Public Service Announcement

We interrupt this series of Blog Posts for a Special Announcement:

Beading

It means different things to each one of us.

For some of us, it is a hobby and for others a profession.

Some of us Design and some of us interpret the designs of other in beautiful ways.

Some of us sell our beadwork and others give it away as gifts.

But we all share one thing in common,

We LOVE to Bead.

Whether you are just starting out in the beading world, or you have been doing it for too many years to count, now is the time for you to share:

What Beading Means To Me!

Each of us has made a special piece of beadwork that has special meaning for us.  It might be your first piece you ever made, or a memory bracelet that you made as a gift for a friend.  Maybe it is the necklace that you made when you finally learned that new stitch you have wanted to learn for a long, long time.  Whatever the reason, we would like to hear from you.

All you need to do is send a picture of that piece and a brief description of why it is special to be entered in the contest.

Send your photos to brudy1120@yahoo.com  Be sure to put “What Beading Means to Me” in the Subject line of your e-mail.  I’ll put all the photos and write ups together and we can all vote for the winner.

And we have some spectacular prizes for the three winners.

First Prize is a $50 (retail value) “Beader’s Gift Pack”  full of some wonderful beading items provided by our own Gail Devoid, or Need for Beads.

Second Prize is a $20 gift certificate for Delica Seed beads.  (you get to choose the colors and they will be shipped directly to you).

Third Prize is a Pattern Pack (details to follow)

Deadline for  entries is June 15.  Voting will be open from June 17 -22.  And the winner will be announce on June 24.  (Just incase there is a tie, that give us time for a vote-off).

Hugs,

Beth and the Design Team

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Bead Patterns Boutique FaceBook Group Opens

 We know that many of you are frustrated with the new format at Yahoo Groups.  The Design Team is working to move the group over to a Facebook Group.  We are already open and posting messages.  Some of you may have already received an invitation to join the group.  We are following the mold of several other beading-related groups that have moved before us.  The group policies will be the same as they have always been in the Yahoo Group, we just think that the process of communicating will be a whole lot easier for everyone.

If you would like to join the Facebook Group and have not received an invitation yet, just click on this link and join:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/827095360652383/members/.

Hope to see you there!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Blog Post, which will appear here on Friday!

What is on my Beading Table -- Part 1

Lately, on my Facebook page, I have been posting photos of my "works in progress" with my beading table as a background.

I get a lot of questions about the items on the tray and about the tray itself. 
So, I thought I would take a few posts and share some of the things that I have found useful with you.

I'm going to start with the tray itself.  It is called a "Bead Buddy".  I purchase it at A.C. Moore using a 40% off coupon several years ago.

I love it because of it's size and also because it has a two layer beading mat on each side of the case.

That's right, I said 'each side'.  The other great feature that I love about this board is that it has two sides can be attached with removable hinges.

And when I am done working, or when I need to step away from my beading while we are vending, I can just close the case and not worry about anything getting spilled.

Pretty snazzy, hugh?

 

I loved mine so much, I went and bought the "junior" size also.  It is great when you have to sit in a smaller space to work.

These get a lot of work all year long and I would be lost without them.

 

Here is a link to the Bead Buddy main site.  I am not sure if they sell direct, but I am sure they can help you find a retailer in your area or an internet source if you are interested.

 

http://beadbuddy.net/Storage.html

 

Hugs,

Beth

 

Ready for an Evening Out?

I have the perfect accessory for that 'little black dress.'

If you have been following my Facebook page,

 you know I have a passion for 'blinging-up' found objects

I found this gently used Liz Claiborne wallet at the local thrift shop several weeks ago.

It was a thrill for me to be able to support their cause and get a great creative inspiration.

 

I also have a passion for "sets".  I like it when my accessories match.

So I created a headband ...

And a pair of earrings to match.

 

 

Hope your weekend sparkles and your plans all end with a Bling!!

 

Hugs,

Beth

 

Next week, I will explore "The Items on My Beading Table."  I have been asked many times 'what is that' so I thought I would share.

 



Evolution

Evolution

 

1.  Any process of formation or growth, development

2.  a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development

(dictionary.com)

 

 

I believe in Evolution!

 

I believe that all things go through changes and stages

 

from conception

 (the inspiration for the design)

 

to growth

(the beginning of seeing an idea come to life)

 

to birth

(the design becomes real and real challenges begin)

 

into childhood

 (a time to explore and learn about the design)

 

adolescence

(a time when we question our decisions and directions)

 

Young Adulthood

(when direction starts to become clear)

And Adulthood

(where the design starts to tell you what it wants to be)

 

 

I believe in change, growth and development of people and ideas!  That is why I am a Designer!

 

More photos on the wallet as it evolves!  Hope you stick around and change with me.

 

Hugs,

Beth

 



 



Spacing!

I know.... I have been gone for a long time.  I have to admit, I think I just got burned out on the blog thing. 

But now that I have had a break, I am back and I want to share some of the things that I have learned over the past year.

As many of you know, I have been doing A LOT of bead embroidery!!!

I have been making lots of earrings, both small and....

Large!

I also did a back-patch of my daughter's favorite Muppet character and attached it to the back of a denim jacket as a 21st birthday present for her.

 

I have been making medallions to match earrings.

And decorating baby shoes for 0-3 month olds.

But the biggest lesson I have learned is about SPACING!!!!

I must admit that I am a rather impatient person (no comments from family here!!!).  I want things done and done now.

I use stiff felt for my foundation.  I started gridding the felt after my second project, thinking it would help me with my spacing.  I was afraid that I would loose the pieces that I wanted to use as the focals if I did not glue them all at once, but I found that this was a mistake!!!  Spacing was super hard!!  Things just did not fit sometimes.  This cuff is a great example of that.  If you look closely at the photo, you will see where a large amount of beadwork has been ripped out!!! 

 

I learned that it is much better to glue pieces as you work!!!  It really saves the ripping!!

 

So, as I begin my next project, decorating a Liz Claiborne wallet to match these earrings,

 

I am gluing one focal piece at a time.

It does slow me down, but as yesterday showed (if you follow my Facebook Posts) getting distracted while glue dries is not always a bad thing.  I got something done that has been a UFO for a long time.

 

 

 

 

Hope you all have a great beady day!!  More posts to come!!  I promise! 

Hugs,

 Beth

 

 

Keep working....

Rusty's Birthday Bash is getting closer every day.

I am keeping busy making collars.

Some are re-works of designs I have already done.

The collar in the right is a color variation of "Gabe".

On the left is a sparkly version of "Tanner".

And I have added a Red, White and Blue stripped background

to this yellow ribbon "Awareness collar".

And some are new designs.  I will be adding the pattern for the "Rosebud Collar"

(on the left)

in medium and large sizes later this week.

This has been a great creative time for me.

Now, back to beading!!

Blessings and Hugs,
Beth

Collars Everywhere!

I was so excited when the phone rang the other day!!

I don't always get excited about phone calls.  In fact, I am not one who enjoys talking on the phone.  I am a writer, so I would rather e-mail. 

But this call was special.

The person on the other end was calling to ask me to participate in Rusty's Birthday Bash at the Adams' County Winery. 

Tanner and I visited this event last year when he was just a puppy. 

We shared a piece of Birthday Cake!

We even got to take a tour of the winery together.

We had a great time and I was anxious to go back.

Check out his Blog Post about the day here:  Party Time

But this year will be different!  Because this event benefits the Adams' County SPCA, I will be donating one of my collars to the silent auction. 

I will also be setting up a display, selling collars and taking orders for custom collars.  10% of my sales will go to the SPCA at the end of the day.  This is such a good cause.

I am trying to make sure I have a lot of collars on hand.  So.... I have been beading......

And Beading.......

AND BEADING!

I want to be sure to have a wide variety on hand! 

I should have more photos to post on Wednesday!

If you are in the area on June 30, Tanner and I would love to see you!

Blessings,

Beth

Camper Beading

Mike, Tanner and I are on the road again.  We were called out of town to celebrate the life of a dear friend who crossed-over a few weeks ago.

Because the family lived about three hours from us, we decided to make a “trip” out of it.

We started off in a hotel, because our camper dealer was close to our destination.  Our camper needed some work done that was covered under our warranty, so we decided to take advantage of the time and get it done.

This was the first time Tanner had stayed in a hotel.

 

He did really well.

Then we picked up our camper and headed to a nice KOA in the area.

We were supposed to attend the Memorial/Celebration on Thursday, then stay through the weekend to vend at a Pow-wow in honor of our friend.  But due to lack of participation, the Pow-wow was cancelled. 

We chose to stay anyway. 

And I got some beading time in.

Here is how I set up my beading space in the camper.

This is our dinette in the back of the camper.  After I clean up breakfast, I am free to spread out and get some beading done.

It isn’t a bad way to bead.

 

This is my view! 

 (Much better than the concrete walls of my basement)

And, my sweet Fur-Baby is never far away!

My travel bead-box even has a space to sit.  Just within my reach.

I am getting a lot of beading done and having a great time.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Hugs,

Beth

A study in White

Up until today, I thought of white as an accent color

in my glass making.

I used it as a 'separator' between color layers in some beads.

And I used it to make dots in others.

But today, I decided to use it as a background color.

I started each of these beads with white center.

It was so much fun to chose the colors for the accent dots.

So many times, I get hung up in making sure colors go together.

But with a white background, any color pops!!

I love this collection and can't wait to make a piece of jewelry with them!  Or maybe I will wait and make a few more.  Then I will make a piece of jewelry!

Hugs,
Beth

Collar Care

This is the flyer that I include with each beaded collar that I sell.
It gives the new owner some basic cleaning/care instructions for each collar.

I use them too!!

This is Tanner's everyday collar.

It is also one of the first collars I made.

This is how the collar looked just after it was made.

And this is how it looks now.

Tanner has been wearing this collar for about 9 months.

He is a very active dog.

He loves to run, play and scratch.

And the only damage on the collar is this...

I am going to replace the 2 missing beads before I put it on him again. 

 

And I will also give it a good cleaning with a soft toothbrush.

And I know he will be proud to wear it again come January.

Blessings,

Beth