Online Class Registration Ends Tomorrow for the BABE! Bead Show!

Online registration for the BABE! bead show ends tomorrow. You can still register for classes on-site, but many classes are close to selling out, so online registration is the best way to reserve your spot in your favorite class. Here are the four classes that I'll be teaching:

Tila Garden Pendant, Saturday, November 3, 9AM-1PM

Ice Queen Necklace, Saturday, November 3, 2PM-6PM

Rivoli Kaleidoscope Pendant, Sunday, November 4, 9AM-1PM

Cubed Tilas Necklace, Sunday, November 4, 2PM-6PM

Click here for additional information about the BABE! bead show.

Beadwork's Beaded Bead Contest

Today's the day to enter Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest! While I can't enter, I wove at least one of each of these beautiful beaded beads, and I blogged about all of them here, here, here, here, and here. Here are just a couple of them:

Entries will be accepted at this link between now and 4 PM MDT on Friday, October 26. Online voting will take place between October 26 and November 5. Best of luck to everyone!

New Tila Garden Pendant for BABE! Show

The online registration deadline for the BABE! Show ends a week from tomorrow! Have you registered for your classes yet?

I worked up an additional colorway for the Tila Garden Pendant as a kit option especially for this show. I like how it gives this pendant the aura of a classic garden with a white picket fence:

I tried this colorway a few times before and I wasn't as happy with the results. My first version used a clear core bead which detracts from the drop beads:

My next version used nearly-lime peanut beads, but color-lined clear drop seed beads. The drop seed beads in this version don't have enough color to compete with the peanut beads.

My latest version ditches the clear color-lined drop beads, and uses a more subtle shade of peanut bead. It would probably work well with the lime peanuts too.

You can find more information about the BABE! Show here, including information about class registration and a list of over 150 vendors who will be exhibiting at the show. You can still register for classes on-site, but many classes are close to selling out, so register online before October 27 to reserve your spot in your favorite class.

Next week is also the week to enter Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest! I can't enter, but since I love beaded beads so much, I wove a matching set of each of the five beaded beads in this series. I blogged about all of them here, here, here, here, and here.

Peanut Gallery Berry Necklace

You know how I love to match beaded beads to lampwork beads? Well a few years ago while shopping at a BABE! Show I fell in love with a set of seven gorgeous handmade lampwork beads in delicious berry colors of purples and pinks. They were created by Toni Lutman of Wild Woods Arts Glass, and these particular beads only scratch the surface of her impressive talent with glass.

It was tricky to create beaded beads in the right shade to match them, but I settled on a set of Peanut Gallery beaded beads with bright purple seed beads, salmon peanut beads, and a luminous blue-teal shade of drop bead. They don't have quite as much purple as I'd usually prefer, but they still match the berry tones of the lampwork beads.

I finished this piece with additional dark purple Czech glass fire polish beads and Japanese seed beads. Usually I'd consider listing a piece like this in my Etsy shop, but this time I'm keeping this one for myself :). If you'd like to make your own Peanut Gallery beaded beads, please visit my website for the pattern.

Bead Society Meeting Tomorrow Night

I'm busy putting the finishing touches on my talk for the Bead Society of Northern California's meeting tomorrow night. The talk is currently at 65 slides full of beaded bead eye candy. I hope it's not too long, but several talented bead artists graciously consented to letting me use images of their work in my talk, and I just found so many gorgeous beaded beads to talk about. I've organized the talk by the different polyhedra that are common in geometric beaded beads, and I'll show several examples of each one. 

Some of them are a little difficult to classify though, like this Circle Starburst beaded bead. Is it a dodecahedron, or an icosahedron? Or perhaps it's a little of both? What do you think?

I'm also bringing class samples for my classes at the BABE! Show at the beginning of next month. BABE! was one of the first bead shows that I attended when I started beadweaving nearly six years ago, so I'm really excited about the chance to teach there. 

The meeting is tomorrow night, October 16 at 7:30 PM, following a social half-hour of coffee and tea starting at 7:00 PM. BSNC meetings take place at the Courtyard Marriott in Emeryville, just over the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, and are free for members ($5 for nonmembers). The Bead Society of Northern California meets on the third Tuesday of every month (except for December). More information about membership and events can be found on their website.

New Pattern: Peanut Gallery Beaded Bead

My newest beaded bead pattern, the Peanut Gallery beaded bead, is now available at Bead Origami.com

I designed this all-seed bead beaded bead nearly two years ago to feature the unique shape of the peanut seed bead. At the time, I wove five of them for Marcie's Margie and Me color challenge, and featured them in this mosaic-inspired bracelet:

Since creating this bracelet, I experimented with adding drop-shaped seed beads to this beaded bead, which results in a different overall effect:

This beaded bead can be woven with drops, magatamas, or round seed beads on each of its faces, and I address these variations in the pattern. I think that round seed beads showcase the peanut beads the best, but I just love the tactile combination of peanuts and drops.

This beaded bead has no round core bead yet it is still extremely sturdy. The seed beads on the inside of the structure usually remain hidden once the beaded bead is complete. But depending on the choice of colors used, they sometimes peak out from behind the peanut beads.

The Peanut Gallery beaded bead is available exclusively at beadorigami.com. What's your favorite shaped seed bead?

Beaded Beads and Lampwork Beads, Finale!

I completed my necklace featuring Venetian glass beads and beaded beads!

I strung the original two Venetian beads, additional Venetian glass beads, and the seven beaded beads all in between size 6° seed beads, 11° seed beads, and 7 by 4 mm Czech fire polish roundelles. I debated whether to add additional Czech glass beads to this piece, but I wanted to prominently feature the Venetian beads and beaded beads, so I stuck with using the other beads as accents. A vermeil clasp finishes the necklace.

You can see the evolution of this piece in the other blog posts in this series here, here, and here.