Friday, 7 January 2011

Resolutions!

Happy New Year everyone!

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?  I made the usual ones of course; eat more healthily, take more exercise and all the other ones that are usually broken by the second week in January, but I also resolved to keep moving forward with my beading.  I have exciting plans for an exhibition in 2012 and my butterfly mind keeps flitting to thoughts of that, but first I think that 2011 is going to be all about teaching.  I have 6 workshops lined up in the UK and Germany and I'm also planning on making more patterns available to purchase via my website, but all of that means a lot of detailed planning, writing instructions and drawing diagrams instead of designing new beadwork.  I do have a head full of new ideas to try out though, so watch this space!  In the meantime, I thought I'd remind you that one of my resolutions for 2010 was to start selling patterns directly from  my website and I now have 5 available - details below.  These are in addition to the 26 patterns that I have had published in magazines since 2008 and you can see details of all those on this page of my website.  Most of them are still available from the publishers as pdf's or back issues, so if you see one you like but can't find, drop me a line via the contact form on my website and I'll try and track it down for you.  All of the patterns below are available from this page of my website.















Bye for now!

Thursday, 9 December 2010

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!

Monday, 29 November 2010

It's official ...

... I teach beadwork!  This has been a long time coming, but I finally have my first workshop under my belt with several more in the pipeline.  My first class was held at The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd. and it will definitely be a day to remember as we woke up on the morning of the workshop to be greeted by this scene;




We didn't feel that it was safe to drive, but fortunately the buses were still running and so I made it to the workshop on time, and so did the staff at the bead shop and my four lovely eager students.  Although it was a full day workshop, we knew that it wouldn't be possible to complete the Double Daisy project in class, but everyone got stuck in, choosing their colours and juggling peyote stitch, ladder stitch and brick stitch until little petals began to appear.  Keeping my first workshop small with only four students, meant that I could spend lots of time sitting with each student individually, checking that they were on track and also chatting about their favourite bead stitches and admiring some of the beautiful beadwork that they had brought with them.  As well as a lovely spacious (and warm!) workshop area, the bead shop also provided plenty of tea and biscuits which all made for a really enjoyable day before we all had to wrap up and head off home in the snow!




This project was designed exclusively for The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd. but now that the workshop has finished, you can buy the comprehensive 18 page tutorial via my website and make your own Double Daisy!  The instructions cover how to make the finished daisy and include some ideas on ways to use it; you might like to turn yours into a pin/brooch, create a loop of beads at the back to turn it into a pendant or sew it onto finished beadwork or ribbon (as in the picture below) to make a glamorous choker or wrist corsage!



Whatever you decide, have fun and don't forget to send me a picture!  The pdf of the instructions is available for purchase here and will be delivered by email.

Monday, 15 November 2010

Another new tutorial!

Back in July, I made Mum a flowery pendant for her birthday, as a sparkly Swarovski crystal Rivoli had caught her eye and she wondered if I could make it into a little flower for her.  Well, as you know, I do like a beady challenge and so I experimented with bezeling the Rivoli for the centre of the flower and then worked on creating some little petals.  I was quite pleased with the end result (and so was Mum!) and I thought that several of them sewn together would make a lovely bracelet, but what with one thing and another, I have only just found the time to work on it.




I thought you might like it too, and so I have spent the last couple of weeks writing instructions, taking photos and drawing lots of diagrams, and the tutorial is now for sale on my website.  This is the fourth tutorial that I am selling directly from my website and I am trying to make them as detailed as possible so that despite the fact that some of them may look quite complicated, all the steps are broken down into easy stages although you will need to know the basic stitches of course.  This is a 21 page tutorial (the longest so far!) but I am keeping my pricing structure simple, so all of my patterns are currently for sale for £6.




One of the things I really love about beadwork, is being able to create a lovely, wearable little piece using only beads, thread, a crystal or two and very little else, and this is a classic example of that - just a Swarovski Rivoli, some seed beads and thread is all that goes into making a beautiful little daisy with a centre that looks like liquid gold.  Of course, you can make these in any colour you wish as there are so many gorgeous Rivoli colours to choose from!




If you would like to make yourself, or someone you love, a Rivoli Daisy, the pattern is available here

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Winter Sparkle!

The new 'Winter Sparkle Special' issue of the UK magazine Bead has hit the shops!  I received a copy today and I have to say it ticks every box; it's wintry, it's sparkly and it's special!




It's packed with all sorts of  themed project ideas from quick party makes to more intricate sparkly wear.  My project Daisy Sliders is on pages 13 - 16 and is a straightforward brick stitch and herringbone project that quickly produces a very pretty and feminine design that can be worn in a number of ways.



I made a necklace and earring set in an icy blue and called it Winter Sky.



And a bracelet or wrist corsage in gold and I called this one Winter Sun.




If you have a go at my project, don't forget to send me a picture and I'll add it to the Readers' Gallery page on  my website.  I can't wait to see what colours you choose for your Daisy Sliders!

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

A new tutorial!

I finally managed to lay my hands on some of the new Miyuki Tila beads last week.  I think they have probably been out for a little while now, as I have seen several lovely Tila bead creations on my travels through Blogland, but this is the first time I have had chance to experiment with them.  If you haven't seen them, they are square (5mm x 5mm) but also quite flat as they are only 1.9mm thick, but the big difference is that they have TWO parallel holes running through them!

I must admit that I found them quite a challenge at first, as it was more difficult than I thought to use them with my usual stitches, but after a few false starts I came up with this design which I have called Twinkling Tilas as they remind me of stars.




I have been good and already written the pattern up and it is now available to purchase via my website.  The instructions cover the single row bracelet and also how to make the wider cuff style bracelet.  These little stars are quite versatile and you could turn a single one into a pendant, make two for a pretty pair of earrings or use them to embellish other beadwork!



I bought my Tila beads from The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd and they have a great range of gorgeous colours so you could create lots of different effects - I'm sure the iridescent crystal colour would make a fabulously sparkly bracelet, or even a choker ... perfect for the upcoming party season!




The pattern for Twinkling Tilas is available here .

See you next week!

Monday, 13 September 2010

Poppy kits!

Whoops!  Another long gap since I last wrote a blog entry, but I promise that I have been beading until my little fingers bled, and that is no exaggeration!  I will share news and pictures of what I've been up to, next week - but in the meantime I have some other news to tell you about ...


... not only is the tutorial for my poppy design available to purchase on my website you can now buy a kit for this project from RB Beads.  The kit contains all the materials you need to make your own poppy (and the optional leaves) including a needle and thread and worldwide shipping is available - please note that the kit only contains the materials and not the instructions.

See you next week with more exciting news!