Scenes from the Bead & Button Show

I'm back from the Bead & Button Show and slowly getting back into my normal routine. It was a whirlwind of work and play, but I did manage to remember to take some pictures!

Milwaukee

It was a little chillier in Milwaukee this year compared to past years, and ranged from partially cloudy to raining! Here's the view from our hotel room on our first morning there:

Workshops

I always love teaching beading workshops and this year's classes were no different! A couple of my students finished their Cosmic Nocturne Pendants in class!

Here I am providing some one-on-one time for the Tila Garden Pendant:

And here are some of my students' completed Raindrop Flower Necklace components - both the Raindrop Flower focal and a few of the accompanying beaded beads!

Awesome People

There's no other place where you can see so many fabulous bead artists under one roof! Sabine Lippert, (aka The Fastest Beader in the West), finished her Tila Garden Pendant in class!

My friend Susan Blessinger and I represented the San Diego contingency at the Bead Dreams Reception. Isn't her beach-inspired necklace awesome? (check out her Bead Dreams finalist entry, "The March Hare," here!)

And along with Marcia DeCoster, we made a trio of San Diego Bead Dreams Finalists! Marcia and I got the chance to model our respective pieces together (check out Marcia's blog for the story behind this collaborative piece between her and Sherry Serafini - truly a melding between the minds of masters!)

As a San Francisco Giants fan, I always have a reason to wear orange and black jewelry, but I didn't think that this color combo would be popular with any other beaders (outside of October). The always-fabulous Suzanne Golden totally proved me wrong!

I had the pleasure of meeting many of the fine people that work so hard to create all the little Japanese seed beads, Czech shaped beads, and sparkly crystals that bead artists adore. The folks at Miyuki took the time to take and present me with my own souvenir Beading Happiness photo. Cool huh?

Fireworks

On our last night in Milwaukee we were treated to a perfect view of a fireworks show, right from our hotel room!

A fitting end to a wonderful trip!

Cosmic Dodecahedron

Have you ever had an idea for a project, a project that you knew would be quite cool, but never seemed to find the time to sit down and build it? I've been thinking about weaving this beaded object for close to a year, but I knew it would take many hours of painstaking, fiddly beadwork, so I kept putting it off for another time. This past weekend, I finally sat down and put it together.

A Dodecahedral Variation

The result is a dodecahedral variation of my Cosmic Nocturne Pendant, and it is indeed as cool as I thought it would be! It's hollow and completely self-supporting, and surprisingly heavy for its size and lacy nature. It was also as fiddly as I thought it would be, as I had to perform several feats of Beading Needle Gymnastics to get the beads to go where they needed to go.

A Very Large Beaded Bead

This is easily the largest beaded bead that I've ever created. So much so that I'm learning towards using it as a Christmas ornament. Here it is next to the beaded bead that was previously my largest design, the Fiberoptic Dodecahedron:

And here it is next to a quarter:

It measures about 45 mm in diameter, which makes it slightly larger than a golf ball. I don't have a golf ball for comparison, but I do have a baseball. It's a little larger than half the diameter of a baseball, and with enough practice, you can get it to balance on top of a baseball:

And of course, my tiny paper cranes had to get in on the act too :)

Three Cosmic Symmetries

Together with the original Cosmic Nocturne Pendant and the Tetrahedral Variation, the Cosmic Dodecahedron variation completes the trio of these lacy beaded beads.

I'll be describing these variations in my Cosmic Nocturne Pendant class at the Bead & Button Show next month if you'd like to learn how to make your own!

The Cosmic Nocturne Pendant is just one of the projects that I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this June. The class for this particular project is on Friday, June 7, from 1-4 PM. More information about the show can be found on their website.

Another Attempt at a Cosmic Nocturne Colorway

I wasn't quite satisfied with the dark blue and rusty bronze colorway of my Cosmic Nocturne Pendant, so I made another attempt with these colors.

More Silver

I asked for feedback on this colorway on my Facebook page, and Sharri Moroshok kindly suggested that I add more silver to this pendant. A simple change from bronze to silver seed beads was all that was needed for this result.

For comparison, here's the previous attempt:

Side-by-Side Comparison

I think the silver definitely brightens up this pendant, adding overall contrast and setting the outer layer off from the inner layer. Plus the bright silver on the darker background makes for a starry effect :)

What do you think?

The Cosmic Nocturne Pendant is just one of the projects that I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this June. The class for this particular project is on Friday, June 7, from 1-4 PM. More information about the show can be found on their website.

Cosmic Tetrahedron

One of the themes of my talk at the San Diego Bead Society this weekend is how a simple change in geometry can lead to a new beaded structure. With this theme in mind, I wove a variation of the Cosmic Nocturne Pendant.

A Tetrahedral Variation

This particular variation uses the geometry of a tetrahedron. Can you see its similarity to this beaded tetrahedron?

I like how this design accentuates the faces and the points of the tetrahedron, but it also leaves a big space at the edges. This is unlike most of the beaded beads that I've seen (like the one above), which usually have at least one bead lying on the edge of the structure.

Variation vs. The Original Version

The tetrahedral variation is slightly smaller than its original counterpart, but it's still a nice size for a petite version of this pendant.

The Cosmic Nocturne Pendant is just one of the projects that I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this June. The class for this particular project is on Friday, June 7, from 1-4 PM. More information about the show can be found on their website.

Cosmic Nocturne Pendants

Having finished the class kits and instructions for my classes at the San Diego Bead Society this weekend, I switched gears and put together a few new Cosmic Nocturne Pendants in preparation for its corresponding Bead & Button class in June.

Ways to String the Pendant

One of the fun characteristics of this pendant is how it can be strung through several different openings. The first time I created one of these pendants, I strung it on a sterling silver headpin before stringing it on a chain. This will still be an option for the students in class, but for this latest version, I left off the headpin and just strung it on the chain through two of its many openings.

I like this orientation the best because it accentuates the pointed ends, making it look more star-like (hence its namesake). But you can also string it through two different points, making it look more like a box standing on one edge:

It looks especially cube-like when it's strung this way:

The colors in this pendant match that of the geode colorway of the Fiberoptic Dodecahedron, though the Cosmic Nocturne looks a little more purple than its dodecahedron counterpart.

Other New Colorways

I also wove this design in two additional colorways! I'm still not quite sure what to think of this one:

I was looking for a different way to use those blue iris magatamas, so I paired them with bronze seed beads and reddish-bronze SuperDuos. It's somewhat outside of my usual color schemes... It's still dark, fulfilling the cosmic, night-sky theme of the pendant, but I'm not sure if I like it. What do you think?

I also wove this version in green patina with a touch of bronze a while back.

The Original Colorway

This is the original colorway, in black, silver, and purple, with just a touch of blue iris:

The Cosmic Nocturne Pendant is just one of the projects that I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this June. The class for this particular project is on Friday, June 7, from 1-4 PM. More information about the show can be found on their website.

Which colorway is your favorite?

Bead & Button Show Class Update

A reminder that registration is open for classes at the 2013 Bead & Button Show, and the classes are filling up! The Friday session of my Tila Garden Pendant class is already full, but there's still some space in the other session on Sunday. I'm teaching a total of six classes at the show (click on the images for registration information on each class).

The first class that I'm teaching is the Raindrop Flower Necklace. In this six-hour class, you'll learn how to make three different kinds of beaded beads with drop-shaped beads, as well as a very flowery teardrop beaded focal that can also stand alone as a pendant!

Raindrop Flower Necklace - Thursday, June 6, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

The next class is the Tila Garden Pendant, where you'll learn how to weave tila beads and shaped seed beads into your own little miniature garden. This advanced project uses quite a bit of geometry, but it's so satisfying to wear once it's done!

Tila Garden Pendant - Friday, June 7, 8:30 - 11:30 AM Sold Out!

and Sunday, June 9, 9 AM - noon

The night sky-inspired Cosmic Nocturne Pendant uses Swarovski crystals, round and shaped seed beads, and either twin or SuperDuo beads all together in this self-supporting, hollow pendant. This layered, tactile pendant is such fun to wear because its look changes depending on how it's strung, and since it can be strung through about a dozen different openings, you can customize how you want it to look when worn!

Cosmic Nocturne Pendant - Friday, June 7, 1 - 4 PM

The Ice Queen Necklace uses 17 individual Pagoda charms for a beautiful statement piece. You'll learn not only how to make these eclectic little charms, but also how to use redundant thread paths to strengthen the beadwork. The class kit actually comes with enough materials to make 20 Pagoda charms, so students can elect to make a slightly longer necklace, or a necklace of the same length plus a matching pair of earrings! Last year, many students completed the matching pair of earrings in class.

Ice Queen Necklace - Saturday, June 8, 9 AM - noon

Finally, the Sparkling Compass Set is perhaps the most versatile of the classes that I'm teaching at the show. It's a class for all levels of beaders, where you'll learn how to make the Sparkling Compass component and weave it into earrings, a bracelet, and a beaded bead! If you're a beginner, you would probably want to start with the earrings, and you'll be able to finish at least one of them and probably the pair in the class. Advanced students can elect to skip right to the beaded bead. The class kit contains materials for all three pieces, and it even works with rizo beads too!

Sparkling Compass Set - Saturday, June 8, 2 - 5 PM

More information about class registration, as well as general show information can be found here. I'd love to see you there!

New Pattern: Fiberoptic Duo Beaded Beads

My newest pattern, the Fiberoptic Duo beaded beads, is now available at beadorigami.com.

Fiberoptic Cube Beaded Bead

Why the name Fiberoptic Duo? Well, the "duo" part comes from 1) the two colors of SuperDuo beads that are used in this design, and 2) the two different beaded beads that are are described in this pattern; the Fiberoptic Cube, and the Fiberoptic Octahedron. The "fiberoptic" part came about because I like the way the word sounds.

Fiberoptic Cube (left) and Octahedron (right) Beaded Beads

These beaded beads came about from a long line of beady experiments that I did last year with the aim of incorporating two-hole beads into new beading projects. The first result of these experiments was the Squareflake Earrings, a project that works with both twin and SuperDuo beads:

Squareflake Earrings

The next result was the Snowflakes bracelet, which appeared in the Dec/Jan 2012/13 issue of Beadwork Magazine. It's related to the Squareflake Earrings with a couple of changes; the snowflakes have six-fold symmetry, like real snowflakes, and I substituted the Swarovski crystal rivoli pendants with the less-sharp 3mm magatamas, so that the resulting bracelet would be softer on the skin.

Snowflakes Bracelet

Then there's the project that I'm really excited about, the Cosmic Nocturne Pendant. This pendant is hollow, holds its shape well, and has a nice combination of crystals and several shaped seed beads. I'll be teaching this project at the Bead and Button Show this June (B130661 - Fri. June 7 • 1:00pm-4:00pm)

Cosmic Nocturne Pendant

The Fiberoptic Duo beaded beads use a simpler combination of beads for sleeker design; two different colors of SuperDuo beads, and round Japanese seed beads. I haven't had much luck using twin seed beads in this design, since it requires the two-hole beads to be very uniform. The SuperDuo beads do this quite nicely.

Fiberoptic Octahedron Beaded Bead

I like how both beaded beads use the exact same number and proportions of these seed and SuperDuo beads. They're similar in construction in some ways, but different in other ways as I detail in the pattern.

Fiberoptic Cube (left) and Octahedron (right) Beaded Beads

Which one do you like better? The cube is a little easier to weave, but I'm partial to all beaded octahedra. It tends to look more round than octahedron-shaped in this design though.

Fiberoptic Octahedron Beaded Bead

The Fiberoptic Duo Beaded Beads pattern is available exclusively at beadorigami.com. I'll be putting some kits together for this design in the next couple of weeks!

Do you have a favorite twin or SuperDuo design that you'd like to share? Drop me a line in the comments below!

Bead & Button Show Class Registration Begins January 8

Class registration for the 2013 Bead & Button Show begins at noon CST on January 8! I'm teaching six classes this year; click on the images below for registration information on each class:

Raindrop Flower Necklace - Thursday, June 6, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Tila Garden Pendant - Friday, June 7, 8:30 - 11:30 AM

and Sunday, June 9, 9 AM - noon

Cosmic Nocturne Pendant - Friday, June 7, 1 - 4 PM

Ice Queen Necklace - Saturday, June 8, 9 AM - noon

Sparkling Compass Set - Saturday, June 8, 2 - 5 PM

Last year, one of my classes sold out within 24 hours, so be sure to register early to secure your space! More information about registration as well as general information about the show can be found here. I'd love to see you there!