Dragonflies, Ravens and Bees, Oh My!

Oh it's good to be back in the studio and playing at the torch once again! I'm starting to list new beads daily in the shop - some spirited ravens, sparkling dragonflies, chubby bumblebees and more surprises to come! Hope you'll drop in to take a peek!

Happy Beading everyone!

Collaboration is a great thing!

Well hello my beady friends! I know, I am a tardy and infrequent blogger (shame on me!) but I'm back on track and in the studio after a hectic year of bead shows and teaching engagements. All good stuff mind you!

Several months ago, I participated in a wonderful collaboration project called Convergence, that paired lampwork artists from the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (www.isgb.org) and jewelry designers from the Bead and Button readership around the globe. I was fortunate to be paired with the talented Melissa Cable who is the owner of Beadclub in Woodinville, Washington (www.beadclub.com) and the resulting creation has just been featured on page 16 in the newest special issue of Bead and Button magazine! This issue features 20 projects from the Convergence exhibit - if you haven't seen it yet better rush to get your copy! There are some amazing projects in there and they all look to be a lot of fun to create! So special thanks to Bead and Button magazine, the ISGB and my design partner, Melissa for making this wonderful project possible.

oh - and please check back tomorrow......I'm listing new beads in the store again! Yay!!

my Dragonfly Tutorial is done!!

Well, ok, so it's a wee bit later than I had anticipated...but it's finally done! This tutorial is almost twice as long than my Tapestry Scrollwork Tutorial and is full of step by step photos illustrating every detail on how I create my dragonfly beads. You can grab it now it my Etsy store!

I hope you enjoy it!!

A weekend away.....

OK, so it's been over a week since I went to Vancouver Island for the Kitty Coleman Show, but thought that I should show some pics of the fabulous place we stayed at! We stayed at the newly renovated Bayside Beach House and it was absolutely gorgeous. That made it feel more like a vacation than a working weekend!

The artisan show at the Kitty Coleman Gardens was fun although a steady weekend of rain kept many of the locals at bay. The hard core art enthusiasts were there though, no amount of rain could keep them away! Stephanie and I were fortunate to have a nice spot under a sheltered area so we kept dry and managed to have a great time despite the rain.

The beach house was truly a delight and here are some photos of it in the early morning light. Simply lovely.

Woodland Gardens Artisans Festival this weekend!

Hello my fellow bead enthusiasts! Well, you may be wondering why I dropped off the face of the earth this summer! I've been busy enjoying time with my two fabulous step-daughters and also working on some great new beads and jewelry too in preparation for the Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens Show on Vancouver Island this weekend! This is going to be a fun getaway with dear friends. My partner in crime, Stephanie Dieleman, will be sharing the booth and she has a fantastic assortment of her exquisite beach-themed jewelry! I'm very excited as a group of us are all renting a house on the beach and so I'm looking forward to some beachcombing and relaxing nights by the fire roasting marshmellows with our 4 teenage girls we are bringing along. I will be sure to post pictures of our last hurrah of summer when I return! :)

If you are on Vancouver Island this weekend and want to check out this wonderful artisan festival, you can check out their website for all the show info.....http://woodlandgardens.ca/calendar.html I have borrowed some images from their website to give you a glimpse of just how beautiful this garden setting is. I can't wait to shop with the other vendors as there will be paintings, pottery, weaving, carvings and of course - jewelry! It promises to be a fabulous show. :)

While I'm away I will have limited internet access so I may not be able to reply to emails or send out tutorials until I return on Tuesday, September 8th. Thanks for your patience and I hope to see you at the show! :)

What a summer!

Whew! What a crazy summer it's been so far! I've hardly had a moment to sit at the computer this past month as you can probably tell by my lack of blog posts! Stephanie and I were in Miami last week for the ISGB Gathering and Bead Bazaar - what a blast!! Before that we were in Tacoma for the Puget Sound Bead Festival. In between shows was the usual insane hours at the torch making beads with barely a breather in between!

Now that August is here (my long awaited month at home!) I can devote more time to getting back into a semblance of a routine and spend some time creating new work in the studio and catching up on all of my email correspondence. Time for a big studio clean as well....it always looks like a bomb went off in there during show season! My studio is my own little piece of heaven though I must say, and now that I have installed air conditioning (a must have for the insane heat wave we've been experiencing here in the Pacific Northwest!) I can comfortably catch up on torch time without suffering from heat exhaustion.

As for what's coming up next.....more shows! Yes, Stephanie and I have booked ourselves into the BeadFest Portland show in late September! We've never done this show before and are really looking forward to it. We also have a wonderful little art show on Vancouver Island coming up at the beginning of September at the Kitty Coleman Gardens - if you are in the area this summer please take a look at my "shows" page for more info!

I have some new beads listed in my Etsy store as well.....a few horse portraits and some cheeky crows! I'll be listing a dragonfly later today and more new beads throughout the week so stay tuned!

Well, time to head back out to the studio....as much as I love traveling it's good to be home and back at the torch. :)

Hope you all are having a great summer!!

Bead Trends Magazine Carnelian Honeybee Necklace!

If you haven't yet checked out Bead Trends Magazine, I recommend you take a peek! This delicious new bead magazine has the feel of a book but is available on a monthly basis and is full of fabulous jewelry designs! Last month (June's issue), featured my friend Stephanie Dieleman's starfish necklace on the cover (www.stephaniebeads.com) and this month's issue we both have projects inside! My project is the Carnelian Honeybee necklace on page 22 and 23. With the lazy hazy days of summer here, this is the perfect season to celebrate those adorable and hard working little bumbles that help nourish us and keep our gardens happy! I will be featuring new honeybee beads throughout the month and you can also order the focal featured in this project through my Etsy store.

Happy "Bee"ding!

Kerri :)