From hot pink to snow white!

The April issue of Bead & Button magazine is out and my project 'Bougainvillea Bouquet' is on page 58.  I used hot pink and bright green seed beads, and a combination of brick and herringbone stitch, to try and capture the feel of this well known plant with its papery bracts concealing the small white flowers.

I have always loved bougainvillea whenever I have seen it on my travels, whether growing wild or cultivated, and although it comes in many colours, the common pinky-purple colour never fails to brighten things up.  Just look at the photo below that I took in Spain a few months ago and see how the bougainvillea livens up this tumbling riot of jasmine and morning glory.

I made my necklace with nine removable bracts, so that you can wear it simply with just two, or add a few, or if you are feeling in the right frame of mind - wear the whole eye-catching cluster!

Looking at the next picture, which was taken in my home town this morning, I think this afternoon would be a good time to get those hot pink seed beads out again to try and brighten things up a little around here!

See you next time, when hopefully things will have warmed up and I will have a new beady project to show you ...

The journey continues ...

Ooops!  I must apologize for another late blog entry.  I have been busy making lots of new things (honest!) but I just haven't got round to taking pictures of them.  I have also been working on some ideas for possible contest entries and some of those will need to stay under wraps for a little while longer.  Anyway, the big news that I hinted at last time was that it looks like I am going to take the plunge and try my hand at teaching.  When I first started beading, I never imagined that I would sell anything, let alone have a project published and the thought of teaching seemed like an impossibility to me, but step by little step, things are progressing.  Despite my internet persona, I am actually a nervous bunny who lacks confidence, but this opportunity has presented itself to me and I know that I need to at least give it my best shot.  I think the thing that I have come to realise is that although I believe in the power of positive thinking, I am also a realist and no amount of visualising myself as a confident tutor with a rapt class of students is going to make it real.  I am nervous, I will shake, I will stutter, I will drop beads, but that is the way I am, and I am hoping that embracing all of those sometimes annoying human traits rather than denying them, will make for a fun and friendly class.  The details are still being worked out, but hopefully I will be teaching the versatile flower shown below at The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Limited later this year and I will post exact details here when I know them.

Oh and before I go, I wanted to show you this Treasury West I managed to grab on Etsy on Friday. I saw this beautifully bright bag my friend Claudette of Moonflower 20 Creations made, and I found it so uplifting on a gloomy day, that I went off in search of other cheerful items to complement it and this was the result ...

Right, that's it for this week.  I have some beads to order and then it's back to beading samples, writing instructions and working on the dreaded diagrams.  See you next week!