Highland Garden Necklace Workshop

I'm very excited to be teaching a new beading class this weekend. This workshop, the Highland Garden Necklace, combines the beauty of beaded flowers with the geometry of dodecahedrons.

Embellished Dodecahedron Beaded Beads

This necklace features six beaded beads woven with six different colors of O beads that make up the petals of very dainty flowers. Additional tiny Japanese seed beads contribute to the fine detail of these beaded beads.

This colorway features pastel-colored O beads for a very soft look:

A Floral Focal

The focal piece of this necklace features slightly larger flowers woven with lentil beads and additional seed beads, in the colors and style to match the beaded beads. I drew on Sakura Charm and Tila Garden Pendant designs to construct this piece; I had been tinkering with the idea of weaving twelve Sakura Charms together for quite a while, but I wasn't able to effectively execute this idea until after the release of the Half Tila bead. Additionally, a number of new colors of lentil beads are now available that have greatly expanded the possible color combinations for this design.

A Geometric Necklace

The beaded beads and pendant are strung in a symmetric arrangement with a simple combination of round beads to complete the necklace. This colorway uses bronze and cranberry hues for a fall-themed take on this beading design.

I'm currently scheduled to teach this class at City Beads in Chicago on April 12 (this weekend!), and at Beaded Bliss in Danville, CA on May 2. Check out their respective websites for information on how to register for this class. I'd love to see you there!

2015 Bead and Button Show Classes

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be teaching four classes at the 2015 Bead & Button Show. Each class that I'm offering this year is three hours long and features a different beading technique.

Cosmic Stardust Pendant 

First up is the Comic Stardust Pendant (generously sponsored by Starman Beads!) which is offered on Wednesday, June 3 from 4 - 7 PM. This intricate, lacy geometric beaded pendant is completely self-supporting and features a variety of crystals, Japanese seed beads, and two-hole beads such as SuperDuos or two-hole triangles. The size and geometry of this pendant can be adjusted to create smaller beaded beads or fancy ornaments!

Brain Chemistry Earrings

Next is the Brain Chemistry Earrings, offered on Friday, June 5 from 8:30 - 11:30 AM. In this class students will learn how to create an accurate, 3D beaded representation of the GABA molecule, and how to incorporate two of these molecules into a pair of earrings. This class is a nice introduction to the world of beaded molecules, and give off tons of sparkle for a fun, fancy way to show off beaded chemistry.

Sakura Bouquet Necklace

Next is the Sakura Bouquet Necklace (also sponsored by Starman Beads), offered on Saturday, June 6 from 9 AM - noon. This piece features four different varieties of the cherry blossom flower, all incorporated into a cascading necklace. The individual beaded charms can be used in a variety of other types and arrangements of jewelry, as I've discussed on this blog before.

This past Christmas I wove several of these charms as earrings and gave them out as gifts!

Rose Blossom Pendant

Finally, the Rose Blossom Pendant (also sponsored by Starman beads) will be offered on Friday, June  5 from 5 - 8 PM. This turbine-like pendant features two different sizes of rose petal bead surrounding a Swarovski rivoli crystal. This design uses a twist on the right angle weave (RAW) technique and works up quickly, so you will want to make more than one.

The 2015 Bead & Button Show will take place in Milwaukee, WI from May 27-June 8, and class registration opens today at noon (CST). It's the biggest bead show in the US and it's a whole lot of fun each year. I'd love to see you there!

A Trio of Rizo Triangles Necklaces

I've finished a new colorway of the petite version of the Rizo Triangles Necklace, this time in copper and bronze, with a touch of purple. I'll be teaching this project at the BABE! Show next weekend.

Here's an earlier version of this necklace in soft purples and golds:

And then here's the original colorway, in purple, green, and silver:

I love all three colorways, but the new bronze and copper colorway is just perfect for the fall, and I've already enjoyed wearing it a couple of times :)

I'll be teaching this class at the BABE! Show on Sunday, November 16. Please visit the BABE! website for more information. Online registration closes on Saturday, so don't delay!

Forget Me Not Bouquet Necklace

I wove a new colorway of the Sakura Bouquet Necklace, this time in Forget-Me-Not blue.

Blue Sakura Charms

I had previously woven Sakura Charms with this color, back when I first came up with this design a few years ago. I made a necklace with several of these charms, strung simply with bugle beads and Japanese seed beads.

I had wanted to work with this colorway when I first taught the Sakura Bouquet Necklace last November, however the rose petal-shaped beads were not available in blue at the time. Fortunately, they're now available in a few shades of blue, and I chose one of the shades with the "halo" finish for this necklace.

Arranging the Sakura Bouquet Necklace

For the purple colorway of this necklace, I experimented with arranging the charms in several different ways to show the versatility of this design. You can read more about these different arrangements here. Ultimately, I didn't connect the charms in the purple colorway together for a completed necklace; rather, I use these charms in class as demonstration aids, and students can play with this completed charm set to come up with their own arrangements. One of my favorite arrangements is the version below, which uses all 40 charms that comprise the class kit.

I followed this arrangement when I wove together the blue version, making a few minor adjustments along the way.

With this version, I've now made five different colorways of the Sakura Bouquet Necklace! Check out this post for the other four colorways of this necklace.

I'm teaching this project at three upcoming events: at the Bead & Button Show (twice!) in the first week of June, for the San Diego Bead Society on July 13, and at Bead Fest Philly on August 23. Please visit the respective websites of these organizations for more information on how to register for this class. I'd love to see you there!

A Trio of Rizo Triangles Necklaces

I'm in full preparation mode for the 2014 Bead and Button Show! The Rizo Triangles Necklace is one of the six classes that I'm teaching at this year's show, and I've finished three different colorways of this very fancy necklace.

For the gold colorway, I used a combination of neutral and purple hues, with accents of gold-plated seed beads, and golden shadow Swarovski crystals.

This colorway uses several shades of bronze with hints of purple and copper accents, all paired with crystal copper Swarovski crystals.

Finally, the original colorway combines purples, greens, and several accents of silver. I love all three colorways, but this one remains my favorite :)

I'll be teaching this advanced project on Tuesday, June 3, starting at 9 AM. More information about Bead & Button class registration, as well as general show information can be found here. I'd love to see you there!

Which colorway is your favorite?

Oscillations Pendants

I finished two additional colorways of my Oscillations Pendant. The first uses dark brown Tila and SuperDuo beads to frame rosy peach Rizo flowers:

The second combines dark green seed beads with a lighter, metallic patina shade for the Tila and SuperDuos, which frame silvery violet Rizo flowers.

Here's the original colorway for comparison. This one is paired with a matching spiral rope, however the pendant can be strung on a variety of materials including a metal chain or a silk ribbon.

I'll be teaching this project at the Bead & Button Show on Wednesday, June 4. You can sign up for the class here. I would love to see you there!

Sakura Necklaces for Every Season

I finished a total of four colorways for my Sakura Bouquet Necklace, one for each season! I played with the arrangements of the individual flower charms for each piece, so each one is strung somewhat differently. Which one is your favorite?

Bronze and Copper for Fall

Purple and Silver for Winter

Pink for Spring

Dark Red for Summer

(though now that I think about it, the dark red colorway would work very well for winter too!)

There are a few seats left for this class at the BABE! Show next month, but online registration closes on Saturday! Please visit the BABE! website for more information.

Purple Sakura Charms and Possible Arrangements

I came up with a new colorway for the Sakura Bouquet Necklace, which I'm teaching at the BABE! Show this November.

Purple and Silver Sakura Charms

Four different shades of purple combine with silver to form this colorway. The four different beads used for the cherry blossom petals also have a variety of finishes, ranging from transparent, to luster, to the "magic" finish on the rizo beads.

It's still monochromatic, but it has more color variety compared to the original version.

Four Different Varieties of Sakura

The set features four different charms corresponding to four different varieties of sakura, and each is woven in a slightly different way.

Forty Sakura Charms

Each class kit will include the materials to make a total of 40 charms. This is actually more charms than I used in the original necklace, so students will be able to make about a dozen extra charms. Here's a complete set of all 40 of them:

Many Possible Arrangements

The great thing about these little flowers is that they're adaptable to so many different kinds of jewelry. They fit neatly into the concept of component design, which is where you weave several beaded components and then combine them together as you're designing the finished piece. While it won't be the focus of my class, it's a concept that advanced beaders may want to approach with these charms after taking the class.

I took a little time to explore this concept myself with this set. I've already turned two of them into a pair of earrings:

But a small handful of them could make a nice little pendant:

Repeating just two of the charms makes a simple, yet very pretty choker-length necklace:

While just under 20 of them could make a Y-shaped necklace:

Another idea is to take an asymmetric approach, and fill the other half of the necklace with a beaded rope or chain:

Finally, all 40 charms together would make a very nice necklace indeed:

Please visit the BABE! website for more information on this class, including how to register. One session is already sold out, so act soon to reserve your seat!

Scenes from Bead Fest Philly

I'm back at home and decompressing from a fun trip to Bead Fest Philly, and I thought I'd share a few of the pictures I managed to snag while I was there.

Susan took a few minutes between the Wildflower Fields class and the Tila Garden class to find some black tila and round seed beads on the show floor. She combined them with the beads from the Rizo Flowers kit to create this striking version of the Tila Garden Pendant:

I had a nice classroom space for this class, with a whiteboard and everything! I used it to point out some helpful tips for this project:

Several students finished one piece or another of the Sparkling Compass Set in class! Here's a completed bracelet in the Golden Denim colorway:

And the earrings in the Jet Cosmos colorway:

I managed to do a bit of shopping on the show floor too. I picked up some buttons and Czech glass beads from Nirvana Beads, filigree from Kabela Design, Swarovski flat backs and Miyuki long drops from Beyond Beadery, and a Crystal Katana from the Ninja herself!

I'm looking forward to playing with these new components this week. Next up on my schedule is a class on the Cosmic Nocturne Pendant at the Beading Bar this weekend in San Diego, followed by preparation for my classes at the BABE! show in November. If you're interested in any of my BABE! classes, be sure to register soon, as some are close to selling out!

Sakura Bouquet Necklace

Continuing the theme of workshop beading projects, I have another new workshop to write about today, the Sakura Bouquet Necklace.

Revisiting the Sakura Charm

I first designed the Sakura Charm back in the Spring of 2011. This petite charm combines lentil beads with tiny seed beads for cute little cherry blossom flowers, and you can use them in several different kinds of jewelry projects.

When I was asked to teach this project, I thought about all the different kinds of beads that have been developed in the past few years since I first came up with this design. Many of these new beads can act as different kinds of sakura petals, just as there are many different kinds of sakura blossoms. Did you know that there are over 200 varieties in Japan alone? These are just a few of them from my trip to Japan a little over a year ago:

(though I think one of those may be plum blossoms... Sometimes it's hard to tell!)

A Bouquet of Cherry Blossoms

With this idea in mind, I came up with several new ways to weave a Sakura Charm from different kinds of beads! This piece expands the original design into four different varieties of the cherry blossom flower, and collects them together into a cascading necklace bouquet. These blossoms are woven from lentils, petal beads, teardrop beads, and rizos, and each one has a slightly different thread path to make the most stable, self-supporting version of each flower. A net of bugle beads ties them together into the completed necklace.

Beading Class at BABE!

I'll be teaching this class at the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza! show this November. Classes are held from November 15-17 (Fri-Sun), while the exhibition hall is open on November 16 and 17. Since this class is available in two sessions (Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th), you can kickstart a fabulous weekend of beading with this class on Friday afternoon, saving plenty of time for shopping over the weekend. Or you can take this class on Saturday morning, but please note that the Saturday session is almost sold out, so book now if you're interested in this session.

Interestingly, my complete class lineup at BABE! this year follows a decidedly floral theme; I'll also be teaching the Tila Garden Pendant, a slightly streamlined version of the Raindrop Flower Necklace, and a slightly expanded version of the Tropical Dahlia Set. Please visit the BABE! website for more information on how to register!

What's your favorite kind of beaded blossom? Drop me a line in the comments!