Hello again!

Hello beady friends! My sincere apologies for not delighting you with more consistent posts. I have been spending a lot of time designing patterns and creating tutorials so that other can learn how to make pretty things too!
Whether you are a beginning beader or more advanced, you should be able to find a tutorial or pattern to tickle your creative bone in my etsy shop. There are a bunch of funky peyote stitch bracelet patterns too, if you're into that sort of thing.

One tutorial that is not available in my etsy shop but in my jewelrylessons.com teacher page is "Peyote Stitch - Finishing Touches".
That is a free tutorial (you just have to sign up for an account on the website, it's free), that will help you with many of the things beginner beaders struggle with. It shows (with words AND clear, close up pictures) how to weave in new thread, knot, decrease rows, increase rows, add a clasp, and add a loop. Really all the things you need to know to finish a peyote stitch project. Check it out!

Beaded Rings

I've been experimenting with RAW (right angle weave) a lot lately. The possibilities are just endless - and it's good beading fun. In addition to that, I've been doing all my beading with two needles now, using cross needle weaving techniques. I find it to be more effiecient time-wise than using just one needle - PLUS the strings can be twice as long as your comfortable working with, which means not having to weave in thread as often. Yay!

These rings were super fun to make. After they were done my head was spinning with all sorts of ideas - colors/shapes. But these babies are my prototypes.

This next ring was woven in size 15 toho's - the smallest size toho seed beads come in! In retrospect, I suppose I should have taken a photo with a penny or something for a size reference. I'll have to do that before I list it for sale, but, alas, here it is. Woven in cubular raw with some beads added on the inner circle for stiffness. It's light and extremely comfortable.

What I've been up to

This past weekend I stitched up a custom goddess dreadlock bead for a very friendly etsy customer. She had ordered one, a purple goddess and it was a little large for her, so she gifted it to a friend (how nice of her). She wanted another for herself - in green, red and orange. I was happy to oblige. Its woven in peyote stitch with size 11 delica seed beads.

I was doing a bit of organizing in the studio, and came across some beads I haven't seen in a while, and immediately thought of doing a stretch bracelet. This one is woven in herringbone with betel nut beads, and wood beads. I love the earthy look of this...I think it would look great on the guys and the gals.

Voting has commenced!

Voting for the Etsy Bead Weavers September challenge, Complimentary Contradictions, has begun. What a wonderful display of talent this month! Part of the charm of these challenges is seeing the different ways each artist interprets the theme. Luckily I was able to finish "Circle Gets the Square" just in the nick of time.

Take a look over the entries and please do vote for your favorite!
Voting ends September 15th, so take this opportunity to VOTE NOW.

First place winner!!

My bridal necklace "Wedding Bells" won first place in the bead-patterns.com wedding themed beading contest! A BIG thanks to everyone who voted!

To celebrate, I'll be hosting a giveaway of some sort in September. I haven't decided WHAT to give away just yet. Feel free to vote for what YOU would want to win in the poll on the left, and stay tuned for details.