March Project and Personality Check

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 - The Bead Show

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 - New Year New Stuff

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.