Good news and bad news: starting with the bad news, someone had to drop out of the felting workshop for Marlene's Felting Madness, in Ohio. Making the good news: there is an opportunity for you to join us. I know a couple of the felters that will be joining us and it WILL be a fabulously creative and adventurous weekend of felting madness. Hope Pat doesn't mind me saying that she, will be joining us. She IS Access Crystals and Aussie Fiber, wholesaler of the finest merino wool and wide range of Swarovski elements. She is gorgeous and creative and maintains a blog addressing the concerns of The Crafty Retailer.

Joyfully anticipating additional upcoming workshops, in two weeks I'll return to Bead Gallery Inc in New Hampshire. This time, we extended my stay to 4 day's worth of half and full-day workshops. So, hopefully there is something for everyone's budget and schedule. This is the first time I am offering this lariat and Genevieve has some sexy "cornflake" pearls for it.

And then, Imagine! The first weekend in May I'll teach at this amazing yarn and bead store in Bemus NY. Tomorrow I'll book my train reservation. Yes, the notion of train travel still really appeals to me. One year several of us took the train from Poughkeepsie NY to Milwaukee WI for the Bead and Button Show. We were offered an inexpensive upgrade to a sleeping car on the way out and, ohhhhh, I just loved it. My next journey via long-distance train was less satisfying. So, I'll give it another try next month for traversing New York.

Mother's Day weekend no one wants to sign up for workshops. It is a great time to seclude myself in the studio and render into beads some of the new designs in my head.

Then the following weekend I get to teach in yet another yarn and bead store: Jubili , not far from Philly PA. We'll luxuriate in a full weekend of Felted Component Jewelry creation, felting and beading to our heart's desires.

And thennnnnnnnnnn, California here I come...tomorrow I will post the samples to Creative Castle in Newbury CA.

Every square inch of the tablespace at Bead Gallery Inc held bead mats, beads and beaded bezels in our mad hot beaded bezel workshop. In preparation for the workshop I arrived with 16 recipes for many different rivolis and other Swarovski cabochons. Bead Gallery has a treasure trove of new and vintage items to choose from. Last night I whipped up another for a shape I had previously not encountered.

If you click on the photos, you might be able to get it to magnify. We shot them on a piece of reflective glass so you can see their beautiful bottoms!

Each of these was made with a selection of 11, 15 and 8 size seed beads ('cept for the one that also has daggers). Through thoughtful selection of bead color and finish, each one is reflective of the beader's taste and esthetic.

Genevieve was able to be present, a rare treat. She chose to work on her chili peppers version of Ostara's Emerging Blossoms. She emphasized the pepper shape by tapering the ends with smaller beads.

Today Genevieve, queen mistress of The Bead Gallery in Salem NH and I marked our calendars for my return to teach 3 days of workshops. Mark your calendars too. Everyone voted on doing the pentagon necklace, especially for the sure-fire way it teaches cubic right angle weave. We'll do this as a 3 hour workshop on Friday April 9. Also that day we'll do a few new polygon samples we'll call More Faces of Polygon. (These beaders already did the workshop the Many Faces of Polygon.) and we'll add a 3 hour version of Bead Happy Bracelet to that day.

It still tickles me in these happy colors but, each beader will choose her own palette of bead colors and finishes.

They also chose for April to make the Marcasite Chain for Lampworked Bead. It is a fine chain woven of size 15 marcasite charlottes, evocative of those delicate chains in the jewelry store except that these include tiny seed beads in colors to enhance the focal bead.

We'll also make a floral lariat that has multiple petals of those wonderful pearls that I call "corn flake pearls". I'll provide a picture soon. It is on my ipod, I just need to get it into here.

Once again the camera-computer-cable is not in the suitcase but, I made a trip to Radio Shack. Problem solved!
The drive to Salem NH was beautiful. The leaves are vibrant, the sky looked like all those that Frederick Church tried to capture in oils and until 15 miles from my destination, the traffic moved along.
Yesterday I taught 3 three-hour workshops. My beloved Bead Gallery beaders were in attendance: Rita, Stacey, Pamela, Nancy, Dion, Diane, Diane, Diane, Joan, Margaret, Pat, Mary, Wendy, Annette (forgive me if I left a name out). We made a seed pearl bracelet that I didn't photo. Oops. Shown are the reversible bracelets called Two Sides of the Story. It features that new stitch based on polygon that corruagtes to produce reversible beadwork.

Wendy Gehly brought her finished Kaja's bracelet from April's workshop and the necklace she made using that technique. Stunning.
In the evening session we beaded a pair of sweet little beads shaped like buds, made by lampworker Lea Zinke. When I saw the array of beaded buds I imagined them all hanging like charms from a bracelet.

Genevieve, owner of the Bead Gallery in Salem, NH, and I share this giggle: that some day when I am asked in an interview about what inspires me, what is my muse, I will reply "Genevieve". Seriously, each time we wrap up a weekend of my teaching at her amazing store, we book another weekend 6 months ahead and then discuss content. As it happens, often I design projects based on something I bought in her store or some topic she suggested. When we booked Columbus weekend for 4 days of workshops (3 and 6 hour offerings!) we said there will be earrings using these delightful little bud beads by Lea Zinke. Well, a few versions have been beaded up in either my imagination or my studio since then but, it is this sweet little pair that I will teach Friday evening Oct 9th.
Of course I have to like the visual outcome, not to mention the wearability. This pair is pleasing to behold and light and comfortable to wear. But, almost more importantly, my teacher-self seeks to infuse each project with as much information and technique as possible. Here we have packed alot into a small project: an original beadstitch, some polygon and a cool combination of ladder/square and fringeless-fringe. You're gonna love this.

A couple Thursday evenings a month, I teach at Beadzo in Tivoli, NY. This week a few beaders wanted to make Two Sides of the Story, a reversible bracelet using an original stitch inspired by my exploring polygon stitch. This is Tara's, half finished and beautiful.

I'll be teaching this bracelet at the Bead Gallery in October plus September 22nd evening at Beads By Blanche in Bergenfield, NJ. Until I found this magnetic tube finding at Beadfest, I'd used a button and loop closure for this bracelet design.
The beadwork corrugates as you bead...quite magical and exciting...producing a front-side that is different from the back-side, hence, reversible.