Glass Beads Artisan Jewellery, Wearable Art

Update in my Crazy Life!!!!! July 2011

2011-07-04T15:37:00.003-04:00

I have been away a long time, haven't I!

So, I've been caring for my sister who had back surgery in September. Even now she's not back to 'normal' because it was her 2nd major surgery in 8 months (in the spring last year she had surgery for her cancer).

Then I had surgery 10 days before my birthday last year. I got pretty cocky about my recuperation and it put me in such a state! I can't describe what I went through but I became dehydrated and had to swallow those horrid supplements to get electrolytes in order. I told you I can't describe the whole thing!

The bad thing is I endangered my health. The good thing is I lost 30 pounds.

Since then I pulled out a rug project I last worked on about 10 years ago. Maybe longer. It's petitpoint (40/inch count) and will be about 4 or 5 feet long and 2 feet wide. And I have been happy working it..

Then a friend came by with 5 necklaces needing repair. That was 2 weeks ago. I've restrung 3 of them and have but 2 left. But I've got some ideas that I think are good.

And that has got me pulling out my beads and scanning books for good ideas: maybe new techniques and definitely bright and cheerful colours.

So there you are. I'm back kinda. We'll see how things go.

Helen

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

2009-05-25T16:16:00.002-04:00

I think it's an important announcement. I am undergoing a metamorphosis ~ a new name and a new directory. [br]
I'll be keeping my Etsy store open because I wish to continue with Etsy for Charity. Each month a different, real life charity is selected from a list of worthy registered charities. I like that. And I can offer as many or as few items as I like to the charity. The membership of this corner of the online world is supportive and caring and that makes it a pleasant place.[br]
Now you can find me on Artfire's handmade directory. It costs lest and the name is a whole lot easier to understand. WillUBead.Studio sure beats Glass0Beads where an explanation of the 'zero' had to accompany it.[br]
And what of my blogs? I've already shut down WordPress because there are too many changes being made that don't come with instructions that I can understand. And this blog? I rather favour Blogspot because I can add so many widgets so easily. It has provided me with a venue to pass the time of day that feels so comfortable. What needs changing is its name.
So!!
I'm going 'inactive' on this blog. And I'm activating a WillUBead.Studio blog on BlogSpot.
Finally, I thank every one of you who have chosen to follow my goings on. You are a wonderful bunch of creative people.
Now, I invite you to visit me at my new blog.

Notes to Self ~ How to Spend Your Summer

2009-05-06T10:26:00.005-04:00

I found something interesting in my inbox when I opened it this morning. It was an announcement from Lezlie Winemaker about her studio tour in Thornhill. It's the 13th annual Mother's Day Studio Tour. And she has called for lampwork students to register. It's something I've wanted to learn but Bead FX, where Lezlie will be doing the workshop, is so far away.

Do you know Lezlie? Silly me! Everybody knows Lezlie. I've told you about her in past posts here. She's the driving force, the inspiration, the personality in DreamGlass.ca. She has strong family support that allows her to travel the globe to show her works of wearable art. Her mum and auntie held the fort at the Spring One of a Kind show in Toronto while Lezlie went to the trade show in Las Vegas.

On Saturday last, I attended the Toronto Bead Society's Spring Bead Fair as a volunteer at the Society's table. What little I saw of it was marvellous. Did I see the people I wanted to see? Only from afar. I got to my destination with difficulty and only 5 minutes late. Will I volunteer again? I expect I will but I'll be taking somebody along who can help me: it took too much out of me just getting there and home again. It's a must see on any beader's list of shows and is held twice a year: Spring and Fall. The next show will be October 31 to November 1 2009: the venue will be the CNIB, 1929 Bayview, Toronto.

There was a slough of shows and studio tours and the like with their flyers at the Society's table. There's a lampwork trunk show on Saturday May 30, 10 to 5. And the Toronto Gem & Mineral show is coming to the Don Mills Civitan Arena ~ 1030 Don Mills Rd in Toronto ~ July 24 to 26. New to me but comes highly recommended is the Textile Museum of Canada's More Than Just a Yardage Sale. Did I say 'highly recommended?' It is the 'must see' of all shows. The sale is Friday May 29 ~11 to 6~ and Saturday May 30 ~10 to 1.

A personal favourite is the Jaboli Open House June 25 to 28, 10 to 5 at 575 Watt Street in Fergus. You are invited to tour their workshop and have Tea with Nana. Jaboli is a business of and for gentlewomen. Adjectives to best describe their work? Incredibly detailed. Original. Friendly. Ageless and age appropriate.

I've not attended the next 2 shows but they would make a lovely day trip: Fairy Lake Artisans Festival and the 31st Thorold Arts and Crafts Show. Details for the Thorold show can be had by emailing cathy.henderson@sympatico.ca.

Some of these flyers we collected when we visited the Milton Farm Craft show in Milton. This show is held 2x a year and this year I was there on business: it was a bonus that I enjoyed it. This year's spring show had some new vendors and there was more space per vendor than usual. The traditional rain fell on Saturday and we missed it because we went on Sunday: it was a glorious Sunday. Marg and I picked up the work of Asem Nada who, with his wife Laura, is La Glasserie. I commissioned some glass leaves and they are beautiful. These leaves are about 2.25 inches from tip to bail and almost 1.5 inches at their widest part. I've commissioned more leaves from this talented man that should be better suited for earrings.

Interesting Find: Jeff and Dye's Hermit Studios. They have a jewellery business with some original work AND some interesting techniques. Have you heard of Song Feathers? Hermit has them.

I have been busy, haven't I!!

March Project and Personality Check

2009-04-29T09:48:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been a busy little girl lately. I did my Bead Oasis booth. Then I got sick. Then I was out and about with my sister who was on vacation: lots of mall crawls. Then I got sick. I got a doctor's appointment to check out my badly swollen thumb ~ I am in the midst of an arthritis flare up. Then I got sick and missed the lecture downtown to help starving artists with the business end of art. And that more or less brings us to today.

I want you to read what Jean Campbell, yes, the Jean Campbell who co-authored The Beader's Companion, says about our personality and our beads. She offers ideas for our next pieces that should stretch our minds. I got the inspiration for an artisan jewellery commission I have thanks to this article.

Oh, yeah, I've discovered something new about myself: it seems I hibernate over winter. I'll have to work on my dark and quiet months to get my beaded pieces completed. And, I'd like to announce that I've finished my March challenge.

A bride to be married in July will be pulling together the odds and ends associated with her wedding. She has the hall, and the church. She has her dress and lined up the groom's wardrobe. She has done the same for all the wedding party. She has her flowers and the caterers and the makeup/hair and the cake taken care of. And she has ridden shotgun as the 2 mothers vie for dominance over the bridal pair.

This should be a happy time for the bride, but .... Everything has become a job with an incredibly tight time constraint. At least, that's the way it feels. But wait, there remains the gifts for her attendants.

How do I fit in? Aside from 'being there, done that, got the divorce to prove it.' Well, 5 or so years ago ~ how time flies ~ I swapped bead stringing lessons for a consultation from a dietitian. She had special family heirloom beads and strung the necklace and matching earrings for her daughter to wear at a wedding.

Now her daughter, Sarah, has sought me out to make the jewellery for her 9 attendants and herself. Lots of 3strand stuff.

You have to know, too, that Jessie has returned with another well loved necklace she wants to wear at her daughter's wedding. It needs tweaking and a new clasp. Did I mention? Jessie breaks into a rash with all metals save the most expensive. And that means the clasp will have to be beaded. Exactly the same as the clasps of the bridal jewellery. Only different.

And that is my April challenge. Not so much the stringing of a single strand of pearls, but the variety of clasp beads and their associated loops. These buttons are an exotic version of a toggle clasp and without the metal. And these buttons, if made in lots of designs and sizes, can be made into earrings, pendants for a necklace or a bracelet. Even button covers and shoe buckles; you know, the fancy kind of buckles.

So, where are the pix to show you my wonderful March challenge? The bride hasn't seen the jewellery yet so these pix are still on hold. There's no way I want to steal her thunder by letting the wearable art we designed together slip to the outside world without her go ahead. I haven't shown these pieces of artisan jewellery to her mother, even.

And for May? May is going to be a busy month for me. And an expensive one, too. I'm still all a-pearl and beaded beads ~ they fascinate me ~ and 2-hole buttons and my expanded stash.

That happened at the Bead Oasis show. I met Meagan who was de-stashing and who gave me an incredible deal for some of her beads. They still sit in plastic bags but I'll be transferring them to spice jars soon. Imagine the king in his counting house or the dragon protecting her accumulated treasures and that image will fit me right down to the ground.

For now, though, I've gotta run. I'm writing projects for some kits I'm developing.

Notes to Self - April 6 2009 ~ Weekend Goings On

2009-04-06T14:24:00.007-04:00

What did you do this past weekend? Did you enjoy doing it? Did it have anything to do with the making of artisan jewellery? Would you rather have my life? Huh??

My sister and I wandered the aisles of Toronto's Spring One of a Kind (OOAK) Show on Sunday. Our wanderings took us 4.5 hours to complete but it was worth it this year. There were some new artisans and different arts/crafts being shown. Some of our favourites, like Roothams, weren't there but this year the Eastern Ontario CFDC (Community Futures Development Corp) rented a huge bit of real estate right in the middle of the show and sponsored artisans from Eastern Ontario. For me as a wanderer, it was a great success. I met artisans who otherwise would be unable to show with OOAK. I had many a chat (that's why it took so long) and got some leads for my business. For example, Alfie Fishgap, and his boothmate Todd Jamieson, told me of a show at Fairy Lake in June.
I found some not so new stuff being used and in wonderful colours, too. Like the crochet wire rings and the crochet wire bracelets. My sister is my model/sales rep and she stepped up in many a booth to point out the artisan jewellery she and I were wearing that I made. Doing that in my friend Alfie Galda's booth (AB Originals) ~ she knits sweaters that are to die for ~ made me a new friend, Gwen. She's an enthusiastic fan of Alfie's and wears a lot of sweaters Alfie has knitted and I'm hoping she will like my artisan jewellery enough to be as enthusiastic about my work.
I found something really annoying. Well, I found 2 things really annoying.

Other jewellers not wanting to talk just as soon as they find out I, too, make artisan jewellery. These jewellers are different in style to me and I present no competition to them. They don't know that because they gave me the stock answer to 'Where did you get this or that part of the jewellery.'
I have picked up several really helpful lists and recipes but the person who gave them to me didn't put on their website or some other contact information. I have no idea who gave me the recipe for cleaning copper. And it isn't Twinkle. BRAND BRAND BRAND~~Put your CONTACT INFO on everything you do: it may bring you business after the show.

There was a booth with items from Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts, Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Beautiful things from the First Nations of our True North, Strong and Free. The 2 people in the booth when we visited were wearing their snow goggles. They look almost like goggles you wear in the tanning salon or on swimmers except there is a narrow slit from 1 side to the other to peer through: they keep out the glare of the sun bouncing off the snow.

As I said, some of our favourites were there with newly designed booths, some were there and their booths were wholly recognizeable. One such was Asem Nada, my glass man. His business is La Glasserie. His work with a torch and a cane of glass is marvellous: I have many of his pieces in my home and he covers Easter and Christmas, too. Well, my exciting news about Asem is that he made a leaf pendant for me and brought it to OOAK to show me. I think it's beautiful and I've ordered 20 of them. I can pick them up at Milton in May. Now you have to wait to see them. It's true, they are worth the wait, as all of Asem's glasswork is imaginative and beautiful.

We had a busy day and a wonderful day. And both of us were exhausted when we got home and both of us ended up in bed before our bedtime.

PS: I receive no money or other consideration from the businesses I mentioned in this blog, nor from any other business, unless stated in the blog.

Notes to Self - The Bead Show

2009-03-25T13:17:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm back. I'm still riding the wave of excitement I had throughout the Show. What show?? The 'Almost Spring' Bead Oasis Show, 2009 of course. My very firstest show.

This Show is organized/sponsored/brought to you by NLM Glass Arts andNancy 'n' Sam took good care of us. It is directed at the artisan jewellery world rather than the fine art jewellery of the sort you see in Birks. The artisans are a wonderful group of people who watch out for, share, and support one another. Just for that alone, the booth was worth every penny it cost.

In monetary terms, I took a bath (that's a monetary term, isn't it?). For somebody on an incredibly small budget, it cost a lot of money just for the booth fees.

In practical terms, I roped in the sun!!

I had an incredible education that I couldn't get as an attendee. From my side of the table I saw some really gorgeous jewellery worn by the people who visited our booth. Great ideas from that. And many people stopped to chat and discuss. I gotta say it: we were invited into people's personal lives, shared our experiences, and gave and received hugs. These people were so brave and so trusting.

I met some people interested in my work and wanting to put it in their shops.

I received a wedding commission for bride's and 9 attendents jewellery. MMMMM You should see the pearls I got for this young lady.

I received the all time best deal ever from a young woman de-stashing. I was running my fingers through all those beads last night and dreamt of how I would use these beads.

I know how to present my kits better now. And I've been asked to write other kits I hadn't thought to do before. On top of all that, I had some of Joann's kits from http://www.beadkitsbymail.com/: her kits are stuffed with instructions, beads and even 2 beading needles. There's more. I also had the DVD of instructions for 5 projects from http://www.beadsbyu.com/: that DVD included a free kit of 1 of the projects.

The booth took almost twice as much time to set up as it did to tear down. That figures. And the glass bead artisan jewellery on sale needed straightening several times during the day. My trolly is still sitting in the kitchen: I'm removing things slowly with the good intention of putting it all back in its place. If you know me, that means piled high: nothing seems to have a proper spot in my PigPen Studio.

Artisan Jewellers are advised to wear their jewellery: they are, or should be, a moving billboard ad for their own wearable art. I am not very good at this but my sister is wonderful. Much of my 'big' artisan jewellery designs is worn by her because she has the personality to carry it off. And I, through her, received many compliments on what she wore. The lesson to me, aside from the obvious 'wear it,' is to have the big bold pieces in good supply.

I has been a remarkable 3 day show and I got home exhausted. Two days in bed, I'm almost 100% again, and still the ideas are swirling in my head. I have a lot of sorting and writing and ..... to do. A big lesson was to ensure my computer was working: it got moved and jiggled and disconnected and ........ I ended up losing one of my kits and I have to re-write it. To add insult to injury, my machine accidentally got pushed to the back of the keyboard shelf and it and the shelf fell down, went boom. On my foot.

There's another show in September and you really need to go: no matter what side of the table you are on it is worth the trip. And the entrance fee is only $8.00. Canadian money. It's worth the visit to Toronto.

Check back again soon. I'll be linking to my kits. You'll like that. Helen

Notes to Self ~ A Knock on the Door

2009-03-10T14:21:00.004-04:00

A knock at the door this morning but nobody there.

A parcel left at the step. But not a baby in the human sense of the word.

Artisan jewellery of the glass bead variety. A big package filled with kits by Joann. To see the kits you must visit Joann's site. Or my booth. She has sent me a sampling to sell at the 'Almost Spring' Toronto Oasis Bead Show next week. They've arrived, their parcel ripped open, but all kits are safe and sound. The pix on Joann's site are wonderful: they are clear and well lit. What she sent me is designs using a spiral technique that she calls a 'Swirl Necklace.'

And they are here. Safe and sound.

A kit includes the beads and findings. And a reel of beading thread. And 2 beading needles.

A smart businesswoman, Joann has also included her business card ~ that's what she used to hold the 2 needles. I told you she was smart.

As of now I feel relieved. I was worried they wouldn't get here in time. They came from the other side of the continent and from a foreign country. Doesn't that sound grand? Joann lives in Sammamish. Yeah, okay. Joann lives in Sammamish Washington state USA. But I am in Toronto Ontario Canada. So technically the kits did cross an international border.

Also. Joann sent me an extra kit. I want to get it all done in time to display at the show. The kit she donated to me is the Peaches and Cream Swirl Necklace.

Thanks so much for entrusting me with your products. I promise to take good care of them.

Helene

Notes to Self ~ Getting Ready

2009-03-05T11:01:00.006-05:00

I am SO excited: I'm that close to opening the artisan jewellery booth at Toronto's Bead Oasis Show. I have so much to do and not enough time to do it. I can't just turn my back on my online responsibilities and I can't just turn my back on things like labels and inventory and ....

AND I have to keep in mind that I need more rest than most people and I have to take it so I don't exhaust myself BEFORE the show. After will be okay: I can collapse for a day or two.

And then I read a Twitter from Teri_B: she's opened a discussion about home parties for artisan jewellery. Yes, of course, my brain started thinking about home parties. Couldn't help it: Tupperware's home party model kept cropping up. Why re-invent the wheel, or, in this case, the artisan jewellery home party! But I can't get the idea out of my head.

I did something exciting yesterday. I asked for aestheticians and beauty salons for counter space for my artisan jewellery: 1 stop shop for Brides. They can coordinate the jewellery for the mothers, the attendants, the bride and maybe even the groom. And it's a simple solution for the gifts of the attendants. Why not colour coordinate the jewellery with the rest of the colours? You know, the flowers, the tablecloths, the bridesmaids' dresses, the cummerbund or ties and pocket handkerchiefs of the men. That can be accomplished with enough lead time. So the bridal party comes in to check out the salon several weeks before the wedding and sees the artisan jewellery, and says, 'AHA!'

This morning I got up early ~ well, early for me ~ and finished up the graphics for the backside of my business cards. I have almost run out of my other business cards so I've taken the opportunity to revamp the design etc. Now they are happily printing.

See?? I got something done this morning. The trick is to get something done this afternoon that gets me closer to being ready for the SHOW.

Even this bauble babble is helping. It's getting things out of my mind that are taking up too much space and distracting me from my goal. I'm getting older, y'know, and feeling much older than my chronological age. And today I'm feeling particularly brittle.

Next week I have to drive to Hamilton for an MRI. Marg is coming with me: I've had MRI's before and come away feeling like everything has been sucked out of me. Since this MRI is in Hamilton and at 7PM to boot, I am going to be in worse shape than usual. And Marg has to go to work the next day. Next week is going to be really crappy. All the more reason to get a lot done this week.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I should have started way before now. I have to tell you, that's a very smart idea. But I always avoid things that scare me until the very last moment. This occasion is no different.

Good for me!! I think I can focus again on the task at hand. Thanks for your help, good ole Blogspot.

Notes to Self - Stuff to Share

2009-03-02T12:49:00.006-05:00

Hiya everybody. It feels like forever since I was here. And I've got a couple or three things to tell you about. And it's all here on this blog!!

1~ Are you stuck on a design? Either you've got an idea that just isn't working or worse! you have no idea at all!!

In the right hand column I draw your attention to several featrues: Microscopic View of the world, Astronomic Pic of the day, and Masks from around the world.

Microscopic ~ it is amazing the shapes and colours of things so small the eye cannot see them. Do a quick rough sketch of a 'thing' and then start bringing together the beads and threads and such you will need to render this 'thing' in beads. You are not likely to go away and come back to do it. The bugs'eye view changes every time you move away from the page. Yup, there are that many wee things that they can populate every blog view with a different wee-un.

Astronomic ~ not astrologic. We gaze at the heavens and marvel and ponder our place in that heaven. Here you will find things about the sky: the stars, planets, weather, ... Maybe you'll see the Northern Lights or the Southern Lights. Or a view of the wake of Halley's Comet. Start sketching. Don't try to define anything. Just move the pencil around, keeping your eyes on the screen and not on your sketchbook. After you've done that you can look at what you've done and think about it in terms of beads. Would it make a lovely beaded embroidery? Or a piece of artisan jewellery, something that will make a statement?

Masks ~ I spent 25 years in Canada's western province and territory ~ 2 years in Yukon Territory and 23 years in Vancouver BC. I revelled in the artistry of the Pacific Northwest First Nations people: their work is wonderfully graphic. Clean lines, limited colour palette. Spiritual meaning in their totems; whether on a pole or on a piece of artisan jewellery. The most famous among these First Nations of BC is, perhaps, Bill Reid. His work is in the BC Museum of Anthropology and graces the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC USA.

Masks are not limited to Canada's First Nations. Borneo, African, American, Mexican, .... The list is as long as ~~ Well, it's immeasurable. As in the Astronomical and the Microscopic exercises, try to draw a mask without looking at the paper. Then do another drawing but this time looking down occasionally. Draw what you see, not what your brain tells you it sees.

Those are great exercises, aren't they. It gets easier the more often you do it. And talk about cutting down that artsy block! Pretty soon you will be drawing that mess on your workbench, a still life of a coffee mug filled with scissors, pens, a fan, ....

2 ~ On a different note, I've just come across a new widget. For artisan jewellers there is a Wire Gauge Calculator, from Irma Pretorius of Wire To Jewelry that will translate a) millimeter to inch and gauge, b) inch to gauge and millimeter, and c) gauge to millimeter and inch. It's a handy tool because there are only 3 countries in the whole wide world that DO NOT use metric: Myanmar, Liberia, and USA.** You can copy it from this site and add it to your blog or e-store. It's FREE ~oh how love the sound of FREE!! Get it for yourself. And offer it to others free of charge. And keep in mind that this is the Beta version of the widget.

And that pretty well sums up what I wanted to say.
Happy Beading Helen Glass0Beads

**from Rena Klingenberg Jewelry Business Blog

Notes to Self ~ Feb 09 Update

2009-02-19T12:05:00.003-05:00

Yup ~ lagging behind the artisan jewellery wagon and taking on too much new glass bead stuff. What have I been up to? Well, I joined JewelryGeeks.com ~ only handcrafted artisan jewellers on that site. Then I started a group there, Love Beads, with an invitation to all jewellery geeks interested in seed beads. Only 2 criteria: you must be a member of JewelryGeeks.com and you must be willing to participate in the group. Easy, right?! Are you kidding! If you have as much on your plate as I have on mine, you know how difficult participation really is. So far the membership is drawn from Australia, Canada, and the USA. With good luck, we may have other countries and cultures join us: it adds flavour to the 'stew'.
I received an order for earring findings near the end of January and I wanted to source the goods in the Toronto area. Well, my customer was given a jewellery supply catalogue to determine just what she wanted: she was shopping for items to give to her Mum who is the jewellery repair person at a local seniors home.
I placed the order and waited. My friend returned from holiday and I still didn't have her order filled. I got in touch with the warehouse and its shop and nobody knew what I was talking about. And that left me hanging in a most undignified way.
So I sent my order to another, even closer, shop. They made up the order lickety split and, when my friend and I showed up, didn't bat an eye when we busily added to the order. We couldn't have been better cared for. The bonus for my friend is that the shop is within her Mum's stomping ground, there are coffee bars in the same block, and she can take her Mum there without me. In my books, that's great.
I got home and sat with the treasures I bought and fatigue swept over me. I laid down for a nap and over 4 hours later woke up in time to go to bed. I don't understand the sudden weariness because I was driven there and back and the outcome was so favourable. Well, now I'm doing what I had hoped to get done yesterday afternoon. And I'm feeling if not rested at least not as tired.
I started making up bracelet kits the other day in preparation for my big Almost Spring Bead Oasis Show 2009 in March, here in Toronto. I think my bead count is way out of order so I'll have to go back, just to settle my worry, and do another bead count.
And I've made up some earrings kits, too. I'm almost finished with the card and instructions to go along with the supplies. I moved from giving all the findings for the kit to explaining how to make your own findings for this pair of earrings. It sure cuts down on the time and effort making these kits.
Because I am not good with 'time,' I know I'm running out but can't grasp the idea that I have no time left. Tomorrow I will be turning my dining room table into my booth just to determine the layout of the goods. That will also tell me how much of this is stocked and how much of that is needed. I'm sure that exercise will go a long way to calming my nerves.
Is it any wonder that I haven't even started February's bead challenge!!? But I'm good for it ~ I promise you that.

Thank you is in order

2009-02-08T20:34:00.005-05:00

Well, not just 1 thank you. A whole bunch of them really. I've been off doing other things ~ 2 shows and shopping at a supersize grocery just in these 3 days. I know that sounds like your normal weekend but for me it's like scaling a mountain. Another mountain is my thank you list. Without further ado, and in no particular order, I give you my thanks, readers. I love my followers and I hope the feeling is mutual.

I have got a big whack of new sites to visit - from Russia and Europe and they are to die for - that a wonderful person called Margaret put me onto. OH THE STUFF IS GORGEOUS.

Thank you Margaret.

Now I have several new followers. Interesting people with different kinds of blogs. I think you can tell when a person is younger than I am just by looking at their blogs. For example Jackie's blog, Pink Diamond Workshop sings to you as you read. My sister Marg (not the same lady as above) can identify with Jackie ~ the only colour on their colour wheel is ...

PINK. Wander over and visit with Jackie.

I've got me a new group: we are still in the growing pains stage of development. Lotsa people over there have given generously of their time. Thank you Marcy and Johnnie and Izzy and Donna and Debra and Jenny and ...... all the founding members of my Love Beads group at Jewelry Geeks. Thank you every one of you for your patience and your help.

And that leads me to Jonwen45: she writes so well!! I began reading one of her stories and got all nostalgic. A calm and creative individual, when she decides to stick with you she is just like velcro. And I am just as stuck on her.

Thanks Johnnie.

You'd think it was Thanksgiving around here wouldn't you! I learned from 1 blog (I wish I would write this stuff down) that January is 'love yourself' month. I discovered that in February.

Well, thanks to all of you ~ and the people I haven't acknowledged. You keep me on my toes.

And thanks for that, too.

Notes to Self - New Year New Stuff

2009-01-12T14:25:00.003-05:00

My 2008 went out with a bang. I found a lot of stuff worthy of note: some is advertising me, and some is showing you some really pretty new stuff ~ not by me but I wish it were.

1. Jewellery Geeks : A place for jewellery makers of all sorts and using all kinds of media have banded together. I joined up and I am impressed with the kindness and generosity of its members. No matter how dumb you think your questions are, there are always people who can show you the ropes. I know this because I've asked some dumb questions.

~ self advertising: I've started a new group at Jewellery Geeks called Love Beads. It is a private group but so far nobody has been turned away. That is, as long as you are first a jewellery geek yourself. Send me a message telling me of your desire to join our ranks.~~

2. You really need to see this woman's work. DeMarie Rossi is a glass maker of considerable talent. She lives in California and is a Jewellery Geek ~ Glitzy Glass Studios. Her website is http://www.needbeads.com /.

This picture is of just one of her beads. Didn't I tell you she is gifted?! ====>>

3. I am working on a new format for my Glass Beads newsletter. SORRY, more stuff about me.

I am developing a magazine or ezine format which will give me a chance to showcase more artists.

4. Sorry. I've been looking at that marvellous pendant of DeMarie's and daydreaming and trying to calm the urge to do something beady.

5. I've been trying to Twitter about all kinds of stuff that I find. I'm now receiving tuition on social marketing from Mr. Tweet. S/he is my personal assistant and is with me to guide me to greater popularity.

By the way, #5 is about me, yes, but it also can help you a lot. Give Mr. Tweet an opportunity to help you; you won't be sorry.

6. Read the next post ~ it's about BJP and me.

And that's all I can think of right now.

Notes to Self - Social Marketing

2009-01-06T13:58:00.003-05:00

Social Marketing: I don't know a lot about it but I am on a sharp learning curve.

I know you have to put your e-shoppe in order. Add all kinds of things for sale. And I've just added lots of new stuff to my Glass0Beads Etsy shoppe.

From there I know I have to blog about something unique or changed about the products in your shoppe. Like blogging about it.

And you do have 2 really good but different blogs. Right? Different like this example: Bauble Babble has notes about design and some patterns, too, while Glass0Beads is about the ideas I came up with for the BJP (Bead Journal Project) as well as bits and pieces. Like this entry. And the entries you are going to write about the new stuff at your e-shoppe.

Now I can go to my Twitter account. You don't have one? Get one at Twitter dot com. It's free and you can tell people about stuff you come across that you like. It doesn't matter what 'stuff' and it helps if you Tweet (who comes up with these names?) about other people's shoppes, not just your own. That is more important than you think: in cyberland the Golden Rule reigns. Make your tweets about others' more often than about yourself. There really is such a thing as Karma and Social Marketing is called 'Social' for no reason. Right? Of course, right.

Now, when you do twitter about yourself you have 3 separate entries: 1 for each of your 2 blogs and 1 for your e-shoppe.

Are you also writing articles about your specialty? Great! Blog about your articles and add a link to them from your blog. Now get twittering.

Have you got friends on the internet? Keep an eye on what they are doing. Every once in a while, like weekly maybe, and send them a twitter. The more twitters they get, the more solid is their reputation on their site, and the more likely they will sell something. Of course, they are doing the same thing for you. Right? Right!

And now you are marketing socially. It's also called Viral Marketing. It's also called 'word of mouth,' in the old school lingo.

Did you know? If somebody has a good experience with you they will tell 1 person on average. BUT, if they have a bad experience, they will tell an average of 7 people. That's because humans can be mean. So, do as your mama told you: 'if you have nothing pleasant to say, don't say anything at all.'

Just, twitter and blog and refer and ......

I'll learn about Tweets and CheapTweets and linking and newslettering and lots more, too. The only way to move when you don't know is up: you can't learn less than nothing.

Well, that's my opinion. Remember your social graces and happy marketing.
Helene ~ Glass0Beads

2008-12-30T17:28:00.005-05:00

Lezlie Winemaker, Dream Glass, Toronto.

Lezlie is the glass artist from whom I purchased that gorgeous heart lampwork bead you see in my header. I wish I could call it mine: alas, it is my bead only because I bought it. The rest of the necklace, all those seed beads and leaves and such, is mine. Well, really it isn't mine anymore: I gave it to my sister.

Lezlie is a warm and enthusiastic artist who looks way too young to accomplish all she has.

She has degrees and diplomas from OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design), York University, Parsons School of Design (New York). Lezlie is now one of Canada's inspired creators of wearable art.

Now, you can see Lezlie and her marvellous glass at selected craft shows, galleries and boutiques in Canada, the States and the UK. Her work can be seen in popular magazines, art publications and newspapers. And! Lezlie has been a guest on CityLine and Global Television.

"Beads are spiritual, magical, and mystical, and somehow evoke a connection to our ancient ancestors. Glass comes from the earth and will withstand the test of time!" ~~

Lezlie Winemaker

Visit her website to see more of her beautiful work.

A New Year

2008-12-30T16:45:00.004-05:00

Well, Christmas 2008 is over. And it's time to write up those new year resolutions.

I've chosen to focus on business rather than personal stuff like losing weight, exercising more, eating a balanced diet, and all those other resolutions that I break just as soon as somebody offers me something sweet.

I am an artisan jeweller; I make jewellery that doesn't rely on precious gems or precious metals. My artisan jewellery is unique and worn by self-assured women from the West Coast to Ontario, Canada.

I want to publish a really fine newsletter.
I want to Twitter, Flickr and Blog and all the CheapTweets and all those tools.
I want to acknowledge the work others' do on my behalf.
I want to develop a signature piece ~ haven't got that just yet, but I'm working on it.
I want to write more.
I want to balance my accounts and pay down my personal debt.
I have joined a group whose focus is wirework ~ I'm going to learn how to do much more in the comfort of my own easy chair.

And then, I can organize my workroom ~ that's the room I lovingly call my PigPen ~ when I need to burn off some energy.
I can better my efforts to be 'green.' My condo board is researching and putting in place some things that will help all of us be ecologically friendly.
I can take canvas bags everywhere so I don't rely on plastic bags to carry my purchases.

My BIGGEST goal? In March 2009, I will be a vendor at Toronto's 'Almost Spring' Bead Oasis Show. I am very excited about it: 3 days in the vendor marketplace, schmoozing with my friends and making new ones. It will be exhausting and I've a long way to go yet to reach the stock level I need for the show. It's worth doing.

Well, that's it for me. For now.
May all of my readers have a very happy, safe, and prosperous 2009.
Helene ~ Glass0Beads ~
~ it's a #0, not the letter O~

Notes to Self ~ The End

2008-12-30T16:24:00.003-05:00

Well, it was a lose-lose outcome. I resigned from the board and it cost me my membership to the group. It cost the group another chance for cross promotion.

The group utilizes social marketing, a form of viral marketing, to advertise their personal shoppe and the membership shoppe. This method of marketing can be used whether you are a member or not. Using it is lots of fun and you never feel like you are alone in a desert.

What I hope I haven't lost is the friendships I was making during my very brief membership in the group. These are wonderful men and women; gifted artisans all. It would be an even bigger loss if they shun me, too.

My time here is so limited that I have neither the time, nor the energy to waste being bitter. In the end, I wish the group and its group shop much success in 2009. And, for everyone of the membership: good luck, good business.

And goodbye for now.
Thanks for the friendship and the help shown me.
Helene ~ Glass0Beads ~

Notes to Self - Christmas Cheer

2008-12-27T13:11:00.003-05:00

I really don't have anything to complain of: I have a lovely home and food to eat that I like. I have a wonderful family. I have lots of chums on the internet. I have people looking out for my best interests.

This year, though, Christmas just didn't seem right. I can't put my finger on the reason. We brought up our tree and ornaments. We got out our performing Christmas toys. But we didn't decorate the tree with all our really wonderful decorations.

We needed a tin foil pan to cook our turkey and a couple of other things, too. So we headed off to the grocery. There we discovered all those tin foil pans had been taken by all those other cookers ahead of me. While my sister and I stood in the middle of the aisle discussing options, a gentleman overheard us and suggested we go to a dollar store and told us where there was one close by. [ed. note: that's where we did get our tin foil pan.]

Several rows later, that same gentleman offered to lend us a pan of his. Now, this man was no relation to either of us. We were total strangers to him. And yet, he offered something of his.

Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Helping one another. Sharing with one another. Gifting of yourself.

I wish I knew his name. I'd like to send him a thank you note.

We joined the rest of our family in Woodstock for our Christmas celebration. I did the turkey, our hostess provided her beloved cole slaw salad and the hot veggies, one cousin made the stuffing and the dessert, and Anne provided the rolls. We dined like kings and there was a lot of food left over. That's why I cooked such a big bird: I love leftovers and I wanted everybody to have enough to take back to their homes.

While the finishing touches were being made, there was a kind of ballet in the kitchen. That room is built for one: Everything is less than an arm's length from each other. Yet, Gwynith and I, standing back to back, moved so smoothly it seemed choreographed. When I moved left she moved to her left and when I needed something on the right she moved to her right, too. Our movements were fluid. No, Really!

We opened our gifts following dinner. Our gifts were generous and what we received were gifts of generousity as well.

Now here's the really big news. I love to drive! But I rarely drive any more becuase I become tired so easily. I offered to drive to Woodstock and Marg was to drive home. We didn't leave until almost 10PM and ...

Wait for it!

..............I drove both ways!! Ta DA!!

Boxing Day I slept through. I was so glad I wasn't cooking dinner! Marg suggested a 'fend for yourself' meal and that fitted me perfectly.

Today, I still feel a bit too tired to be of any help to anybody. Marg went off for a mall crawl : she feels a need for a wee bit of retail therapy. And I am sitting here, chatting with you, dear reader.

I tried to take some pictures but my battery died ~~ AGAIN! I think some of my Christmas money may be put toward a new camera battery.

And I haven't done my December BJP08 entry. I haven't got a clue what to do. Do you? I certainly can use your help.

Well, that's what I think.

Notes to Self - Energizer Bunny

2008-12-19T12:03:00.003-05:00

State of Mind: BUSY BUSY BUSY

I have been up way beyond my bedtime these last 2 nights and last night I slept like a log. So the usual debilitating exhaustion is at bay - more or less. I might need a nap this afternon.

I belong to a really great 'team' - it's called the eSMArts Guild Team at Etsy - and it's mandated to cross-promote one another's sites to assist in better positioning our sites for online googling.

Two nights ago we worked on re-starting the Guild's management so the needs of the Guild didn't fall on just one person's shoulders. You can understand that such a group requires the assistance of many to really get the job of driving traffic done.

Now, last night!!

Last night was the Guild's chat night: it's a standard occurence ~~ every Thursday evening at 9PM EST. It's a place to ask questions of other members, to chat about supplies and where to get them for the lowest cost. It's a place to support one another during bad times. Last night we had doctors' appointments and important tests like MRI's. My MRI is scheduled for mid March 09: it's not my first and certainly won't be my last. And it's a place to joke around, too. Last night was my first chat and things moved VERY fast. But I got some interesting tips to follow up on.

And I learned some amazing things in the chat. I learned how to put up pictures of things from Etsy. And that was a lot of fun for me. I started going through others' sites and picking things I thought were pretty or useful or ...
And I put them up as the chat progressed. I learned how to do it when a picture of one of my necklaces appeared out of nowhere. All you have to do is ask how something is done and you've got all kinds of people ready to explain it.

I had to beg off because, as I said earlier, it was way past my bedtime. But I was there and I learned new things.

Now this morning, in the cruel light of day, I feel energized. I want to do something. Something important to promote my work. I am no longer toiling in the dark. I have a whole network dedicated to helping me. And not just me. All eSMArts Guild team members can benefit and be of benefit, too.

So, today I will be emailing a bunch of people to let them know what they missed. And to encourage them to participate.

Oh yeah, by the way, I've been made Editor in Chief: I'm responsible for getting out a newsletter ~ right now it's monthly ~ and editing a beginners' handbook, and treatises on how the whole thing is done. And I am that excited to do it, too.

Watch out world, the eSMArts Guild is on the move!!

Well, that's what I think.
Beads in the Head Helene ~~ Glass0Beads (#0, not letter O)

PS eSMArts = Etsy Social Marketing Artisans

A Great Christmas Season

2008-12-17T09:18:00.007-05:00

My Christmas came early. And it has lasted several days with no end in sight. Santa has been very good to me this year.

http://creationsbyjae.etsy.com

I have been on my first conference instant messaging. With enlightened beings. And they aren't from the outer galaxy.

And, because of their generosity, I have some new tricks in my bag that will help my sales record improve.

Now, isn't that a marvellous Christmas!?! Well, I think so.

http://coastalartist.etsy.com

I am all a-Twitter now. You can find me there. I didn't understand how Twitter could help me but yesterday I learned so everyday I will be on Twitter telling the world about the boys and girls I've met online and their businesses. You have to admit that is a special gift for me to receive.

Another gift. I wasn't able to add a 'mini Etsy' to Glass0Beads.Blogspot but I understand how it is done now so it should be a matter of hours until that is added.

http://gahooletreesupplies.etsy.com

And I have another interviewee for my newsletter, too. Sign up yourself for my Glass Beads Newsletter by adding a comment to this entry. It's a monthly email and I keep it short so you won't spend a lot of your valuable time. In it you will find interviews of other crafts artisans, heads up about the colours and fashion for next season. As you will learn when you sign up for it, you'll be getting quality, not quantity.

I've also got some interesting developments that are still developing that promise to make my business life a whole lot better.

Now, I've got my Christmas presents early and they are wonderful. I hope your Christmas holiday brings you treasures as great as the ones I have received.

Merry Merry and Happy Happy Seasons Greetings to all and sundry. And that includes the pets in our lives, too.

Well, that's what I think.

Helene ~ Glass0Beads (it's #0, not letter O)

Notes to Self - Footloose and Fancy Free

2008-12-15T20:59:00.004-05:00

Today I awoke refreshed. It's worth noting because I go for long periods with lack of sleep and I am a mess when that happens.

I'm particularly pleased with myself because I got through all, and I mean ALL, of my emails. I have visited some sites.

Divine Caroline dot com - an article writing platform - free to register

Payloadz dot com - automated service which will download your written materials, like PDF instructions and booklets, to people registering for it. They distribute your wares. They collect the money. They deposit the funds to your bank account. They leave you free to write some more neat things for Payloadz dot com to advertise.

Vittoria Banks dot com - She has some really lovely bits for sale here and at Etsy.com/VittoriaBanks

Creations by JAE dot Etsy dot com - This lady makes some fine jewellery and is so supportive of the hand work of other crafts artists. She is ever willing to assist where she can at the eSMArts Guild and at their store.

I signed up for StumbleUpon and glanced at Reddit. Somehow, and really I should explore this, I had a good feeling about StumbleUpon that just wasn't there at Reddit. I guess that's why I signed up for one ~ FREE ~ and not the other.

Twitter seems to be popular but I haven't figured out how to use it. But I did a lot today and I'm willing to leave the Twitter lesson for later.

Then I made a mistake: I read several of Rena Klingenberg's newsletters ~ I had been stacking them to read on a rainy day. Well, today wasn't rainy but I did see a couple of fluffy snowflakes. Rena always has interesting stuff on her sites and she allows other jewellers to tell their stories and share their discoveries. Rena is really a must on your research list. There were stories from a bunch of my forum buddies at the eSMArts Guild and I added my small bit to some of the articles.

Now, am I 'on' or not!! It dawned on me that my adding my comments to somebody else's article is getting me 'out there' and helping to build my reputation as a knowledgeable crafts artist. And getting a good reputation is part of the social networking battle, isn't it? Well? Don't you think that was a profound insight?

I was also reminded that I am not the only one in the world with difficulties to face every day. Thank God I'm not the only one!! It's nice to know you are in good company!

The only thing I made today is dinner. I got my banking done. I cleaned out one of my inboxes ~ the biggest one. I was footloose and fancy free and allowed my rambling to take me whither it willed.

It's been a big day. A full day. I've been here for more than 12 hours. I think I've done enough for one day. Don't you?

Good night sweet reader. May the Dream Faery send you comforting dreams. And may you waken refreshed.

Well, that's what I am hoping for.

Helene ~ Glass0Beads.etsy.com

Notes to Self - A Slap in the Face

2008-12-12T11:39:00.003-05:00

I was minding my own business this week; doing nothing to annoy the Great Blogspot Gods. As a matter of fact, I was no where near my computer, not online at all for 2 days.

Oh! but what a tangled mess I discovered when I did get back yesterday.

I had been spammed. Like a slap in the face, I didn't do anything to deserve it!!

I didn't like it very much. And it took over 2 hours to clean up this blog: deleting all those spammy comments. And using up the little strength I had.

Yes, I reported the spammer from China.

I hope none of you have met with a similar fate.

That's what I think. ~ Helene

PS ~ I celebrated my 57th birthday this week. I celebrated in bed with the flu. I hope this isn't indicative of the next 12 months. ~H

Month - November

2008-12-05T16:55:00.002-05:00

Well, I was busy minding my own business when I got spammed: it took a good 2 hours to clear up the mess and in my zeal to have the ugly spam gone, I managed to wipe out my November posting. It's a case, I think, of 'the quicker I go, the behinder I get.'

So: my November project is rings. This month's project is small so I made several rings to make up for it. And, yes, there is a pair of earrings. That's the only thing that was left of my November blog entry: the picture of the pair of earrings.

Start with a ring mandrel, or a dowel, larger in circumference by one size than the size you want. Wrap the wire, 18 - 20 ga, a couple of times around the mandrel and give the wire ends a twist or two around each other.

Run the 2 wire ends through the hole in the bead: take each tail end by itself and bring it down around the bead and under the mandrel ring. That's the shoulder of the ring you've just made.

Finish the tail end with squiggles or curlicues: bring it up the side of the bead and make a corkscrew or some other finishing touch. Do the same with the other loose tail end.

That last step isn't very helpful, is it! It is the fun part of making rings. That last step is the one where you get to experiment. As long as the bead is secured to the mandrel ring the rest is for sheer enjoyment. Play, be fanciful, add twists and turns.

The finishing of these rings is important. Somebody will be wearing your finger confection. Make sure all the wire ends are tucked in and filed down so nothing sharp will harm m'lady's fingers.

There are 2 secrets.

Secret #1 ~ If your bead seems not tight enough, twist the wires with your chain nose pliers. Either on the shoulder of the ring or on the bead itself add this twist. Take a look at the frosted glass ring and earrings: this twisting of the wire with the needle nose pliers can be seen the best.

Secret #2 ~ If you have chosen to wrap your wire ends around the ring, as you can see in all my ring pictures, keep the wrapping loops close together. Cut the excess wire and file it down. Finish it off with a pair of pliers that do not have any ridges or teeth on their interior surfaces. If you choose to use such pliers, you run the risk of damaging the wire. So, with the smooth pliers give the wraps a gentle squeeze. It flattens the wraps and tightens the setting.

The ring and accompanying pair of earrings below are made with frosted glass segments. They are not properly beads but I found them very pretty and I wanted to learn how to use a blob of glass, any shape or size, as a focal point. It also gave me practise wrapping and tightening the wire.

That last ring, bottom right, uses a handmade bead in silver and a black wire for the ring and shoulders. Making beads? Well, maybe next month. It isn't making glass lampwork beads, but it is making beads.

Just one last note. These rings sit very high on a finger. Don't try to put on a pair of gloves over these rings because you may cause damage to the finger of the glove. Mittens are just fine. If you are off to a cocktail party and you will be wearing kid gloves throughout the evening, put the ring on your finger AFTER you put on the gloves. People will be able to see your bit of finger confection and admire your handwork (pun intended).

There! I've updated the November entry that I accidentally deleted ~ except for the earrings photo. I can't explain it and I don't intend to find out how I did it. It's repaired.

Next? Christmas and my birthday.

Christmas is Coming!

2008-11-27T11:48:00.006-05:00

It's true!! Christmas is Coming! FAST !!!

If you are anything like me, I hate to shop for Christmas gifts at this time of year. The weather is turning foul. Everybody forgets courtesy in the parking lots. Which are full to overflowing and some people have done some creative parking: putting their vehicles where there is no spot.

And in the malls and shops! It's just as bad. The temperature in the malls goes up as the numbers of people milling about increases. And we have our bulky parkas and car coats. And there are screaming children: that noise goes right through me and lands on my last nerve.

Again, if you are anything like me, you don't have the money to buy that special piece of jewellery or throw away on children's toys.

I have a solution.

Shop in the comfort of your own home. That cuts out the road rage, the hunting for non-existent parking spots, the pushing and shoving of the masses. It saves that last nerve from being frazzled.

I have some suggestions for people on your gift list.

Glass Bead Artisan Jewellery for the significant other in your life. And there is a new shop in town: the eSMArts Guild Gift Shoppe at Etsy.com. Etsy offers more than artisan jewellery to tickle your fancy. There are children's clothes, quilts, all kinds of things. And it is dedicated to all things made by hand. By artists who are dedicated to their craft.

Doing your shopping at the eSmarts Team Shop has another benefit: each item is donated to the shoppe by the artisans of Etsy Social Marketing ARTisans Team and the proceeds of all sales are donated to a worthy cause. So you will be doing a good deed by shopping there. And that is a gift to your soul.

Go ahead. Treat yourself. You can shop at 3AM if you want. You can have your purchases mailed to your auntie or your granny if that is what you want. Just ask for details: everybody at the eSMArts Guild are awfully friendly and are quite approachable.

And they make some really beautiful items.

Rena and Me

2008-11-16T16:26:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been a very good week for this wee beader. First I got my booth at the Almost Spring March 2009 Toronto Bead Oasis Show.
Now I have been added to Rena Klingenberg's Jewelry Success Tips Newsletter. Yes I have.
Rena has a home based business and cares for her highly allergic child. What fills the rest of her time? She publishes this newsletter and runs several other related sites, too. If you are researching something beady then use her as one of your resources.
And read my article. It's about my September Spanish Bracelet.

Almost Spring Bead Oasis Show 2009 - Toronto

2008-11-13T13:32:00.003-05:00

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH My toes are wiggling with delight!!! Oh Happy Dance LALALALALA.
I have just got a booth at my 1st real show - and only the 2nd venue for me in 2 years. This Bead Oasis Show comes to Toronto twice a year: Spring and Fall. The Spring show is the larger of the 2 and considered the more lucrative for the vendors. And I have business friends who sell at this show. That just excites me even more: being a bigger part of the Beadin' Clan than heretofore. And how nice of the organizers: they let me pick out my booth instead of telling me where I will be. I'm IN IN IN IN IN IN!!!!!
It was at the Fall Bead Oasis Show that I learned how to make wire coil beads: a class by Jelcy Romberg. She is a talented person who is also an inspiring teacher. From my booth I can see one of the entrances/exits and my neighbours are innovative beadworkers. One of those bead business friends is within earshot - if you could hear over the general excited buzz of attendees. I want to be a sponge and soak up just as much as I possibly can. My sister has agreed to help me: without her I couldn't manage a show.
So. Wiggle your toes in shared delight for me. And any ideas, observations, warnings are gratefully received. I would prefer to learn from others' mistakes/experiences than make the mistakes myself.

Notes to Self: Stumble Photography

2008-11-11T11:19:00.009-05:00

Well, you know I make artisan jewellery. And you understand I like instant gratification. I want my first attempt at a new technique to be perfect. And I want my photographs to be clean, clear and detailed. At the first go. Am I being unreasonable? I don't think so. (Caveat: my 2 sisters and I are very 'high maintenance')

I guess part of it is the age in which I was raised. It wasn't that long after the Depression and the end of World War II when I was born. Waste was frowned upon. We were far 'greener' than today. We learned to make do with less and to use our imaginations to find new ways of doing things. This led to hoarding : I have a lovely collection of cardboard boxes for which I haven't found a use ~~ yet. And I have a great collection of plastic buttons. As Mummie would say, 'I haven't finished with them yet.'

I thank God for the inventor of the digital camera. Please let him into heaven just because of his invention. Gone are the days of the Brownie, the SureShot, the SLRs. We no longer have to wait for our pictures to be developed. I can take as many pictures as I want, I can edit them myself. And I can post them on my websites and in my blogs.

But even this convenience, while it goes a long way to satisfying me, doesn't quite fit the bill. I want to be able to take a picture only once and, with a bit of tweeking, have a wonderful picture. I don't want to spend all this time experimenting. Whoever tells you they have a camera that does everything for you doesn't get it: there's a lot of work after the shutter is pressed.

But, I think I've hit upon something: the backdrop and a display rack that is working the best is a small Inukshuk (an Eskimo signpost). Her name is Judy; a nod to dressmakers' mannequins, or judies. My Judy looks like a surfer, doesn't she!?

Judy stands 5in tall (13cm) and can hold my glass bead artisan jewellery: earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. I've not tried to display any brooches on her, yet. But I've made a couple of amulet bags done in the tubular peyote technique and they stand up well with Judy.

I played around with pretty glasses as my backdrop but I just could not get them to look pretty in a picture: a case of 'you look better in person than you do in the movies.' Even my absolutely gorgeous lead crystal sherry glass in the shape of Scotland's thistle looked dowdy. I wanted a glass to go with my blog name: Glass 0 Beads. It just didn't work out.

I've begun taking photographs of my artisan jewellery straight on instead of from above. I tried to lay things flat but the pictures looked flat, too. I tried on an angle, 45 degrees above: that didn't work either. When I tried straight on, no angles, I had the most success. Now I can use that success as a springboard from which to experiment.

The editing software I am using is Picasa2 from Google: it's free. I like free. It is easy to use and allows for some great experiments. The first thing I learned how to do is cancel, or undo, some of my experiments. Learning that allowed me to try all kinds of things. I knew I could get rid of the unsuccessful photos of my glass bead artisan jewellery and that took a lot of tension out of my experiments.

Now I have to spend some time getting new photos of all of my artisan jewellery. I hate having to redo things. But at least I won't be experimenting with the retakes. I'll do what I know works.

Anyway, I am much happier now that I can take pictures, edit them, and post them on Lampwork and Beads and Glass 0 Beads. Give me a bit of time to see the fruits of my labours.

I am a happy camper again.

Up to my eyeballs in beads ~~Helene ~~Glass0Beads

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Month - October Update

2008-11-10T16:21:00.007-05:00

Well, it didn't happen yesterday: I got sidetracked by my inbox. I am finally down to the 40's in email. At this rate I am hoping to be done all of them by end of week.

Do you like it? It's the October addition to my artisan jewellery line.

Step 1 ~ A ladder stitch circle: on one end of a bugle add a seed bead and none at the other end. At that end bugle beads touch one another.

Step 2 ~ Add the middle line of seed beads using the brick stitch.

Step 3 ~ At each seed bead on the outer ring, add bugle, 1 seed, a bugle.

Step 4 ~ Connect each bugle triangle at the centre seed bead with seed bead, bugle, seed bead. This is the step that gives the spiral a three dimensional look. It looks like a ballerina's tutu, doesn't it.

Step 4 ~ Add a pin finding on the back. I'm not showing the backside of this pin because I don't like the way the pin looks. With all the prettiness on the front, it's a pity the pin backing looks so poorly. I will be changing the pin back.

Here is the pair of earrings I made to go with the brooch. It is a simple design: just 12 bugle beads joined using the ladder stitch with seed beads up one side using the brick stitch and a few beads at the top of each to join to the lever back earring findings.

I lean towards the clean lines of a pleat as opposed to the softer line of a flounce or ruffle. The brooch for October has a ruffle, that tutu effect, so I wanted the earrings to be less fancy. I have a fat face; vestiges of the 8 years I needed prednisone, and the last thing my chubby jaw needs is a ruffle nearby. I know you understand.

There. The pictures are a day late but they're here now. My October submission.

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October Submission

2008-11-08T15:24:00.004-05:00

Well, my escape wasn't entirely successful. I have made some more artisan jewellery. I used seed beads, and bugle beads and a bunch of techniques and what I created is another addition to my line of glass bead artisan jewellery.

So I have spent some days in bed and other days gallavanting with my sister who took her birthday week off of work. Now I am trying to catch up and regulate my activities.

So!! I wish I could show you what I did for October. You will have to wait until tomorrow for the picture. My camera battery discharges too quickly and it is on the recharge thingy today. I'm sorry about that: I'm hoping a magic elf will give me a new, back up battery for Christmas. It's just that they are so darn expensive.

But I really did something: a brooch. It's a combination of techniques all jumbled together. I am thinking about making a kit from it.

It measures 1 1/2in (3cm) across and the techniques used are ladder stitch variation, brick stitch (just 1 row and it goes around in circles, too), and spiral variation. The colours are muted bronze, yellow gilt and silver gilt. The spiral variation makes it look like a wee ballerina's tutu.

It's round, like a wreath. And if it were done in Christmas reds and greens, golds and silvers, it would look very festive. A perfect giftie for Auntie Lee.

There are only 2 problems: while it doesn't look flimsy, it feels like it in the hand ~ its 'hand' is very fluid; and I don't like the pin finding.

I want to try adding a 2nd row of the ladder stitch variation to stiffen it a bit. And, if I add it to the backside, it might be just be the trick that hides the ugly pin finding. I'll add a pic of the backside, too, so you can see what I mean. Tomorrow.

I guess I have to blame a chum of mine, Jenny. She made a ladder stitch garden bracelet and gave the instructions without a picture: probably the same problem with her camera as with mine today. I made the 'garden on a ladder' just following her steps and it looked entirely different when finished than hers. I went back to the instructions and could follow it now that I had a picture in my mind. So my bracelet is entirely my own work.

But, doing the ladder stitch and playing with it and trying different add-ons giave me my October brooch. It's the combination of techniques that makes it my design. And it did allow me to play a bit. Thank you Jenny.

I want to make some more of these pins as gifts for my family. Each pin need not be expensive: the design would be great for using up some of the bead soup we all manage to collect.

I am reminded of Wimpy, Popeye's friend, who often said "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." So, you'll see my wonderful pin pictures tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot, I made earrings to go with it. Something I set myself to do to go with whatever I make for each month.

Yours in Bead Heaven ~Helene ~Glass 0 Beads

Bookmark this on Delicious

Caroll L

2008-11-07T11:35:00.002-05:00

Hiya, Caroll L. What an awful thing to happen to you. And how frustrating, too. All your hard work down the tubes.

I have been hunting, unsuccessfully, to find you again. I know I haven't tagged or flagged you 'cuz I haven't been around for quite a while.

Make contact again, Caroll, so we can pick up where we left off.

Cheers,
Helene - Glass 0 Beads

Notes to Self - I Apologize

2008-10-30T16:25:00.002-04:00

I have been reading some other bead blogs and I realized how much we apologize for things. A comment was added to one design and the caveat was 'sorry for my english.' Well, I felt like I had been given a mighty smack: I had not detected any problem with the english. I have seen some pretty bad stuff on the internet: I mean the written english language. Wrong verb tenses, incorrect punctuation, misuse of words - either in definition or incorrect placement. And lots of other mistakes, too.

Well, what language do beads speak?

Exactly my point!

Music is an international language. When well done, music can soothe, enthuse, inspire, include. I mean include every listener. There are no borders or boundaries.

I learned something at a performance given by Ravi Shankar, the great Indian devotee of the sitar. At the beginning of his performance at Stratford oh, so many years ago!! he told everybody that the way musicians in India acknowledge fine playing is to shake the head back and forth. In the West such a movement is negative, usually followed with a strong 'NO.' I was glad to learn that little nugget. When you close your eyes you can be uplifted by the music: it has no race, colour, religion, politics - it's music.

In the same way, beads have no race, religion, politics. But it has lots of colours!! And textures. My next door neighbour is blind: she has some vision but not enough to enjoy what sighted people can see. She asked me to make a brooch and she came over to look at the piece in progress. She held it at about nose distance and could see all the lovely colours. And she could feel the texture of the piece as well. I delivered it yesterday and she phoned me last night to thank me. She loved the texture: she could enjoy the piece basically with her eyes closed.

You may have to keep your eyes open when dealing with beads but even with your eyes closed you can enjoy the textures.

Beads have no language: as music is the language, so beads and beading is the language.

We don't need to apologize for our 'poor english.' We just need to seek, find, spread the good word about the great beading and beaders we have found.

Well, that's what I think.

Helene

Notes to Self - Spanish Bracelet and Serendipity

2008-10-24T13:24:00.004-04:00

I made a cuff bracelet - actually many cuff bracelets. It's artisan jewellery and that is what I do. I submitted a bracelet using beads on memory wire. I struggled with the memory wire and it cost me a flare up of arthritis. I threw it out - well figuratively speaking I threw it out. It landed in such a way that it looked pretty cool on the wrist. My sister was the inspiration and now she wears both bracelets.
Well the falling of the memory wire bracelet was serendipitous: it saved its life and sent my mind off in search of a new memory wire technique.
The next serendipitous happening occurred just about a week ago. My sister and I were watching TV and she suddenly noticed an incomplete cuff bracelet on the table. The only reason it was still in existence is that I hadn't cannibalized it (cut apart and beads and salvageable wire returned to my bead wall). She expressed her delight. Now I have to finish the piece.
Sometimes a failure in your eyes is a success in another's. When you are unhappy with your work and it is not technically flawed, put it down for a day or two. If your attitude doesn't change, stand it in front of a mirror and look at its reflection in the mirror. Pretty good, isn't it!? If your attitude still doesn't change, ask the opinion of somebody else.
Except when the work is technically flawed, don't automatically do the frog stitch (rippit, rippit) when you make a 'mistake.' Is there some way of salvaging what you have done? Maybe you didn't make a 'mistake' at all. Why are self-taught people inspired and inspiring? They had nobody telling them they did something the wrong way.
Take care of your ego, it gets you up in the morning, ready to face the world. Don't tell yourself you are a failure, or you can't do __X__. There are enough people out there who are happy to tear you down - don't you be one of them. Look for the serendipity angel - she exists.
Helene Glass0Beads

Commissioned Work

2008-10-23T15:07:00.008-04:00

I've been away: it seems like forever. Have you missed me? I haven't been bitten with the writing-bug so I've not been tending to my blogs. For shame.

I've met some really lovely people, strengthened (I hope) some online friendships. I've even been blessed with some purchases and a couple of commissions!! Now how about that!?

An RN where Marg works asked me for a necklace.

The particulars: she will be in Phillipines over Christmas and it will be hot. She has a certain strapless red dress that she wants the necklace for. And she wants a woven look like my father's watchband (it's my everyday watch - to paraphrase, "wear this in remembrance of me.").

Now, the picture on the right doesn't show the finished piece. And, silly me, I didn't take a picture of the final version. And, what's worse, I can't find my sketch book where the notes were made. I know, sometimes I bumble. If memory serves me ~ and my memory is somewhat suspect now ~ it was a nice tight netting technique. I wanted some air to penetrate the necklace just because she was going where there is humidity and I thought something a bit airy would make wearing the piece more comfortable.

The finished piece has a standup 'collar' ~ like a Nehru jacket collar ~ and had to be made a number of times because I just couldn't believe how small her neck was. I tried to be true to the measurement guidelines for a slender neck and it just kept coming out too big.

Yup, again, silly me: at no time did I think to measure her neck. Mm-mm! It would have saved so much effort. But it is an item of glass bead artisan jewellery.

So, there is my commission.

Notes to Self - Wire Coil Techniques

2008-10-02T14:31:00.004-04:00

In my September effort I learned 2 new techniques: both are wire coils but they are each different from the other. The one is a 3D spring that can be wound upon itself to make a really interesting bead. Leaving it as a spring without the extra twisting gives you a bugle bead. Play with the colours of the wires you use, even the gauges of wires gives such interesting versions on the lowly spring. It uses a 'Gizmo' TM but any knitting needle, shish kebab skewer, ... will do. That's its picture in the top left.

The 2nd method is a flat coil using a pair of round nose pliers. Instead of each round being the same size and shape as the previous, each spiral goes around the last and gets bigger and bigger. It is a flat coil. Oh, but what you can do with a flat coil. That's its picture in the bottom right.

I also learned something about memory wire: let my godlette, Serendipity, help you. My hands ached and throbbed and refused to make a fist and had difficulty holding important things - like my pliers. Thank goodness one holds one's teddy bear in one's arms and not in one's hands.

What I had decided was a complete flop turned into quite a decent shape - even for memory wire.

Do you want to know the techniques for wire coils? I've added them to my other blog.

September - Spanish Cuff Bracelet

2008-10-02T13:18:00.010-04:00

Hiya, everybody. I had some effort getting started in this Bead Journal Project08. I didn't understand exactly how the whole thing worked. In my defense, I have a lot of trouble following instructions. Even when I read very slowly I miss key instructions.

But I did get started. I had decided that I would make a different piece of artisan jewellery each month and there certainly are enough categories to cover all the months, and then some.

I tried really hard with September's chapter: a cuff bracelet built on a memory wire frame. I made some wrapped wooden beads to use in the cuff. I got out some goldfilled tube beads. I dug out my copper wire. Everything I tried to keep that cuff shape was defeated. More times than I wish to remember the whole memory wire frame exploded in my face. It got to the point that I refused to get down on the floor again to retrieve the wee beads I was using.

I gave up only to go back with a new idea. It's hard to let an inanimate object get the better of you. That's what I think.

Then along came the Fall Bead Oasis Show in Toronto and I went to my day long workshop with Jelcy Romberg: a wirework class. Hah!! I knew memory wire was to be part of the instruction. Now, thought I, that memory wire cuff skeleton will finally be beaten into submission.

The wire cuff Jelcy showed us wasn't what I had expected. I wanted a cuff like a bangle and her technique was a cuff like a snake wrapping around the wrist. She also taught wire coil beads.

I gave it a shot when I got home: I added my floss wrapped wooden beads, my goldfilled bugle beads and some rocaille beads, too. I added some of the wire coil beads. I did it all one night. And I allowed my memory wire cuff to sit.

Truly, when I got up the next day I had given up on my snake coil memory wire cuff.

I made another bracelet using a different wire coiling technique. It was pretty rough but my sister, the recipient of the finished project, approved of it. So I made up a good version and liked it well enough to add a pair of earrings to match. It met with approval from my sister and from some of her colleagues and family members of some of her clients.

I really like these earrings and, generally speaking, earrings are quick to assemble. I've decided to make a different pair of earrings each month to 'go' with the main project for that month.

The day after that I noticed the snake-y memory wire cuff bracelet lying where it fell when I tossed it onto my workbench. Perhaps it was the way the light hit it. Or maybe it was the way I was holding my mouth. Then again, it might have been my powerful meds had finally started working. It really doesn't matter: I thought the failure cuff bracelet was a success.

My sister wore it to work yesterday and got even more compliments on it than on the other wire coil bracelet. It was Serendipity, one of my personal, favourite godlettes, at work: there's no other explanation.

So, to summarize. I went from having a big zero entry for September, not a good start to the project, to having 2 very different bracelets and a pair of earrings. Not too bad.

Glass0Beads

Notes to Self - New eSMArts Member

2008-10-02T12:38:00.006-04:00

Holy Doodle!!

I've just been accepted into a new group over at Etsy - the eSMArts group. In common is the handmade nature of our work and the desire to market our own 'stuff' as well as help others of the group sell their 'stuff'.

Well, how welcome do I feel? Very welcome indeed. Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened up this blog today and discovered my 'followers' had jumped to 5. Yup - FIVE. Don't I just feel the best !!

I began to check up on my new followers and discovered the blogspot. Okay - I did say I was new at the game. And I didn't say I was the sharpest pencil in the box.

Again - Holy Doodle!!

I found one of my pieces of artisan jewellery pictured among some really amazing 'stuff' and it didn't look out of place. OOOOOOO I do feel good.

Thanks, you eSMArt-ies you.

Now, how can I live up to their example? I have to find a way.

Check out some of their sites: you won't be sorry. The 'stuff' moves from fabric to jewellery to paper to ... Now's the time to start your Christmas shopping and where better than in the comfort of your own home at your own computer with your own coffee, tea or hot chocolate steaming in the mug beside you.

If you don't know what to get for Great Auntie Jewel or Uncle Neddie, these Etsy stores will offer you some suggestions. And, of course, a gift certificate is the receiver's gift of choosing exactly what s/he wants. Perfect for that mother-in-law who returns everything you have ever given her.

Artisan jewellery is somewhere between Estate Jewellery and Tiffany's Fifth Avenue. It is the estate jewellery of the future. And you can find some pretty spectacular items in the Etsy Shops.

Well, that's what I think. Helene...

September Update

2008-09-26T14:17:00.002-04:00

I've been away for what seems like a lifetime. I went to my wirework class with Jelcy Romberg and went into overdrive. Yesterday I was in a hospital waiting room and making wire springs and getting all kinds of stares. Only 2 people actually came over and asked what on earth I was doing: making colourful springs to use in earrings and necklaces and bracelets and ...

I spent a day trying unsuccessfully to rest following Jelcy's all day class. Saturday saw me back at the Bead Oasis Show as a shopper and seminar attendee. I was surprised that there were not many people taking the time to sit in and learn. Happily I learned some new techniques.

Between the seminars I prowled the merchants' mall and visited friends. I had 4 highlights: 1: a fellow Jelcy classmate, Diana, ran into me and started a conversation. It was good to see her because I had learned she is a Vietnamese 'boatpeople': that sad time in the history of our world. She is doing well and starting up her bead collection.

2: at the end of my day, Jelcy saw me and stopped to chat. a) she remembered my name and b) I told her of the dickering around with 1 of the techniques she taught and a lightbulb switched on behind her eyes. She said she would play with my innovation.

3: Modesty forbids me to tell you what a friend of mine, Kirsty Naray, said about my logo being terrific and wonderful and with great colours ... I gotta say, I made that logo myself and have been fiddling with it. Kirsty's validation of my work means the world to me.

4: I met a young lady, Vanessa, she is 19 only, who has started her own business on the internet while she is studying psychology at University of Guelph. I am pretty sure the idea is to assist paying her tuition. Her product? Videos on techniques. Look at her Beads By U site.

I spent Monday and yesterday chauffeuring my elder sister to doctors and hospitals and well ... Soon there will be another day with her in doctors' offices.

This weekend I can be found putting in a rough floor in the new dining room (our enclosed balcony will be our new dining room). Then the layering of rugs and vaccuuming and moving heavy HEAVY furniture. And a day running errands.

And I'll not have touched a single bead and lovingly stringing and such. I admit to feeling a bit like an orphan, lost and alone in the world with nothing to soothe me. That means it's time for the good meds and a teddy bear and cool and dimly lit bedroom for several long naps. When I come out the other side I should be able to get my buddies, the beads, and do something creative.

And I still haven't finished my September cuff bracelet. Oh, dear, ...Helene

September Notes - Cuff Bracelet Disaster

2008-09-13T10:22:00.002-04:00

Well, my cuff bracelet success turned into disaster. I left it sitting overnight and picked it up yesterday afternoon. I began wrapping it with copper wire and

Yup, the wire exploded from its crimp beads and black beads went everywhere.

I was visibly upset. All that effort in getting it into a cuff shape and the pain I put myself through! Oh, my poor aching hands!!!!

I finally decided to change my design: 2 separate lengths of memory wire joined with beaded 'ribs.' And then, while I was crying on one of my forums, I got another idea.

And so, September will have 2 entries in the project: both cuff bracelets, both memory wire, both for the trip to Spain, both for my sister, Marg. When I told her she was well chuffed: one will be for everyday and the other will be for dress up. And that helped in the design of both: one for everyday and one for Sunday best.

Do you wanna see pics? Wander over to my other blog.

Now, while I know the entry with 2 separate pieces of memory wire won't explode, the other just might. I'm letting it alone for now. This is how I did it:
I put a loop at each end of the length. Then I twisted it around and held it in place by slipping one loop into the other. That gave the bracelet an asymetric shape: one end is curved and the loop end is pointy. It adds a new dimension to the shape that quite appeals to me.

What will I do to fill up the spaces of the cuff? The 1st is held together by ribs of beads and I will use my floss wrapped wood beads, coiled copper wire, black beads, and anything else that strikes me as I go along.

The 2nd will be the dress up bracelet. I woke up this morning dreaming about that cuff bracelet. Using wire, I am going to try some hardanger elements. I might add some perle cotton hardanger as well. I expect it won't be easy and my hands will scream at me but I think the finished product may be just the ticket.

So, what started as a disaster has ended with hope in my heart and a new design. It's great writing about it after the fact instead of mapping everything out at the beginning. I'm hoping the spontaneity of the design will shine through. ...Glass0...

September Notes - Cuff Bracelet Success

2008-09-11T14:54:00.002-04:00

More waiting: I have to wait to the beginning of December before I can show pictures in this blog. I added pictures and began to discuss my latest achievement but then remembered I can't show any pictures here before the start of December.

If you recall, I have been crying over my poor hands being put through such memory wire torture. Then, truly in midst entry, I had a streak of inspiration: I would add beads to the memory wire, close up the form with crimp tubes, and tighten and shape the cuff bracelet with copper or silver or even maybe gold wire. Once this is finished I can add my wrapped beads.

The wrapped beads are not wire. They are wood beads that I have wrapped in embroidery floss. For embroiderers, you may recognize this as one of the techniques used in stumpwork. I wrote something here a bit earlier abour Jane Nicholas, Australian and brilliant stumpwork books.

This Spanish bracelet has only the slightest connection to Spain: certainly, I've used no technique attributable to Spain. Kind of like a string tied to a finger to remind you of something important, my sister requested a piece of artisan jewellery to act as a constant reminder; thereby allowing her to save money to finance her trip to Spain.

Now I know more about memory wire and in the future will find other means of creating cuff bracelets. My hands just aren't strong enough for the memory wire. Now I've tried it and can voice an opinion backed by my personal experience: I'll not use memory wire again. That's more than I knew in August.

By the way, if you'd like to see the pictures you can see my other blog. ...Glass0...

September Notes - Cuff Bracelet - Spain

2008-09-11T14:46:00.004-04:00

Here is my effort with memory wire. Getting the bracelet to this phase has been murder on my poor arthritic hands but I got it done. The 'ring' is held together with 3 crimp beads - you can just see them at the bottom of the 1st picture, between 7 4mm black beads and the larger black/white round bead.

Still to be done is to add more wire to stabilize this cuff bracelet and finally to add my floss wrapped wooden beads. That's the fun stuff I have to look forward to (no, that isn't sarcasm).

This is the one that exploded in my face. I have nothing more to say to it.

September - 09 09 08

2008-09-09T14:09:00.003-04:00

I am still energized by the project, don't get me wrong. But a subplot to this journal is to curtail my rash behaviours. I was so excited about my theme - jewellery - and I saw this as a great opportunity to try things I've not tried before.

Memory wire was made for people with far more strength and persistence than I have. I have developed a water blister on the palm side of my ring finger: the underside PIP joint ( I had a tough time with septic arthritis a couple of years ago so I ended up learning some 'medicalese'. The PIP is the Proximal Inter Phalangeal joint - the knuckles closest to your hand. Pretty good, huh?

Well, I've not been wearing my rings lately so that didn't play into this blister. Two days and evenings working with memory wire and pliers is what killed me. My hands ache terribly but the results are disappointing.

The question I ask myself is: 'is this suffering worth it?' And the answer is a resounding "NO!" And so I retreat from the field of memory wire, not beaten but certainly wiser.

I am quite content to let others use the memory wire. As for me, I will put all thoughts of memory wire out of my head. Unfortunately, I have an unopened package of silver memory wire that I won't be using===

Stop the presses!! I just had a thought about memory wire. I will give it another shot but this time using beads as the edging instead of wire wrapping directly on the memory wire.

Does this mean I've just grown a bit?? I'll let you know. ...G0B (Glass 0 Beads)...

Notes to Self - Translate a Post

2008-09-06T17:36:00.002-04:00

Do you want to read a blog in translation from the original into English? Or English into your language? BJP bloggers write in their own language and it's kinda neat to read a blog entry translated from their language to yours.

It can be done and Google has a tool to get it done.

The translation isn't as good as it could be but it is good enough to understand what is being written.

And reading the translations draws us closer together: not just as beaders, but more importantly as people. Fear is dispelled by knowledge and reading in translation is a step towards that knowledge. It makes the world a friendlier place.

At least, that's what I think. ...Glass0...

Notes to Self - Beads in Embroidery

2008-09-06T16:51:00.002-04:00

If you are an embroiderer who wants to learn how to add beads to your work, there's a new book out that explains how. If you are an experienced bead embroiderer, you'll find a lot to inspire you in the pages of well photographed images.

I found this book, The Art of Bead Embroidery, in the October 2008 issue of Bead and Button's magazine. It is written by Heidi Kummli and Sherry Serafini and published by Kaumbach Books. The instructions are clear and are accompanied by photographs of each project.

Knock yourself out!! Let your fingers and your mind get some exercise as you work through the techniques. ...Helene...

Make Your Own - Crimp Beads

2008-09-06T15:09:00.004-04:00

Look what I found: it's in the October '08 issue of Bead and Button magazine. How to make your own crimp beads. You understand why that is so exciting, don't you? It means you can bead into the wee hours of the night and not worry about having crimp beads. You can make your own.

It's all thanks to Melody McDuffee's work with the Krobo people of Ghana, West Africa, in the Soul of Somanya project. You'll find the instructions in Bead and Button, October 2008 edition: Wirework - Quick Crimps.

I've tried her method: it's easy AND it works. And all you need is wire, a hammer, chain nose pliers. That's it, that's all, that's everything.

The article that accompanies the technique is interesting: offering a skill and a market, the Krobo people of Ghana are becoming self-supporting.

If you give a fish to a starving man, he will eat 1 meal: but, if you teach a starving man how to catch the fish, he and his family will eat for a lifetime. Well, the same principle applies to the Krobo bead makers: they are learning a trade that will sustain themselves and their families for a lifetime.

You can contact Melody at (251) 342-9076, visit the website 'SoulOfSomanya.org', 'MelodysArts.com, or email her at 'SoulOfSomanya@gmail.com.

Too Hot to Bead !!?

2008-09-04T00:51:00.003-04:00

Can you BELIEVE I wrote that ?!? It has been a beautiful summer day today but as the afternoon wore on it became muggy. Then, after dark, it started to rain. And I was sitting under a work lamp that gives off a fair amount of heat. I had the fan on and my sister took pity on me and turned on the air as well. Still, I was getting very damp just sitting there.

However, I have been able to spend the night making my fingers hurt and discovering the pleasures? of memory wire and copper wire and beads. After almost 5 hours I took a closer look at the template I was trying to copy from memory a wire wrapping technique.

It was all in the attempt to educate myself in the ways of memory wire - I want to use it in my sister's Spain bracelet - my September project.

That bracelet has to be easy to put on and take off because it shouldn't get wet. The Spain Bracelet has wooden beads wrapped with embroidery floss and if the floss gets wet it will turn ratty right away. As it is, it's going to take a beating.

This afternoon we visited a hospital lottery dream home in Oakville. It was gigantic and, of course, professionally decorated. It had a pool table games room and a private media room and so many bathrooms that we would need a maid to look after it all. There was a huge kitchen and a butler's pantry.

Then we picked up some meds for me and other odds and ends. We wandered through Ikea, that was our mall crawl, and that got us to almost dinner time. My sister suggested Red Lobster and I had to remind her she wanted to go to Spain. Oh, yeah, we are also starting a way of life involving fewer calories (I refuse to call it a diet). All good reasons not to go to Red Lobster. Right?

Then I wavered.

We had a big salad and the fattest thing in the salad was cheese and the dressing (lo cal). Weren't we good girls?

The heart is black beads with copper wire - the technique source. All the others are purply beads - one of the new fall season colours ( along with mustard and royal blue ).

Are you getting mixed up with my conversation? It used to be called 'stream of conscious' writing - scribbling down whatever you were thinking regardless neither of the disparity nor of the order of the thoughts.

Well, Marg had to put the money she might have spent at Red Lobster into her 'Going to Spain' piggy bank.

And I am going to bed and turn on my fan.

Good night to each and every one of you Happy Beaders. ...Glass0 ...

Worries and Frustrations Pt 2

2008-09-01T22:07:00.003-04:00

Okay, laugh heartily. I am.
Good ole a2Susan and Shebaduhcat. They laid it out for me in very gentle terms. Thank you ladies.
So, here goes.

For September: I am working on a bracelet for my sister. She wants to visit Spain but, like all of us, the money isn't there yet. So she asked me to make her a Spain bracelet to wear when she goes shopping. Feeling it on her wrist is like a string on a finger: it will remind her that she has a choice - either purchase the perfect pair of shoes/purse/... OR use the money for a trip to Spain.

I am wrapping wood beads in embroidery floss in the colours she says puts her in mind of Spain. Deep reds, burnt orange, yellows and blues. Happiness for me, I like those colours so wrapping the beads is no problem.

Where will I be stretched? Putting all those wee floss wrapped wood beads in some kind of order to make an attractive bracelet. Do I make each wrapped bead hang from a chain, as on a charm bracelet?

No, I think I'll do something more structural to feed my need for layers of texture. And I need it to be on gold tone wire. Do I add a watch face? Maybe.

That's what I think. ...Glass0...

Worries and Frustrations

2008-09-01T14:08:00.002-04:00

I have come to the end of a project in my other blog and feel that letdown feeling like after you finish a good book. I know what I want to do for my next project there - some designing exercises. While I am looking forward to getting started on that, I have put it in the back seat. You see, I really have my tastebuds ready for this Bead Journal Project 08 monthly topic.

Now, you know what it's like when your wishes are not immediately granted: the agony of waiting that ensues. Well, right now I am in agony - oh, you should know that I am an 'instant gratification' kinda girl.

And I'm feeling a bit lonely out here in the cold. I don't know how to find out what the month's topic is to be. I just assumed it would be easy to find - in my inbox? no; on the and more... blog as an announcement? no; maybe on the main site Bead Journal Project.com/2008.htm? no.

I am making myself unhappier by the minute. Did I mention the patience gene is missing in my DNA?

I hope somebody will come along and through this poor ole dog a bone. Soon.

That's what I think - Helene

A Long Day

2008-08-29T19:23:00.004-04:00

State of Brain: tired

Today I have been hard at work adding gift certificates to my main website. Don't look for it just yet. I didn't get it finished. Tomorrow, as Scarlet O'Hara was wont to say, is another day.

I look out of my PigPen windows and see the gentle grey of evening and there is a gentle breeze moving the limbs of the trees. It's warm without being muggy and it has rained so the dust has settled. A great time for a walk.

Except my DS (Darling Sister) is still at work and won't be home for a couple of hours. That's after my bedtime. DS is my younger sister and she is my caregiver. I am a lucky woman!

I've read some of the other blogs of some of the other CP (Crazy People) eagerly awaiting Sept. 1st. Will there be any let up of this anticipation? Will we go through this at the end of every month - just waiting for the next month's challenge? Will we still be energized at the end of this Project? Or, will we be exhausted and needing smelling salts as we fall supine onto our fainting couches?

Well, I am ready to stitch some beads to my nightie accidentally. Let's go.

No, I haven't got my 'stuff' organized. Right now my tools are in 2 different places and the tool and I want right now, of course, is in the other location. I am taking a class in wirework in September at the Toronto Oasis Bead Show so, I can't remember why, I've already divvied up my 'stuff.'

I need to get some - well, a lot - of paper filed away just so I can see my workbench/desk. Then, hopefully, my mind will rest. Until September 1st. Three more get ups. ooooooooooooh

Glass0

Edit Edit Edit

2008-08-28T13:06:00.005-04:00

Today's Brain: Fuzzy

I made a buncha booboos yesterday. Poor ole Pam Truog graciously made changes to my account for which I am grateful. I promised to do better and, one day later, I seem to be managing.

But, in yesterday's post about http://baublebabble.wordpress.com/ I said I'd be using that blog to run my mouth and pictures re: bjp08. What I meant was that I would be over there with my early pictures until we can post them here. Does that make sense?

I've been sketching a LOT and am r'aring to get going. It might be helpful to organize my raw materials: the threads, wires, needles, pliers, rings, things, and even fliers. Oh, and somewhere in there I should review my stash of beads.

Is it any wonder that today's state of mind is fuzzy. My workroom, lovingly called the 'PigPen' is a Disaster Zone and my living room is a Construction Zone.

I think I'd best get busy tidying my PigPen - well, just a wee bit - and rearranging furniture so that when my floor man comes in, he can get to the end of the living room that needs doing.

Notes to Self: Bauble Babble

2008-08-27T17:31:00.000-04:00

Hiya, everybody. I was just at my other blog; http://baublebabble.wordpress.com making a couple of new entries in Apprenticeship of Niki Tasha. Niki is a person who has applied to immigrate to Canada and asked to be an apprentice - long distance ! - to learn designing and beading techniques while she waits for the wheels of governments to roll.
Well, the apprenticeship is at the other blog. I have several categories over there and that's where I will be posting stuff relevent to my beading challenge journey. So, if you are at all interested, and of course I hope you are, jump over there and look at what I've got going.
I am eager to improve what I've got so all critiques will be received with the utmost good cheer. If I don't know what to fix, it's a pretty sure bet it won't get fixed.
I've begun making friends at andmorebjp08. Today I visited briefly with Diane from Puyallup, WA. We found we have travelled to each other's side of our shared continent. That's kinda neat.
At least that's what I think. Glass0

Beads Patterns Theme

2008-08-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

Hiya, everybody. I read some of the greetings of fellow designers, artisans and felt terribly out of the loop.
What will my theme be? Do I need a theme? Can I wing it?
Well, inspiration comes from the oddest places. I was struck like lightning while sitting in the cancer clinic's waiting room (my sister, not me, and all seems well).
Jewellery of course!! I make and sell my own designs of jewellery.So that is my theme. The patterns will depend on the technique I'll be using.
Fortunately my sketches - made last night after we got home and before I could forget - are such that I can do stumpwork and beaded cross stitch or other stitch with beads, stringing, bead weaving, wirework. Lots of scope in just those few sketches.

Stumpwork - a style of embroidery popular in the 1800's. It is a raised embroidery technique where parts of the embroidery, like butterfly wings or strawberries, are embroidered on a wire framework and attached for a 3D affect.

People living in Australia have a stumpworking genius among them: Jane Nicholas. She has written several books on Stumpwork Embroidery and they are still available at Amazon.com. And her work is beautiful. Her artwork is well photographed and certainly helpful when figuring out how to do the stitches. Her instructions and artwork are detailed and moderately easy if you are a fairly competent embroiderer. Those of us who were born with a needle and thread in our hand will have no trouble following her instructions. You can design your own stumpwork pictures and use the elements Jane has given instructions for.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I now have my theme, and even some of the techniques I want to use. The patterns will come in the nick of time: especially as now I am so much more relaxed.
Take a look at my shops: http://www.lampworkandbeads.com and http://www.glass0beads.etsy.com and when you have some free (!?!) time, visit my other blog: http://baublebabble.wordpress.com and add your comments and observations.