Still Going

Wow, it's been over 2 years since we've posted here.  Lots of things have changed for me personally and I've only gotten back into beading in the last couple of months, but our tiny group still exists and meets regularly.  We do tend to get a little sporadic at times due to our personal schedules and the smallness of our group.

We continue to meet at the Supercentre in Aurora and work on whatever projects we want.  Occasionally we find a pattern that we all like and work on it at the same time. 

Because of my personal life changes I had gotten away from beading, but I also think I was just overwhelmed by the shear number of projects I wanted to do and the complexity of them all...the smaller the bead and the more complex they are...the more I tended to like them.

So, in order that I could get into beading again, started working on my UFO's.  All those unfinished projects that I started and never seemed to get finished before I moved onto a new one.  In some cases, it was just a matter of adding the clasp, or doing a few embellishments, or was missing a few beads.  Once I got the first couple of UFO's done, I just kept going.  I'm down to one UFO now...an ornament, and that's only because I can't find the pattern book...perhaps misplaced when I moved.

Since finishing with all those now finished projects, I've made 10 ornaments and bead almost every day again.

My next task is to add to this blog regularly...even if it doesn't great read much.  I'll try to show some of the projects we're working on, do some book reviews, new tools, bead organization, etc.

Till, next time, keep on beading!

Pattern Sources

I am by no means a designer; and when I try to pick my own colors for projects, I tend to be very monochrome.  So, I'm constantly looking for new pattern sources.  Here are some of the more recent finds:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cathylikestocraft?ref=pr_shop_more
Cathy Likes to Craft
I love her lampshade ornaments

http://www.etsy.com/shop/maneklady
Manek Lady
Her designs are gorgeous.  Her patterns are well written and illustrated.  I have made one of her embellished stars.  A couple of us in the group are working on her Peacock Throne necklace and plan to make her Parisian Nights necklace as well.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Studio183
Heather Collin (aka Studio183)
Love her designs.  Her patterns are also well written and illustrated though I have as yet to try one.

http://cordis-perlentraum.blogspot.com/
Cordi & Jenni (aka Perlentraum)
I have made a few of their animal figures (turtle, peacock & seahorse).  Although the patterns are in German, they are very well illustrated so are relatively easy to follow.  I learned cubic RAW using one of their patterns.  You can always use an online translator to help you thru any difficult parts.  If you like animal figures, they are a great source...their collection is constantly growing.

http://www.jeanpower.com/patterns/
Jean Power
Jean does alot of geometric patterns and has some great ideas for rivolis.  Jean is also working on a new book with Kate McKinnon titled "Contemporary Geometric Beadwork.  They currently are predicting a shipping date of June 1st, 2012.  The book will retail for around $40 US.  The blog for the book is here:
http://beadmobile.wordpress.com/
While I would love to have this book, I'm not sure that $40US is affordable. I believe it is being self published, which may partly explain the price.


There are of course many others.  These are just a few of the ones that we enjoy!

What's in Your Tool Kit?

I guess what's in your tool kit depends on the type of beadwork that you do.  Mine is for bead weaving ... a very different kit from what a wireworker would have or someone that does stringing.  This is mine.

It contains: bead scoop with tweezers, E-6000 glue, curved nose pliers, scissors, post-it notes & pen, caliper, needles (different sizes including the indispensible curved needles), FireLine in both smoke & crystal, white & beige thread, thread zapper, elastic bands, measuring tape, clear nail polish, bead reemer, and eye glasses.  There's a few other bits and pieces that I use in my beading and just need to carry with me.  It all fits into a 1.6 litre Lock & Lock box and fits nicely into my bead bag.

The elastic bands are used to pull needles through beads when things get a little tight.  Thank you Linda for that tip.  The other indispensible item are the curved beading needles...they are bent at 180 degrees and are perfect when you need to get into tight corners or doing the overlay row inside a little Julia Pretl box.

Boxes and Animals

As you can see we've been very busy.  The two boxes were designed by Julia Pretl.  The three little animals were designed by Jenni & Cori of Fantasia Beads.  They create the cutest little animals.

Some of these will also be in our display at the Stouffville Public Library.  The display will be there for the month of May.  We'll give you more details later.



We Love Ornaments

We love making Christmas ornaments and make them all year long.  These particular items were designed by Deb Moffat-Hall, Paula Adams, Cathy Lampole, RobiLynn and Manek Lady.  The exception is the snowman, which was designed by our own member Betty.

Want to see some of these in person?  Come take a look at our upcoming display at the Stouffville Public Library.

Books, Books and More Books

 

These are 3 new books from Lark Books' Beadweaving Master Class series.  I think they continue to hit home runs with this series.  It is so nice to see beadweaving books from some pretty fabulous designers.  Sabine Lippert (aka Trytobe) does some amazing stuff.  I have several of her patterns.  I'm not that familiar with the work of Sonoko Nozue or Jill Wiseman, but I know they both teach at the Bead & Button Show and have had their work featured in the magazine. 

These books are due out in April, May and September.  Lark usually also has a book from this series in October so there may still be another one cominig.

This is another book that slipped by me until last week but it is now on order. 
Fabulous Florals by Elizabeth Townes

 And here's a few more books that are coming out this year that look rather interesting as well. 

The Diane Fitzgerald book is already availabe.  The other 2 are due out later this year.

There are of course lots of others coming out, but these were the ones that interested me.  

We're Still Here

Can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated the blog.  I'll try to do better.  In fact, you'll likely get several posts in a row today.

We're still around.  We moved our meetings to the Aurora Supercentre from the one in Newmarket and we meet alternately at the Stouffville Library.  The list of meeting dates above has been updated for 2012.

Hope to see a few more of our members out now that Spring is just around the corner.  We'd love to see you and hear what you've been up to.