Ring Repair before my Spring Ring Fling Workshop

reattaching the runaway flower

This weekend's my Freeform Peyote Spring Ring Fling Workshop at Fusion Beads. 

About time to fix this poor little ring!  After riding around in a plastic baggie in the bottom of my purse for at least a month, it lost one of its flowers.  Poor little thing!

As a beading instructor, I fear I am ridiculously hard on my pieces.  Luckily the plastic baggie caught the runaway flower (and the little turn bead too, for that matter).

You can see one of the things I absolutely love about freeform peyote stitch in this photo.  Even though a thread broke and I lost a flower, the rest of the ring stayed neatly intact.  No cascade of escaping beads to corral.  Since I had to stitch the one flower back on, I decided to run my thread through the other two as well, just for reinforcement.  But it wasn't strictly necessary.

ready to wear again.

Now the ring is fixed and ready to wear again. 

With Valentine's Day coming up, it would be easy to make a another Valentine ring or two.  But I did that last year.  So I'm likely to go on to something new.  Not sure what theme I'll work with this coming weekend. 

A friend from Seedbeaders gave me a wonderful, oddly-shaped black pearl that could be a fun focus for my next ring.  Or I may simply stroll the aisles at Fusion Beads and see what jumps out at me. 

It's also fun to see what my students bring to work with - every ring made is so unique!  If you don't believe me, do a search on my blog for 'ring'.  You'll see what I mean. 

a better photo of the pearl than of the ring

Want to come play?


There's still plenty of room if you'd like to join in.  Saturday, January 28th from 2:00- 5:00pm. 

I'm looking forward to it! 

Sping Ring Fling May Day Celebration and Blog Hop

A little May Day posy of Spring blooms

Happy May Day! 

I've always loved the idea of hanging little posies on friends and neighbors' doors to celebrate the optimism of the season on the first day of May.  I've never actually run around the neighborhood hanging mini-bouquets off of neighbors doors, but it always seemed like fun.  Instead, this year, I'm hosting a virtual May Day celebration with my first-ever freeform peyote Spring Ring Fling Blog Hop and Challenge.

Many, many thanks to everyone who accepted the challenge to make a ring or rings inspired by the season: 

* Svetlana, Svetlana’s Gallery
* Lori Finney, Using My Beads
* Monika Burzyńska, Sztuka Magiczina
* Teresa Shelton, KeyGirl Designs
* Vanessa Walilko, Kali Butterfly

Trees Budding celebrates the first signs of spring, as buds emerge on the trees

April found me traveling from Boston, to mid-Missouri, and back to Seattle.  I was struck by how much Spring's timing differs from place to place.  The wisteria and cherries had just begun blooming in our yard in early April.  Later that day, I discovered spring was just starting to unfurl in Boston.  It had snowed in Boston earlier that week and the snow had just melted!  So my first ring is for my friends over there on the 'other' coast. 

A view from the back/underside of the ring

Trees Budding (I'm still working on the name) celebrates one of the earliest signs of spring, as the buds swell on the trees.  So many of these early buds have a lovely red-orange cast.

Dyed jasper rounds nestle into a background of soft greens and the coral of dogwood stems. "Magic Apple" Riso seed beads remind me of the texture of the spiky maple 'flowers'.  (I checked on wikipedia, and they do call them flowers!)

This photo of apple blossoms from my yard started the ideas peculating for my second ring.  I snapped the photo as I was heading to the airport on my way to visit family in mid-Missouri, where I discovered my parents' cherry tree covered with snow white blooms.

Combine that with a foray to Itchy's, my father's favorite thrift shop where I picked up a 100yard spool of 3/8" white satin ribbon for a grand total of $5.00, and my second ring was born.

a side view of Karen's Apple Blossom ring

This ring was a little blast from the past - old favorites meets new(er).  I've always loved ribbon worked flowers, and used to teach how to make them back in the early nineties when my focus was more on crazy quilting and embellished embroidery.

I made three little blossoms and an apple bud, then set them aside and worked on my freeform peyote ring base.





 Once I had the base, I stitched each of the flowers in place, using apple green, transparent magatamas and 6mm bugles to add additional textures to the bouquet.

Worn, the blossoms almost complete hide the structure of the ring

The beading is almost a little secret for the wearer

So there are my little spring posies.  Now it's time for me to go see everyone elses' lovely creations in this May Day Celebration! Here's the list again:

Karen Williams, Baublicious (you're here)
Svetlana, Svetlana’s Gallery
Lori Finney, Using My Beads
Monika Burzyńska, Sztuka Magiczina
Teresa Shelton, KeyGirl Designs
Vanessa Walilko, Kali Butterfly

Freeform Valentine Rings

Heart charms by Nunn Designs & pressed glass bellflowers

I'm typically not a huge fan of Valentine's Day - it tends to be way too pink and a little too sweet for me.  But this year, I decided to jump into the festivities with a couple of new freeform peyote rings.

It started with a trip to Fusion Beads to drop off class proposals for their summer session.  Since it was right before my Rings workshop, I decided to pick up a couple of new focals for new rings, and since it was almost Valentines Day, I decided, why not? 

Especially when I found these fun heart charms by Nunn Design.  The rustic, weathered look of the antiqued copper immediately made me start thinking of alternate "Valentine" color palettes.

My color palette focused on purples & copper instead of pinks & golds

"Prickly Heart" ring

My Prickly Heart ring includes a jagged line of twin beads which reminded me of stitches mending broken hearts. It's my experience that even in the best relationships, there's bound to be some heartbreak - the key is to mend it as best you can.  Here 'the' scar has become something beautiful.  I also added a line of five of the new dragonscale beads, which reminded me of arrowheads from Cupid's quiver.  And I finished it off with Nunn Design's rustic heart charm. 

You can really see the 'arrow heads' in this view

Staring circle of beads

I was having so much fun, I decided to make a second ring with the puffed heart charm.  With both rings, I started with a simple circle of beads, then built up my base using freeform peyote. 

The goal here was to create an interesting base that I could then embellish with the charms.  Both the charms and pressed glass flowers are thread magnets - so I prefer to add them at the very last moment.   With both rings, by the time I finish building the base, I ended up debating with myself whether or not I really wanted/needed to add the additional embellishments. 

Here's a photo I snapped of my second ring before I started embellishing, so you can see what I mean:

Be Mine Ring before I added embellishments

I really debated whether I wanted to stop here.  Except I was in a "more is more" mood, and I still had the puffed heart charm burning a hole in my bead mat, so I kept stitching. 

Flowers and a Valentine

I added the puffy heart charm on a short tether, then decided to add a little bouquet to finish things off.  What says 'Be Mine' more than flowers and a Valentine? 

I've worn both rings several times in the past week, and everywhere I go people comment.  They are intrigued by the fact that you can make rings out of beads (of course we can!).  It seems to be a toss up as to which people like more.  The charms make the rings especially fun to wear.  Because they are both sewn on short tethers, they can flip and turn, and add a dynamic element.  Such fun!

Last week I sent out a 'sneak peek' to my friends on my mailing list, something I've not done before.  My thought was to send it out early enough to give people time to make their own V-Day rings, if they wanted, because I seldom think of lead time.   One of my bad habits. 

So there's my first ever Valentine's beading.  Really! In all the years I've beaded, I don't think I've ever made anything for Valentine's Day before. 

Do you bead for Valentine's Day?  What do you make?  

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you have a wonderful time this weekend, whatever you decide to do. 

Happy Halloween Pumpkin Rings

Fall is my favorite season.  Halloween runs a close second to Christmas for my favorite holiday, and I absolutely adore the soundtrack to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Costumes, magic, a little spookiness, a chance to be someone else for a night?  I'm so there!   So the question wasn't 'do I want to work with a Halloween theme' for my Freeform Peyote Rings workshop at Fusion Beads earlier this month, but rather "what Halloween theme do I want to play with?"

My first thought was Disney villains - a ring for Maleficent or Cruella Deville perhaps? I could see a fiery crimson red jewel for Malificent, while Ms. Deville's would have to be in her iconic monochrome black and white.  Or maybe a witch's ring?  What would I do for that?  Instead, I opted to make myself a pumpkin patch ring.  Jack Skellington might be the Pumpkin King, but I could wear a Pumpkin Ring!  A magic pumpkin ring, wouldn't that be fun?  I'm sure I need a magic pumpkin ring. 

Ring #1 with a Carnelian focal

I ended up making two rings.  The first is a little more subdued, with a 15mm round carnelian stone that doesn't immediately scream 'pumpkin', but definitely plays to the autumnal theme with its muted color tones.  The little pressed-glass flower reminded me of pumpkin blossoms, so I decided to add it, but liked the violet color better than yellow.  So now I have a purple pumpkin blossom.  Let's hear it for creative license.

It also let me demonstrate the stages of work when adding the focal bead from the very beginning.

Perusing Fusion Bead's selections before class, I came across these fantastic orange and blackish-brown enameled beads.  I don't think they were originally designed as pumpkins, but aren't they perfect? 

I thought the apple-green & coppery-orange flowers might work as pumpkin blossoms and or a pumpkin cap.  While I was at it, I picked up a couple of different strands of daggers and spiky fringe beads, too.

Time for embellishments!

For this ring, I wanted the pumpkin to sit atop its 'field' at a jaunty angle, surrounded by vines.   

Working almost entirely with size 11s, I stitched my background.  I couldn't resist adding a few small accent beads - 3mm glass pearls, 4mm crystals and another pressed glass flower.  If I'd wanted a very simple ring, I probably could have stopped here. Or maybe right before I added the pressed glass flower.  If I wasn't going for a Pumpkin ring.....

A lot of the fun with freeform peyote rings is allowing yourself to go over the top.  With that in mind, it was time to embellish. 

I love how it looks perched on the graphite sphere

here it is on my hand - hard to photograph one handed

another view on my manikin's finger

you can see the little flower from this angle

Now I have two pumpkin rings.  As for whether its magic, I'll have to wait and see about that.  :)

Happy Halloween! 

Explorations goes Digital!

Drumroll please!  Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading, is now available as a four-volume ebook set.  I've been wrestling with the translation to ebook for over two months now, and am absolutely thrilled to announce that it now available for Kindle and ePub (which uses a range of readers including Overdrive, iBooks and Adobe Digital Editions).

File-size was the single largest factor in my decision to divide the book into four volumes for the digital edition.  As a single file, the book was simply too large, with too many images, even once I'd reformatted the images for the screen.   But my hope is that by dividing the book, it will also allow people to choose exactly the content that interests them most.  

Once I divided the book into sections, I realized that I now had the luxury of space.  With the single-column, flowing layout of ebooks, I didn't have to fit all of my information into one or two page spreads.  So I went back to the drawing board and looked through the photos I hadn't been able to include in the print version due to file size, adding them back in where it seemed appropriate.  Some of the ebooks have more additions than others, but each has at least a few new additions. 

Here's a look at the set: 

Volume 1:  Demystifying the Technique and Quick Projects (Chapters 1&2)

I decided to combine the first two chapters into one ebook volume.  This contains most of the diagrams detailing the core stitch techniques and ideas, a look at how the elements of design can help guide your beading and lots of great, smaller projects for getting started.
 
Includes:

• Basic Stitch Techniques: even and odd count peyote, increases, decreases and tubular peyote
• Freeform Peyote Variations: working along the length, working along the width, building bridges, working around curves
• Information on tools, materials and bead choices
• Elements of Design and how they relate to freeform beadweaving: Value, Line, Texture and Working with Color
• Photo galleries featuring additional works and ideas for expanding upon a theme
• In-depth photo essays detail the construction process for seven pieces 
• Personal Planets beaded beads tutorial
• Ideas for combining freeform peyote with other media and beadweaving stitches
• Additional works by artists Ibolya Barkóczi, Sarah Meadows, Marlene Oman Emmons, Lisa Jones, Mary Kearney, Marsha Melone, Jennifer Porter, Ellen Lambright and Bobbie Rafferty

Available on Amazon, or my Etsy Store.

Volume 2: Working with Ruffles (Chapter 3)

Volume Two covers one of my favorite topics - freeform peyote ruffles! The chapter starts out with a series or ruffle experiments showing how slight changes in bead counts can create significant differences in appearance of the finished ruffles.  From there, I dive into a series of projects using ruffles, including earrings, pendants, brooches and cuffs, finishing with a look at the softer freeform ruffles of my first featured artist, Jennifer Porter.  

Includes:

• Three Ruffle Experiment photo essays show how stitch choices affect ruffle development
• Detailed photo essays share the design and construction process for five original pieces
• How the author developed the basic stitch techniques into series of related, but unique designs
• How to incorporate larger accent beads into freeform ruffle designs
• Developing a design around unique focal items, in this case enameled poppies and headpins
• How to incorporate the ruffles into larger projects with the Coral Dancer bracelet and Fallen Leaves cuff
• Works by featured artist, Jennifer Porter

Available on Amazon, or my Etsy Store.

Volume 3: Developing More Complex Jewelry Designs (Chapter 4)

While I lightly touched on larger project such as bracelets and necklaces in the earlier chapters, here these designs become our primary focus.  This chapter/volume is like a master class with an in-depth look at the design and creation process of myself and four extremely talented artists from around the world.  

Includes:

• In-depth photo essays detailing the construction process for five of Karen’s original designs.
• A closer look at the works of four featured artists from three continents:  Natalia Malysheva, Cynthia Machata, Wendy Hatton and Janice Cuozzo
• Design tips for using paper mockups and simple sketches to test fit and design suitability before begin to stitch
• Troubleshooting suggestions to help salvage recalcitrant designs
• Additional works by Sherry Eagle, Liz Hart, Bobbie Rafferty, Mary Foyes, Mandi Ainsworth and Ibolya Barkóczi\
• Note - this chapter does not include beading diagrams or instructions on the basic stitches, and is best suited for beaders already comfortable with peyote stitch, including increases and decreases.  

Available on Amazon, or my Etsy Store.

 Volume 4: Beaded Forms and Freeform Sculpture (
Chapter 5)

An introduction to the range of possibilities using freeform peyote as a sculptural medium.  Trying to find a way to encapsulate and summarize this chapter, most simply it introduces two distinct modes of sculpture - covered shapes and hollow forms.  Rather than trying to create a comprehensive look at all of the sculptural possibilities, I focused on areas of personal interest. 

Includes:

• In-depth photo essays detailing the construction process for two Beaded Bottles
• Tips and suggestions for working with armatures and beading around a form
• Ideas for creating smaller, sea-based sculptures including barnacles, anemones and nudibranches
• Featured artist, Nancy Dale’s detailed tutorial on creating Beaded Rocks expands the concept of encapsulating forms with freeform peyote
• A closer look at the freeform Beaded Fish of featured artist Georgia McMillan, with a detailed tutorial by Karen Williams  
• Additional works by Cortney Phillips and Beth McGowan
• Note - this chapter does not include beading diagrams or instructions on the basic stitches, and is best suited for beaders already comfortable with peyote stitch, including increases and decreases.

Available on Amazon, or my Etsy Store.



The listings  through my Etsy store includes an immediate download for the ePub (.epub) formats. If you'd also like the Kindle version, write "Kindle" in the Directions to Sellers section of your purchase and I will send a link to download the Kindle version within 48 hours.  Unfortunately, the Kindle files are too large to upload to Etsy for direct download (file sizes again!), so this is the best work around I've been able to come up with for now. 

Wow!  What a year this has been.  Explorations may have been my third book, but was definitely a learning experience every step of the way, building upon everything that came before.  Having never published for Kindle or ePub, I had no idea what I was getting into.  But I am truly pleased with the results. 

'Superbowl Party' at Fusion Beads

Teaching is one of my favorite things, and yesterday's Freeform Peyote Rings class at Fusion Beads totally rocked.  The excitement leading up to the Superbowl later in the day had everyone a little giddy, I think.  And with my class ending at 2 - everyone could be home before the game.   

This time around we had six people in my class, of all skill levels.  Everyone created something wonderful, but three allowed me to take photos of their "Game Day" rings to share:

Linda's Party Ring, in true Seahawks colors

 Linda started her ring out with the spikes, then decided to go back in and add the drop beads and crystal spikes for more 'bling'. If this ring doesn't scream "Party", I don't know what does.

Jennifer add ruffles to hers - though it's a little hard to see clearly in this photo

Jennifer Porter created a 'oceany' ring with ruffles - though I wish I'd done a better job of photographing this ring so the ruffles were clearer!  They swirl out from the front of the ring like a coral reef.  The large green bead at upper right is actually a fish, the angle is simply wrong to see it in this photo.

Rebecca's finger guard ring

Running with the idea that more is more, Rebecca decided to create a finger guard ring that swept all the way down to her first knuckle in the front.  I think this would fit right in with a Bollywood production! 

Not bad for a three-hour class (queue music from Gilligan's Island)!  And to complete the party atmosphere, Fusion Beads put out a beautiful spread of Superbowl munchies (including salted chocolate caramels - yum!)

I fear I have to admit that I didn't watch the Superbowl, but I did check in periodically, so I know the Patriots took the day.  But I am glad the Seahawks made it to the Superbowl because it made yesterday's class just that much more fun! 

Book Tour and Blog Hop for Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading

Welcome to day one of the Book Blog Tour for Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading!  This week five of the contributing artists and I are celebrating the book's publication with a virtual tour.  There will be new posts each day and a chance to win door prizes!  

Blog Tour Names and Dates:

Thurs., January 15
   Karen Williams, Baublicious
Friday, January 16
   Cynthia Machata, Antiquity Travelers
Saturday, January 17
   Nancy Dale, NED Beads
Sunday, January 18
   Bobbie Rafferty, Beadsong Jewelry
Monday, January 19
   Natalia Malysheva, Aqvatali
   Sarah Meadows, Saturday Sequins

Leave a comment at each blog for up to a total of eight chances to win.  Prizes listed below.

Behind the Scenes - like the special features section on the DVD, here's a peak into a few random facts about the creative process behind Explorations.   

Inception Date:  One year ago today I launched the Kickstarter to support the book's production.   After several months of debate and planning, I fully committed to the project on January 15, 2014.  The Kickstarter was my way of introducing the idea to the world and saying 'Hey, what do you think?'   After that, there was no easy way to back out - it was full steam ahead until the project's completion.  That was one of the scariest days of my life. 

Looking back at my Kickstarter proposal in preparation for writing this post, I was pleasantly surprised to note the finished book is remarkably close to my original vision.  Surprising because it seemed like the book and I wrestled constantly over the direction it would take.  Watching my little video, I realized I very nearly have a book trailer!  It would need a better audio track though;  I sound like I'm in a wind tunnel.  Maybe once I finish the Kindle and ePub versions.

By the numbers:  All told, Exploration's 174 pages includes images of ninety three pieces by twenty two artists (including myself) from three continents and four countries.  Detailed photo essays give a closer look at the construction and/or design process for twenty nine of the pieces, ranging from earrings and brooches to bracelets, necklaces, beaded bottles and even three-dimensional beaded fish.  
 
Contributing artists:  The sheer talent of the contributing artists is inspiring.   Some I knew beforehand, many were new to me.   I didn't know it at the time, but I fear I may have bullied Cynthia Machata into creating her first freeform peyote necklace for the book.  I can't feel too badly about it because her Surf necklace is truly stunning.  Mary Foyes and I went through several rounds of photographs of her First Holy Communion Veil before arriving at the final photos, taken by Shauna Ploeger.  They are some of the finest in the book, and include the only photo in the entire book with a live model.   I felt a bit like a stalker, contacting Ibolya Barkóczi to ask if I could use one of her bracelets to illustrate working along the width.  Luckily she said yes and graciously sent several photos from which to choose! 

Beta Testers:  Borrowing from the software industry, I released six Beta versions to a subset of my Kickstarter community, sent once a month from June through November.  The first Beta was embarrassingly low on content.  Only 25 of the original 150 pages had anything on them besides the page headers.  Of the twenty five pages with content, many boasted a single image as a promise of what was to come.  I credit those Beta releases with keeping me honest and keeping me on track.  Knowing that forty-two people were waiting to see what I'd accomplished each month was a great motivator to stay on schedule.  Especially after my initial embarrassment. 

Cover Image:  At right is my earliest version for the book's cover.  The only image carried over to the final cover is my Coral Dancer bracelet.  In the proofing process, I ended up having the printers run two separate physical proofs.  This is the cover for the first proof.  The final cover was one of three I designed and was the overwhelming winner of a cover contest I ran with my Kickstarter community.  The final cover back includes the works of my seven featured artists, which pleases me.  But I still really like this cover, too.

Door Prizes
No party is complete without Door Prizes!    I am super excited about this Blog Tour and put together prizes with lots of freeform beady goodness to celebrate.

updated 1/25/2015 - the prizes have grown since my original announcement, largely thanks to JJ Jacobs of Creative Soul Revival.  

Sneak peak at Bead Soup mixes with JJ Jacobs' fused glass and Waterdrop beads

Grand Prize:  a signed copy of Explorations, along with a complete set of ten postcards with images from the book, AND a Bead Soup mix based around a lampworked bead(s) by artist JJ Jacobs.  Her fused glass cabochon was the inspiration for my Opal Essence necklace (shown in my alternate cover above).  She's sent me a similar fused glass cabochon, and I've put together a bead soup in blues sufficient to make a similar necklace should you desire. ($100 value)

Second Prize (2):   a Freeform Bracelet kit (beads only) to make your own version of my Nautilus Flower Cuff OR Demeter’s Harvest Bracelet.  I will draw one winner for each bead set.  Each set will include all of the beads, including the closure, to make a bracelet similar to mine. 

Third Prize (2):  Small bead soup mix and postcard set.  This set will include enough beads to make a smaller project like a Personal planets beaded bead, pendant or several rings.  These prizes have grown, again thanks to JJ Jacobs!  They now include bead soup mixes with three of JJ Jacob's Waterdrop 'sea glass' beads.  You can see more of her beads here!  

Contest Rules
Entries:  One comment per person per blog post for a maximum of eight chances to win if you visit and comment on all eight blogs.

Please help spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and other social media!  No extra entries for this, but lots of good karma for helping support and promote independent artists.

Make sure that there is an email associated with your comment!  I will contact the winners by email by Thursday, January 22nd.  If I cannot reach you by email, I reserve the right to choose another winner.  I'll post the winners on my blog on Saturday, January 24th. 

International visitors are welcome to enter.  I'm willing to pay up to $10 worth of shipping for each prize - if shipping costs more than this, you would be responsible for the extra shipping.  Once I have your postal address, I can give you specific shipping costs.  As an alternate, you may choose to receive a digital copy of the book instead of your regular prize. 


Thanks for checking out Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading!  Have fun hopping this week, and be sure to check in next Saturday to see who won the random drawing!

Sally Russick's Annual Ornament Swap/Hop

Back in late October, I received an invitation to participate in Sally Russick's Holiday Ornament swap.  Between the push to finish Explorations and its book launch, I knew this fall would be busy well into December.  But I couldn't resist saying 'Yes!!!!' to her invitation.  As Sally said, "it's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season to connect with a old bead friend or make a new connection."

The only 'rules' are that you make the ornament yourself and that your ornament includes an art bead.

This year, it was my fortune to be paired with Therese Frank, an extremely talented bead weaver and a blogging friend of several years.  I was so pleased to hear I'd 'drawn' her name!  Therese's package was a feast for they eyes - she'd even decorated the outer box (unfortunately someone in my household recycled the box before I managed to snap a picture - next time I need to have my camera ready before I start unwrapping).

Inside the box, this is what I found:

Such Treasures!

Therese created the puffed star ornament using a tutorial from Joy Harmon Designs, embellishing it with a clay snowflake charm by Linda Landig.  It is so bright and cheerful, nestled amongst the lights on my Christmas tree.  Thank you Therese!   Once the tree comes down, after Christmas, this star will be moving to my studio to keep me company the rest of the year!

A couple of closer looks at Therese's ornament, along with a needlecase of her own design (she even filled the case with three John James sharps needles - my favorites!) and five polymer clay, cane beads that she had made.  Therese also included the wonderfully jolly St. Nicholas from her collection and a beautiful assortment of beads perfect for freeform peyote. 

Curious what I made for Therese?  Swing by her blog, Therese's Treasures, to see (hint - it definitely involves freeform peyote, because let's face it, that's where my mind has been this season....) 

Then continue on to see all the other holiday ornament creations - so much incredible talent!  

1.  Sally Russick  and Tanya Goodwin
2.  Veralynne Malone  and Sally Russick 

3.  Melissa Trudinger  and Elisabeth Auld

4.  Erin Prais-Hintz  and Lesley Watt 

5.  Jenny Davies-Reazor and Patti Vanderbloemen 

6.  Kim Bender-Hora and Beth and Evie McCord

7.  Becky Pancake and Lynne Bowland 

8.  Therese Frank  and Karen Williams

9.   Melissa Meman  and Linda Hanes 

10.  Sandi Volpe  and Linda Landig  

11. Alicia Marinache  and Susan Kennedy  

Thank you Sally, for hosting this Swap Hop, and Thank you Therese!  

Books Are Here!

 Not one, not two, but four BIG boxes of books have arrived! Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading is now published! 

I was almost afraid to open the boxes.  What if I'd overlooked some terrible error in my final document files?  What if the books had all been damaged in shipping?  What if they weren't actually my book?  (okay, I was pretty sure that last one wouldn't be the case, but....)


After a series of deep breaths, I dared myself to open and unpack the boxes.  Here's what they looked like unpacked:

But a friend who watched me unpack the books said this picture was too boring.  So she made me pose with the books:

Can you can guess what I'll be working on this next week?

Actually, I'll be splitting my time between signing books and putting together packages, and continuing to work on the Kindle version of the book, (which is turning out to be every bit as difficult as I'd feared).

If you're interested, I have a very limited number of signed copies available on my Etsy store.  This first order is most of the books are already spoken for.  I will be placing another order, but likely won't have those books in until January.  Budget constraints - sigh!

As a special thank you for still following my poor, neglected blog; if you purchase my book through Etsy, write 'Congratulations Karen' in the notes to seller.  Do that and I'll include a set of five randomly chosen postcards featuring works from the book along with your book.


Just a heads up - Ordering directly through Amazon may be a less expensive option.  Because Createspace (my printer) is one of their subsidiaries and Amazon ships books in such volumes; they may be able to offer discounts that I simply can't.  Explorations should be live on Amazon by Monday. (12/2/2014 update:  Here is the link to Amazon).  But only I can offer personalized inscriptions and postcards!

This Thanksgiving weekend, I have an incredible amount to be thankful for.  I am grateful for my Kickstarter supporters who believed in this project from the beginning.  For my dear husband who led the cheerleading squad and cooked many a dinner when I was simply too tired.  For all of you, my blogging friends, who have sent me much needed words of encouragement throughout the process.  And I am so very, very pleased to be able to announce that the books are complete.  Amazing!

Thank you all for your part in helping make this happen.

Book Cover for Explorations in Freeform Peyote Beading

I've neglected my poor blog quite terribly this past year while working on my upcoming book.   In between book projects, I forget just how much work goes into self-publishing.  After designing, stitching and photographing new designs; writing the accompanying text; drawing illustrations on the computer; coordinating with my amazing cast of contributing artists; working through the seemingly never-ending tasks of page layout and design; then taking the manuscript through multiple revisions, there simply wasn't much of me left over.  But the good news is I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

Explorations is heading to the printers this week, so I thought it was about time to post the front and back covers.    Drum roll please!

Kickstarter supporters got to vote on a couple of different cover designs earlier this month.   My Coral Dancer bracelet definitely came out ahead in the voting for the front cover.  Its bold colors carried the day.

The back cover features a collage of works by my seven featured artists: Georgia McMillan, Wendy Hatton, Cynthia Machata, Jennifer Porter, Nancy Dale, Janice Cuozzo and Natalia Malysheva.

The book topped out at 174 pages of freeform beady goodness.  Each of the featured artists has a five-page spread of their work.  Explorations also includes works by fourteen additional artists besides yours truly.

Once the book is at the printers,  I'll have a clearer idea of when I will have books in-hand.  At that point I'll set up my Etsy store to accept pre-orders.  I also hope to have a Kindle version out by mid-December.  That's a whole separate endeavor, and should be 'interesting' to say the least as this will be my first attempt to publish for Kindle.

But for now, I'm just going to bask in the glow of the new covers. 

Tales from the Tyler Bead Retreat

I've been home now for a couple of days and just starting to get back into the swing of things after returning from the Tyler Bead Retreat.  Organized by the amazing Belinda Defoor, the Retreat is a truly wonderful weekend with a stellar line up of classes - any of you living down that way I highly recommend you check it out (she'll be hosting another retreat in October). 

Mandi, Ralonda and me with a packed to the gills Prius ready to hit the road

Mandi Ainsworth grabbed me at the Dallas airport, then she, Ralonda Patterson and I packed the car and headed out.  Road trip to Tyler!  Facebook friends might have seen the selfie Ralonda took of us - three teachers in a Prius!   

 
 
 
 
I was absolutely amazed we all fit.  I think Mandi's Prius might actually be a TARDIS in disguise.

the main beading room, my spot is in the lower right corner!

The retreat itself was a blast!  This being my second time around, I actually knew people (besides Mandi and Ralonda) this time.  What fun it is to walk into a room and have people you haven't seen in a year recognize you and realize you recognize them in return. 

And so much space.  The main beading room was huge, with big round tables and lots of room in between.  Made it really easy to visit other tables and see what everyone else was working on.

I taught two classes.  And have to admit to a slightly embarrassing secret.  I have two different fishy classes that both go by the same name at the moment.  There's the chatelaine I'll be teaching for Fusion Beads come August.  Then there's my latest class, inspired by one of the necklaces I made for Lori's Bead Soup Party last year.  This one features a fish pendant made from a modified right angle weave bezel (RAW being my second favorite stitch behind peyote.)

Both classes are currently titled "Catch of the Day".  Technically, the title really does work for both as whichever I happen to be teaching that particular day could reasonably be considered the 'catch of the day'.  But, it lacks a certain clarity. 

So now I need to find a new name for one of them.  Ideas anyone?

Lisa Steven's freeform peyote pendant

I also taught a short freeform peyote ruffles class.  Happy me.  Since we only had three hours, the class focused on making a pendant or brooch. 

Where my fish class was packed - I think I had something like eighteen students - there were only two people in my freeform class.  Some of that may have had to do with the freeform class starting at 8:30am!  But it was such wonderfully restful, yet creative class. Interestingly, both of the students in my freeform class had been in my fish class the night before, too.

Lisa Steven's finished up her freeform pendant later that day and allowed me to take a picture.  Didn't it turn out beautifully? 

snapped this picture as they set up one morning

One of my favorite (and most dangerous) luxuries of being at the retreat was that the local bead store, Bead Crazee, moved the better part of their shop into the other half of the conference ballroom.  This included an incredible selection of Toho Bead seed beads laid out in an easy to browse rainbow array. 

Perfect for designing. 

Just steps away from my seat! 

See what I mean about dangerous? 

My beady purchases

I was amazed and impressed that I managed to get away so lightly. 

I bought the spools of 0ne-G from Cynthia Rutledge - she turned me on to the beading thread at last year's retreat.



Now, it's back to work on my book.