Monday, April 22, 2013

Nuno felting at Bead Browsery in Liberty MO

Http://www.BeadBrowsery.com is a gorgeous beadstore housed within the Corbin Mill in Liberty MO. Within this same beautiful brick building is a knitting/needle art shop, an antique store, a dance studio and a rug hooker's paradise called "American! Whatever", that stocks hundreds of hand-dyed and over-dyed woolen fabrics and 100's of patterns for hookers. Polymer clay artist and teacher Kristi Friesen, who you may know from our bead community, has even designed some of these. The brick and interior walls are decorated with over 150 of owner Sandy William's hooked rugs.
It was my pure delight to spend 3 days doing workshops here. day one...Nuno Felted Neckwear. Paula is seen modeling Kay's piece. She used her felted chenille wire to produce a bezeled "keyhole", through which the silk end of the scarf could be pulled. Lovely. Sandy ( yes, the rug hooker and shop owner above) hand-dyes silk scarves that are always available but were most appreciated for this workshop. Michele is seen here wearing a green one that she felted her skewer-technique motifs into. Dana brought a very large white silk scarf with her. Through tenacity and focused concentration, she was able to complete the equivalent of two scaves-worth of felting within our workshop. She is seen wearing this here.





Thursday, April 18, 2013

Last weekend at Bead Gallery Inc in Melrose, MA

Spring is here and, as my buds and branches in the garden begin to bloom, so does my teaching schedule. Last week we beaded for 3 days at Bead Gallery Inc (no felting on this trip). Ruth, a "regular" at our twice-a-year-workshops, where I ALWAYS premier at least one fresh new design, (this time 3!) was a real trooper, taking all 5 workshops! Her Dragon Bracelet is embellished with powder blue pearls which not only enhance the frosty beads but, also customized the fit. Patty, another "regular", who admits to being there as much for the camaraderie as the beading FINISHED her gold and blue Dragon Bracelet. Other Bead Gallery beaders I long to see when there were kept away by surgery or work gigs or, dare I guess, a better offer? We keep in touch on Facebook, meanwhile.
Speaking of Facebook...did you check out our page, Facebook.com/TulipBeadingNeedles? Come share the love for Tulip; love of beading; love of our community; ya know, alllll the love!!! Please post your love letters here; pictures of your work, your bead group, your inspirations. Don't forget to "like" us and send a SASE to receive your Tulip cellulose head pin.
Right now...I'm in BWI waiting to board the second leg of my flight to Liberty MO for a long weekend of beading and felting workshops at Bead Browsery. Hope to share some of that fun in a post tomorrow or Saturday. Until then, happy beading. Love, Carol