Ah, New York, New York!

I love New York. Almost as much as I love beads. I love New York, even when it has been raining for the past 20 days straight and everyone, even the pretzel seller on the corner, is grumpy.

And what better excuse for a weekend run to the Big Apple than a bead show? This past weekend was the occasion of the Bead Society of Greater New York's 20th Anniversary Retrospective. Held at their usual meeting place, the Fashion Institute of Technology, this was a large juried competition and exhibit.

In addition to the current entrants, there were several large cases of items which had won previous years' competitions. It was fascinating to see several works of a particular artist and see her evolution of style over the years.

The winner of this year's competition was a large bead embroidered bag by Yoshie Marubashi, entitled, "I Ate A Slice". Actually, I didn't realize what the bag was until I read the title. It was a super-large sized pizza! The material was red and pale yellow and the surface was embroidered with beaded onions, pepperoni peppers and all the other accoutrements of a well-dressed pizza.

Another necklace that caught my eye was a simple but elegant aqua-blue necklace. The major pieces of the necklace were 11 transparent plastic shoe horns. Another necklace was composed entirely of beaded toggles, each one different and a little work of art in themselves.

As I wandered from case to case, I noticed that several of the BS members were wearing jewellery with a common theme. It turns out that artist Larry Vrba had smashed a set of dishes with a pale blue-and-white pattern, given each member a piece and challenged them to come up with something that included that piece.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take pictures, but you can see some of the pieces at their website:
http://www.nybead.org/wobviii/

Eye Candy - Mathon

Another French jeweler - Mathon - with all the pretty eye candy for you - my little cabbage. Is this ring not yummy? Are the collection not tres magnifique? Are not the historical drawings delightful?

In fact, only the annoying, tinkly music that resets every time you load a page - is truly out of place. In all my years on the interwebs - only 2 sites have impressed me with sound so well integrated that it significantly enhanced the site. That's something like 2 sites in 15 years.

Gotta love that opal ring though! Scrumptious!

Sneak Peek at Next Week

Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new stone of the month,
new stone of the month - that's what they saaa-ay.
I, myself don't talk about the new stone of the month - A new stone of the month has come my way.

And I can feel a new design coming on.
And I don't know why it takes so looo-ong.
Everybody talks about a new stone of the month - new stone of the month with colours strong.



With apologies to Roger Whittaker. ;-)

Happy Friday

Farewell for a week. I'm off to take my kidlets on their very first camping trip. We're heading up to Sandbanks Provincial Park. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a camping wimp - or too much of a city girl to really enjoy it. But, what kid shouldn't experience the joy (horrors) of camping? Sandbanks was my choice of course, as it's the only camp ground that I know of where there are no bears. Other creatures I can handle - snakes, spiders, raccoons, skunks - no problem. Just no bears!

Today also marks the last day of school for my kids - yikes!

Enjoy your weekend - I'll be back late next week.

A birds eye view

Into the bead and button show....

Marg sent an email this morning to our internal email list letting us know that Sara (aka softflexgirl) had just posted a bunch of videos on her Youtube page. Sara will be posting videos regularly on the use of softflex products. If you want inspiration, here's another place to look!



As I'm sure you know it's easy to get sucked into Youtube - as I was watching the softflex videos, I discovered a couple of bead and button video's. I've embedded two of them here - then head on over to youtube - there are a few more.

Summer Plans and projects

I like summer projects - every summer I seem to get a little overly ambitious and plan these huge grand schemes. Unfortunately, I then find that somehow life gets in the way, and I don't have time to complete them. The first project was of course my garden a few years back. We had just moved into a new house, and the previous owners had only planted a few bushes. This needed fixing - immediately. So, instead of working around the bushes, and making the garden just a wee bit bigger - I dig out the whole front yard, and planned this english cottage garden. My house is not huge, and the front yard is also not that big - but... it is long, as I've got a corner lot.

The amount of work just removing all the sod, and replacing the soil took most of the first year. I can assure you, my neighbors were thrilled. They got to look at a mud pile for a year :-)

Year two was of course spent attempting to fill this massive garden with flowers. One thing I neglected to plan, was of course how much it would cost to plant this massive garden. Let's just say this is now the third year since I started planting, and I've still got a few bare spots...well, they're bare when I manage to control the weeds.

I have learned my lesson (well sorta - well see) ;-)

This year, I've decided to make my summer project a little more manageable. I want to focus my time on learning how to work with the new metal clay's - particularly copper, and bronze. I'm excited, and a little bit hopeful. With the cost of the silver clay sky rocketing, being able to combine the two or three clays will make for a more affoardable and unique product.

Over the course of the summer, I'll post about my experiments with the clay, and any tips, ideas, and failures along with it.

What are your summer plans? Any major projects? I'm curious to know that I'm not the only one who makes overly ambitious plans!

Speaking of ambitious plans - as if I don't have enough to do. I started another blog - more general crafting, and the main purpose is to be a repository of sorts for my etsy addiction - if I post pictures of what I like, I can enjoy looking at them - as of course, I can't actually buy them all!, and links to craft tutorials that I can do with my kids. I'm hoping to update it daily....well that's the plan anyway ;-)

Oh my goodness - Handmade Spaces

I just took a quick peek again at the Modishblog - There is an occasional/weekly feature called Handmade Spaces. Inspired to set up your own private crafting sanctuary? You've got to check this out. If you're at work - I suggest you wait until you get home. Lot's of reading and eye candy - a few hours worth in fact!

http://www.modishblog.com/modish/handmade_spaces/

This Week at Beadfx....

I am a bit behind today, so this is going up a bit late. As many of you may know we have quite a few different instructors here at Beadfx. And I know that we always mention the instructor by name, but we do not always talk about who they really are. So, I will be including a brief bio on a different instructor each week in my blog in the coming weeks.

This week we will be featuring Stephanie Dixon. Stephanie has been a "hooker" since the age of 9. Originally from Montreal, she learned to crochet in grade 4 and was hooked. Stephanie started her business Dixon Chicks to showcase her crochet work. Her interest in beads took root while exploring her Aunt Penny's jewellery box and craft room while on her annual vacation to the Adirondacks of New York State. Stephanie says, "I have always loved the connectedness of all arts and crafts and how they intersect, how we can grow as artists by dabbling in other mediums. I also love the interplay of colour and beading allows me to have adventures with colour, size and texture combinations". Stephanie is a proud member of the Toronto Bead Society and the Toronto Crochet Guild (aka Toronto Hook-ups). In recognition of her volunteerism, she was recently appointed a Fellow of McLaughlin College at York University.

Stephanie has two classes coming next weekend. Saturday June 20th from 2-5pm is the Wire Crochet Cuff Bracelet. This is an intermediate level class, the Wire Bead Crochet Basics course is recommended.



If you are looking for the Wire Bead Crochet Basics course you are in luck, Stephanie is offering it on Sunday June 21st from 1-4pm.



Stephanie has a lot of classes coming this summer so stay tuned for details!

Catherine Winter's How to Price Your Jewelry: Starting a Microbusiness is coming up on Saturday June 20th from 10-1:15pm.



Wednesday June 24th from 4-8pm is An Introduction to Lampworking with Dwyn Tomlinson.



Thursday June 25th is How to Have a Successful Craft Show with Catherine Winter from 6-9:15pm.



Charmed I'm Sure with Heather Bell-Denison is on Saturday June 27th from 10-5pm. This is an Introductory class.



Saturday and Sunday June 27th and 28th Amy Waldman-Smith has a two day Glass Bead Making weekend. This class is just about full, only one spot remaining!



Also a reminder for all of those who are interested in the Level One Art Clay Silver Certification class, I know the details are not on the site yet, but they should be by late next week. Just in case here they are again--
The course runs from Friday July 3rd to Monday July 6th. Friday to Sunday is 10-5pm and Monday runs from 10-1pm. Cost is $890.00 and fees include the kit. Interested students can call the store and register at anytime.

Happy Hour Torching is continues this week. Thursday from 5-9pm, buy one hour get one free! Dwyn will be in around 7ish for advice or questions. Call the store to reserve your torch.

Please keep checking the website for our summer schedule. It should be up over the next couple of weeks!!

Happy Beading

Blogging tips

Twitter is useful sometimes. I just got a tweet about an indie biz chat on Etsy in the virtual Labs. Jena from modish will be speaking about how to get your blog noticed in the blogosphere. Tips from a pro!


The chat starts at 3pm EST on the Etsy Labs

Yeesh

You know someone is having a bad day when you walk up them and they are on the cell phone saying:

... the police are on their way honey, so just lock yourself in the house and let the firemen deal with it.

All of these snippets are taken from the last 3 days in my life. It's been a lively weekend. :-P Hence the late post.

• ... what is our protocol for raccoons?
• ... omigawd - how long has her leg been like that?
• ... Listen - you don't have it so bad. The guy who is threatening to commit suicide has now locked himself in the bathroom.
• ... the building inspector says it isn't up to code.
  
• ... I want a maaaaap.
• ... where the heck are you taking me?
• ... did you leave the gate open?
• ... tell me you parked the tractor in the garage!
• ... You should have come in when this happened.
• ... and the "check engine" light came on again right away.
  

Feel free to add your own cryptic phrases in the comments and repeat after me "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." ;-)

Misheard Lyrics

In case you have been living under an internet rock, and haven't heard of this site you should check out the official repository of misheard song lyrics - kissthisguy.com. It's named for a classic misheard lyric - from Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze:"

Misheard Lyric: Excuse me while I kiss this guy
Real Lyric: Excuse me while I kiss the sky

From rock to national anthems - as in

Oh Canada, we stand on cars and freeze...

which strikes me as frightening close to the truth - this site is hilarious. Probably a good call to look up a couple of those songs you're fond of singing in the car - just in case you've been belting out the wrong words. ;-)

Wow, Brain freeze

Dwyn and I have officially lost it ;-) Well, I guess I really should speak for myself. Thursday, and Friday are my days to post the blog. Saturday is Dwyn's.

Dwyn called me this morning from out and about somewhere to ask me to post something on the blog, as she had forgotten to queue something up today. As soon as she said 'blog', I froze, and realized that I had missed two days of posts! So I blubbered my apologies, and am now sitting down at the computer. Do I have anything beady to talk about? Not really ;-) I'm about to head out with the kids and the dog to go on a nice long walk, and a picnic. A day away from broken computers will be good for me. My laptop is out for repair, my main computer decided to stop working once the mother board blew out. Technology is not being kind to me lately.

So, I'm off to have a computer free weekend as much as possible. I hope you all enjoy your weekends - have fun outside, pack a lunch and your beads, and have a bead picnic!

Next weeks sneak peek - lots of sterling clasps!

Pearls, pearls, and more pearls

Just a little teaser for tonights update. If you like pearls, you've got to check out the email update that will go out at midnight tonight. Wow! And such pretty colours too. - you'll just have to wait ;-)

Not on our email list? You can join here!

Art Clay Certification Classes are coming to Beadfx!

For all of those die hard Art Clayers, we have exciting news--Heather Bell-Denison will now be offering Level One Art Clay Silver Certification courses! This class will include the completion of 9 specific projects that will cover a variety of techniques and types of Art clay. Projects include making flat and round shank rings, use of syringe clay, creating a mirror finish, a brooch, pendants and much more. Upon successful completion of the certification students will be entitled to a 35% discount on Art Clay Silver. This is a specialized course for people interested in learning and demonstrating proficiency in the use of Art Clay Silver.



We are still updating our computer systems so the information has not been put up on the site yet, BUT you can register. This is a four day class, class dates are Friday July 3rd to Monday July 6th. Classes will run from 10-5pm from Friday to Sunday and 10-1pm on the Monday. The fee is $890.00, this includes the four class days and the kit fees.

Those wanting to register should call the store to do so. There are only 5 spaces available so I would not delay if you are interested.

If you are looking for something else we have tons of great stuff going on over the next couple of weeks. Thursday June 11 we have Rosemary's Celtic Star Pendant.



Saturday June 13 and Sunday June 14th Amy Waldman-Smith is offering a 2 day Introduction to Glass Bead Making.



Saturday June 13th from 10-1pm is Robert Burton's Silver Braided Bracelet class.



Stephanie Dixon is also here on Saturday June 13th from 2-5pm with her Wire Bead Crochet Mulistrand Necklace course.



Sunday June 14th is Ring Day--we have Stephanie Dixon's Bling Ring from 11-1pm



And then we have Robert Burton's Wire Wrapped Gem Stone Ring and Pendant class from 1:30-4:30pm.



New Catherine Winter class just posted on June 20th from 10-1pm, How to Price your Jewelry: Starting a Microbusiness. This is a really informative class that will help you get ready to start your own business.




Don't forget we have Happy Hour Torching from 5pm-9pm, buy one hour get one free. Dwyn will be in around 7:00, remember to call and reserve your torch.

Happy Beading!
Just posted is a

Glossary - Advanced Bead Shapes

Last Monday - I reviewed some basic bead shapes - shapes that are essentially round, oval or rectangular, and their various names.

Today - let's tackle the more, for what of a better term, "exotic" shapes. ;-)

In defiance of all logic, "pear" shape is rounded at one end, and pointed at the other - much like a raindrop or tear drop. This, came, I think, from the same shape in gems. A pear can be flat or 3-D. And sometimes you will see it referred to as a pear drop - to emphasis that is droplet shape.










When we want to talk about the holes that have been put into a bead to string them on - we talk about how they are drilled. Top-drilled means that the hole is near one end of the bead - the end that will be the top once it is strung. So it is fair to say that most "pear" shapes are top-drilled. That hole may run from one side of the bead to the other, or from the front to the back. Occasionally - they will be "vertically" drilled - with the hole running the length of the longest axis.



One might have expected a pear to be shaped, well, more like a pear, which is to say - more rounded on the top. But then, we used to carry these "Butlet Pears." Which I thought were fairly hideous. Butlet wasn't actually a typo. :-P





A Briolette - is also a pear shape - but tends to refer to crystal beads, and is always faceted. This too - harks to its roots as a gem-stone-cut name.


Drop beads - beads shaped like drops of water - are a large category, and are great for texture - although tricky to calculate in advance how many you need. When you string them side by side, they snuggle together and create a great look, usually quite organic.

They also look elegant on their own, and so can used alone for earrings, etc. Plenty of other styles of beads are designed to hang down, so the term "drop" also gets used to indicate a bead that is designed to hang - as opposed to being oriented horizontally.

These beads also look great in any fringe-y application, such as those little amulet bags, or a purse or jacket.

Daggers are their own category of "drop." These flat-bladed drops can be scary spiky if used all together in bunches (although they do not feel sharp - they may look uncomfortable, but they aren't!)








We also have a line of beads known as "Tiny Tims" - cute little drop shaped beads. When they arrived in a larger size, I felt we had no choice but to call them "Monster Tims." ;-)








Baroque refers to an irregular, lumpy shape.









Nuggets are also fairly hard to define, irregular shapes (faceted or smooth). Chips usually reserved for stone beads are smaller and flatter. As we got into more shapes of stone beads, Nuggets morphed in to pebbles, chunks, boulders, and the like to indicate differences in size and cragginess.













A Lantern is a faceted bead with the ends coloured and textured differently, usually metallic. I've also seen these referred to as "Cathedral" cut.



Window beads are a technique, as opposed to a shape. Window beads are made with a core colour, with a different outer layer encased over the entire bead, which is ground and polished away in some places. It refers to there being a "window" cut into the bead.






Hearts are, well - heart-shaped - although there are a lot of liberties taken with the double-curved-top, pointed-bottom shape. Some "hearts" are only in the ballpark of heart-iness - so to speak.





Swarovski, of course, names it's own shapes, some of them with non-obvious names, such as Polygon, Graphic, and Cosmic.











By the same token, we invent our own names to describe shapes - trying to be as descriptive and evocative as possible. Hence these mostly long gone: Squooshagons, Spheroids, Lumpies, Squashies, Squops, and other ill-defined shapes.


















Oh, and wave nuggets - at least we still have those!

Ack - It's Sunday!

Ack! Ack! Guess who forgot it was Sunday? Blog post. Ack!

A friend just emailed me and asked "Is it a rule that there is always something to buy to finish a project."

Speaking with my bead store hat on - I would have to say, "Why, yes - there's a law - there is always something that you need to buy to finish every project."

But - I had a fellow designer tell me - many years ago - "When you are putting something together, and you find yourself saying 'I need ...' - you should stop and think about if you really need it. Odds are, you can come up with a substitute."

Course - that's easy for me to say - as I have a serious stash of beads, findings, etc. But still - it bears thinking about. Maybe there is another way to get the effect you want - without buying anything else. Maybe.

or Maybe Not. ;-)

Maybe the fun is in the shopping, and the finished jewelry is just icing on the cake. ;-)

Castle Cake

We decided to make Maya a castle cake - after watching how easy it was via a video on the Betty Crocker website. I'd post the link directly, but the website appears to be down right now.

Maya and Isla 'helped' decorate, so it's not quite as neat as it could have been...but wow - I would have loved a cake like this as a little girl!

Sneak Peek at Next Week

Pearls - the birthstone for June is pearls - and we have buckets of them! Coin, stick, bullet, potato. Tiny to humongous. Natural-looking colour to lurid. Smooth to textured. Pearls.

Recession? What Recession?

There may be a recession going on, but you'd never know it from looking at the crowds of (mostly) women wearily but happily dragging bundle buggies and rolling suitcases full of beads out of the annual Bead & Button market hall after a day of power shopping. The number of attendees this year may be down slightly overall, but those of us who attended made up for it.

There's still 2 days of shopping left at B&B, but already a few vendors are looking at empty hooks, wishing they had brought more stock.

I spent over 10 hours on my feet today, trolling the aisles haggling with vendors, looking for new stuff, and looking at what other retailers are selling, trying to find the next "hot" thing in the marketplace. I've restocked the store on sterling, especially clasps, new stones and found some new goodies as well. Look for at least one major new product launch at BeadFX in the coming months, as well as lots of new items to expand and upgrade our existing lines.

I also had meetings with several manufacturers in the past couple of days to order new products. There's over 50 new colours of delicas en route to the store.

Tomorrow, I'm taking a class with Judy Walker. More on that and the other courses I took here in another post.

Fish tank - sans fish

Last night the fish tank was finally assembled. We've got the lights, water, and plants in. Maya and Isla decorated the tank. We've lost Ariel somewhere - she now lives in one of their toy boxes ;-)

Next week, once the tank acclimates we'll get the fish.

Here's a pic of Isla who is permanently planted in front of the empty tank :-) - and yes, we forgot to put on the backdrop...