Bead & Button 2012 Classes

I have some exciting news to share! I'll be teaching at the 2012 Bead & Button Show next June! The show jury accepted four of my class proposals, three of which feature brand new beaded bead designs. This will be my first time teaching at Bead & Button in addition to my first time attending the show, so I'm just stoked to be going!

My classes are tentatively scheduled from June 8-10. First up is the Cyclic Orbitals beaded bead necklace, featuring three different sizes of Cyclic Orbitals beaded beads. The completed necklace includes lapis, smoky quartz, and Czech glass beads:

Next up is my Ice Queen necklace, which you might remember from last winter.

Then I'll have two classes featuring the two-hole Miyuki tila beads. I call this pendant "Tila Gardens" because the tila beads form little plots for colorful beaded flowers:

I'll wrap up with the Cubed Tilas beaded bead necklace, featuring the tactile and geometric Cubed Tilas beaded beads:

The 2012 Bead & Button Show will take place in Milwaukee, WI from June 1-10, and class registration will begin online on January 10. If you're going, whether you're taking a class or not, I'd love to see you there!

New Necklaces with Lampwork

I took a break from web design last weekend to finish a piece that's been sitting around for over a year (eep!) I wove this electric green Ionic Octahedron last year when testing Gwen's Ionic Polyhedra pattern, and made two matching Mini Ionic Octahedrons shortly thereafter. I was having a hard time deciding what to do with these beaded beads, until Melissa Vess suggested that she could do some custom work matching lampwork beads to my beaded beads. I sent her the Ionic Octahedron, and she came up with four cute little lampwork beads:

I strung this necklace rather simply with matching Czech fire polish glass beads and silver Japanese seed beads, to leave the focus on the lampwork and beaded beads.

Speaking of lampwork beads... I got around to taking some pictures of a necklace I strung as a gift for my Mom a while back. It features more of Melissa's work, this time a lampwork focal bead. I strung it with six strands of Czech seed beads, fire polish beads, and freshwater pearls:

The stringing method is the same as my Lavender Splendor necklace, featured in the 2009 Bead Star special issue.

Thanks Melissa!