Summer classes on now!

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken." 

- James Dent

What a great way to spend a summer day - especially if we can bead too! 

The latter-June classes will keep your creative spirit busy. NEW on the schedule are two chainmaille projects from Marilyn Gardiner as well as an Intro to Geometric Beading by Pamela Kearns. Jennifer Rosen brings us a new wire-wrapped pendant - perfect for students who are ready to step-up their skills! Of course, we have many returning classes in all mediums with Angela, Iris, Cindy and Sureka and more.

Here are the classes scheduled for June 16 - 30:

Tuesday, June 16 
Adjustable Sliding Cords
Instructor: Angela Peace
12:30 - 3:30pm

Thursday, June 18
Open Metal Studio: Soldering
Facilitator: Iris Rogers Melamed
6:00 - 9:00pm







Saturday, June 20
NEW Cleopatra Reigns
Instructor: Marilyn Gardiner
9:30am - 12:30pm

Cold Connections Part 2: Tabs and Threaded Connections

Instructor: Iris Rogers Melamed

10:00am - 5:00pm

NEW Captive Round Bracelet or Necklace
Instructor: Marilyn Gardiner
1:30 - 4:30pm

Sunday, June 21
Metal Clay Finishing (Hadar's Clay, Part 2)
Instructor: Liz Reynolds
11:00am - 4:30pm

Double Sided Tennis Bracelet

Instructor: Sureka Sriharan

1:00 - 4:00pm

Wednesday, June 24
We're Making Bails
Instructor: Rae Huggins
12:30 - 3:30pm

Thursday, June 25
NEW Introduction to Geometric Peyote: The Triangle
Instructor: Pamela Kearns
5:00 - 9:00pm

 NEW Wire Wrapping: Lover's Embrace

Instructor: Jen Rosen

6:00 - 9:00pm

Friday, June 26
Open Metal Studio: Metalwork
Facilitator: Cindy Goldrick
5:00 - 8:00pm

Saturday, June 27
Wire Kumihimo Braided Bracelet
Instructor: Cindy Goldrick
10:00am - 1:00pm

Intro to Lampworking, Part B

Instructor: Amy Waldman-Smith

10:00am - 2:30pm

Cellini Spiral Bracelet
Instructor: Bonni Poch
11:00am - 2:00pm

French Knitting with Wire and Beads

Instructor: Cindy Goldrick

2:00 - 5:00pm

Hot Connections 1: Intro to Soldering
Instructor: Iris Rogers Melamed
12:00 - 4:30pm

Complete information about each class, including course description and applicable class and kit fees, can be found on our website. Click on 'Classes' and follow the links to the June class calendar and individual classes.

Bring your projects and join us at our FREE open bead opportunities:

Wednesday, June 24
Open Bead Night
Facilitator: BeadFX staff members Bonnie Cottingham, Pamela Kearns or Malliga Nathan
6:00 - 8:00pm

Thursday, June 18

Thursday, June 25

Afternoon Bead Tea

Facilitator: Pamela Kearns

1:00 - 3:00pm

BeadFX is proud to offer these FREE sessions. In return we ask that you use our merchandise in our facility. Thank you.

Back from Bead and Button

A week ago today I was enjoying a trolley ride to Milwaukee's wonderful bead store called Eclectica. Based in a suburb of the city, the store is actually three connected storefronts that hold an amazing treasure trove of goodies. 

 

I'll blog about some of the interesting things I saw and classes I took over the next few weeks. If you were there too, please feel free to share your impressions/photos in the comments section. 

I fell in love with this red dragon scale bustier that was an entry in the Bead Dreams competition. I know it would never fit me but I would love to know how it feels. There were a lot of purses entered in the competition and I will post that series of photos later. 

It felt like there were fewer attendees, classes seemed a bit smaller and there were definitely fewer vendors - at least six that I usually visit and buy from and was disappointed not to see. Meet the Teachers was busy but not as crazed as in years past. 

The class I took with Mary Hettmansperger was full. An all-day class on colouring metal and creating one of a kind pendants featuring portholes and hinges, it was an amazing opportunity to learn from an inspired artisan who inspired me to new creative challenges. More on that class later, but here's a picture of the group at work. Mary is in the black shirt and white apron.

Here's one of my completed projects from Mary's class. She complimented me on my design, which is a focus on circles, from the patina on the copper to the dented texture to the portholes. I love it!

I learned how mokume gane is created and made a lovely leaf pendant. After I finish shaping it and polishing it, I'll post a picture. I also built a beautiful spinner ring. 

The rest of my classes were spent learning the tricky technique of enamelling by immersing your metal in flame and how to create a raku effect on metal using enamels. I'm creating original projects featuring these techniques to bring my knowledge to students in Toronto. Here's a picture of my enamelled raku copper. I adore this technique and you never know what will come out of that smoking can!

Well it's time for me to unpack the goodies I picked up while shopping and get to work on samples. 

InspirationFX: Infinitely Pink

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InspirationFX

Get your creative juices flowing

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Infinitely Pink

by: Pam Kearns

The two-hole beads just keep on coming! I was asked to see how the Infinity Beads worked -- and they are simply great to work with! If you haven't seen them, they are constructed just like two size 11 seed beads sitting side by side - sort of like a peanut shape. The beads are a little thicker than typical size 11 seed beads and have the little indentation between 'two' beads. I found the sizing and shaping of the seed beads very consistent and didn't need to set any to the side that couldn't be used.

In this sample, I used tubular herringbone to create a reversible band (the pastel bordeaux on one side; the chalk lilac luster on the other side). The band remained quite supple. I added a ring of the Dark blue Lined Violet AB seed beads at each end to attach the clasp to and finished off the threads. At that point I thought,"Okay it looks fine, but it is missing something." The edge of the band was quite wide and it needed to be visually 'softened.'

I attached another length of fireline to one end of one edge of the band and started experimenting. I ended up adding beads with a variation of brick stitch and stacking the infinity beads so they lay at an angle. I stitched up through the first side infinity bead, picked up a silver-lined crystal size 11/0 seed bead and went back down through the infinity bead, caught the thread in the band and stitched up through the second hole of that same infinity bead, added another infinity bead, the seed bead and back down both infinity beads. I moved along the band in this manner to the end, wove in my thread and trimmed. I repeated the steps to do the other edge of the band.

The result is a very supple bracelet with a nice side profile that, while substantial, is very feminine.

Of course you can use the same colour of seed beads throughout the project, but since I hadn't planned it all in advance, I didn't have enough of the purple-y seed beads to finish the edges. Such is the fun of experimenting!

The clasp is attached with jumprings through the loop of beads at each end.

Components

Go to our components list for this project and to buy what you need!
Need some help with some of the techniques? Check our tips page.

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Donut Mixes and Miyuki 6/0s This Week at BeadFX

I was on the Shores of Sri Lanka - eating a bowl of Berries on a Cloud, watching the Sparkling Waves roll up the beach, washing away the Sands of Time.

It wasn't that long ago, I had been contemplating a San Diego Fog, a symphony in greys that was not as harmonious as a Spring Melody. To heck with it all - I said - I want a new life, with Exotic Spices and Wild Fruite. A Turkish Bazaar, perhaps. A new life - filled with donuts. Lots, and lots of 3 x 5 mm donuts. Which is what we have - handmade donut mixes, custom crafted by our own mixologist - ten new, exclusive, sparkling and delicious mixes that are absolutely Mermalicious! These are inspiration in a tube! Great for projects that need variety! See them all here!





And, with the roll-out last week of the Miyuki 8/0s and the 15/0s the previous week - this week, it's the size 6/0s. Good thing that trend stops here - otherwise, by August, we'd be rolling out truck tires!


72 new colours of Miyuki 6/0s for you to add to your design palette!
And a trio of magazines - if you looking further for inspirations, techniques, and ideas!

Congratulations to instructor Christine Woollacott

I love sharing great news! Christine Woollacott, who has taught both Champlevé and Cloisonné at BeadFX, e-mailed me to say that one of her cloisonné pieces won Grand Prize Silver Medal in the Fire Mountain Gems Metals Contest!

According to Christine, "In the Rushes necklace was inspired by a summer afternoon I spent kayaking along the Humber River in Toronto. There was so many things to see hiding in the rushes. I wanted to capture the sense of life I found, and create a necklace with many stories to tell. The champlevé frog on the necklace clasp is hiding from the cloisonné heron center-piece. The blackbird perching on the cat-tail rushes on the back of the pendant is calling out a warning. The blue boulder-opal doublet on the bail of the pendant represents the river, and the rough granulated setting imitates the shore-line.

"The pendant was constructed from metal clay, and the setting for the enamel center piece was made from fine silver bezel wire. The chain was created using the Viking-knit method, and finished with hand-made metal clay end-caps. The champlevé and cloisonné enamel pieces were created using a variety of transparent Thompson enamel colours."

Congratulations, Christine; we are so proud of you! To see the other winners of the Fire Mountain contest, go to: http://www.firemountaingems.com/beadingcontests/bc2015metalwinners

Upcoming classes with Christine Woollacott:

Twisted Wire Mokume Gane Ring

Saturday, July 18

10:00am - 2:00pm

 

Champlevé Enamel on Art Clay Silver

Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18

10:00am - 5:00pm both days