Little Beads, Big Beads, Which Bead When?

Sigh…. Holiday bead stitching projects for when YOU need to relax. Simple rewarding ideas to get you stitching without stress.

2010-12-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

I first started beading as a way to relax. Sometimes that is hard to do when I am trying to come up with new class ideas, write instructions, test designs, and generally work at beading. All that stuff is still fun, but when I need a break I look for a stitching project that I can just do, and do, and do. This week I need something I can just stitch and let my thoughts wander, or something I can do while hanging out with family watching our favorite old Christmas movies. Here are my criteria for stress free stitching.

1: Use beads you already have in your stash so you won’t have to leave your comfy chair.
2: Do a project, pattern or stitch that you have already done before. It will be familiar and that’s comfortable.
3: Just bead. Don’t worry about it matching an outfit, or being good enough to sell or give away. Remember, you’re beading for the joy of doing it. Don’t even worry about finishing it. Just bead.
4: Now, when you’re nice and relaxed, and if you’re in the mood, do something a little different. You might just try doing your project in unexpected colors or bead sizes.
5: If Step 4 just made things too stressful, forget about it and go back to step 1.

My no-stress project for this week will be this simple spiral using size 11 seed beads in a light opaque cappuccino color, size 15 seed beads in Matte Transparent Topaz AB and 3mm Swarovski article 5238 bicone crystals in Light Colorado Topaz and Amethyst. I don't know yet if it will end up as a bracelet, necklace or maybe even little earrings.

Now, go bead something!

How to Design a Multi-Strand Necklace

2010-11-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to begin making jewelry that is more than just a single strand of beads and a clasp?
I love the simplicity of a single strand of beads, but sometimes I want MORE. More strands means more complicated, right? Well, yes.
You were hoping I would say it’s easy, right? Well, no. But, I can offer some tips that will help you create a simple, graduated length necklace with three strands.

Choose your beads, then choose some more. My sample necklace has three strands which started out as the standard 16” length that gemstone beads come in. If I want to make a graduated strand necklace, this means that the longest strand will be about 17” by the time I add a clasp. This means that the shortest strand will be somewhere around 14”, an appropriate size for a teenager, but not for my middle-aged neck. So, I needed to add some more beads. In this case, I added tiny 2mm silver plated round beads and 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones.

Use a bead design board, but in an unusual way. The outer groove in a design board is the only groove that the measurement marks apply to. So, to get a good estimate of length, lay out your INNER strand in the OUTER groove. String it up. Check your length. Then, MOVE this strand to the inner groove. Now when you design the other two strands, you will just simply include enough beads so that the ends of all three strands line up with each other. That’s it. String them, check your length again, and attach your clasp.

The distance between the grooves will be the distance between the strands. The design board has about ½” between the grooves. If you use the board as described above, this will be the distance between the strands of your finished necklace. If you want that to be less, then you’re simply in for some trial and error to get it done. Sorry, I don’t have an easy tip for that one. Just ask our expert Michelle about the time she created a 5 strand pearl necklace, and you may catch her sucking in her breath in that moment before she smiles sweetly and tells you how you can do it too.

About the Bead Choices: I started out by choosing a strand of beads that is beautiful, but a little drab on its own. The flashes of blue and green that make it shimmer in the light is called Labradorescence. This particular strand of 4mm round beads limits this color play to the brightest of light. Labradorite is mostly gray, but once I started really considering this strand, I could see that it was really a brownish gray. The brown tones are what make it a “warm” gray, so I focused my other bead choices on warmer, earthier tones. Next, I chose some green freshwater pearls that brought out the green in the labradorite, yet offered plenty of brown tones to complement the browns in the labradorite. The third strand is pale, almost clear, aquamarine ovals. They needed something to bring out the color, so I added some erinite color Swarovski crystal bicones and repeated them in the labradorite strand as well to help bring out the blues and greens. The 2mm silver beads bring sparkle and light into the pearl strand and the aquamarine.

Would you love to learn more about this and other kinds of multi-strand designs? I will be offering a class at the shop on December 17th. We will make a three strand project like the one featured here, as well as discuss ways to create other kinds of multi-strand necklaces using connectors, cones, and more.

Show Time!

2010-10-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

Five great tips for those of you who do craft shows, plus one thing NOT to do.

Go vertical. Give shoppers someplace other than down to look. Their necks, shoulders and upper backs will appreciate a break, and they might be enticed to look longer since they need a break from looking down at everyone else’s tables! Some folks I know hang stuff high, and some put risers on the table legs to make the tables higher. (Have you ever noticed that the bead display tables in the shop are counter height?)

Go dark. Dark surfaces show off most jewelry well – just make sure to keep them lint free! Avoid patterned cloth – your lovely designs will get lost. Your table covers should reach the floor – then you can hide all your tote boxes under the tables during the show and keep your display space nice and neat.

Go light. Lighting is critical – halogen lights make jewelry sparkle, which helps it sell. They get hot, though, so be sure to keep them a safe distance from your shoppers, and mount them securely.

Take names. Every show you do is an opportunity to build your customer mailing list - this list is a valuable asset which will grow as you grow your business. Make sure you give all visitors to your booth the opportunity to continue a relationship with you beyond the show. Protect that asset by keeping your promise to keep it private.

Be prepared. Keep a show kit – mine has pens, tie straps, duct tape, binder clips, tissues, scissors, a couple of tools, bags, and more. Also essential are receipt books, calculator, credit card machine, merchandise bags and anything else you need to complete transactions. Extra extension cords and tablecloths come in handy, as well as bottled water, energy bars and healthy snacks.

Be available. What NOT to bring? A magazine or book. Even the slowest, most boring show should find you “on” and ready to engage with any customer who walks by. I like to bring a project to work on – that’s a great way to get someone to walk over and get interested. No customers? Now is the time to talk to other vendors and exchange ideas – network!

Do you have a great tip for shows you’d like to share? Post a comment here today!
Now, go bead something.
Gail

It’s just a head pin – so why do we have thirty different kinds?

2010-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

We got in several new orders recently, and each one had different and new kinds of head pins. As we started to try and make room on our findings table for all the new stuff, I got to wondering just how many kinds of head pins we carry. Thirty. That’s right, thirty. “It’s just a head pin. Why do we need so many?”, I thought. I also thought about what a new beader might be wondering when trying to choose between thirty different kinds. Thirty. I keep saying that because even I was kind of stunned when I actually counted them.

Head pins are simply a piece of wire with something at the end (the head) to keep a bead from falling off. You put the beads on, make a loop and “voila!” you’ve got a dangly charm to hang from an earring, necklace or bracelet.

Here are some tips on how to chose the right head pin for your project:

Make your metal and finish choice based on your design and budget. They can be made of sterling, gold filled, natural brass, antique gold finish, antique copper finish, copper, base metal, gold plated base metal, silver plated base metal. Whew – that’s a lot of finishes! Whatever happened to just silver and gold?

Make your length choice based on what’s needed for your design. They can be anywhere from 1” to 3”, but are typically 2”.

Make your gauge choice based on your bead choice. 26 gauge is a necessity for small pearls and gemstones, but 24 gauge will fit most other beads.

You may want a loop end (eye pin) if you’re hanging another dangle from the end of this one. Otherwise, the head will usually be either flat or a ball. The ball makes a pretty finish for a large pendant, and you’ll need to check the head size to make sure it’s big enough to keep your bead on. If not, you can add a small metal bead or seed bead.

My newest earring design makes use of our new antique copper ball end head pins with gray mother of pearl and faceted quartz beads on an antique copper chandelier finding. This earring is a light and airy design with a modern metal twist. Come on over and make a pair for yourself!

Easy Bottle Rocket Earrings

2010-07-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

I designed these earrings for our occasional Girls' Night Out event we hold at the shop along with our neighbor businesses Therapeutic Balance Body Work and Designer's Touch Hair and Skin. There are some pretty tough criteria for coming up with a project for these events: #1) it can't cost to much because we're giving it away. #2) it has to be easy so we can teach women who have never done any beading before. #3) it has to be quick so we can teach it to up to 60 people a night. #4)it has to use top quality materials that we are proud to sell.

AND - #5) it has to look good enough so everyone likes it! If any of you reading this make jewelry to sell, you definitely have at least some of these same criteria to meet!

These earrings were a hit last night, so we decided to record a quick video for you to be able to make up a pair yourself tonight to wear for the July 4th holiday tomorrow. Of course, you can vary the wire colors and the bead colors to fit any occasion or outfit you want!

The supplies come to about $3 per pair, which left us plenty of money in the event budget to spend on snacks and wine! Here's what we used:

6" each of three colors of flexible beading wire, either 19 or 49 strand. The video uses navy blue (about 6") and silver (about 12")
2 clamshell bead tips
2 ear wires
2 crimp beads (2mm sterling)
6 micro crimp beads (1mm sterling)
2 Swarovski 4mm bicones in dark red coral
2 Swarovski 4mm bicones in crystal AB
2 Swarovski 4mm bicones in dark indigo

Tool you'll need are:
chain nose pliers
nippers

Now, take a look at the video for a how-to and go bead something!
http://bit.ly/9trw5v

Cheers,
Gail

2010-06-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Memory wire is easy to use, and even easier when I show you how in this video. Watch and bead along as I make a simple memory wire bracelet using a strand of Czech glass mixed beads, and add some vintage glass beads and shiny spacers. I show you how to choose beads that will work well on this stringing material, how to properly cut the wire without damaging your tools, and how to finish the ends with a professional look.

Want to bead along? Gather these tools and supplies: Memory wire cutters, round nose pliers, bead mat, enough beads and metal spacers for 10”. You will also need crimp covers and either chain nose pliers or a crimp tool.

Now, go bead something!
Cheers,
Gail

2010-06-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a tip for finishing a flat peyote weave design. This works great when you are using size 11 Delicas or size 15 seed beads on the ends you are finishing. I’m directing this post in particular to my old college buddy Gigi who recently posted to Facebook that she dreads putting the clasps on her beadwork! I know a lot of folks share this dread – how to finish a piece of beadwork is one of the more frequent questions we get in the shop.

Gather: Chain nose pliers, E6000 glue, a paper plate, a coffee stirrer or toothpick, your finished beadwork, two crimp ends that match the width of your finished beadwork, a clasp of your choosing (we love the ball-and-socket clasp shown!) and two sturdy jump rings. By sturdy, I mean jump rings made from 20 gauge wire or thicker – these will hold their shape and won’t pull off easily.

Adjust the crimp end: Use the pliers to gently close each crimp end just a little until you can slide the beadwork in from the edge. DO NOT do this with your beadwork inside the crimp end because you WILL break beads. (Trust me on this.) Take the beadwork out of the crimp ends.
Attach: Use the jump rings to attach each side of the clasp to one of the crimp ends.

Glue: Place a dab of glue onto the paper plate. Use the stirrer or toothpick to apply the glue to the end of the beadwork. Slide the beadwork back into the crimp ends and let the glue cure completely.

I love these crimp ends – so easy!

Techniques for Great jewelry design – the power of editing and how to play with beads.

2010-05-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

The power of editing.

I own a bead shop and am therefore spoiled by having everything I need right at my fingertips when I decide to design a new project. It’s a wonderful thing for our customers as well, to have access to an enormous array of choices. However, that can be intimidating for someone new to beading. Here are some techniques we use every day to help all our customers design jewelry they love. Give this a try with your own bead stash!

1. Start with a bead you love. I will hand someone a bead board and encourage them to walk around the shop, and let their eyes wander and start by choosing beads they are drawn to. It’s important to let this instinct guide you.

2. Next, start choosing other beads you love. Don’t think about whether they “match” or if the finishes go together. Ditch all your preconceived notions about what goes together and just pick things you love.

3. Make sure to select more beads than you think you need to complete your design. I’m just designing a bracelet in the photos, but just LOOK at all those beads!

4. Now, just start playing. Arrange the beads on the bead board, swap them around, try out different combinations and sequences. Try things that are unexpected. While you’re doing this, trust your inner design eye to help you edit out whatever doesn’t work. You may need to go back and get more of one bead or another.

5. Eventually, you’ll edit your selections down to something that’s beautiful, and you’ll love it because you started out with what you were naturally drawn to.

Finally, I always find it amazing that for our younger customers, under 12 years old, we don’t have to explain any of these steps. Kids have such free minds that all the techniques I just told you about come naturally, and they come up with some absolutely awesome designs. You can too – just start with more and edit out, and remember how to play like a kid!

Twisty Easy Tubular Herringbone!

2010-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be back blogging again! I've got SO many new ideas to share that I thought I'd start out with some detailed project instructions for this fun, quick weave.

I came up with this design at a playday at my dear friend Ann's house, where I need to work on quick, easy projects or I don't get anything done in the creative melee that occurs there monthly. NOT complaining; it's just that some projects are better left to quite time in the studio. We were nearing the end of the day and I was sorting through some beads and came across some 12mm bugles I had in my stash. I added some size 11 rocailles in a matching color, size 10 beading needle, and Sono thread. Here's the result:

Start with a two-bead ladder, 4 rows long, using size 11 seed beads (rocailles).

Join the ends together to form a tube, and add another row of herringbone using the size 11 seed beads.

Now, work one row of two-drop herringbone, using a 12mm twisted bugle bead, two size 11 seed beads, and another bugle bead for each set of beads you stitch (two sets per row). Step up after the second set. Continue adding rows until you reach the desired length, and finish with a clasp.

I finished mine with a loop and beaded toggle, but you could also stitch on your clasp of choice. This beaded necklace was completed in about two hours - not bad for a stitched piece of that length!

These instructions are necessarily brief for this blog format, but I imagine a moderately experienced beader familiar with tubular herringbone weave will catch on and make this fun and QUICK project without any trouble.

If you like to bead with people and want to try this project, come by the shop some Friday night during Open Beading (6-9pm every Friday night) and I'll help you with it!

Now, go bead something!

Book Addiction and UFOs

2009-10-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Long before I became hopelessly addicted to seed beads (and all the stuff that has since followed), I was addicted to books. I can’t have enough books. Cookbooks, art books, history books, photography books, gardening books, great fiction, trashy novels, even a book about weeds. (I admit, I bought that for my husband to arm him in his hopeless yard battles.)

That book addiction is manifesting itself here in the shop. We keep getting more and more new books in stock to feed your love of beads, books and learning. I keep ordering more, new books because I’m also addicted to learning new things all the time. I think this is where all my UFOs come from (unfinished objects – what did you think I meant?) When I start a project, I’m learning something new. Sometimes I can’t visualize where it will end up, but I have at least learned something from it and I’m ready to move on. So it becomes one of my UFO collection.

So, I’m learning…..learning new things from books, learning new things from you - my wonderful customers, learning from the classes we offer here at the shop, and learning that a UFO doesn’t have to be something that hangs over my head waiting to be finished . I’ve learned to let go, accept what I’ve learned and to set it aside and move on to the next thing I can learn.

What prompted these random thoughts this morning was the arrival of a new shipment of books – some are titles we’ve had before, and some are totally new to us. Stop by, have a cup of hot tea with us, and sit on the couch a while to page through some of our new books and get inspired. You might just learn something new!

No Substitute For A Great Bead

2009-10-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

I love when I come across a truly great bead, and these Groovy Window tablet beads are a perfect example of what I think of as a great bead. The colors are wonderfully muted and they’ve got a lot of style on their own, yet they will pair well with lots of other beads. We’ve already made up a couple sets of earrings!

So, come on over Thursday night at 6:30 and “make and take” a pair of earrings with these versatile new beads. Michelle will show you how, even if you’re never made earrings before! And, while you’re here, check out our huge new shipment of Czech glass beads. We’re expanding our selection “beyond the firepolish” to bring you unusual sizes, colors, shapes and cuts of the finest quality high end Czech glass we can find. Of course, we still have all the basics, including some fabulous new opaque orange fire polish that will please all our UT fans.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we’ve got awareness ribbon beads and charms so you can show your support with your own unique style.

You’ll love all our new beads – they’re truly great beads!

What did you do on your summer vacation?

2009-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

This question came up recently at the Blount County Arts and Crafts Guild meeting. It was a way for the group to reconnect with members old and new after a summer hiatus. This summer I was fortunate enough to attend a week long workshop at Wildacres retreat in North Carolina and I took the Gem Identification and Appreciation class taught by Ben Smith, F.G.A.

At the end of the week, each class had a representative speak to the whole group of attendees to share with everyone what the class was about. A couple of folks asked for a copy of my remarks, so I thought I’d share them here as well.

As my class representative, here’s what I had to say:

“Who doesn’t love a mystery? Science is the way we solve the mysteries of our surroundings and it is in our nature to satisfy our curiosity about the shiny sparkly things we call gemstones. Ben Smith taught us that gemology is the science we use to identify these shiny sparkly things. We learned how to use the tools of the trade when solving the mystery of a gem: dichroscope, polariscope, microscope, refractometer, leverage gauge, scales, and ways to measure specific gravity. We were then each challenged to solve a mystery of our own by using these tools, reference materials, and deduction to identify our assigned stone.

Everyone’s success is a tribute to the teaching skill, vast knowledge and patience of our instructor Ben Smith. Ben’s instruction also covered how synthetic stones are made, tradional and current industry trends in synthetics and treatments, gemstone care, simple home tests for fakes like glass or dark blue synthetic spinel, and additional instruments like a “black box”, moissonite tester, and diamond tester.

Here are some comments from fellow classmates:
· Exceeded expectations of what we thought we learn and absorb in this time span
· Lots of fun
I personally got reacquainted with my scientific side and discovered I can get lost inside a stone when looking through a microscope.

Most significantly, we were privileged to take part in this particular class which marks the end of an era for this group. Many, many thanks to Ben Smith.”

The last remark is a reference to Mr. Smith having resolved to make that class, (his 55th session!) the last one he will teach.

I would like encourage anyone interested in the lapidary arts to consider taking these classes offered by the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, who conduct four week long retreats per year at two locations. As a member of the Knoxville Gem and Mineral Society, I was able to spend a wonderful week of learning, meeting other attendees, eating very well, and relaxing in a remote mountain environment. There were about 60 participants in nine classes. The instructors are top notch, the setting is incredible, and the value is beyond belief! For more information about the classes, go to http://www.amfed.org/sfms/lapidary-workshops.html

If you would like more information on how to become a member of the Knoxville Gem and Mineral Society, I invite you to attend the upcoming Gem, Mineral and Jewelry show hosted by the Knoxville Gem and Mineral Society. This annual event will be on October 16-18, 2009. For more information, visit http://www.discoveret.org/kgms/knoxville-gem-show.php There will be plenty of folks there to talk to about what we do and how to become a member. If you’ve got kids who are interested in rocks, this is a must see event! (and kids under 12 attend free!)

Tucson 2009: How to shop when your senses are overloaded and your feet hurt. Part 3 of a series

2009-08-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Shopping any bead show or even a trunk show requires a certain amount of discipline, a plan, and an open mind. Shopping the country’s largest bead show is not much different, except you need comfortable shoes, water, and lip balm.

Set a budget. Sounds like a no brainer, but it is easy to go overboard because you will see SO many things you love, have to have, know you can sell, etc. Know your limit and stick to it.

Make a list. Keep a list going of specific things you need to buy. List the price you want to pay (and if you don’t know this, spend some time at the show paying attention to the going prices), colors and sizes you want, quantity you need. Get as specific as possible and bring samples or colors to match to make sure you’re getting what you really need.

Make time to window shop without buying. Go to venues you don’t possibly need anything from. Soak in the atmosphere. Ask the vendors questions. Along the way, you’ll see something or get a flash of inspiration that would have otherwise gone unrevealed to you if you were focused on “buying”. Take time to look at finished jewelry. Spend some time looking at the rocks that your beads come from – you may learn something that you can use to make your work more interesting to your customers!

Designate a portion of your budget solely for impulse buying. You will see things that you want but can’t really define why. Treat this amount like gambling – if you make a great decision, you’ll win big with something you can make into a terrific piece or something your customers will love. If it ends up being something that doesn’t work out so well, then you’ve lost nothing because you planned to lose it anyway – like at a casino. You enjoyed the fun of shopping and buying.

Make sure to take a lunch break – you need to keep your energy up and your brain cells at their peak. And when you sit down at one of the many picnic tables in the food vendor area, introduce yourself to other folks at your table and get a conversation going. I have met some really fascinating people this way – nearly everyone there is from somewhere else. I always learn something from the people I meet, and I’ve made some great connections this way.

If you know you want it, and the price is what you want to pay, get it and get it now. The Tucson venues are so large, you may never pass that way again, and the best way to shop for prices is to know ahead of time what you want to pay. If you do see a similar item elsewhere later that’s cheaper, you’ll know that the price you paid is OK because you’ve already done your homework and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you got a fair deal, if not the best one. And, you'll save lots of time later because you won't have to run around trying to find the vendor where you saw something you wish you had purchased.

Most of these rules will apply even if you’re shopping a trunk show or local bead show. It’s overwhelming to see so much all at once. Taking the time to plan your purchases and your budget, and taking a break to reflect will help you be happy with your purchase decisions, and you’ll leave with wonderful things you will use with confidence and style. And, if you happen to be doing your shopping at the Tucson shows, make sure to wear comfy shoes, drink plenty of water and wear your lip balm.

Wire Bail with Artisan Appeal

2009-07-07T15:07:00.001-07:00

Make this easy bail, perfect for big pendants, and hanging on multiple strands of leather or fiber. The multiple wraps of wire add interest and give it that hand-crafted, artisan look, and it's easy to add additional dangles, or string it over a chain you already have.

Gather: 18" of 26 gauge wire (we used bronze colored copper), one large ceramic pendant, a Sharpie marking pen, chain nose pliers, and nippers. The pendant in the illustration is by Joby Jo Cotter, and we have a large selection at the great price of $8!

Bead: Leaving about two inches of tail to start, hold the sharpie next to the top of the pendant and wrap the wire through the hole in the pendant, around the sharpie, and through the hole again, repeating about seven times, leaving at least another two inches of tail. Neatly wrap each tail around the multiple strands of wire as you would the wraps in a wrapped loop, wrapping three to four times close to the pendant hole. Trim off the excess wire.

This is a super simple, and super easy project! If you would like help, drop by the shop and we'll show you how it's done!

Clever earrings, and no wire wrapping!

2009-06-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

We love clever ideas around here. A customer came in recently with some awesome fat vintage crystal drops (I think they were actually buttons!) and she wanted us to help her turn them into earrings to match an heirloom necklace. They were truly unique, fat, drop style beads, and she wanted to include bead caps in the design to bring in the gold from the necklace. Hmmmm – bead cap, top drilled bead, weird shape – how to make it work? The technique we came up with would work great on many kinds of top drilled pendants. It’s especially good if your wire wrapping skills could use improvement!

Try this alternative to a wire wrap when using a large drop bead in an earring :

Gather: top-drilled beads, bead caps, flexible beading wire, clamshell bead tips and crimp beads. You’ll also need your flush cutter and crimp tool.

Design: Place your bead caps on the tops of the beads and see which types will look best on your particular bead. (Of course, it helps if you’re in a bead shop and can try out a lot of different sizes and shapes!)

Bead: Use about 3" of flexible beading wire to string through the hole of the drop bead. Bring the ends together and string on the bead cap to sit over the top of the drop bead. String on a clamshell bead tip, string on a crimp bead and flatten the crimp bead to secure the wire. Trim the wire off, and close the clamshell tip over the crimp bead. Attach directly to an ear wire, or add to a bit of chain for more dangle.
Done!

Need help with this project? Drop by the shop and we’ll show you how!

Tucson 2009: Getting There and Beading Along the Way, part 2 of a series

2009-06-16T05:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve been shopping at the Tucson gem shows for 4 years. Four trips means I’ve seen a lot, and as I embarked on my trip in February and started thinking about which venues I wanted to visit, I realized I had become a little bored with going to the same venues I’d come to depend on as the biggest and most likely to yield the best goods. WHAT? Can I possibly be saying that with over 3,000 vendors to choose from, I’ve seen it all?

No, that’s not what I mean. It’s just that some of the wonder and awe had worn off a little and I began to approach shopping differently now. The first time I went, I didn’t know what to expect and everywhere I looked there was something new, so it really didn’t matter where I went. I tended to choose venues where it looked like it was easy to park. Some were wonderful, some not so much.

So, with 50+ venues to choose from, and only 4 shopping days, how did I go about choosing which to visit?

I have several goals in choosing venues now. The first is to visit the people I already know. This is one of the key reasons I love to go. I love making that personal connection, building the relationships with vendors that will last through the life of the shop. Throughout the year we may talk on the phone, or just connect via email, but meeting face to face, and sometimes even sharing a drink or a meal, improves that connection. It’s one of the things that makes having the shop so darn much fun. It also allows me to see and share the genuine excitement that these vendors have for their products.

Another goal each year is to visit a venue I haven’t visited before, no matter how difficult it is to get there, how obscure the location, or what I expect (or don’t expect) to find there. I went to one this year that had about 10 vendors total in it. Pretty small by Tucson standards. But I found some awesome and interesting things. Beautiful copper pieces I can incorporate into metal clay projects (Yes – I do shop for myself, not just the bead shop!), slabs and chunks of rock I can cut into shiny cabochons (so what if I don’t even know how yet!), and some of the most beautiful rhodochrosite I’ve ever seen. This was a quiet little venue, but as I talked with the woman selling the rhodochrosite, I learned that I have purchased from her before at a booth her husband operates at much larger venue. This particular location was actually a small storefront in front of their permanent warehouse, where they staged their product for their travels to wholesale shows throughout the year. I was the only one with her for a while; we had a nice conversation, and she gave me directions on how to walk through an alley and under the highway over to several other venues I might like. What a truly interesting find!

At that little venue, I developed my third goal for shopping in Tucson which is that it’s not always about finding the next great bead. I learned that sometimes it’s valuable to just relax and look and gather inspiration from all that is there to see. I saw many folks spooning fresh coconuts for lunch in the African village venue, I sipped a soy smoothie from a stand whose proprietor was from London and just came to Tucson to set up her organic snack bar at the show, and I saw geodes filled with sparkling amethyst taller than me! I learned a whole new way of window shopping that lets me relax and enjoy the experience and lets my imagination soar. I pull out my little notebook from my purse and jot ideas for projects, designs, and classes. I record information about oddities and maybe even names of vendors I’d like to remember for future visits.

So, if you ever travel to the Tucson gem shows, don’t sweat about which venues you go to. There is something incredibly wonderful to discover at each and every one of them. And if you don’t go, every year I will continue to bring a little of that magic back to Maryville for you to share the experience.

Thanks for reading - now go bead something!

2009-05-31T02:07:00.001-07:00

Project Idea: Grandmother’s Bracelet

We just got in some tube beads at awesome prices. The photo shows one bracelet made with gold filled tubes and one made with our new gold plated tubes - can you tell the difference? The supplies for the gold filled total over $50, and if you use our new plated tubes the total is less than $15! This elegant project is easy to make, and because you're using memory wire, you don't have to worry about the fit!

Gather: Swarovski Crystals in colors representing the birthstones of each grandchild, memory wire (check out the new gold and silver plated varieties!), silver, gold or copper plated bead tubes,3 or 4mm metal or glass beads for spacers, memory wire cutters, round nose pliers.

Design: Decide which order the stones should go in – will you use birth order, or mix them up according to how the colors look together?

Bead: Cut off a length of memory wire several loops long (more if it’s a big family!) Make a small loop at the end of the memory wire. String a couple of the spacer beads, a tube, a spacer bead and a crystal. Repeat with a spacer bead, tube, spacer bead and another crystal until complete. Trim the wire, leaving about ¼” and make a loop with the ¼” wire at the end.

Done!

Important tip: always use memory wire cutters when cutting memory wire so you don't damage your other cutting tools.

Need help with technique? Drop by the shop and we can show you how to cut and finish the ends of memory wire. We'd love to see you soon! (P.S. - you can make the bracelet on the right for less than $15!)

Tucson 2009: Getting There and Beading Along the Way, part 1 of a series

2009-05-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

What’s Tucson got to do with beading? It’s where every February, over 55,000 people shop with over 3,000 vendors of beads, stones, tools, jewelry and related items. Other countries hold similar shows and advertise them as “The Tucson of [insert city or country name here.]” Tucson is THE place for everyone who’s serious about this business to shop.

Well, that happened last February so why am I writing about it now? For starters, I didn’t have a blog back then and I really wanted to communicate the gem show experience to our customers. Also, I learned SO much that I am still applying the new information to events and projects around the shop.

Getting there: I personally love to fly, and always look forward to layover time as a great excuse to do some beading or read a good book. I was using frequent flyer miles and was very limited when scheduling my flights and as a result had plenty of stops and layovers. No complaints here because I just see that as plenty of time to work on beading projects!

Staying in Tucson has been wonderful these past 4 years as I am so glad to have good friends to stay with. They are not only perfect hosts, but great fun as well and I look forward to seeing them every year. I’ve heard many different reports on hotel accommodations, from great deals to high prices during gem show. Some vendors with large staffs attending will rent a house and share it.

Getting around is easy with a rental car and a good map. Parking is plentiful at many centralized lots, and taking a shuttle from those lots is sometimes the only way you can visit some of the venues. In one case I was able to find parking right at the front door of a venue, then one of the vendors there gave me directions on how to walk through the alley to get to two more! My little rolling bag squawked at the rough terrain, so I left that in the car in favor of a shoulder bag.

If you go…plan ahead of time so you can get the flights you want, and a convenient hotel room. Bring comfortable shoes, a bag on wheels, a shoulder bag, and cash. Many merchants take credit cards, but many do not. If you plan on attending wholesale shows, register ahead of time, and bring plenty of resale tax ID documents along. Prepare for any weather – some years I have gone it has been cold and rainy and sometimes hot and dry. And, sometimes it’s been both on the same trip!

Beading while traveling: Seed bead weaving projects are wonderful travel companions. The tools needed are minimal, it doesn’t take up much space, and the TSA hasn’t declared beading needles a deadly weapon yet.

Here’s a simple project to take along on your next trip: Beaded Beads. Using two colors of size 11 Delicas, string a base row 16 beads long in this order: 4 color A, 8 color B, 4 color A. Work flat peyote stitch for a total of 10 rows, keeping the same color pattern. Zip together into a tube and secure thread ends. Repeat often, changing the colors as you make each bead. String these together with 4mm glass beads in between them for a bracelet, or necklace depending on how many beads you made (these make great stretchy bracelets!). One of our Delica Starter kits would be great for this – it includes 8 colors of color coordinated beads, two needles and thread. Pack that, plus stretchy cord, 4mm glass beads, small scissors, work surface and conditioner into a small pouch or box and you’re good to go!
Coming soon: Tucson 2009, Part 2, which venues to shop at?

Welcome

2009-05-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks for reading my blog! If you keep returning, I promise I'll do my best to provide entertaining, insightful thoughts on all things beads.

Here's some of what to expect:
Great ideas, little, big, and which when
Links to other great ideas
What inspires me
What amuses me
And, of course, shameless marketing. But, of course, you really DO want to know about our new products, classes and sales, don't you? If not, well then you can just skip the shameless marketing and jump right to the info you really want.
Humor.

Cheers,
Gail

Little Beads

2009-05-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Oh, we love those size 15 seed beads, yes we do. Local glass bead artisan Robbie Gentry http://www.heirloomsinglass.com/ found a use for them yesterday when I offered them to her to try out as spacers inside her hand made beads to keep the wobble away. What do you know? They work for her better than Delicas.

Don't know the difference between a Delica and a size 15? Our expert staff does, and a whole lot more, too. If you do know what they are, then you'll love to hear we just added over 30 new colors to our already awesome selection of these tiny little beads.