Now available in California!

I'm afraid I don't have any new beadwork to show you this week as the next piece in the Midnight Garden collection is taking a bit of coaxing, but I do have some exciting news!  My friend Kandra recently opened a new bead store in Solvang which is in California (USA) and not only does she stock a mouthwatering range of beads and beading accessories, she now sells copies of my patterns on CD.  So if you live within travelling distance of Solvang you can drop into Kandra's Beads at 1539A Mission Drive and purchase a CD and then browse through the great range of beads to choose the colours for your project!  Of course you can still purchase a pdf of each pattern direct from my website and these will normally be emailed to you within a few minutes of your purchase, but if you would prefer a CD and cannot get to the store, Kandra also offers a postal service.

Although this is a new store, Kandra has a wealth of experience (this is actually her fifth bead store!) and she is also a talented beader and teacher, so she knows what she is talking about if you need help with anything whether it be choosing colours or tracking down hard to find materials.  As you can see from the picture below, the store looks very inviting and although it looks small on the outside, it is actually deceptively large on the inside with a huge range of tempting beady treats including Kandra's own lampwork beads and the walls are lined with her beadwork too.  The store also hosts trunk shows and offers a range of beading classes.  As well as a bricks and mortar shop, Kandra also offers an international mail order service, so why not take a virtual wander through her store and don't forget to pop a CD in your basket!

I have my own little display area within the shop and as you can see from the pictures below, the CDs are all arranged in neat racks and they even have their own labels making it easy to choose the right project.

I'd like to publicly thank Kandra for giving me this opportunity and also for doing such a wonderful job in setting this all up for me.  Thank you Kandra!

Kerrie

A change of direction!

I have neglected my poor blog a bit recently as I got caught up in a whirl of obligations and deadlines over the last year, which meant that something had to give.  All that is about to change though as I have set myself an exciting year long creative challenge which I am really looking forward to and almost ready to embark on.  I will write more about this next week and I also plan to blog about it regularly, but my adventure means that I will probably not be writing any new tutorials for the coming year.  So, I wanted to remind you that I now have nine tutorials for sale via my website:

POPPER FLOWERS

CORE BEADED BEADS

RIVOLI DAISY BRACELET

DOUBLE DAISY

DAISY CHAIN

SPINE FLOWER

POPPY

TWINKLING TILAS

ENGLISH ROSE NECKLACE

I also have six patterns for sale via the Interweave on-line store and you can see those on this page of my website

Five of my patterns are available to purchase via the Bead & Button on-line store

There are also various patterns and a CD collection of my work available from the Bead magazine on-line store

So hopefully with all these patterns to choose from you will not mind if I take a little time out to have some fun, which should produce even more patterns in the future!

See you next week with news of my plans!

Kerrie

The pattern shop is filling up!

It's been a busy year (and it's about to get busier for the next few months!) but I've managed to find time to add two more patterns to my website.  Both of these have actually been published in magazines already, but  after receiving requests from people asking me to make the patterns available from my website, I have completely rewritten them and added lots of new diagrams and photos.  The first pattern is Daisy Chain (originally published in Bead magazine) and as the pictures below show, you can make your little daisies into a variety of finished pieces - from a complex looking necklace or bracelet to a simpler pendant or pair of earrings.  All of these finished pieces are surprisingly simple to make and full details are included in the tutorial.

The second pattern is for my English Rose necklace (originally published in Perlen Poesie magazine) and is bit more advanced than Daisy Chain, but again, there are lots of diagrams and photos to help you create the finished piece.  The project is to make the necklace shown and the idea is that you make several 'roses' as they are interchangeable, but it would be easy to adapt it to make a bracelet (to save you making several feet of beaded rope!) or you could just make the 'rose' and turn it into a pendant or a brooch.

So the pattern shop is gradually filling up and there are now seven patterns to choose from.  I will be adding one more in the next few weeks and then I really MUST start preparing for my workshop in Hamburg as it is coming around frighteningly fast!  Bye for now!

English Rose

Several months ago, I was asked to create a necklace project for the beautiful new German beadwork magazine Perlen Poesie -  'English Rose' is the result of my experiments and the instructions can be seen on page 58 of the latest issue of the magazine.  Once again, this is a necklace that can be worn in several ways as the 'rose' is removable and so you can change the colour of the flower, wear it high at the neck or lower down, knot or plait the stems or let them hang freely and cluster gently beneath the rose.  This is quite a difficult piece to photograph as it is very long, but the following picture shows the soft drape of the stems and leaves as they are held in place by the flower.

The next picture shows the 'Silver Shadow' version of the necklace and also highlights the silver spines on the leaves.

The following picture shows the 'Burgundy Bloom' version of the necklace and the strong red provides a real contrast to the pale pink version - change them to suit your mood or your outfit!

Another view of the true 'English Rose' version of the necklace, showing the rose worn high at the neck with the stems gently braided.

And finally (now that I have learnt how to make them!) a collage of the 'English Rose Collection'.

I hope that you like the new necklace and that you will enjoy making your own - as always, feel free to send me a picture of your own version and I will gladly add it to the 'Readers' Gallery' page on my website.  The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd stock this magazine or you can subscribe directly via this page of the magazine's website.