ArtBeads Giveaway ends tomorrow

Don't miss art beads giveaway, which ends on March forth. Its a wonderful place to shop. Its a $1000 shopping spree. Oh, think of the beads you could receive!!!

Homage to Horace R. Goodhue and Ruby

Indian Bead-Weaving Patterns. Its not a very big book, only 80 pages long. The last update was 1989. None of the pictures are in color, and all the diagrams are handwritten. There is a photograph of Horace, the author, in the front of the book. He's 78, tall and lean, dressed in buckskin in the Delaware Style at a Narragansett Tribal Gathering. It is still one of my favorite beading books, in part for the lack of detail and the lack of color. When you follow a pattern its like finding a treasure; you never know exactly what you are going to get until the beading is done.

In the back of the book there is an essay on beads that helps me to understand why I bead. It tells me that the Obiibwa name for seed beads is Manido Minensug, meaning "god's little berries". I also found out that the word bead comes from the Middle English word "bede" meaning to pray.

So when a woman on one of the Yahoo groups wanted to know what stitch was used in a picture of a necklace on Ruby's beadwork page I went to Horace's book and found the pattern for circle bar daisy chain, and stitched up a quick necklace. I thanked Horace for all the work that he did documenting and recreating the native beading patterns. And I thanked Ruby for her use of color and design when interpreting these traditional patterns you can see her necklace here labeled gold and silver necklace :http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/245633

Driving Miss Daisy

Another class project for my group of beaders at the senior center. This pattern was developed for students that had gone through the class once. Its now been made in plums, in pinks, in blues, in reds & golds, and in black, grey and taupe.

Donut with curved bail

Every Friday I bead with several of the women who took my beading class at the Senior Center. I look forward to this time and getting together. I don't really teach - I do problem solve with them and we all get a chance to bead. A few weeks ago one of the women asked my about gemstone donuts. I have a stash of them, and always wanted to play with creating a bail for them. This is what I came up with - its a work in progress. I like the curve of the bail and the way it follows the shape of the donut. I plan on finishing it this weekend - so wish me some beading time.

Marguerite by Day and Night

Well, I finished updating the pattern I talked about in my post yesterday. I found 101 other things to do in between, so it took me hours to complete. The picture shows all the samples that I have created to date. Meanwhile, I started on another idea in Friday's "drop in and bead" session at the Senior Center. My sample is coming along really well. I'm excited and can feel a new pattern in the works!

Goals for 2010 and Margeurite by Day or Night

I finally dipped my toes in to the wonderful world of ETSY and published my first pattern. I really don't know why I procrastinate so much???? I'm working on getting the second pattern fine tuned and put on ETSY. I sold all three necklaces that are pictured at a Christmas Show in Connecticut and ended up working up more samples. The women in my class have made several of these necklaces, so the pattern has been tested and works well for a beginning beader. My husband stopped by and thought one of them could be masculine - which I think is his code that he wanted one...so I made another sample for him. And of course the samples had to be made out of supplies that anyone could obtain easily. Maybe this is not procrastination, but a never ending quest to do what I do a bit better? In any event, this will be pattern #2 for ETSY

Moroccan Fan Earrings

The Moroccan Fan earrings first came in to being in 2008 when I designed a pair of earrings using 7mm and 4mm glass beads. They reminded me of the beautiful fretwork on buildings in Morocco. After making a few pairs, I wondered what would happen if I turned the earrings up side down and added a drop for a fancier earring. As soon as a “flipped” the earring it was transformed from an every day earring in to an elegant night on the town earring.

I wanted to work up the earring and offer the design in a pattern that would use materials that beaders could locate easily, I went to artbeads.com, where I knew I could order just the amount of supplies I needed for the earrings. I chose Swarovski crystals and pearls, and was delighted with my package when it came in the mail in less than a week. Then, to add to my joy, Artbeads invited me to become a member of their blogging community, and I was able to order more beads for another version of the earrings.

I was delighted with how well my color choices worked, and how easy it is to order from the site, and to find compatible colors using a description, such as Montana, in the search field. The first picture shows the earrings I made from the Swarovski crytals and pearls that I ordered from artbeads, as well as two pair of earrings that I made by going through my "stash" of beads.

The single pair of earrings you see in the second picture highlights the earrings that were made using materials I ordered as part of the blogging program. I used swarovski crystal, olivine cz pendants, tarnished silver delica beads, and montana blue crystal ab beads. I love the ear wires, sterling silver shield back earrings, and plan on ordering more.
You can find the specific supplies at Artbeads: Link: http://www.artbeads.com/glass-beads.html

If you are interested in the pattern, you can find it on my ETSY shop:http://www.etsy.com/shop/AuntieAnnie

All the materials for the Olivine and Montana Sapphire Moroccan Fan earrings (except thread and needles) were provided by Artbeads.com, as part of their blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The information in this post is my opinion of the materials offerred.