Ultrasuede

Though I've had Ultrasuede for a long time in my Etsy bead shop, I have only now begun adding it to my regular website.  Sorry it took so long!  I really do love Ultrasuede to back a great many of my jewelry designs, so having a good stock of colors is essential.  The website currently has these colors:

Scoundrel Red

Black Onyx

Egyptian Green

There is currently a wider selection of colors on the PeacockBeadShop.Etsy.com, but rest assured that they will make their way over to the regular site in good time.

Teaching at Bead&Button 2017!!

I got my acceptance letter to teach next year at the Bead&Button Show, and I'm so excited!  All four of my proposed classes were accepted, and now the process begins!

Here are my offerings for 2017.  More details will come as they trickle in.

Applying for the Bead&Button Show Next Year

This week is the deadline to apply to teach at the Bead&Button Show in Milwaukee next year, and I've just finished sending in all of my proposals.  I had 4 proposals this year, and they are as follows:

Beetle Wing Broad Collar

Fantasy Peacock Feather Bracelet

Celestial Starburst Ring

Crystal Scarab Earrings

The selection process takes months, and I hope they choose me again.  

Wish me luck!

Megan

Jewel Beetle Necklace

When I had the idea for this broad collar, I'm not sure that I knew what I was getting into; I just wanted to use jewel beetle wings on a necklace!  There was a LOT of trial an error.  A LOT of drilling.  A LOT of breaking.  In the end, I am so very pleased with this necklace!

It features the Swarovski Crystal color Scarabaeus Green in several of it's forms, from rivolis to bicones, to a large center stone.  Notice how, in bicones and the large centerpiece, that there is a bit of bright purple in there with the green?  I love it!  I made this to wear during the week of Bead&Button 2016, and I thankfully got it done with a few weeks to spare.  Stop by my classroom on Sunday, June 5th (room 103C in the Wisconsin Center), or at my table at Meet the Teachers on Wednesday, June 8th to catch a glimpse of this beauty in person.

Bead and Button Adventure 2015

My show season was a whirlwind of making, and selling, and traveling, and barely sleeping.  It seems like I went from show to show without really acknowledging what was going on, and now the Bead&Button Show has come and gone, and I feel like I'm playing catch up!

At Bead&Button, I was set to take 3 classes. I planned on arriving on Wednesday, June 3rd, in the morning, and taking a little nap before attending the Meet the Teachers Reception that evening, then pouring myself into bed in an attempt to get up for Nefertiti's Jewels with Carol Cypher  early in the morning on Thursday.  Things did not go as planned.

After a security snafu, that subsequently caused me to miss my flight to Milwaukee, I spent several hours in the Denver airport until I was offered a trip to Las Vegas in the hopes of catching a flight from there to Milwaukee to arrive later in the evening.  I would still miss Meet the Teachers', but I would be there for my class. So, I went.  Long story short, the flight ended up overbooked, and I spent the night in the airport, catching what little sleep I could in an abandoned (for the evening) gate, with a guarantee of an early morning flight to Milwaukee.

I made it to Milwaukee around 11:30 am, missing my early morning class, but arriving in time to shower, take a nap, and be refreshed for the preview opening of the show floor that evening! Whew!

On Friday, I had two classes scheduled. First was a half day with Nikia Angel, and her Finger Crowns class, and next was and afternoon class with Laura Andrews' amazing Do You Dream in Crystal.  Both classes were fabulous and, if you haven't had a chance to take a class with either of these fine instructors, then you should do so at once!  I did get a chance to pick up my kit from Carol Cypher, so I do have that.

The Pictures below are of where I am now, or was when I left class. No, I haven't finished any of them yet, but I very much hope to.

This is the Catharine of Aragon Ring.  Part of the Finger Crowns, by Nikia Angel.  It features several vintage 1930's cabochons, which I love!

 

And this is the crystal wheel of the dreamcatcher, and the beaded bead cap for Do You Dream in Crystal designed by Laura Andrews.

Did anyone else make it to Bead&Button this year?

Happy National Craft Month!

March is National Craft Month and, so far, I have gotten little done in the way of creation, save an update to my website (details coming soon), a tiny bit of beadwork on the strap for my beaded bag, and planting Dandelions so that I can harvest their fluff for some upcoming projects. You probably think I'm crazy, but it had to be done! Here are my tiny sprouted Dandelions...aren't they cute? And a pic of where the strap is now.  What have you worked on, or are planning to work on for National Craft Month?

The Beaded Bag

For six years now (yes, six) I have been working on this beaded bag.  I started it in a very dark time in my life.  I had just been very unexpectedly laid off during a very low time in our economy and, although I had applied for many, many positions in the last month, I hadn't received so much as a call back, so I decided to start this large project right then.

As a free-form piece, it sometimes spoke to me for days, and I would work on it, and then there were months where I didn't touch it at all, and I seem to recall a time or two when I didn't even know where it was.  I know, it's shameful, but there it is.

I have at least 200 hours into it so far, and I may have another 200 to go for all I know.  Right now I'm concentrating on finishing up the back, bottom edge, now that it's on the form, and the sides,  which I won't be able to heavily bead, as they need to cave in for the purse to close.  Once those things are finished, I will give the two straps a thought.  There is a long, fixed strap , and a detachable handle as well.  We shall see when they speak to me ;)

In the meantime, here are some updated pictures of where it stands now.