| New Halloween Beading Patterns Halloween is easily one of my favorite holidays - especially since I now have a very rambunctious toddler! So I spent part of last week designing some new charted ...  Videos Available on Mirrix Loom Website A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a 2-part free webinar that was being offered by Claudia Chase of Mirrix Looms. Due to some unfortunate technical difficulties neither part of the webinar was. Instead, Claudia Chase, the president of Mirrix, has posted a series of videos on the Mirrix website that you can watch any time. The videos cover topics related to warping your loom and making a beautiful tapestry and beaded cuff. There are also kits available in the Mirrix store to make the bead and tapestry cuff from the videos. ...Beadweaving Blog Links for Friday, September 3, 2010 As summer draws to a close, it seems like all my favorite bead artists are busier than ever! The Beaded Carpet - Mikki Ferrugiaro has been busy whipping up a new design using one of my favorite beading components - gemstone donuts! Rachel Nelson-Smith - Rachel is basking, if only for a few minutes, in the relief and satisfaction that has come along after she has completed the last of her projects for her upcoming book. MadDesigns - Marcia DeCoster gives us a preview of the design she will be teaching on her Alaskan cruise, and she shares a beautifully designed Swarovski cocktail ring. Beadlust - Robin Atkins has written an incredibly detailed and helpful post about how to mount beadwork in the same manner as fine art. This is a great way to display beadwork in art galleries and at shows. Beadedbear's Nonsense and Complete Waste of Time - Sig Wynne-Evans is taking a little Italian vacation - if only in her head. She's also written a series of very engaging and interesting posts all about copyright and beadwork. Make some time to read these - they are very informative! Tapestry Beads - Jill Wiseman has some very exciting news - she's the newest member of Beaducation! She'll have online classes up on that site sometime around January 1, 2011. Sand Fibers - Carol Dean Sharpe has been busy stitching up some very cool beaded wrist wraps. Her work and her blog have also been featured on several different websites this week, including my blog here on About.com. Artisan Clay - Kristie Roeder has been in the center of a whirlwind of activity - making new beads for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge, making new beads for an exchange for the Beads of Clay swap and donation to Beads of Courage, and listing new items in her Etsy shop! She makes me tired just reading her blog! Color for Bead Artists - Margie Deeb has some wonderful information about creating analogous color schemes using a color wheel. Have you seen her new publication about learning how to use your color wheel in just ten minutes? Good Quill Hunting - Christine has chosen a winner for the next recipient of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads box, and she has a gorgeous new beading kit available as a pre-order. Until next week, happy beading and reading! If you have been reading the new Lark Crafts website, you might have seen some of their interviews with popular jewelry and beading bloggers. These interviews consist of five quick questions, and they give a little bit of an insight into who these beading bloggers are.
This week, the interview happens to be with the very talented Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers. Carol is a prolific designer of peyote stitch cuff patterns and just happens to be one of the many wonderful beady people that I have come to know through the online beading community on Facebook and Etsy. Carol's patterns have appeared in Beadwork magazine and have brought me many enjoyable hours of beading. You can find her patterns for sale on Etsy, ArtFire and 1,000 Markets. Carol also has a fan page on Facebook under Sand Fibers that will let you keep up with all her new designs and patterns. Carol's blog is also included in my bi-weekly roundup of beadweaving blogs. While you're on the Lark Crafts website, check out their past interviews with beaders Laura McCabe, Jamie Cloud Eakin and Sabine Lippert. Color expert Margie Deeb has created a valuable reference for those of us who love our color wheels but aren't quite sure how to get the most out of them. Her new "Instant Color Wheel Guide" will have you picking out new color palettes using your color wheel in no time. ...More Bead Embroidery 
A while back, I had written about Cyndi Lavin's new ebook, "Every Bead Has a Story", all about bead embroidery techniques. The first chapter of the book can be downloaded for free from her blog, and chapters 2 and 3 can be purchased for $3 each. Chapter Two of the book is all about basic techniques and includes instructions on how to bezel a cabochon or stone with peyote stitch, making wrapped loops, and some wonderful and creative techniques for working with fabrics to create one-of-a-kind pieces of bead embroidery. Cyndi gives some great step-by-step instructions for two projects - a cuff bracelet and a neckpiece - along with a resource list and a gallery of designs for inspiration. Chapter Three takes the basic bead embroidery techniques a step further and gives directions for how to make three-dimensional beadwork using bead embroidery and bead weaving techniques. The photographs are good, clear and closeup shots and the techniques and projects are inspirational enough to make you put down the book and pick up your beads! You can read more about the books, Cyndi's work, and find tutorials and more information on the Beading Arts website. Beadweaving Blog Links for Saturday, August 21, 2010 Many of my bead artist buddies are attending Bead Fest Philadelphia this weekend, and they've been busy preparing for the show. Artisan Clay - Kristie Roeder has some gorgeous new smoke-fired and recycled glass ceramic beads, cabochons and pendants in her Etsy store. And she's having a sale with giveaways, too! Tapestry Beads - Jill Wiseman FINALLY gives us a look at her Bead & Button Show stash. (She's at Bead Fest Philadelphia this weekend, too!) Sand Fibers - Carol Dean Sharpe is doing some...um...unusual window shopping on Etsy this weekend. Beadedbear's Nonsense and Complete Waste of Time - Sig Wynne-Evans has some incredible new patterns on her website. They are beautiful Native American portraits. Etsy Beadweavers' Blog - The Etsy Beadweaver's Team has announced the theme for the October Challenge: Autumn Falling of Leaves. MADDesigns - Marcia DeCoster is getting ready to do some serious bead-room cleaning and re-organizing, something I need to do, too! The Beaded Carpet - Mikki Ferrugiario has been busy, busy, busy - and while that's good for business, it's not so good for her blog. Good Quill Hunting - Christina has been chosen as the latest winner in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads, and she shows us her takes and her gives to the traveling box of beads started by HumbleBeads. Until next week, happy beading and reading! Free Webinar from Mirrix Looms on Monday, August 23, 2010 Mirrix, makers of high-quality, functional beading and tapestry looms, is offering a free webinar on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. EST. The webinar is basically an online ... News Wizard |
