Beading Arts

Another of my beaded fabric neckpieces: Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

...to consider working at home , at least part-time.

Tips from BellaOnline

Pendants This is the other project that was filmed by HGTV ~ making one of these optical lens pendants. I used the image of Juliet, who is in the middle of the top row. This was filmed for a quickie little segment at the very end of the show. Thank you to all of you who have written to me with encouraging words. It means a lot to me! Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Ryan, Celia, Lorelei, & Eric Well, I had a really good time taping for HGTV's show. I don't know if I drove them crazy or not, but they were very nice to me. I think that singing publicly and in a recording studio has helped me to control my breathing when I'm nervous, so at least my voice wasn't shakey. But I was very nervous! No cue cards ~ we just figure out what I'm going to do next and I do it while trying to explain at the same time. That went ok, but then Celia would say, "Great! Now look up at the camera and say it again." Do you think I could remember what I had just said?? Nope, not a chance. My big phrase of the day was, "What did I just say?" When he got home, my husband asked if I'd do it again... ...Oh yeah! In a heartbeat :-) Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

I'm not one! Honest to goodness, cross my heart. But I do have what I always thought of as a perfectly adequate selection of clothing, something just right for every occasion. Apparently not. The wonderful ladies from HGTV did their recon mission at my house yesterday, and everything looks fine...except for me! Here's the problem: you can't wear red, prints, anything textured, shiney, metallic, beaded, sequinned, ribbed, or lustrous. OK, that's everything in my wardrobe! They apologized profusely and said that this had simply never happened before. No problem, I've got time to find something...as long as I can find it in stores that are filled with nothing but the sherbet pastels that I hate! So yesterday afternoon, on Father's Day no less, my wonderful loving long-suffering husband took me to the mall to look for a plain non-red top. I don't like malls. Neither does he. Long story short, I did find a (hopefully) suitable top (guess I...

Victorian Cameo The HGTV camera crew is coming to my studio next week, to shoot a segment for one of their art/craft shows! Obviously this means that there's been lots of scurrying around our house, tidying things up and clearing out some actually bona fide work space in my overflowing studio. The piece shown above is what I'll be demonstrating. Afterwards, a how-to article will appear on their site. But that won't be until months from now, of course. Film in the summer ~ air in the winter, or something like that! I'll be sure to post when the show will air as soon as I find out, and will definitely link to the article when it's posted. Stay tuned... :-) Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Cory Doctorow for BoingBoing writes: "Ulla-Maaria Mutanen, a Finnish crafter...has written a draft crafter's manifesto that reads like a blueprint for the Enlightenment crossed with an entrepreneur's prayer. Good stuff."

I made one of these sets several years ago for a customer's daughter who was about to be married. The pearls are from the mother's own wedding dress. This week, she had me make two more sets for some daughters-in-law! Isn't that a great idea to recycle the ingredients of the dress? Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Missing your jewelry? Tough luck!

Betsy's bridesmaid necklaces I got the necklaces finished for my friend's bridal party. Then I got a phone call from another woman who needs something by Friday!! Aaaagh!!! BTW, they'll be done on time :-) Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace

Exhibit information

For a friend who calls herself "The Queen of Last-Minute Details," I'm going to be making a series of necklaces for her bridesmaids! They will be similar to the smaller ones here: Wedding jewelry There are some beautiful new shapes of Czech crystals out this spring, and I'll be using those rather than the handmade lampwork beads, because time is fleeting...and tight! My baby is graduating from high school this weekend, and we'll have all the grandparents and festivities. It's going to be a wonderful long weekend, and then...back to work! Technorati Tags: wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace