Today at the Perlen Akademie booth, Creativa Expo, in Dortmund Germany, I snapped this photo of someone snapping a photo of the exhibit of my beadwork and felt jewelry.

Today my teaching schedule was clear so I had a chance to take in the Expo. While Marina (our interpreter, kindred beading spirit and German ambassador) took us around, we passed this beader wearing her "Bead Happy" necklace. As I noticed and remarked about her, we hugged and snapped photos: I took away this photo of her and she has a photo of the two of us. It is such a warm and wonderful life, this felty beadedness.

When I spotted this lovely felt necklace and earring, I just had to meet her. This is Crystal. She mosly felts hats and is working on garments recently, mostly incorporating silk.

This is the second photo I took of Christa Saalfrank. In the first one she was not wearing her gorgeous felt bead jewelry. Wish she had a website. Her work was lovely. Many felted beads embellished with decorative stitches strung on cable or (yikes) elastic. Many pieces with silver components.

Couldn't even get near this booth. Guessing by the appearance of mass production, I figure there must be a felting collective behind this. These pieces are very different than those I have seen for sale in the U.S. from the Nepalese felting collectives.

It was exciting to see the variety and abundance of felt items at the show. There were a couple demonstration/workshops going on also. Saturday, all day, I will demonstrate both wet-felting and needle felting in the Perlen Akademie Hall 5. There will be kits on hand so that anyone choosing can have a workshop right here, right then. In the evening I will teach the felted and beaded bangle bracelet that is so popular at Bead and Button Show.

Almost everyone in class at Beadzo last night, wanted to make a Bead Happy bracelet using their own palette of happy colors. Tara's (upper left in photo) is tranquil happiness in blues, purples and greens, as opposed to my exuberant happy of yellow, red, aqua and greens. Actually, the kit for Bead Happy has about 50 different beads! It takes nearly as long to make a kit as to bead the bracelet. I wish I was kidding! Though it is retired from the roster of classes I teach at the Bead and Button Show, it remains popular. It is one of the classes I will teach in Germany in March at Creativa. Ithas been kitted by Coronet in Japan, and used in the beadstitch curriculum for herringbone stitch.

Kitty chose to forgo the Bead Happy bracelet to work on more bezels for rivolis. She is doing several in sizes 18 and 12mm to connect into a reversible bracelet, taking advantage of this style bezel that is as lovely from backside as from the frontside.

A reminder: I have kits for 3 bezel styles for 18mm rivoli. The kit features a rivoli (some rare and vintage and unusual colors) with easy to follow illustrated instructions. At $15 each, perhaps you'd like one of each! Just give me a call to check on colors 845-384-6417, or e mail.

Today I received my "teacher's" e mail from Bead and Button Show
with hotel info, early registration, a poster and the show schedule. Featured on the show schedule is this photo, captioned "Glass Bead Inspired Lariat: Artist Carol Cypher." Great exposure. THE inspirational bead is this one by Nancy Tobey. She wrote to say she has made all the 20 beads for the 20 kits I will make for the registered students. My covenant with B&B and the students, is that the kits will make a piece JUST LIKE THE ONE IN THE PHOTO. Don't you just know that the little stripey bead that dominates this piece has been discontinued! How I just adore those little stripey beads. Well, I have accumulated sufficient to make all 2o kits, plus a little to spare. When WILL I learn not to use rare or unusual beads in the projects I must kit? Honestly, I just cannot help myself. It is those uncommon beads that draw me in.

When I taught at the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild they were wary of an $85 kit that was really mostly seed beads. That project was composed of my accumuated collection of German and Italian seed beads from wayyyyyyyyyyyy back. Their exceptional colors have not yet been duplicated in the Czech and Japanese beads offered today. And when these discontinued beauties are gone, they're gone. This is why I say, when you see a bead you like, BUY IT. And if you risk not being able to get your beady little hands on more, BUY ALL OF THEM. Mind you, I'm not advocating greed. It is an artist thing. When the color speaks to you, you have to listen.
In the previous entry I mentioned Motoko Natsubori, translator, interpreter, beader, friend. Here we are at this June's Bead and Button Show.