This weekend Beaders the world over, are strategizing for the 8th...

Beaders are browsing the classes on line and/or studying the pages of their Bead & Button Show catalog so they can be ready for the opening of registration on the 8th.
If you click here , and type my name in the instructor box, you can see my 11 class schedule.
Mind you, the big rush for registrations is right on the 8th. Some classes only accommodate 12-16 students so, Beaders sit poised to hit the keyboard right at noon (I think), so they don't get shut out of their top picks. A short time later, Bead and Button Show management looks at the numbers. If there are no or very few registrations for one class and yet another class by that instructor filled right up, they sometimes juggle things around, replacing the lesser class with a repeat session of the popular class. In past years I've heard Beaders lament that they noticed there were a ton of cancelled classes, when in fact, the content was simply swapped out. This year I think there are well over 800 offerings! Sooooo many choices.
At some point teachers are provided access to their registration numbers for their classes. Until then, I confess, I am on tenterhooks.

Oops...here are the two missing pics from previous post

A pair of bracelets I've named Sparkling Shoko, in honor of Shoko Akiyama, a friend and confidant who has translated/interpreted for me when I have exhibited with Tulip Co at the International Great Quilt Show in Tokyo. Last year she and Masami Oda learned one of my bracelet designs so they could in turn share this with the dozens of Tulip staff that wished to make bracelets too.
Turns out that one Wednesday a month staff from the Tulip Co factory meet for crafting together. I have promised to send Shoko beads and a recipe to share another new project with Tulip co-workers who attend the craft Wednesdays.
Later this month Tulip Co. will again exhibit at the Tokyo International Great Quilt Show. Several weeks ago when they invited me to join them once again, circumstances dictated that I would be unable to attend. I will be there with them in spirit.
The other picture is a modular piece that features the beaded beads I'll be teaching: a firm yet unstuffed type of pillow and the one I call trillium (though i SHOULD call them potato chip because you can't make just one!). I've just completed a new necklace featuring this pair of beaded beads...hmm, can I add a pic here? Lets see.

Pictures of the 11 projects I'm teaching at Bead and Button Show 2013

I want to get these right up and include a link to the catalog. Mark your calendar for January 8, when registrations begin.

Today you can begin to browse Bead & Button Show classes

Oh boy, the Bead & Button Show website now offers class information for the upcoming show in June 2013... Only 168 days away :)

I'm offering 11 classes this year...9 are all new, Kalahari Mirage Necklace and Felt Bangle with Beaded Bead are the only repeats from previous years. Been beading my heart out and am so excited to have so many new and exciting projects (and techniques!) to share.

Click on the link above and check out what's offered this year. Last week i received my copy of the catalog. This year it is sooooo thick with soooo many offerings, that a mere staple would not suffice. This class catalog is bound! Even if you have a catalog, checking out the photos on line is superior. Have fun looking and strategizing.
Mark your calendar for January 8... This is the day registrations begin. It is a thrilling day for teachers to track their numbers. By day's end, there is a good notion of how full the classes will be. I'm not sure what the statistics are but, I'd venture a guess that 75% of the seats are sold on that first day. For popular classes that hold only 16 or 20 seats, Beaders want to be sure to "get in" and they sit poised at their keyboards on January 8. But, don't despair if your chosen class has filled before you registered. In the days following January 8, the Bead & Button Show team juggle things and strive to offer repeat offerings of the most popular choices. Sometimes they ask a teacher to accommodate more students. In some instances they remove a class that received few or no first day registrations and replace it with a repeat of a highly requested class.

I'll try to post some pics and descriptions of my new classes later today or tomorrow.

Hyomin Kang and Daisuke Itoh from Tulip Co. shared a quick visit in NYC before they returned to Hiroshima

Saturday was a gray and hazy day. MetroNorth's Hudson line train to Grand Central passes by Bannerman's Island and I snapped this with my iPad as we sped by. The day's weather made for a cool looking shot.
On Hyomin's previous stays stateside on Tulip needle business, we have enjoyed meeting at Lily O'Briens coffee and chocolate shop as I've shared with you in previous posts. This time we find they have gone out of business. So, we met at Kinokuniya Bookstore around the corner...and also across the street from Bryant Park.
Bryant park was bustling with shoppers enjoying the holiday markets and skaters waiting to enjoy the rink that temporarily occupy the park this time of year. Add to these the Christmas trees and holiday lights and I'll tell you, it was quite romantic.
We had a lovely visit catching up on the last 6 months. I asked if it would be okay to share on TulipBeadingNeedles.com I'd asked if it would be okay to share some of my tour of Tulip this year. For example, pictures of Mr. Manube, the man who helped create the machine that ultimately makes the size 12 needles possible; and Masami Oda, one of the three Tulip staff responsible for handwork involved in setting the eye, polishing and inspecting the size 13 needles; and Takasaki Shinichi who gold-plates the eyes of the needles... Now that they've given the green light, I will have to get to work on this. We shopped a little in the park, enjoyed dinner together before Hyomin and Daisuke had to head back to their hotel, in preparation for an early flight in the morning.

5th Annual Holiday Gala at Town of Esopus Library

This is the third time my schedule has permitted me to participate in my local library's holiday arts and crafts show and sale. It opened December 1st with an evening reception. The works will be on display for sale until December 29th.
The needle arts group that meets at the library every Monday offered several hand knit items for sale. Once again, I was able to collect wooly wonderfulness to get me through the winter, including wraps and fingerless gloves by knitter Michele DelPriore. This year she was showing her beaded knitted jewelry. Very cool. Here she is next to a few of her jewelry pieces.
Michele's husband Michael made an appearances and then helped install the last few displays that will linger throughout the season. What a delightful man he is. He admired the intricacy of my beadwork and then said he is an architectural model maker. Yes, here is a man who appreciates detail and intricacies. Check out these two pictures of his models. Yup, i said models. These are not the actual real estate. These are his exquisite models. To the extent that real estate development has declined, so has his business. And, Michael said, the trend is to outsource model making to Asia. So, he has stumbled upon a new market for his craft, when sought out by a customer who requested a model of his beloved's favorite property. He is rendering models of cherished real or imagined properties for folks who want to retain the property forever. One sentimental customer even requested a model of the TajMahal. This is right up Michael's alley. Ad he is as charming and personable as he is talented.
Michael, Michele and I enjoyed the opportunity to visit throughout the evening. When I spoke of how much I adore Japan and have had the bliss of traveling there 4 times, they divulged that their son, a language major at Vassar College, has accepted a position with government in Tokyo for 1-5 years. Not only is he fluent in Japanese, but, Chinese also. Wow.
It was a great opportunity to buy warm hand-knit woollies, sell some holiday beadwork and visit with "neighbors".

All I can say is, I'm so delighted to be back.

For over a year I've carried around in my purse, a full-page for a design school which I tore from a magazine. The text is written over a photograph of a most fascinating gray-green beady looking surface. For months I ruminated about what this could be. Is it a sea creature? Well...Recently I discovered a most wonderful vegetable called, by my green grocer, a Romanesca cauliflower. It is the most thrilling and gorgeous thing I have ever seen. It looks beaded, sporting little round bumps that are at once graduated and swirling. Positively incredible. When finally provoked into cooking the first one that I carted around to show everyone who'd listen, I'd say it tastes both nutty and cruciferous...reminiscent of an artichoke.
Would that I could bead anything this lovely.
In the 4 or so months since we last shared this space, I've also been pretty much absent from Facebook too but, this darned inspiring veggie actually provided the impetus to get me to pin something on Pinterest, another social media I was encouraged into.