Look at these sweet Tetra-Phyls bracelets (designed and taught by Phyllis Dintenfass) that Pat Reisner completed from that class with Phyllis at Beadfest. I love how they dance and flutter when she wears them.
A couple posts ago I spoke about the kits we're working on for Midnight in Manhattan. Meanwhile I had to ramp up the inventory of these beads. Well, I am not sure if you can tell from the photo but, both of these are each worked up in size 8 Japanese seed beads. One is the original and one is worked up from the fresh delivery of beads I ordered for the kits. Yikes! There is such a difference in the way the Matsuno worked up compared with the Miyuki. The original piece is firmer and the new one is loosey-goosely and UNacceptable. So, what is the harm in laying in even MORE beads?

Customarily you can find me teaching on a couple Thursdays a month at Beadzo in Tivoli NY . This month there is only one class and it is TUESDAY 17th.

Call to reserve a seat 845-757-5306. Lise wants to felt and bead an implosion, so I'll have the materials with me for her, and you if you wish to join in. I'll show Terri and Cookie some jewelry designs that use the new bezeled rivolis they have been making with me. Tara might bring Charlotte and perhaps they'll felt and bead a small purse like that shown in the photo. Makes a great gift!
Sunday I'll be back at Kinokuniya Bookstore in NYC (across the street from Bryant Park). We'll make a felted flower from 2-5pm in a specially discounted $25 workshop! Call to reserve your seat 212-869-1700. I'd love to link you to a sexy website but, truth is, they are an amazing bookstore with a woefully blah and uninformative website. I'll bring Turbo Felting Boards for everyone to use. There will also be a trunk show of my felted and beaded jewelry and a booksigning. Come by and felt with me.

My train ride down to Kinokuniya Bookstore in Manhattan was a delight, as Fran and I traveled down together. We wrapped up the morning with a snack together and then I headed off to the bookstore to set up the trunk show and workshop. Fran headed uptown for another booksigning event. When she showed me the iTouch case she just felted, I had to shoot it to share with you. It is just as sparkly and warm as Fran is!

This is the trunk show display, stacks of books ready for inscribing and to the right, off camera is the workshop set up.

Omi Gray showed up wearing an amazing, seamlessly felted nuno jacket. Not only is the scrim fabric silk chiffon. The wool felted into it is a silk blend.

The workshop was an introduction to needle felting. Victoria made a pumpkin ornament for starters.

Hellura (left) and I met at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival.
She makes handbags, mostly wool and often from recycled sweaters. When I shared with her the potential of needle felting as a means to embellish and decorate the surface, she was keenly interested. I cannot wait to see how this new technique informs her work. The young woman in the center is August. Though she joined us late, she was a quick study and created a small sculpture. Victoria (right) frequents Kinokuniya and joined me for the first event here in July. She is an avid crafter and student of Japanese.

November 15th, also a Sunday, I return for a 3 hour felted flower workshop/trunk show/book signing. Hope to see you then. It is the rare occasion to enjoy a workshop for the discounted $25, that includes materials. Expect to make a felted flower or bangle bracelet. Call for reservations 212-869-1700. WIsh they had a sexy website to link you to. Au contraire.

Today was a fabulous day at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. It is my once a year occasion to play "Suzie Retailer" and I enjoy it very much. This is my friend Susan's last year as a vendor and we are in a celebratory mood as she clears her inventory by offering most of it at 50% off. Today we saw many books and knitting needles fly off the shelves. I sold Turbo Felting Boards, signed books and showed off my Japanese felting book. A few folks I spoke with said they might come to Kinokuniya Bookstore next Sunday, across from Bryant Park, for my booksigning, trunk show and 2-5pm workshop. It is deeply discounted to $25 and this includes materials! Call the store to reserve your space. 212-869-1700. Expect to make a felted focal bead/pendant or ornament while learning needle felting techniques. THen return November 15th, same time same place for another $25 workshop and booksigning. This time expect to dabble in traditional feltmaking while creating a felt flower. There will be a trunk show of my felt jewelry as well.
Omi Gray came by the booth to say hello. I'm hoping she and David and I can meet for dinner next weekend after my event at Kinokuniya Bookstore. Check out her great hat. One of her hats is featured in HOW WE FELT. She is a feltmaker but primarily works and teaches workshops in metal clay and beadwork.
Terrie from StarrSpun Felt came by and we enjoyed a brief visit. You may recall my post about her exhibit at Crafts on Columbus in May. She will be showcased as "Emerging Artist" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Show next month.
Yikes, I have no link for Omi because I cannot find her website info OR HER PHONE NUMBER!!! Hope I can reach her and share her contact info with you later.

Today's good news is that there is a source (in the U.S.) for ETIMO cushion grip crochet hooks: Knitty City in New York City. The manufacturer, Tulip Co., came from Japan to exhibit at TNNA this past June, hoping to find a wholesaler for their line of crochet hooks, needles, knitting needles and felting supplies.

Remember, Tulip Co sponsored my feltmaking book that I wrote for the Japanese craft market and is published by Patchwork Tsushin Co. Would that I could have written it in Japanese. Instead, my manuscript is in English and Motoko Natsubori translated it into Japanese.

Anyway, I had joined Tulip Co owner and staff in their exhibit at TNNA. We met Pearl Chin of Knitty City. She is carrying the crochet hooks and is happy to do mail order as well as walk-in sales. Click on link and you're half way there!

Kinokuniya Bookstore in Manhattan carries all my books, this one plus the English language ones.

On October 25 I'll be teaching a needle felting workshop from 2-5. Expect to create an ornament, pendant or brooch while learning this fascinating technique, for only $25, includes materials. Limited to 20 so register now: 212-869-1700. I'll have a trunk show there and, of course, sign books!

Yoshie Marubashi came to Kinokuniya Bookstore to say hello during my 4th of July beading workshop/book signing event. Here with us is John Fuller, store manager. Look at the beautiful cuffs these new beaders completed in class.

We scheduled two more workshop/booksigning events, to include a trunk show of my beadwork and felt: $25 registration fee includes instruction, materials and supplies!

October 25, 2-5pm. Registered participants will learn how to sculpt using wool and a felting needle. They can expect to finish a small item such as jewelry, ornament or decorative item.

November 15, 2-5pm. Registered participants will hand felt flowers using wet-feltmaking
technique and an array of fine merino wool. These are both wearable and decorative.

On my way from Grand Central Station to Kinokuniya I stopped at 70 West 40th St for a bite of lunch at Le Pain Quotidien . The comfortable and welcoming ambiance drew me in. The delicious and healthful cuisine offered this seasoned foodie a new treat: farro . Here is it offered as a salad in combination with raw beets and carrots and garnished with nori and sesame seeds. Yum. Did I say how charming and knowledgeable the waiter was? And...I had a macha latte that was so good. This morning I was eager to try my hand at making one at home, and did, and it too was yum!

From my seat at this huge communal table in the center of the dining room I could see the pastry case, blackboard of the day's specials and even catch a glimpse of the barrista at work.

When I returned to the Poughkeepsie train station, the entire station, all the platforms, and several surrounding blocks were teeming with people and cars and kids and dogs and everyone eager to take in the fireworks. Once the display was under way I was able to make it to my car in the parking garage and head through the congested streets towards home.

Mary Tynes came to the studio this week and put the finishing touches to her Ostara's Emerging Blossoms Necklace. She had been in the workshop at Beads By Blanche a couple weeks ago.

While at Blanches, we put the Flat Polygon Bracelet on the schedule for Tuesday evening 6-9 on September 22nd. Here is the one Beatrice made last week in the studio class. When Blanche posts it on her website, I'll offer a link.

On the 4th of July I will be at Kinokuniya Bookstore , 1073 Ave of the Americas, New York City for a booksigning/beadwork workshop event. Some copies of the Japanese felting book will be on hand as well as my English language books: MASTERING BEADWORK, HOW WE FELT and HAND FELTED JEWELRY AND BEADS.

The workshop is an introduction to the beading stitches so beginners are welcome.
This peyote project is a cuff composed of cube beads, and features a square stitched toggle bar and "hole" closure.
There will be many colors to choose from. Preregistration is necessary. $25 per person covers all materials and supplies.

In addition to the Bead Dreams exhibit at the Bead and Button Show earlier this month, there was this exhibit (top) of beadwork by Japanese beadworkers.
These pieces had been displayed in a juried exhibit at Hakone Art Museum . The beautiful catalog of this Hakone exhibit plus textiles, pressed flowers, and dolls is available through Kinokuniya bookstore in NYC.

(Click on Kinokuniya for a schedule of events, including the beadweaving workshop I will offer July 4th.
It is an honor to tell you that this 2008 catalog from Hakone contains some of my hand felted jewelry and beadwork. It is especially meaningful to me because I was there in January 2008. It was a magical day of brilliant sunshine, blue skies and everything sparkling from a fresh dusting of snow. The grounds and sculptures were breathtaking. There were buildings dedicated to exhibits of works by Moore and Picasso.


Also at the Bead and Button Show was an exhibit called Convergence. These pieces of finished jewelry featured art glass beads. This juried exhibit was sponsored by ISGB and Bead & Button Magazine. A publication is forthcoming from Kalmbach Publishing, that offers the recipes for some of those pieces.

Friday morning I met in New York City with the manager of Kinokuniya Bookstores' main store, located across the street from Bryant Park. Kinokuniya is a chain of Japanese bookstores across the US. On behalf of my acquaintance Akiko Takana, I brought my collection of exquisite art books on beading, beads, and feltmaking published by MariaShobo in Japan.

Of course I brought my 3 books HANDFELTED JEWELRY AND BEADS, HOW WE FELT and MASTERING BEADWORK(Interweave Press), shown above and right, plus the feltmaking book I wrote for Japanese crafters, shown below, published by Patchwork Tsushin Co. Ltd. My English manuscript was translated into Japanese by Motoko Natsubori.

We scheduled the first of what will be a series of workshop/seminar/booksigning events. On July 4th, from 2-5pm, I'll teach a beginners Peyote beadweaving workshop. The registration closes at 20 and the $25 fee includes written directions, beads, needle, beading thread, and hands-on instruction. I'll have photos and description within the week.

Having regularly scheduled workshops/booksignings in this amazing store thrills me to no end. There is a cafe upstairs where I will have bento box lunch and green tea. Did I say that they have a tempting display of sweets to enjoy with that tea? And on the lower level where the vast array of craft titles can be found, is a stationary and gift shop. I could spend days just taking it all in. Perhaps this destination will re-energize my Rosetta Stone Japanese lessons. When I returned home from Tokyo in January, my dedication to learning Japanese, declined.

Before heading off to Fashioning Felt at the Cooper Hewitt, Elaine, Fran and I enjoyed coffee and the best croissant EVER at Lily O'Briens, around the corner from Kinokuniya.

The felt show was wonderful but much smaller than I'd expected. The catalog contained several more pieces than shown. In fact the catalog showed colorful versions of some of the same grey or white pieces in the show. Wish the show had more color. It was gratifying to see how thoroughly they described in word and video the feltmaking process.

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May 9th

Last week Justine from Angelfire Studio http://angelfirestudios.com/ called to schedule another feltmaking workshop. This time it is flat felting around a resist to make a small vessel, purse or case. It will be reversible too! June 28th 12 noon to 5pm. Here are a couple samples. Wish I had a couple of the pieces from the Japanese book I wrote last year (Motoko Natsubori translated it). The two blue purses here are a single one shown as reversible. The coral flip top fits my camera perfectly. Using the new Turbo Felting Board truly did make it a faster process.

The red maples this week leave me breathless. The color of their tender, new, nearly translucent leaves. Actually, much of this Springtime leaves me breathless with appreciation. Just last week it occured to me that, having missed the entire month of April last year while teaching in Australia, I have 2 years of pent up Spring fever in me!

The squirrels were selective in the bulbs they ate, when I planted them last autumn. The resulting tulips appear to be arranged in a grid! Pick up a 10X magnifier and observe flowers with it. There is a radiance and shimmer that the naked eye does not see. Examine the stamens and pistols. As beaders, we too create beauty by assembling minute, sometimes sparkling, particles. This mindful meditation with magnifier in hand may inform the way you use your beads.

Friday I will attempt once more to see the exhibit "Fashioning Felt" at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum http://cooperhewitt.org/. Last weekend I was in NYC to teach Advanced Elements of Beadwork (Necklace) to the Bead Society of Greater New York. On my way to the felt exhibit we allowed ourselves to be side-tracked by the Columbus Ave Craft Fair. What a delight to see Teresa Starr Wynne's booth filled with luscious felt wearables and vessels http://www.starrspunfelt.com/.

Since I'll be near Bryant Park, I will drop by the Kinokuniya Bookstore and see if we can put the finishing touches on the details of a booksigning event I will do there.