrings is to get lower price point items in my inventory.

Expressing My Values in Daily Life

I have the personal belief that the random books I pick up to read have personal messages for me in my current life. Lately, I've been reading about self sabotage by valuing others more than myself leading to less time and resources spent on my creative activities because of doing for others. Last night another source helped me realize that my Christian upbringing emphasizing doing for others, being Christ like, and the values I was taught as a child encourage this.

Spending time with an authority figure from my childhood often leaves me stuck in regards to my creative work. As an adult, I realize that although I do not want to live my life this way or pass these values on to the next generation, it still effects my daily life. So I need to learn to live my values, those that say personal expression is important, that I am important.

The Chapter in Marry Your Muse by Jan Phillips titled Mom's Advice has an Action of writing five distractions from your life that keep you from attaining a more peaceful state of being. It suggests that if the distractions were eliminated, you would have more time to do the things you truly desire. It asks what truly prevents me from doing what I want to do. I know that I will be going through the motions at first in order to change this value in my daily life actions. But this is a change I want to create.

Recently I have been accummulating things needed to do bead embroidery, but have not been able to actually start it. I want to paint the Lacy's Stiff Stuff so I don't have the possibility of the white background showing through. So I am going to glue some cabochons on unpainted and paint another sheet in a dark blue/green which are the colors of most of my cabs. Then I will be one step closer to actually doing the bead embroidery that I want to do.

Recently Completed Projects

I have attended a couple of Art Fairs that I was not invited to participate in. One that I was on the wait list for, I'm doubly glad I did not participate in (rain and my customer doesn't shop there) and the other is one where a lot of the artists repeat year after year, and there was no art jewelry, just strung items. I have to keep reminding myself that I cannot price beadweaving at strung jewelry prices. So I've decided to make some strung pieces that will be priced competitively with those artists items along with my beadwoven pieces. In mid August, I am doing a talk about my art and will focus on explaining what goes into my highest priced items. Sorry I don't put photos of these on the internet but the heading for my blog is part of one of my favorites.

I used lavender pink fresh water head drilled pearls in a flat spiral bracelet with Swarovski victorian rose crystals and firepolished amethyst ab beads.

Liked the colors so much I did my first tubular right angle weave necklace which took a while since I knotted each embellishing bead. I've made cuff bracelets embellished completely with Swarovski crystals (more than 500), so it's not my longest project. The colors are ones I like to wear; the colors seem to get softer as I get older and grayer.

I have ideas for rings in these colors, so I will get back to making them soon.

Another project was an eggshell/ivory colored dutch spiral necklace; I finished the strung part very early this morning. I like the 4.2 mm gold filled roundels between the beads. Cluster earrings with cream pearls and crystal golden shadow need some pearls on order. I ordered Swarovski light gold pearls and really like them, too, but decided to use the roundels and not add the golden yellow in the pearls. Another project?

Thanks for the inspiration on how to cut and paste my pictures throughout my blog! Right click is my friend!

Returning to my Blog?

I have been absent from my beadweaving blog because I did not want to write about my personal feelings regarding my father's passing. I realize that if I want to continue with my beadweaving business, I need to write about my beading passion to let you know my activities.

I added a list of my Art Fairs & Shows which seems to have removed my followers, so I'll have to figure out how to get that back or add a new gadget to do that. Computers can be challenging to understand.

I watched the PBS program, Craft in America, Messages, which was broadcast on Tuesday night. It is available in video and book forms (there are 2 previous programs which are also available from the past two years) from http://www.craftinamerica.org/

This year's program featured a bead artist who confirmed that beaders are collectors/hoarders of their beady goodies. I am certainly in that category. I have accumulated several favorite semiprecious stones, either as pendants or as cabochons. I also have several lampwork artist's treasures and some clay items. As I have some time before my next selling event, I plan to create using these items in my jewelry. I love variety, so I will be using Swarovski crystals and pearls in my work, but not featuring them unless someone requests an item.

Since blogs are best with pictures, here are some of my newer creations that are not necessarily on etsy yet. New cluster earrings with crystals and pearls, cubic zirconia earrings, double drilled rose quartz bracelet, beadwoven embellished flower ring, and a turquoise pendant necklace were created in April and May. Another computer challenge I have is to learn how to have the pictures be somewhere other than at the beginning of the posting. Please give me a hint if you know the technique.

Role of Music

I have been working on applications for Art Fairs, and put a picture of my booth on facebook. I purchased the tent in September 2010 and used it for one fair before winter set in, so it needs work. I have used shadow box frames to pin my jewelry for display which has a magnetic closure on the front, which created some interest in where they were available. They are available at Hobby Lobby.

Hobby Lobby is a great story/role model for on line entrepreneurs such as Etsy sellers. It was started in the family's living area with a small amount of money, quite a while ago as the founder is now a great grandfather. It is a family business, actually several family businesses, because the product in the stores (over 400 Hobby Lobby stores in 39 states) is made by their own companies. Gives them great control over the quality of the product which is in my opinion, good value. You can also order on line. They are based in Oklahoma and have used some of the best sales promotion features of JoAnn and Walmart, etc. Whole categories of items are on sale at 30 - 50% off frequently, and there is always a 40% off one item with the coupon available in the store. Big difference is that the stores are closed on Sundays as it is a Christian business.

When I visited my local store yesterday to purchase a couple more shadow box frames at 50% off, I noticed the upbeat music which repeated itself fairly often, but it didn't bother me. I had a discussion with my hair stylist earlier about the importance of music in the shop. In Hobby Lobby I realized that the music was familiar but not the usual arrangement. When I found the words to the song were in my head, that I knew the "song", I realized that the music was praising God, because the song was "How Great Thou Art". If you are unfamiliar with it, the song has strong emotional connections. We hear so much noise in the world, this was so pleasant, reaching back to my childhood upbringing, that it was in my head the rest of the day. I even woke up "hearing" it. Of course, I bought more than I might have and spent extra time just looking. I have a couple ideas using items I saw in their store. Just from music that was soothing to me, so I could relax in the store. A positive shopping experience.

As an artist/designer, I use music as I work. I will be paying more attention to what I play both while I work and at Art Fairs. To learn more about Hobby Lobby, follow the link:

http://www.hobbylobby.com/our_company/our_company.cfm

Please share in the comments section the music you like to listen to as you work.

New Year, New Lifestyle Changes

I've taken time away for the holiday and to review my business since its inception and my life over the last decade. I decided that I've exhausted myself trying to do things that just are not working, and I've lost some of the things that I used to love. This is not stress or depression, but burn out where I am no longer motivated to act because it seems hopeless and I'm helpless. Part of the "cure" is self care.

I found myself with a gift card to Borders Books store as a result of a return of a gift book. I knew my local store was sadly depleted of jewelry making books, but didn't realize they also had a poor selection of art and art history books I've used for creative inspiration. I've been criticizing myself for not doing marketing and found a book called The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing....hardly a holiday gift but more about that another time. So I searched my former favorite topic areas and found Fried Why You Burn Out and How to Revive by Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. and knew this was a great book for me. I had collected quite a few of her books because they seemed to resonate with me and Fried described my feelings very well. You can find out more about her work at http://www.joanborysenko.com/ or www.facebook.com/pages/Boulder-CO/Joan-Borysenko/211406562428

So today, as part of my self care, I decided I would finally make the chocolate mousse from Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet. I searched for recipes (mainly desserts because that is what I miss the most...Christmas in my childhood home equals COOKIES) that cater to my food sensitivities and allergies, but did not make any during the holidays because I put my own needs last. Before you write me off as a chocoholic beadweaver wanting a super sugar high, let me tell you it uses avocados, dates, agave syrup and raw cacao powder NOT butter, cream and eggs! It whips up in my Cuisinart quicker than I can clean up the work bowl.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE: Soak 1/4 cup pitted medjool dates (yummy) in water for 10 to 30 minutes to soften. Drain and place in a food processor fitted with the S blade along with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave nectar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional) and process until smooth. Add 3/4 cup mashed avocados (1 1/2 avocados) and 1/4 cup plus 2T unsweetened cocoa and process until creamy, scrapping the sides of the bowl occassionally. Add 1/4 cup water and process briefly. Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. Serve chilled or at room temperature ( thaw frozen about 15 minutes before serving) Yields 1 cup, 2 servings...I made a double batch and put one in the freezer!

Please check out Jennifer Cornbleet at http://www.learnrawfood.com/ or her book on your favorite site or at your library. She has good recipes for all meals of the day designed for 1 or 2 servings made healthy with raw foods...no cooking! She talks about tools you use so it's great for novice "cooks".

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!