Home from Hamburg!

Do you remember me telling you that I was going to Germany to teach my Popper Flower project?  Well, after over a year of planning and preparation it is all over but what a fantastic time we all had!  Teachers and exhibitors travelled from all over the world to attend the Bead Art Fair in Hamburg and although now it seems to have gone in the blink of an eye, when I close my eyes I can see a slideshow of beaming beader's faces, breathtaking beadwork and an incredible array of unusual beads and supplies for sale.

My two classes went very well and although everyone knew at the outset that the project would not be finished in class, everyone went away with a couple of perfect leaves and petals, confident in the knowledge that they would be able to finish their Popper Flowers at home.  I am ashamed to admit that I do not speak German (although I did manage to do a little bit of counting in German in class!) but I had two wonderful translators working with me and helping me whenever there was a problem - thank you Nicole and Barbara!

When I wasn't teaching, I was either at my stand or else I left it in the capable hands of my husband Simon while I wandered around the hall putting faces to names and chatting with old friends (such as the beautiful and talented Olga Vinnere Pettersson) and meeting new ones.

And even when the fair was over, the lessons didn't stop! The next picture shows my good friend Zoya Gutina showing myself and Anja Schlotmann how to add Soutache to beadwork, after breakfast at our hotel.

The evenings meant even more socializing and it was wonderful to be welcomed into the 'family' of people who regularly travel all over the world attending bead shows.  Everyone was so friendly and it was great to be able to soak up the atmosphere and learn from their experiences.

We stayed on for an extra day so that we could explore a little of Hamburg and we spent the afternoon sitting in the sunshine at a riverside cafe, drinking tea and eating Apfelkuchen and reflecting on what an amazing experience this turned out to be.

If you ever get the opportunity to attend the Bead Art Fair in Hamburg, my advice would be to grab it with both hands!

Popper Flowers!

It sort of feels like I blinked and missed the last year, because one minute the Bead Art Fair in Hamburg was a whole year away with plenty of time to prepare for my workshops and now it is only 10 weeks away!  So it's time for me to get busy busy and write the instructions for my classes, draw diagrams, take pictures, bead samples, send out invoices, make kits and so on and so on - have you any idea just how much work goes into preparing to teach a 3 hour beadwork class?  I know I didn't have a clue until I stumbled into this game and became caught up in the whirl of it all.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm really looking forward to my trip to Germany and mingling at the fair and meeting my students and the other teachers who are travelling from far and wide to attend what promises to be a huge and exciting event.

The fair is on the 20th and 21st of August and there are still a few places available on my Popper Flower workshops so if you would like to attend one of my classes, complete this on-line form You can read more about the project on this earlier blog entry.

Popper Flowers.  Pop a flower on.  Pop a flower off.  Change them to suit your mood!

Popper Flowers Workshop in Hamburg!

Well this has been a long time in the planning stages, but I am finally able to tell you that earlier this year, I had the honour of being invited to teach at the first Bead Art Fair in Hamburg (Germany) in 2011 - and of course I said 'Yes please!' to that fantastic offer.  Since then, all of the teachers have been busy preparing their workshop projects and the classes have now been announced and are available for you to book.  The fair is on the 20th and 21st of August 2011 and promises to be a huge and exciting event with lots of exhibitors and classes.  Workshop places are limited (I am offering one class on Saturday and one on Sunday and each has only 10 places available) and I have heard that they are already filling up, so if you would like to book a place, please hurry!

My workshop project is called Popper Flowers!  In the class I will show you how to use a combination of stitches to create two different coloured flowers with a single base of green leaves.  The flowers are interchangeable and so you can pop a flower on, pop a flower off and change them to suit your mood.  The project is to make the Popper Flower into a pendant that you can then hang from a necklace of your choice, but you could just as easily turn your Popper Flower into a brooch, a bracelet, a ring ... anything you fancy really!

The price of the workshop will include the materials (excluding Fireline which you will need to bring with you) and I am offering 3 colour choices.  Kit A has a pink and a purple flower, Kit B has a yellow and a blue flower and Kit C has a black and a white flower - each kit has a different coloured leaf base.  This is an advanced project and will not be finished in class, but we will cover all the tricky bits in class and I will also be providing comprehensive instructions for you to take home to complete your Popper Flowers.  The class will be in English but there will be a German translator on hand.

I think this is going to be a really fun class and I would love to meet you, but don't forget to take a look at all of the other wonderful workshops being offered by a host of great international teachers.  The fair is organised by the German magazine Perlen Poesie and full details can be found on their website be sure to check out all the links under the Messe/Show 2011 tab.

You can see all the available workshops here and the booking form for all workshops is here.  See you at the Bead Art Fair!